STATS:
Swimming: 2,000yds in 1 session
Cycling: 0 mi in 0 sessions
Running: 0 mi in 0 sessions
Strength: 2 hrs in 2 sessions
Other: 2.5 hrs football & basketball
Total: 2.5 hrs
RECAP:
This was week #2 of my end of season break. I'm trying to spend a little bit of time away from triathlon for a few weeks. The end of the season was a tad disappointing so I need some time to clear my head and get off the grid for a while. The focus and dedication that it takes to go all year long is draining so I feel that it's important to let things decompress. I find that I've got a lot of time on my hands when I'm not in training mode. I'm also rediscovering some activities that I enjoy doing but don't have the time or energy for while in season. Lately I've started playing poker, football, and basketball. I'm also building a deck with Watkins. This has gotten me to start thinking about what I plan on doing after triathlon. With our first child on the way in March I feel as though I've only got a few more years of putting in 20+ hrs a week of training. After a couple of years we are potentially planning to have another child and at that point I'd like to make sure that I'm around the house more. I think that would be a good time for me to transition from triathlon to something else that has a high fun factor but a low footprint on my schedule. I really enjoy team sports so I think my mid to late thirties will be focused on getting my game back in basketball, football and softball. I'll keep my aerobic fitness in maintenance mode with mountain biking since that's also another high fun factor sport. I'm sure that I'll make a return to triathlon at some point but it probably won't be until my late 40s to early 50s when my children are at an age where they may be training for endurance sports.
This past week I only got in one swim and two lifting sessions. My strength is better than ever with leg press and I feel like this will help me for next season on the bike. I got in some football and basketball on the weekend and had quite a lot of fun trying to regain my coordination. If you don't use it you most certainly lose it. It doesn't take too long to get it back though. I played pretty well for being away for about a year.
Jen's brother Bert came into town for the holiday. We hung out in Charlotte on Thursday and spent Friday night and Saturday in Charleston at the beach. Charleston is a great city with tons of history. We went to Magnolia Gardens on Saturday and took a tour for a few hours. On Saturday night we came back to Charlotte and had dinner at Cantina. Can't beat their chimichanga, guacamole, salsa, and margaritas!
One last thing of importance that happened last week was that I finally got my braces off!! Five years ago (Jan 2004), I decided to get braces to straighten my teeth and improve my bite to avoid problems down the road. I was told it was going to take about two years and I opted to go with Invisilign which is like a clear plastic covering over your teeth that changes every two weeks and works just like traditional braces but is less noticable. The other advantage is that you can take them off to eat and brush/floss your teeth. I ended up being in those for 3 years and then had to move to traditional braces for what was supposed to be 10 weeks and turned into nearly 2 more years. Needless to say, I was very pumped on Monday to have gotten my braces off. Some of the adjustment sessions were way more painful than any triathlon so at least it built up my pain tolerance.
Next week I plan on getting in a little more triathlon training and a little less junk food and alcohol consumption!!
After looking back on the 2009 season I've got mixed feelings. On one hand I had a couple of races that showed some potential and then I had a couple more that were absolute disasters. In a previous post I discussed how I like to look at each year as a correlation to class rankings like freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. I'm viewing my 2009 season as my sophomore year as a pro triathlete. It was my 2nd year racing in the pro field but it was really my first year racing healthy. I was able to get in the mix in my first two races and get a feel for what it was like to really race a 70.3 and I thoroughly enjoyed that. I also had two races........Steelhead and Clearwater......that were complete meltdowns. I think this is to be expected of a sophomore. Back in college cross country we never expected freshmen or sophomores to be consistent. We expected that they would show promise and have great races here and there but wouldn't expect them to nail it every time. This is where I'm at right now.
When I try to think about what my strengths and weaknesses are when looking back on the year I'm having a hard time coming up with my strengths because I'm not strong in any discipline compared to the competition. I find myself a few minutes back from the leaders in all three. I think if I improve my swim it will put me in the mix and it will help to improve my motivation on the race course because there will be a carrot out there for me. That being said, I have some time to gain in all three sports. I think I do a very good job with my recon of the competition going into each race. Since the field sizes are much smaller for the pros than AG it's easier to get a feel for who might come out of the water ahead of you, who might be coming by you on the bike, and who you have to watch out for on the run. This recon helped me at both Eagleman and Rhode Island because I knew exactly when I had to make my moves.
