Thankfully I had a real good race based on where I am so far in training. The course featured a 1500m swim in Cedar Lake, a 40.3 mile ride through the flat streets of southwestern Jersey and then a fairly flat 9 mile run into the desolate bayside area of Cedarville, NJ. I finished 114th overall out of 274 finishers, which to me was pretty good. Here is the breakdown:

Day Before / Pre-Race:
I decided to stay over in a hotel since it was a little too far to ride on race morning, so I got to the Holiday Inn in Vineland just after 6:30pm on Friday night, but had time to get a turkey hoagie and my favorite Haagen Dazs ice cream prior to calling it a night. The hotel was packed with other triathletes, many were tuning up their bikes in the parking lot prior to calling it a night. I fortunately tuned up my bike during the day so I didn’t have to worry about it.

I got about 8 hours of sleep, getting up promptly at 5am to do my normal race morning ritual. Its strange that I would worry about showering and feeling clean prior to jumping into a dirty lake, but I do. I finished getting ready, had a banana with Nutella (which is evil), had some bad hotel room coffee and headed out on my way to Cedarville, NJ. Google Maps marked it as about 25 minutes to get there, but it wasn’t even that much even with a stop at Wawa to get some real coffee.

I arrived at the race site at around 6:30 and headed over for my packet .. when I realized I was being attacked by gnats. They were everywhere, and they were awful and wouldn’t go away. It was real muggy out, averaging around 64 degrees and I guess it was just perfect weather for them. Everyone was suffering from the gnats as we stood in line for our packets and got our numbers .. they were even in the porta-potties. Finally I got my packet and headed back to the car to get my bike and setup my transition area and have some final fuel before the start (another banana and nutella, which is evil).

After the sun came up and little more and burnt off the clouds, the gnats seemed to have backed away a little, so I decided to strip down to my tri-suit and get ready for the race. I got the wet-suit halfway on over my tri-suit, then made sure my transition area was as setup as it could be and then headed to the start as they asked.

After the sprint race was started, it was the half-lite people’s turn to get into the water and warmup. It was said that the water was around 68 degrees, which felt about right for what its worth. I got in about 5-6 minutes in the water to warmup, which I didn’t do too much of except to get my face in the water to get it used of the cold. My hands were getting cold, but overall I felt ready to go.. the bottom of the lake was quite gross, it was mushy, like we were standing on seaweed (which I think it was)… a guy pulled a piece of a tire out that he stepped on. One other guy made a comment that if he had to dispose of a body, he knew which lake to use..

Finally, after all the anticipation … 10 weeks of base training, 11 weeks of formal training ..the race was started.

The Swim (1500m)

I thankfully positioned myself in the right area where the start wasn’t too bad. The water really was disgusting, you couldn’t see anything when you put your face in it, it was worse than Harveys Lake last year (which is bad).. regardless, once you get over that and get into a pace, it didn’t seem to bother me. The wetsuit definitely helped me as I felt very strong throughout but realized that I was not bilateral breathing or breathing to my weak side. I guess it didn’t matter because I really was moving well, running over people wherever I could. The swim is really as defensive as it is offensive but I managed to not get kicked or punched at all. By the time I was into the second lap, I was in my pace and couldn’t be stopped. The last wave had just started at this point, so I was back into swimming over people who couldn’t keep a pace…

The off-season swim classes and interval swim training did pay off as I finished the swim in 24:03 according to my watch. The official result says 25 minutes, but that includes the run from the lake to the transition area as well (which was a distance). I ranked 92 out 274 on the swim.. pretty good.

Overall, very happy with the swim … here is the Garmin info on my swim.

Transition 1 (T1)

This sucked. Had trouble getting the wetsuit off totally and almost forgot my riding gloves. I felt unorganized, I got to keep practicing this. Unfortunately this was over 3 minutes before I got to the mount area for the bike.

Bike (40.3 miles)

After getting my bearings from the swim, the bike started out good. I didn’t screw up getting into the pedals and on my way. The course was flat, very flat… There was quite a headwind though on the way out on the course (which was 2 loops). I found that throughout the entire ride, I barely had to change gears, I think I used 3 gears the entire time.

I dislike it when the “pro’s” fly by people and ignore the rules. Way too many times did I see people not passing properly, not allowing for people to pass them properly or passing on the right. I noticed that #390, whomever that was, did it a couple times. He should have been DQ’d.

Anyway, i was under the impression that there would be a water exchange at mile 12 but it turned out to not be that at all but instead just being people handing out huge bottles of water. I almost crashed when I tried to get a water bottle from one of the people but thankfully kept my balance. That would have really sucked if I biffed on the bike just to get water that I probably really didn’t need…

I felt good as I headed out on the second loop although by mile 25 my neck and shoulders were getting sore. I’m pretty used of being in the aero position, but never for quite so long a period of time as there were no hills at all. I guess I never thought about lifting up and resting my neck as I wasn’t used to it this much. By mile 32 I had sharp pains in my upper right shoulder, so it made the rest of the ride really difficult … this is definitely something to work on for the next race.

