I came down to Tucson this weekend to go do this race (and to do other stuff). Even though the race has this special stuff for people that can average 30mph, I knew that wasn't a realistic goal for me. I decided that I would shoot for 24mph (finishing in 30 minutes or less, like a pizza). The race is downhill pretty much the whole way, and I thought I could maybe do that for 12 miles.
I started off probably a little quick. I think my instinct of not wanting to look slow in front of people probably kicks in on the start here (just like running in a big group at the start of a pure running race seems to make me go faster). I wanted to see if I could get up to 30mph and then see how much work it would be to keep that up... but that didn't really happen. I only got up to 30 a couple of times, on the bigger sloped downhills... when I was doing most of the work, seemed like I topped out around 24.
I did work about as hard as I could, and I was able to maintain it for the most part for the whole race. I finished in around 31 minutes (haven't gotten the official time yet). 31 minutes puts me at 22.6 mph, which is not too bad (well slow for everyone else, but pretty good for me). I did wear my HR monitor during the race to better judge my effort... and I did average 171 bpm, and I was pushing the biggest gears I could the whole way. I'm really still not sure how everyone else just whizzes by me, but oh well. I did a pretty good job of completely emptying my tank, which is all I can do really.
Now, to the problem... I did a pretty good job of completely emptying my tank. This is a one-way time trial, meaning that after I finished I then had to ride back UP the hill for the same 12 miles to get back to my car, while running on fumes. This was evil and sad. Took me over an hour to make my way back up... just more good exercise really, but it was frustrating. I was jealous of every truck I saw heading back up with bikes in the back (some people plan ahead and come in a group). Overall was pretty fun, and I might have to do it again to see if I can get faster. only 8 mph more to get the nifty 30mph shirt...heh.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Mountain Man Sprint
Looking at my personal records, I decided sometime last week that I should be able to smash the swim record for 750m, and I thought I could also break my 20k bike record here as well. Those were my goals, and I accomplished both of them, and by breaking those and putting in a reasonable run time, I also set a new PR for 750m swim Sprints as well.
Decided to go without a wetsuit for this swim. The water turned out to feel a little chilly at the start, but was pretty much fine. I did miss the flotation though, and I seemed to get pretty tired in my arms pretty quickly. I suspect that this had more to do with the fact that I haven't been swimming since the Boise race, rather than the fact that I didn't wear a wetsuit. Anyway, I managed through the swim, didn't feel that fast, but kept plugging along. My new goggles did still leak in a bit, and fog up a bit, ended up taking them off near the end. Time was ok, but I could be faster... still more room to improve there. (I had a faster pace at the 70.3)
Ran through to my spot in transition, had a pretty good T1, and was off on the bike. Felt pretty strong right off, then I had more work to do than I thought... think there was more hill there than I expected. Pushed through each bit of incline fairly well though. I also did a better job staying in the aero position, which I'm sure helped my time. Kept pushing myself through to the finish of the bike.
Right away starting off on the run I could feel both calves tighten up. I kept walking often at the start trying to stretch them out, but didn't really get them right. It wasn't until after about 2 miles that they really started to feel ok. Around that point I thought for a second I could just really sprint the rest of the way, but I didn't do that. Ended up walking a couple more times, but then the last kick I was flying. Probably left a bit in the tank, but was pretty good.
Overall, I did break both my swim and bike PRs, and the sprint PR, so I'm pretty happy with that. I think my calves are generally way too tight, so I need to work more on stretching, maybe would have been able to have a faster run without that... I think I could've beaten 1:30.
Decided to go without a wetsuit for this swim. The water turned out to feel a little chilly at the start, but was pretty much fine. I did miss the flotation though, and I seemed to get pretty tired in my arms pretty quickly. I suspect that this had more to do with the fact that I haven't been swimming since the Boise race, rather than the fact that I didn't wear a wetsuit. Anyway, I managed through the swim, didn't feel that fast, but kept plugging along. My new goggles did still leak in a bit, and fog up a bit, ended up taking them off near the end. Time was ok, but I could be faster... still more room to improve there. (I had a faster pace at the 70.3)
Ran through to my spot in transition, had a pretty good T1, and was off on the bike. Felt pretty strong right off, then I had more work to do than I thought... think there was more hill there than I expected. Pushed through each bit of incline fairly well though. I also did a better job staying in the aero position, which I'm sure helped my time. Kept pushing myself through to the finish of the bike.
Right away starting off on the run I could feel both calves tighten up. I kept walking often at the start trying to stretch them out, but didn't really get them right. It wasn't until after about 2 miles that they really started to feel ok. Around that point I thought for a second I could just really sprint the rest of the way, but I didn't do that. Ended up walking a couple more times, but then the last kick I was flying. Probably left a bit in the tank, but was pretty good.
Overall, I did break both my swim and bike PRs, and the sprint PR, so I'm pretty happy with that. I think my calves are generally way too tight, so I need to work more on stretching, maybe would have been able to have a faster run without that... I think I could've beaten 1:30.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
End of June, start of July update
Since returning from the big trip through the west, I have not really jumped right back
on my training. As of today, I believe I have gone for one good run (6 miles), and one
good bike (15 miles) since getting back on June 20th. I'm planning on doing the 13 week Ironman plan to get ready for the race in November, but I have a number of "extra" weeks before that would begin to work with. With the Alcatraz race coming up at the end of August (and near the start of what that plan would be), I want to start the plan early and just stretch out the middle. I've already redone my redone plan a couple times, and this week will not be making it either.
I think I will just go ad-hoc for the next couple weeks anyway, but try to make sure I'm ramping back up. Going down to Tucson next week, planning to do some biking and play some soccer... so that will be a step up. On the 18th I want to do the Mountain Man Sprint here in town, and then on the 25th I want to go back down to Tucson to do this Sonoita-Patagonia time trial that sounds like a lot of fun (and do more biking and soccer). Looking at all that now, I don't think I'm too far off where I would want to be. I'm going to do a run today, maybe a ride tomorrow morning too. Should get back in the pool soon I guess also.
on my training. As of today, I believe I have gone for one good run (6 miles), and one
good bike (15 miles) since getting back on June 20th. I'm planning on doing the 13 week Ironman plan to get ready for the race in November, but I have a number of "extra" weeks before that would begin to work with. With the Alcatraz race coming up at the end of August (and near the start of what that plan would be), I want to start the plan early and just stretch out the middle. I've already redone my redone plan a couple times, and this week will not be making it either.
I think I will just go ad-hoc for the next couple weeks anyway, but try to make sure I'm ramping back up. Going down to Tucson next week, planning to do some biking and play some soccer... so that will be a step up. On the 18th I want to do the Mountain Man Sprint here in town, and then on the 25th I want to go back down to Tucson to do this Sonoita-Patagonia time trial that sounds like a lot of fun (and do more biking and soccer). Looking at all that now, I don't think I'm too far off where I would want to be. I'm going to do a run today, maybe a ride tomorrow morning too. Should get back in the pool soon I guess also.
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