Jersey City Triathlon 2015 Race Recap

It's race report time! Can i just write "fiasco" and call it a day? Blech....ok here goes anyways.

Yesterday was the inaugural Jersey City Sprint and Olympic Distance triathlon. To me, it was appealing mostly because I generally enjoy the "wham-bam" nature of sprint distance races, and because it was so close to home. So I signed up, and challenged my buddy Zach to do the same. I know he's a fast guy, but I figured I could give him a run for his money.

Leading up to the race, it was becoming a little apparent that was some .... "disorganization" . The race director had evidently only gotten the required permits a month before the race, and the website is rudimentary at best. The swim location changed just a couple days before the race itself, and some details were unclear.

Race morning

Registration and Packet pickuup

Thought packet pickup was available Saturday, I opted to just do so on race morning. With pickup and Transition beginning around 5:30AM, I was there by 6AM, easily found parking just a couple blocks away, and walked my bike over. Pickup was fairly orderly, but here we ran into disorganization point #1; not enough Medium shirts. Considering shirt size is a field to input when registering, I don't see why they would run out of the needed size. I ended up with a Large. Now...no offense to all my Athena and Clydesdal friends out there, but I'm not a Large anymore, and wearing a Large just looks silly on my. The timing chip was also this massive anklet instead of the usual chip/velcro, but that's just the technology being used, so not really the fault of the race staff.

Transition was a fun mess as well. Rows were marked every 7 feet or so, but not for each bike, so some racks ended up very crowded, and nobody really knew which way to have the bike facing. Race officials were walking around trying to help organize, and along the way I ended up in a discussion with one as I heard her going over the rules with a first-timer. "The smaller sticker goes on your swim-cap". Wait...WHAT?!  So we are supposed to put the sticker on the neoprene cap, NOT the helmet like every other race in existence? I tried to explain that this really didn't make sense to me since it would come off quickly in the the water, but she was adamant that that's the way the race guide said to do it, so that's the way it had to be. Fine, I'll do it, but I'm chalking that up as disorganization pint #2.

Swim start was about a quarter mile away from transition, so we all made our way over. The officials there tried to organize everyone, but nobody really knew the swim course well enough to go over it with the athletes (Disorg point). We mostly stood around until the race director came by to talk to us, In the end we started maybe 10 minutes late. Olympic athletes first, then sprint, Male followed by Female for both. The swim wasn't really the worst layout, Personally, I haven't swim trained in 2 months, so my swim sucked, but that's totally my fault and problem. My second mistake...not starting my watch for the first ten minutes or so. According to the timing people, I finished the 750M swim in 21:52. Crappy, but I knew I'd be slow. I had shoes ready for me, so I stripped my wetsuit and ran the 1/4 mile back. 

T1 - Crap Crap Crap Crap

Got to my bike a little winded from the run there, but quickly got on my cycling shoes, helmet, and sunglasses, grabbed my bike and made my way to Bike-Out. But on the way I saw I had a rear flat. I called out for bike tech support, but there was none (disorg. point!) . After a minute or two, one race staff member called me over and met me with a pump, but was told it was broken (DP!). Looking around and still not seeing any tech support around, I decided to just fix the flat myself. I got out my tools, took off my wheel, stripped the tube, and then turned to smile at the race photographer, who apparently thought that my mishap would make for a good photo-op. Now this is entirely my fault as well, but I've never actually used the CO2 inflater, so I messed that up. I ran back into Transition looking for any bike pumps that I could "borrow". I eventually saw one, but my tube wasn't holding air. Finally, bike tech arrived and helped me properly inflate my new tube, and I was back in the game. 

This pretty sums up my race.

T1 Time: 19:43

Bike

I kind of figured that at this point I wasn't going to catch up, so I decided to just treat it as a training day that I haven't really been able to have lately. The course ran partially through downtown Jersey City, complete with light rail tracks, plenty of potholes, and generally not so great road conditions.

