2 Triathlons in 2 Weeks

TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2009Trail Run: Glenwild

2 days after xterra Soltice and was feeling pretty good. Not too sore or overly tired still. Found that I was super restless and really quite excited to run again after the two days of rest. Started out a little stiff, but loosened up fairly quickly. Realized early in the run that I really didn't have a lot of strength back in my legs. My power was totally gone. Getting up the hill super arduous and coming down was very jarring. After running, and throughout the afternoon and evening, I was totally wiped out. Apparently, I was really ready for a 6 mile run. Whoops.

Time: 1:02

Training Effect: 3.3

EPOC Peak: 91 ml/kg

141 bpm avg

166 bpm max

Vert 600 ft

Ventilation: 105 l/min

O2 Consumption: 48 ml/kg/min

Resp Rate: 39 breaths/min

Total Energy: 847 kcal

Distance: 6 miles

SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2009

Race: XTERRA Soltice (La Grande, Oregon)

Left Mere and Bea in Boise and stayed in the car overnight at the lake. Gorgeous landscape. Rainy and cloudy conditions the day before the race. Cold morning preparing for the start of the race. I had to breaststroke again for the majority of the swim because of motion sickness (could I also be taking my energy shot too early and should wait for Transition1?). Still finished fairly strong and ready to go physically and mentally for the bike. T1 went fairly smoothly. No foul ups in getting changed and shoes on - until I tried to pull my bike off the rack. My handlebars somehow were twisted quite dramatically and the cable to my rear derailleur was pulled out of it's bracket near the handlebars. I couldn't get it back in (which means I couldn't turn my handlebars back into position) until I stretched the cable even further to reseat it into the bracket. Started riding found myself frustrated and mentally phased by the bike issue. It was hard to concentrate and find rhythm on the trail, especially when it got rocky. My arms were still reeling from the swim so I was bouncing around a little bit out of control for the first little bit. The bike trail shot up fairly quickly: up and over one hill, then down to a fire road that seemed to climb interminably. That's when my gears started to act up. Must be related to the cable problem I had at T1, but maybe aggravated by muddy conditions, but I couln't shift into my easier gears no matter which chainring I was running up front. By the time I made it to the top of the fire road climb (I was still feeling physically strong), I was reduced to walking the bike up some of the remaining incline because of the gear problems. It frustrated me and brought some more mental struggle to the race. Then came Suicide Hill - something I'd been apprehensive about for months). It was basically a dramatically steep downhill - not too rocky or technical, just dang steep. I rode the first part with few problems. My seat was in my chest and I was pulling hard on both brakes trying to control myself. I must have been braking pretty hard because my front brake blew. All of the sudden, I didn't have any pressure left. I ended up having to walk the last part of the way down because of the lost brake. The rest of the ride was a struggle between gear probs on the climbs and brake probs on the downhill. The climb near the end - from the original fire road back up to the top of the last hill before the lake - was insane and ended up just being a long hike for me. I was very beat during T2 but was able to get out on the run fairly quickly. All the hiking the bike must have done a number on my legs because I never felt strong in my stride. My running shoes felt wonderful, but my energy was waining big time. I tried some energy shots and took in water and gatorade at every aid station on the run - just trying to survive. The hardest part of the run was the middle 2.5 miles through the never-ending pasture. Tall grass, rocks, uneven ground (cattle trod) and long and straight - not a good combination. This was the hardest mental task of the entire race. Had to power walk some of the last hills and finished without a sprint - which was a little demoralizing. Upon finishing, however, I realized I'd finished in a respectable time despite my bike problems and found that I still felt quite accomplished. I took 40th place out of ~70 finishers (they said at the start of the race that there were 117 racers starting). I just downloaded data from my watch from the race and found that it stopped transitting from my belt early in the bike - so not much data to look at. I don't have much confidence in the numbers below.

Time: 3:09:57 (minus the swim - official time = 3:31)

Training Effecet: 4.3 (at least)

EPOC Peak: 156 ml/kg

156 bpm avg

167 bpm max

Vert 3681 ft

High Point 5229 ft

Low Point 3891 ft

Ventilation: 121 l/min

O2 Consumption: 52 ml/kg/min

Resp Rate: 43 breaths/min

Total Energy: ~2600 kcal (minus the swim)

Distance:

Swim 1000m

Bike 25K

Run 10K

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009

MTB: Glenwild (24/7)

New bike chain and road bike seat. Needing to move my legs between the two triathlons. Did not feel strong aerobically or anaerobically. Only made it 4 miles or so - which is super short for a bike in Glenwild. Bike seemed to be technically fine.

