Swim Bike Run

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2015 Race Plans (Read 31 times)

    2014 is quickly coming to an end.  With that, comes the planning and preparation for next year's racing season.  Who's planning what?

     

    I got signed up for my first (gulp) 70.3. Did 2 sprint tri's and a sprint Du, so I have a lot of work ahead of me to prep for the June event.  I may do the Du in May again but other than what I'm signed up, no real plans in the works for anything else.

     

    Happy training!


    Running Rev'd

      I'm looking at targeting my first 70.3 as well. The race I'm thinking about is late September, so that definitely gives me some time. Not entirely sure what else I'm going to do this year, probably some of the same races I did this past year (1 super-sprint, 1 between sprint & Oly, & 1 Oly).

      Called to Endure - Blog

      "Everyone gets the sunset. Only the dedicated earn the sunrise."

        I have only 1 race planned so far (read as already signed up for).

         

        70.3 in Benton Harbor Michigan in August.

         

        I'll work a couple of other races in throughout the year.

        Life Goals:

        #1: Do what I can do

        #2: Enjoy life

         

         


        Running Rev'd

          I signed up for my first half-iron distance race! Route 66 Half Iron in Springfield, IL in July.

          Much to my surprise, I also quaified for USAT Nationals Olympic-distance (the benefits of doing a small race). So my plan is to head up to Milwaukee in August as well.

          Called to Endure - Blog

          "Everyone gets the sunset. Only the dedicated earn the sunrise."

            My plan was to do my first Full this year...IMLT.  But, with the issues the last two years, I'm not sure I want to lay down $700, bust my ass training and have a cancellation.  I'm thinking of doing the 70.3 there instead.  Got into Vineman 70.3 so I'll be doing that again in July and possibly the Auburn Tri 70.3 distance in May.

              Racing season is right around the corner! Did you all survive the never-ending winter?


              Running Rev'd

                Indeed! It was 78 here today, but unfortunately my bike is in the shop, so I couldn't get out and ride.

                 

                I competed in my first swim meet as an adult this past Saturday. Had a great time and won my age group in every event I swam.

                 

                Racing season is right around the corner! Did you all survive the never-ending winter?

                Called to Endure - Blog

                "Everyone gets the sunset. Only the dedicated earn the sunrise."


                IMKY13 finish!!

                  Racing season is right around the corner! Did you all survive the never-ending winter?

                   

                  25 days til my season opening sprint tri....32 days til my season tri of the season.

                  Fitness/weight goals for 2014

                   

                  1) STAY INJURY FREE!!!

                  2) Get to 189 lbs by the end of July 2014...and stay there (as of 4-25-14 was at 203 lbs)

                  3) Complete Ironman Chattanooga in under 14 hours

                  4) Break 4 hours in a stand alone marathon (Goal race=Rocket City 12/13/14)

                  5) 4,500 total overall miles for the year:

                           Swim: 100 miles

                           Bike: 3,000 miles

                           Run: 1,400 miles

                    Indeed! It was 78 here today, but unfortunately my bike is in the shop, so I couldn't get out and ride.

                     

                    I competed in my first swim meet as an adult this past Saturday. Had a great time and won my age group in every event I swam.

                     

                     

                    78?!  It's 35 deg out here and I'm in no hurry to get bike back from the shop, YET.  Congrats on the swim meet.  What events did you end up swimming?  Did you end up doing flip turns and all?


                    Running Rev'd

                       

                      78?!  It's 35 deg out here and I'm in no hurry to get bike back from the shop, YET.  Congrats on the swim meet.  What events did you end up swimming?  Did you end up doing flip turns and all?

                      Flip turns and dives and everything! I swam the 500, 200, 100, & 50 free and the 200 and 100 IMs. I swam competitively as a kid, but this was my first swim meet in 17 years.

                      Called to Endure - Blog

                      "Everyone gets the sunset. Only the dedicated earn the sunrise."

                        Completed my first tri of the season yesterday.  Turned out to be an interesting day.  Race was suppose to start at 6:30 but the Fire Chief put a hold on that due to a storm that was quickly approaching us.  Based on the radar, it looked to be a good one with a lot of green behind it, which meant that the rain was going to stick around for a while.  Finally after 45 minutes, they determined that the storm dissipated enough and it would be safe to get the race going.

                         

                        The swim was in an old quarry that is now converted to a pool area.  The course had us doing two big loops around the quarry.  One end was deep and the other was too shallow to swim.  So, it was pretty much sprint the deep and do what ever you can on the shallow side to keep moving.  Got through the swim OK and set off to get out on the bike.

