Just like riding a bike

Things I love about learning good technique - when you've taken a break and are trying to get back in shape, the technique is still there.  Maybe a little dusty, but totally accessible.

Today I hopped in the pool that is around the corner from my new apartment.  I love California for several reasons and today I found several more: the pools always have great natural lighting, they are measured in meters and the water is WAY warmer than anything you'll find in NYC pools.

I managed to swim 100m warm up, 150m drills (100m touch, 50m one-arm) and about 250m freestyle plus 50m breast stroke and 50m kick drills to cool down.  Not too shabby for taking a year off.

I've registered for the Malibu Triathlon in September and I'll be doing the Napa Valley Sprint Distance in April - my first west coast triathlon!  Here we go!

Swim, Swam, Swum.

Swimming today:

100y warm up - breast stroke
200y drills -
100y kick board
50y pull buoy
50y finger drag

12 minute straight swim:

L1 - 61.65
L2 - 65.74
L3 - 66.70
L4 - 66.34
L5 - 64.96
L6 - 72.54
L7 - 64.91
L8 - 67.84
L9 - 69.10
L10 - 67.59
L11 - 69.21
Total - 12:16.58

5x50y fast to slow
L1 - 47sec
L2 - 50sec
L3 - 53sec
L4 - 56sec
L5 - 58sec

100y cool down - backstroke
Total yards: 1200y

Morning swim

This is the best.  My friend picked me up again for a swim at Hamilton.  Great pool, super easy to get to, nice and early with no excuses.  Bonus feature -- coffee in the morning.

Today, we did 100y of breast stroke to warm up, then 200y on kickboard and 250y on pull buoy.  After that, I did a straight 500y and finished up with a 50y sprint (44 seconds!).  Breast stroke and backstroke (50 each) to cool down.

SO HAPPY!

Swim at Hamilton Rec

I'm very impressed by this pool!  What a great facility.  Very glad I got back in the water today.

My friend and I did a few drills and some laps.  I finished with a short ladder:

Nations Triathlon!

Bike: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/405001015
Run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/405001037

Swimming in the short pool.

Did some of this:

4x200 EBEH	50 E	50 B	50 E	50 H	Rest
Set 1	51.04	47.55	53.83	40.34	22.92
Set 2	55.04	48.67	56.92	41.62	24.31
Set 3	55.53	48.91	56.25	41.26	24.43
Set 4	52	51	58.5	40.96

Wasn't able to do a full hour because of pool rules.  But I put a solid effort into my warmup and my drills.  Didn't rest much at all.

New York City Triathlon

Tri Harder!

Goals:
Swim - 35 minutes (2'07 per 100y)
Bike - 1 hour, 35 minutes (16mph)
Run - 60 minutes (10min mile)
TOTAL: 190 minutes (3 hrs, 10 minutes plus transition)

Actual:
Swim - 21:49 (1'18 per 100y) - YAY! (Thank you Hudson River current...)
Bike - 1:48:35 (13.7mph) - a little slow especially on hills, but I had enough gas in the tank to finish
Run - 1:18:48 (12.75min mile) - a lot of slow running, walk through the hydration centers plus a potty break...
TOTAL:  209 minutes (3 hrs, 29 minutes plus transition)


Okay, so not super awesome, but not horrible either.  Plus I beat my arch nemesis' time by nearly half an hour, so all is well with the world.

Swim recap:
I actually felt alright with this one.  I swam straight, I maintained my focus, I sighted well.  In the first 1200m I probably swam 150m on my back, letting myself take some deep breathing moments and focus myself.  My wetsuit felt really tight around my chest so I was trying to stay calm and breathe deeply.  I swam the last 300m+ without flipping over and without altering my stroke.  I am very proud of the swim.  Last year, with training, I finished in 19:30.  A difference of only 2:19.  I'll take it.

Bike recap:
I rented a great bike (thank you, Bike Gods) from my favorite LBS, Sids.  A little Cannondale Synapse - carbon frame, lots of zip.  My average speed was around 14mph, which is down about 4mph from my "trained" speed, but I still was able to hit speeds of over 30mph almost every mile of the race.  Top speed (downhill, of course): 37.4mph.  zoom zoom.