Regardless, I think my bike time was pretty good for where I am skill-wise. This is really not my strong sport at all. I fortunately finished with a 2:09:00 on the bike, and ranked 139 out of 274.

Here is the Garmin info on my bike.

Transition 2 (T2)

This transition sucked also since I got off the bike and my back was sore.. it took me a minute of walking to the transition area until I can start to jog. I didn’t feel the transition was that bad, but I guess it was. I kept double-checking myself before I left because I thought like I forgot something … i didn’t, but lost time..

This transition sucked as well…

Run – 9 miles (calculated at 9.2 miles)

It pays to be a strong runner and have it be the last event. After shaking off the back soreness from the bike and finding where I was supposed to go, I headed out on a very flat run course averaging an 8:10/mile pace for the first few miles. This is where I make up my poor bike time as I was passing people left and right .. you know, all those guys that flew by me on the bike almost knocking me over. It felt good to pass them.

My pace was good and I stopped for water and gatorade at each stop to stay hydrated because by this time I was feeling very dehydrated as it became really humid. I popped my last Accel-gel at around mile 3 hoping it would get me through, and it did.

We turned around at nearly the end of this beach road and this is where I saw people really starting to fall apart. Thankfully, being a runner, I stayed strong continuing to pass people sometimes 2-3 at a time. I had to stop the water and gatorade at mile 7 as I felt like I was going to barf … I also felt a crap coming on, so I decided just to dump water on my head to keep cool, which worked.

As we turned the final corner, I made a last push on my pace and passed out another 3 people as I came towards the finish line. Surprisingly I got that last burst to finish strong and crossed the finish line.

Very nice run, disappointed that I was only ranked 106 out of 274 with a 1:16 finish.. but still, felt good. Here is my Garmin info for the run.

Results
Finish Time: 3:57:32 (broke 4 hours!!!)
Split Distance Time Rank Pace/Rate
Swim 0.80 Mile 0:25:46 92
T1 0:03:27 217
Bike 40.3 Mile 2:09:24 139
T2 0:02:22 184
Run 8.8 Mile 1:16:32 106

Post-race thoughts

The post-race food was a little disappointing, some soggy sandwiches, potato chips and sugar drinks … but no water. Ugh! Thankfully I had my own in the car, just had to get there. I packed up, stripped down and headed on my way out..

So the first race of the year is down and the take away is that I need to work in some strength training for my neck and shoulders for the bike. I also think i’m going to do another shorter triathlon prior to the IMRI in July, just to practice again.

After a good recovery/taper week, its back to training tomorrow …

There was an interesting pattern in my training this past week as I changed up my schedule a bit to fit in some personal and work things I had going. My recovery from last week actually extended from Sunday all the way until Tuesday evening, which felt good, but then I hadn’t realized I fell into a cycle of training every 12 hours for the next 48 hours. I cycled Tuesday at 5pm, swam at 5am Wednesday, ran at 5pm Wednesday and then cycled again at 5am on Thursday.. I also missed my sleep in day on Thursday which breaks up my early morning swims. I hadn’t realized how much I needed that extra sleep until it wasn’t there.

Regardless, I’m tired, I was totally burnt out on Friday night as I decided to do the full swim into run “brick” on Friday morning before work (about an hour and forty minutes). By 8pm Friday night I was zonked out on the couch and slept like a rock right until 7am on Saturday, which is late for me to be sleeping until (really late). I also slept like a rock on Saturday night as well, another solid 9 hours before getting up to swim this morning. Even with all that extra sleep, i’m still tired, I can feel it.

So here is the week summary:

• Monday – OFF
• Tuesday – 109 minutes on the bike (31.25 miles)
• Wednesday – 2200m swim (endurance), 5.7 mile run
• Thursday – 72 minutes on the ROAD bike before work
• Friday – 2200m swim (distance),5.8 mile run
• Saturday – 123 minutes on the bike (33.5 miles)
• Sunday – 1700m swim (recovery), 8.6 mile run

Totals: 141min swim (6400m), 162min run (19.25 miles), 303min bike (83 miles)
Total: 606 minutes

Phew, tough week.

I’m fortunate that so far I’ve made it this far in training while staying injury free although my right shoulder is starting to get a little sore whenever I swim. I will probably step back to 2 swim workouts next week when I am in a recovery week, i’ll give the shoulder a little extra R&R. I’m not sure I can get through another week on the same schedule as last, there was just something that was brutal about it. It just seemed like I was either training, working, preparing to train or eating .. oh yeah, and a little sleep in there too.