Outside of triathlon 2009 was a great year. My relationship with my wife, Jen, is as healthy as ever and we're expecting our first baby in March of 2010. We're very excited for that and the planning has been very enjoyable. We took some time out for ourselves to take a non-triathlon vacation in August for our nine year anniversary and had a blast on our cruise. Jen's business is continuing to grow in a less than stellar economy and my job is looking solid as well. We also merged our coaching initiatives with our friend Steve and we all bring something different to the table which has allowed for better ideas and focus. My family is surviving the tough economic times and will all come out of the other side with a clear perspective. The Charlotte training group continues to get stronger and stronger and I like to think that I contribute to their success by sharing my ideas, gathering them together for rides, and pushing them to new levels. I've also partnered with some new exciting sponsors for 2010 and am really looking forward to working with First Endurance, Bicycle Sport, Charlotte Running Company, SUGOI, and Blue Ocean Somatic Institute.
For 2010 I'm really looking forward to being a dad and bringing my time management skills to a whole new level. I know that Jen and I will be great parents and I've already been doing my homework on tending to an infant. This will open a new chapter in our lives.
STATS:
Swimming: 5,400yds in 2 sessions
Cycling: 0 mi in 0 sessions
Running: 8 mi in 2 sessions
Strength: 2 hrs in 2 sessions
Total: 4.5 hrs
RECAP:
Last week was the first week of my end of season break consisting of three weeks long. During my break I just do whatever I feel like doing with a little bit of guidelines. My only guidelines for this break are that I'd like to do 2 strength sessions per week and run and swim at least 2 times per week. I have to take at least 2 days completely off each week but no more than two days off in a row. I don't have much to say about this past week. I stayed within my guidelines and felt like I recovered pretty well from my last race. My mood last week has been a bit on the low end of the spectrum but I think it was a combination of having a bad race, coming back from vacation, being tired from traveling, and not exercising as much as usual. My mood has picked back up again as I write this.
We broke ground this week on our winter project. Watkins and I are planning on building a deck for our house and then one for his house. We got everything measured out on Saturday and dug the holes for the 6 X 6 inch posts. We own a duplex and rent out the other side to our friends Dave and Laura. There are essentially going to be two decks with a common landing area and steps in the middle of the two decks. Each deck was planned to be 16ft wide by 12ft deep with a 6ft common area in the middle. We ran into one snag when I dug into a wire that wasn't marked but the dude that was supposed to mark everything off didn't have this marked. We have no idea what it is for and they can't give us a good answer. We may need to either make each deck 16 X 16 and dig new holes or just put two posts in between each of the end posts instead of one. I haven't done anything like this in quite some time so I think it's going to be a lot of fun. It should go up pretty quickly once we have the foundation in place.
At the end of each season I like to take a look at my training numbers to see if they are trending upwards over the course of the year or not. For the most part, 2009 was a fairly consistent training year with only one injury that took me completely away from running for 11 days. Aside from that there weren't any big voids in training. The table below shows my average weekly volume in each sport from mid November to mid November of the previous year. That's when my seasons start and end. These numbers include end of season breaks and mid season breaks as well as recovery weeks so the numbers look pretty low but don't show the complete picture. The good news is that I've trended upwards in all three sports and hit my yearly records in the swim and bike. I've also increased the intensity at which I train this year so my overall training stress was much higher this year than in previous years. This should set me up nicely for next year.
| Year |
Swim |
Bike |
Run |
| 2005 |
5,000 yds |
105 mi |
19 mi |
| 2006 |
7,000 yds |
142 mi |
21 mi |
| 2007 |
8,000 yds |
148 mi |
35 mi |
| 2008 |
8,400 yds |
115 mi |
24 mi |
| 2009 |
10,200 yds |
155 mi |
26 mi |
* Aggregate data courtesy of
athleticore.com
I first started my triathlon training in the 2004-2005 season and the numbers trended upwards until 2008. The 2008 season was my first season racing pro and I had an injury that crippled me for most of the season.....hence the low training numbers. I made a conscious effort to get in the pool more in 2009 and it is noticable by the jump in weekly average by 1,800 yds per week. In 2010 I hope to increase my swim and run significantly since I feel that these are the areas where the race is won and lost. My bike mileage won't be as high in 2010 but the bike intensity will be higher.
