What to wear Race Day!

Just had an interesting exchange with my coach about what to wear on race day. I have a conundrum because I have a new tri-suit I was planning on wearing, but after two swims it wasn't feeling right. The first swim, I felt it constraining around the shoulders, and the second time, I felt it tight in the chest. It's been fine on the run and bike, but I was concerned about the swim especially considering the water is going to be really warm on Sunday, and it's likely the chest tightness will feel even more constricting in warm water.

Well coach was puzzled not really seeing the appeal of a tri-suit since it's unlikely you'd ever get the length right (and I see his point.)

So far, I've done two races, one in tri shorts and a bike shirt, the second in a tri-suit.

In response to my coach I pretty much laid out my philosophy for wearing what I'm wearing race day.

I'm average height so haven't had too many issues with the two tri-suits I've got. My goal has been to not have to put on or take off anything additional in transitions. I'm hesitant to wear a Tri top under a wetsuit for fear it will ride up and you can't do anything about it. Also, with the shorts, I feel better having the snug suspenders-like feel keeping the shorts high on the hips to make sure the padding is where it needs to be. Sorry to be base, but it's kind of like wearing an athletic supporter that doesn't need constant adjustment. Running, I'd rather run in a runner's top and slit shorts, but as I don't want to do any clothes changes, that's not going to happen.

I've got two suits, neither of which I paid more than $100. I felt good in the one race I used it. This new one is theoretically an upgrade and it does feel comfortable, just tight around the chest. I'm encouraged though since the first time I wore it, I felt my shoulders constrained but I've worn it in somewhat.

I'd really love for my suit to have rear pockets like a bike shirt (or my running shorts) for gels. But to get a tri-suit with a pocket is more expensive and as far as I can tell not discounted. My Spibelt solves the problem for the run, and on my race in the tri-suit, for the bike I stuffed the gels in the elastic around my thigh.

I'm not going to go shirtless since my experience, with a good tech material, sweat is wicked away and cools you better with a shirt of some sort than shirtless. Also, when I'm shirtless (on the run at least) the sweat soaks the shorts beyond their capacity to wick and I'm running around with fabric stuck to my legs and butt and not "breathing".

So, call me crazy, but I like the tri-suit.

Anybody have rationale for why they wear what they wear? Am I selling the tri-top short (pun intended). Does it bunch up under a wetsuit? Does anyone else feel wearing tech fabric is better than shirtless (for the guys I guess).

With regard to the race, since I've been remiss in keeping y'all up to date on training (I know there's someone else other than my mom who reads this), you won't know, but I'm pretty confident with what I've done. My only hiccup was swimmer's ear that kept me out of the pool for about 3 days. Since my training was pretty swimming intensive, it means I dropped off just prior to the taper. Swims have been a challenge since then but seeing as this is only 500m swim, I'm confident.

At this point, all I'm worrying about is my gear and what I'm wearing. It's not shallow, (at least I don't think so), but rather the conditioning is either there or not. I strongly believe it is, so now I'm focusing on the secondary factors that may not make a race, but can ruin it, i.e. my gear.

See y'all on the flip side.

Week 3 of Tri Training

Well, this week got interrupted by some work issues and a long weekend family trip to Michigan.

Volume/Distance by discipline: Swim: 2 workouts 4329 meters/1:42 Bike: 2 workouts 24.55 miles 1:31 Run: 3 workouts 17.3miles/2:41 Total volume 5:54.

This is a big drop off from the 8 plus hours last week. I essentially missed two swim workouts and cut out half of a long run. About 2+ hours missed. This isn't too bad since my next race is some time off, but I'm on a new program to improve my speed, but I need to increase my base aerobic fitness and missing workouts ain't going to cut it.

It's very interesting how even though I've got literally hundreds of miles and hours under my belt from my various training efforts over the last 18 months, I feel like I"m at the beginning of my training life. Also, when I look at other folks, while I am certain I have the endurance, I have no "burst" dimension to my conditioning. This training is highlighting it. I can't move my max HR above 145 on pretty much anything I do. I can't do too intensive swim training since if I get winded, I can't swim through it, which is a critical aspect I see to having a consistent and persistent swim base. I'll have to be patient, and that's something that at this point in my training I'm having a tough time fostering.

