Tomorrow morning I will get to ask women to take their shirts off and tell me their number. And they will!
Race recap in the evening...
Friday, August 17, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Northwoods Tri Recap
Summary
So in my pre-race post I noted the following goals:
bike - maintain a 250 watt average
run - run sub 7 min/mile pace
overall - top 10 placement
Check, check, and triple check...
Swim - 7:29 (1:42/100 yard)
The swim was about what I can expect from my swim. Standard pace for me, and with the small number of folks in the waves minimal contact with other swimmers. As I hit the shallow water and stood up, I had a little trouble with my wetsuit zipper. So instead of pulling the suit off in the water I ran to my bike with it on. Once in T1, I tried to move quickly. Ditched the wetsuit, threw the helmet on and got my socks and bike shoes on. Onto the bike...
Bike - 34:37 (24.3 mph)
Once on the bike I had some work to do. I really wanted to work hard to see if I could still run solid afterwards. I started off well with only a little trouble getting around some slower traffic in the first couple miles. After a bit I caught up to another biker that began to leapfrog with me. He was the only biker to physically pass me while on the bike, and even then I came into T2 before him. Overall, the second fastest bike split and I was pleased with my effort and average of 269 watts which met my stated goal. Into T2 I took it a little easier running in trying to make sure my shoe did not clip the ground and cause my bike to bounce around like the last couple races. It worked and then I tried to quickly ditch the helmet and don the running shoes. I had a bit of a slip with my left shoe, but on the second try got it and off I went.
Run - 20:32 (6:37 min/mile)
As I went out for the run I tried to count the bikes in transition, and there were not many. This had me feeling good about the potential for a top 10. As I hit the extremely flat run course I tried to get a good pace going and hang on from there. The first mile marker showed a 6:3X on the watch which had me feeling good. As I approached the turn around I had only counted 5 or 6 runners heading at me. After that I tried to make sure I was keeping the pace up. At the second mile marker, I once again saw a 6:3X. So far so good... On the last mile, one runner did catch me, but he was from the wave ahead, so no loss of placement if I could keep running strong. I did start feeling a little bit of a side stitch in the last half mile, but I made it to the finish with no issues. As I approached the finish line I could see it would be close to come in under 1:05 for a total time. So I put on a little extra push and hit the line in 1:04:59. Personal best overall finish time on this course for me.
Overall - 1:04:59 (4th overall, 3rd age group)
Yup, I was in the fast age group. Fourth overall and barely snagged an age group award... Overall I was very pleased with the race. I set a new bar for how hard I can really push on the bike and still be able to run strong for a sprint type event. Now, I need to put in a few last good workouts prior to Superior Man and nail my taper.
So in my pre-race post I noted the following goals:
bike - maintain a 250 watt average
run - run sub 7 min/mile pace
overall - top 10 placement
Check, check, and triple check...
Swim - 7:29 (1:42/100 yard)
The swim was about what I can expect from my swim. Standard pace for me, and with the small number of folks in the waves minimal contact with other swimmers. As I hit the shallow water and stood up, I had a little trouble with my wetsuit zipper. So instead of pulling the suit off in the water I ran to my bike with it on. Once in T1, I tried to move quickly. Ditched the wetsuit, threw the helmet on and got my socks and bike shoes on. Onto the bike...
Bike - 34:37 (24.3 mph)
Once on the bike I had some work to do. I really wanted to work hard to see if I could still run solid afterwards. I started off well with only a little trouble getting around some slower traffic in the first couple miles. After a bit I caught up to another biker that began to leapfrog with me. He was the only biker to physically pass me while on the bike, and even then I came into T2 before him. Overall, the second fastest bike split and I was pleased with my effort and average of 269 watts which met my stated goal. Into T2 I took it a little easier running in trying to make sure my shoe did not clip the ground and cause my bike to bounce around like the last couple races. It worked and then I tried to quickly ditch the helmet and don the running shoes. I had a bit of a slip with my left shoe, but on the second try got it and off I went.
Run - 20:32 (6:37 min/mile)
As I went out for the run I tried to count the bikes in transition, and there were not many. This had me feeling good about the potential for a top 10. As I hit the extremely flat run course I tried to get a good pace going and hang on from there. The first mile marker showed a 6:3X on the watch which had me feeling good. As I approached the turn around I had only counted 5 or 6 runners heading at me. After that I tried to make sure I was keeping the pace up. At the second mile marker, I once again saw a 6:3X. So far so good... On the last mile, one runner did catch me, but he was from the wave ahead, so no loss of placement if I could keep running strong. I did start feeling a little bit of a side stitch in the last half mile, but I made it to the finish with no issues. As I approached the finish line I could see it would be close to come in under 1:05 for a total time. So I put on a little extra push and hit the line in 1:04:59. Personal best overall finish time on this course for me.
