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
