Tuesday, June 30, 2009

2009 Cohasset Sprint Tri Race Report

Cohasset is the first of three sprint-distance tris, part of the new Commonwealth Triathlon Series. Last year it was the lone race by Race Director Bill Burnett but this year he has teamed with Tim Crowley, Jarrod Shoemaker and Janda Ricci-Munn to include Marlboro July 26th and Gloucester August 9th (both of which I am also entered).

Anyway, training has been going pretty well since Ashland and I was really looking forward to this race as it was to have a stacked field of elites and pros racing and I wanted to compare my splits with theirs.

Got to sleep pretty late the night before (12:00am) due to having friends over – that wouldn’t leave… we had a wine “drinking” I mean tasting party – I was good though having only maybe a total of 1.5 glasses of vino – but the late hour gave me reason to believe I might bag this race. 4 hours later I was getting out of bed, pretty tired, but ready and willing to race.

Pre-Race
For a change, on race morning it wasn’t raining - barely. But it was foggy in Sudbury so I could only imagine what it was doing on the Cohasset shoreline.

The applesauce trick worked great! Had 4 little cups around 10:30 the night before - that plus an old favorite I forgot about years ago (drink a cup of very warm to almost hot water when you get up) helped get things “moving” along in the morning, if you get my meaning…

Got to the race site parking lot with no issues – hit the bathroom, then packed up and rode the 1.5 miles to the beach where transition was set up.

Side bar: I drove down Saturday morning for packet pick-up and to ride the course = next year I will not do this as I got caught in the charity ride traffic jam, never rode the course and didn’t get back home until almost 10:30am. I did learn however the roads were in bad shape and were narrow, like most beach roads. This information played a part in deciding whether I rode my disc with power or just the dishes… went dishes as I wouldn’t be reading the Tap much and as it was only a12 mile bike so I knew my pace was to be “balls-to-the-wall”! But all in all the early pick up was not worth it and duly noted for 2010.

Aside from the short bike to transition I didn’t get a warm-up ride in – took too long to get into transition, get numbered and set up. I did get a good stretch and warm-up run however – felt pretty well. Got back into transition and decided to set my bike shoes on the bike as the run from my rack position, thru transition to the mounting area was easily a couple hundred yards. Then I got my wetsuit on, had another gel and walked down to the beach.

Holly Crap it was choppy – the wind was blowing and it was misty with a little fog – not ideal conditions for a race and almost worse than Ashland’s rain due to the wind. The race start was delayed almost a ½ hour as they awaited a safety boat and other organizational issues. The delays lead me to get a little cold and tighten up a bit – tried to stretch that out waiting for my wave (#3) to go off.

The Pros/Elites would go first - they swam a ½ mile vs. our ¼ mile – which I think was short… and thankfully it was.

Swim
It was a beach start and I got to the water with the lead group; executed a few dolphin dives through the shallow waters while getting slammed by the 3 foot waves. I struggled to break free of racers and ended up getting hammered all the way out to the first buoy. Going out there was the hardest swim I’ve ever had due to the chops. I drank some salt water and could not get any semblance of rhythm going. I cut the first buoy perfectly and continued to fight for positioning as we made our way along the long-side of the counter-clockwise rectangular swim. I passed right next to the 2nd buoy and headed to the 3rd and final, now feeling like I had some rhythm. Once I turned at the 3rd buoy the tide pushed us in pretty quickly. I exited the water with a pretty high HR from my estimation – again, the hardest swim I’ve experienced. Thank goodness it was only a ¼ mile (or less). I kept my run from the beach into transition composed and paced- trying to settle the HR down a bit.
Swim Time – 5:37 (32nd AG - slow)

T1
This was not a good transition. My rack was very close to the swim exit so I didn’t have far to run but once there I couldn’t get the wetsuit off the ankles, it bunched up and I lost time pulling it off. In addition (as with Mooseman) the cold water temps and high HR left me very disoriented and wobbly when I got there and tried to relax myself. It was so bad I very nearly fell over twice and was very dizzy. I finally got the suit off both ankles, snapped the helmet grabbed the bike and headed out. The timing mats were a ways away, and the mount area was that much further again, so as mentioned before I didn’t put my shoes on for the run thru transition, I felt time would be saved running barefoot = it was as I passed 3 guys in bike shoes on the way.
T1 Time – 1:26 (too slow)

