First Tri of the Season!

Guess What... It's Race Week!!! Yippy!

 

My first tri of the season is this Sunday - White Lake Sprint - and I'm super excited to race.

 

Half of me kind of wishes I was doing the 70.3 on Sat but the other half is glad I'm doing the sprint. Either way, it feels like it's been forever since I have actually done a tri. Oh wait it has. My last tri was at IM Louisville.

 

I just put on my race wheels over the weekend :)

They feel great, although I got freaked out in the wind with them yesterday. To be fair we had 18-20mph winds and I just felt like I was getting blown around and felt as if I might get knocked over. Don't know if it's the wheels fault or not but my bike handling skills get a big fail with a capital F. I only did one lap at Haines and then rode home. Stupid. I know. So hopefully they will feel more comfy when I ride on Sat before driving down to NC for the race.

 

Anyhow, this is not an A race or anything and is more a less a fun little race but I still want to do ok. Maybe riding 2.5 hrs the day before is not the smartest but yeah I'm sure my legs will be fine.

 

Some little goals:

 

Swim ~

The water, well I'm not really sure what the water temp is suppose to be? My guess is low to mid 60s. I plan on wearing my full sleeved wet suit and getting out of the water as fast as possible. What's fast for me for 750 meters. I have no clue, ha. I really am clueless about swim times. I just know I will actually put forth an effort on the swim instead of just swimming to swim like I usually do during a race. I haven't been in open water in so long that I hope not to panic when the gun goes off. Also get my wet suit off my ankles fast in T1. I suck at this!

 

Bike ~

My bike times have been so slow in training. Every day it's windy. Maybe it won't be windy on Sunday, that would be so nice! I really don't have a clue what to expect out of myself. The course is two 7 mile flat loops that go around the lake. This sounds like a fast course. Hoping for 19mph but we shall see.

 

Run ~

I really don't get the run course and it kind of sounds more or less like a cross country course. Anyhow I have been having good runs off the bike. 7:xx miles for the win! Now to actually achieve this pace during the race :)

 

Nutrition ~ It's a sprint, but I plan on eating some honey stinger chews on the bike and make sure I drink.  

 

Happy Wednesday All :)

Training Update...

How has my training been going? Hmm... it's been going ok I guess. I am in week 11 of a 20 week 70.3 training program. Which puts me at week 4 of a 24 week 140.6 training program. Like last year I am not using a coach and using training programs I found online or in books. I am kind of blending the two programs together which seems to work out fine since the big IM training block doesn't start till around June anyhow. If anyone is interested in my training spread sheet just let me know and I am happy to share it.

 

Anyhow, like I said training has been going ok. I missed 2 key (longer) bike rides due to being in NYC one weekend and racing in RnR USA half the next. I think not doing the ride after my half was key to recovery (my legs were shot) so I don't feel bad missing that ride at all. The NYC on the other hand I do feel bad about. Regardless I don't plan on missing any more, but I do understand that life just gets in the way sometimes. Also with competition season winding down for my gymnasts  - we only have one meet left at the end of April - it will make my training schedule a little easier. Trying to squeeze training in while working 12 + hours coaching on the weekends is hard.

 

The big thing for me right now is to get the most out of my workouts instead of just going through the motions. Really looking at quality here. I would like to improve both my 70.3 (at IM Raleigh) and IM (at IM Mount Tremblant) times this year and I know that involves a lot of hard work. The biggest area I feel like I slack at is swimming. I kind of always just swim at whatever pace feels comfy to me. I don't time myself on sets and just look at the clock when I get in the water and when I get out. This has to change. Swimming is by far my weakest. I need to push myself more.

 

Also this weather! OMG is it ever going to get warm out? And will the wind ever stop blowing. The weather is just killing my motivation. Especially on the bike and my morning runs. I complained all day that I didn't want to ride yesterday but I still got my butt out there. 9 laps at Haines Point was sole sucking and the wind, ugh the wind, it never seems to disappoint. Although I feel like I am getting stronger and instead of riding 13 - 14mph into the nasty headwinds I can now hit 16-17. Improvement. Yippy. My morning runs are a different story. Every Wednesday I set my alarm for 5:40 and every Wednesday I re-set it till 6:40. Sleep! But it's not so much about the sleep or feeling tired, it's more about it being pitch black outside and cold. Once again no motivation to run in that. Most days I put it off till lunch time. Today is no different. But I hate running during the day because I always look like a mess at work when I come back. Oh well I suppose, such is life.