As far as that whole eating thing, I really seem to have my weight under control this year .. yep, i’m pretty much eating the Paleo lifestyle these days, meaning that I eat all natural meats, low carbohydrate, little to no sugar and tons of vegetables, and I emphasize the vegetables. I’ve found all kind of new vegetables to enjoy and have cut my meat intake back pretty heavy but haven’t cut it out totally due to the protein. Its opened up a whole new set of recipes to enjoy, stuff like spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce, avocado chicken salad over greens and when I do eat meat, its stuff like I had for breakfast, a lean angus burger with a fried egg (from the farm) with homemade salsa (all natural). Yep, sounds strange, but its SO GOOD!

Anyway, i’m getting increasingly concerned about this diet and being able to stay fueled as my workouts are crossing the 2.25 hour mark. The first Half-Lite Triathlon, the Devilman, will have me out on the course for over 4 hours, and IMRI in July should have me on the course for almost 6 hours, how do I fuel myself? Well, I found this book by a guy named Ben Greenfield called The Low Carbohydrate Diet For Triathletes: Official Nutrition Guide To Optimum Performance for Endurance Athletes, which i’m going to reading to help guide me, we’ll see how it goes.

As the weather starts to get a little chillier this week, well, I guess I should say more seasonable, the thoughts of planning an open water swim out at Blue Marsh Lake is crossing my mind. I’ll need to get out there at least once to hit the water to re-familiarize myself with open water swimming. The only problem is that the water is at a chilly 53 degrees still, probably enough to only allow me to swim for 15-20 minutes even in a wetsuit before causing hypothermia. Hopefully over the next 3-4 weeks it will warm up to at least 60 degrees, but i’m going to get a pair of swim booties for the early May race in Jersey …

Well, I’d love to continue to ramble on, but its time to do my pre-weekly routine …

Its strange, but in observing myself over the past few weeks, I can sure tell that its triathlon training season once again. This time of year seems to bring out some of the strange things that are common among people who are dedicated to a sport the way I am. I decided to jot down the things that I felt were odd that i’m finding in life these days:

1. There seems to be more and more arguments in the house between my wife and I about who is using who’s razor
2. My bike has taken its permanent storage spot in the living room (it actually looks good in the living room, despite what others in the house may think)
3. I have really bad tan lines on my arms and wrists from my bike shirt, running shirt, my Garmin 910xt and my RoadID. I also have strange tan lines on my legs from my cycling socks and then my running socks … i’ve been referred to as “looking like a zebra.” (thanks)
4. I’ve noticed that i’m getting permanent raccoon eyes from my swim goggles not to mention the chaffed spot on my nose from the nose piece rubbing against it.
5. There are multiple laundry baskets once again, one for regular clothes and one for workout clothes.
6. I’ve had both of my bikes in for spring maintenance at the local bike store already this year, but neither of my cars have been serviced since last year.
7. One of my daily websites I visit is the USGS report for Blue Marsh Lake which displays what the current lake temperature is (because I do have to get in the water sometime before May 5th)
8. I go to bed earlier than my daughter (who is 12)

This lead to me want to go out and search for the ever famous “You know you’re a triathlete when …” type of lists out there on the web. I had written one for “You know you’re a runner when …” several years ago, which was actually quite popular. The best list I could find was here, it was pretty good list, I fit right into most of those behaviors.

Anyway, i’m really here to talk training, not that silly stuff. Here is a quick recap of my wild week (oh, btw I got the Garmin 910xt this week, all my workouts are online now, nice!):

• Monday – OFF
• Tuesday – 60 minute bike on the trainer – I hate the trainer, but I did it.
• Wednesday – 1950m swim, 5.25 mile run – nice workout, felt strong
• Thursday – 20.5 miles on the bike
• Friday – 2300m swim, 4.5 mile run
• Saturday – 38 miles on the bike
• Sunday – 1650m swim , 8.15 mile run

Totals: 142min swim (5950m), 155min run (18.25 miles), 262min bike (79 miles)
Total: 559 minutes

The week was going okay until Thursday when I had to work late, so I couldn’t get the full 95 minute ride in, I had to cut it short since it got dark. I was dead tired after the ride, but drug my butt out of bed at 4:30am on Friday morning to get my long swim in. Thankfully I took the afternoon off on Friday, and got an easy run in before heading home and out for dinner.

I was worried that I wouldn’t make my training minutes up from Thursday, but that ended up not being a problem after Saturday. I really needed to disconnect from the world, so I decided to pack up the tri-bike and head out to Lake Nockamixon to ride the Quakerman bike course. I modified it a bit to avoid the killer hill, so I rode it out and back instead. The plan was to do around 30 miles, but I missed the turn back Mountain View Road on the way back. I was cruising along so hard I hadn’t even realized it until I noticed all the schools and softball games that I didn’t remember seeing on the way out. Thankfully I turned around at the right time because I was really heading out in the boondocks … regardless I got back on course and ended up with 38+ miles instead, which made up for my lost time on Thursday. Like last week, I had almost one major crash moment … I almost hit a dead raccoon on the side of the road, I had to pull up from aero suddenly and didn’t grab the brake in time, thankfully I caught my balance in time to not wipe-out. Damn raccoon.

