I didn't do a post-Barrelman week training post, so I decided to skip it and go straight to a September training summary. With the exception of the race itself, the second half of September was a fairly light training load. Here are the numbers:
Swim: 18.9K/6h47 (6th)
Bike: 377K/13h19 (2nd)
Run: 81.9K/6h53 (8th)
Strength/Other: 4h58m
Total: 31h58m (7th)
September was my lowest-volume month since January. It's also the busiest month I've had in a while with school (and life). So total "life stress" was probably constant. It's nice to have a recovery month that is planned and not forced by injury. I'm heading into October feeling fairly good, minus some minor low back pain (I've had it before, just need to keep up my mobility).
Swimming
I started swimming with the Ancaster Masters this month. The plan is to continue swmming with them 2X per week until at least December, and re-evaluate. I hit my fastest times in the pool in years this summer, but I also didn't break any open water personal bests. I also did almost no open water swim training so that might be a factor. Nonetheless I'm feeling strong in the pool, but also know that I need some swim coaching to get much faster.
Cycling
I ended the month with an FTP test on the trainer. I've only had the power meter on my bike for one season, but training with it has definitely made a difference. I hit a personal best FTP of 256W (3.76W/kg at my current weight). I don't have a lot of previous data to compare it to, other than virtual power numbers from my trainer, but I would say I'm up about 10W for the year. I've been able to get some short rides in daily (about 2K to/from school) which I've been finding helps keep me loose on the bike. I'll keep riding as into the year as I can and probably train 2X on the trainer into the fall.
Running
My running volume was way down in Sept, but I'm feeling good going into a run-focused fall training session. I haven't really focused much on running since I hurt myself in June, but I feel like I'm healthy enough to some speed work and some fall races. I'm going to start adding weekly speed session and do more trail running leading into the fall race season.
Strength
This is the other aspect of my training I'm going to slightly increase my load. I've been fairly consistent with my strength work, but now I might up the weights a bit.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Barrelman Triathlon Race Report
Swim (2K+): 35:14 (1:39-1:45, GPS vs )
T1: 2:14
Bike (86K): 2:25:10 (35.5k/h)
T2: 2:40
Run (21.1K): 1:45:32
Total: 4:50:51
This is the first race report I've typed up in a while, so it'll probably be long. This past weekend I completed the Barrleman Half-Iron Triathlon in the Niagara Region. It was my second half-iron of the year (after Muskoka in July), 7th 70.3 overall and 3rd time I've done 2 long-distance tris in the same year (in 2007 and 2015 I did the half-full iron combo). As well, it was my 4th triathlon - the first time I've ever finished 4 tris in the same season (in 2011 I entered 4 but didn't finish the Canadian half-iron).
Overall I was happy with my race. I felt good at the start of the swim - I decided literally minutes before the start to squeeze down half a gel, as in the past I remember losing steam towards the end of the swim. I had my garmin 905 in my swim cap to help me track swim distance, although the course was well-marked. After the start, I quickly surged to near the front of my wave (M/W 35-39). It only took a few hundred m before I was hitting the slowest swimmers of the wave earlier. Around that time I discovered there was a line down the buoys that you could see underwater! This really helped me stay on course, and I realized I have a tendency to drift left when I swim open water. I stayed on course with another woman in a pink cap as we kept passing swimmers from the earlier wave (literally dozens). I had no idea of my pace but I knew I was keeping my effort low, which was intentional. When I got to the final tur (maybe 100m left) my watch beeped that we were at 2K > so I probably ended up swimming close to 2.1K in around 35. A tad slow, but if you count the extra distance it makes sense (goal was 33). My transition was reasonable and I was on my bike in about 2 minutes. (17th in my AG out of the water)
At the start f the bike my quads were cramping> I might have overkicked in the swim? Either way, I was having trouble holding aero for long periods and had to take frequent breaks. I was managing about 35K/h though without much of a wind, so I just kept trucking. I was passed by a ton of guys with disc wheels, although most were from the wave behind me. I only recalled one guy from the 35-39 passing me. I caught up to a guy from the earlier wave and we ended up riding together, although at a legal distance *unlike many other riders). At around 30K we started to turn back to Niagara falls and my legs were feeling better. We started to get a slight tail wind and I bumped my speed to around 36-37. I was eating and drinking exactly as planned, but it was getting hot. Around 56K we hit the final water station on the bike> I calculated that for 30K left I should have enough water (rough 50-55 min) so I didn't bother to grab another bottle. Well I clearly miscalculated, because shortley after that we hit the few hills of the course, and with the heat my water use went up. With about 10-15K left I was basically out of water. I was still feeling good though, and there wasn't anything I could do, so I jsut kept on trucking while conserving energy a bit (and my legs for the run). Nonetheless my times/speed were the fastest I've ever done in a race of that length, actually close to a PB for 40K as well (around 1:07) and finishing the 86K in 2:25 (equivalent to about 2:32 for 90K). I definitely had a tail wind for at least half the race, so that might have helped, but oh well. I came off the bike in 16th in my AG.
