Yeah I'm in the Motherland of triathlon..... Kona. I'm loving it. I'm splurging and staying at the Mauna Lani Hotel and Resort which is hosting the IM 70.3 Hawaii race next Saturday. It's great.
The race isn't really the focus it's getting the final big training days in before my taper to IM Coeur d'Alene. I love this place. Running is tough but the swimming and riding are phenomenal. I've been swimming every morning in the ocean at Mauna Lani Bay Beach Club it's like high speed snorkeling. Today besides a crazy assortment of fish over the coral reef, I saw a bunch of rays, a big school of rather large something or others which I was swimming through and one little shark cruising about 30 feet below on the bottom.
Today my coach scheduled a 25 minute "race" effort. I took my GPS watch and put it in a zip lock and placed it in my swim cap to see just how much I've improved over the past year in the swim department. When I downloaded the data I was shocked. 25 minutes = 1 miles. That would put me just under 30 minutes for a half IM swim. My fastest ever was a 34:30 which I think was a short course every other swim of that distance has been consistently 36:30. If I can take 6 minutes off my swim time it would be crazy and today wasn't really race pace as I wasn't racing I was swimming solo.
Riding here is also fantastic. I'm sure over time it would get a little boring as it is an island but so far the roads I've been on all have great shoulders not a lot of debris and the drivers have been pretty cool. The part I like best is I seem to be riding really fast here, part of it no doubt is the fact that I've got my race wheels on (Zipp 808 front and 1080 rear which has been a mixed blessing with the wind), or the aero helmet but I think it's just the terrain and I actually am enjoying the heat. It's been really windy, there is no direction that I haven't been hammered either by head winds or side winds.
I rode on Sunday the day after a long trip and hit 84 miles at just under a 20 mph average. Today I rode 73 miles at just under a21 mph average. Crazy as neither of these were crazy race efforts so I figure I'm good for about another 2-3 mph average in the race Saturday and it's giving me big confidence going into IMCDA in a few weeks.
Running is tough, it's hot and humid. I did manage an 8+ mile negative tempo run in the heat of the day yesterday with my negative split at sub 7:00 pace. Needless to say it's going to be a long hot run.
My coach has changed the race plan. Put in a hard solid swim effort to see how the winter swimming has paid off and then ride like a man possessed. The run is now just get through it as close to 1:40 as possible. I was quick to inform him that a 1:40 would be a half IM run 2 minute PR for me.
I'm feeling great with the final hard training and feel like I would really love to be back here in October for the big dance. Now just to put it all together on race day. I'll post how things went.
So I had cramped up in the pool the other night doing some hard 25 yard efforts. It was bad news and all I could think was "oh no". My leg has been sore since the cramp and it's swollen and I've got a huge bruise that goes from the top of my hamstring to half way down my calf. I'd post a picture but it's pretty gruesome looking. Should be a hit at the pool in Kona.
Thankfully it looks worse than it is. I saw my Physical Therapist yesterday and she said go ahead and train on it. I rode for two hours last night and while it was a little noticable overall it felt good. Today will be a very easy effort swim (not much kicking - mostly pull buoy) and then a run a little later. My mantra for the next couple of weeks is don't do anything stupid.
Well I'm in my final few weeks leading up to IM Coeur d'Alene and just 14 days from IM 70.3 Hawaii and I'm just trying not to do anyting stupid.
Well so much for not doing anything stupid. I had two workouts scheduled for yesterday a run and a swim. I did the run in the late afternoon a solid netative tempo. 10 min warmup followed by 30 minutes at a moderate tempo which was just over 7:00 per mile pace. The negative tempo is run over the same distance I had run in the first 30 minutes but you want to go faster. I had a good day doing the second tempo at 6:34 per mile pace. Overall a good solid 11+ mile run. It was the first warm day we've had here in Seattle this year with temps during my run in the mid 70's and a bit humid.
Now here's where the stupidity comes into play (although innocently enough). After my run I headed home to refuel the body and hydrate which I did a good job. Then about 2.5 hours after my run I hit the pool for my swim workout. The swim workout went fine and I was in my last set whcih was a number of 25 yard all out sprint efforts. On my second 25 about 2 yards from the wall suddenly my whole thigh (inside of leg) cramped, well pretty much siezed. After about 5 minutes I was able to move it enough to get out of the pool (yeah no more 25's or cool down). Basically swim before I run or bike or leave half a day between workouts to prevent cramping issues swimming.
Where it had cramped was sore, crampy and swollen last night and still is today although not nearly as painful. I don't think I did anything serious (tear, strain, etc...) but I also couldn't run or bike on the leg today if I wanted to. Thankfully today is my rest day. I'm hoping that it's loosened up by tomorrow as I've got a long run in the morning and a follow up run in the afternoon scheduled with a visit to the Walk for Aidan in between.
Needless to say I need to be much more thoughtful of when I'm doing the my training here in the last few weeks leading up to the races and with the increasing tempeatures to ensure that I minimize stress on the body.
Besides this incident training has gone well of late and the body is feeling good. I raced last weekend in a half marathon and it went well with a 10th place finish overall in 1:25:27 on a hilly tough course.
If you get into triathlon and you're not a cyclist to start, you probably know this drill, buy a good tri bike cause I don't want to spend too much and I don't know how serious I'm going to be about this whole tri thing. My QR was a trusty ride (8,000 miles in 2 years) but it was time for a little stiffer frame. So after a couple of years getting my feet wet and getting more serious about this whole sport it was time to upgrade to a faster steed. Meet Eleanor.
Like all fast cars a fast bike should be named and like a car the norm is a womens name. Why Eleanor? If you've seen the movie Gone in Sixty Seconds (yeah not a cinematic classic) the name of the Shelby Mustang which is the big prize is Eleanor. She's shiny, fast and sometimes tempermental.
Click here for more pictures of Eleanor.
I got Eleanor out this past weekend for the inagural spin. A little six hour ride with a good mix of hills, descents and flats and Eleanor rocks. I figure she's worth a few extra seconds on the bike.... ;)
Well we're getting ever closer to the first races of the year and the hard training weeks continue. This week wasn't the big volume of last week but it had some really good intensity.
Two strong run workouts early in the week; hill repeats and a negative split tempo run which was a good rebound after a tough netative tempo run last week. This weekend was strong with a double run on Saturday totaling 21 miles and a good swim workout. My running is hitting its stride so to speak. My long runs (15-18 miles) are now comfortable at mid 7:20 range and feeling fresh at my top end on my tempo's are now sub 6:00 minute mile pace which I haven't hit in years.
I was out on a long ride today and the weather really cooperated it was nice not to have to worry about snow and freezing cold. I was out on my new ride (Cervelo P3) today and was leary about how today would go after the tough day yesterday (two runs and a swim) and being on a new bike. The day ended up steller my legs were a little rough to start but warmed up and the bike was phenomenal and will need little dialing in, it's fast and has lots of get up and go. I was supposed to ride 6 hours today and hit it nearly perfectly with a good mix of hills, descents and flats, keeping the effort high but not a crazy effort. It was a solid 112 miles in just under 6 hours with plenty of punch at the end of the ride. Highlights of the ride was holding 26 mph tempo along E. Lake Sammamish (8 miles) and hitting 52 mph on the descent to Duvall from Woodinville.
All in all things are going great, I'm feeling strong, fit and beginning to get mentally prepared for the races. Next weekend I'll be racing in the Kirkland Half Marathon to get myself in a bit of race conditions. I also have to name my new bike.
Half marathon results and pics of the new steed to come soon.
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