This weekend marks the 5th Annual Tri-Masters South Shore Kid’s Triathlon and for the second year I will be volunteering with the Chicago Tri Club at the race. After a fun time volunteering last year I signed up to be the CTC volunteer coordinator this year. Unfortunately I didn't realize that the event was the day after my 30th birthday so now I’m faced with the challenge of waking up at 5am the day after my 30th birthday party! Ouch!
I had a great time volunteering last year, so even though the timing is a bit rough I’m still looking forward to helping out this year. Seeing those kids race their little hearts out on tiny little bikes brought such a smile to my face last year. Some of those little kids have ridiculously fancy bikes too, which is kinda crazy. Some of the kids had custom tri jerseys too, which I found pretty funny. Man those kids are going to be fast when they grow up. I’ll try to post pictures from last year to try to show the absoluteness cuteness of this race.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Signed up for my next race
Alright, I signed up for my next race: the Bangs Lake Duathlon! Why the duathlon and not the triathlon you ask? Well, I did this race last year and had a terrible swim out on Bangs Lake. Actually, I had a terrible race overall, partly because I was sick and partly because it was close to 100 degrees that day (hottest day of the year I think). But the swim is a long out-and-back directly into the sun and I had one of the worst swims I've ever had there so I wasn't really in the mood to deal with that again this year. That and the fact that I just started swimming again last month led me to sign up for the duathlon this year.
This race also reflects a new shift in my racing goals this summer. Since I knew my swim wouldn't really be in place until the later part of the summer I've decided to do more single and dual sporting events in the meanwhile. This also works out well for me time-wise, since I can more easily plan and train for my next race. So that means more events like duathlons, 5k/10k and time trials until my swim comes back into full swing.
This race also reflects a new shift in my racing goals this summer. Since I knew my swim wouldn't really be in place until the later part of the summer I've decided to do more single and dual sporting events in the meanwhile. This also works out well for me time-wise, since I can more easily plan and train for my next race. So that means more events like duathlons, 5k/10k and time trials until my swim comes back into full swing.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Swim updates
The swim is slowly coming along, emphasis on the slow part. My technique is slowly getting better and I feel more efficient in the water now but not really any faster. I've ventured out to do some open water swimming and I’m a little bummed out that my mile time is just as slow as it was last year. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t work on your stroke all off season. Anyways, the focus is on technique and efficiency; I know that the speed will follow once I refine my stroke technique. I’m not giving up on the swim just yet!
Run updates
My run is feeling really good these days, the best it’s felt in a really long time. I’m definitely going to take a late season shot at breaking a run PR or two. I’m attributing most of my run progress to two things: Thursday morning track workouts with VQ and Monday night tempo runs with Fleet Feet.
The Monday night tempo runs with Fleet Feet are my second favorite running workouts of the week (behind track workouts). I run with a group of guys there that are faster than me so it’s a great challenge to try to keep up with them on their tempo runs. They typically start out at a 7:00 minute pace, ease down into a 6:30 pace and then bring it home with a 6:15-6:30 pace. At the start of the summer I would get dropped a lot on the way back home, but recently I've been able to match their pace all the way home (with much effort). It’s a pretty brutal workout sometimes but I enjoy running with the pack and trying to keep up. On the track my lap split times are slowly moving down and I’m able to push it a little bit faster each week.
The Monday night tempo runs with Fleet Feet are my second favorite running workouts of the week (behind track workouts). I run with a group of guys there that are faster than me so it’s a great challenge to try to keep up with them on their tempo runs. They typically start out at a 7:00 minute pace, ease down into a 6:30 pace and then bring it home with a 6:15-6:30 pace. At the start of the summer I would get dropped a lot on the way back home, but recently I've been able to match their pace all the way home (with much effort). It’s a pretty brutal workout sometimes but I enjoy running with the pack and trying to keep up. On the track my lap split times are slowly moving down and I’m able to push it a little bit faster each week.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
2-Man TT post-race analysis
Alright, checked my PowerTap file after the 2-Man and it looks like I was dead on where I was supposed to be for the race. I was at 90+% when I was pulling, 70-80% when I was drafting. I tried not to go too far above 100% of my threshold power and only really got into that zone after cornering (I have to work on my bike handling skills) and at the end for the sprint home. Overall I averaged just under 90% of my max effort for the whole ride. 1:26:47 for 50k, average speed was 21.64 miles. Dang, I thought we would have averaged a faster time than that but the wind was pretty strong that day. Still, I’m happy with my power output for the race; I felt pretty dialed in and my power file reflects that.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
2-Man TT race report
I did the Wolfgang Frietag Memorial 2-Person 50K Team Time Trial this weekend, and wow, what a freaking blast! It was so brutal and so much fun at the same time I don’t even know how to explain it. I did this race last year and had fun but this year’s experience far surpassed last year’s race.
