Short Course 8-14 July
We are just about at the halfway point for the majority of the triathlon season. Hopefully everyone is making good progress towards their season goals and are racing well. 
Keep posting those race reports, they make for good reading, reminders, and lessons learned! 
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I haven't raced yet all season. Kansas City triathlon got canceled in May, so no races yet. However, Lawrence triathlon is coming 07/21, olympic......I am ready to race a bit. I decided to stick with short course this year, did 4 HIMs last year. Thought it was time to develop some speed. I have yet to validate progress by racing, but I managed to raise indoor and outdoor FTP significantly as I have been in a plateau for over 2 years, could not punch through 275W attained in early 2010. The previous 2 weekends I had a break through riding 2x20min twice consecutively, funny enough, first indoor, going 283W and 283W, RPE hard but doable and had some in the tank left, than the following week outdoors, 279W and 292W. On the indoor one, I thought my Quarq was broken, so I wrote it off, on the outdoor I had company and I asked my training bud what was he reading, he matched my numbers riding next to me,
, so I was able t
o accept it. I am now somewhere in the 4.0-4.05 w/kg range on FTP. Still training much by feel and not latching to numbers, letting my legs dictate and trying hard not to push too hard.
Last season I rolled back on FTP and never went past 260W.
I have yet to test. I do not like testing tired, sadly, but will do it in near future.
Similar with running. I did spend Fall running lots of miles, many 60mi/weeks. So, it was great base building before I rejoined EN and applied the brutal OS/SC type run work. I seem to be faster for any given temp/humidity range, consistently throughout the range of intervals. I do not test run, I only would race 5k to validate, however due to work have not been able to find a race to rake it in.
I never swam less before, but am pretty close to my usual speeds, what I do suspect is that I cannot carry that speed as well over distance compared to past, but will take it. Will see.
That was the season report. I am summing up the facts that lead to this type of breakthrough that I can share with you in another lengthier post. It is an interesting development to dissect.
Raced The James Island Sprint Race #3 yeaterday. Sadly, no time improvement from race #2 3 weeks ago.
Overall felt pretty good. Swim was about the same as the last race. No improvement but no worse. Raced with HR on the bike for the first time and stayed in Zone 4-5 essentially the entire bike but was still 45 sec slower than last race.
Run was within 30 sec of the last race and only 2 min off of my PR 5k race pace. Steady run pace and I had some left for the end.
Finished higher overall than last race but still 12th in my age group. But 12th out of 15 this time as compared to 12th out of 18 last time.
If the age group keeps getting smaller I'll be in the top 10 in no time
Happy to get the opportunity to meet fellow EN memberJamie Fields at the race. Great to see him sporting the team colors.
I was thinking about posting a race report not so much because my performance warrants one but because this sprint series is nice for both competitors and spectators and is done every 3 weeks all summer long and some other team members might be interested. Is there a specific place for that or should I just do it here?
Also advice from the team... So I came up behind this guy on the run and I was slowly gaining on him. As I dialed it up near the finish, I started encouraging him to finish strong since he seemed to be fading as he approached the finish. We finished together and I told him "good race" and didn't think any more about it. After the race my kids wanted to know if I knew the guy and why I was hollering. That made me think maybe I came across as an ***hole to the guy without meaning to. Feedback on proper etiquette?
Also, this is good stuff to post in this thread. A series like that is a great benchmark and using a HR monitor now gives you some more data points. Good job!
Ralph- There is a specific race report forum so if you want to write up the series, or the individual races, that's the place to do it. You'll get more feedback there too vs. here in our little "Elite" group.
re: Etiquette question- triathletes are, in general, an encouraging group so comments are very common. I'm sure everyone has the best intentions but I guess it comes down to how the recipient takes it. It sounds like what you said was perfectly fine. As someone who gets passed a lot in general, except on downhills on the bike, I'm used to encouraging words. How I take it depends on my mood, but I don't ever take it negatively. Actually I find that when I encourage others, it makes me feel good and gives me a little mojo.
Joe & Aleksander- Guess that's why we're all here... trying to get some speed! I am totally itching for longer races though... Is that warped or what. I'm planning on Placid in 2015. It seems like so far away....
