Okay, so I pulled out of RI 70.3 a couple of weeks ago in order to take care of an aching knee (same one that ended my season prematurely last year) to ensure that I can stay on track for IMWI. In place of RI, I hit up a local race on Saturday, rode home, and then ran long today.
Well... looks like the WTC gave my timing chip, bib number and NAME to someone else! WTF?!?! I wasn't even in the state of RI today!!!
To make matters worse, the guy DNF'd after a bike ride that would be a good 18+ min. slower than what I'd turn in on that course.
I suppose I shouldn't care, but I won't lie: I do. I hope they fix that BS ASAP because I'm kind of pissed about it.
Anyway, my long run wasn't a lot of fun today. Off to the Dr. tomorrow to try to get this knee taken care of. I need to get back to hitting my PFMS exercises religiously and to keep up with my stretching.
Nice job to Amanda Russell for her 70.3 PR today. I had a few other athletes throw down too: Quinn Borchard out in CA was 2nd AGer in a big sprint event (would have been 4th elite) and Dave Smith of VA was 4th overall in a pretty competitive Olympic. Those guys are hitting up Vineman and Steelhead, respectively, in the next couple of weeks, so things are looking good.
Okay, back to work tomorrow.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Pow Wow
Well, at least I had a good Swim
Big thanks to Craig Lewin and the North Shore Swim Club for helping to bring my swim around. It's getting there.
Not much more to report besides that. I was GROSSLY underpowered on the bike today: Nearly 40 watts lower avg/Norm power than Cohasset (same distance: 12.5 mile bike leg). That's just stupid weak. I felt AWFUL out there on the bike today.
But... I gave it all that I had so no excuses. The legs just wouldn't go despite my best efforts. I suppose today shouldn't come as a big surprise given all the IM work I've been laying down, but it's still tough to accept the fact that you were only able to put out the same wattage you held, easily, for a 100k pace ride just 6 days prior... a pace ride you executed in the midst of a 90 mile cycling/17 mile running brick session.
Oh well, just one of those days. They sure do suck when they decide to rear their ugly heads though.
Congrats to my friend Dean Phillips on his victory and to pro cyclist turned triathlete Lynn Bessette for her awesome showing too (she'll be making big waves in the sport very shortly).
Big thanks to Craig Lewin and the North Shore Swim Club for helping to bring my swim around. It's getting there.
Not much more to report besides that. I was GROSSLY underpowered on the bike today: Nearly 40 watts lower avg/Norm power than Cohasset (same distance: 12.5 mile bike leg). That's just stupid weak. I felt AWFUL out there on the bike today.
But... I gave it all that I had so no excuses. The legs just wouldn't go despite my best efforts. I suppose today shouldn't come as a big surprise given all the IM work I've been laying down, but it's still tough to accept the fact that you were only able to put out the same wattage you held, easily, for a 100k pace ride just 6 days prior... a pace ride you executed in the midst of a 90 mile cycling/17 mile running brick session.
Oh well, just one of those days. They sure do suck when they decide to rear their ugly heads though.
Congrats to my friend Dean Phillips on his victory and to pro cyclist turned triathlete Lynn Bessette for her awesome showing too (she'll be making big waves in the sport very shortly).
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Crawling Into The Pain Cave
Today was the first of my BIG IM assessment sessions and man oh man did it go well. The short of it:
You can never disrespect this distance though, so as good as I felt today, I know that race day will feature nearly 4k of swimming, an entire 180k of hard riding and a full marathon and as such, I'll be sure to lay down the necessary training that will allow me to handle this absurd distance when the day comes.
Things are headed in the right direction though, that's for sure.
Here's the Garmin File from today's long T run if you'd like to check it out.
p.s. Big props to my Dad for helping me with today's run. Gatorade every other mile really gave me something to look forward to out there, especially when I had to run by the beach and think about all the fun everyone else was having while I suffered alone.
- 14 mile warm up (ride over to ECV TT course)
- 100k @ IM Goal Watts (Dean Phillips was kind enough to join me for 80k. I can't thank him enough for the company as it made the session FLY by). Avg. power of 271 watts/norm of 275 and I felt absolutely sensational throughout. Despite the wind and lack of aero kit, I covered the 100k in 2:33 and passed through 56 miles in 2:18. It felt very easy.