I was finally paired up with my official race partner Steve last week, and we were able to get in a good practice session on Saturday morning. It turns out that Steve was the guy I was supposed to ride with last year so it was pretty funny that we were successfully paired up this year. We practiced taking pulls together, worked through our game day strategy and got a feel for each other’s strength and speed. All in all we felt that we were a good match for the race.
Race day morning we warmed up and finalized our plan of attack. The race was a 2 loop rectangular course and our plan was to hit the first loop at a 7-8 on the PE (perceived effort) scale, gauge how we felt at the halfway point, and try to ratchet it up to an 8-9 on the second loop before giving it our all on the final leg home. We’d start out with 1 minute pulls, if one of us felt good or bad we would adjust our pull times as necessary. We assessed the wind scenario and discussed what side we’d be drafting off of on each leg of the course.
We lined up to wait for our start time and before you knew it we were off! We started out at a moderate pace for the first leg just to settle into a nice rhythm. Pretty soon we were trading off pulls like clockwork and everything was flowing smoothly. The first turn came and now we had a strong cross-wind to our right. We lined up really tightly and were practically on each other’s hips at this point. I was really happy with how tight we were riding, especially after having not practiced that much together. So far so good. We hit a direct headwind coming back and that was pretty rough but again we kept a tight formation and a steady pace and we were rocking it.
Second loop starts, and now we look at each other and decide we can kick it up more. We picked up our speed and starting pushing it harder. This is when the race got rough. Man, we were pushing our limits pretty hard. Luckily Steve and I were pretty evenly matched on power and we were able to keep up with each other even at this brutal pace. We did a great job of communicating with each other on where we were at on the PE scale and made sure we didn't blow up before the end. The headwind on the way back seemed harsher than before (turns out the wind did pick up a bit) and by the time we hit the final stretch home we were both at 9’s easy. The final leg is a slight downhill and we knew we could really pound it home so we just called out “ready?” to each other and proceeded to give it all we had on the way home. Now, Steve and I are both triathletes so we don’t normally do too much sprinting, which made this all the more fun! We hit that last stretch hard (but still in a tight 2-Man TT formation) and left it all out there. They took a great picture of us out there gritting our teeth and giving it our all on that sprint home.
I was completely spent after the race! I haven’t been that tired in a while and I had to sit for a long while before I could get going again. It was a great feeling knowing I left everything out there on the course and that I was able to match my teammate’s intensity the whole way. Overall a great time out there in Herscher IL. VQ had about 10-15 teams racing that day so we were well represented. Some of our teams did really well and took awards home. Steve and I didn't place (our category was pretty stacked), but that’s alright. Now I’m looking forward to my next TTT, the 4-Man TTT in September!
I was finally paired up with my official race partner Steve last week, and we were able to get in a good practice session on Saturday morning. It turns out that Steve was the guy I was supposed to ride with last year so it was pretty funny that we were successfully paired up this year. We practiced taking pulls together, worked through our game day strategy and got a feel for each other’s strength and speed. All in all we felt that we were a good match for the race.
Race day morning we warmed up and finalized our plan of attack. The race was a 2 loop rectangular course and our plan was to hit the first loop at a 7-8 on the PE (perceived effort) scale, gauge how we felt at the halfway point, and try to ratchet it up to an 8-9 on the second loop before giving it our all on the final leg home. We’d start out with 1 minute pulls, if one of us felt good or bad we would adjust our pull times as necessary. We assessed the wind scenario and discussed what side we’d be drafting off of on each leg of the course.
