Vineman Countdown

The official Vineman 2-Week countdown started yesterday with 90 minutes of hill repeats at Torrey Pines followed up with a 20 minute run. The training seems to be coming along; however training alone makes it a little harder to judge improvement. Thank god for the powertaps and Garmin 310xt to enable me to simply race myself. The one item that seems to be coming along the most is the swim, I have slightly tweeked the swim technique, or lack there of, I have went to a much flatter swim with a higher cadence. This change came about after the Hawaii 70.3, I took a lesson there and the concept made sense - use larger muscles that can withstand that distance of a swim and stop using a technique that engages the tricep as the main muscle. I tested out at the end of last week June 26th, 27th and 28th with the following results:





Swim - 1000M - 00:14:26


Bike - 30min TT - 283Watts - 25.5mph - 175bpm HR (A bit High)


20min TT - 286Watts - 25.6mph - 177bmp HR


Run - 30min TT - 06:30 min/mi - 188bpm HR (High) - 4.7mi

I'm going to spend this week trying to get more ocean time.

Tweaking the Plan

This past week was my first week back to full training since a week of recovery following Hawaii. The week went well, i've changed a few things up and was trying to make sure that I was getting ample amount of recovery between each high intensity workout. By doing this it allows me to make sure that I am working at my full potential during the high intensity workouts. All was well throughout the week, I felt really well at my Thursday workout which included a threshold workout followed by a 30 minute run which I was able to maintain a pace of 06:42 p/min. Friday was a fairly simple day of recovery spin and recovery run. Welcome the weekend, the original schedule had a long Z-2 run for 2-hrs on Saturday and a 2-hr threshold ride on Sunday. Friday evening I decided I would flip flop the workouts and do the bike on Saturday and run on sunday---BAD IDEA! The ride on Saturday was a 60 mile ride through Elfin Forest. The first 1.25 hrs was a steady spin up the coast, getting the legs spun out. Once we hit La Costa I decided to step up the wattage so that I could make sure that I hit my training goal for the ride, unfortunately my legs were still recovering from both Hawaii and Thursday's FTP ride. I made it through Elfin about 20 watts shy of my goal and basically had to spin back to UTC with some sore legs. One good thing that came form the ride was the lesson learned, follow your training program!!! This weeks set for a 17 hr work week and I have made sure that all high intensity workouts are followed with two days of active recovery, let's see how this works.

Ironman 70.3 Hawaii

Goals - 04:39:00

Swim - 0:30:00; T-1 - 0:02:00; Bike - 2:30:00; T-2 - 0:02:00; Run - 1:35:00

Actual - 04:59:00

Swim - 0:34:43; T-1 - 0:04:32; Bike 2:31:15; T-2 - 0:02:30; Run - 1:46:38

Well I didn't hit my time goal; however I was able to hit my overall goal of qualifying for the 70.3 WC's in Clearwater, FL. I also gave myself a little break as I don't think anyone was prepared for the heat on the run, not to mention the 6 miles of running on the grass.



So the morning started when the alarm went off at 3:30am, I was up and had the bowl of Kashi Go Lean cereal got my stuff together and headed out to meet Joe and Kathy, who kindly lugged both Chris and I around the island for the weekend. We left the hotel at 4:00am and headed towards to the shuttle area at the hotel that sponsored the event (Fairmont Orchid). As we wee driving, about 20 minutes into the trip, I realized that I had left my computer head unit for the powertap in my hotel room. Frustrated, this was not a good start to race morning as I was relying heavily on using it to control the bike portion of the race. We got to the hotel and jumped on the shuttle and headed to the transition area and swim start at Hapuna Beach. I got all the goods setup with my bike in the transition area and headed down the hill to the beach to get tagged with my race number. After several more trips up and down the hill all was set in the transition area and I headed down for the last time to start the swim. I threw on the speedsuit and headed for the water, I thought I would do a quick water and gear check before the swim started, well good thing I did, I go to put on my goggles and "snap" there goes the strap. I head over to the marking area and notice some duct tape sitting on the aide table and use it to duct tape my goggles together, thank god for duct tape it can fix anything. Down to the water with about 5 minutes to the start, along with my white trash goggles. The swim was a mass start 1,313 people all taking off at the same time, this was my first mass start swim so I stood an analized the area a little before I decided to tuck in about 6 rows back from the start line, bad idea. I thought I was going to be the one getting swam over; however after getting to the first buoy I was still trying to swim through the slower swimmers, I should have started a little more towards the front. At the end of the swim I felt really good; however I looked down at my watch and noticed why I felt so good, the swim took 0:34:00 minutes which is not very good 33rd to be exact. Trying to forget about that and heading up the hill to the T-1 area where I knew I had to make some time up on the bike. I took my time in T-1 making sure everything was packed up and I had everything I needed for the bike which resulted in a terrible 04:30 minute T-1, not I didn't take a nap. Heading out of T-1 in 33rd place with some work ahead of me I jumped on the bike and was off. I was now in my comfort zone on the bike, we left Hapuna Beach and headed towards the Fairmont Orchid hotel were we would turn around and head North towards Hawi. Not having my computer I had to rely strictly on heart rate which I incorrectly assumed should be 167 bpm, which after the race I realized was my LT heart rate not my 1/2 ironman heart rate target, so maybe it was good that I didn't have the computer. I made it up to Hawi in pretty good time based on it's a gradual uphill the entire was along with direct head winds all the way to the top. Lucky for us the head winds turned once we got to the top of the hill and started blowing in the opposite direction which was another head wind, the only thing better than the head wind was the random burst of cross winds which almost blew the 808's off the road. I made it back to the Fairmont Orchid and into T-2 still feeling pretty well and passing 171 people on the bike, which I wouldn't have to do if I would get out of the water quicker. In to T-2 where the volunteers pointed me in the wrong direction as to where my bag with my running shoes was located. Once I found my stuff I tood a quick seat and struggled with the knot that they had decided to tie in the string of the bag, once I got that open I threw on the compression socks, worth the few extra seconds of putting them on, put on the running shoes and I was off. Welcome to the heat and humidity, my god was it hot and humid. We ran on a golf course, if you've been on a golf couse you will know that they don't design them to be flat. If running on the uneven surface wasn't bad enough the grass then concrete then asphalt then lava fields made for a challenging run. I took full advantage of each and every aide station by making sure that I consumed water and gatorade, also taking an ice sponge to keep the core temps down. The aide station that I remember the most was around mile 9 where they basically gave you an ice bath, thank you I needed that. I came off the run at 04:59:00 and a 9th place finish in my age group which got me a qualifying slot for Clearwater. If there's any question as to how hot it was at the golf course, the stickers melted on my zipp wheels while it was sitting in transition area. It was hot!