Bike
The bike didn’t start out well… I had trouble getting on with my shoes already snapped in. I unsnapped the left shoe before I could even get going so I had to get off, go back and grab it. I put it on (as I should have originally – on the ground), snapped that foot in and started out, slowly getting my right foot on that shoe, then in and tight. MRC-mate Greg Crist passed me during this whole fiasco. He would be the only bike to pass me this day – matter of fact we went back and forth several times on the course before he stayed out in front for the last several miles – always in site though. The bike was along some narrow beach roads and slightly inland where you could get aero and open it up a little more; potholes, cracks and overall poor pavement were issues throughout the ride. The worse of it came when the route took us through a golf club – this was very tight, very winding and led us to climb up the backs of many other riders from the first wave (not the pros of course). There were a few really well spectator-supported sections of the course, through Cohasset center – always nice to see cheering crowds line the streets. Greg and I went back and forth several times, passing a number of other cyclists along the way, but always staying out of each other’s draft and respecting the rules. The bike was for the most part uneventful, and as I think back – even before seeing my split, I don’t know that I felt the best out there, possible my legs were a bit fatigued from the swim, possibly my position on the bike still wasn’t right – Dunno. But I finished the ride strong and entered T2 looking forward to the run.
Bike Time – 29:49 (4th AG)

T2
Actually had a little trouble getting my shoes off believe it or not; finally successful in getting them off and the DS Trainers on, I took the time to suck down a gel (based on the last 2 races where I got leg cramps), a sip of water, picked up the Garmin and headed out (no, I didn’t forget my race number - I had my race belt and number on under my wetsuit from the beginning). I had the long run again from the rack to the timing mat but felt pretty good heading out.
T2 Time – 1:13 (still too slow)

Run
As I’ve mentioned in early notes, I want to improve my run the most this year – race in and race out I see where I am losing time and places because I can’t run with the elites or really even the top age groupers. So this was going to be my focus this year and I think there have been some improvements thus far.
The Wednesday leading up to Cohasset I raced a hilly 5k in Marlboro as a “speed workout” and to get some new 5k HR data (for Pat Wheeler to use with my coaching plan) - averaged about a 6:30 pace for the race. Knowing this would help me with Cohasset’s run as the distance was the same though with fewer hills than the RR, I went out a little strong as the Garmin read at the ½ mile mark I was running about 6:10. Again I was chasing Greg Crist out of transition who was about 50 yards up on me – though not in my AG I knew if I could run with him it would be a good day on the road, so he was my target for the most part.
I settled down, got into a rhythm, passed a few folks (none my age I don’t think looking at the final splits) and hit Mile 1 at 6:32. Keeping my form and technique intact (quick turnover, good posture, efficient form from what I could tell) I continued on to Mile 2 at 6:41. I passed a few more runners and hit Mile 3 at 6:45 – I finished the race running a 5:51 the last 1/3 mile. Good thing I paced well throughout cuz the 3rd placed age grouper finished only 7 seconds behind me (in reviewing the numbers I had a 51 second lead on him after T2 = he was certainly closing on me… NEED to work on my run)
Run Time – 21:50 (42nd AG - way too slow)

Final Results
59:53
2nd Age Group
12th Overall
4th Fastest Bike Split


Overall I am happy with the final results but there were too many mistakes in transition that need work, and I would like to fell better coming out of the cold water. This is the second race where I was disoriented due to the water temp and accelerated HR. Need to figure this out.
This was a nice race in a beautiful seaport town – the roads need major work however. RD Bill Burnett and his crew were great – very well staffed and supported. I would recommend this sprint to anyone (just hope they do something with the roads…) and will report back on the other two races in the series. I suspect they will be handled just as well as this one was.

Inside the numbers (thinking out loud…)

- 59 seconds off 1st AG.
- 1:16 off 2nd place OV.
- The first place age grouper won by over 2 minutes (2:11 to be exact).
- Including myself, there were 10 guys all within 76 seconds of the 2nd place guy OV.
- Of the Top 30 finishers there were two 22 minute runners, a 21:51, my 21:50 and a 21:48. All the rest were at or below 21:40 with the majority in the 20:xx range.
- Thus my run was one of the slower of the top finishers.


Final Analysis - the run is where I'm really losing my races; I currently don’t run with the faster AG racers and will need to lower those times to move up the ranks.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The week that was... Cohasset on the horizon.

After an invigorating and wet race at Ashland I was looking at a couple weeks before the next race at Cohasset on June 28th. This race will also have a stacked field of pros and elites – should be fun stuff as I compare my numbers to the area’s/world’s best triathletes.

Anyway, I was looking forward to a good week of training knowing I wasn’t racing the upcoming weekend – this of course meant getting to do a monster ride Saturday.

