Today, we went to pick up our race packets and all the other crap they give out at these races: coupons to local/national retailers, cards for other races, cards for bikes, cards for sponsors, sample packets of various liquids and food (although, this time, there was no food in our packet - perhaps Ironman's sponsorship fees are a tad too high for some of the big athlete food providers).
While I meandered in the expo, my sister went for a swim. We met up later, and after some quick shopping by her, we went back to #235 for a late lunch.
After lunch we drove the course. The small loop of the bike and the run loop were very similar past a certain point, so we drove the run course out and bike course back. The run course is a little hilly for the first few miles but we do get a long downhill back to the start of the 2nd loop and the finish. As I'd already ridden the small loop of the bike, there were no surprises. Those came on the big loop of the bike course.
After several miles of gently sloping uphills and false flats heading North away from CDA, the mother-lode of hills kicked in and all I can say is OH MY FREAKING GOD there's a lot of hills. I don't know how many miles they cover, but shit, I am officially concerned. I'm not worried about the first bike loop. The second, however, is going to suck...badly. I can honestly say that I am actually looking forward to the run because it means that I'll be done with the bike and seeing how my run has improved enormously over the last season and a half (and even more so this season) it should be the easier of the two for me. This means I REALLY need to stay focused on my heart rate on the bike and save the legs not only for the run, but for the second lap of the bike.
This will probably prove to be the hardest part as I tend to completely zone out and I really need to make sure I'm drinking and eating on schedule.
Showing posts with label swim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swim. Show all posts
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Back On Track, Sort Of
After doing most of my workouts that were slated for last Thursday and Friday this past weekend, today saw me get back on track with my training. Well, sort of. You see, the gym, in its infinite fucking brilliance, decided that closing for it's annual maintenance week in late August didn't make sense because....well, honestly, I have no idea why they thought it didn't make sense. So, they moved it to this week, in April. You see, in late August, most people's training seasons are winding down whereas in April everyone's training season is in full swing. So, naturally it makes sense to pick this week to close the gym.
On the bright side, I feel my swimming is totally solid. I have zero qualms about the Ironman swim. I'm a tiny bit nervous about the bike, but only because I'm afraid I won't hold back enough - which could wind up being a double-edged sword and I could hold back too much. I'm reasonably worried about the run. I have done long runs, but only up to ~13.5 miles or so. And my weekly mile totals haven't been on track because I seem to always blow off one run each week. This is where the gym being closed could be a blessing. It allows me to run and bike 4 days in a row this week with a day off on Friday in prepration for my 10K race on Saturday.
That said, I really should be in bed now.
On the bright side, I feel my swimming is totally solid. I have zero qualms about the Ironman swim. I'm a tiny bit nervous about the bike, but only because I'm afraid I won't hold back enough - which could wind up being a double-edged sword and I could hold back too much. I'm reasonably worried about the run. I have done long runs, but only up to ~13.5 miles or so. And my weekly mile totals haven't been on track because I seem to always blow off one run each week. This is where the gym being closed could be a blessing. It allows me to run and bike 4 days in a row this week with a day off on Friday in prepration for my 10K race on Saturday.
That said, I really should be in bed now.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
An Exhausing Weekend
Saturday saw a 100-mile ride that took over 6 hours because of a 10+ mile headwind the entire way back from Ft. Collins to Boulder. And while I'll be the first to admit I bitch about headwinds (and wind in general) it wasn't the wind that made the ride bad. I was actually mostly ok with the wind. The problem was with my gloves and my seat (and thus, my ass). The weather, overall, was nice. It was bright and sunny but a cold 40 degrees. And windy.
My gloves had no padding in the palms so after trying to ride the first 50+ miles in the aero position as much as practical my palms became really sore. I have padded gloves - one day I'll actually remember to use them.
I had on two layers on my legs which was, in hindsight, too much and made for some stiff riding. Up top, I was fine, but my undershirt, actually a rash guard from Quicksilver meant for surfing, had a seam that ran the length of my arm and somehow managed to position itself right in line with where my forearms rested on my aerobar pads making for some more uncomfortableness when trying to ride in the aero position.