Shoes?

Less than a week to Honu and I'm having shoe concerns. I purchased a pair of Ecco Biom's about 5 weeks ago and I love the shoes; however they are designed to promote a more natural running technique which requires a lot more muscle endurance on the calf muscle. With that being said I don't know if the calves are ready to work that hard for 13 miles. When I bought the shoes I made a small adjustment to my cycling cleats, moving the cleat further to the rear of the shoe which moves the focus away from the calf when your on the bike, saving the calves for the run. Everything is working just as I planned; however I'm concerned that the calves just are not ready. The second issue is that the course weaves through the golf course of the Fairmount Orchid Hotel which includes grass, dirt, crushed lava, asphalt and the wonderful concrete. These shoes coupled with concrete is not a good combo as they have very very little cushioning. My other options are the Zoot TT's or Nike Luna Racer, neither of which I've been running in lately. ????

Borrego Springs (aka The Sun)

We made our trip to Borrego Springs today for a lovely 50 mile bike ride followed by a 30 minute run. The morning started with me mis-calculating the time required to get there, which caused me to have to speed the entire way. I don't know if you've driven from San Diego to Borrego Springs through Julian, if you have'nt this is not a road you want to speed on. I felt like throwing up about 01:10:00 into the trip. Finally I arrived at about 7:35am, late! I put everything together on the bike, GPS, Power Meter, Fluids, Tires, Gels and more fluids and about 20 minutes later I was off. I started slow trying to keep the power below 220, pace at 21mph and the heart rate well below LT. Once the warm-up was finished I picked the Power up to about an avg of 240, pace at 25.5mph for the next 40 minutes finishing the first leg at about a 238 PM and a pace of 23.8 mph. On the way back you really get a chance to find all the false flats which put a hurt on the avg pace for about the first 30 minutes. I was able to push the pace and power back up on the last 30 minutes and finished the ride with an overall power avg of 230 watts, HR 163 avg and pace of 23 mph. And then there was the run. I felt good getting of the bike and was looking forward to seeing how the legs felt on the run. Well the legs felt ok, but the heat was unbearable I couldn't keep the HR under control and had to stop twice to try and get it back down to a controlable number. I can only hope that Honu is a little cooler on the run or I may have to break out the white tri gear, old school white too - single ply.

16 Days to Honu

A Good Swim and Track

I hit the pool today and it was a good day. I did some short sets, trying to focus heavily on form. You know the form is coming along when you can exert 1/2 the energy and beat your average pace by 5 seconds. I followed up the swim with a good track workout, a lot of zone 4 work; however I slipped into zone 5 a couple of times and had a little decoupling when trying to hold the 00:05:30 pace. Luckily I don't think I will need that pace in Hawaii.

17 Days to Honu

60 Swim 60 Bike.

Headed to the pool at about 5pm tonight to take care of my 60 min swim, to my suprise the pool was closed, so I headed back to the house to do a 60 on the bike. I decided to take out the road bike as I haven't ridden it in a few months. I thru the powertap on it and I was off. Speaking of the powertap, I love it! It forces you to work hard the entire time, I'm heading to FitStop Lab on Tuesday to find out what hard in wattage is equivalent to. I did the 60 and felt pretty good.