During T2 I stopped for a quick pee and then downed some water. I started off great, going out the first 5K in 22:44 (close to 4:30/k). It started to get hot then and I slowed down slightly, but still was around 47 for 10K. The second loop was significantly harder as I started to slow down to 5:00per k, and then 5:30s. My carb intake for the second loop was probably too low as I didnt want t risk GI issues. I probably should have tried out some of the on course nutrition. My salt intake was good as I didn't cramp at all. Overall I finished in 1:45, losing nearly 5 min in the final 5K of the run or so. Going into the run I was hoping to run sub 1:40 and finish in 4:45, but considering the heat I'll take the 4:50. Even factoring in the short bike course, I would have come in sub 5:00hrs which was my goal!
I was happy with this as it was only my 2nd race sub 5 hrs ever (last was in 2008) and this run course was HOT.
T1: 2:14
Bike (86K): 2:25:10 (35.5k/h)
T2: 2:40
Run (21.1K): 1:45:32
Total: 4:50:51
This is the first race report I've typed up in a while, so it'll probably be long. This past weekend I completed the Barrleman Half-Iron Triathlon in the Niagara Region. It was my second half-iron of the year (after Muskoka in July), 7th 70.3 overall and 3rd time I've done 2 long-distance tris in the same year (in 2007 and 2015 I did the half-full iron combo). As well, it was my 4th triathlon - the first time I've ever finished 4 tris in the same season (in 2011 I entered 4 but didn't finish the Canadian half-iron).
Overall I was happy with my race. I felt good at the start of the swim - I decided literally minutes before the start to squeeze down half a gel, as in the past I remember losing steam towards the end of the swim. I had my garmin 905 in my swim cap to help me track swim distance, although the course was well-marked. After the start, I quickly surged to near the front of my wave (M/W 35-39). It only took a few hundred m before I was hitting the slowest swimmers of the wave earlier. Around that time I discovered there was a line down the buoys that you could see underwater! This really helped me stay on course, and I realized I have a tendency to drift left when I swim open water. I stayed on course with another woman in a pink cap as we kept passing swimmers from the earlier wave (literally dozens). I had no idea of my pace but I knew I was keeping my effort low, which was intentional. When I got to the final tur (maybe 100m left) my watch beeped that we were at 2K > so I probably ended up swimming close to 2.1K in around 35. A tad slow, but if you count the extra distance it makes sense (goal was 33). My transition was reasonable and I was on my bike in about 2 minutes. (17th in my AG out of the water)
At the start f the bike my quads were cramping> I might have overkicked in the swim? Either way, I was having trouble holding aero for long periods and had to take frequent breaks. I was managing about 35K/h though without much of a wind, so I just kept trucking. I was passed by a ton of guys with disc wheels, although most were from the wave behind me. I only recalled one guy from the 35-39 passing me. I caught up to a guy from the earlier wave and we ended up riding together, although at a legal distance *unlike many other riders). At around 30K we started to turn back to Niagara falls and my legs were feeling better. We started to get a slight tail wind and I bumped my speed to around 36-37. I was eating and drinking exactly as planned, but it was getting hot. Around 56K we hit the final water station on the bike> I calculated that for 30K left I should have enough water (rough 50-55 min) so I didn't bother to grab another bottle. Well I clearly miscalculated, because shortley after that we hit the few hills of the course, and with the heat my water use went up. With about 10-15K left I was basically out of water. I was still feeling good though, and there wasn't anything I could do, so I jsut kept on trucking while conserving energy a bit (and my legs for the run). Nonetheless my times/speed were the fastest I've ever done in a race of that length, actually close to a PB for 40K as well (around 1:07) and finishing the 86K in 2:25 (equivalent to about 2:32 for 90K). I definitely had a tail wind for at least half the race, so that might have helped, but oh well. I came off the bike in 16th in my AG.