Overall - 1:04:59 (4th overall, 3rd age group)
Yup, I was in the fast age group. Fourth overall and barely snagged an age group award... Overall I was very pleased with the race. I set a new bar for how hard I can really push on the bike and still be able to run strong for a sprint type event. Now, I need to put in a few last good workouts prior to Superior Man and nail my taper.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Northwoods Triathlon Pre-Race
Tomorrow morning is the tenth edition of the Northwoods Triathlon in Nevis, MN. It is a sprint distance triathlon with 1/4 mile swim, 14 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run. I am currently sitting in my hotel room in Park Rapids relaxing as I make final preparations for the morning.
As with last week, it looks like it will be a cool morning. Low to mid 50's for pre-race prep, and low to mid 60's for race time. I am sure it will be a little cool on the bike, but that is great run weather.
My goal for tomorrow will be to see just how hard I can push on the bike portion; I am planning on a minimum of a 250 watt average. Then follow it up with a sub 7:00 pace on the run if all goes well. If I can pull that off, I think I might have a chance at an age group top three.
After racing on Saturday morning, I will be getting a run in later in the day. Sunday my plan is to ride the Superior Man course one last time prior to race day followed by one or two laps of the run course. Then I will start easing back over the last two weeks prior to race day.
As with last week, it looks like it will be a cool morning. Low to mid 50's for pre-race prep, and low to mid 60's for race time. I am sure it will be a little cool on the bike, but that is great run weather.
My goal for tomorrow will be to see just how hard I can push on the bike portion; I am planning on a minimum of a 250 watt average. Then follow it up with a sub 7:00 pace on the run if all goes well. If I can pull that off, I think I might have a chance at an age group top three.
After racing on Saturday morning, I will be getting a run in later in the day. Sunday my plan is to ride the Superior Man course one last time prior to race day followed by one or two laps of the run course. Then I will start easing back over the last two weeks prior to race day.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Brewhouse Race Report
So I have not posted in a little while, and I thought writing up a race report for the Brewhouse Triathlon would be the perfect return post.
Synopsis
A real quick run down: cut your foot, swim slowly, fight the wind and rough roads, run like you are being chased, and relax with a smooth root beer...
Details
I woke up early so that I could get to the race site right at 6:30 am to get a good transition spot. Based on my recon on Saturday at packet pick up, there are better spots even though everyone is assigned a group of racks by number. It is nice that they group you by numbers to a rack, but it would be better if they had put the same number of bikes on each group of racks. On Saturday I looked through transition and found that each row was four racks with a sign for which numbers should rack there. Some rows has 20 numbers assigned, while others (including my row) had 30 numbers assigned. So, since it would be crowded I figured I should get there early and get a good spot on the rack.
Once I had everything setup in the transition area, it was time to wait. With the short and long course sharing the same course, they had the short course race start first and then had a very long gap before the long course got going. The race starts at 8:30, and my wave did not take off until 9:06 or so. With the cool weather we were having, I basically shed my warm ups and then put my wetsuit on to stay warm as I sat on the beach watching the short course waves start, and even finish the swim portion.
It was fun hanging out on the beach chatting with other long course athletes waiting for our start. I chatted with a couple and another young lady. Both of the ladies were competing in their first long course triathlon. I don't think any of us was a good swimmer and we all were discussing our plan for making our way out of the lake. The urge to empty my bladder came over me so I decided to wish them all good luck and that a warm up swim was in order. Emphasize the warm up... Once that was taken care of it was getting close to the long course wave starts so I stayed in the water waiting. While waiting I was chatting with another athlete. Right as the elite wave left he commented that he just missed his wife start. Turns out they were on their second race of the weekend and his wife had won at Graniteman the day before. We wished each other luck as our wave was getting ready to go and we both found our spot on the start line.
Swim: 24:46 (74th)
Once the count down was over and we started, I took one step and my right foot found a very sharp rock or zebra mussel and I was immediately swimming... On the outbound leg of the new swim course we were swimming directly into the waves and wind. With my poor form, this does not really affect me other than that I took in quite a few mouthfulls of Pike Lake when I would happen to breathe right as a wave was cresting in my face. When we turned left at the far end of the outbound leg, we turned into the sun and the field immediately spread out searching for the next buoy. Being the lazy ass that I am, I took a second to sight the next buoy and picked my line and it was way left of the majority of the field. After the next buoy, we turned left towards the beach and now the waves were coming over our left shoulder and rolling us a little. Soon enough I was able to stand up and I yanked the wetsuit off and jogged to my bike.
