Monday, September 13, 2010

Other Post-Race Nitty Gritties

Technical Notes:

Swim: For an ocean start I need to practice dolphin diving. Need to wear clear goggles for races -blue goggles plus orange buoys = not visible. Need goggle defogger - saliva did not work like it does in the pool.
Fuel: 800 calories on the bike: 400cal carbo pro, 100cal gatorade, 200cal luna bar, 100c gu (could have done even a little more 900-1000 next time), 400 calories on the run (shot blocks, 1 gu, pretzels). Pretzels were money. I may consider this in the future for long training sessions. Didn't manage to eat my swedish fish either on the bike or the run. Too bad.
Bike: Looking forward to the offseason to learn to hammer on the bike. I have no idea how hard I could be going. This was way faster than I have gone before and yet I didn't feel like I was near any sort of red zone. In the last hour I had some weakening (not sure what to call it - my legs didn't hurt, they just didn't feel as strong). I remember this feeling in my first 40+ mile rides. Perhaps I could push this back if I did more long long rides (60-80 miles). I remember Alexa of Just Keep Swimming telling me at some point that she would do 80+ mile rides in preparation for a HIM. Maybe I'll work that in next time.
Run: I am not a runner. I tend to fall apart after an hour. I  need to figure out how to push this back.

Goals/Thoughts?
I have new goals brewing. Nothing is final. I don't know if they are reasonable or what the timeframe would be to achieve them. I'd love to hear people's thoughts about them (particularly, ordering, timeframe, necessary steps to realize).

1. Swim: 25 minute mile. I have gone sub 27 once, mid 27's a number of time. Clearly I'd need to get much stronger. There is a masters swim club starting this weekend at a local pool and I know the coach caters to triathletes. Might drop the $75 to see what I can learn.

2. Bike: Get stronger. Get faster. Go longer. Get better on hills. (Do I need a power meter? Can I do this work with the Workouts in a Binder by Joe Friel and Wes Hobson during the winter on the trainer?)

3. Run: Improve endurance. Improve form - bent knees at the front of my stride, midsole striking, shoulders down. I'd also like to be faster. Running fast is way more fun than running slow.

4. Other Fitness: My core has fallen apart over the past 2 months. I need to get back in the weight room. I need to figure out how to get it into my tri routine, not just in the off season but also next summer, even with high volume (ladies, how do you maintain your upper body and core strength during build?)...

5. Food: My eating has also been less than ideal. I've got to clean it up. I feel pulled between the anti-carb (grain/sugar) and the pro-carb schools. I love grains. I have a feeling they are bad for me. I struggle to feel energized with fewer carbs. I need to strike a balance.

2 comments:

  1. Congrats again! Must have been those Bertucci's rolls:)
    You and I both are going to get faster and stronger over the winter. I think with biking, the more the better. The plan I followed for my HIM had me do a 75 mile ride and I think that helped. The toughest part of the HIM for me was keeping my focus. I was fine for the swim and bike, but lost my concentration and fire at mile 6 or so on the run. That is something I need practice with.

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  2. As for the bike, I feel quality is better then quanity. On the trainer, do those workouts in a binder, maybe get a couple of spinerval workout dvds. The trainer can be a very effective training tool. You have the base to go the distance, now work on going faster. A power meter is expensive, I suggest look into heart rate training, cheaper and sorta the same concept.

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