- Rode home 14 miles (total of 90 miles of riding on the day)
- Quick Transition and out the door for a hilly 17+ mile run. Avg. pace of 6:25 for the distance. Passed through 13.1 miles in 1:23:50 and despite a really painful blister on the ball of my left foot and the fatigue that goes hand in hand with being nearly 6 hours deep into a pace session, I held it together and capped the workout. The final 30 min. of the run were anything but easy though. I won't lie.
You can never disrespect this distance though, so as good as I felt today, I know that race day will feature nearly 4k of swimming, an entire 180k of hard riding and a full marathon and as such, I'll be sure to lay down the necessary training that will allow me to handle this absurd distance when the day comes.
Things are headed in the right direction though, that's for sure.
Here's the Garmin File from today's long T run if you'd like to check it out.
p.s. Big props to my Dad for helping me with today's run. Gatorade every other mile really gave me something to look forward to out there, especially when I had to run by the beach and think about all the fun everyone else was having while I suffered alone.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Not Bad
I'm feeling too lazy to post anything about Cohasset, so you can check out Michelle's blog if you're so inclined :)
Legs weren't as tired as I expected them to be after this initial block of IM training. It was a solid day, but nothing to write home about. A win is a win though, and I was happy to support race director Bill Burnett and stop # 1 on the Commonwealth Tri Race Series.
Best part of the day was seeing so many of the athletes I work with in action and catching up with them pre and post event.
Well, it's raining, excuse me, POURING again today. We've had about 3 or 4 sunny days this month. Not fun.
Back at it tomorrow with the next big round of IM training: 3 weeks of big volume. It's looking like I'm going to skip RI 70.3 in order to concentrate on my IMWI prep - I need the training time.
In the mean time... off to another Gloucester Tri related meeting this afternoon and swim practice tonight.
Legs weren't as tired as I expected them to be after this initial block of IM training. It was a solid day, but nothing to write home about. A win is a win though, and I was happy to support race director Bill Burnett and stop # 1 on the Commonwealth Tri Race Series.
Best part of the day was seeing so many of the athletes I work with in action and catching up with them pre and post event.
Well, it's raining, excuse me, POURING again today. We've had about 3 or 4 sunny days this month. Not fun.
Back at it tomorrow with the next big round of IM training: 3 weeks of big volume. It's looking like I'm going to skip RI 70.3 in order to concentrate on my IMWI prep - I need the training time.
In the mean time... off to another Gloucester Tri related meeting this afternoon and swim practice tonight.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Gloucester Tri PR
I can't believe the momentum that the Gloucester Tri is building. The event is already close to sold out (St. Peter's Square is going to be bursting at the seams with athletes!) and it seems like everywhere I turn, someone is talking about it. Dawn Guarriello happened to be walking through the Burlington Mall the other day and came across this:
Pretty cool.
Even the Mayor of Gloucester is gearing up for the inaugural event. She's clearly fired up and ready to roll, as evidenced by her most recent column in the Gloucester Daily Times.
Speaking of races, it's time to roll again. I kick my season off with the Cohasset triathlon tomorrow. I have zero expectations as far as racing is concerned right now. My only objective for this year will be to punch my ticket to Hawaii '10, so anything leading up to IMWI is going to be nothing more than a training session. I backed off my IM prep yesterday and today, so I'm hoping that the legs have a little life in them tomorrow as I would prefer to NOT get beaten by the entire elite Jr. field that will be in attendance. I'm sure that the race will seem like an all out anaerobic sufferfest, but it's all good; at least it'll be over quickly :)
Pretty cool.
Even the Mayor of Gloucester is gearing up for the inaugural event. She's clearly fired up and ready to roll, as evidenced by her most recent column in the Gloucester Daily Times.
Speaking of races, it's time to roll again. I kick my season off with the Cohasset triathlon tomorrow. I have zero expectations as far as racing is concerned right now. My only objective for this year will be to punch my ticket to Hawaii '10, so anything leading up to IMWI is going to be nothing more than a training session. I backed off my IM prep yesterday and today, so I'm hoping that the legs have a little life in them tomorrow as I would prefer to NOT get beaten by the entire elite Jr. field that will be in attendance. I'm sure that the race will seem like an all out anaerobic sufferfest, but it's all good; at least it'll be over quickly :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