Transition was a little hectic as long course athletes were running one way to their bikes, and the short course athletes were running the other way with their bikes or out on the run. When I got to my bike I quickly sat down to put my socks and shoes on after putting my helmet on. I then flipped my Garmin Edge 500 and ContourRoam on and headed out.
Bike: 56:31 (10th - 241 watts, 22.6 mph)
Note the discrepancy between my swim and bike performance... Couple that with starting in the second to last wave and not a single soul passed me on the bike. As much as I would like to think that is because I am a great biker, I know it has a lot more to do with my slow swimming... The new bike course was better that last years course for racer flow. I passed a lot of bikers, both short and long course, and I never had trouble with the course being crowded or having tight turns. The wind happened to be in our face on the section of pavement that was the smoothest. This of course then meant that we had a tail wind on the roughest section of pavement. All in all I was happy with how the bike section went for me. I pushed hard and set myself up well for the run.
Coming into transition I did my standard flying dismount and for the third time this year my drive side shoe caught the pavement and popped my bike in the air as I was running to my rack. These instances have all happened since I began using the wheelcover this year and it seems it rubs the cassette just enough to spin the crank and put the shoe closer to the ground after I jump off the bike.
Run: 34:07 (45th - 6:50 min/mile)
Leaving transition my plan was to run hard and see how long I could hold on. The cooler weather had me feeling confident I could run strong the whole way. Immediately out of transition I passed my plant manager who was having a solid race. Once out of the AAA grounds and onto Midway road I tried to lock onto a strong pace and go. There were a couple racers up the road that I set my sights on and went after. They were running strong, so it worked well. As I rounded the corner onto the old hwy 53 I saw race leader Brian Bich heading in for the win. He was looking strong and had a big lead. I grabbed a water at the aid station and kept running. Mile 2 was kind of boring in a good way. I held my pace but did not catch or get caught by anyone. As I turned the corner and headed down to the turn around I was getting closer to the two runners ahead of me. I managed to catch one just as I hit the turn around. Once heading back I also saw that there were a couple runners not too far behind me. As I powered up the hill I wanted to stay smooth and keep ahead of the runners I saw at the turn. Once back onto the old hwy, I got back up to pace and knew I had two miles to go. At this point I was feeling the start of a side stitch but kept pushing the pace. I wanted to see how hard I could push it. As I turned back onto Midway road with about a mile to go I was doing everything I could to keep the pace high. The side stitch was starting to be noticeable, but I was confident I could handle one more mile of it. At this point I could not catch the runner up the road, so I simply focused on running as fast and smooth as I could to the finish line. In the end, it was about 40 seconds faster than last year on the same run course.
Overall: 1:57:46 (26th)
Once finished, I made a point to congratulate the racer who finished just behind me. Seeing him at the turn around kept me focused on the return leg of the run and helped push me to a very solid run split. He made a similar comment that he was trying to chase me down the whole way and it helped push him also. I then made a beeline to the signature of the Brewhouse triathlon, the free Brewhouse Root Beer they have. Next to a cold beer, a cold Root Beer is a great after race refreshment.
I wanders around after the race and chatted with fellow racers and familiar faces from the Tuesday night Duluth Running Company tri training nights. I then cleaned up my gear and loaded it in my truck and headed back for awards.
All in all I am very pleased with my race. My time was slightly better than last year with a more challenging swim and a longer bike course. My race execution left me feeling pretty good as I look forward to Superior Man. I really pushed on the bike and ran very well afterwards. If I can get some solid workouts in over the next week before my taper I will be ready to roll come August 26th.
.JPG) |
| Ready for the race in the morning. |
A real quick run down: cut your foot, swim slowly, fight the wind and rough roads, run like you are being chased, and relax with a smooth root beer...
Details
I woke up early so that I could get to the race site right at 6:30 am to get a good transition spot. Based on my recon on Saturday at packet pick up, there are better spots even though everyone is assigned a group of racks by number. It is nice that they group you by numbers to a rack, but it would be better if they had put the same number of bikes on each group of racks. On Saturday I looked through transition and found that each row was four racks with a sign for which numbers should rack there. Some rows has 20 numbers assigned, while others (including my row) had 30 numbers assigned. So, since it would be crowded I figured I should get there early and get a good spot on the rack.
Once I had everything setup in the transition area, it was time to wait. With the short and long course sharing the same course, they had the short course race start first and then had a very long gap before the long course got going. The race starts at 8:30, and my wave did not take off until 9:06 or so. With the cool weather we were having, I basically shed my warm ups and then put my wetsuit on to stay warm as I sat on the beach watching the short course waves start, and even finish the swim portion.
