Okay, so I pulled out of RI 70.3 a couple of weeks ago in order to take care of an aching knee (same one that ended my season prematurely last year) to ensure that I can stay on track for IMWI. In place of RI, I hit up a local race on Saturday, rode home, and then ran long today.
Well... looks like the WTC gave my timing chip, bib number and NAME to someone else! WTF?!?! I wasn't even in the state of RI today!!!
To make matters worse, the guy DNF'd after a bike ride that would be a good 18+ min. slower than what I'd turn in on that course.
I suppose I shouldn't care, but I won't lie: I do. I hope they fix that BS ASAP because I'm kind of pissed about it.
Anyway, my long run wasn't a lot of fun today. Off to the Dr. tomorrow to try to get this knee taken care of. I need to get back to hitting my PFMS exercises religiously and to keep up with my stretching.
Nice job to Amanda Russell for her 70.3 PR today. I had a few other athletes throw down too: Quinn Borchard out in CA was 2nd AGer in a big sprint event (would have been 4th elite) and Dave Smith of VA was 4th overall in a pretty competitive Olympic. Those guys are hitting up Vineman and Steelhead, respectively, in the next couple of weeks, so things are looking good.
Okay, back to work tomorrow.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Pow Wow
Well, at least I had a good Swim
Big thanks to Craig Lewin and the North Shore Swim Club for helping to bring my swim around. It's getting there.
Not much more to report besides that. I was GROSSLY underpowered on the bike today: Nearly 40 watts lower avg/Norm power than Cohasset (same distance: 12.5 mile bike leg). That's just stupid weak. I felt AWFUL out there on the bike today.
But... I gave it all that I had so no excuses. The legs just wouldn't go despite my best efforts. I suppose today shouldn't come as a big surprise given all the IM work I've been laying down, but it's still tough to accept the fact that you were only able to put out the same wattage you held, easily, for a 100k pace ride just 6 days prior... a pace ride you executed in the midst of a 90 mile cycling/17 mile running brick session.
Oh well, just one of those days. They sure do suck when they decide to rear their ugly heads though.
Congrats to my friend Dean Phillips on his victory and to pro cyclist turned triathlete Lynn Bessette for her awesome showing too (she'll be making big waves in the sport very shortly).
Big thanks to Craig Lewin and the North Shore Swim Club for helping to bring my swim around. It's getting there.
Not much more to report besides that. I was GROSSLY underpowered on the bike today: Nearly 40 watts lower avg/Norm power than Cohasset (same distance: 12.5 mile bike leg). That's just stupid weak. I felt AWFUL out there on the bike today.
But... I gave it all that I had so no excuses. The legs just wouldn't go despite my best efforts. I suppose today shouldn't come as a big surprise given all the IM work I've been laying down, but it's still tough to accept the fact that you were only able to put out the same wattage you held, easily, for a 100k pace ride just 6 days prior... a pace ride you executed in the midst of a 90 mile cycling/17 mile running brick session.
Oh well, just one of those days. They sure do suck when they decide to rear their ugly heads though.
Congrats to my friend Dean Phillips on his victory and to pro cyclist turned triathlete Lynn Bessette for her awesome showing too (she'll be making big waves in the sport very shortly).
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Crawling Into The Pain Cave
Today was the first of my BIG IM assessment sessions and man oh man did it go well. The short of it:
You can never disrespect this distance though, so as good as I felt today, I know that race day will feature nearly 4k of swimming, an entire 180k of hard riding and a full marathon and as such, I'll be sure to lay down the necessary training that will allow me to handle this absurd distance when the day comes.
Things are headed in the right direction though, that's for sure.
Here's the Garmin File from today's long T run if you'd like to check it out.
p.s. Big props to my Dad for helping me with today's run. Gatorade every other mile really gave me something to look forward to out there, especially when I had to run by the beach and think about all the fun everyone else was having while I suffered alone.
- 14 mile warm up (ride over to ECV TT course)
- 100k @ IM Goal Watts (Dean Phillips was kind enough to join me for 80k. I can't thank him enough for the company as it made the session FLY by). Avg. power of 271 watts/norm of 275 and I felt absolutely sensational throughout. Despite the wind and lack of aero kit, I covered the 100k in 2:33 and passed through 56 miles in 2:18. It felt very easy.
- Rode home 14 miles (total of 90 miles of riding on the day)
- Quick Transition and out the door for a hilly 17+ mile run. Avg. pace of 6:25 for the distance. Passed through 13.1 miles in 1:23:50 and despite a really painful blister on the ball of my left foot and the fatigue that goes hand in hand with being nearly 6 hours deep into a pace session, I held it together and capped the workout. The final 30 min. of the run were anything but easy though. I won't lie.
