Rocketts Landing Triathlon Recap

Sunday dawned hot and clear.  I was very excited to be competing in my first triathlon.  My alarm woke me at 4:45am, although I was probably up every hour on the hour, worried I would oversleep (I do that before every race).  Anyhow, I ate my standard pre-race PBJ sandwich, prepared my water bottles with ice and gatorade, packed up my gear and headed out to the transition area.

Arrived at the race around 5:30.  It was 82 degrees.  Luckily, a number of folks were already there setting up.  Not knowing how to set up a transition area, I just copied what everyone else did:  racked my bike, laid out a towel with bike shoes, running shoes, helmet, jersey, socks, hat, sunscreen.

I got my body marked (number 8's on both arms, both quads, and left calf, age on the right calf).  Around 6:30, I went down to look at the swim course.

Basically, an out-and-back in-the-water-start course, swimming upstream in the James around a small rock island and then back to the dock.  I decided to swim a few strokes to warm up and, I thought, cool down from the heat.  Of course, the water temperature was about 86 degrees.

Swim Portion
Anyhow, 7am rolled around.  I was in the second wave start (7:05), air temp still 82 degrees.  The first wave started, and we jumped in the water, swam out to the starting buoy and had  to tread water about 3 or so minutes until the air horn went off signalling our start.

I felt much more at ease swimming this time than I did at the Chesapeake Bay Open water swim.  Maybe it was because I was now used to open water swimming, or maybe it was because the James was much much calmer than the Bay (with almost zero current), or maybe because the start line was much more spread out so there was no Cuisinart-start.  Most likely, some combination.  Anyhow, I went right in to a very comfortable and, I think, strong stroke. Although I had not practiced it much, my sighting technique was surprisingly very good.  I never had to breaststroke to do sighting.  I even passed some slower swimmers from the first wave (and yes, I was passed by stronger swimmers from the third wave).

I rounded the rock island and headed back to the swim finish.  Could I have swum harder?  Perhaps, but I wanted to swim conservatively, not knowing how my energy would hold out for the full tri, and in the heat.  Did I mention that it was like swimming in a bath?  Also, at times the river smelled a little like the port-a-johns I visited pre-race.  Good thing I only swallowed a few mouthfuls of that water. Yikes!!

Anyhow, I finished the swim in 28:18.  74th out of 267 overall and 13th out of 38 in my age group for the swim portion.

Transition 1
Out of the water, we ran across a set of train tracks, along a carpeted path across rocks, through two hosing stations, up a very long flight of stairs, down a long street, and finally entered the transition area.

I dried off my feet, slipped on my socks and cycling shoes, put on my jersey (with number) and helmet, swallowed two salt tablets with some gatorade, grabbed my bike gloves and was off to the bike start.

Total T1 time: 3:11.  137th overall and 21st in my age group.  Okay, here is room for improvement #1,  I need to get this done a lot quicker.

Bike Portion
The bike portion was a lovely out-and-back on the back roads east of Richmond.  We rode passed corn fields and horses and cows.  It was flatter than I would have thought with only a few rolling hills.  The air temp was about 83 degrees when I started.

Overall, I was very much impressed with my bike portion.  I kept well hydrated, drinking about every five or so minutes.  I took a GU at the beginning, at 30 minutes, and at 60 minutes.

I kept to my strategy of using a lower gear at higher cadence.  It seems  that is what everyone else does as well.  As other athletes passed me (yes, I was passed quite a bit on the bike, although I did pass about 10 cyclists myself), I could see that most of them were not in the highest gear either.  I reserved the highest gear only for when I was heading down a large hill (I reached speeds of 34 mph).  This strategy definitely seemed to work, as my overall speed was 18.8 mph, about 1 mph faster than any of my previous training rides. 

Funny thing about heat and the bike.  The constant movement created a nice breeze so I never felt hot, yet I was still dripping with sweat from the heat.  Good thing I stayed hydrated and good thing I downed the salt tablets.

Anyhow, I finished the bike in 1:19:09.  131st overall and 23rd for my age group.  Room for improvement #2.  I need to get better on the bike.

Transition 2
The air temp was now around 90 degrees as I dismounted and ran my bike back into the transition area.  Re-rack the bike, rip off the gloves, take off the helmet, switch shoes, down two more salt tablets, then out to the run portion.