During T2 I stopped for a quick pee and then downed some water. I started off great, going out the first 5K in 22:44 (close to 4:30/k). It started to get hot then and I slowed down slightly, but still was around 47 for 10K. The second loop was significantly harder as I started to slow down to 5:00per k, and then 5:30s. My carb intake for the second loop was probably too low as I didnt want t risk GI issues. I probably should have tried out some of the on course nutrition. My salt intake was good as I didn't cramp at all. Overall I finished in 1:45, losing nearly 5 min in the final 5K of the run or so. Going into the run I was hoping to run sub 1:40 and finish in 4:45, but considering the heat I'll take the 4:50. Even factoring in the short bike course, I would have come in sub 5:00hrs which was my goal!
I was happy with this as it was only my 2nd race sub 5 hrs ever (last was in 2008) and this run course was HOT.
Barrelman Race Week
Training Summary: Sep 11 - 16
2-1 weeks until Barrelman
Swim: 1h29m/
Bike: 2h56m/ (40 min bike commute)
Run: 1h50/
Weights: 1h06m
Other:
Total:
Summary
Swimming:
Tuesday AM: 53m/2K Q7 I7
Did 2X swims this week. First was the practice with the Ancaster Masters. Had a good swim experience, the first workout was straightforward with a lot of drills and kicking (which I need to work on)
Thursday AM: 39m/1.5K
Second swim was a lot of backstroke and kick drills. I stopped after 39min because I didn't want to overdo it before the race. I think it'll be good for me to practice the various drills.
Cycling:
Wednesday AM: 35m/16K Q8I8 (trainer)
Did my regular short bike commute this week for a total of 50 min of riding. Also did a tune-up ride on my tri bike on Tues to sort out the rear derailleur. Felt like I had it sorted and tried another ride on Thursday.
Running:
Tuesday AM: 25m/5.1K Q7I7
Easy run though Westdale. Kept the pace easy, started with 5:22 and dropped to around 4:50 by the end.
Weights/Mobility:
Monday PM: 35m Q8I8
Did a light workout with weights on Monday morning (Sq, DL, BP). Wednesday morning I did some body weight exercises with focus on mobility.
Wednesday
Did some body weight exercises and light stretching, as well as mobility drills.
Pre-Race
Race Nutrition plan
Breakfast: 500-600 cal (600-630AM); hydration 250-500mL
Pre-Race: 0.5-1 gel + 250 mL of water (salt tab if hot?)
Ride: gel post-swim within 5-10 mins on the bike. drink 250 mL of combined fluid. Will carry 700mL of E-load (3 scoops) + 300-600mL of water (depending on temp?). Water refill at 30 and 60K (approx) of an extra 1-1.3L. Gels at 35-40 min, 65-70m, 95-100m, 2h05-2h10 (last gel)
Run 2 gels + 2 scoops of e-load
2-1 weeks until Barrelman
Swim: 1h29m/
Bike: 2h56m/ (40 min bike commute)
Run: 1h50/
Weights: 1h06m
Other:
Total:
Summary
Swimming:
Tuesday AM: 53m/2K Q7 I7
Did 2X swims this week. First was the practice with the Ancaster Masters. Had a good swim experience, the first workout was straightforward with a lot of drills and kicking (which I need to work on)
Thursday AM: 39m/1.5K
Second swim was a lot of backstroke and kick drills. I stopped after 39min because I didn't want to overdo it before the race. I think it'll be good for me to practice the various drills.
Cycling:
Wednesday AM: 35m/16K Q8I8 (trainer)
Did my regular short bike commute this week for a total of 50 min of riding. Also did a tune-up ride on my tri bike on Tues to sort out the rear derailleur. Felt like I had it sorted and tried another ride on Thursday.
Running:
Tuesday AM: 25m/5.1K Q7I7
Easy run though Westdale. Kept the pace easy, started with 5:22 and dropped to around 4:50 by the end.
Weights/Mobility:
Monday PM: 35m Q8I8
Did a light workout with weights on Monday morning (Sq, DL, BP). Wednesday morning I did some body weight exercises with focus on mobility.
Wednesday
Did some body weight exercises and light stretching, as well as mobility drills.
Pre-Race
Race Nutrition plan
Breakfast: 500-600 cal (600-630AM); hydration 250-500mL
Pre-Race: 0.5-1 gel + 250 mL of water (salt tab if hot?)
Ride: gel post-swim within 5-10 mins on the bike. drink 250 mL of combined fluid. Will carry 700mL of E-load (3 scoops) + 300-600mL of water (depending on temp?). Water refill at 30 and 60K (approx) of an extra 1-1.3L. Gels at 35-40 min, 65-70m, 95-100m, 2h05-2h10 (last gel)
Run 2 gels + 2 scoops of e-load
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)