We got home from Ocean City a little earlier than planned so I decided to take advantage and try a ride from my LBS that I've never done before. Total of 32 mi .85IF with the main part of the ride excluding W/U and C/D 1:27, 22mi, .892IF. Not bad. It was the "C" group with planned 13-15mph (The B group was planning 17-19mph on a hilly course which I doubt I could hack) and even though I started off thinking it was going to be way too slow, a few folks were pushing it so somehow I managed a decent effort. Lots more surging than my usual Sat. am group. Fun, even with the rain in the last 5 miles so I got soaked. (But not struck by lightning, so I'm cool with that)
Doing a modified week per Coach P as I have a sprint on Sunday and there's no race built into the Run Focus Plan. Doing a few bricks this weekend and MUST get in the pool. I planned an OWS while I was in Ocean City but water was too cold. (And wife was against the wetsuit LOL)
On the etiquette issue, does it matter if the guy was younger than me? Because he was and I'm not gonna lie that was kind of why I felt bad. But at the same time it felt pretty good. Oh and Jamie from team EN that I met at the race, He killed it. Shoulda gotten a picture. Maybe next race.
Swim tomorrow since I go to Chicago Wed and get no bike this week. Boo Hiss. That is what I need most
Have a great week all.
R
@Jim - that is some tough schedule. I'd be interested in what your rest and nutrition plan is for those races.
@Kim - almost ready to do the long stuff also. I am with you on that.
Me - I am in week #19 and finally I am seeing some relief in the time spent doing this hard wark. Yesterday - bike and run, did everything on target. Today - run 4 X .5 at 3:37/3:36/3:33/3:29 and then this afternoon, 3 X 500 swim at 8:43/8:30/8:17. So, although not my strongest, I am not injured and the times are a B+.
I crushed the bike. It was really hard, but I did it.
The brick run? Not so much. I could barely manage running at MP. Forget HMP out and TP back.
Anyone else having a hard time brick running at the prescribed paces after these super intense bikes?
@Brent - I had the same problem with the run after a killer Bike wko. The Brick runs are usually a lower priority so they can run based on how you feel - or just skipped so it does not ruin your next workout. What i started doing is telling myself (going into the Bike) that I will be running afterwards. This helps mentally - I know I'm not done once the bike part is. Then when the run starts, I accept that the 1st mile or so belongs to the gods and that I own the rest.
@Brent - Jim said it best. The first mile I pay for going so hard on the bike and am happy with anything that approaches 9' miles. After that, I expect all this hard work to pay off!
I'm a bit behind on posting. Pretty low-key week as I have a sprint on Sun. and my legs are feeling very heavy.
Tues 2 x 1 mile @ Z4 pace. Hit target for first but about 10-15 secs. off on 2nd mile. It was damn humid!
Wed. Swim- I decided to do an impromptu swim test since it was about the right distance and good practice for Sun. I thought I improved by 30 secs. but turns out I was 30 secs slower. Not concerned. More about the fact I didn't remember my old test results! (And started out WAY too fast)
Tonight- First brick in a long time. Rode around the block 5x for convenience. (just 5mi) Then 2 x 1mi run around the block. First mile about 30sec faster than Z4 target then 2nd mile right on track which surprised me based on how my legs felt and the hills in the 'hood. Guess those crazy hill bounding WKOs actually did something!
Off to TT Bike Fit tomorrow to get a pre-purchase bike fit!
Lots cooler up here than in SC.
Focusing on run here since that is what I have available.
There is an open water swim group that meets Sat AM so I may go meet some new folks. Lake swim anyone?
@joe don't get me started on "I got passed by... " stories. My best so far is getting passed on the bike by the guy with a prosthetic leg in my first race but more recently I got passed on the run by a guy 72 years old. I just want to still be racing at 72.
Today was a swim workout only and in week #19 it was 3 X 400; 3 X 300; 3 X 200 and I threw in some 100yd kicks to lower my core tmep since the outdoor pool felt like it was somewhere warmer than the 84 degree pool at work, probably 88 or so and I was way overheating.
