Thursday, June 11, 2009
Back to the grind
Yesterday (Wednesday) I got back on my ironman training program more or less. I did a swim in the morning for about 45 minutes. As usual I didn't complete the full workout. The pool is crowded on Wednesdays and is worse now that it doesn't open until 7 am. I may have to switch my days a bit and swim on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After work, I went for a 45 minutes run and did intervals of speed work for 3 minutes (3 minutes fast and 3 minutes regular speed.) Today I was planning a 90 minute bike ride but it looks like it will be raining. This morning I swam again and did a 1000 m time trial. but, I lost track of the number of laps I was doing and didn't get a very accurate time. I am planning a 4 hour ride on saturday followed by a short run and then a longer run on Sunday. I am still having a problem with a blister on my right big toe. I keep getting a blister in the same spot and it has been happening with different sneakers so I don't think it is just my footwear. I am a little concerned because I would not be able to run a marathon at the moment without being in severe pain. I have to get that figured out before my ironman.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Mooseman Triathlon weekend
I drove down to New Hampshire on Friday and met up with some friends from Boston who came up to visit and wish me well. We had a nice dinner and they left in the morning. I was staying at a nice cottage that I have rented the previous times I have done this race. Saturday i went and registered for the race and did some triathlon shopping. This race provides some of the best freebies of any race I have been in (better than Ironman Lake Placid) I got a dry-fit sweatshirt, a dry-fit cap and upon completion of the race, a metal water bottle and a t-shirt. At the pre-race tradeshow, I scored a really nice cycling jacket for $39.00 (probably a $150 jacket) as well as tri top for $22.00. Saturday evening there was a pasta dinner. I always try to go to these as you meet people and it adds to the experience. I sat with a guy from New York state who had done several ironmans and was in his 50's. He was a fit looking guy and he was telling me his goal was to "break 6 hours." That would be a slow time by my standards. It was a good reminder that everyone has their own goals and that you shouldn't be too caught up in trying to be the fastest person out there.
Speaking of goals, I didn't meet my own fairly high goals of always exceeding my previous performance. But that is the interesting thing about triathlons; if you stick at it long enough you are not always going to beat your previous times. As well, there are a lot of other variables like weather, time of year, training etc.... I had a great swim and knew I was doing well in that part of the race. The swim began in waves for the various age groups which each had their own bathing cap colour. The waves started in 4 minute intervals. I caught up with a large portion of the group ahead of me and that was the first time that had ever happened. I am fairly sure I came in the top 10 of the swim for my age group as I couldn't see many yellow bathing caps ahead of me. I was not so hot in the bike and run portions. My speedometer reader got wet or dirty on the walk to the race site and didn't work for most of the race. That was a minor irritation was I usually race by looking at my average speed all the time. For example, for this race, having done it before, my average speed should have been between 33 and 34 k per hour for a decent time.
i am not sure what my speed was but it was lower than that and when I completed my first leg, I looked at my watch and went "holy shit" I am going way too slow. I went harder in the second loop but I know I had lost some time. I wasn't too worried because I thought I would run the half marathon between 1:40 and 1:45. I had been having some good runs the last few weeks. When I started to run, I felt normal but I usually feel better as the race goes on and that did not happen. I was slow and steady but had no kick at the end. I ran a 1:49 half marathon. (I felt a little better about my times this morning when I realized these times include the transitions. In some bigger races, they separate them out. so, that means I probably ran 1:47 with a minute or 2 transition) I ended up with 5:15 total time which is the slowest i have done that race (having done it in 5:14 and 5:04) but overall enjoyed the race and was glad I did it.
Speaking of goals, I didn't meet my own fairly high goals of always exceeding my previous performance. But that is the interesting thing about triathlons; if you stick at it long enough you are not always going to beat your previous times. As well, there are a lot of other variables like weather, time of year, training etc.... I had a great swim and knew I was doing well in that part of the race. The swim began in waves for the various age groups which each had their own bathing cap colour. The waves started in 4 minute intervals. I caught up with a large portion of the group ahead of me and that was the first time that had ever happened. I am fairly sure I came in the top 10 of the swim for my age group as I couldn't see many yellow bathing caps ahead of me. I was not so hot in the bike and run portions. My speedometer reader got wet or dirty on the walk to the race site and didn't work for most of the race. That was a minor irritation was I usually race by looking at my average speed all the time. For example, for this race, having done it before, my average speed should have been between 33 and 34 k per hour for a decent time.
i am not sure what my speed was but it was lower than that and when I completed my first leg, I looked at my watch and went "holy shit" I am going way too slow. I went harder in the second loop but I know I had lost some time. I wasn't too worried because I thought I would run the half marathon between 1:40 and 1:45. I had been having some good runs the last few weeks. When I started to run, I felt normal but I usually feel better as the race goes on and that did not happen. I was slow and steady but had no kick at the end. I ran a 1:49 half marathon. (I felt a little better about my times this morning when I realized these times include the transitions. In some bigger races, they separate them out. so, that means I probably ran 1:47 with a minute or 2 transition) I ended up with 5:15 total time which is the slowest i have done that race (having done it in 5:14 and 5:04) but overall enjoyed the race and was glad I did it.
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