Good Training Weekend

Weekend Started on Friday where I spent some much needed time at the pool working on my swim stroke.
I think I am getting a better handle
on some technique issues that have been lacking and noticed some improvement in my swim sets.

Bonus was the sunrise I got to see while swimming.  Check out the photo.

Then on Saturday I was in Jacksonville, TX visiting with family. This is always a good time for training and I took advantage of it.

Saturday I spent three hours on the road bike and climbed what locals call "The Beast". It is a category 5 hill climb that lives up to its name. For any climb to be rated (receive a climb score/category) it must be at least 500 meters in length with an average grade of 3% or more.  

After the long bike I ran for about 25mins or so.  Then Sunday I woke up and did another 11miles of running to cap off the weekend.

I feel pretty good today and am excited about my training and progress. I hope it shows in a couple of weeks in ATX at the Austin Triathlon.

Sprint Race Nutrition

For a sprint race you want to eat as little as possible before and during the race.  Eating takes time and is hard to do when you are in upper zone 4 or zone 5. It also raises your perceived effort and your heart rate.

With that being said below is what I did with my nutrition for this past weekends sprint race:
Pre Race
Blueberry Muffin with a powerade zero for breakfast about 3hrs or so before race time.
1-2 Hours out I am drinking a mixture of 1st Endurance pre-race and GU Brew Electrolyte tablets containing 320mg of sodium.
At the same time I am taking my MST Cordygen5 and Citruvol Ultra.
10-30min out from hitting the water I took one MST Athlytes electolyte pill containing 350mg of sodium. I will never go back to Endurolytes containing 40mg of sodium.

Bike
1 Water bottle filled with a GU Brew Electrolyte tablet. I am supposed to get at least half way through this bottle and I did.
1 more MST Athlytes mid-way through the bike portion
1 Serving of Strawberry Chomps 90 calories, 23g of carbs and 50mg of sodium

Run
Passed first aid station and only dumped water on my head.
Second aid station threw a little water in my mouth.
Passed the last aid station and again dumped water on my head.

My hamstring cramped up in a dead sprint at the end trying to beat another competitor.
My issue was probably not on what or the amount of nutrients I took in but I do believe I did not drink enough water pre-race and during the bike to allow all the electrolytes I took on to take full effect.
I think the chomps was a huge waste of time for a sprint and will never do that again. I actually knew better but did it anyway.

Nutrition Goals going in:
Take on around 700mg of sodium per hour for the race and take on enough water to make sure it took effect.
I took on probably 800mg or so of sodium thanks to the chomps and GU. I was out there for 1.2hrs so I needed about 840mg.

Next race I will try to drink the entire water bottle and nix the chomps.

  

 

The Bridgeland Triathlon - Summary

This race turned out to be the biggest sprint race I think Houston has ever seen with other 1500 athletes competing.

This many athletes meant there was a lot of talent and as expected and expressed in my previous post I was not expecting a podium but man was there a lot of talent.

Overall, I improved on my time from last years race and had yet another bike PR but finished outside the top 10. Oh well progress is what matters in this sport and progress I am making.

Swim:
Today was the first race we had in out new Apex Endurance gear.  I have been wearing a full suit the last two season but went to a two piece this year for our jerseys. The jersey caused a lot of drag but with the help of an Xterra Speedsuit I will not have that issue any longer.

I have not been swimming much at all as that is the one thing that does not seem to fit into my life with the new baby and wife's new work schedule. So, going into this race I have put in one swim in 3 weeks. To my surprise I still swam the same exact time I swam last year. But was already way out of the running for the race. I was barely inside the top 30% of people outta the water in my group.

T1:
I was somewhat disappointed in my T1 time but passed several people in T1. I was 6th in my group in T1 out of 95. I think the extra exhaustion from the swim caused me to run a little to slow in transition and that led to my slower than expected performance.

Bike:
The bike is a fast flat course with two u-turns and two right hand turns. The wind was a crosswind it seemed as it was never really in your face. I did however find myself a few times inbetween gears which is why I am going to be changing my rear cog probably this week and go back to a 12-25 cassette. Best part about the bike is now two races in a row I have set PR's on the bike. I do think however doing this is hurting my run a bit but that is part of the experiment to know what I can do off the bike after putting it all out there. This whole season is a test case for me as my training is somewhat down so it makes since to make sure I am getting something outta every race.

T2:
This is the transition performance I am used to. 2nd in my group of 95 in T2. I am sure if you added total transition times up I was in the top 2 or 3 and I can live with that. Transition = Free Speed

Run:
Well as always I take off on the run and try hard not to look at my watch for a while and let my legs just roll and I did that this race but probably looked to early. When I look and see that I am running fast I let my brain slow me down.  Not a smart move when racing but it happens.  This race was definitely hot but for some reason I could not push myself to zone 5 on the run.  I averaged zone 4 and my final pace reflected such. So, my heart rate and pace told me I had some more in the tank but my brain would not let me get there. I need to really work on mental toughness over the next few weeks before the Austin Tri.

Take Aways:

• When you do not swim with good form more swim volume does not help speed just endurance.
• Change my rear cassette on my bike so I do not get stuck between gears.
• Do more bricks so my legs and brain will be used to it for race day.
• Run my intervals harder during my speed days.

Bridgeland Triathlon - Race Week

This event is the best sprint only race in Houston.

With that being said the best racers in Houston make it out for this race and the competition is tough. Last year I raced my tail off and only ended up top 10.

I have been using my races so far this year to test things. So, far through my three tests I am still not satisfied with the results. So, Bridgeland is going to be another one test.  My goal going in is the swim my normal swim and then bike with the higher avg/normalized power than my last two races and see where that leaves me on the run.

The run so far this season was good two races ago but I did not bike hard enough and last race I had a bike PR but ran terribly.  I think my terrible run was more a factor of lack of sleep than it was fitness or my bike effort.  This is why I am trying to bike hard again.

Main focuses this week are to hydrate enough and get some medium duration and intensity workouts in to keep the legs ready for the effort on Sunday.

Saturday I will go out and ride and run the course not hard but again just to keep the legs moving and to scope out the course again.

Fingers are crossed for a good test.