T2 time: 1:38  183rd overall and 23rd in my age group.  Do you see the pattern?  Room for improvement #3.  Gotta learn to switch shoes faster.

Run Portion

The run was an out-and-back along the Richmond canal walk, across the Mayo Bridge, along the River and back.  At mile 2 (and 4) there were ice-cold sponges (what a treat) and water/powerade at 1 (and 5) and the turn-around.  The only downside -- there were a lot of steps, including a huge flight of steps that we had to go and up down (twice) to cross a set of train tracks.  Who put those there??

Anyhow, I maintained about a 7:16 pace and passed all those folks who blew passed me on the bike.  I felt great.  The finish line finally came in sight and I finished very strong.

Run time: 45:07.  19th overall and 3rd in my age group.

Overall time:  2:37:21.  48th out of 267 finishers overall, and 10th out of 38 in my age group.  Not too shabby for my first triathlon ever.  Can't wait until the next one...

Biweekly Training update - July 18, 2010

I'll start with the great news.  Today I ran 10.25 miles, my first time in double digit mileage since September 27, 2009 (3 days before the first stress fracture).  It felt grrrrrrrrreat!  Even in the 94 degree heat (with 103 degree heat index).  Even after biking 33 miles.  I'd like to think I'm back in the running saddle again.

So for this biweekly update I thought I'd try something new.  Instead of grouping things by sport, I'll do it by day.

Monday, July 5.  Still at Bethany Beach.  Having already run 3 days in a row with Jordana, I thought it best to skip Monday and not run 4 days in a row.  Instead, we went to one of the pools, and I cranked out 1650 meters.  It was nice, except one swimmer asked me if we could start circling (there were already two of us sharing the lane).  I said OK and began to circle.  Unfortunately, she never told the other swimmer we were circling and I had a minor head-on collision mid-pool.  Oh well.  It happens.

Tuesday, July 6.  The forecast was for near 100 degrees, so I opted to run 6.21 miles at 6am.  Running alone, I was just under 8 min/mile pace.

Wed, July 7.  Same forecast, same run. 6.19 miles at surprisingly the exact same pace.

Thur, July 8.  45 minutes on the bike trainer at 5:30am (Jordana had already left for her weekly 10 mile MT run).  At night, master's swim: 500m warmup; 2 x 200m (kick/stroke/kick/stroke; drill/swim/drill/swim); 8 x 50m + 3 x 100m; 6 x 50m + 3 x 100m; 4 x 50m kick; 2 x 200m IM; 2 x 100m cool down.  Total of 3000m.  I called it a "cool down" but that was hard to do in a bathwater temperature pool.  Even the big 50meter pool we swim in during the summer gets hot pretty quick in the record heat.

Friday, July 9.  A cool front came in so I ran my miles at lunch.  My colleague Larry and I did our standard 6.33 mile memorials course at 9 min/miles.  Larry was getting worried that he was slowing me down, but as I've explained previously, my new mantra is more miles at slower pace.

I think one of the causes of my stress fractures was overtraining -- not so much in the mileage department, but the pace department.  After all, Jordana runs more miles than I do (she runs close to 50 mile weeks, while I am in the low 40s) but at a slower pace (even for her).  That's what her coach swears by -- high mileage, low pace.  So, my monday run will be closer to 9s.  Wed will be my "fast" day.  Friday,  maybe try marathon pace run.  Sunday, long steady distance.

Sat July 10.  We were invited to friends for lunch.  So I took a total day off.  I guess I earn that every once in a while.

Sun, July 11.  Brick workout. 33.87 miles on the bike (from my house to the intersection of Beach Drive and Calvert just pass the National Zoo tunnel), followed by 8.05 miles run at a  7:30 pace. As far as the run, went I did the fast pace first to see if I could.  Could I run something approaching a race pace (1 min/mile slower than my pre-injury 10K pace) after spending 2 hours on the bike?  Nice to know the answer was yes.  Second, I needed to get back because we were taking Jordana to the airport for her 10 day trip to Paris (the dedicated runner that she is, she put in 36 miles while there).

As far as the bike goes, I've been trying to apply some tips from Triathlete magazine.  Most runners who start tri's tend to ride the bike in highest gear at a low cadence and just try to power through.  All they end up doing is wearing themselves out before the run portion, while not achieving phenomenal speed.  That was my result in previous bricks.  So this time I rode in lower gear (I don't think I used the big gear up front) and focussed on keeping my cadence up (aiming for low 80's/upper 70's).  The result was an average speed of 17.21 mph -- my fastest on Beach Drive (the previous week was on the pancake flat Coastal Hwy in Bethany Beach).

