An early morning Sprint distance triathlon in Yorktown, Virginia appears to be my third and final triathlon of 2015. A swim of 750 meters, 12 mile bike, and 5k run were the distances for this event. I previously completed this event two years ago. I completed as a Clydesdale that year and competed in the 35-39 Age Group category this year.
The swim was the same length, but on a different course from my previous attempt. Previously, athletes swam out around a large orange cone and back; this year there were three right hand turns and one left hand turn to create a swim path in the shape of an 'L.' Knowing that I hadn't spent much time in the pool preparing for this race, I had no desire to work too hard and raise my heart rate during the swim. Calm waters in the James River enabled me to sight the turn cones well, minimizing my time spent off course. Within my age group I finished 5 of 13 swimmers.
The bike course was the same as I remembered it. Strait out and back on open roads. The volunteers kept traffic at bay for turns, but on strait aways the roads were open to traffic. I thought I was going faster than I did. The 12 mile ride time was a 41:18, which was good for 8 of 13 cyclists. Normally I'm closer to the mid point of racers, this is likely indicative of the lack of training on the bike this year.
The run was also the same course as before. Having put some time into running at lunch during work, I was looking forward to this split. I did improve from my previous 5k times this year, ultimately crossing the finish line at 27:52. Previous times this year included 30:17 at the Smithfield Sprint and 29:30 at the Tidewater Triathlon. What I truly value is that I was able to see improvement after about a month of moderate running activity. One day, when I have tons of time and energy, I hope my body still responds to exercise with similar results.
Unless I find a triathlon in Sep/Oct, this is likely my last event of 2015. Things to build on for next year:
1) While at a challenging job I still found time to participate in three triathlons (that seems like just the right amount to me). My family gave me the time and I found the time, that's good.
2) My body still responds positively to training. Though I didn't train much this year, the little I did for running prior to the Patriot's Sprint Tri showed results.
3) I'm still heavier than I desire. Volume control, sugars, and snacks are my downfall. That needs improvement.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Tidewater Triathlon, Hampton, Va, July 18th 2015
At Buckroe Beach in Hampton, Va I completed my second triathlon of 2015. It was another 'Sprint' distance triathlon covering 500 meters of open water swimming, 10.5 miles on the bike, and a 5k at the end.
Traveling from home to Hampton for a 7:00 AM start required an even earlier wakeup of 4:00 AM, but it is all worth it. Finishing a sprint at 8:30 ish in the morning allows you to continue being productive, I love the early starts.
The venue was in a great section of Hampton, the Bukroe Beach park had lots of wide open grassy areas and clean, sandy beaches. I experienced a mouthful of pollution during the swim (maybe not pollution, but it tasted awful and felt worse). 120 swimmers started at the same time and it was crowded for a 500 meter swim. My sighting on the yellow, floating pyramids was not great. As a result I did not swim in a strait line. Fitness wise I felt good. In the 35-39 age group I was 4th out of 18 athletes.
The transition from swim to bike was smooth and uneventful.
The bike portion was two laps on a five mile loop. I felt that there was a significant wind going in one direction, and the resultant boost from the wind coming back the opposite direction. When glancing at my speed, it varied from 17-20 going into the wind and 19-22 returning with the wind. I was unable to record my average from the ride but my time leads me to believe I averaged around 19 miles an hour. My overal bike performance was less good than it has been in the past. Normally I'm around the 50th percentile in my age group. This event I finished 11 out of 18 athletes.
The transition from bike to run was uneventful.
I had my watch on during the run and my goal was to run the 5k faster than 30 minutes. If I could keep my pace faster than 10 minutes miles I would have a shot. Runner after runner passed me, but I was not deterred. This was not a race against them, but a race against myself. As the finish line eventually appeared, I had in my sights a portly fellow who had passed me earlier in the run. My goal quickly changed to beating him, and this had nothing to do about fitness or challenging my body. My one goal in like was to beat this guy in front of me. I did. I'm a winner.
Granted, there was only one guy in the 35-39 age group that I ran faster than, and the guy I finished ahead of actually had a faster run time than me. But, I still won.
Within my age group I finished 11 of 18, kinda normal for where I finish amongst the age groupers.
Running. Keep running.
Traveling from home to Hampton for a 7:00 AM start required an even earlier wakeup of 4:00 AM, but it is all worth it. Finishing a sprint at 8:30 ish in the morning allows you to continue being productive, I love the early starts.