Time: 0:40:47

Training Effect: 3.1

EPOC Peak: 73 ml/kg

142 bpm avg

166 bpm max

Vert 541 ft

Ventilation: 116 l/min

O2 Consumption: 52 ml/kg/min

Resp Rate: 43 breaths/min

Total Energy: 635 kcal

Distance: ~ 4miles

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2009

Race: Battle at Midway Triathlon

The first big, top priority race of the year. I was super nervous going into this one. The swim was insanely cold (felt like I didn't warm up very much from exertion during the swim) and it was insanely long as well. I had to resort to breast stroke because of motion sickness and still struggled to keep it together. T1 was quick and efficient, I felt. I was able to get on the road feeling quite strong. The bike portion was very flat. I found a good rhythm and stuck to it. I was able to ride my own race (staying with my heart rate limits, etc) and found that I seemed to be riding fairly strong (passing a lot of people). I finished strong and transitioned to the run again withouth mishap. It took me a little bit to find my running rhythm but did eventually and kept it through the entire run. I never had to stop, only used one aid station and was able to sprint finish (passed 3 guys in the last 100m). It was a spiritually and emotionally fulfilling race. I felt super strong and feel like I have set a great benchmark for future races. I ended up in 79th place overall (out of ~250) and 18th out of 28 in my division (Men, 30 - 34). Had my HRM on upside-down the entire race (nice one, Dave), so my watch numbers are wrong.

Time: 2:38:51

Vert 2048 ft

Distance:

Swim 1500m

Road Bike 22miles

Trail Run 10K

Road Ride: Park City

Lunch ride starting in Kimball Junction, down frontage road to US40 to ParkCity exit, through Park City and down US224. Goal was to get biking time in but didn't want to burn too much energy. Was slightly cloudy, a little wet on the ground - perfect road biking conditions if you ask me. Felt fairly strong though my power dwindled quite dramatically at the end. I think I could have fixed that with some nutrition. Actually excited for the bike leg of the Tri on Saturday.

Time: 44:05

Training Effect: 3.5

EPOC Peak: 103 ml/kg

148 bpm avg

162 bpm max

High Point: 6791 ft

Low Point: 6345 ft

Vert: 610 ft

Ventilation: 110 l/min

Oxygen Consumption: 47 ml/kg/min

Respiration Rate: 41 breaths/min

Total Energy Consumption: 705 kcal

Distance: 15 miles

Run: Bountiful

Wanted to swim this morning - but our sprinkler broke and flooded the neighbor's basement.  Wanted to bike at lunch - but had meetings all day.  So, settled for a late night "stroll" in beautiful Bountiful.  Ran with Ralphie (the dog) up and around the temple from the house.  Actually felt pretty strong considering dinner was a double burger from Iceburg and all-you-can-eat birthday cake.

Time: 56:34

Training Effect: 3.3

EPOC Peak: 84 ml/kg

Energy Consumption: 687 kcal

138 bpm avg

161 bpm max

Vert: 741 ft

Distance: 5.86 miles

Swim: East Canyon Reservior

Went with Jill to open water swim at East Canyon.  Water was cold, but once we got started swimming I warmed up fairly quickly.  The swam across an inlet 4 times (~ 1200m).  The first time across, spent a lot of time trying to calm down from the cold and get used to being in the different body of water (compared to a swimming pool).  Felt really strong on leg 2.  Leg 3, the wind started to kick up and I started getting thrown around quite a bit in the water.  I adjusted my swim quite effectively, I thought: using more arms to get out of the water for cleaner breathes above the ways.  However, during Leg 4 started getting motion sick.  In fact, once I started, it was super hard to be on dry land again - very dizzy, very nauseous.  I ended up puking on the drive home and have been feeling the effects all day.  Obviously, I didn't feel much like riding/running after that swim so I'm a little concerned about this weekend at Deer Creek (Battle At Midway Triathlon).

Trail Run: Glenwild

Tried to mtb today but chain snapped on first hill.  I went over the handlebars, of course.  So, changed shoes and ended up running the trails instead.  Was interested in testing my bruised knee.  I could feel the bruise with each step and it kind of affectly my ability to lift my leg quickly from the trail, but overall, felt like it won't inhibit me much longer.  Was super sore in the legs near the end of the long run.