 

Next week is a recovery week aka taper week which I am looking forward to. My first tri of the season is White Lake Sprint, April 7th. I want to do well, but it's not a A race or anything so yeah not really tapering for it. Recovery week just happens to fall next week which works out perfect. The race itself should be fun, but I am a little sacred that I am going to be cold. Looks like it might be a high of 65 in NC next weekend although it's too early to tell. How hard are arms warms to put on soaking wet? Or maybe just a jacket on the bike? Blah I have little bit more time to worry about it.

 

Ok I have done enough rambling for today.

 

Happy Wednesday All :)

RnR USA Race Report

Rock n Roll USA - You were kind to me!

 

This race has always been one of my favorites as I love not having to really travel or drive my car to a race. This year they had a new course with that start line starting by the Washington Monument and ending at RFK stadium. I thought this would be a hassle, but it really worked out perfect. And walking home from the finish line was the best. 

We took the metro from Eastern Market and were by the start line in no time. I wanted to try to go to the bathroom one last time before starting, but the lines were impassably long, so not bathroom breaks, we just made our way to the start. I gave M a kiss and wished him good luck as we were starting in different corrals. I was in 3, he was in 10. I actually really liked how they started the corrals with a minute or so in-between. Made for no running into people and bumping elbows. I was happy.

 

My goal going into this race was a 1:40:xx - which would be a 4 minute PR for me. I didn't have high hopes for myself and decided I was just going to run at whatever pace.

 

Miles 1 - 3: 7:20 - 7:06 - 7:24

Weeee.... this is fun and I'm feeling good. I wasn't really paying much attention to my pace until I ran over the 5k timing mat. I thought I should maybe slow down, as may pace should be around 7:40 but I was feeling good and I knew the big Calvert hill would kill my pace anyhow and I needed to make up the time somewhere.

 

Miles 4 - 6: 7:23 - 7:35 - 7:30

This is the new section of the course that runs on Rock Creek Parkway. I thought it would be boring, but it really didn't bother my much. I found a guy running in a bright yellow shirt and decided he was running a nice comfy pace and that I would stick right behind him. I no longer wanted just a 1:40, I wanted a sub 1:40 and I was feeling so good I thought for sure I could do it.

 

Miles 7 - 9: 8:33 - 7:46 - 7:31

Calvert Hill - Aka Death Hill. Just as suspected this hill was a beast! I was really looking forward to seeing team rage as they were standing near the top cheering everyone on. It put a small smile on my face when I saw them. Best cheering squad ever :) I actually don't know what mile the hill as at though? I feel like the 10k timing mat might have been at the top of hill, which means I actually still held a 7:30 minute mile going up the thing. Which would also explain  why I felt like I might die when I got to the top. My next mile I could barely move my legs and I was breathing hard. I tried to keep up with yellow shirt but he kept getting farther and farther away from me. Watched beeped: 8:33. WTF. I thought about giving up. Could I still get a sub 1:40 with this stupid 8:33 mile? I didn't want to give up. I wanted to try so I kept running. Next mile was a little better at a 7:46 and then a 7:31. I can do this!

 

Miles 10 - 13: 7:27 - 7:46 - 8:06 - 7:23

Once I crossed the 10 mile mark I started during the math in by head. I can get 1:39, but then I start slowing down..... whomp whomp whomp! I don't know why but mile 12 up the small hill on 13th street really killed me. I thought I was going faster than what I was and was really upset when I saw my watch beep at an 8:06. I knew this was going to be near to impossible now because I had no seconds to spare on my watch. I gave it my all the last mile for a 7:23 pace but it wasn't good enough.

 

On my watch: 13.23 mile = 1:40:46 for a 7:37 pace

 

Official time: 13.1 miles = 1:40:47 for a 7:42 pace.

 

Thoughts 

I got a PR! I made my goal! But, I was still disappointed. I felt so strong most of the run and just let it slide away from me in the last couple of miles. A couple seconds here or there and I would have an a 1:39. I guess better luck next time and I know I should still be happy.

 

Side note: Jason also got a PR by 7 minutes and went a sub 2 hrs with a 1:59 :)

 

Happy Monday All and I hope everyone is enjoying the snow