The venue was in a great section of Hampton, the Bukroe Beach park had lots of wide open grassy areas and clean, sandy beaches. I experienced a mouthful of pollution during the swim (maybe not pollution, but it tasted awful and felt worse). 120 swimmers started at the same time and it was crowded for a 500 meter swim. My sighting on the yellow, floating pyramids was not great. As a result I did not swim in a strait line. Fitness wise I felt good. In the 35-39 age group I was 4th out of 18 athletes.
The transition from swim to bike was smooth and uneventful.
The bike portion was two laps on a five mile loop. I felt that there was a significant wind going in one direction, and the resultant boost from the wind coming back the opposite direction. When glancing at my speed, it varied from 17-20 going into the wind and 19-22 returning with the wind. I was unable to record my average from the ride but my time leads me to believe I averaged around 19 miles an hour. My overal bike performance was less good than it has been in the past. Normally I'm around the 50th percentile in my age group. This event I finished 11 out of 18 athletes.
The transition from bike to run was uneventful.
I had my watch on during the run and my goal was to run the 5k faster than 30 minutes. If I could keep my pace faster than 10 minutes miles I would have a shot. Runner after runner passed me, but I was not deterred. This was not a race against them, but a race against myself. As the finish line eventually appeared, I had in my sights a portly fellow who had passed me earlier in the run. My goal quickly changed to beating him, and this had nothing to do about fitness or challenging my body. My one goal in like was to beat this guy in front of me. I did. I'm a winner.
Granted, there was only one guy in the 35-39 age group that I ran faster than, and the guy I finished ahead of actually had a faster run time than me. But, I still won.
Within my age group I finished 11 of 18, kinda normal for where I finish amongst the age groupers.
Running. Keep running.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
2015 Smithfield Triathlon
April 18 2015 - Smithfield, Virginia. This was my first triathlon of the year. There are numerous activities that demand more time and effort than training for a triathlon this year, as a result I expect to participate in three triathlons this year instead of 'compete.' I am familiar with the Smithfield Sprint Triathlon, third time I've completed it, and it is one of the local triathlons to the Hampton Roads area. The swim is an easy 300 meters in a pool, ten mile bike ride on country roads, and a neat 5k through oldtown Smithfield.
It is a given that everyone makes up ridiculous times when submitting their estimated times for pool swims. The goal is to minimize swimmers clogging up the lanes trying to pass each other. Eventually, everyone subtracts minutes off their 300 meter times and the result is all the swimmers are clogged up on the walls waiting for faster swimmers to go on by. The race directors at the Smithfield Sprint devised a staggered start to attempt to minimize the total length of the event. The first 100 swimmers were the fastest 100 times, and notionally the best athletes. The next four heats of 100 had the full range of swim times, ranked by time, and the next heat of 100 couldn't start until the last swimmer from the previous heat of 100 had left the pool. This got slower athletes out on the course sooner, thus minimizing their overall time on the course. I don't know if it achieved an overall decrease in event time, because the slowest athlete in the last heat was still out on the course for a while. But, Bravo Zulu to the race organizers for thinking outside the box.
I had some swim practice prior to the event, not sustained or frequent, but enough to pass several athletes in the pool. Within my age group, out of 15 athletes, I placed 5th.
Transition to the bike was smooth and uneventful.
I probably had less time on the bike, with the exception of two races in the late winter/early spring, than I did in the pool prior to this race. I wasn't feeling particularly great during the ride. The lone bright spot came during a steep decline followed by a >90 degree left hand turn with a long incline. Two riders had just passed me on the downhill and obviously had greater fitness than I did. They cleared the turn ahead of me and began the uphill climb. Knowing it was uphill after the turn, and I had to slow down for the turn, I devised 'strategy.' First I downshifted about 10 gears then stopped pedaling and prepared to make the quick turn. As soon as I felt the momentum of the downhill start to decrease I pedaled as fast as I could, and PASSED the two riders with superior fitness who were struggling to downshift and make it up the hill. I felt like Lance Armstrong! Shortly, one of those riders passed me on a strait-away. I never saw the other guy, I probably forced him into a DNF with my superior riding skills. Within my age group I was 5th out of 15 on the bike.
The transition from bike to run was also smooth and uneventful.
I am a poor runner. I've lamented on the internet about that for several years now. My 5k time was over 30 minutes, which is not good. One day...one day.