Time: 1:23:59

Training effect: 3.4

EPOC Peak: 95 ml/kg

145 bpm avg

166 bpm max

Vert: 1046 ft

High Point: 6922 ft

Low Point: 6400 ft

Ventilation: 108 l/min

Oxygen Consumption: 48 ml/kg/min

Respiration Rate: 39 breaths/min

Total Energy: 1127 kcal

Distance: 8.98 miles

KEVIN: EPOC is the Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption as measured by my watch.  It basically takes into account all of the measurements from the watch and calculates how much oxygen my body would need to recover.  It's a different way of measuring energy and aerobics expended, but is a good one-number metric I can look at to see how hard I went or how I'm doing over time.  It's the basis also for the "Training Effect" which is another metric from my watch.  The training effect is basically a different representation of the EPOC peak but on a scale of 1-5 (1 = recovery, 2 = maintaining, 3 = improving, 4 = highly improving, 5 = over-worked).  Most of my hard workouts will be in the 3 zone.  Most of my races will be in the 4 zone.  I've never pushed higher than a 4.5 or so.  

Ultimate Frisbee

Wednesday, June 3rd.

Ran two miles to the park where we play.  Not a super fast pace, just trying to loosen up before sprinting during the game.  Had a great workout but bruised my knee.  Super sore and stiff after playing.

Time: ~1:30:00

(forgot HR belt)

Swim: Rec Center

Wednesday, June 3rd.  

Went long and hard(er) on this one.  I am driven by a growing concern that I haven't swam enough to be prepared for the upcoming triathlon's (1500m on June13th and 1000m on June 20th).

Distance: 2000m

Time: 37:43 

MTB: Glenwild

Short.  Recovery speed.  Went with Eischeid who hadn't ridden much.  Gorgeous weather - threatening clouds but no rain.  Soft trail, a few puddles.  

Time: 46:23

Training Effect: 2.8

EPOC Peak: 54 ml/kg

Total Energy Consumption: 464 kcal

135 bpm avg

162 bpm max

Vert: 771 ft

Distance: 5.8 miles

Trail Run: Glenwild (Large Loop)

My body wanted to run today - which was a nice feeling to have.  My calves, however, did not.  The sprint running from Saturday did a number on my calves.  I loosened up a little after a bit of running, but coming back down the mountain was murder.  I did wear my new END Stumptown 10oz. shoes for the first time - good shoes, amazingly light.  Ran with Eric Miller and Peter Eischeid.

Time: 1:01:24

Training Effect: 3.4

EPOC Peak: 99 ml/kg

142 bpm avg

164 bpm max

Vert: 603 ft

Ventilation: 110 l/min

Oxygen Consumption: 47 ml/kg/min

Respiration Rate: 42 breathes/min

Total Energy Consumption: 825 kcal

Distance: 5.83 miles

Swim: Rec Center

This was a just-get-through-it workout for me.  Super hard to wake up this morning.  Really hard to jump in the pool and to start swimming.  And, even harder to keep swimming.  However, I learned from Saturday that my swimming condition may not be were it needs to be even if my goal for longer tri's is to just-get-through-it.  

Distance: 1500m

Time: 31:17

Race: South Davis Triathlon (Sprint Distance)

This happened on Saturday, not today.  Horrible swim start.  Was seeded way too high and got pushed from behind almost immediately.  I totally went too hard and ended up in a super-tired, panicky state for the final 300m (400m total).  Obviously, my swim training didn't do squat in preparing me for a swim sprint.  My swim-to-bike transition wasn't too thought out.    Hated having to sit down to put my bike shoes on (should have put them on my bike and did straps while riding).  Plus, put my shirt on backwards (should have swam with it on) and had to reverse it - which was no small task with wet skin and a peaked heart rate.  Once on the bike, however, I found some race form.  The course was 12 miles, flat on fairly smooth roads.  Didn't feel too stressed and just found a rhythm (which would be hard to come by on a mtn trail).  Water bottle fell out and got stopped by a train but gained some time on this part of the race.  Again, the run transition was super slow.  At least 2 people came and went while I was still lacing up my shoes.  I was pretty pooped right off the bat as I started running the 5K.  Ended up taking short, fast steps and I think that helped me recover a little while still not going too slow.  There was a slight uphill climb for the first part of the race and downhill finish.  Killed it on the finish - felt like I crossed the line super strong.  Short and sweet experience.  Learned a lot from the swim.

Time: 1:07:08 (minus swim time)

Training Effect: 4.2

EPOC Peak: 149 ml/kg

153 bpm avg

166 bpm max

Vert: 328 ft

Ventilation: 117 l/min

Oxygen Consumption: 40 ml/kg/min

Respiration Rate: 40 breaths/min

Total Energy Consumption: 952 kcal

Distance 400m swim, 12 mile road bike, 5K road run