Overall, fairly uneventful. I rode along, occasionally pushing a little but not going all out by any means. At one point, I saw a women 100 yards ahead of me wipe out after getting caught in a light rail track, so I stopped to offer any help, but she was up and walking, though visibly in pain. There wasn't anything I could really do, and she told me just keep going. After ensuring that there wasn't anything I could help with, I got moving again. Oh, and just to add a personal fiasco point, in my rush to change my tube, I had knocked my cadence/speed sensor out of alignment, so for the first 15 minutes or so my watch was constantly auto-pausing and resuming, until I managed to nudge it into proper place with my foot. This means I also had no way to really gauge how much farther I had to ride.

Bike Time: 50:50

T2 + Run - Too little too late

Now, I love the run portion of a Sprint race. I'm not super speedy over a long-course, but I can usually haul ass for at least a little bit. I got through T2 as quickly as I could after searching for my stuff (apparently other athletes had not racked their bikes properly, making it more difficult to find my own spot), My T2 time is for some reason not officially posted, but my watch has it at roughly 1:33. 

The run course was mostly out on the nearby streets. Weird disorganization point, the run was not closed to traffic. It was monitored by police sure, by runners were still getting passed by moving cars, making for an interesting and potentially unsafe situation. I was making good time, with my pace somewhere in the 7min/miles. I had opted not to bother wearing a HR monitor, since I figured I would just red-line the whole race so I went by feel. Approaching the finish line and Transition, I took a look at my watch and thought there must be a mistake, since I was only at a little over 2 miles. Turns out we had to actually run PAST the finish line, and back out on the quarter mile run to where Swim start was. From there, we had to do a couple extra loops and out-and-backs which the directors obviously threw in just to cover the distance. From the athlete perspective, this was stupid and annoying. I'm calling these disorganization points #24-25.

The quarter mile run back I tried to pick up the pace even more, and finish strong. I crossed the finish line, got my medal, and it was done. 

Run time:  Officially 24:31, but I've got 23:34 on my watch. I don't really know how to account for the full minute difference but I'll take a look at my GPS data later.

Post-Race food consisted of bagels and coffee... Yup that's about it. Honestly for such a small event, i don't really need a full spread, but I guess I'm used to local events having more local food sponsorship. Water bottles were also available, but it was getting pretty hot and the water was lukewarm. Not exactly desirable at the end of a race, but still welcome. 

Total Race time 1:56

What's really frustrating is that the race was so small, that if I had raced the same time, and NOT had to deal with my tire, I would have gotten on my AG podium for my first time ever. But alas it was not to be. Oh and Zach, he decided to blow his legs on a bike threshold testing the day before, so he decided to skip the race. At the very least...this means I beat him. So there's that. 

Read More

Eagleman 70.3 2015 Race Report

Sweet medal. Photo credit to http://www.yousignedupforwhat.com/

Half Ironman number 3 is in the books! It was a crazy hot race weekend, but definitely a fun one. Here's how it went down;

Check-in and weekend buildup

Located in Cambridge, Maryland's Sailwinds Park, athlete village was tucked away into what seemed like a pretty small area, complete with the usual retailers and massive Ironman store. Check-in was held in the park center gym (?). I got there Friday afternoon when things were pretty quiet, so my check-in was really quick and painless. I hit the store to give WTC some more of my money, because the hundreds of dollars on registration just want enough.

In terms of accommodations, there aren't so many hotels in the area, and things get booked very quickly. By the time that I registered in January, everything was gone. An option that came up was to rent this awesome house about 15 minutes from transition, that slept up to 18 people. I spent a few months posting on different Facebook pages gathering stranded athletes, and so this weekend we held The Real World; Eagleman. Honestly, it was awesome having athletes from all across the country to hang out and share stories with.

Yuuup...sure beats a hotel room

Hung out in the pool over the weekend,

View from the back

Riverbank beach walkway.