One thing I noticed though during that long ride, and especially after I had stopped to find out where I was, was how uncomfortable my body was after riding that long. My back was sore, I actually had trouble getting into the aero position until I loosened it up again. I decided that I need to get a professional fitting for my bike. If I was in this much discomfort after 38 miles, I still have another 18 miles to ride for IMRI in July… I can’t imagine how I would feel then, oh, and I need to run a half marathon after the ride too (small details).

When I logged my training today, I noticed that a recovery week is within my sights.. just two more weeks of building before I get to recover a bit. I’m thinking i’ll need it by then because i’m quite sore and tired already. The one positive is that my weight is holding steady at 191, hasn’t really moved in 3 weeks despite the added calories from fueling before and during my workouts. I’m finding that i’m turning about 75% vegetarian right now, not eating quite as much meat, but I feel great. One of these weeks i’ll explain my diet, its complicated… Another task for my off-day tomorrow is to find yet another massage therapist for my sports massages. Joannie is leaving the place I get them now, not sure if they’ll have a replacement. I think i’ll just work through HPC to get them now, they’re a little pricey, but well worth it..

I think thats plenty for now, off to rest and prepare for week 5 of training.

Monday – OFF
Tuesday – 21 mile bike (trainer)
Wednesday – 2200m swim drills, 5 mile run
Thursday – 25 mile bike (trainer)
Friday – 2200m swim (distance), 4.75 mile run
Saturday – 29 mile bike
Sunday – 1700m swim (recover), 7.5 mile run

Totals: 538 minutes, (6100m swim, 75 mile bike, 17.25 mile run)

It actually looks more painful than it was … so something must be working to help get me through.

So I looked back on Wednesdays post and it was amazing how pumped up I was to get outside and do a semi-long ride on Thursday evening, but it didn’t happen that way. I got home from work, got on the bike and headed out the door when I started to hear thunder and the sky was almost black… on top of that there was also a pretty stiff 25-30 MPH wind that was blowing me all over the place on that light bike (I recalled the previous Saturday when I was almost blown off the bike by the wind). Something just didn’t feel right about this ride .. i’m just not sure what it was, but my inner senses told me to turn around and just ride on the trainer today. Yep, 70+ degrees outside, and I was inside on the trainer… go figure.

Regardless, I finished Thursdays ride on the trainer, and Friday’s swim was fantastic, I did the 1.2 mile continuous swim, so I know I can do the distance (just need to keep practicing). I’m happy that the bike is getting easier and much more comfortable (my butt doesn’t kill me anymore). I had a real good ride on Saturday despite the cold. My course was kind of different in that I actually rode into Allentown instead of into the country. I have to figure out how long it takes me to ride to work so I can plan my bike commutes properly. The only highlight from the ride was an almost “crash” on the way home. I was coming up on a traffic light where there was a curb on the right side and traffic stopped on the left of me. As I rode towards the light, I realized that one of the cars was over towards the curb a little further than I was comfortable with, I kind of felt like I was going to be eating side-view mirror.. I slowed down (but didn’t unclip) and pulled my body to the right to avoid the mirror and lost my balance, but I regained it by pushing off the guys car (basically I slammed it with my hand, no damage I hope).

I caught my breath and got to the traffic light and turned off the road to get into a parking lot to get myself together. I was hoping the dude wasn’t going to pull over to either yell at me or something, but thankfully he didn’t. I thought to myself that this wipe-out would have really sucked, I probably wouldn’t scratched the guys car, not to mention my bike (and myself). I will need to ride home on a different road when I start commuting … I now have a fear of that spot, bad memory.

Anyway, I got home and despite the fact it was a real hilly course and I did it against the wind, I felt pretty good.

The time-change last night really messed me up though, I lost that hour of sleep and haven’t felt right all day. I got the pool at 7am, and it was still dark for a Sunday, it didn’t feel right. The strange part is that the other swimmers I usually see this early on a Sunday weren’t there. Seems like they didn’t get up .. (or didn’t set their clock ahead). I actually didn’t have to share a lane for the first time in quite awhile, it was nice to stretch out and have the lane to myself.

So looking to more positives of the time-change, I now have more time now to ride the bike after work, I don’t have to rush home to get outside. This along with the fact that the temperatures are going to be in the 60′s this week means “evening rides every night!” Nice! The only down side is riding until 7pm, then getting up to swim at 4:30 the next morning and then running until 7pm the next evening after, then repeat 3 times … it feels like it never stops.

The other highlight this week will be the arrival of my second batch of gear for the upcoming season.. namely the Garmin 910XT, I can’t wait. I’ve read so much in the forums about the swim features, and the ANT+ technology for both my bike and running (whatever that is), it should help me train harder based on what i’ve read. I also have my new visor, tri-shorts, a new shirt and some other stuff coming, just in time. This past week I got my new sunglasses, my mini-bag for my bike supplies, my between-my-bars water bottle cage and my first supply of Accel-gel’s for the season.