©2009 Clarke Rodgers/SPORTZFOTO.com
GOALS:
* Top 25 Overall
* Hit my nutrition plan.....especially hydration
* Be aggressive on the swim and bike
* Manage the pain on the run
* 3:53 – 3:57 overall time depending on conditions
* Swim: 25:30
* Bike: 2:10:00
* Run: 1:14:30
ACTUAL:
Place: 64th Pro
Time: 04:41:48
Swim Time/Place: 25:27 / 56th
Bike Time/Place: 2:11:26 / 53rd
Run Time/Place: 1:59:41 / 65th
PRE-RACE:
Five weeks out from this race I had a calf injury that took me away from running for 11 days and never really seemed to heal completely. Before that happened I had the best 10 week training block all time and was in prime shape to have a great race at Clearwater. The calf injury was the focal point for me over the past five weeks and took some of my focus away from race day preparation.
Jen and I left Charlotte, NC on the Sunday before the race and drove to our condo where we met up with Clarke in Clearwater. I like to have ample time to loosen up after traveling to a race and it was nice to have the whole week to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. Throughout the week I did my normal preparations and got to bed by 9:00pm on Friday night after having pasta with chicken for dinner. I woke for the race at 3:15am but laid in bed until 4am and followed my pre-race routine:
* 4:00am: Breakfast: 2 slices toast w/ PB & 2 boca links + 2 bananas
* 4:20am: Shave and shower
* 4:40am: Gather race gear
* 4:50am: Massage, foam roller, TP massage, stretch session
* 5:40am: Run warmup from condo to transition + more stretching
* 5:55am: Set up transition....take 150 cals of EFS Liquid Shot
* 6:10am: Stretch at porto line
* 6:20am: Jog to swim start, put on wetsuit, swim warmup....another 150 cals of EFS Liquid Shot
* 6:53am: Swim Start
SWIM:
Going into this race I expected that I would be surrounded by competitors all day long. I had improved my swim slightly and figured that with 85 pro men entered in the race there would be a stream of swimmers to latch onto throughout the swim. Was I ever wrong!! Since the ITU guys have started to race the 70.3 distance the swims have gotten faster and faster and this swim went out hard and they stayed on the gas the whole way. I had some feet for the first 5 minutes and swam solo from that point on. Not what I was expecting at all. I felt pretty good in the water but am just not at that level quite yet and ended up getting gapped by 3 to 3.5 mins by the main swim pack and didn't really have anyone around me.
BIKE:
I got onto the bike and tried to get my HR down to around 160 bpm (LT minus 10 bpm) and time trial the bike course. At this point I knew I wasn't going to reach my goal of top 25 so tried to see what I could do on the bike. The first 20 miles I was passing some of the pro women and a couple of men and at around mile 20 I realized that one of them had latched on. I was a bit frustrated at this point already so wanted to shake him loose. I jumped out of my saddle and put in a strong effort to try and get away and after a minute looked back and he was still there. On my second attempt my chain got stuck between my rear cog and frame because I tried to shift too many gears at once so I had to stop and take my rear wheel off to get the chain unlodged. This cost me 90 seconds and I saw a group of 4 guys go by me. It took me 4 miles to catch the group at 160 bpm and when I caught them I sat in the back for 2 miles and my HR dropped 15 bpm at 26.9 mph so I made a strong move at 29-30 mph and got away from the group. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. I passed some more women but didn't pass any more men. I started to fade a bit towards the last five miles and ended up giving back a decent amount of time.
One thing that I did to speed up my T1 was electric taping my gel flasks and salt tab container to my aero bars. Jen questioned whether they would be easy to take off or not and I disregarded it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the easiest to get my flasks and salt container untaped so I didn't end up taking any additional sodium on top of what is in the EFS Liquid Shots. I typically take an extra 350-700mg of sodium on top of the contents of my gels and I think I ended up low on sodium. My fluid intake of 104 oz was right on but I think I needed more sodium to balance things out. I ended up paying the price on the run with further nutritional mistakes.