                         

                        The bike was tougher than I expected.  About a mile in, the rains had started and the winds picked up.  We were heading dead into the wind for the first 8.5 miles.  I passed one guy heading out in the first 400 meters and once we got away from the quarry area and onto the straight stretches, I could see two faint bodies in the gray of the day.  One guy was moving about the same speed as me and the other I was able to slowly reel in.  I just tried keeping my head down, body low and cranked out the best I could.  Speed ranged anywhere from 16-22 mph into the winds.  By the time we turned south, I caught the guy I was gaining ground on.  One more small stretch into the driving rains, then we turn east.  As soon as that happened, speeds jumped to 24-28 mph.  We took the corners easy due to the rains and puddles.  On the return trip, I had three guys pass me.  I tried cranking it out to stay with them.  I was able to hold with two but the other one just slowly got away from us.  As we got back into town, there were more turns and areas with standing water.  Got into transition safely and lost a little time changing out of the bike shoes.  So onto the run we went.

                         

                        The run was along the Fox River.  It's actually a really nice run with the bike path.  My legs felt like garbage.  Pretty much had the guys that passed me in sight at the start of the run.  Within the first mile, I had passed three of them.  Had one more guy in my sights and I spent the next three miles slowly gaining on him.  Mile splits were 5:36, 5:36, 5:49 and 5:54.  I was a little disappointed in the last two as I was just stuck in that comfortable tempo pace and just couldn't get out of it.

                         

                        Once the results were posted later in the evening, I was finally able to get the official splits.

                         

                        Swim (400m): 5:20 - 117th rank

                        Bike (14.7mi): 38:51 / 22.7 mph - 11th rank

                        Run (4.1 mi): 23:12 / 5:40/mi - 2nd rank

                        Total: 1:10:04 (4 OA / 1 AG)

                         

                        Still work to do on the swim.  Not sure what else I'll be able to do on the bike.  It's a road bike with tri bars fitted on it.  I know aero position isn't ideal and I've worked to make some tweaks to try and lower the drop but there's not much more I can do.  In the meantime, I'll wrok on the weakness (including transitions) and play to my strengths (the run!).

                         

                        This was a good primer for the half in two weeks.  Looking forward to competing in that now.


                        Running Rev'd

                          Nice race in fairly tough conditions! That swim would've driven me crazy with the different depths.

                          Called to Endure - Blog

                          "Everyone gets the sunset. Only the dedicated earn the sunrise."

                            mbehr,

                            Wow!  That's a solid race and a solid run.  Quite impressive.  4OA.

                            Great job and best wishes on the upcoming races you have.

                            Cheers,

                            Life Goals:

                            #1: Do what I can do

                            #2: Enjoy life

                             

                             

                              Summary: Finished my goal race for the year.  Beat my goal time by 5 minutes.  Great race.

                               

                              Details:

                              Who: me

                              What: 1/2 Ironman

                              Where: Benton Harbor, Michigan

                              When: Sunday, Aug. 9

                              Why: Because I can

                               

                              Note: this is my first race and training plan in years where I did not have a written plan, did not use a HR monitor and did not have an aggressive goal.  I did not train for a race.  I trained to be active and be race ready.  This was a fun "A" race.

                              The last time I raced was May, 2013.  I took 27 months off of racing.

                               

                              Prerace: spent a week in northern Michigan with family enjoying the beautiful Michigan summer.

                               

                              Swim: Lake Michigan can get rough.  Sunday morning, it was calm.  Maybe 6" - 10" waves, but not choppy.  Water temp: 73*.  Wore a wetsuit.  I haven't been swimming much, and my goal was to swim decent enough to put me out of the water in a time that allowed me to still have a decent race.  Wasn't looking to beat a swim PR with this race.  I had major calf cramps the last 1/3 of the swim that had me very worried about the rest of the race. Time: 41:54....

                               

                              Bike: Cloudy sky all day.  No sunscreen necessary.  Rolling hills through the country in SW Michigan.  Crowded.  I was the 2nd to last swim wave to start, so I was riding through traffic on the bike the entire ride.  In some ways, that was nice.  I was able to legally draft off of other riders, but a lot of the riders I was passing were riding too slow to get benefit of the legal draft opportunities within triathlon (20 seconds to pass).  The first 30 miles, I averaged 22mph.  The last 26 miles, I averaged 20.25mph.  The 2nd part of the race was into the wind and I was also tired.  Time: 2:37:31 (21.33mph)

                               

                              Run: I haven't run much this year (maybe 10 - 15 mpw).  Last fall, I had knee surgery.  I don't have pain now, but I don't run much.  For this race, my goal was to beat a 10 min mile.  Within the first 1/4 mile, my left hamstring locked up.  I stopped and clinched the knot for about 15 seconds until it released.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to run.  Thought about walking, but chose to run.  Glad I ran.  The hamstring didn't bother me much for the next 6 or 7 miles.  I had a couple of other times where the hamstring locked up, but I kept fighting.  Time: 2:07:31 (9:44 pace).

                               

                              Overall time: 5:35:05 (PR by 8+ minutes)

                              Time to sign up for another race (maybe Austin 70.3 in the fall)

                              Life Goals:

                              #1: Do what I can do

                              #2: Enjoy life

                               

                               

                                Congrats on getting back out there and not only bearing your goal time but getting a PR too!  Don't they end up canceling the swim about half the time at Benton Harbor because of the waves?

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