It was fun hanging out on the beach chatting with other long course athletes waiting for our start. I chatted with a couple and another young lady. Both of the ladies were competing in their first long course triathlon. I don't think any of us was a good swimmer and we all were discussing our plan for making our way out of the lake. The urge to empty my bladder came over me so I decided to wish them all good luck and that a warm up swim was in order. Emphasize the warm up... Once that was taken care of it was getting close to the long course wave starts so I stayed in the water waiting. While waiting I was chatting with another athlete. Right as the elite wave left he commented that he just missed his wife start. Turns out they were on their second race of the weekend and his wife had won at Graniteman the day before. We wished each other luck as our wave was getting ready to go and we both found our spot on the start line.
Swim: 24:46 (74th)
Once the count down was over and we started, I took one step and my right foot found a very sharp rock or zebra mussel and I was immediately swimming... On the outbound leg of the new swim course we were swimming directly into the waves and wind. With my poor form, this does not really affect me other than that I took in quite a few mouthfulls of Pike Lake when I would happen to breathe right as a wave was cresting in my face. When we turned left at the far end of the outbound leg, we turned into the sun and the field immediately spread out searching for the next buoy. Being the lazy ass that I am, I took a second to sight the next buoy and picked my line and it was way left of the majority of the field. After the next buoy, we turned left towards the beach and now the waves were coming over our left shoulder and rolling us a little. Soon enough I was able to stand up and I yanked the wetsuit off and jogged to my bike.
.JPG) |
| After effects of stepping on a rock/zebra mussel. |
Bike: 56:31 (10th - 241 watts, 22.6 mph)
Note the discrepancy between my swim and bike performance... Couple that with starting in the second to last wave and not a single soul passed me on the bike. As much as I would like to think that is because I am a great biker, I know it has a lot more to do with my slow swimming... The new bike course was better that last years course for racer flow. I passed a lot of bikers, both short and long course, and I never had trouble with the course being crowded or having tight turns. The wind happened to be in our face on the section of pavement that was the smoothest. This of course then meant that we had a tail wind on the roughest section of pavement. All in all I was happy with how the bike section went for me. I pushed hard and set myself up well for the run.
Coming into transition I did my standard flying dismount and for the third time this year my drive side shoe caught the pavement and popped my bike in the air as I was running to my rack. These instances have all happened since I began using the wheelcover this year and it seems it rubs the cassette just enough to spin the crank and put the shoe closer to the ground after I jump off the bike.
 |
| Power File w/Elevation |
Run: 34:07 (45th - 6:50 min/mile)
Leaving transition my plan was to run hard and see how long I could hold on. The cooler weather had me feeling confident I could run strong the whole way. Immediately out of transition I passed my plant manager who was having a solid race. Once out of the AAA grounds and onto Midway road I tried to lock onto a strong pace and go. There were a couple racers up the road that I set my sights on and went after. They were running strong, so it worked well. As I rounded the corner onto the old hwy 53 I saw race leader Brian Bich heading in for the win. He was looking strong and had a big lead. I grabbed a water at the aid station and kept running. Mile 2 was kind of boring in a good way. I held my pace but did not catch or get caught by anyone. As I turned the corner and headed down to the turn around I was getting closer to the two runners ahead of me. I managed to catch one just as I hit the turn around. Once heading back I also saw that there were a couple runners not too far behind me. As I powered up the hill I wanted to stay smooth and keep ahead of the runners I saw at the turn. Once back onto the old hwy, I got back up to pace and knew I had two miles to go. At this point I was feeling the start of a side stitch but kept pushing the pace. I wanted to see how hard I could push it. As I turned back onto Midway road with about a mile to go I was doing everything I could to keep the pace high. The side stitch was starting to be noticeable, but I was confident I could handle one more mile of it. At this point I could not catch the runner up the road, so I simply focused on running as fast and smooth as I could to the finish line. In the end, it was about 40 seconds faster than last year on the same run course.
Overall: 1:57:46 (26th)
Once finished, I made a point to congratulate the racer who finished just behind me. Seeing him at the turn around kept me focused on the return leg of the run and helped push me to a very solid run split. He made a similar comment that he was trying to chase me down the whole way and it helped push him also. I then made a beeline to the signature of the Brewhouse triathlon, the free Brewhouse Root Beer they have. Next to a cold beer, a cold Root Beer is a great after race refreshment.
I wanders around after the race and chatted with fellow racers and familiar faces from the Tuesday night Duluth Running Company tri training nights. I then cleaned up my gear and loaded it in my truck and headed back for awards.