The volume is substantial (for me). To get to 8-9+ hours weekly I'm having to rejigger a lot of things to get it all done. Gone by the wayside is one of my personal training sessions in order to leverage my wife's interest in a light swim workout Thursday evenings at the Y. That's not a bad compromise. I think I'm getting the strength training I need out of my push runs, miscellaneous drills and speedwork, and a single personal training session per week.

I'll be thankful to get in some routines to help me get through this. The biggest question mark is how I can get some quality road bike miles other than my jaunts to the picnic loop.

It was fun to train outside of Texas. The Y in Ann Arbor has a very interestingly configured pool. Since it's below a flood plain, they had to build a full size pool with depth to support scuba teaching above ground. It's really weird how within about12.5 yards, it goes from 4 ft deep to what looks like 12 feet. Following the line as I swim, it feels almost as though you're swimming down hill. Funky.

The push run on Saturday was awesome. It was more hills than I've ever run but I didn't really feel them. And based on my Suunto wrist top computer, they didn't slow me down much either. It was warm, but nothing compared to what that run would have been like in Texas. Also, I ran with a bottle of water (store bought 18oz). I thought it would drive me nuts, but it wasn't so bad. I may run with water more readily since having it "on demand" I'm sure helped me endure the run. My running courses try to incorporate water fountains, but they are rarely well positioned. (i.e. mile 3 and 4 on a 7 mile run).

Anybody have a good suggestion for a handheld bottle? I don't want to use a fuel belt, it looks uncomfortable and it would drive me nuts to fill the small bottles.

It's funny, I've only been racing one season (or not even one since I'm in the middle of my first) and I have like 8 bottles from all the events/races I attend. I keep one full and handy at all times.

Well, here's looking forward to a heavy week of training, including ugh, swim drills!

Week 2 of Tri Training

It' s not really week 2 since I finished about 18 weeks of training leading up to my race 5/31. But it's my new training under the watchful eye of @zentriathlon.

Volume/Distance by discipline: Swim: 4 workouts 7587 meters/3:06 Bike: 2 workouts 23.46 miles 1:29 Run: 4 workouts 3:42 23.1 miles. Total volume 8:18.

Coach Brett has me doing these push runs. Essentially, forget about speed, but every 10 minutes, stop to do push ups and squats. After the 3rd time (at 30 minutes), it's really hard to go back to running. Interestingly, I've never had IT Band issues, but they're sore now. Likely from the air squats.

I like this training. I'm shorting the bike a bit, but I think there are plenty of opportunities to make up biking in one long session. I'm definitely feeling stronger and taxed on my workouts. The truth will be in the pudding. It's proving to be a real challenge to get all my sessions in as planned. Volume goes up from here for the next two weeks. We'll have to see how I squeeze things in.

Week 1 of Tri Training

It's funny, but I'm not really sure what I'm training for. I've decided I don't have time this season to train for a 70.3, so I've picked a Sprint in early August and two Olympic distances 4 weeks apart at the end of August and September. It already looks like the August Olympic will have to be a scratch due to a potential family vacation that week.

Anyway, this was the first week of training under the watchful eye of @zentriathlon. We started with some easy base stuff with a couple of fitness tests in there to see where I stand from a aerobic/anaerobic fitness perspective.

Well, the fitness tests look like they show I'm dead. Or at least that I can't get my HR up. A 30 minute all out sprint (which produced my first ever sub 8 minute miles) yielded an estimated LTHR of 155 and a Max HR of 166. I need to try harder to get the heart rate up. A stationary bike test yielded a 141/152 respectively. Same problem. I may have had an issue conducting the tests on myself, but my guess is my max HR should be somewhere in the 170's. 18 months of LSD first for a Marathon and then for an Olympic tri seem to have shaved off my Max HR rate significantly. Not to mention, I felt no stamina to maintain a brisk/test pace for more than 5 minutes.

Anyway, we'll see how I progress with more speed work being incorporated into the regime. The swim speed work was a blast. I can definitely feel I'll be able to go faster, and more importantly maintain it without having to bail on freestyle in the middle of race. Having said that, I need to practice it more.

This weeks totals (Time/Dist) Swim: 1:53/6200m, Bike, 3:05/47.4mi, Run 2:41/24.06. Fitness workouts, 2x 45mins. Total non-gym time, around 7:40. It's more run mileage than I have typically been doing and I think I felt it a bit more sore as a result, but still somewhat manageable.