You can never disrespect this distance though, so as good as I felt today, I know that race day will feature nearly 4k of swimming, an entire 180k of hard riding and a full marathon and as such, I'll be sure to lay down the necessary training that will allow me to handle this absurd distance when the day comes.
Things are headed in the right direction though, that's for sure.
Here's the Garmin File from today's long T run if you'd like to check it out.
p.s. Big props to my Dad for helping me with today's run. Gatorade every other mile really gave me something to look forward to out there, especially when I had to run by the beach and think about all the fun everyone else was having while I suffered alone.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Not Bad
I'm feeling too lazy to post anything about Cohasset, so you can check out Michelle's blog if you're so inclined :)
Legs weren't as tired as I expected them to be after this initial block of IM training. It was a solid day, but nothing to write home about. A win is a win though, and I was happy to support race director Bill Burnett and stop # 1 on the Commonwealth Tri Race Series.
Best part of the day was seeing so many of the athletes I work with in action and catching up with them pre and post event.
Well, it's raining, excuse me, POURING again today. We've had about 3 or 4 sunny days this month. Not fun.
Back at it tomorrow with the next big round of IM training: 3 weeks of big volume. It's looking like I'm going to skip RI 70.3 in order to concentrate on my IMWI prep - I need the training time.
In the mean time... off to another Gloucester Tri related meeting this afternoon and swim practice tonight.
Legs weren't as tired as I expected them to be after this initial block of IM training. It was a solid day, but nothing to write home about. A win is a win though, and I was happy to support race director Bill Burnett and stop # 1 on the Commonwealth Tri Race Series.
Best part of the day was seeing so many of the athletes I work with in action and catching up with them pre and post event.
Well, it's raining, excuse me, POURING again today. We've had about 3 or 4 sunny days this month. Not fun.
Back at it tomorrow with the next big round of IM training: 3 weeks of big volume. It's looking like I'm going to skip RI 70.3 in order to concentrate on my IMWI prep - I need the training time.
In the mean time... off to another Gloucester Tri related meeting this afternoon and swim practice tonight.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Gloucester Tri PR
I can't believe the momentum that the Gloucester Tri is building. The event is already close to sold out (St. Peter's Square is going to be bursting at the seams with athletes!) and it seems like everywhere I turn, someone is talking about it. Dawn Guarriello happened to be walking through the Burlington Mall the other day and came across this:
Pretty cool.
Even the Mayor of Gloucester is gearing up for the inaugural event. She's clearly fired up and ready to roll, as evidenced by her most recent column in the Gloucester Daily Times.
Speaking of races, it's time to roll again. I kick my season off with the Cohasset triathlon tomorrow. I have zero expectations as far as racing is concerned right now. My only objective for this year will be to punch my ticket to Hawaii '10, so anything leading up to IMWI is going to be nothing more than a training session. I backed off my IM prep yesterday and today, so I'm hoping that the legs have a little life in them tomorrow as I would prefer to NOT get beaten by the entire elite Jr. field that will be in attendance. I'm sure that the race will seem like an all out anaerobic sufferfest, but it's all good; at least it'll be over quickly :)
Pretty cool.
Even the Mayor of Gloucester is gearing up for the inaugural event. She's clearly fired up and ready to roll, as evidenced by her most recent column in the Gloucester Daily Times.
Speaking of races, it's time to roll again. I kick my season off with the Cohasset triathlon tomorrow. I have zero expectations as far as racing is concerned right now. My only objective for this year will be to punch my ticket to Hawaii '10, so anything leading up to IMWI is going to be nothing more than a training session. I backed off my IM prep yesterday and today, so I'm hoping that the legs have a little life in them tomorrow as I would prefer to NOT get beaten by the entire elite Jr. field that will be in attendance. I'm sure that the race will seem like an all out anaerobic sufferfest, but it's all good; at least it'll be over quickly :)
Monday, June 22, 2009
It Won't Be Easy
This past weekend featured my first round of IM specific intro sessions and served as a nice wake up call to the reality of what prepping for this distance will entail. In a nutshell... being "70.3 fit" doesn't mean a thing when you're prepping for a 9 hour race and I am NOT (currently) in shape to successfully pull off the Ironman finish I'm hoping to on 9/13! That's okay, still plenty of time until race day, but there is work to be done.
I spent Saturday out on the open roads chalking up nearly 3 hours of IM pace work in the midst of a 4 hour ride. I wasn't feeling so hot towards the end of the session and can't say that I enjoyed my short "T" run post ride either! Lessons learned: I need to be dilligent with my asthma medication during the summer months, especially when it's humid and air quality is poor. Wheezing on the bike and struggling through T runs isn't my idea of fun. Other lessons learned: There's a big difference between simply riding your bike for hours on end, which I have no problem doing, and pinning your watts up around 260+ for 5 hours. I'll be emphasizing the later with my training.