Run recap:
This was not the greatest thing I have ever done, but I definitely went the way of "slow and steady".  I ran steadily when I ran, good form instead of sloppy.  I walked briskly if I walked - mostly through the hydration stations - and I smiled as much as I could.  It was a hot day, so I made sure to stay hydrated (definitely saw someone in non-responsive mode being taken away by the EMTs).  I also made a deal with myself: run the entire way in from the mile 5 marker.  I kept the promise, and had been running for about a quarter mile prior to that, so the last mile and a half were walk-free.

Transitions recap:
Setup in the morning went well.  I was fortunate to have my immediate bike "neighbor" missing AND I was right next to the end of a rack, which always means a little extra space.  Good position in an easy to spot row.  I didn't miss my rack running in either time, which is good on me!  The walk to swim start was lovely.  I probably jumped the gun with my wetsuit and put it on too early, but I thought I was making a good decision at the time...  Ended up biting me in the rear when I realized I hadn't used the potty and time was slipping away to do so.  This resulted in a moderately full bladder to start the race.  "Pee during the swim" you say?  I would love to... except I couldn't.  Mental block?  Inability to pee and move?  Exceptional potty training as a child?  Who knows... no dice.

So, that lead to bike transition.  I'm in Yellow, so we get 700m of barefoot running in a wetsuit.  Makes transition time a bit long.  I remembered to wipe my "Hudson beard" off nice and early and stripped down to my waist almost right away so that I could breathe again.  Took the actual transition into bike slower than normal, making sure to put on gloves (good idea) and open my shot blocks in advance (also smart) plus a hit of my inhaler (to be safe).  Not a bad transition, just a bit on the tortoise side of things...  Oh, and did I mention that I still had to pee?

Twenty-five miles of bumpy biking later, I transitioned into running gear - again taking some time and care.  I made sure to hit the ground running with a slow and steady mentality, plus smiling.  Smiling makes you faster.  A good thing, too, since I was wearing very little red (inside joke).

After about the second mile, I was really distracted by my bladder... so I did take the time to pitstop, which is obnoxious enough when you're wearing a trisuit.  Doubly so when you're wearing TWO.  I wore my regular trisuit under my team-issued garments (they are relatively cheap and ride up, causing VERY unattractive photos and minimizing comfort).  Potty break probably took 4-6 minutes.


Takeaways:
Train.  Duh.

Smiling is good.  Form is good.  Hydration is good.  Forgetting to use the bathroom is bad.

When it comes right down to it, I want to be a happy athlete.  And racing the New York Triathlon on a hot summer day makes me happy!

NYC Triathlon Race Plan

Saturday, July 13 (my birthday!!): Put on your numbers.  Pick up bicycle - bring pedals and a pair of bike shorts / shoes to do a fitting.  Head to transition area to rack bike, make sure you are in small ring/15 to start - don't forget plastic bags for handlebars and saddle!  Go to team dinner, YAY!  Tonight, pack backpack: Swim cap, goggles, flip flops, helmet, sunglasses, trisuit, glide, socks, gloves, bike shoes, running shoes, sports bra, hat, race belt, RoadID, HR monitor, Garmin watch, wet suit, timing chip, plastic bags, towel (x2), GU, water bottle, add'l nutrition, transition bag, bike kit, sunscreen, ID, registration info.  In bed by 9pm.

Sunday, July 14: Wake up at 3:30am. Shower, fix hair, eat breakfast, grab transition bag and take subway at 4:00am to transition area. Check bike (ABC), set up transition items, hydrate. Take transition bag and swim stuff out of transition.  Use restroom, put on wetsuit/swim cap, double check transition area, pat yourself on the back - you made it!

Eat a GU 15 mins before race wave start.

Swim: Enter the water near the edge of "humanity", swim strong to get a good position, then recover in the water, pacing around 2' per 100y. Focus on your rhythm. Long, lean strokes. Focus on reach and glide, high elbows and strong pull.

