I completed the Disco X-50 Triathlon today. This race is put on by Dallas Athletes Racing and was more or less the same course as the Texasman X-50 they held back in May.
Surprisingly, the day was cooler than May's race thanks to yesterday's thunderstorms. Unfortunately, the rain didn't cool the lake down. It was 84 degrees rendering it not wetsuit legal (read: Grant will swim slower). It felt sort of weird at the race start with 69 degree air while running into 84 degree water. I was able to execute well and even pass two folks in my age group within the last mile AND hold them off with a sprint to finish to be sure.
I felt I had a better race today, and certainly felt better AFTER completing the race. There were a couple of changes I made that likely account for this. First, I gave myself a taper which I did not do prior to the Texasman. Second, I eased back on the bike, riding in HR Z3 (rather than Z4 in Texasman), and pretty much kept my Power in the Z2-3 range. Third, I eased into the run, starting out in HR Z2 and then easing into Z3, ending in Z4. Finally, I used Endurolytes throughout my race, taking two every hour.
Next race: Dirty Rock Off Road Sprint Triathlon
Train safe!
-CoachGrant
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
A Week of Recovery
This past week was the most challenging recovery week I've ever, ever faced. After racing the the Texas Independence Relay last weekend, I decided to take two days of complete rest (i.e. no training or workouts). Monday and Tuesday I felt fatigued, but thought that Wednesday would be better and a couple of easy workouts would help. On Wednesday I strolled into LifeTime, swam an easy 1500 meters at a nice slow pace followed by a spin class where I went relatively easy.
All day Wednesday the fatigue continued. "This will end soon," I thought to myself. So on Thursday, I did a sort of tempo bike ride on the trainer followed by a five mile run. I still felt terrible all day on Thursday. I could not wake up!
Friday I slept in again and proceeded with another rest day. I STILL felt fatigued all day. Saturday I woke up feeling just OK, but had to ride the Tour Dallas, since I had registered for it along with my entire family. It was a nice, slow "Tour" of Dallas on the bike.
Finally, I was feeling better. I still felt a bit sluggish this morning, but was able to pull together an 8 mile run and a mile swim. Still feeling fine and looking for my regularly scheduled Monday "rest" day.
Evidently the multiple "tempo" runs last weekend on minimal sleep took a greater toll on me than I anticipated. Looking forward to a better week of training this week.
Train safe!
All day Wednesday the fatigue continued. "This will end soon," I thought to myself. So on Thursday, I did a sort of tempo bike ride on the trainer followed by a five mile run. I still felt terrible all day on Thursday. I could not wake up!
Friday I slept in again and proceeded with another rest day. I STILL felt fatigued all day. Saturday I woke up feeling just OK, but had to ride the Tour Dallas, since I had registered for it along with my entire family. It was a nice, slow "Tour" of Dallas on the bike.
Evidently the multiple "tempo" runs last weekend on minimal sleep took a greater toll on me than I anticipated. Looking forward to a better week of training this week.
Train safe!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Texas Indepence Relay
We started the race at 11:18am on Saturday (March 31, 2012) in Paige, TX. Well--we actually started the night before at the pre-party...but that's a different story... None of the 11 of us on the team had done this race (or I don't think anything like this race) -- ever.
It was an incredible, intense, exhausting, and extremely logistical experience. We were challenged to make sure our team runner assigned to the next leg was staged and ready take the handoff BEFORE the current runner arrived at the exchange. We were challeged by each of us essentially being required to run three to four 10K's at a fast pace within a 28 hour period of time--with minimal sleep (I caught about a total 2.5 hours of intermintent sleep the entire two days). Oh, and it was HOT and HUMID! We had to work through issues such as one of the vehicles breaking down, one of the team members having to run our first leg, play in a band at the Beerfest in Austin, and then come back and run some more relay legs. When some of us attempted to sleep, we were woken early. Due to the cooler temps overnight, the team could run faster, causing us to be ahead of schedule. We had to get our next assigned runner to the correct handoff point an hour ahead of what we anticipated. There were many, many more stories/memories that I and the other team members could share.
I found this personally challenging. By the middle of Saturday night I was tired, my stomach was rebelling, and I still had more three more 6+ mile legs to run. The anticipation of the runs...and the desire to run them fast (in the dark, alone) built up anxiety. I stated before my last 6 mile leg in 88 degree humid temperatures that I would never do this again.