Monday July 12.  Ran 6.33 miles with Larry at 9 minute pace.

Tue, July 13.  45 minutes on the bike trainer.

Wed , July 14.  Ran 6.33 miles.  Started out with Larry and another colleague Jim at 9 minute pace.  At the 2.5 mile mark (Lincoln Memorial), Jim turned around to do 5 miles.  Larry continued the memorials run at 9s, and I kicked it up for a tempo run.  I had no garmin (Jordana was using it in Paris), so am not sure what my pace was but my guess was low 7's, as my overall pace for the run was 7:47 (I'm too lazy to calculate what the pace for the last 3.8 miles needed to be to turn a 9 min/mile into a 7:47 min/mile). 

I think the slower warmup was good.  Every workout training plan I've seen always recommends a  mile or so warmup at lower pace before doing a tempo run.  Of course, I have ignored that advice every marathon training season and we see where that got me.  So from now on, I'll stick with my colleague for around 2 or so miles before punching it.

Thur, July 15.  30 minutes on the trainer (spent too much time on the phone with Jordana).  For masters swim (babysitter to watch the kids):  400 m warmup; 3 x 100m (alternate 50m build/50 easy); 300m, 2 x 200m, 3 x 100m; 200m IM, 2 x 100m IM, 4 x 50m (alternate free and breast); 8 x 50m kick; 6 x 50m (alternate 80% effort/100% effort); 100m cool down.  Total= 3100m total.

I was the pace leader for all but the IMs and kick (I was last in the kicks). When I finished the first of the 6 50's my left calf totally cramped up at the wall. I could feel it contracted. I had to do the back 50 doing just my arms. It took another 50 before I could use the leg again.  Spent the rest of the evening icing the calf and using the roller to loosen it up.  Man it was sore.
 
Fri, July 16.  6.33 miles at 7:20 pace.  Surprisingly, I did not feel the calf at all.  Although it hurt like the dickens when I woke up.  That night, heat and the roller massage.
 
Sat, July 17.  The in-laws babysat the kids so I could get my 3300 meter long lap swim at the JCC.  Haven't done that in a while.  Followed it with a nice steam -- yes, even when the air temp is in the upper 90s, I still enjoy relaxing in the steam room after I swim.
 
Sun, July 18.  Brick workout: 33.28 miles on the bike and 10.25 mile run.  I continued to focus on the cadence.  Although this time, I kept the bike in the upper gears -- big gear up front, but bigger gears in back.  I would aim for a low 80s cadence and when that felt easy to maintain, I would up the gear and repeat.  I never got into the highest gear except on the downhills.  The result, an overall speed of 17.78 mph, so it looks like this technique is working.
 
It was powerfully hot -- 94 degrees with 103 degree heat index when I started the run portion.  Luckily I was carrying water.  I maintained an 8:09 pace, which is probably where I should be for long runs.  Maybe getting a bit worn out on the bike is a good way to force myself to run long steady distance.
 
So there you have it sports fans.  Next week:  Rocketts Landing Triathlon.  I feel pretty confident that I will perform well.

Biweekly Training Update - July 5, 2010

Greetings from Bethany Beach as I officially complete my "return to running" program.  As you may recall, when I got the clearance to resume running, I started with 4 weeks of running only 3 days a week for 3 miles.  Then I upped the mileage to 4 weeks of running 4 days a week for 4 miles.  Then 2 weeks of 4 days of 4 miles, then 2 weeks of 5 miles.  Well folks, yesterday I finished my two weeks of 4 days of 6 miles.*  From now on, I begin long runs, I begin regaining speed.  In short, I hope for a return to normalcy.**

So here is the training summary for the past two weeks.  First, the running:
First week, solid four days of running at sub-8 minutes for a total of  25.17 miles.  Second week, solid five days of running (that's the * from above) for a total of 31.11 miles.  Normally, I would have only done 4, but I did most of runs at around 9 minutes this second week (running with friends during the week).  The extra day was being able to run with Jordana.  We're here at Bethany for the long weekend, so I decided to join Jordana for the last 6 miles of her 16 mile long run on Saturday (she joined me for my 6 mile run on Sunday after my bike workout).  I will never pass up the opportunity to run with my wife, so 5 days of running.  But I think that if I'm running (relatively) slower than normal, I can get more miles.  That's what my wife's XMP coach swears by --- more miles at slower pace is the key to marathon performance.

