Saturday, June 29, 2013

Race Preview: Lake Waconia Triathlon

I did this race last year, it was pretty good, plus I know a couple of guys racing it, and I enjoy that. So I signed up again. Also, I missed my goal from last year, and I get a kick out of shooting for my goals, so I'm gunning for a better run this time :)

Race Info

The swim is a square in a lake - I heard the water temp is 77; I'll take the wetsuit, and I'll wear it if they allow. Last year I was excited by the time-trial start, and then was less than excited by the experience of it. But now with adjusted expectations I'm more thinking about how to best use all the draft to my advantage.

The bike is a 20 mile loop; last year I thought it was pretty rolly. Then I went out and had a pretty fast time, and I rode it recently and I think it's less rolly than I remembered. Now I'd say it's mostly flat till the last five miles, and then there are some rollers.

The run is an out and back, along the same route as the bike. Last year this felt like the longest four miles in any race I'd done. If I remember right it's basically a big hill that crests in the middle. This is the focus of the race, this is where I hope to redeem myself.

Goals

These goals are roughly what I set last year, since I didn't hit them last year, it seems reasonable.

Goal Pace
Swim 12:00 1:22 per 100 yards
Bike 58:30 20.5 miles/hour
Run 31 7:45 mins/mile
Total 1:45

1:45 was enough for top 10 in my AG last year, of course I missed that and ended up 15th.

1:22 seems realistic to do, I've been feeling good in the pool.

20.5 seems doable, I've been feeling pretty good on the bike.

7:45 should be doable, I actually backed down from a 7:30 estimate because I just don't feel like I've got good running legs these days. So this is really the first real test of the legs since the last 5k I did.

Closing Comments

Ahh - first tri of the season. Super excited!

Monday, June 3, 2013

May Training Notes

This month my totals looked like

DistanceTime
Swim24,000 yards6:50 hours
Bike207 miles12:11 hours
Run59.86 miles8:46 hours

Last Month

DistanceTime
Swim38,000 yards10:50 hours
Bike149.38 miles10:15 hours
Run35.48 miles5:35 hours

May 2012

DistanceTime
Swim24,900 yards6:10 hours
Bike339 miles19:38 hours
Run77 miles11:15 hours

Overall
At the start of the month my mind was starting to wander, by this time last year I had already done two races and had two new PRs, I did a 5k this month and set a new PR, but didn't quite hit my goal time.

The second week was a transition week. I had been doing a set of workouts that I started out excited about but then didn't really like. It was basically the exact same thing each week which wears on me. So I took some time to rest, and then started in a new set, it's got a different focus, so my energy is renewed.

Swim
Due to a reduced amount of good outside weather my swimming has been spotty. If the weather is decent for the day I'd rather spend that time on the bike. I'm actually hoping to break that habit starting today.

Bike
My last training focus was on bike. Overall I wasn't super happy with the workouts; I felt like I was putting in some good effort, but the results weren't there. Having said that I just knocked out a good ride on Sunday, so maybe it worked more than I thought. That was probably the best consistent effort outside of a race I've ever had.

Run
Run is the new focus, I'm going to make a short push and see if I can eek some more speed out of the old legs leading into my first race at the end of the month. Overall the runs feel good.

Coming up
This month I'm tentative on a couple of bike time trials, and a 5k. I'm confirmed for my first tri for the year.