9 Hour Volume Week, in the books!

Ok, it's not 20+ hours like a certain someone who's training for IMCDA. But when I laid out my plan back in January, I saw a build from about 4 hours/week to just over 9 hours in about 13 weeks and gulped a bit. My only comparison had been Marathon training, and that never exceeded about 6.5 hours on the worst week. The plan got adjusted because of a change in goal race, but I've been pretty much faithful to the mileage and duration laid out. A week ago, I came down with something on a Thursday night, and missed a Friday work out and had to cut short a weekend long ride. My long ride has also had to be capped at about 2 hours since Lead Sherpa K had laid down the law that no workouts beyond the nap time of A & P.

So, about three weeks away from my goal race, I was starting to panic because I'm not hitting my training targets. I've been fine from an build perspective, but frankly, I feel I may have peaked too early.

Well, a 44 mile ride today at a good clip makes me feel like I'm not that far off peak conditions. I need to restock on my in race fuel and experiment on nutrition plan, but other than that, I'm ready for my taper. I'm hoping to add a couple of Open Water swims to the training regimen in place of my long swims and I think I'll be as prepared as I can be for this race. Also, will do a couple of bricks to see how the new HR monitor tells me how the ol ticker deals with those pesky transitions.

Full disclosure, I don't really practice hills. Where I live it's tough to get to hills on my time schedule. Also, I only recently got my HR monitor, and it's very simplistic. It has been invaluable though showing me how hard I'm going on my rides or runs. In terms of varying the intensity of my workouts, I can honestly say, I've got one speed for most of my workouts which is as fast as I think I can last. Using the HR has let me zero in on intensity a bit better. It's still hit or miss, but I feel it's got a lot of potential to help me improve.

I'm now reading the Friel's Triathlete's Training Bible and realize how much more I can get out of my training. For now, I'll be happy to get an Olympic under my belt and then reassess where I go for the last race(s) of the season.

Technically, I've got two more weeks of training, just short of 8 hours the first week, and 4:45 for the last week of tapering. I've got some ideas to work in some race specific issues and get some Open Water techniques honed.

Hotel is booked for Austin, checklists are starting to be made. Excitement is starting to build.

Triathlon Training First Quarter Recap

So, three months and change in the books and this is what it looks like. I'm going to use this to give insight into my Oly Tri plan I'm following.

		Swim		Bike		Run
	Month	Meters Swam	Time Swam	Miles Ridden	Time Ridden	Miles Run	Time Run	Total Effort
	January	2,375	1:05:22	29.7	1:33:21	7.69	1:04:42	3:43:25
	February	18,250	7:49:31	178.7	9:54:21	35.71	5:12:01	22:55:53
	March	24,200	10:22:24	214.6	11:56:25	50.87	7:36:43	29:55:32
	April	22,609	9:02:21	166.2	9:53:08	51.67	7:37:58	26:33:27
	Grand Total	68,934	4:55:33	615.1	35:02:43	150.00	22:08:51	62:07:07

Keep in mind I ran the Houston Marathon on 1/17/10 and don't include the mileage from that race in these stats. This mileage and my goals are coming off a Marathon Training which you can read about elsewhere on my blog.

I'm obviously pleased with March. Some nice build base there.

My original 13 week training plan had me building to 4/25 and Lonestar Oly, but after a consultation with the Lead Sherpa K, we reconfigured the plan. "A" race became CapTexTri on 5/31 and I entered Gateway to the Bay Sprint on 4/10 as a warm up (as well as a 1M open swim) to get a feel for the challenge. This meant all my training essentially got reset to a level from 5 weeks previous.

I feel a little like I may have stepped back too much. But I shouldn't complain. It's been complicated to complete the mileage and workouts regardless, so it's probably a wash at this point. I am a little concerned though that May is IT. Frankly, I should be concerned I haven't really improved my form much. Well, having said that, I can point to some real improvements that in my head I'm taking for granted as I expected to improve my splits.

Swim: Beginning 100m pace 2:48 at it's worse, but typically around 2:30. I had no stamina and reverted to breast stroke repeatedly. I'm now swimming at about 2:10-2:15 although I realize the Open Water dimension issues need to be addressed if I'm to improve my 2:30 averages I had in my two OW Swims.