On the swim front:
Only swam twice the first week, 1 mile on Tuesday morning before work and masters swim on Thursday.  It was our first day in the Bethesda outdoor pool.  It had been an upper 90s day and at 8:15pm it was still in the uppers 80s.  Luckily the pool water temperature was around 90!!  Here was our workout (which was doubly hard considering we were swimming in a bath): 400m warm up; 8 x 50m (alternate stroke/kick); 5 x 200m (1: 50m fly, 150 free; 2: 50m free, 50m back, 100m free; 3: 100m free, 50m breast, 50m free; 4: 200m free; 5: 200m IM); 8 x 150m (50 kick, 100m free); 6 x 50m (fly, free, back, free, breast, free) = 3300m.

The second week, I got three swims in 1 mile on Tuesday morning, 2 miles on Friday afternoon (early release before the long holiday weekend) and masters swim on Thursday evening.  This week, we had a low 80s day, so it was actually chilly in the pool.  Here was our workout: 400m warm up; 50m, 100m, 200m, 100m, 50m; 400m, 300m, 200m, 200m; 6 x 100m IM; 6 x 50m kick = 2900m.

On the biking front, I only rode on the trainer twice each week (Thursday morning) for 45 minutes each.  But, I did real brick workouts on both Sundays.  Now, several weeks ago I wrote about doing a brick, but that was not a real brick.  I was planning on doing one (drove to Grosvenor and biked along Beach Drive and was going to run 5 afterwards) but I ended up driving home to run with Jordana.  That 15 minute drive allowed me to rest.  Well, two Sundays ago I cycled 90 minutes from my door (Seven Locks to Tuckerman to Beach Drive) got home and took only enough time to change my cycling cleats for running shoes and was out the door for 6 miles.  OMG my legs felt like jello for at least 1 - 1 1/2 miles before I actually felt like I could really run again.  So that's what a brick feels like!!  Of course, the fact that it was 96 F with a heat index of 106 didn't help much (Jordana missed her XMP workout the day before so did a morning long run with FTM and I did my brick when she got home at 10).

Yesterday I did a much more enjoyable brick workout at Bethany Beach.  Out the door at 7am for 90 minutes along the Coastal Highway (from Bethany to Rehobeth and back) and then picked up Jordana for 6 miles.  My legs still felt like jello at the start, but I recovered much quicker than last time.  I also picked up a few pointers from Triathlete Magazine.  First, I did not hydrate enough the prior week.  I purchased two new 24oz water bottles for the bike and drank most of them.  Second, I did not fuel enough the prior week (only took one GU gel at 45 minutes).  This time I took a GU at the 45 minute turn-around and then a second GU about 5 minutes before I was done on the bike.  I'm sure this made a lot of difference.

Of course, my speed on both bricks was not very competitive.  Last week, I averaged 16.44 mph (of course it was in the mid-90s).  Yesterday, I was a bit faster at 17.59 mph average.  Funny, Runner's World had an article in this month's issue about runner's trying tri's.  They made the comment that the typical runner, when he or she gets on the bike, puts it into the highest gear and the crunches at a low cadence.  They pegged me last week!  So, yesterday I kept the bike in a lower gear (9th - small gear in front, small gear in back) and tried to keep my pedal cadence higher.  The result -- faster overall mph.  I ordered a second bike mount for my Cateye Strada Cadence bike computer (the first one is mounted on my mountain bike on the trainer).  Knowing my cadence count on the road will be a major asset in training.

Anyhow, sports fans, there you have it.  I am eagerly looking forward to next week and beyond as I try to kick it up a notch.  I'm glad we're in for a record heat wave (near 100 each day)...

My Rave Run

Runner's World has a feature called "Rave Runs" in which they feature someone's running route. Usually some wonderful forest or mountain, almost never a city. Well, DC may not always be the prettiest city and I may suck up too many tour bus fumes when I run at noon, but I think I have a pretty "rave" run. In just over 6 miles, I get to run past:
The Capitol 

The Mall

The Washington Monument

 The White House

 The World War 2 Memorial

The Vietnam Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The Korean War Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial

And I get to run along the Potomac River

Not too shabby...