Race Morning

Just a typical triathlon house before 5AM

At 4:30AM, the house was wide awake. Most people were munching on bananas and oatmeal with a side of fresh coffee. Last minute preparations and then we made our way to Transition. I got there around 5:30, got body marked (sadly, not Tri Tats), and got my area set up. The biggest challenge was that I have a pretty large Transition bag, and we were not allowed to lay out bags along the fence. I got lucky because a couple athletes near me didn't show up, so I stashed my bag in their spot, but I don't know what I would have done otherwise.

Just me and 3,000 friends at 5AM

Race start and swim

The male pros started at 6:40, and the women followed shortly after. My AG was the last wave -once again- , so I had to hang around until 8:17. Wetsuits were not legal for this race, but I wore a skinsuit.

The first couple hundred meters were so shallow that you could easily stop and stand. I did some standing and dolphin diving because, well why not.

The swim was a simple out and back loop. At the first turn, I checked my time and was disappointed to see I was at 25 minutes. In the pool, I'd been doing the full distance in about 35 minutes,so I was frustrated that I was going so slow. Honestly I felt like I was moving pretty well, but my time said otherwise.

I finished up the return part of the swim,and the last 100 meters or so was once again shallow. Even though I told myself that I should swim for as long as I could, I ended up trying to walk through the water. Big mistake there. Wading through the water like that burned my quads and was probably slower than swimming. I was already frustrated with my slow swim, especially considering all the swim training I've been doing. After the race, I found out that many people had slow swims, likely due to a strong current, and also a possibly extended swim course. Many were commenting online that their watches recorded 1.4 miles rather than the prescribed 1.2 . Final swim time: 55 minutes.

Take-away on the swim:

• practice open water more prior to a race
• practice sighting
• do more drills
• learn to kick!

T1 and Bike

I took my time in T1 because I was already frustrated and didn't think an extra minutes or 2 would make a difference. I put on 2XU calf sleeves that were not allowed for the swim, socks helmet sunglasses, and prepared my nutrition. For the bike, I had prepared enough Perpetuem for a 3 hour bike ride. I had also loaded my Saltstick dispenser with Hammer Endurance Aminos, and had a plastic vial with Endurolyte capsules.

Eagleman is pretty well known for being very flat, hot, and a little windy. It all lived up what was promised. My plan was to take alternating Aminos and Endurolytes every 15 minutes, and drinking water.

The first two thirds of my bike were great. I think I was averaging around 21mph, and feeling strong. Then….I died. As I had read would happen, after about mile 35 the wind picked up, and it started to get very hot. My pace dropped significantly, and I found it increasingly difficult to stay in aero position. I had been hoping to finish the bike in under 3 hours, but ended up going a little bit over.

Final bike time: 3 hours, 16 minutes

Take-away on the bike:

• Make sure to get in the long bike rides during training
• Train in aero for longer
• Work on bike power in the off-season

T2 and Run

My T2 was a little faster, though still long for my standars. At 3 and half minutes, I sure wasnt hustling but I’m ok with that. i had to find my spot and rack my bike, change shoes (regular laces, not lock-laces), and apply a new coat of sunscreen. Boy was that ever useless. At the point that I started it was at least 80F outside, and there is very little shade cover. It took a little while to get my run legs back, and so my first mile was surprisingly tough. Well...the next 12 miles were no cakewalk either. It was hoooooot. Apparently the Real-feel at time was over 100F. Aid station were spread out about every 1.5 miles. To their credit, the aid station were pretty well stocked. In general, they had ice-water, ice, wet sponges, GU, orange slices, bananas, pretzels, chips, and friendly volunteers. My basic “strategy” was to survive for as long as I could between aid stations. I ran when I could, and then walked when I couldn't. I made a lot of friends along the way, taking the chance to make quick joke with other athletes about the heat, the awesome tan lines we would have, and anything else to take our minds off of the general pain we were in. At the aid stations, I’d double fist ice-water, toss ice in my hat, in my top and sometime…..down my pants. Gentleman, this last point felt amaaaaaazing. I also tucked sponges under the shoulder-straps of my top. I’d often carry a cup of ice for a while after each station to chew on and sip freshly melted water for as long as it would last. I continued to pop Endurolyte capsules every half hour or so, and had 4 Hammer Gels that really provided nice bursts of energy to help me run.