We lined up to wait for our start time and before you knew it we were off! We started out at a moderate pace for the first leg just to settle into a nice rhythm. Pretty soon we were trading off pulls like clockwork and everything was flowing smoothly. The first turn came and now we had a strong cross-wind to our right. We lined up really tightly and were practically on each other’s hips at this point. I was really happy with how tight we were riding, especially after having not practiced that much together. So far so good. We hit a direct headwind coming back and that was pretty rough but again we kept a tight formation and a steady pace and we were rocking it.
Second loop starts, and now we look at each other and decide we can kick it up more. We picked up our speed and starting pushing it harder. This is when the race got rough. Man, we were pushing our limits pretty hard. Luckily Steve and I were pretty evenly matched on power and we were able to keep up with each other even at this brutal pace. We did a great job of communicating with each other on where we were at on the PE scale and made sure we didn't blow up before the end. The headwind on the way back seemed harsher than before (turns out the wind did pick up a bit) and by the time we hit the final stretch home we were both at 9’s easy. The final leg is a slight downhill and we knew we could really pound it home so we just called out “ready?” to each other and proceeded to give it all we had on the way home. Now, Steve and I are both triathletes so we don’t normally do too much sprinting, which made this all the more fun! We hit that last stretch hard (but still in a tight 2-Man TT formation) and left it all out there. They took a great picture of us out there gritting our teeth and giving it our all on that sprint home.
I was completely spent after the race! I haven’t been that tired in a while and I had to sit for a long while before I could get going again. It was a great feeling knowing I left everything out there on the course and that I was able to match my teammate’s intensity the whole way. Overall a great time out there in Herscher IL. VQ had about 10-15 teams racing that day so we were well represented. Some of our teams did really well and took awards home. Steve and I didn't place (our category was pretty stacked), but that’s alright. Now I’m looking forward to my next TTT, the 4-Man TTT in September!
Monday, July 5, 2010
2-Man TT practice
2-Man TT practices continue at VQ in preparation for the Wolfgang Frietag Memorial 2-Person 50K Team Time Trial next weekend. I've been trying to attend as many practices as I can so I feel comfortable out there moving from pulling to drafting positions. I've also been doing a bit of interval work on my own to train my body to match the intensity of the 2-Man TT race.
The only bad thing is that I don’t have an official partner just yet. I practiced with a potential partner last week but it turned out to be bad match in terms of power and attitude. We just weren't gelling. Anyways, hopefully Noda finds me someone soon and I don’t have to race with a coach again.
The only bad thing is that I don’t have an official partner just yet. I practiced with a potential partner last week but it turned out to be bad match in terms of power and attitude. We just weren't gelling. Anyways, hopefully Noda finds me someone soon and I don’t have to race with a coach again.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Summer shape up
Well, I turn 30 this month, and for some 30 marks heading over the hill but I gotta tell ya I’m feeling great this month! I finally feel like my training is coming together. I finally made some headway on my bike (see my last post, “FTP Test Success!”); my run is shaping up with the track workouts and I’m feeling confident there; even my swim has been somewhat improving with the private lessons. On top of all that I’m only taking 1 class this quarter so now I know I’ll be able to really enjoy the rest of my summer.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
FTP Test success!
Finally, broke my losing streak on the FTP (functional threshold power) test this week! I managed to put out 5% more watts than my previous high score. Now I know that 5% isn't a lot at all, but to me it felt HUGE! Wow, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to see any pop in my wattage, and even though I only jumped a little I’m still really happy with the results. After a relatively ineffectual off season it finally feels like I’m taking steps in the right direction here.
My W/Kg numbers went up nicely too. Watts per Kilogram measures your power to weight ratio, which is a true measure of your power on the bike relative to your weight. I went from a 3.1 value to a 3.39 value, which is pretty sweet! If I can pick up 5% more watts I’ll cross over into the 3.5+ territory, which will move me from "Average" to "Good"!
My W/Kg numbers went up nicely too. Watts per Kilogram measures your power to weight ratio, which is a true measure of your power on the bike relative to your weight. I went from a 3.1 value to a 3.39 value, which is pretty sweet! If I can pick up 5% more watts I’ll cross over into the 3.5+ territory, which will move me from "Average" to "Good"!
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