T1: Take off cap/goggles. Peel wetsuit down to waist as you run. Transition smoothly into the bike - helmet, sunglasses, watch, nutrition, socks, shoes, GO! Unrack & run with bike on your LEFT.

Bike: Use the first five minutes (just over a mile) to get yourself in the zone. This is your strong sport, you are a good cyclist. Eat some nutrition in this first 5 minutes, drink some water. Now go! Power up hills and recover down. Pass smoothly and with purpose, don't slow down to pass - drive through. Stay down in the drops as much as possible, keep your body aerodynamic. Hydrate throughout - every 15 minutes take a drink, this is important - remember how dehydrated you felt running the CP Sprint. Eat again 45-55 mins in (or at turnaround). Finish strong.

T2: You know this one. Fast and smooth. Helmet, hat, shoes, GO!  Don't think.

Run: You are going to be tired. Let your body get into the zone. Eat a GU as you start the first part of your run. This is the last section of the race! You've got it! Let your legs loosen up for the first 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, go a little harder. Try to aim for a 10 minute mile and try to stay consistent at that pace for the remainder of the run. When you get halfway through, see how you feel, if you can give it more - do it. The last mile is all you - this is the last part of the race, you can give it all you've got. Stay focused, keep good form, finish strong and leave nothing in the tank. Great job!

Post race: Bask in the glory! You've just accomplished a great feat for yourself. This is a great day. Take your medal and get some food!

Goals:
Swim - 35 minutes (2'07 per 100y)
Bike - 1 hour, 35 minutes (16mph)
Run - 60 minutes (10min mile)
TOTAL: 190 minutes (3 hrs, 10 minutes plus transition)

Sunday afternoon - take bike back to the shop.  Great job.

Hamptons weekend

Went to the Hamptons on my company's fall retreat.  It was awesome.  Perfect weather.  Great food.  Gorgeous house.  I ran in the morning and then swam in the afternoon.  The run was 3.5 miles through the country, but it was on the sidewalk.  My HR was a bit high, but I was less concerned about the HR and more about making it out and back.  I wanted to go to Amagansett and get a coffee, but I worried that if I ran more than 4 miles I'd be too tired to make it all the way back.  I'm not in the shape I was before.

After a trip to the ocean, I walked back to the house and used the empty pool to swim.  I figure (based on time) that I did about half a mile.  It was nice to swim outside, yet in a pool.  The weather was perfect and the pool was just a little chilly.  I warmed up pretty quickly.  Good on me.

Nation's Triathlon

Crazy swim info:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/224546027
Transition 1: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/224546046
Bike: (watch) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/224546079
(bike computer) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/222862839
Transition 2: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/224546103
Run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/224546134

Friday Morning Swim

Two hundred yards of warm-up plus a thousand yard ladder with a hundred yard cool down.  It was really nice to be in "my" pool at "my" gym again.  I felt great there.  And swimming a full 25y before turning around was a great treat.

Ladder	50y	100y
400y	56.64	63.42
	63.51	64.38
	63.62	63.08
	61.25	61
Rest		74.98
300y	56.05	60.22
	63.28	62.92
	63.21	62.21
Rest		37.91
200y	57.75	60.34
	62.25	62.19
Rest		63.44
100y	54.6	56.7

Swim outside with Katie

Went to the outdoor pool tonight with Katie from work.  She brought toys!  We did 200y to warm up, 200y with paddles and then 400y of drills: 100y pull, 100y finger drag, 100y one arm, 100y 3T.  After that, we started a 200y ladder, but only made it through 200y, 175y and the first 25y of 150y.  Total yards today (laps, really... the pool is short): 1200y

I like swimming outside in the big pool.  It's like open water practice.  Lots of chop.  A bit of current.  Good stuff.

NYC Triathlon - Race Recap

NYC Triathlon recap

Woke up at 4am and got ready, I had packed my bag and stashed my bike the night before.  At 4:20 I left the house and walked to transition.  Set up my area and checked my bike, it had rained heavily the night before, so I dried my components off and checked that the seat and handlebars were also dry.  I felt really good about how I had set up my area and also felt good about my nutrition plan.  I was feeling a little tight, so I took my inhaler before heading to swim start.