Well, enough of this for now, i’m behind in my weekly food prep and training plan .. I have to catch up with DC rainmakers blog too (I love this guys blog) and get some stuff ready for work.

I noticed over the past couple workouts that all the off-season training seems to be coming together slowly… Back in November, prior to the start of base training, I took a hard look at what I needed to do in the off-season to be better this year based on my results from last year. I decided to pick a specific competency I would work on in each of the three sports in order to get better … in swimming, it was to become better balanced in the water, in cycling, it was to increase my cadence and find a way to be comfortable in the saddle and with running, it was to shorten my stride and develop “quick-feet”.

So 3 months later and a ton of effort on these competencies, I feel the benefits of working on just these three things. Because all three of these things focus on the core muscles and building balance, I can subconsciously use the power of my core muscles now to swim, cycle and run and it just feels like i’m gliding. When I was swimming this morning, it was almost effortless (well, for most of the workout). On my run, it was so easy that I wasn’t even tired but yet I averaged an 8 minute mile almost the entire way (and it was full of hills). When I was cycling yesterday, it didn’t take much of anything to get through the entire workout and I wasn’t even tired afterward even after 15 miles (just monotonous since I was on the trainer in the basement).

Well I guess I can go on and on patting myself on the back and giving examples on how great it worked out, but at week 3 of training, the confidence level is way up knowing i’m seeing the benefits of my labor over the winter.

Next week it only gets harder with the mileage but I get to mix up my workouts more with the time change coming this weekend. I rented a bike locker at work so that means I can start adding cycling miles by riding to work and back a few days a week (depending on the weather). I have to figure out the logistics around that, but somehow i’ll make it work. I’m also going to try to get my shorter runs done at lunchtime at work as well .. supposedly they have a locker room and everything in the basement that I can use. Can you imagine riding to work in the morning, running at lunch and then riding home? Crazy!

So with it being Wednesday, we’re entering the hardest part of the training week… hopefully i’ll still be in great spirits over the weekend after I get through it.

The same thing happened when I got to the butcher .. as they were putting my meat order together, they had a sale on different types of fish, but they all had breading on them. So I asked out loud if they have any fish without breading, and a woman says, “what are you on a diet?” I almost died because I felt like I just had this conversation because I actually did. I responded no, and laughed it off, I’ll repeat it once again …. some people just don’t get it.

So I figured i’d write a quick summary of week 2 of training before I get my veggies and lunches ready for the week. I’m definitely feeling the effects of the added time training, especially the bike. My bike miles this week were the most i’ve done since September of last year. I was happy that I was able to get outside twice, and I hope to get out this week as well. With the change in time happening next weekend, I should be able to get outside all the time then after work until it gets light enough before work to go.

So to pick up from Thursdays post, I got out for 5 cold miles on Friday morning and all I can say to myself is that it was supposed to be in the 40′s, not the 20′s. Regardless I got through and actually kicked out a pretty good pace despite the fact my legs were killing me from Thursdays ride. After work I got in a swim, but didn’t get up to 2500m because I just ran out of time. I kept my 1:55 per 100m pace for the entire 1800m set, then did a few pull and kick drills, then wrapped it up. The guy I had to share a lane with was real annoying, he didn’t seem to get the idea that we had to “split the lane”. We brushed arms several times throughout my workout, and I had to constantly keep my head up to see when he was coming and then hug the outside of the lane, quite annoying. I was pretty much out of gas by Friday night .. went to bed early only to start preparing for a long bike ride Saturday.

Saturday’s weather was wet and foggy when I got up, but forecast to be 55 degrees, which never really happened. I decided to head out around 10am after the rain was out of the area, and thankfully by the time I got 4 miles in, the sun started to come out. I picked a real good course, I like the straight courses that don’t offer a ton of turns, or real bad hills. The only bad part of the ride was the wind, for the first 12 miles I was heading right into it, and then when I turned to hear north, it turned into a cross-wind, and yet another lesson of riding a triathlon bike. I was heading down a road in the aero position with farm fields on both sides of me and I suddenly felt the wind pushing the bike off the road. I could not keep control of it, and when you’re cruising around 20mph with no brakes (in aero position), I was scared. I decided to pull up and just ride in normal position instead, I lost some time, but I guess keeping the bike on the road is the most important thing in the end. Even sitting up I had trouble keeping control, the bike only ways a few pounds, and it really showed.

Eventually I made my way to the main road and now I was traveling with the wind. At one point I clocked myself at 30mph going downhill in the aero position … oh my, was I scared. This is lesson number 2, know your course. I should have pulled up prior to this hill, it was too dangerous for me to be doing what I was doing, but once I was on it, I couldn’t pull up due to the fear of losing control.

I did make it back home in one piece, after 102 minutes and 28+ miles… a nice ride.