In my age group (35-39) of 15 athletes I placed 8th, the middle guy. Not too bad considering the weak preparation I had for the event and my slow run time. The bright spots were my decent performances in the swim and bike, and some pretty good transition times.
I'll do the Smithfield Sprint again, even with the wacky swim start times!
It is a given that everyone makes up ridiculous times when submitting their estimated times for pool swims. The goal is to minimize swimmers clogging up the lanes trying to pass each other. Eventually, everyone subtracts minutes off their 300 meter times and the result is all the swimmers are clogged up on the walls waiting for faster swimmers to go on by. The race directors at the Smithfield Sprint devised a staggered start to attempt to minimize the total length of the event. The first 100 swimmers were the fastest 100 times, and notionally the best athletes. The next four heats of 100 had the full range of swim times, ranked by time, and the next heat of 100 couldn't start until the last swimmer from the previous heat of 100 had left the pool. This got slower athletes out on the course sooner, thus minimizing their overall time on the course. I don't know if it achieved an overall decrease in event time, because the slowest athlete in the last heat was still out on the course for a while. But, Bravo Zulu to the race organizers for thinking outside the box.
I had some swim practice prior to the event, not sustained or frequent, but enough to pass several athletes in the pool. Within my age group, out of 15 athletes, I placed 5th.
Transition to the bike was smooth and uneventful.
I probably had less time on the bike, with the exception of two races in the late winter/early spring, than I did in the pool prior to this race. I wasn't feeling particularly great during the ride. The lone bright spot came during a steep decline followed by a >90 degree left hand turn with a long incline. Two riders had just passed me on the downhill and obviously had greater fitness than I did. They cleared the turn ahead of me and began the uphill climb. Knowing it was uphill after the turn, and I had to slow down for the turn, I devised 'strategy.' First I downshifted about 10 gears then stopped pedaling and prepared to make the quick turn. As soon as I felt the momentum of the downhill start to decrease I pedaled as fast as I could, and PASSED the two riders with superior fitness who were struggling to downshift and make it up the hill. I felt like Lance Armstrong! Shortly, one of those riders passed me on a strait-away. I never saw the other guy, I probably forced him into a DNF with my superior riding skills. Within my age group I was 5th out of 15 on the bike.
The transition from bike to run was also smooth and uneventful.
I am a poor runner. I've lamented on the internet about that for several years now. My 5k time was over 30 minutes, which is not good. One day...one day.
In my age group (35-39) of 15 athletes I placed 8th, the middle guy. Not too bad considering the weak preparation I had for the event and my slow run time. The bright spots were my decent performances in the swim and bike, and some pretty good transition times.
I'll do the Smithfield Sprint again, even with the wacky swim start times!
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Winter Training
Since my last triathlon I've started a new job and the winter season has set in. With the challenges of working in the shipyard and colder weather, I've decreased the level of energy I've spent preparing for 2015 triathlons.
But lets back up a bit. I also have a wife, a kid, live on a horse farm, and am working on "making the new house our home." I can acknowledge that I have legitimate jobs, tasks, and responsibilities that are rightly prioritized higher than triathlon training. That will never change. As I (hopefully) continue on this journey of fitness what I intend to accomplish is efficiency of training and efficiency while training. With the limited amount of time I have I shall be smart about scheduling my training, and while training I must put forth an honest effort.
Lastly, eating. Still my Achilles heal, food is so good and such a soothing feeling that I fear the goal I set one year ago is still unaccomplished. I am approximately the same weight, 220-222 pounds. There was some gain across the 220 pound threshold during the holiday season and I feel that I have arrested that increase. I would love to say that I'm losing the weight now and on my way down. Maybe by the end of February I'll be at 210. Nice thoughts.
But lets back up a bit. I also have a wife, a kid, live on a horse farm, and am working on "making the new house our home." I can acknowledge that I have legitimate jobs, tasks, and responsibilities that are rightly prioritized higher than triathlon training. That will never change. As I (hopefully) continue on this journey of fitness what I intend to accomplish is efficiency of training and efficiency while training. With the limited amount of time I have I shall be smart about scheduling my training, and while training I must put forth an honest effort.
Lastly, eating. Still my Achilles heal, food is so good and such a soothing feeling that I fear the goal I set one year ago is still unaccomplished. I am approximately the same weight, 220-222 pounds. There was some gain across the 220 pound threshold during the holiday season and I feel that I have arrested that increase. I would love to say that I'm losing the weight now and on my way down. Maybe by the end of February I'll be at 210. Nice thoughts.
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