So I spent Monday after Ashland in the pool for an easy swim (‘bout 2500y) and followed that with 60’ spin at work on the trainer (in the open-air garage, overlooking Maynard = far from the picturesque photos Lance keeps Tweeting of “his office view”. Air-compressor filled rooftops vs. snow-capped mountain tops… which would you rather stare at)

As I mentioned earlier in my musings, I want to focus on my run this year and get that to where I feel I can hold mid-to-low 6’s for a 10k (mid-to-high for a HIM). With the pulled hammy a couple months ago I haven’t been able to really put the effort into the runs. This week I decided to start looking at that again, so on Tuesday I ran a 10k from work initially easy but negative-splitting the return 5k (as planned). It was a good run, staying consistent around 7:45 for 4 miles before dropping to 7:25 then 6:59 the last 2. The hammy was a bit tight but overall no problems and I felt fine fitness-wise.

Having to generally get my training started around 0500 in the morning (due to work and 4 young, active kids) I have learned this 44 yr old body needs about 2 days of sleeping in (0600 is sleeping in for me – cannot recall the last time I awoke after 0700). That was the case for Wednesday, so I missed my time in the pool.

Bounced back Thursday morning with a 75’ spin on the trainer and another 10k run at lunch. This time I incorporated intervals throughout the run:
6x 1/2m @6:30 with 1/2m recover @7:45 or better. (7:10 avg)
This felt real good, encouraging.

Friday is usually Walden day, a swim with a couple of loops on the trails around the pond. As has been the case all this month it was raining. So I bagged the pond for the pool. Glad I did as I put forth my best pool effort in a while, totaling 4100y in Ladder format (100, 200, 400, 800, 1000, 800, 400, 200, 100, 100cd). I was trying to keep my 100s at 1:30 and only about 1:00-1:30 recovery… not sure the 1:30 100s held true the whole workout but overall I was pleased.

On to my Saturday long ride – had two ways to go:
1. try for a 5 hr 100 mile ride (avg 20 mph), or
2. 4-5 hrs with some interval work thrown in

Since I got about a 30 minute late start (0515 rollout) I opted for the latter.
I headed to Mt WaWa again as I like the hill work (with Timberman coming up in lass than 10 weeks); actually lucked out with decent weather Saturday – NO RAIN!
Results: 4:15, 85 miles, 20.1 avg mph, 231 watts (pnorm 260), after 30’ wu, intervals of 3x20' (3') = 309watts, 293watts; 311watts. Tried to keep the rest of the wkout b/t 245-265 watts. Big thing I noticed that daywas the fatigued in my legs about 2:15 into the ride – most likely due to the intervals but I would like to feel better up to 3 hrs = this way I know I can push Timberman and still have a good run to follow.

I got home with the hopes of a short run to see how the legs would react but had other family commitments, so I figured let the legs rest and maybe do 60’ in the afternoon. Nope, more family stuff… running around for Father’s Day and b-day gifts for my Dad and watching the youngin’.

Sunday, between my son being in the Little League All-Star game (which I was coaching) and a Father’s Day/B-Day celebration at my house after for my Dad, the day was shot. PLUS, I cheated a bit with some cake and ice cream (ugh!). Oh well.

The resulting Sunday-sugar coma and a long day at work (end of the Qtr stresses) kept me down Monday – no wkouts. Got a good spin and short run on Tuesday morning; and tonight I will run the Wayside 5k in Marlboro. I’m using this race to get some HR data – may not be the best course due to the hills but I’ll put everything into it.

So that’s where I am to date… Sunday is Cohasset – a sprint tri. Will do some high intensity work the rest of the week.

After that, it’s on to QT2 and new coach Pat Wheeler! Totally stoked! (more later…)

Safe Training Everyone!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Ashland Race Report - step in the right direction...

Ashland turned out to be a much better day than Mooseman (except for the weather, of course - couldn't beat that at The Moose). A much harder run than Moose, maybe a little easier bike but still hilly.

The day started at 0430, awaking to the dreadful sound of RAIN (after such a beautiful Saturday). Got up, had my applesauce, only 1 cup of coffee and cold WW pasta. Due to the rain I decided to stay home and stretch in my dry house - no need to get there too early and get wet prepping for the day. So I left at 0600 (the time I wanted to be there originally) - easy drive to Ashland at that time on a Sunday morning. Pull into the lot and am one of the first there. It also had stopped raining by now (but I knew the radar said more was on the way - and with about 45 minutes to race start, it came.)