Tomorrow is a 41K TT and I'm using it as a last "big" kick in the LTHR before my A race on 21 July. Hopefully it'll be a PR or at least the best workout I can get in!
This AM I got the chance to join Steve and the guys from Open Water Chicago fo a swim in lake Michigan. Really cool in that when you breathe to one side you see the sunrise and when you breathe to the other side you see tall buildings. The water temp was a nice 73 degrees. 1 mile swim and still got to my 6:45 meeting on time. (in damp sweats though). I am gonna chalk that up to "having fun with my fitness"
@Ralph - that swim sounds like a mental "Kodak" moment! 73 is a bit nippy and for a mile is pretty tough. Was it an out and back? If so, how were the swells? i am told it is like the ocean - hard for me to imagine.
Today I set a PR on the local 40K TT held monthly here at 25.4mph. I've got 9 of these on the same course to compare results and today the conditions were perfect. I actually placed 6th overall and only 4th in the 50+ masters. Amazing how competitive the over 50+ group is!
I was pretty spent Sat night and had some trouble falling to sleep - go figure. Finally crashed around 11:30. The Sprint Tri started at 6:15am and so I up and out of the house at 4:15. Beautiful morning here today and the 73 degree water was wetsuit legal! That's rare this time of year in that lake. During my bike and run warm-ups, my legs felt a bit heavy and dead. I thought I'd be ok on the bike but the run had 3 really tough hill climbs so I was just hoping there would be enough left for me to survive when I got off the bike. I managed a 7:18 for the 400M swim (7:40 pace), 22.4 mph on the 13.5 mi bike (El Rojo Diablo was hot - reached 42.5mph on one down hill) and 23:40 (7:38 pace) for the 5K. All of which was good enough to win and complete the sweep of this old guy's AG for Fitness weekend.
And because I raced all 3, I also received a big honking metal - which one day will find its way down into my basement Pain Cave.
And speaking of pain .... I have to say that this past winter was my first OS and that 14 weeks really taught me how to endure. SC races are just that - enduring when your brain and body scream at you to slow down or stop. To endure, you have to survive the suffer.
Hope everyone is finding some level of enduring success too.
Jim- impressive 5k and sprint. No photo of the big honking medal??
Joe- fantastic job on the TT!
I had a big "win" for me at my sprint today.... 3 mins faster than last year and my 5k time was faster than my last 5k test!! The run focus plan works for sure. A bit disappointing that last year the transitions were rolled into the segments so I can't compare apples to apples really. My swim and bike may have even been slower but since my run is the worst, I think it is a good trade. (I was 199 of 453 overall on the bike and 349 after the run. Sad huh?). Overall I am thrilled and finally got under 1:30 for a sprint. Actually looking forward to next run test!!
@Kim - what an improvement! That is what this is all about anyway - at least for me!
@Jim - what a great race report. You certainly did well in all regards! Strong swim - bike and run in today's tri backed by a great du and 5 K. All impressive as stand alone and even more so in the smae weekend!
Today was 4 X .5 @Z5 w/2'R with a target of 3:30/.5. I certainly did not feel like Z5 and instead just went as hard as I could. My first was 3:53 and I was just sore from the bike TT the day before. The second was 3:36 and I loosened up a bit and the tird was 3:27 and the last I actually hit my Z5 zone and did 3:19. So, overall a success.
During the first mile of the 2nd run, I ran about 1min 30sec slower than my potential. That's a huge amount of time to be giving away in a short course race. Something I need to work on going forward.
Just wondering, did you modify your race execution strategy at all to account for the 3 consecutive days of racing?
If wish there were more triathlon weekends like this. The idea of doing a bunch of races over a long weekend sounds like a lot of fun.
@Jim, huge congrats, that is pretty awesome!!!!! That is tough, racing like that.
@Joe, wow, sub 60min 40k TT, you are a machine. I have yet to race that, 2x20min kick my but, I can imagine 60min straight.
@Ralph, that lake is nice to swim in, I loved Ohio St. beach and the swim there, but North Shore in Racine is hands down.....