This morning I got up and was the first person in the pool .. did 1700m worth of drills, but I was tired, real tired. I didn’t push myself since it was supposed to be a recovery swim. I got in and out and then dressed for a 60 minute run. I headed out into the cold morning and got in just under 8 miles on my aching legs. I really like the way i’m running since I changed my stride length during base training. I feel the power coming out of my core and hamstrings when I push it, and my times when I push it are sub 7:30/mile pace. I can sustain it pretty good too, thats the fastest I’ve run in 2 years. I hope I can keep it up.

So the rest of today and tomorrow is rest, nothing but rest. I have massage the next two days which should help limber me up for yet another tough week of training. I do hope the weather starts to break a little more this week, i’m getting tired of the cold.

Monday was a long 60 minute bike ride, indoors, which totally sucked, but I got through it (was fortunately able to watch the remainder of my “BBS” movie I downloaded about 6 months ago) .. I took Tuesday off as a rest day, which I ended up not sleeping in because I couldn’t sleep. It always seems to work that way.

On Wednesday I did distance repeats in the pool with focus on pull drills. I really pushed the pace for the swim, but by the time I was done I seemed to have taken in a good amount of water in my nose and ears. Usually when I’m doing 200m or 300m pulls this happens, i’m not sure if my head is staying in the right position or if my head is crooked, causing me to take in water. After that swim, I also ended up with a right eye that was all red again .. which if it was like last time this happened was due to the drop of baby shampoo I put on the inside of the lenses to keep them from fogging up when I swim. Thankfully my eye ended up being okay by the time I went to work, I guess I just need to be a little more careful when setting them up prior to swimming.

I wrapped up Wednesday evening with a 4 mile run in the cold rain .. i’m kind of getting used to the cold and rainy runs since the last several have been that was. Actually the runs aren’t so bad, i’m enjoying them the most right now out of all the training (because i’m good at it).

Today I was supposed to do a 75 minute bike ride indoors again when I got up this morning, but I’d probably go berserk if I had to sit indoors again on the bike. The forecast for today was supposed to be 50 degrees and sunny by 4pm… well, that never happened. So I switched the schedule around and went outside after work today on the bike anticipating the nice weather, well I was really wrong. Overall the weather wasn’t too bad, just very windy and only 45 degrees with no sun.. I managed to get in 23 miles anyway, which actually felt real good compared to doing it inside.

So daylights savings time starts in less than 2 weeks, I can’t wait because that means I can do evening bike rides outside after work like today instead of being inside all the time (and i don’t have to leave work early). That will be the plan until it starts to get light out early enough in the morning, because riding inside is driving me nuts. The good part about that arrangement is I can sleep in a bit (getting up before 5am everyday is getting to me).

Tomorrow is another double session .. probably a morning run of 4-5 miles, and then an after-work swim. I’m going to push 2500 meters tomorrow, which is a little longer than I usually do but I need to do it within 50 minutes (which is the challenge). I’ve got 95 minutes scheduled on the bike Saturday and I WILL get outside, there is no way i’m going to stay in. Sunday is a recovery swim along with a long run .. maybe 8 miles? We’ll see.

My aching body is reminding me that nobody ever said that this journey would be easy … on top of all the workouts, there is clean eating. I’ve pretty much cut out dairy and sugar in full for now from my diet and my carb intake is very minimal, and usually only before a workout. Lots and lots of vegetables… lots and lots of proteins.. I sometimes feel like i’m not eating enough, which I have to fine tune, I just don’t think I should be feeling hungry like I do.

Another update on the weekend …………

Monday - 15 mile bike ride outside – I had to use my road bike since my triathlon bike was in the shop. Was a welcome change except it was cold, really cold but since I didn’t have work on this day, so I figured I could get outside, i have to take advantage of it while I can. Where is spring?

Tuesday - 2000m swim (AM) and 4 mile run outside (PM) – I had some added motivation to run fast on Tuesday, so that helped. My swim was all about drills, side drills, catch-ups, pull-buoy, kick, etc.. quite tiring but I got through. First double session of the season.

Wednesday - OFF (recovery day), although I didn’t sleep in like I always say i’m going to. I guess when you wake up before 5am every other day of the week, your body just doesn’t know how to not get up early. It kind of sucks because then I end up bored and then heading to work early ..

Thursday - 18 miles on the indoor trainer. Thankfully I have a Blackburn indoor trainer for my bike and a subscription to Netflix, its about the only thing that helps me get through a long indoor ride, because they really suck. I found that my tri bike that I just got back from the shop was not shifting right on the back gears.. no time to troubleshoot it though, rode through it (again, its good I was inside).