Got a quick warm-up ride in (in the rain) to make sure the gears were set - all good; hoping for a better bike than Moosey.

Racked the bike (right next to another Softride Rocket - must be the only 2 left in the area...) and headed down to the water in my rain-soaked crappy run shoes (for the trans-run up post swim)

Happy with my swim (23:31) - felt good and in touch with the lead swimmers in my wave - the the first of three. Figured some of the faster elites who were starting 4 minutes behind might catch me towards the end... yup. With just under a 1/4 mile to go I looked right to breath and saw Tim Snow go by me like he was swimming with fins and a propeller - WHOA!

Go out of the water, pulled my wetsuit down to my waist, squeezed on my shoes to make the 1/4 run from the lake to transition - uphill of course. Treacherous with the rain, mud, slick rocks... but didn't over run the way up, trying to keep the heart from busting out outta my chest. Into/out of T1 with no issues (5:04), hit the road for the rain-pelting 1st loop.

I felt pretty good this week on the bike - my time spent Thursday night tinkering with the cockpit paid off as I had the 7th fastest overall bike (#s 1 and 2 were DQ'd, so my 9th happily became 7th). 1:08:41. T2 was uneventful, even took a few seconds to stretch the hips - 1:04.

The run at Ashland is a freaking killer! Much harder than Mooseman. You start uphill, make a right for a long downhill (which you run up on the return trip). During the downhill I felt the left quad cramping. I only had 1 gel left so I quickly took it with some water at the first aid station, stretched it and hoped... after about another 1/2 mile the cramping issue subsided and I was running better again, but I feared it would come back - and with no gels or Gatorade on the course (water only) I didn't push it as hard as I could for fear it would doom me.

Ended up getting passed by probably the 3rd place finisher in my AG (a few guys passed me, most young, one or two that likely were in my bracket - 1 of which I retook later) but managed a decent run back. Kept my form after the quad issue and ran within myself, not letting anything blow up or slow down, just plain consistent from what I could tell (I didn't wear the Garmin due to the weather) Run time 43:42, slower than I wanted but I'll take it.

Final time: 2:22:03
4th Age Group
12th Overall
- - - and against a stellar field that included Tim Snow, Jesse Kropolnicki, Pat Wheeler (that's COACH Pat Wheeler - more on that in a later blog), Cait Snow, Kerry Sullivan, Clydes Chris Pearson (holy sh*t he can move for a big guy!), Gary David and Tim Crowley.

My results in summary = content, pleased, happy... but not satisfied - that would mean I don't want to improve my effort. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Enter Coach Pat Wheeler and QT2...

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Mooseman International - Recap

Here's my short report from Saturday:Mooseman... International:


No Applesauce the night before (Crap! - or lack there of)...


Easy Ride up at 0315 Saturday with The Machine (Dean McNabb)...


Pit stop just before the race site -- I wish I had the Applesauce to "help"...


Beautiful Day for a race...

Consistent swim, good rythym, no real issues save for a little offline on the return to shore, couldn't site the swim finish; all in all good swim...


I STILL haven't pee'd in my wetsuit...


Swim - 25:04


T1 - a little disoriented, slow in transition... 1:39


Problems on the bike (seat position, gears skipping)... resulted in low back pain and shifting problems all day; think the rear brake is rubbing as well; used disc on PT wheel (watts data below)


I STILL haven't pee'd on the bike...


Bike - 1:16:30 (avg watts 284, normpower 300)


T2 - slow again at 1:14 (about 30 seconds slower than I wanted)...


Run could have been good if I did an Uta Pippig (stomach issues b/t Mile 2 and 3)... didn't stop but couldn't hit my next gear while focusing on stomach...


Run - 44:15 (7:08 pace -- wanted 6:36 to 6:45, oh well)


2:28:40 final

Bad enough for 11th AG, 39th OV (looking for Top 10 AG and Top 25 OV - AG goal was there for the taking but OV was not. 40-44 is one tough group. The top 6 were well outta reach - a different horse those 6 were).

Initially disappointed in the results -- it should have been better... but after reflection I came to realize:


1. I felt good during the swim (in a sustainable rhythm)


2. my bike wasn't too far off from my goal of 1:15 (loose the shifting issues and I could've saved a minute or two)

3. and I know I can run the 6:45 (or better) I wanted if I just stopped and PEE'D and got that off my mind (oh, and had my applesauce the night before to help clear the system out)

Will get the bike set-up squared away and will drink far less coffee prior to the race - will also pound the applesauce the day/night before to flush the system early the next morning. All things I'll work on this weekend at Ashland, as I just signed up to race it yesterday.


