Some Thoughts Before St. Anthony's

This weekend I will be starting St. Anthony's for the 5th time. 
A few weeks before the 2009 race I found out about my bad stress fracture.  My plan was to swim, bike, and drop out.  There was no swim due to the weather, so I biked and dropped out.  The swim was shortened and moved last year, 2011, due to weather, so I did not get a true Olympic distance race out of it.  In 2010, I was coming off the stress fracture, so I was slow on the run, and my bike was not that great. 
2008 was my first year at St. Anthony's and my second year of triathlon. 2007 being my first season of triathlon and 2006 my first year of duathlon.  So there is a little history. 
The reason I mention all this, is that my goal for this year is to go under 2.5 hours at an Olympic distance race, any Oly.  I have gone under 2.5 hours, at the Twin Cities Tri, but the Mississippi River swim is ridiculously fast, so I don't count that.  I have gone about 2:31 at St. Croix Valley and 2:34 at Maple Grove.
Going under 2:30 at St. Anthony's is tough, not because the course is particularly difficult, it is nearly flat.  Most inclinces, and declines, are shallow and long, for both the bike and the run.  The challenge is the heat and how early it is in the season.  My run is usually not where it needs to be to go that fast early in the season.  I need to go under 30 minutes in the swim, under 1:10 on the bike, average over 21MPH, and run under 50 minutes.  I have done the bike around 1:10, at St. Anthony's and other Oly distance tris, and I have done Oly distance swims under 30 minutes, so that is doable.  I have run a 10K off the bike around 50 minutes.  The odds of all three being solidly fast this early in the season are slim, along with some fast transition times.  My best at St. Anthony's in 2008, at the full Oly is about 2:42.  If I had the full swim distance last year, I would have gone about the same time.
How do I feel this year, I think my swim is pretty good, and I feel under trained on the bike and run, compared to previous years.  I also feel a little fatigue.  Not too worried about the fatigue, I have felt that before and the rush of race day and some extra sleep the days before usually helps me through. 
So, what do I do?  What we should all do when going into a race, go out and enjoy the race and the day. In this case, enjoy the warm/hot weather, and have the strongest race I can have this earlier in the year.
More to come in about 5 days

OHP Indoor Triathlon Results - A little warm-up

Last Sunday, April 15th, I did the last OHP Indoor Triathlon of the year.
In February, I posted that I did the OHP Indoor Triathlon, but that time I did not do it formally.  I worked the CompuTrainer and then did the tri on my own to see how I would perform.  At that time, I felt I did ok.
The indoor triathlon is a 500 yard swim, a 5 mile CompuTrainer bike, and a 2 mile treadmill run. 
The 5 mile bike doesn't sound that bad, but it is tough, only a small downhill portion, a little bit flat, and 2%, 5%, and 6% climbs.  It is a challenging bike course.
I tried to treat this as a normal triathlon.  So, I got up and ate my normal breakfast.  On the way to OHP I had a donut and coffee, which I typically what I have on the way to a race, for a little extra kick in the morning and it gets my GI tract going before the race. 
There had been a water leak from the ceiling the night before from the studio ceiling, so I spent some time helping with cleanup, and then set my bike up on the CompuTrainer. 
I wore my one piece GW tri kit and weighed myself before warmup.  The weigh-in is necessary for the CompuTrainer, so it can correctly "load" you on the inclines.
There were a total of 23 people who did the tri, 11 of them were MJETs (MN Junior Elite Triathletes) who are 14-21 years old and way too fast for their age.  Just amazingly fast.
Anyway, I was in the first wave, there were 3 of us.  I did 100 yard warm-up and then we were off.
I went out way too fast.  My first 100 was about 1:15 and my 200 was about 2:40, this is way too fast.  I had to back off the last 200-300 yards.  I was struggling with breathing so I did some open turns to get some extra air.  The fact that I did this was a little disconcerting. I was happy with my time, about 7:21 for the 500, but I would have been happier with a more consistent swim.
I got out and headed to the bike.  I was the first of the three out, so I had some time to warm-up a little on the bike.  Once the other two guys got in I could start.  Being this was a 5 mile "sprint" I just hammered as best as I could.  The first portion is not too bad, there is the downhill, no grade, and short uphill, the last part is uphill and flat, and no downhill.  Basically, the last half is slower than the first half.  I felt pretty good coming off the bike.
I really wanted to go under 15 minutes for the 2 miles, 0% incline, on the treadmill, but I did not have it in me.  I should be able to go under 15 minutes, I have gone around 14 minutes.  On the treadmill, I am going out a little easy and then building, instead of what I do during a race, which is go out hard and settle into a pace.  Anyway, I was not able to go under 15 minutes.
I was pretty happy with my result.  The main thing I wanted to do was get the intensity of a race, before the actual season started, which I think I got out of this event.  I have St. Anthony's on the 29th and I always worry a little going in that I am out of shape.  Usually I have a good race at St. Anthony's, or at least a race I am happy with.  This year, I am holding off on my run intensity, doing speed work, until a little later, so that I don't peak as early, and so I don't wear myself out early.  See how that works for me.
Below are my results breakdown for the race, and below that is a table with the overall results for the OHP Indoor Triathlon.  As you can see, I finished in the middle.  My next update will be about St. Anthony's that should be pretty interesting.