Walked at a leisurely pace to swim start, stashed my bag in the truck and went to find my starting corral.  I put my wetsuit on about 5 minutes before the starting gun and ate my first GU before entering my starting area.  Put on my cap and goggles, had two swim clips with me and stepped into the zone.

When I got to the river showers, I made sure to get water down my wetsuit and on my face.  I made sure to position myself as far out into the water as possible.  I didn't sit down, but jumped from standing.  I held my goggles and swim clip with one hand and pressed start on my watch (thanks for the borrow, YJ!) at the whistle.

The swim start was fine.  I started swimming at an even pace, just trying to find my breath and my rhythm.  My swim clip kept slipping up my nose, so I turned onto my back to adjust it and then resumed swimming.  The two turns were effortless and didn't take much time, but the fact that my clip was slipping was annoying.  Finally, I just decided to grin and bear it, took my swim clip off and swam without.  It took two breaths for me to get myself into a rhythm and from there to the 1200m mark, it was smooth sailing.

I felt a little fatigued at first, but I knew that was normal and just worked on finding my sightlines and breathing regularly.  Once I got to the 600m mark, I realized that I was doing well and I just put myself in the zone.  When I got to 1200m, I decided to start picking up the pace.  The end became very choppy and it was difficult to gauge how far I was from the pier, but I made it without much fuss and let the guys pull me up out of the water.  I took my wetsuit down, switched my watch to "transition" and jogged to Yellow.

I took a cup of water before entering transition and ran to my rack.  I actually missed my rack by one, which sucked because I had actually done that when I practiced the night before and made a mental note...  Oh well.  Then I quickly stripped off my wetsuit, put on socks and shoes, helmet and gloves and grabbed my nutrition and bike.  Away we go!  Well, almost... slow pokes with bikes walking to the exit were jamming up the lane, but I finally made it to the road and I was off.

I took three shot blocks upon entering the bike course and I tried to remember to take it easy for the first five miles.  I didn't hammer it until after I got to the first real hill, then I started to pour it on.  I had forgotten to get my bike computer because I was wearing the watch and it didn't occur to me to use the bike computer for speed data.  Would have been a great help.

I tried to make sure to check the effort of cyclists coming back down the course.  If the hill was formidable and athletes were having a hard time, I made sure to note it.  I feel like the effort I put out was very good.  I don't think that I had an ounce of bike-gas left in me once I finished the course.  I wish I had had a little more power coming up the hill at 57th Street, but I'll know now for next year.  I borrowed race wheels for this race.  They were AWESOME!

I felt so great coming into my final transition.  I knew that most of the race was over.  I knew that I had done a great job in the swim and the bike.  I knew that all I had to do was finish the run in an hour and I'd make my goal.  I knew I could run the 10K in an hour.

When I "ran" up the hill onto 72nd Street, I felt like I was running on cinder blocks. My legs were stiff and sore.  But I've experienced that before.  I know it goes away.  I know I'll loosen up.  I spent the first few blocks getting my legs back.  My goal was to have a good stride by the time I hit Columbus Avenue and I did.  After I got into the park, it was just like running for training.  My back yard.  My neighborhood.  My park.




When my watch buzzed the first mile at me, I knew I had the race in the bag - 9:39.  All I had to do was maintain that pace and I'd finish in less than 3 hours.  The best thing was, I knew I could run faster.  I paced myself well, but I made sure to hit negative splits then entire race.  The only mile I missed was the big one at the end with the long hill.  I'll take it.  I finished strong, though incredibly tired, and I had given it everything I had.

Fantastic effort.  Top 10% in the bike, top third in the swim and run.  I took home 38th place in my division (top 13%) and top 38% overall.  Definitely a great first triathlon.  The next one will be better.

RACE! Stars and Stripes Aquathlon

Swim: 1500m took about 45mins - swim clip broke, first 500m were spent acclimating to new swim technique.