Bike: Beginning at 18.2 mph when eliminating dealing with traffic. Recently, I had a great workout where I pipped 20.4 mph average over 36 miles. The bike has been pretty encouraging.

Run: I thought I could easily keep under 9 minute mile pace and I started with a blistering (for me) 5.5 miler at 8:31 pace. Well, I haven't maintained that and while I have for the most part kept it under 9 minutes (lots of 8:53's in here for 5 to 8 milers) I really haven't seen marked improvement from what you may recall I did my barely under 4 hours marathon averaging 9:10.

My target paces for the race are: swim 2:15min/100m which may be aggressive. Bike, 19mph which seems achievable and 8:45 minute miles for the run which frankly I don't know where this stands.

All in all I'm doing well. I enjoy the bricks and don't see too much of a problem. I'm starting to get back into the distances where I need to practice my race day nutrition too. Nutrition plan is essentially two water bottles on the bike and 2 gels (GU, it's what I'm used to from Marathon training). One gel after about a mile on the bike and one about 3 miles from end of bike segment. Aid stations for the run. I usually don't stop, but may have to rethink that since I lost a lot of fluid on Marathon basically because I couldn't figure out how to run and drink at the same time. Am actually considering running with a camel back or fluid belt.

My learning from my race experiences other than it expends lots of energy to breast stroke in Open Water are that nutrition and pacing will be key. I do have a time goal for this race, but I'll be glad to finish it.

Time is getting short. I've been slipping from my planned workouts more than anything because of illness (bout of something I guess I'd call flu although the Dr doesn't think it was that) and because it's impossible to get good mileage on a bike mid-week if you can't do it after work. Kids get all the daylight hours post work, so I'm squeezing everything else in the mornings and at lunch.

By the way the schedule is essentially 3 swim workouts, 2 runs and 2 rides a week with two-a-days on Tues/Thurs. Personal training 45min overall body strength training as well on Tues/Thurs (yeah, crazy, but you know it's worked). Rest days are Sunday and Wednesday.

We're at T-minus 26 days and counting. Seems like it's a lot, but it's really NOT.

Anybody see any glaring train wrecks about to happen?

Triathlete Training Question, Answers Welcome

This is my first Tri season. As part of training, I've finished two open water swims. One a swim only event of 1 mile, the other the 500m swim segment of a sprint tri. Both times, I ended up doing a LOT of breast stroke (like 60-70% of the race). I could never really find a rhythm. I tried a couple of tactics, like counting strokes and trying to push through it, but my breathing never settled and I had to revert to breast stroke. I'm working toward a Olympic length Tri in 40 days and am not afraid of the swim, just concerned I'm being inefficient and slow. Curiously, my splits for these two events, are pretty close to my pool times which are in the 2:10 to 2:30/100m range. The latter event was pretty choppy water, so I can understand that being slow, but frankly, I'm a little surprised at the 2:10/100m avg over a mile. I need to work on sighting as well as breathing, but I think that is not that big an issue. The psychological shock of zero visibility I think I can get used to as well.

I work out 3xweek at a pool. (Short/Medium/Long) I've had coaching and they have given me training drills that I do from 100 to 300m each depending on the length of my workout. I'm doing approximately 40 mins, 50+mins and this week a peak of 70mins workouts respectively for short/med/long. Technique wise, I think I'm good for this goal race, I feel efficient and when I've worn my wetsuit, I feel I'm gliding.

Phew, now with all that background, my question. I think one reason my race pace was good is that in the pool, since I don't do flips, I take too much time at the turns. It's usually at least a breath, and normally 3 quick ones before/as I turn around. Every 100m, there is typically a goggle reset meaning, I'm not really testing my CV to get into a rhythm. Since I've been training, I've reduced significantly my times as measured by distance to time elapsed. So, I know I'm improving in swimming further faster. But is this improvement without really improving my breathing technique/stamina to power through using only freestyle?

Will doing flips help me build up better CV conditioning (if that's the right term)? Will they help me to slog through changing and challenging open water situations without having to revert to long stretches of slow, inefficient breast stroke? I've never learned, but don't think it would be hard, just time consuming to get good technique in my precious training window time. Should I invest valuable pool time in incorporating flips into my swim workouts. Without a clear answer, I think I'll just try to minimize the time at the turnaround as much as I can without having to learn to flip.