500 yard swim = 7:21 (1:28/100 yards)
5 mile CompuTrainer Course Bike = 17:46 (16.9 MPH)
2 mile treadmill run = 15:23 (7:42 min/mi)
Total Time = 40:30

March 2012 Training Summary - I Also Did an 8K

The amount of time spent training this March was less than the average March over the course of the last 6 years.  I started feeling lethargic this month, not sure why.  During the week, I probably average about 6 hours of sleep a night, then maybe 8 or so on the weekends.  Is it bad sleep, lack of sleep, stress, or all of the above? Not sure, but I hope I start to feel less lethargic.
This month, I did the Human Race 8K in Saint Paul.  This course starts near St. Thomas and goes east on Summit, around William-Mitchell College of Law, and back west on Summit.  It is not a flat course.  I would say it is challenging.  This year it was sunny and hot, for March.  It was in the 70s.  I actually got a little sunburn. 
This would be my 3rd time at the 8K, I had previously done the 5K in 2007.  I did the 8K in 2009, 2011, and this year.  2009 was my fastest at 36:40 (7:20 min/mi pace).  Not long after this race, in 2009, I went to the doctor and found out about my bad stress fracture.  This year and last year's times are nearly identical.  In 2011 my time was 38:49 (7:49 min/mi pace) and this year was 39:11 (7:50 min/mi pace).  So, I guess I cannot complain, because I was not slower.
March was a run focus month, I got in more running than normal, but not as much as Jan, my last run focus month.  April will be a bike focus.  In April I will be doing the OHP Indoor Tri and the last weekend is the first tri of the year, St. Anthony's in FL.  A lot to look forward to in April.
My YTD data looks pretty good, I am getting plenty of swimming in.  If I keep up the distance I will come close to a record for the year.  Not that it is important to out distance myself.  My swimming does feel strong and I have a lot of confidence in it, even thought it is hard to get up at 4AM, even after doing it all these years. 
I would like to get more biking in, hopefully in May and in April, before racing really sets in.  The Tuesday Night Time Trials start in May and that should help my bike intensity work.
I have tried to hold off on running speed work until this month.  I am going to try and add some more intensity.

Comparison of March Training Data

Total Training Time Starting in 2007 and Per Month Averages

YTD and Totals Since 2007

2012 February Training Summary

February was a bike focus month, my goal was to put in over 10 hours and I accomplished that goal.  This was my second, barely, most bike time in a February over the course of my training history.
I feel that I put in a good mix of intensity and time.  Most of my workouts consist of CompuTrainer rides on Monday night and spin workouts on Wednesday night, with a little extra riding thrown in on my own.

January and February combined for a lot of swim yardage, 57000 yards.  That seems like a lot of yards for me for the first two months of the year.
In Feb I did two 1000 yard swim TTs.  One with wetsuit and one without wetsuit. 
Without wetsuit = 15:29
With wetsuit = 13:58
It is always good to confirm swimming with a wetsuit improves your time.

I am going to cut back on the swim and take the time not swimming and invest it in biking and running.  I think I need to put in more bike and run.  I think my swim base is pretty good since I basically swim year round.  The bike and run go up and down throughout the year, and this is the time of year that I need to invest time in both of those pieces.  My first race is in FL, April 29, and typically my run is not that great.  I would like to have a better run this year.
I don't like that fact that my time running went from 6.5 hours (Jan run focus month) to barely 2 hours in Feb.  I don't like the fact that I dropped that much run time from one month to the next.  Especially since March is a run focus and I basically have to ramp up over the course of the month.  I still worry about injury and fatigue when it comes to running, so I tend to take it slow.

In Feb I did my first indoor tri, unofficially, and I felt it went pretty good.  I wrote about it a couple of posts ago.  The next indoor tri at OHP is March 18th, I will not being doing that one, it is the same day as the St. Patrick's Day 8K in Saint Paul.  There is another indoor tri in April, April 15th, I will be doing that indoor tri as a tune up for St. Anthony's.

Comparison of February Training

Since 2007 and Monthly Averages

YTD Total and Totals Since 2007

2011 Goals Completed and Goals for 2012

Below is the table of my 2011 goals and my actual results.  The goals I completed are in green, no color indicates I missed the goal.

Getting that T1 time under 1:50 is tough, I struggle to get my wetsuit off fast enough.  I need to practice stripping my wetsuit and getting on my bike faster.  I have gotten much faster in T2.  Into T2 I have been performing flying dismounts and I am able to quickly get in to my running shoes.  Finishing goals are tough, because some of it will depend on the race and competition, so I am very happy to accomplish these goals.  The cyclecross was pure hell.