Safe Training Everyone!

PS - Loved racing again after a year off... MUCH (much much much) work to do before Timberman Half.


Power-Tap - Mooseman International 6/6/09:
Duration: 1:17:23
Work: 1317 kJ
TSS: 119.7 (intensity factor 0.965)
Norm Power: 300
VI: 1.05
Distance: 27.298 mi
Averages:
Power 713 max 284 avg
Cadence 159 max 88 avg
Speed 42.2 max 21.2 avg

Friday, June 5, 2009

Mooseman International 2009 - Pre-Race

So here's my abbreviated story leading up to Moosey...

Started training a while back (see prev. blog entries);
- feelin' good, getting the "sludge" out...
- seemingly able to manage the back and hip (good news);
- bike getting stronger (pleased);
- improving my run speed (very pleased as this was the area I most wanted improvement this year);
- pull the hammy doing intervals = set back, CRAP!
- less running and more pool work (okay);
- start running again but easy - no intervals... not what I want but will take it;
- start swimming in Walden about 10 days prior to race, not too cold at all with my new XTerra long-sleeved suit (really like it).
- still not running to hard - or too much (hmmm);
- getting a few quality rides in, including 2 trips to Mt WaWa.

Jump to 1 week prior to the race...
WTF?!?! The race is NEXT WEEK???!!! Holy Crap Batman!

I am certainly not where I want to be... but okay, so I'll go in under-trained.
(this is where a coach would tell me not to worry, it’s not your “A” race… well, problem is they’re all “A” races to me… it’s my personal demon)

Speaking of under-trained, I was once asked: "do you like your chocolate chip cookies undercooked or overcooked?"
My answer = undercooked. Hell, just give me cookie dough and I'm good to go!
His point being it’s better to go into the race under-trained than over-trained (burnt out). Okay, so by that reasoning, I'm feeling like I'm the cookie dough in the bowl before you even turn the oven on, as I head up to Moosey tomorrow.... so be it.

Back to the week leading up to the race…
- had a great solo ride to Mt WaWa and back (20 mph for 3.5 hours!) Saturday;
- into Walden Monday – felt strong;
- 4m run Tuesday… a little slow and sluggish, consistent avg 6:47 thru-out = wanted 6:30 pace or better… disappointed;
- Feeling a bit “off” Wed morning, thus no Walden swim… instead 60’ bike w/ intervals at lunch (felt good);
- Thursday = the real trouble begins… still feeling a bit off, can’t get up early for Walden, again no swim, just plain wiped. Got to bed early… too much sleep??… at work my low back is really bothering and seizing up/tight. I ice it and start a healthy diet of 800mg ibuprofen every 4 hrs… as the day wears on so does the stiffness. It moves to my upper back, traps and neck. Now I’m walking like I’m wearing a back brace. Really bummed. I stretch (as best I can), pop the Advil, drink a lot of water and hope… and swear… and hope.
- Friday = 0430 wake up looking for relief and a trip Walden, still stiff so I bag it. Will go to work, bag out early and get ready for the ride up to the race very early tomorrow morning. I’ll jump on the bike for a quick spin to see how the disc holds up, then a quick T-run… trying not to aggravate anything.
- Saturday = Race Day… Hoping for the best when I wake up at 3am later tonight / tomorrow morning…

A couple of weeks ago I put together my goals for the race based on reading last year’s results and placing myself among names and abilities I know (this was prior to all this crap going down the last week…)
My original swim time was likely unrealistic (they must have had a short swim last year) so I bump that time up a bit. Here was what I set for myself (back in Mid May, before the wheels fell off…)

Swim 18:45
T1 1:30
Bike 1:15:00 (21.8 mph)
T2 :45
Run 41:00 (6:37 pace)

Total Goal Finish Time: 2:17:00

Top 20 Overall (maybe Top 25)
Top 10 Age Group


If any of this works out I’ll be thrilled! And we’ll know the Advil and witchcraft worked.

Bottom line… gotta be more consistent (words one Mr. Wheeler passed along about a month ago.)

The pre-season is over and it’s time to race. But the plane is to build to Appleman and Timberman Half, so let’s (TRY and) be smart going forward. No more messing around… I need to stick to the plan… A plan… ANY plan for that matter.
= build consistency
= not get injured training
= strengthen the core
= stretch more
= follow a plan.

Enough for now. Talk to you after the race. (thanks for reading!)

Safe training everyone!