On the bike nutrition: 104oz water + 900 cals of EFS Liquid Shot
RUN:
I started off the run feeling very heavy and my legs felt overly fatigued. It felt like I was running 8 min pace but I went through the first mile in 5:40 pace according to my GPS. I was encouraged by that since my HR was at 160 bpm which is LT minus 20 bpm for me. Unfortunately I couldn't seem to get my body to move any faster or even maintain that effort. I made a concious effort to see how my calf felt and it didn't hurt but my calves and hamstrings both felt like they could cramp if I pushed the pace much further. My pace slowly got worse and worse and my legs started to feel some pain. I have no idea what I was thinking but I only took down water for the first 8 miles of the run (no calories or additional sodium). Once I hit the 2nd loop I was in a world of hurt. The age groupers (men and women of all ages) that were out on their first loop were ALL going by me like I was standing still and I had no answer for them. It was a complete meltdown. I think I had diluted my sodium levels and I was starting to feel very out of it on the course. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to the finish line at mile 8 and stopped at the next aid station and took down 200 cals of my EFS Liquid Shot and water. I struggled through miles 8 through 13 taking some breaks to walk. I tried to cheer on some of the competitors since my day was done and was only focused on finishing. I thought about how Jen must have been worried about me since I should have finished 45 mins earlier so tried to pick up my pace as much as I could. I crossed the finish line in complete disappointment and embarrassment.
On the run nutrition: Water at every aid station, sponges at every aid station, 450 cals EFS Liquid Shot during 2nd half of run, Coke at one aid station
SUMMARY:
* I have to be able to make the first swim pack to compete at this race. I was 3 to 3.5 mins back from the main pack. The swim was very fast and I have some serious work to do over the next 6-8 months in the pool.
* There were 40+ guys in the main bike pack and they all biked between 1:59-2:03. There is a definitive advantage to being able to sit legally in that 40 man train.
* My new Trek TTX felt awesome and the Speedfil worked great as well. My bike position felt very comfortable and powerful.
* Had I not lodged my chain I would have biked around 2:09+ without the help that others were getting. I've made some gains in the pool and the bike this year.
* Clearwater is more like an olympic distance race than a 70.3 since it is so flat and fast. I won't be going back there until I can swim 22+ mins.
* My run fitness took a hit from getting injured 5 weeks out from race day. Before that it was superb though so I'm in a good place for next season even though these results don't show it.
* I hadn't raced in a while and didn't pay close enough attention to my nutrition.
* Aside from the race......I had a great time in Clearwater and had a great vacation.
THANKS TO:
* My wife Jen for being supportive and for being the team leader in rounding up the families on race morning and race day.
* My bud Clarke for taking some top notch photos, bringing the XBOX, and protecting our freedom (Happy Veteran's Day).
* Our families for cheering for me at the race site and while watching online.
STATS:
Swimming: 8,000yds in 4 sessions
Cycling: 98 mi in 4 sessions
Running: 17 mi in 2 sessions
Total: 9.0 hrs
RECAP:
Even though I was in Clearwater I still had some work to do so I logged in remotely on Monday to take care of some issues. I got in a swim at the Clearwater YMCA and it was nice to just relax the rest of the day at the condo.
On Tuesday Clarke and I went out for an hour bike ride and view a little of the course. I felt really tight at the start but then loosened up and had a great stretch session. Started to get excited for the race.
Wednesday I did another swim at the YMCA and got in a quicker 4 mile run. Calves were really tight afterwards and I was still a bit concerned. Trying to stay positive though. I also registered for the race on started to get everything put together. My sister Sarah and her family came over to hang out for a while and it was great to see them. The kids are growing up so fast. Clarke picked up Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and finished it in one day. Jen and I mainly watched.
On Thursday I swam in the gulf and it was terribly choppy.......just like Rhode Island 70.3 this year. Very tough to swim. I wore the wetsuit for half of the swim and the skinsuit for the other half just in case it wasn't wetsuit legal. Later in the day I went for another ride with Clarke on the course. Felt really good. I played a lot of Grand Theft Auto IV to relax. I'm getting good at mowing down pedestrians.
