First Triathlon of 2009

My first triathlon is in the books. It was tough. Lots of hills and winds that were between 20-25mph. I made a slight mistake by going on a 2 story water slide the night before with the kids. Up the steps well over a dozen times, but it was worth it. The kids and myself had a blast. This particular triathlon was a “D” race, meaning it was more a gauge to see where I was at and what I needed to work on.


Olympic Distance

Pre-race…when I pulled my bike out of the car, I discovered my front tire was flat. How? I didn’t want to start the day changing a flat, but that is exactly what happened.

Swim – After looking at how choppy the water was before the race, I knew the swim would be rough. The water threw me all over the place. Lost my sighting a bunch of times and the waves crashed over my head filling my mouth with water when I was expecting a breath of air. I probably swam a little extra after losing my way, but I didn’t really care much. I finally got into a good rhythm on the way back (out and back swim), but the waves still made it tough. My time was 37 minutes and change. About 7 minutes longer than I wanted, but given the conditions it was fine with me.

T1 – 3 minutes. Took my time. I really wasn’t focused on a speedy transition.

Bike – This was tougher than the swim. All hills and rolling hills. It seemed like no matter where you turned there was wind or cross wind. I never experienced being blown sideways like that before. On some of the climbs, I was down to 9mph. I told myself before the race started, after seeing the wind conditions, that if I finished with an average of 19mph I would be happy. I finished at 19.3mph. Total bike time was 1:12. Again, I was about 7 minutes off the pace I would have liked to have been at come, but with the wind, I was happy with my time.

T2 – 3 minutes. Again, wasn’t worried about it.

Run – My legs were feeling it by this point. I started my run and the wind blew my visor right off and I had to go chase it down. The run course was loaded with hills as well. 1200 feet of climbing over the 6.2 miles. It was pretty much a trail run all on grass or wooded area. I enjoyed it. Finished in 50:45 with an 8:11 pace. I was about 3 minutes off my time here. Nothing to concern myself with.

Finishing time 2:47.

I felt strong throughout the race and will keep my training the same.


In good health,
Joe
www.eeathlete.com
joe@eeathlete.com

Off To The Races

The past two days has pretty much been stretching and rest. Two more days until my first triathlon of the year. Training could have been a little better, but this is an early tri for me and I am using it as my D race.

I will be back on Sunday with a full race report and then next week, it is back to some P90X workouts.

In good health,
Joe
www.eeathlete.com
joe@eeathlete.com

Running Hot

Again, a very hot day. This is good for getting my body use to the heat. Over the next couple of days, I am going to be stretching and getting rested for my triathlon. My blogging will probably be every other day. Also, after this tri, I am really going to focus on diet again. I have strayed from the norm as of late and I need to get back on track.

Workout

3 mile run.

This morning was a quality run. A little warm and very humid, but I felt strong. I did not keep time because I did not want too push myself too much. If I had to guess, I would say I was between a 7:30 and 8 minute mile. Also, I experienced no shin splint pain. This is a good thing.

In good health,
Joe
www.eeathlete.com
joe@eeathlete.com

Final Ride Before Race

Today was my last bike before this weekends triathlon. I feel like my cold is on its way out, which is definitely a good thing. I am hopeful to be 100% on Sunday.


Workout

10 mile bike.

Nothing fancy, just a light ride to keep my legs loose for the tri. I averaged right around a 20mph pace. I cleaned the bike over the weekend and put some new tires on. Everything felt smooth like butter. No need for any adjustments. If I ride like I did tonight, the bike portion of the triathlon will go well.


In good health,
Joe
www.eeathlete.com
joe@eeathlete.com

Dip

It was a very busy weekend and I had an excellent fathers day. This week is going to be very light on the training with my first triathlon being Sunday.

Here is what the schedule looks like.

Monday – 1 mile swim

Tuesday – 15 mile bike

Wednesday – 3 mile run

Thursday – Fountain of Youth Yoga

Friday – X Stretch

Saturday – Rest

Sunday – Olympic Distance Triathlon


Workout

1 mile swim, all laps.

The swim was great. I had a nice pace going. My goggles started letting in some water, so I had to fix them at lap 5. After that, there were no interruptions. I am hoping to start getting in the pool twice a week. We will see if I can fit that into my schedule. I really want to improve on my swimming.


In good health,
Joe
www.eeathlete.com
joe@eeathlete.com

Tough Brick

Ugh. Not a good night sleep. We had a dog over at the house last night and it dumped on the carpet. The carpet cleaning started at 6am. This would have been fine except I didn’t go to bed until 12am. This mixed with having a cold, made me not so eager to work out. I waited until the wife got home from driving her friend to the airport. By this time it was close to 80 degrees outside, not ideal conditions.

Workout

20 mile bike followed by a 4 mile run, all hills.

It was suppose to be a 6 mile run, but the weather, my lack of sleep and my cold change the scheduled work out. I started off on the bike sluggish and immediately encountered hills. After about 3 miles, I started feeling better, but not great. I finished feeling halfway decent.

Then came the run.

It was hot and very humid. I had to keep pouring water on myself. My allergies and cold didn’t make it easy to breath. I felt like the wise decision was to cut it short. With my triathlon next week, I didn’t want to push it to the point that I get worse. I finished a little disappointed I didn’t get my 6 in, but oh well. I will have more opportunities.

In good health,
Joe
www.eeathlete.com
joe@eeathlete.com

Late Night Mistake

Yesterday’s late night workout was a big mistake. I finished at about 11pm but didn’t fall asleep until 12:30am. I was so wired from the workout that I ended up watching Sportscenter until I was able to get some z’s.

I spent an hour on the trainer last night and sweated my butt off. I had to have burned a ton of calories. My cadence felt good. I feel like my bike is coming along great this year.

I was going to do yoga today, but I think I will just do a nice stretch to get ready for tomorrow’s brick. I will use my usual X stretch from P90X. Stretching is vital in my triathlon training routine.

Now, the negative. I have come down with a slight cold. With my first triathlon about 7 days away, this is not the best time. I will be popping cold-eez and vitamin c for the remainder of the week. I need to knock this out quickly.

In good health,
Joe
www.eeathlete.com
joe@eeathlete.com