All in all I am very pleased with my race. My time was slightly better than last year with a more challenging swim and a longer bike course. My race execution left me feeling pretty good as I look forward to Superior Man. I really pushed on the bike and ran very well afterwards. If I can get some solid workouts in over the next week before my taper I will be ready to roll come August 26th.
Friday, April 20, 2012
2012 Running Season Eve
I spent the day today relaxing and driving to the Twin Cities in preparation for tomorrow mornings Trail Mix run. On the drive down I had a completely unmarked squad pass me on interstate 35. It had no light bar, standard MN plates, and was a basic beige color. About ten minutes later a small red car came speeding by in the left lane. I was confident the driver would regret their fast driving soon. Sure enough, a few miles later the unmarked squad had the small red car pulled over.
For dinner I met up with an old friend. We caught up and had a couple beers with dinner. Maybe I am working on my excuses already... Then again, a few years back I had one of my best 5k times ever after a night of drinking.
I am looking forward to the run in the morning. My training this spring has been going pretty good. I have gotten in more 10+ mile long runs than any other season. My main challenge for the race will be pacing myself. Pacing is a challenge for me always, and the trails will make it even more important. The two lap format will help as I can plan the last 7.5 miles better since I will have already seen the trail.
I spent the day today relaxing and driving to the Twin Cities in preparation for tomorrow mornings Trail Mix run. On the drive down I had a completely unmarked squad pass me on interstate 35. It had no light bar, standard MN plates, and was a basic beige color. About ten minutes later a small red car came speeding by in the left lane. I was confident the driver would regret their fast driving soon. Sure enough, a few miles later the unmarked squad had the small red car pulled over.
For dinner I met up with an old friend. We caught up and had a couple beers with dinner. Maybe I am working on my excuses already... Then again, a few years back I had one of my best 5k times ever after a night of drinking.
I am looking forward to the run in the morning. My training this spring has been going pretty good. I have gotten in more 10+ mile long runs than any other season. My main challenge for the race will be pacing myself. Pacing is a challenge for me always, and the trails will make it even more important. The two lap format will help as I can plan the last 7.5 miles better since I will have already seen the trail.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
2012 Running Schedule
I have added a few more running events to my 2012 schedule and they are both early season events. I registered for two trail 25k races. They both fall prior to the Garry Bjorklund half marathon so they should help me be in great condition come race day.
I registered for the Trail Mix 25k solo run in April in the Twin Cities area at Hyland Lake Park Preserve. I am excited to give this race a shot. I have heard good things about it and think it will be a good early season test of my run fitness. Also, the extra couple miles of distance and the extra difficulty trails can bring will be a fun challenge.
The other race I am registered for is the 25k trail race on the Superior Hiking Trail starting at the Lutsen resorts area. From what I have heard about this, it is one of the tougher sections of the SHT that we run on. This race is in mid May so it should give me a great test as to where I am less than one month prior to Garry Bjorklund race day.
So basically, my early season will be run heavy. Then I will need to make sure I get out on my bike so I am ready for the half ironman in August.
I registered for the Trail Mix 25k solo run in April in the Twin Cities area at Hyland Lake Park Preserve. I am excited to give this race a shot. I have heard good things about it and think it will be a good early season test of my run fitness. Also, the extra couple miles of distance and the extra difficulty trails can bring will be a fun challenge.
The other race I am registered for is the 25k trail race on the Superior Hiking Trail starting at the Lutsen resorts area. From what I have heard about this, it is one of the tougher sections of the SHT that we run on. This race is in mid May so it should give me a great test as to where I am less than one month prior to Garry Bjorklund race day.
So basically, my early season will be run heavy. Then I will need to make sure I get out on my bike so I am ready for the half ironman in August.
Frozen Four - Go Gophers!
Well, it has been some time since I have posted. Interestingly enough, it has been partially due to the fact that I have been outside running and biking in our wonderful spring weather. I have also been watching a lot of hockey. The Wild have been having trouble winning in the second half of the season, but the Golden Gophers have found a little life since their mid-season swoon.
This afternoon I was relegated to listening on the computer as the Gophers got a little revenge on North Dakota (sioux?). It reminds me of 2007 (???) when the Gophers beat UND in the final five and UND beat the Gophers in the NCAA regional final.
So in two weeks time the Gophers will be in Tampa for the Frozen Four.
This afternoon I was relegated to listening on the computer as the Gophers got a little revenge on North Dakota (sioux?). It reminds me of 2007 (???) when the Gophers beat UND in the final five and UND beat the Gophers in the NCAA regional final.
So in two weeks time the Gophers will be in Tampa for the Frozen Four.
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