However, the team members stayed in great spirits, worked well together to get us to the finish. Never again--well, maybe.
Train safe!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Hard Work Pays Off
Because I was in a "recovery" week, I had purposely set my alarm to wake me up 30 minutes later than my normal time. I woke up this morning feeling fatigued. I hadn't slept well for some reason and moved my rest day out to Friday instead of the normal Monday to make sure I got a rest day in before the racing the Texas Independence Relay this weekend. I almost went back to bed, but at this point, the dogs insisted on being fed.
Today was a scheduled time trail test where one regularly rides the same course every four weeks to see how you are progressing with your training. The course I use is called the Computrainer 10 Mile Time Trial, a 10 mile slightly hilly course. I ride it as fast/hard as possible, letting the Computrainer collect speed, distance, and power (measured in watts). If one is improving, average watts during the ride would increase, indicating my training is cuasing improvement. A decrease in average power from the last test would likely indicate I'm losing fitness.
So I fed the dogs and trudged over the Computrainer. Warm up the trainer and my legs for 10 minutes, calibrated the machine, reset the course, and started. After halfway through the test, my average wattage was much higher than I expected! I thought that I likely had pushed too hard and the payback would come during the second half by my legs giving out, bringing my average way down. It didn't happen! I hung onto the same average wattage for the remainder of the ride!! This was a 4.4% improvement. For comparison, in the previous four weeks, I only gained 1.3% in average power output.
I couldn't believe it. Even though I was not in the "mood" to do this test, the training I'd been doing the previous four weeks (since the last test) must be working!
I proceeded to cool down for five minutes, logged my workout, updated the stats in my training plan using this new test data and am rejuvinated to continue training hard.
Train safe!
Today was a scheduled time trail test where one regularly rides the same course every four weeks to see how you are progressing with your training. The course I use is called the Computrainer 10 Mile Time Trial, a 10 mile slightly hilly course. I ride it as fast/hard as possible, letting the Computrainer collect speed, distance, and power (measured in watts). If one is improving, average watts during the ride would increase, indicating my training is cuasing improvement. A decrease in average power from the last test would likely indicate I'm losing fitness.
So I fed the dogs and trudged over the Computrainer. Warm up the trainer and my legs for 10 minutes, calibrated the machine, reset the course, and started. After halfway through the test, my average wattage was much higher than I expected! I thought that I likely had pushed too hard and the payback would come during the second half by my legs giving out, bringing my average way down. It didn't happen! I hung onto the same average wattage for the remainder of the ride!! This was a 4.4% improvement. For comparison, in the previous four weeks, I only gained 1.3% in average power output.
I couldn't believe it. Even though I was not in the "mood" to do this test, the training I'd been doing the previous four weeks (since the last test) must be working!
I proceeded to cool down for five minutes, logged my workout, updated the stats in my training plan using this new test data and am rejuvinated to continue training hard.
Train safe!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Need New Mountain Bike
Saturday, January 21, 2012, I raced the DORBA Frozen Endurance off road race at Johnson Branch State Park. I did the 4 hour solo option, with the goal being to do as many laps of the 7.3 mile course as possible within that time. This was the first event of this type I've done. I had a stated goal of doing two laps.
Upon arrival, the guidance from the park and race officials was very good, and they were very patient with my newness of this experience, often having to explain things two or three times regarding packet pickup and parking. We (a neighbor of mine whom I convinced to try this event as well) picked up our packets and dropped off our "pit" gear (it was 35 degrees, so I brought lots of layers), parked, and rode our bikes back to the start. First disappointment was that our packet was a number that went on the front of the bike. No t-shirt or other goodies. Now, I realize this is a race, but most races provide a "trophy shirt" at a minimum.
The start was a LeMond start. We set our bikes out on the driveway, walked back into the woods and when the whistle blew, we had to run to our bikes, jump on them and go. It was a madhouse. I simply walked to my bike, knowing I would not be at the front of the pack.
The course was well marked. They diverted us around the most rockiest part of the course to avoid major crashes. Although there were some challenges along the way such as steep drops and climbs, rocks and roots, it was hard (for me), but not extreme. I completed my first lap in 1:16 and after using the bathroom in the pits, my neighbor pulled into the pits at 1:18. We agreed to try to do three laps at this point.