There’s no other way to say it other than that the run was painful. My feet had been damp for 6 hours, and I could feel blisters forming. My shoulders were burning and there wasn’t much I could do about it other than ignore the pain and focus on finishing. What could I have done differently? Honestly I don’t know. Maybe try to run in the heat more? Who knows. The one “good” point was that I basically even split it, covering the first half in 1:14:59 , and the back half in 1:14:48 . Overall pace was 11:26 / mile.

Final run time: 2:29

Take away from the run:

- HOT!!!!!!!

- Yeah that’s all I got

Property of Finisherpix...someone want to buy it for me?

Final Total time: 6:50

Overall, Eagleman truly lived up to what I had read to expect. The swim was a little rough, the bike was flat, windy, and hot, and the run was a furnace. Would i do this race again? Absolutely. what would I do differently? Maybe i’d take a small bottle of sunscreen with me on the run, or wear some kind of cooling bolero thing that I’ve seen people wearing.

Post race....i've got some pretty fun burns on my back, arms, and legs making for a pretty miserable week. After the race I kept up the tradition of downing a pint of Ben and Jerry's cookie dough Ice cream, a bag of Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion chips, and butt-loads of water.

Well deserved in my opinion

OK, this has probably been one of the longest race reports I’ve written, so I hope you’ve enjoyed it or found it useful

Have a good one, and keep tri-ing!

Read More

Getting Coached, Getting Sponsored, Getting Ready!

You might remember in my recent post about Triton Triathlon that I was in the market for a tri coach to help push me through this season. After doing a lot of searching around the web at different coaching options, I ended up going to some local triathletes that I know and asking their opinion. They referred me to a coach working out of one of Montreal’s most popular tri shops, Cycle Technique.

I met with the coach, Gil, and I really liked his approach! He definitely knew his stuff, and made it clear that he was readily available for feedback when needed. All my training would be planned and logged with TrainingPeaks, which I have already using for over a year, and getting coached meant that he could co-opt me into his Premium edition of TrainingPeaks. Gil schedules my workouts for the week every Saturday, but also responds to any feedback that I had for particular sessions. So far, his workouts have been definitely kicking my ass and getting me to push more than I would have. Beforehand, my typical bike trainer session went something like this;

5- 10 min warmup

About 45 mins of constant cycling at  90rpm

Maybe a sprinkle of one-leg drills

5 -10 min cooldown

Now, this is a typical workout taken from the past week

90 cad / warm up 2x(2'@z1.5+2'@z2)

70 cad / @ z2 with 15" pick ups to z3

3x(85 cad / 3'@ z3 +2' @ z4)

100 cad / @z1

60 cad / @ z2 jumps 15" intervals

100 cad / 10 x ( 1'@ z4 + 1'@ z2)

100 cad / @z1-2 in aero

cool down

Other big news is my getting accepted into the Timex FactoryTeam. 

While many people call this a sponsorship (I guess it technically is), here’s the jist;

After applying and being accepted, athletes are required to pay $100 to Timex. A sponsorship that you have to pay for? Sounds weird, right? But it’s not so bad. Once a part of the team, Timex will send you the following branded products;

My collection of shwag

Headsweats Visor

Headsweats Light-weight hat

Run belt

Water Bottle

Timex Watch (mine was an Ironman 30-lap watch)

A bunch of Timex Stickers

Along with these, athletes also receive a one-time use code to receive 40% off at the online Timex store, and an $80 credit to purchase specially designed Timex Factory Team Clothing through the Champsys network. To be fair, most of the nicer gear costs more than $80, but I could still use it to get away with a free cycling jersey, tri top, tri shorts, windbreaker jacket, and other basic clothing (like a lot of socks), or at least get a nice discount on other gear. So far I haven’t decided what to get.