Sunday was a much better day. The rain and cooler temps left me feeling nice and relaxed while out on the bike. I spent a little over 2 hours spinning out @ 230+ watts (nice and easy), practiced the art of "peeing" while in the saddle (hey, why the hell not? I was already soaked anyway. And... if the goal of this training is to emulate the stress/realities I'm facing on race day, I've got to accept the fact that pissing while on the bike is going to be something I have to learn how to do because there's no way in hell I'm giving up 2+ min. to pull over to the side of the road during the race) got off, consumed 1 pria bar, took a couple of puffs off the inhaler and was on my way around the cape. I was surprised how easy a hilly 17.1 mile run felt after riding, but was especially surprised by how good I felt after Saturday's session. I think that my inhaler made a big difference though as I could barely breath towards the end of Saturday's ride.
Anyway... good sign that I could ride for over 2 hours and then run for nearly another 2 on nothing more than 100 calories and 1 bottle of water (a stupid move on my part to go without adequate liquid, but given the rain and cooler temps I was able to get away with it this weekend).
I used my new training toy, the Garmin 305, for my run yesterday and uploaded the session to the Garmin site. Pretty cool training tool, I must say. Here's the session if you'd like to check it out.
Well, I get to enjoy a well deserved active recovery day today (swim only) but it's back to the grindstone tomorrow: Heavy dose of FT work on the bike and run fronts. I hope the rain will end. It's been raining here for nearly 2 weeks now.
I spent Saturday out on the open roads chalking up nearly 3 hours of IM pace work in the midst of a 4 hour ride. I wasn't feeling so hot towards the end of the session and can't say that I enjoyed my short "T" run post ride either! Lessons learned: I need to be dilligent with my asthma medication during the summer months, especially when it's humid and air quality is poor. Wheezing on the bike and struggling through T runs isn't my idea of fun. Other lessons learned: There's a big difference between simply riding your bike for hours on end, which I have no problem doing, and pinning your watts up around 260+ for 5 hours. I'll be emphasizing the later with my training.
Sunday was a much better day. The rain and cooler temps left me feeling nice and relaxed while out on the bike. I spent a little over 2 hours spinning out @ 230+ watts (nice and easy), practiced the art of "peeing" while in the saddle (hey, why the hell not? I was already soaked anyway. And... if the goal of this training is to emulate the stress/realities I'm facing on race day, I've got to accept the fact that pissing while on the bike is going to be something I have to learn how to do because there's no way in hell I'm giving up 2+ min. to pull over to the side of the road during the race) got off, consumed 1 pria bar, took a couple of puffs off the inhaler and was on my way around the cape. I was surprised how easy a hilly 17.1 mile run felt after riding, but was especially surprised by how good I felt after Saturday's session. I think that my inhaler made a big difference though as I could barely breath towards the end of Saturday's ride.
Anyway... good sign that I could ride for over 2 hours and then run for nearly another 2 on nothing more than 100 calories and 1 bottle of water (a stupid move on my part to go without adequate liquid, but given the rain and cooler temps I was able to get away with it this weekend).
I used my new training toy, the Garmin 305, for my run yesterday and uploaded the session to the Garmin site. Pretty cool training tool, I must say. Here's the session if you'd like to check it out.
Well, I get to enjoy a well deserved active recovery day today (swim only) but it's back to the grindstone tomorrow: Heavy dose of FT work on the bike and run fronts. I hope the rain will end. It's been raining here for nearly 2 weeks now.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Mr. Pavlov
New M50 - 54 National 1 hour record set yesterday (Wed, June 10th) at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, PA. Mike smashed the old record by about 2.5 miles! Official results out soon, but it looks like 27+ miles covered in 1 hour.
I do not think that I could do that and I'm 20 years younger than Mike.
Damn.
Well, at least I can say that I helped him with his training!
I do not think that I could do that and I'm 20 years younger than Mike.
Damn.
Well, at least I can say that I helped him with his training!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Weekend Results
- John Babcock: 1st place overall/new course record @ Mystic River Tri
- Mary Ann Smith: 1st place overall @ Olympic distance race in CA
- Dereck Treadwell: 2nd place overall (70 sec. back!) @ Mooseman Half Iron Tri
- Quinn Borchard: 2nd place overall @ sprint tri in CA
- Crystal Anthony: 3rd place overall @ Mooseman Olympic Distance Tri. Crystal's first tri and she's already keeping pace with the pros!
- Margot Robinson: 5th place overall/1st AG @ Mooseman Aqua Bike
- Amanda Russell: 18th place overall/3rd AG @ Rev3 Triathlon
- Dawn Guarriello: 15th place overall/5th AG @ Mooseman Olympic
And we're just getting warmed up. Next weekend = Athletes racing @ Eagleman 70.3, Boise 70.3, Kansas 70.3 and a bunch of sprints. Stay tuned!
In the mean time, congratulations to all who competed this weekend.
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