The second lap felt easier and faster than the first, but I now had fast racers starter to lap me, so I had to keep pulling over to allow them through on the trail. This brought my lap time nearly equivalent to the first. I refilled my Camelback and started my third.
On the third lap, my legs started to feel fatigued (my longest off road ride to this point had only been 2:30). I again was being passed by faster riders and started to notice that where I had difficulty going at higher speeds over rocks and roots, my shoulders and arms trying to absorb the shock of the trail, they were able ride over that stuff as if it were flat ground. This is where I realized if I were going to stick to this sport, I needed a new bike (I was on a Schwinn Protocol 1.0).
I finished three laps in 3:51; technically I could have started a fourth, as they allowed as many laps as possible as long as you STARTED your last lap before 3:59:01. I was concerned that if I pushed another lap, I may end up injured. My neighbor was already in the pits, even though I had been riding ahead of him. He called it quits after two laps. At this point was my second disappointment--no food or finisher party.
Lessons learned:
Upon arrival, the guidance from the park and race officials was very good, and they were very patient with my newness of this experience, often having to explain things two or three times regarding packet pickup and parking. We (a neighbor of mine whom I convinced to try this event as well) picked up our packets and dropped off our "pit" gear (it was 35 degrees, so I brought lots of layers), parked, and rode our bikes back to the start. First disappointment was that our packet was a number that went on the front of the bike. No t-shirt or other goodies. Now, I realize this is a race, but most races provide a "trophy shirt" at a minimum.
The start was a LeMond start. We set our bikes out on the driveway, walked back into the woods and when the whistle blew, we had to run to our bikes, jump on them and go. It was a madhouse. I simply walked to my bike, knowing I would not be at the front of the pack.
The course was well marked. They diverted us around the most rockiest part of the course to avoid major crashes. Although there were some challenges along the way such as steep drops and climbs, rocks and roots, it was hard (for me), but not extreme. I completed my first lap in 1:16 and after using the bathroom in the pits, my neighbor pulled into the pits at 1:18. We agreed to try to do three laps at this point.
The second lap felt easier and faster than the first, but I now had fast racers starter to lap me, so I had to keep pulling over to allow them through on the trail. This brought my lap time nearly equivalent to the first. I refilled my Camelback and started my third.
On the third lap, my legs started to feel fatigued (my longest off road ride to this point had only been 2:30). I again was being passed by faster riders and started to notice that where I had difficulty going at higher speeds over rocks and roots, my shoulders and arms trying to absorb the shock of the trail, they were able ride over that stuff as if it were flat ground. This is where I realized if I were going to stick to this sport, I needed a new bike (I was on a Schwinn Protocol 1.0).
I finished three laps in 3:51; technically I could have started a fourth, as they allowed as many laps as possible as long as you STARTED your last lap before 3:59:01. I was concerned that if I pushed another lap, I may end up injured. My neighbor was already in the pits, even though I had been riding ahead of him. He called it quits after two laps. At this point was my second disappointment--no food or finisher party.
Lessons learned:
- layers were good to adjust for the temperature throughout the race
- bring all your own food, including post-race meals
- bring chairs for before and after the race
Monday, January 2, 2012
Registered for Off Road
I've got about another month or two before I have to commit to triathlon bike training, so I decided to continue getting the most out of my mountain bike. While I actually can't wait to get out and do some serious cycling on the road, learn new routes around Dallas, and meet new people, I registered for the 2012 DORBA Frozen Endurance Series at Johnson Branch State Park, a four hour solo off road race (one attempts to get the most amount of 8.8 mile laps within four hours.
Given this new race added to my annual training plan, I need to continue to practice. I fractured a rib or two back in late September, and therefore I'm still not re-confident in my off road skills. Yesterday I went out to Rowlett Creek Preserve and was able to ride ALL the trails out there, walking only minimally. Now I realize that most of the trails our there are "green," but there are a few "blue" and "black" trails. I was still able to get through all of them, boosting my confidence.
Looking forward to this new experience.
Train safe!
Given this new race added to my annual training plan, I need to continue to practice. I fractured a rib or two back in late September, and therefore I'm still not re-confident in my off road skills. Yesterday I went out to Rowlett Creek Preserve and was able to ride ALL the trails out there, walking only minimally. Now I realize that most of the trails our there are "green," but there are a few "blue" and "black" trails. I was still able to get through all of them, boosting my confidence.
Looking forward to this new experience.
Train safe!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