All in all, my math works like this (assuming I would pay for similar items at some point, and that whatever I would buy from the Timex store costs at least 100 bucks)

So from a financial perspective alone, yeah its worth it for me to join the TFT. Also, being part of a team or community in any way is always fun and makes racing more enjoyable. Members also get occasional emails with exclusive discounts or offers, making members feel really privileged. 

Yes it’s part marketing gimmick, but its also a fun idea!

With about 12 weeks to go until 70.3 Mont-Tremblant, I’m getting excited and doing what I can to prepare. I know that I still need to do a lot of hill work, both on the bike and on the run, so I’m hoping that warmer weather will let me do more work outdoors.

Thats all for now!

Thanks for reading and keep Tri-ing!

Read More

Looking for a Coach - Triton Triathlon Coaching

In my attempt to better myself as a triathlete and my overall fitness, I've began looking for a coach or coaching program. I don't really mind using an online service or interaction, but I don't think I'm quite ready to start shelling out $100+ a month for a coach, so for now I'm trying to find an effective but cost-sensitive coaching program.

The criteria that I'll judge any programs on are:
- Price
- Training Plan structure/ adaptability
- Coach responsiveness

One that I found was the newly created Triton Triathlon Coaching. This online service was created by Simon Whitfield, a renowned Canadian Olympic triathlete.

Getting Started

Triton offers a free 10 day no credit card required membership, that grants full access and is really a nice way to check if the program is for you. Set-up is quick and painless; input basic information, then select goal race distance and date, then add in any additional races that you have scheduled between now and then. Since training for races requires a minimum training period, the system will not let you select a race that is too soon (don't expect a 1 month training program for an Ironman). The system will then populate a complete training calendar for you to follow.

Using Triton
As you go through your calendar, you just click on the workout(s) of the days, length and specific exercises or intensity levels is prescribed for you to follow, along with tips and instructional videos.

After your workout, it is important to log how it went, which is supposed to help the program adapt to your responses. Since you don't upload anything (recorded HR, pace etc from a watch), this is the only way for the program to get a sense of what you need going forward.


So how does Triton stack up in the end?

Price
At only $40 a month, Triton is arguably one of the cheapest triathlon coaching programs that I have seen. Membership can be cancelled at any time.

Training Plan
- Visually clear, and entire training calendar is visible right away
- Workouts can be moved within the week account for time limitations
- Workouts are clearly explained
- Feedback is available
- Site is slow

Coach Feedback
Coach feedback is available through a messaging dashboard. You simply write any concerns or questions and can expect a response not long thereafter. My first emails to customer service took 36 hours to respond, and the second not too long after. Depending on what you're used to, this might be considered a while.

Problems:
- Can only schedule triathlons can be scheduled as non-goal races. How do I account for a half-marathon during my training period?
- Training time seems on the low end. For a half-Ironman, my longest bike ride is less than hours
- Feedback sometimes takes time.
- Plan adaptation is based on just a few log responses, not recorded data (HR, pace, etc...), uncertain how much it really changes based on input.
- Scheduling must be done completely manually. Since I know I will not be able to train on Saturdays, I'll have to move each week's training to different days
- There has been reported issues with a lack of sufficient REST days

Overall, I think that Triton has the potential to be a great training program for many athletes, but at this time the service is just too new, and has too many features that are "coming soon" to be a complete training guide or substitute for a live coach.

Read More

Coaching, The Future, and Races

Hi Everyone,

So it's been a while since the NY Marathon was a no-go, and I used the few weeks following as I had been planning to; relaxing, eating a bit too much, and recovering for the next season. With that done I've started to look forward and figure out what races I'll be doing, and how to set up my training schedule.

I had already signed up for the Mont Tremblant Half Ironman which is in late June, but I didnt know what to do before then. There are some smaller races in the area at the beginning of the summer, but nothing really major, so I started looking around at races to keep me busy, and I found the WINTERMAN!



This is a Somersault event that is actually right in the dead of the Canadian Winter. Race date is set in the middle of February, and offers various distances. Orignally, I was planning on signing up for the half-marathon distance, really just because I wasn't thrilled at having to spend so many training hours outside. After talking it over with some friends though, I got persuaded to man up and register for the full. Personally I think this is a better idea for me, since I know myself and I know that I wouldn't train as properly for a half.

