A "little" racing

Its been about... well a long time since I have raced a sprint triathlon. This weekend Coach gave me the green light to jump into a short reverse sprint tri to get in a little tempo/interval work before Wildflower.

Starting off a race with a run was weird enough. But starting out with a hard 5K made it even worse. I am no 5Ker and it showed. The leader (Collegiate Natl. Champion from Lubbock last weekend) got away pretty quick and it was a race for 2nd from there on out. Pretty pathetic run split to start the day.

I got on the bike and was chasing tandem bike powered by the 2 guys pictured above. Talk about redlining! Chasing down a tandem bike powered by a pro-triathlete and top amateur is tough going.

I wasn't able to reel them in, and it ended up coming down to the 150yd swim which quickly became a water polo style battle. It was a sprint (if you can call what I did "sprinting") to the finish which ended up coming down fractions of a second. I secured 2nd but in no way was "secure" in my performance. Overall, a pretty sub-par day and that showed me how much work I have to do. TONS!!

I know I had no real shot at staying with the winner (dude is fast) and his 47 to my 49:3x is fine. I really had no shot at him at this distance. So by no means do I think I "shoulda / coulda" beat or even really "raced" with him. Plain and simple, my performance was, overall, just a disappointment.

Capitan, we HAVE...

the POWER!

Thanks to the good folks at Quarq, its now time for me to actually start training like a pro. Coach has been chomping at the bit for me to get going on this for a while now. I don't know whether to be excited or scared of that. Right now I guess I am a bit of both.

Really back at it

Many triathletes, especially those from California, know the setting of the above photo. I depart today and head North to log another big weekend and to refresh the mind and body as to what is on the horizon. Kevin and I will be meeting up with some fellow T3ers and it should be a fun smashfest of a weekend.

Cheers

Back to it

I haven't ridden "long" since training for Kona. A few 100mi rides but nothing over 5hrs and all those were flat. This weekend it was back on the long horse, and it wasn't going to be flat. I went down to Carlsbad to join Charisa and Kevin and get back out on some of the roads we all grew to know and love SO very much while training for Kona. Unfortunately, for us and her, Cha Boom Boom came down with something on Saturday after struggling through our morning ride and wisely called it quits for the weekend. Some would be happy to have an excuse to sit on a comfortable couch all weekend and watch a huge TV, but not her.

So after some running on Saturday night, Kevin and I rolled out for a trip to Lake Henshaw. Really we couldn't have asked for a much better day. Coach placed strict orders to "ride it like a tourist" as I had a run to follow, and we had weather like this:

Despite abiding by coach's orders, I think the previous day's efforts had taken their toll and I rode the Bonk roller coaster from about 2hrs in. A bit over 6hrs later and I was in full bonk, sitting on Charisa's floor mowing down some cottage cheese. That run after I mentioned above, clearly that wasn't going to happen. 15mins later, I was standing in Charisa's kitchen making my post shower meal and holding the Brita filter so it didn't fall over during the earthquake. Judging by her reaction to the tremor, I think its safe to say Charisa still has a fair amount of Chicago and East Coast in her.

Car packed, sick girl left in the more than able hands of doting husband, I set off north. Once home I found that the drive had surprisingly left me feeling quite rejuvenated. So the plan was put back into action and I got in that scheduled run before dinner.

All in all, another good weekend. I won't lie, I was a little disappointed in myself with the bonkage on the bike. But I can't really expect to jump back into the long hilly rides and have the body just snap back into it. Work to be done. Work. To. Be. Done.

Riding to Nowhere

In my last post before Oceanside, I got a few questions regarding my "athletic" history. This is not to "toot my own horn" by any means, but some people find it somewhat interesting that I only really started the swimbikerun about 3yrs ago. It is true, this was me (middle) back when 12oz curls was my chosen form of exercise.

I think that the question I am most often asked when people find out I have only been riding as long as I have, is "How did you develop your cycling ability?" I am sure a little of my football strength transfered over, but I am positive that I began to see big gains shortly after I was introduced to this guy:

(yes I found the cheesiest pic I could)

and to this thing

If you don't know, the pic above is Coach Troy Jacobson of Spinervals fame. Again, for those who may not know, Spinervals are DVDs with specific workouts to watch while riding the trainer. I love the trainer. You can absolutely SMASH yourself on it and have nothing else to concentrate on but how hard you are working. Seriously, I think the best bike workouts I have ever had have been on the trainer, without a doubt. From the most aerobic of rides to the most anaerobic, the trainer is KEY. Lucky for me, and in direct contrast to my healthy hatred of the treadmill, I actually enjoy the trainer. Even living in So. Cal., even in the summer, even when its light out, I will hit the trainer for good hard work. In my run up to Kona this year, I rode outside about 2 days a week. The rest was indoors, windows closed, long sleeve T's on, getting ready for the heat. Some of the best work I have ever done.

So if you don't have them, I HIGHLY recommend picking up a trainer and some Spinervals DVDs. You won't be sorry. Click on these links to TriSports and use coupon code IMIKE-S for 10% off. I have probably 10 DVDs I use regularly, some at least once a week. They WILL improve your cycling, FAST. At least it worked for me. Happy spinning.