Interesting Bike Articles

I came across a couple interesting bike articles recently, so I am bookmarking them here. I'll add more when I find more.

Bicycling.com article on beginner bike handling improvement tips

How Aero is Aero - Interesting data on the effect on aerodynamics on speed and power.

Drop Handle Bar Positions - This was helpful when I first got my bike to get me used to terminology.

Benchmarking my Cycling

A stomach flu knocked me out of commission for two days but luckily I only missed one day of training. I noticed I was a bit sluggish (kept wanting to quit) on my Wednesday morning run. Later that day I definitely had the symptoms (wife gave it to me). I laid up in bed Thursday, but felt well enough by mid morning to take the bike out.

I've been wanting to do a time trial on the bike to gauge where I was at. No intersections, no stop signs, etc. There is a stretch of the White Oak Bike Trail, which lets you go about 3.1 miles without interruption. It's a nice trail, complete with its own "hills" (underpasses) Originally I was planning to do four lengths, but I didn't want to push myself since I just started feeling better, so I did only two... so 6.2 miles which is about what my super sprint length will be.

I got a boost from a tailwind on the way out (miles 1 - 3) and faced a strong headwind along with tiring muscles on the way back. I definitely felt the lactic acid build up in my legs. Overall, I averaged 16.2 mph. Based on last years results, that would put me in the 50th percentile of males in the super sprint in March, but below the 90th percentile in my age group of the CB&I triathlon in May, not to mention the latter is 15 miles.

mile 1 - 17.1 mph
mile 2 - 17.7 mph
mile 3 - 18.5 mph
mile 4 - 15.7 mph
mile 5. - 16.1 mph
mile 6.2 - 13.7 mph

Bikecalculator.com says that overall I was generating about 138 watts, after adjusting for the hills (underpasses) and switching between the hoods and an ugly looking aero-tuck position. There are 6 underpasses in a the roundtrip.
I don't have clipless pedals or cycling shoes yet (I just have platform pedals and running shoes), so I wonder what the difference would be. Posts on cycling web boards offer somewhere between 0 - 1.5 mph. I do plan on getting these in the next several weeks.

Bottom line:

1. I'm glad to have a benchmark
2. I have a lot of work to do
3. I need to increase my miles/per week.
4. I am interested to see what improvements happen over the next month

Swim Improvement #2

I think swimming is my favorite part. It works many of your muscles and you have that good sore feeling. I also get to see steady improvement, since the pool has the same conditions everyday. I imagine this will slow, but I'll enjoy it for now.

Today, I was able to swim all 500 meters in freestyle without switching to another stroke.  Now I did get tired and my form started falling apart, but it was a good milestone. My 50 yard splits started about a 1 minute and dropped to as low as 1:10.

Things I still need to work on to improve my form:

• Keep butt and legs closer to surface - Look more down toward the bottom
• Higher elbow during catch phase
• During pull phase, keep arm such that fingers are pointed at the bottom of the pool
• Stop pulling on my arm early during breath

First Triathlon in 9 weeks!

I've decided to do a super-sprint triathlon in mid-March. Originally, I was planning my first triathlon to be a sprint in May (and I'm still registered for it). However, I found out about the C Different triathlon, which has a both a sprint and super-sprint event. I thought the super-sprint would be a great opportunity to get first-triathlon jitters out of the way, at an easier distance. The planned sprint in May is 500m, 15mi bike, and then a 5k. On that day, I will be both pushing my fitness level, plus having the anxiety of my first triathlon with all the uncertainty of a first open water swim, first transitions, etc.

The super-sprint is 150 meter swim, a 6 mile bike ride, and a 1.8 mile run. This is a distance that I would be comfortable doing today, so I won't have the fitness-related stress and can get all the other triathlon-related anxiety out of the way.

New Personal Best at the ABB 5k

Hit a new personal best with my 5k this morning: 27:17! I averaged 8:47/mile. My goal was under 9:00/mile, so I definitely hit that. For some reason, to me, a time of 8:xx/mile seems like a solid runners pace.