As far as my training plan goes, I've begun constructing it based on the ideas laid out in Friel's "The Triathletes Training Bible", which accounts for periodization. It's a difficult plan to get exactly right, but thats kinda the point. Because as much science goes into the idea of periodization, it is also about how you feel during training. Basically I'm working off of a 16 week training period, but I haven't yet scheduled in other races that might occur during that period.

Also, my coaching with Team in Training continues, so until April I have at least two scheduled workouts each week. On my own I'm spending some time working on my biking using my trainer. It's amazing what a few weeks off does to your fitness.

Anyway that's all for now.

Keep Tri-ing!

Read More

St. Anthony's Triathlon 2012 Race Recap

THE RACE IS OVER!!!

This past weekend, I went to St. Petersburg, Florida with my team and had an amazing race weekend. St. Pete's is a cute town just outside of Tampa, and although doesn't really have any beaches to speak of, is just a 30-45 minute drive to Clearwater, which has beaches that lives up to its name.

Fitness Expo

The Fitness Expo for the event took place in Vinoy Park, just a short walk away from the transition area. A nice touch that I haven't experienced before was that the whole expo was outdoors, including registration and packet pick up. The staff and volunteers for the race were quick and helpful, and packet pick-up was all-together pretty painless. The one issue I had was that being a member of Team in Training, I was expecting to be racing with the rest of the charity waves, which went last, but was originally scheduled in my age group. Nonetheless, the staff quickly switched me, gave me a different colored swim-cap, and I was on my way.

There were also many triathlon related  retail booths set up throughout the expo. These little stores were selling everything from race chip-holders to full bikes, and everything in between. Prices were generally what one could expect anywhere else, but the sheer volume and range of products made the expo a great one-stop-shop for everything a triathlete might need. I myself picked up this beautiful Zoot Tri Bag.  Also, because we weren't allowed to bring any CO2 cartridges on the flight over, most of us grabbed a couple cartridges, which mostly went unused and were later thrown out.

Body Marking & Transition

Body marking was efficient and early as it usually is. My team got marked up at about 5:30AM, and had everything set up and out before the required 6:30 transition closing. Space was a little tight, but everything fit, and because the area was fenced off, we were allowed to move our bags and non-necessary gear to lean against the fence, out of the way of any athletes during the race.

Swim

The Pros  had the first wave, with elite, age groups, and finally novice/charity waves starting every few minutes after. The course itself had apparently changed from previous years, and basically followed 3 sides of a rectangle. The water was a few degrees under the wetsuit legal limit, and between my full body wetsuit and the seriously salted ocean water, I floated pretty well. Honestly I don't think I could have drowned if I wanted to. I'm going to chalk it up to my inexperience with open-water swimming, but I swear the marker buoys were moving. Every time I looked up to sight, I ended up facing the wrong direction. By the end of the swim, I must have swam at least 2000 meters instead of the usual 1500. I finished the swim in just over 40 minutes. I had been hoping to finish about 10 minutes faster than that, so now I know Ill need to practice sighting a bit more before my next race.

Bike

The bike course for the race wound through the streets of downtown St. Petersburg. Probably in order to  minimize the total area of the course, the bike route had several out-and-backs. Police presence was heavy. and they did a great job of keeping local traffic off the bike course. The course was very flat, but technical with many turns. Also, because my wave started at nearly 9AM, it was beginning to get pretty warm by the end of my ride. Unfortunately, I had some pretty severe abdominal cramping throughout my bike ride, which slowed me down a little bit, and so I finished with a segment time of 1:32.

