On 6/8/13, I did my first Olympic triathlon: the Daybreak triathlon. The swim part was my first open water swim race.
I finished the triathlon in the middle of the pack. My swim was pretty terrible but I was expecting that. I finished in 39min, while swimming breast strokes about half of the time. My biggest challenge was the sighting. I was zigzagging the whole time, finding myself occasionally off course on the shores of the lake.. A lot more practice needed...
T1 was was especially horrible. I tried to pre-clip my bike shoes and attach them to the bike with rubber bands but completely failed to put them on while on the bike. I had also forgotten to attach my water bottle to the bike and it took me ages to attach the velcro properly while riding.
The most disappointing part for me had to be the biking. I thought I would perform better, but the result speaks for itself. With an overall age group finish of 22nd / 36 on my total time, my bike ride was just about average. I should not be surprised really. I have not done that much biking yet, and I am still a beginner. I was under the silly illusion that I was better than this. Well... Nothing better to motivate me though. I feel my blood boiling.
I did catch back up a bit on the run, but again, this was a learning experience for me. I started at my 10k pace (the course was 6.5miles) but quickly realized I was not going to be able to sustain it. This was a bit surprising to me. But with the heat (full sun 90 - 95 F) and the accumulated fatigue, I actually suffered in the run and finished at a slow 8:00 min/mile pace in 49min.
With the added motivation of this relative disappointment, I started the training pretty hard again.
I have been commuting to work twice a week with my bike and joined a local triathlon club.
The club is absolutely amazing at assisting with my training. On Mondays 6am, we do a group swim workout, Tuesdays are track run workout (6am).
I had not done speed work in months. Performing them alone was really a chore that I did not enjoy at all. However, with the club, and the other guys pushing me, it's actually really challenging and enjoyable. Thursdays are a higher intensity bike ride for about an hour. I can't always join because it is too early for me (6pm) and sometimes far away from my work. But I have done a uphill canyon time trial (at Emigration Canyon) which helped me measure how mediocre my bike performance currently is. The top guy finished the climb under 26 minutes, while it took me 37min....
On the week end, I have started doing one long ride and try to maintain one long run as well.
The club also organizes open water sessions once a month and other events that are fun to take part of.
So far, I am trying to hit all the key sessions of my written Excel plan but I am planning to reshuffle it to include the following:
-SWIM
1 club swim per week
1 long swim alone (1 to 1.5 hr)
1-2 swim alone with intervals with at least 1 open water a week practicing sighting
-BIKE
2 commutes to work a week (17.5 miles x4)
1 interval training with the club on Thursdays if possible
1 long ride per week (4 - 6hrs)
1 tempo on week ends (1 - 2 hrs) with intervals or sustained effort
really want to buy a virtual trainer whenever possible to do some of these workouts in a more controlled manner...
-RUN
1 speedwork with the club (Mondays)
1 long run per week (weekends) 12 miles to 22 miles
1 tempo run in the middle of the week (~8 miles)
I would like to try to keep my running at about 30 miles a week if possible
That is a lot of training for me. A lot more than I have ever done. I am evaluating it at 17 to 23 hours per week. Maybe a bit ambitious and I might need to adjust it down later on. I also have to add some transition practice in there.
Realizing I have so much more to learn, I signed up for 2 more triathlons before the ChesapeakeMan. One is a sprint on 8/10/13, the Herriman triathlon. It will be a good opportunity to put in practice the transition training I am going to do.
Then on 8/24/13, a half Ironman (Utah Half). This will be my final reality check before the Ironman on 9/21/13.
This week, I am putting my training on hold for a few days to join a team doing the Top of Zion relay. A 200 mile run relay race in the southern Utah's National park. I have been wanting to do this race for a couple of years so this is worth my while. I will still use this as a serious run training and since it ends on Saturday, I should have time for a long ride on Sunday.
I finished the triathlon in the middle of the pack. My swim was pretty terrible but I was expecting that. I finished in 39min, while swimming breast strokes about half of the time. My biggest challenge was the sighting. I was zigzagging the whole time, finding myself occasionally off course on the shores of the lake.. A lot more practice needed...
T1 was was especially horrible. I tried to pre-clip my bike shoes and attach them to the bike with rubber bands but completely failed to put them on while on the bike. I had also forgotten to attach my water bottle to the bike and it took me ages to attach the velcro properly while riding.
The most disappointing part for me had to be the biking. I thought I would perform better, but the result speaks for itself. With an overall age group finish of 22nd / 36 on my total time, my bike ride was just about average. I should not be surprised really. I have not done that much biking yet, and I am still a beginner. I was under the silly illusion that I was better than this. Well... Nothing better to motivate me though. I feel my blood boiling.
I did catch back up a bit on the run, but again, this was a learning experience for me. I started at my 10k pace (the course was 6.5miles) but quickly realized I was not going to be able to sustain it. This was a bit surprising to me. But with the heat (full sun 90 - 95 F) and the accumulated fatigue, I actually suffered in the run and finished at a slow 8:00 min/mile pace in 49min.
With the added motivation of this relative disappointment, I started the training pretty hard again.
I have been commuting to work twice a week with my bike and joined a local triathlon club.
The club is absolutely amazing at assisting with my training. On Mondays 6am, we do a group swim workout, Tuesdays are track run workout (6am).
I had not done speed work in months. Performing them alone was really a chore that I did not enjoy at all. However, with the club, and the other guys pushing me, it's actually really challenging and enjoyable. Thursdays are a higher intensity bike ride for about an hour. I can't always join because it is too early for me (6pm) and sometimes far away from my work. But I have done a uphill canyon time trial (at Emigration Canyon) which helped me measure how mediocre my bike performance currently is. The top guy finished the climb under 26 minutes, while it took me 37min....
On the week end, I have started doing one long ride and try to maintain one long run as well.
The club also organizes open water sessions once a month and other events that are fun to take part of.
So far, I am trying to hit all the key sessions of my written Excel plan but I am planning to reshuffle it to include the following:
-SWIM
1 club swim per week
1 long swim alone (1 to 1.5 hr)
1-2 swim alone with intervals with at least 1 open water a week practicing sighting
-BIKE
2 commutes to work a week (17.5 miles x4)
1 interval training with the club on Thursdays if possible
1 long ride per week (4 - 6hrs)
1 tempo on week ends (1 - 2 hrs) with intervals or sustained effort
really want to buy a virtual trainer whenever possible to do some of these workouts in a more controlled manner...
-RUN
1 speedwork with the club (Mondays)
1 long run per week (weekends) 12 miles to 22 miles
1 tempo run in the middle of the week (~8 miles)
I would like to try to keep my running at about 30 miles a week if possible
That is a lot of training for me. A lot more than I have ever done. I am evaluating it at 17 to 23 hours per week. Maybe a bit ambitious and I might need to adjust it down later on. I also have to add some transition practice in there.
Realizing I have so much more to learn, I signed up for 2 more triathlons before the ChesapeakeMan. One is a sprint on 8/10/13, the Herriman triathlon. It will be a good opportunity to put in practice the transition training I am going to do.
Then on 8/24/13, a half Ironman (Utah Half). This will be my final reality check before the Ironman on 9/21/13.
This week, I am putting my training on hold for a few days to join a team doing the Top of Zion relay. A 200 mile run relay race in the southern Utah's National park. I have been wanting to do this race for a couple of years so this is worth my while. I will still use this as a serious run training and since it ends on Saturday, I should have time for a long ride on Sunday.