Run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/190924850

Pool Certification

One mile swim: 35mins, 50sec

One Mile	92y	184y	276y	368y	460y
Straight Swim	44.78	51.8	55.49	54.04	55.54
one lap = 23y	50.59	53.8	53.71	54.04	55.61
	552y	644y	736y	828y	920y
Total time:	54.78	52.83	54.29	55.17	56.62
35'50" 90	54.46	57.83	56.5	55.67	56.62
	1012y	1104y	1196y	1288y	1380y
Average per	59.92	56.15	54.25	55.28	56.99
50y:	56.3	55.33	54.87	55.33	55.5
1'05" 18	1472y	1564y	1656y	1748y	1794y
	58.36	59.34	57.15	56.25	54.22
1650y time:	56.53	56.84	52.84	55.28
(approx)
33minutes

Lots of Drills

I swam 25 minutes worth of drills including finger drag, 3T, underwater switch, and a new "plunge" drill to work on momentum.

After drills I swam "400y" at race pace.  I did an extra lap by accident.  Plus, the pool is only 23y long, so some additional calculations were involved.  Average 50y pace:  57sec.  Time for 400y: 7min 38sec.

400y at Race Pace
46y	46.34
92y	52.72
138y	53.92
184y	52.88
230y	51.01
276y	55
322y	55.55
368y	53.4
414y	54.22
437y	23.15
Total time:	8min 18sec
Avg time per 50y:	57sec
Total time for 400y:	7min 38sec

Beautiful Pool

Today I had the opportunity to get some quality solo-lane time in.  My head position was great during this swim, mostly (I assume) because I wasn't trying to "look" for people in front of me.  The facility was beautiful.  Salt water pool.  Great swim.

I did 250y worth of drills to start followed by a 400y ladder.  Great swim, good effort, nice form.  Thanks for the opportunity, YJ.

Ladder	50y	100y
400y	55.75	54.51
	57.72	59.45
	59.51	60.89
	60.55	58.93
Rest		20.72
350y	55.4	58.63
	58.94	59.34
	58.94	60.31
	55.26
Rest		30.8
300y	53.88	57.43
	59.63	59.34
	59.68	59.39
Rest		30.42
250y	54.59	58.41
	58.46	58.83
	56.67
Rest		37.85
200y	49.95	57.71
	58.51	59.85
Rest		50.96
150y	53.88	60.15
	59.34
Rest		45.06
100y	51.25	53.22
Rest		41.64
50y	46.79

20 Minute Straight Swim

Straight	100y	200y	300y	400y	500y	600y
Swim	49.48	55.16	55.46	59.18	58.77	58.79
	53.05	56.13	57.18	58.71	58.25	62.38
	700y	800y	900y	1000y	1100y
	55.18	59.94	57.17	56.9	61.6
	61.84	58	56.92	57.89	54.04

Two by 500y... sort of

Got into the pool today.  Swam a hundred yards to warm up and then swam two sets of 500y.  Unfortunately, I deleted the data from my sport count... but I average around 52s per 46y for these.  (Note: I'm in a 23y pool these days)

Short pool = 23y

Swim: 2000
WU: 300 drills (work on arm entry, head position)
MS:  8 x 50 on 12" total 400. rest 30". 400, 300, 200, 100 on 20". Get faster as you descend.
CD: 300 mixed


Shorty pool  :)

8 x 50y	Lap 1	Lap 2	Lap 3	Lap 4
Swim	49.34	47.32	48.49	49.62
Rest	27.02	13.25	13.42	15.59
	Lap 5	Lap 6	Lap 7	Lap 8
Swim	50.51	50.72	50.87	51.58
Rest	14.09	14.6	15.25

Ladder	50y	100y
400y	52.33	54.59
	55.75	60.17
	58.71	59.72
	60.33	60.92
Rest		28.95
300y	53.13	57.67
	59.18	59.67
	58.9	59.8
Rest		48
200y	50.91	55.42
	57.51	53.97
Rest		41.45
100y	48.62	52.47