Friday - LONG swim, 2300m (AM) and 4.25 miles running outside (PM). The long swim was an 1800m straight swim, which felt pretty good and I did it in 38 minutes, which is faster than I ever had done before. I think the swim advancement class helped, I really felt efficient compared to last year. The only thing that irritated me during this swim was this dude in the next lane appeared to be racing me, although I wasn’t racing him. Now, I was doing like 36 laps or so straight, so each time I got to the shallow wall of the pool and flipped to turn around, BOOM .. the guy next to me bolted out from the wall and shot ahead of me. He was definitely faster than me since he was sprinting, then he would get back to the shallow wall long before me and seemed to just wait for me again. I’d get back to the shallow wall again, flip and then BOOM, he’d bolt out again… maybe its just me, but it was really irritating. I guess there is value in bilateral breathing because I was able to watch what he was doing. It was freaky. Anyway, the evening run was in the cold rain, but overall not too bad .. i’ve never been afraid of the rain.

Saturday - 22 mile ride, inside again. Well, I planned to get outside to ride but the wind gusts of 35+ MPH wouldn’t do me any good on a bike that is so light I can lift it with only a few fingers. We also got a freak snow squall that dropped an inch of snow in an hour (that did melt), but it really would’ve sucked to have to ride home in the snow. With this being the case, I setup on the trainer again with Netflix and Crackle. I struggle so bad indoors, spring better get here.. oh, and the stupid rear gears still weren’t working properly, forgot to fix them. I was irritated by it, but got through the ride.

Sunday - 1850m swim and 6.5 mile run. The swim was good, I felt really good and efficient throughout. I did primarily endurance sets with some drills mixed in but realized I should have been taking it easy because I ended up dying on the run by the end… it was still kind of cold out for my run since I was primarily running into the wind (at least in the beginning), but I got through it.

Total training time this week: 465 minutes, so 7 hours 45 minutes, not too bad.

I guess I shouldn’t say not too bad because my body is totally sore today (especially my hip flexor). I finally fixed my bike gears today by loosening the rear derailleur cable, tested it and it seems to be okay now. I also had to charge my watch, my ipod and wash my clothes, they really stink. Its time to prep my breakfast and lunches for the week and map out my training, figure out my bike commuting plan, etc … this never seems to stop, i’ll explain more about the lifestyle of endurance training in another post, some might find it interesting.

One week down, 19 more until IMRI and 9 more until NJ Devilman..

I also found that using this blog is helpful as somewhere to write my training thoughts and conclusions down so I don’t continue to bore my family and friends with it. Somehow nobody seems interested in whether I did a brick workout, completed my catch-up drills in the pool and didn’t get a sore butt from riding the bike, so this should help give me an outlet for my thoughts.

So yesterday started the 20 week journey to Ironman Rhode Island, I managed to get outside on the bike for 15 miles, even though the temperature was just 30 degrees with a 22 degree wind-chill. Yes, it was cold flying around at 20MPH. I had to take my backup road bike out since my tri-bike was in for its first tune-up over at Holmes … oh, here is what I call bike porn in case you haven’t seen it:

Yes, I know, its just a bike, but its an awesome bike … best ride ever… but I probably need a new seat. I went through several seats last year trying to find a comfortable one for my road bike, so I’ll need to do the same for this one since its designed differently.

Anyway, today was the first double session of this training cycle. It offered a 2000m swim this morning at 5am, with a ton of drills .. it was the normal early morning crazies at the pool, the one older couple, the attorney (who actually complimented me on my form), Betsy and old guy who just barely floats and then me. I feel obligated to have to watch the old guy when i’m there so he doesn’t drown so I let him share my swim lane when I see him. Its strange but sometimes he is just floating there face down, its scary, but he calls it swimming. I had a good workout although since I’m trying to eat carbs before I workout, I felt like I was going to barf, but I didn’t… I also took water in my ears as usual and ended up with a sinus headache today, hope it doesn’t cause an infection.

My second session today was an easy 4 mile run after work .. no problem. The temperature was around 45 degrees, which after running all winter in the cold, was actually not too bad. I probably should’ve worn shorts, but I didn’t.. not yet at least.

So outside of the actual training, another primary goal right now is to add in a fueling strategy for my workouts .. since I basically cut out carbs and sugar out of my diet in the last six months, I struggle to be able to keep going for these 2+ hour workouts during base training, so I have to figure out how to mix them a little at a time as i’m in formal training now. I’ve got time to figure it out, but I need to figure it out..

Although I have 20 weeks until Ironman Rhode Island, I have a half-lite triathlon on May 5th in Vineland, NJ called the “Devilman”. Very FLAT bike course… can’t wait. I should be able to fly… but the thought of the 55 degree water in early May is making me shiver. Worst yet, I’ll have to practice an open water swim at my FAVORITE location, Blue Marsh Lake, sometime in April. I’m thinking that I can use the triathlon forums to find people who want to swim in freezing cold water in April, there are other crazies out there like me, I just have to find them. I really don’t want to jump in the open water for the race without being in the water and wetsuit prior to it. I’ve totally changed my swim technique since last year so I need to practice it somewhere else but the pool.

Well, tomorrow is a rest day (although I really don’t need one yet). I’ll still enjoy sleeping in anyway.

One thing I can admit is that triathlon training is different than marathon training, but much better. It is more difficult, but in a good way .. same hours, but less abuse on the body (if you can believe that).