On Friday I took the bike out for a spin to check out the gearing and the brakes after putting the race wheels on. Everything felt great. Starting to get excited. Went to the pro meeting at 2pm and was all set to go after checking my bike and bags in. We had dinner with my sister's family and Jen's parents and I was off to bed at 9pm.
Saturday was race day. I'll write up a separate report for the actual race. Things didn't go so well for me and I was quite sore and frustrated after the race. We went over to my sister's condo for pizza and I was exhausted.
On Sunday we packed up all of our gear and hit the road. We arrived in Charlotte at around 8pm and picked up some chinese food and then were off to bed.
STATS:
Swimming: 8,000yds in 4 sessions
Cycling: 98 mi in 4 sessions
Running: 17 mi in 2 sessions
Total: 9.0 hrs
RECAP:
Even though I was in Clearwater I still had some work to do so I logged in remotely on Monday to take care of some issues. I got in a swim at the Clearwater YMCA and it was nice to just relax the rest of the day at the condo.
On Tuesday Clarke and I went out for an hour bike ride and view a little of the course. I felt really tight at the start but then loosened up and had a great stretch session. Started to get excited for the race.
Wednesday I did another swim at the YMCA and got in a quicker 4 mile run. Calves were really tight afterwards and I was still a bit concerned. Trying to stay positive though. I also registered for the race on started to get everything put together. My sister Sarah and her family came over to hang out for a while and it was great to see them. The kids are growing up so fast. Clarke picked up Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and finished it in one day. Jen and I mainly watched.
On Thursday I swam in the gulf and it was terribly choppy.......just like Rhode Island 70.3 this year. Very tough to swim. I wore the wetsuit for half of the swim and the skinsuit for the other half just in case it wasn't wetsuit legal. Later in the day I went for another ride with Clarke on the course. Felt really good. I played a lot of Grand Theft Auto IV to relax. I'm getting good at mowing down pedestrians.
On Friday I took the bike out for a spin to check out the gearing and the brakes after putting the race wheels on. Everything felt great. Starting to get excited. Went to the pro meeting at 2pm and was all set to go after checking my bike and bags in. We had dinner with my sister's family and Jen's parents and I was off to bed at 9pm.
Saturday was race day. I'll write up a separate report for the actual race. Things didn't go so well for me and I was quite sore and frustrated after the race. We went over to my sister's condo for pizza and I was exhausted.
On Sunday we packed up all of our gear and hit the road. We arrived in Charlotte at around 8pm and picked up some chinese food and then were off to bed.
STATS:
Swimming: 11,600yds in 3 sessions
Cycling: 103 mi in 3 sessions
Running: 20 mi in 4 sessions
Total: 12.2 hrs
RECAP:
This was the first week after the time change and it's getting dark very early and is making it tough to get my training in. Most of my training partners are also done for the season so aside from Watty showing for some sessions I'm on a solo mission. My main goal this week was still to get my calf back in action and I can't say that it's any worse but it's also not any better. It's just lingering on. I used spin class on Wednesday as my workout due to lack of light and got a massage again on Thursday. I did strides a couple of times for my run turnover but didn't want to push my calf too much. On Sunday we drove from Charlotte to Clearwater and were greeted by Clarke at the condo. The condo is really nice. Got in around 10pm and went to bed shortly after that.
I'm still not overly excited about the Clearwater race because I don't know how my calf is going to hold up. It's tough to set a strong goal for this race with that looming in the back of my mind.
STATS:
Swimming: 18,300yds in 5 sessions
Cycling: 124 mi in 3 sessions
Running: 32 mi in 6 sessions
Total: 15.7 hrs
RECAP:
This was my first week back where I really wanted to test the calf. I was able to get in 6 runs for 32 miles with a workout on Sunday of 2 miles @ 5:48 ave then 2 miles @ 5:17 ave. Calf pain is very dull but still lingering on. The calf is really my only concern right now. I feel really good in the pool as well as on the bike. I got two massages this week to try to loosen things up in a more timely manner so hopefully that will pay off.