Two of the goals I "missed", biking 10+ miles at 24+MPH and a 10K <45min have been around for awhile.  Since my stress fracture in 2009, I have not put in the run time/intensity and I have not done an open 10K.  The 10k goal is back in 2012, and will be a goal forever, or until I complete it, whichever comes first.  My closest time is in 2008, when I went 46:36, so I think going sub-45 is a possibility, I just have to put the running time/intensity in to get there.    The closest I have come to my bike goal was in 2008 was 23.5MPH at T'N'T, in 2011 I posted a 23.1MPH at a T'N'T, so I am not that far away.  I adjusted this goal down slightly, much like running, I think I am capable, I just need to get the time/intensity in when training.

Below are my 2012 goals, very similar to 2011. I try to set goals that challenge me, but are doable based on the amount of racing and training that I will be doing.  The new goal is for an Olympic Distance race under 2.5hrs.  I will not count the Twin Cities Triathlon towards this goal since the swim is so ridiculously fast.  I have knocked the 24MPH goal down to 23.5MPH for 2012.  See if I can pull that off.

I typically try to put reasons for my goals.  I read somewhere that having goals without reasons, is pointless.  I agree with this.  The reasons for my goals have typically been very global and much the same from year-to-year.  I love racing, because I like to push myself, the feeling of accomplishment, the rush from racing, the way that racing allows you to quantify your performance like nothing else in life, and waking up to watch the sunset and start a race is always an amazing feeling.

OHP Indoor Triathlon - Working and Racing

On Sunday, I worked the CompuTrainer portion of the OptumHealth Performance Indoor Triathlon.  It is the second of four indoor triathlons that OHP is putting on this winter/spring.
The race consists of a 500 yard pool swim, a 5 mile bike on the CompuTrainer (first race was 10 mile, but that was deemed to long and changed to 5 miles), and a 2 mile treadmill run. 
Coach Kris was gone, so I was selected\asked to setup, with help, and run the CompuTrainer.  The 5 mile bike course is actually pretty challenging, not flat.  There are 2%, 5%, and 6% climbs, the climbs are fairly long.  I would estimate that at least half the course is climbing, at least it feels that way.  I think my time and average speed are an indication of the difficulty of the bike. 
There were seven people who did the race, and I think it went well. 
When the last person got off the treadmill I did the race on my own, and I was pretty happy with how it went.

500yd swim - 7:21 (1:28/100yds)
5 mi CompuTrainer Course - 17:44.28 (16.9MPH)
2mi run - 15:35 (7:47 min/mi)
Total Time - 40:40.28

My time did not get included with the rest of the group.  I did it to get an idea of my fitness level and how it would feel going about race pace in February.  My 500 was pretty fast, I just got in, did a warm-up 50, and then swam.  I hopped out of the pool and into the locker room, grab my shoes and socks, and headed into the studio.  Once in the studio, put on socks, wrote down swim time, got on bike, spun for about a minute and then started the bike.  The bike felt difficult, as it should.  Coach Kris and I did the bike course a couple of weeks ago, on a Monday night.  That night I went 16:54, about 50 seconds faster than the race, but that night I did not swim first.
Once done with the bike, I got off and wrote down time and speed, put on shoes and hopped on treadmill.  I started the treadmill slow, slow enough that first mile was over 8:00min/mi, maybe about 8:10, so I picked it pretty good on the second mile by negative splitting it at about 7:25min/mi pace.  This is easier to do on  a treadmill when you get an adjust your speed almost to exactly where you want it.
So, all in all it went pretty well.
If I am available next month, March, I will sign-up and do it "for real"
I recommend that if you can do the one at OHP, do it, or if you cannot and there are local ones in your area, I know that LifeTime has them and the Y also has them, you should at least do one over the winter.  They are fun, and a good way to get an idea of where you are at during the winter.

2012 January Training Summary - More Run than Bike for First Time in 3+ Years

Below are the totals for January of 2012 compared to past Januarys.  I also put in about 25 minutes on the elliptical that is not included in the times below.  This January had the most swimming of any January and almost the most running.  The last time I ran more than I biked was in Novemeber 2008, before my stress fracture.  Biking was down, but I wanted to focus on running, which I did, in January.  Feb will be a bike focus month and I hope to get in 10+ hours of biking.

Below you can see how I ramped up in January compared to the previous 3 months.  I went from averaging 16 hours each of those three months to 22+ hours in January.  Most of that came from upping my swim and run.  I felt tired in January, which is to be expected in when you are ramping up.  There was nothing I would call a "breakthrough" in January.  I did run for over an hour, 70 minutes, in one training session. It has been awhile since I have run that long.  I also had a couple of runs longer than 40 minutes.

Below are my totals and averages since 2007 and below that are my totals for this year, 2012, and since 2007.  In terms of total time, January 2012 was an average month.

Totals and Averages Since 2007



YTD Totals and Totals Since 2007