I ended up doing 4 triathlons this year of varying distances, the Got the Nerve sprint (500m S, 16m bike, 5k run), the Wilkes-Barre triathlon (1500m S, 24m bike, 7m run), the Quakerman olympic (1000m S, 39m bike, 10k) and wrapped up the season with the Blueman (500m S, 14m bike and a 5k run). My best races were the last two believe it or not..

So its time for me to assess myself on how I did this year as I prepare the plan for Ironman Rhode Island next year.. yep, 70.3 is in my future and who knows, maybe Kona isn’t too far off (ok, lets not get nuts)..

Anyway, these are the questions as posted from Active.com. I added my answers as I start to prepare for next year (who better to assess me than me, right?):

1. In hindsight, were your season goals clear and attainable?

John: Yes, my goal was to complete a triathlon, distance didn’t matter back then. I probably over-trained for the first triathlon in May, but I didn’t know any better and wished that maybe I did longer distances earlier in the year. By the time I was at a distance I felt challenged on, it was pretty late in the season. I think I need to consider this as I train and plan for next year. I also tried cramming races in at the end of the season because i was still getting that rush instead of planning them better.

2. What were you most proud of this season?

John: There were a couple things. 1) my swim splits for a new swimmer. I had only been swimming for just over 8 months prior to competing and did pretty good 2) managing my life around my training schedule (12-14 hours a week of training) with a more than full time job 3) getting no major injury all season 4) overcoming the minor aches and pains 5) for the first time having my family at the finish line every time, especially my sister

3. What would you like to duplicate next year?

John: I loved the open water swim training because it was just awesome … My commitment and dedication to training regardless of the circumstances, if it was work or vacation or family events, I still got my workout in. Lastly, I developed a challenging race schedule late in the season to push myself (but wish I did it sooner)

4. What frustrated or disappointed you the most this season?

John: This is and easy question because i’m very critical of myself. The biggest frustration was that my bike was constantly not working right and breaking down. Also, my run training was very minimal and I could have done more than I did. I also found that I was much heavier than I should have been throughout the season. I made a mistake by changing running shoe brands and type of shoe without trying them on first (and those Zoots sucked bad). I was also disappointed that I lacked any real strength training over the summer.

5. What do you not want to happen again next year?

John: I think I did too much running around the day before a race (traveling, etc). my first race I didn’t get hardly any sleep the night before and the second race, I got there real late due to just the logistics and the weather and it turned out to be very hectic. It seems that when I didn’t have to travel or stay anywhere prior to a race, I performed better (my second two races). Its kind of selfish, but I think that race weekends are all about me and nobody else, I need to keep them that way and let other people adjust to me. I also don’t want to have a sub-standard bike again this year, it seemed to bother me that I had low-end critical equipment compared to others.

6. What did you learn by going through these experiences?

John: Plan ahead to get to the race location as early as you can, even by a day if necessary. Bring family along to stay with you only if they understand the responsibility that the race is about you and they must abide by your schedule and needs. Remember, you’ve trained 16-20 weeks for these races, and it all comes down to the day before. Second, I won’t ever buy substandard critical gear like a bike and shoes.

7. What decisions did you make that were empowering for you?

John: Always getting my workout in by being flexible. I also think that I challenged myself at the end of the year by just scheduling another race. I made a decision to change my eating style to be all natural, which I wish I had done sooner. I also made the decision to give up most of my Saturdays this summer to train (2+ hour bike plus an open water swim which is an hour drive).

8. What habits seemed to hold you back from achieving your potential?

John: I don’t think that I recovered often enough during training. My habit is to overtrain, its what I do best but it always holds me back. My other habit is to over-eat when I feel like I have trained over the limit (like eating a half gallon of ice cream after a 3 hour workout). I also procrastinated on figuring out how to get my goggles not to fog up when swimming, I still haven’t figured it out, and lastly, I do not know enough about bike repairs, I think this caused me a lot of stress during training rides and races, more than I should feel.

9. What decisions should you make in order to have your best triathlon year ahead?

John: Things I will do… 1) purchase a new quality tri-bike 2) plan for my races to give myself plenty of relax time before the race 3) schedule recovery periods in my training and actually take them as well as not scheduling multiple hard days in a row 4) be more aggressive in my run training plan 5) continue to open water swim whenever and wherever I can because I love it. 6) continue with the all natural diet and watching my carb and sugar intake, this has had a big effect on my already 7) strength train through the summer, at least a little learn about how bikes work so I can make my own adjustments 9) ensure I plan out my race schedule way ahead of time.

Gosh, seems like a lot of work, but if you plan on achieve your goals, you have to set them and then plan for them. If i’m going to get better next year, you have to be critical of yourself and fix what isn’t working, I think this is the start.

Maybe i’ll post again soon because I always did enjoy writing in here, just don’t have the time. Since i’m not training so much anymore as I recover and base train for next year, I should have more time.