The worst thing, though, had to be my ass. I have a fi'zi:k Arione saddle which is not technically a triathlon saddle. Because it's not a triathlon saddle, one's seat bones slide forward on the saddle and force your crotch to bear the full weight of your torso. After 50-60 miles, this becomes too much (especially if you're a guy) and it starts hurting and makes the last 40 miles of the ride really suck.
I found out today that the Arione was the defacto standard for a while because there were really no triathlon specific saddles out there for the longest time. Times have changed. There's a plethora of saddles out on the market now and I wound up with the Specialized Phenom which is actually a mountain bike saddle according to Specialized's website. I don't care, it was the most comfortable and while it almost never turns out this way, was the most inexpensive.
After Saturday's 100-mile ride, Sunday brought forth another ride, 23 miles, and a swim (I bailed on the 1-mile run I was supposed to do after the ride on Saturday). I thought I'd be tired for the 23-mile ride, and I was, but I didn't suffer through it. I did it on the trainer watching a movie (Blade II) so maybe that helped. I was pretty thoroughly tired by the swim and ended it after 2500m.
The ride, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because my tempo ride on Monday, when I thought my legs would be totally shot (like they were 4 weeks ago when I did my last century) but I'm convinced the 23-mile ride on Sunday really helped flush out the legs and I was able to do 35 minutes in Z4 despite the massive headwind on the last 8-miles of an 11-mile Z4 TT. Speed was good, cadence was good. Workout was good.
My gloves had no padding in the palms so after trying to ride the first 50+ miles in the aero position as much as practical my palms became really sore. I have padded gloves - one day I'll actually remember to use them.
I had on two layers on my legs which was, in hindsight, too much and made for some stiff riding. Up top, I was fine, but my undershirt, actually a rash guard from Quicksilver meant for surfing, had a seam that ran the length of my arm and somehow managed to position itself right in line with where my forearms rested on my aerobar pads making for some more uncomfortableness when trying to ride in the aero position.
The worst thing, though, had to be my ass. I have a fi'zi:k Arione saddle which is not technically a triathlon saddle. Because it's not a triathlon saddle, one's seat bones slide forward on the saddle and force your crotch to bear the full weight of your torso. After 50-60 miles, this becomes too much (especially if you're a guy) and it starts hurting and makes the last 40 miles of the ride really suck.
I found out today that the Arione was the defacto standard for a while because there were really no triathlon specific saddles out there for the longest time. Times have changed. There's a plethora of saddles out on the market now and I wound up with the Specialized Phenom which is actually a mountain bike saddle according to Specialized's website. I don't care, it was the most comfortable and while it almost never turns out this way, was the most inexpensive.
After Saturday's 100-mile ride, Sunday brought forth another ride, 23 miles, and a swim (I bailed on the 1-mile run I was supposed to do after the ride on Saturday). I thought I'd be tired for the 23-mile ride, and I was, but I didn't suffer through it. I did it on the trainer watching a movie (Blade II) so maybe that helped. I was pretty thoroughly tired by the swim and ended it after 2500m.
The ride, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because my tempo ride on Monday, when I thought my legs would be totally shot (like they were 4 weeks ago when I did my last century) but I'm convinced the 23-mile ride on Sunday really helped flush out the legs and I was able to do 35 minutes in Z4 despite the massive headwind on the last 8-miles of an 11-mile Z4 TT. Speed was good, cadence was good. Workout was good.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Today's Workout -Training Tired
Swim (...so...tired...)
22-mile ride (yes, on top of the long-ass one yesterday)
Let's face it, motivation is usually low and it's VERY easy to find distractions - say, if the spouse gives you permission to purchase an Apple TV on your quest to set up a media server in the house (even if your ultimate goal is to have two, one for each HDTV). I am proud to say, however, that I was able to resist the temptation of setting it up until after my swim, but before my ride. I only swam and rode for 30-minutes each because next week is my recovery week and I still have power class tomorrow night and I need some legs for that class.
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