Run

The run course was another out-and-back through some nice residential neighborhoods. Though the route was mostly flat, the 90 degree Florida heat made the run very difficult, especially with fairly limited shade cover. The aid stations that were set up every mile or so were a godsend, with water and Gatorade. Many local residents were also out on their lawns or sidewalks with water hoses, party beads, and even some cups of ice-water. Having trained almost exclusively in the cold Canadian winter, I found the heat very hard, and was reduced to walking a few times. Still though, I finished the run at just over an hour. Not exactly a PR, but with that heat and after 2 hours of exercise, I'll take it.

So that's it, my first Olympic distance triathlon. I finished with a total time of 3:17:28 (I spent just over 2 minutes in both transitions). I had been hoping to go under 3 hours, but I'm going to keep that as my seasonal goal, and with many races ahead for this summer, I am determined to hit that mark.

Thanks for reading this rather long post, I hope you have enjoyed it and are getting ready for the race season. 

Happy racing, and keep Tri-ing!

Read More

5/12/2011

So this post is coming in a little late, I would have posted yesterday but I decided to reserve Monday nights my long-run training sessions.  

The rest of the week was actually pretty decent as well. On Sunday I really pushed myself in the pool, and a the end I finally found a pace that I think I can hold for a decent amount of time. Its not exactly lightning speed, but I can keep doing it longer than when I'm really pulling my strokes in. Also later in the week I met up with my TNT team for swimming at the Olympic Stadium! It's a little far of a drive, but it was really cool to be swimming in an Olympic pool. 

Biking has also been going pretty decently, with learning a good number of drills that I can practice on the bike. I'm realizing that I really need to buy a bike trainer, because going for spinning classes is getting pricey, and the old stationary bike that I have at home just isn't the right fit for me.

Running has also been going well. I've been splitting up my training because long, speed, and interval sessions. I know it might be too soon to tell, but I think it's been paying off already. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Monday nights are now my long sessions. Last night I ran for about an hour and a half at a fair 10min/mile with a 1% incline on the treadmill. While that speed isn't so fast, I'm glad that I was able to keep it up for the entire time, without my heart-rate spiking up too high (see data below). Small incident though last night, I was about a half hour into the run when a fuse popped. That explains the little dip (the others were probably me replugging in my headphones).

That's it for now. Tomorrow I start sending out as many facebook messages as I can to fund-raise for St. Anthony's with TNT.

Keep on Tri-ing!

Read More

21/11/2011

Weekly Recap:

So this week was fairly good, and I’m managing to start to ramp up my training sessions. I began the week with an hour-long bike ride with TNT. Oh, and that was outside... In November... In Canada. Ok fine it was a fairly warm day, but still at 9AM its not exactly sizzling regardless. This ride focused on some basic drills , like biking one-handed and bike control, and our coach tried to make sure we kept up a good cadence.

We also had our first swim training, which involved some solid drills. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get the lanes opened up at the pool, so we were stick swimming the width (only about 12M), so it was hard to really get a good rhythm going. Nonetheless it’s good to get in the water as often as possible, especially considering that swimming is definitely my weakness in the Tri.

Of course I kept running this week, including a solid outdoor run, where I tried to focus on cadence, as our TNT coach instructed. Whadaya know it actually helps, and I found that the run went a lot easier than usual! My time wasn’t anything fantastic (around 58 mins for 10K), but I found that I was a lot less tired than I usually am at that distance. I found it a little hard to keep track though and count my cadence, but lo and behold on Wednesday I finally got my Garmin SDM4 foot pod!

This little gadget syncs up with my Global Trainer via ANT+ and can keep track of my speed, distance, and cadence whether or not I have a GPS signal. This means that I can better track my workouts digitally during the winter, as well as now being able to make sure I stay as close as possible to the suggested 90RPM running cadence.

Last note, my TNT group did some SPINNING for the first time. Unfortunately it’s getting too cold to bike outdoors, so spinning is the only option left to train our biking legs. Thanks to Gold’s Gym for giving us a discount on entrance. Most spinning sessions going forward are going to be early Sunday morning. As in 7AM early. Oh well that’s the life of a triathlete, right?

That’s all for now,

Keep Tri-ing!

PS. Simply because I can, I will sometimes post statistics from my workouts, obtained from my watch.

Read More