Spring Sprint Triathlon

Goal: Swim - 00:07:00 Bike - 00:27:00 Run - 00:19:30 -

Total - 0053:30

Actual: Swim - 00:06:58 Bike - 00:25:42 Run - 00:18:57 -

Total - 00:51:37

The Legs Were Tired !

The morning started well and I felt like I had a good chance to place in the top of my age group. Into the water and man did it stink, Dave and I did a few practice warm-ups and then off to the startline. The starter announced a 10 second countdown but forgot to count out loud, luckily I was close enough to hear him. The gun went off and it was the craziest start of any race I've participated in. To many people and not enough space, maybe racing elite would have been the ticket - less people and more space. After fighting through the crowd during the swim, it was time to head into the transition area. It was a quick transition and off on the bike. It sucked!! My legs had never felt so tired but I pushed through it and finished with the worst bike split in the past year. Back into transition and off on the run. I've been focusing on the run alot over the past month and felt pretty good as I took off down the path. 00:18:57 later I ran across the finish line. I was pretty frustrated with my results and the fact that I could see the second and third place finishers througout the entire race; however I could not catch them. After reviewing the 18hr p/wk workouts that I had put in over the past three weeks I gave myself a little break.

2009 Superseal Triathlon

Goal: Swim - 00:27:00 T1 - 00:03:30 Bike - 01:08:00 T2 - 00:01:30 Run - 00:40:00
Total - 02:20:00

Actual: Swim - 00:24:34 T1 - 00:02:36 Bike - 01:01:50 T2 - 00:01:00 Run - 00:42:20
Total - 02:12:20


Race Season Kick-Off!

Race day started at about 05:00am, I got all my stuff together and headed towards Coronado to make sure that I made it to the parking lot before it closed. The weather started off nice with some cloud cover that held the heat in from the day before, by about 9:00am the clouds lifted and the cold rolled in. The water was a balmy 58 degrees, it actually felt warm in comparison to the air outside. I headed to the swim start and got a quick 100m warm up before having to start the swim. The gun blew at 09:15am for the 30 - 34 age group, the swim was a extra full this year as it included both men and women. I felt good throughout the swim and I was holding the 00:01:30/ 100m pace. I was out of the water and into transition. This year's transition went much better than last year, saving myself 00:01:00. I was off on the bike and feeling good, almost too good as I think I took the swim too easy, the new Argon 18 was well worth it's money as I was pacing on the first 20K to come in under 1hr; however going into the second half of the 20K I could feel the wind starting to pick up and I was afraid I was looking at a positive split. I pushed through the wind and was able to finish out the bike split with a 01:01:50, 7min faster than the previous year. T2 was a quick 1min change, and it was off on the run. The run started out a little sour, the legs were not feeling as strong as I had hoped they would; however I was able to hold a favorable pace - even running throug the sand for about .5 miles. My legs finally released at about mile 3 and was able to start running, I hit the 6 mile mark at 00:40:00 minutes, but at that time I saw the 02:10:00 (quiet goal in my head...) fade away. I hit the finish line at 02:12:20 which was 8 minutes ahead of my verbal "conservative" goal. I felt good and was confident that I had a good race and overall was pleased with the performance. I finished 3rd/60 AG and 35th/550 OA. All in all it was a good day, just not good enough. 2010 goal = 1st place AG and top 15 OA.

Kaiser Permanente LA Triathlon

LA Triathlon - 9/7/2008

Goal:

0:27:00 Swim (1500M) 1:05:00 Bike (40K) 0:45:00 Run (10K)

Top 5 Finish...

Actual:

0:29:00 Swim (1500M) 1:05:00 Bike (40K) 0:43:00 Run (10K)

7th Place Age Group 30-34 out of 155

93rd Overall out of 1111

Finally!

A great race! I felt strong going into this race and the training finally paid off. The day started at 3:55am with a wake-up call from the front desk, a few modifications to the bike and I was off to the bus that would transfer us from LA Live (Finish Line) to Venice Beach (Starting Line). The swim went "ok" at best, my sighting got a little off and I lost approx. 60sec. re-aligning. At the end of the swim, we transfer to the bike which was a little different as we had to pack our equipment into our bags so that they could be transfered to T1. From there we were off on the bike, and a great bike it was. The course worked really well for me with a lot of flat runs and a few hills mixed in giving me a chance to pick up time lost to faster swimmers. I turned in a 1:05:00 time on the bike which gave me a 2nd place finish in my age group and a 61st finish overall out of 1111 athletes. Once into T2 it was a little confusing finding your gear and getting out to the run. I headed out on the run trying to hold a 0:06:30 pace which went really well for the first 4mi. however that was about the point my mind started to wander and I found my pace jumping all over the place. I ended up finishing with a 0:6:45 pace. All in all the race was a great race and I would definitely recommend it to everyone.