I haven't been doing much speed work or even that much running, though I have been busy swimming and biking. So I didn't know what the cross-over impact of my training would be.  In the 7 weeks since the Turkey Trot, I had only ran 12 times.

One advantage is that this course and the respective runners were better. At the Turkey Trot, there were a lot of folks walking from the start. They started near the front and would be walking five abreast. So, there was a lot of running around people. Despite that there were thousands of runners, most people were running from the start.

Overall, there were 3,183 runners. I finished in the 16th percentile of all runners, 28th percentile of men, and top third of my age group. (FYI, the 50th percentile of my age group was 30:10)

Swim Plan

I found the Couch-to-5k program quite helpful in laying out a path to get to a 5k by race day. I am trying to develop a plan to get me ready for my tri. I don't know of a "Couch to 500 meter swim" do I've been trying to put together a similar plan that will take me from where I am at now to doing the triathlon. Having a plan in place eases anxiety that I will get to where

My overall  goal is to be able to do much more than the specific distance in each segment. If I can swim 1,000 meters, then 500 meters will seem short and I will be in good shape for the bike.

Status
The first time I tried to swim 550 yards (close to 500 meters) was back in October. I did 22 laps in the pool, 5 being backstroke due to being out of breath. I finished in a pokey 15:53.  Since discovering a nearby pool in December, I have been able to go five times, but have been working on my form. Today, I just finished a 600 yard swim it in 13:50 (the first 550 yards was in 12:46), although I had to do 6 laps backstroke. The backstorke seems to involve the legs much more, so next time I will include the breaststroke if I need to "rest." The breaststroke also would be better to use in actual open water swimming because it is could be good for sighting.

My lowest time for 100 yards is 1:58 and this was my first split in today's long swim. If I could maintain that pace, then I could reduce my 500 meter time to 10:45.


The Plan
Usually, I only bike or run on alternating days, so I hit the pool my off-running/biking days. This is usually  two or three times a week. Split the time between working on endurance and working on form. Lean more heavily towards form in January and February, and then do more endurance work as race time approaches. Swimming for form would include 100 yard swims and drills. Endurance work would be swimming at least 550 yards, no matter what strokes I need to get there.

I essentially have 15 good weeks of training left, so at least 30 more swims (and 30 more bike rides). My entire couch-to-5k prior to my first 5k included 34 runs.

Run Cadence

I've been running around the 9:30 - 10:00min/mile mark. To go faster, I was wondering whether should I take longer strides (I am 6'2") or should I take more frequent steps of a shorter stride. After internet reading, it seemed that frequent shorter strides was the way to go. Most recommended a run cadence of 180 steps per minute (90 per leg).

I had no idea of my typical cadence so I was determined to try it out. My typical run speed was a pokey 144 or so.  When I tried to increase my cadence, it got up to about 164, but I was still no where close to 180. I imagine that will be met by continued training, but I was dismayed by my overall time: 10:13 /mile on my 3 mile course. I hadn't run that slow since early November. The problem is that I was trying to run faster. Oh well, not every run is a personal best and I did get out the door despite the fact it was cold (for Houston).

Registered!

I am now officially registered for my first triathlon. There is no turning back now!

500 meter swim
15 mile bike ride
5k run

2013 Goals

2012 was the year that I got off the couch. 2013 will be the year I make some accomplishments. My primary goal is my first triathlon which is in 17 weeks
.

Serious About

• January 12 - ABB Chevron 5K (registered)
• February 2 - Steps for Students (will be pushing a stroller)
• My first 10k - either Rodeo Run (Feb 23) or Bayou City Classic (Mar 9)
• NEW!! Mar 17th - C Different Super Sprint (my first tri!)
• May 4th - Woodlands Sprint Triathlon (twice the distance!)

Future Considerations

• July - Jeff & Brede's Intergalatic Triathlon
• Early August - Bridgeland Triathlon
• Late September - Memorial Hermann Houston Triathlon - Perhaps the Olympic distance?
• NEW! or... September 23 - 5150 Galveston (an Olympic) or the Lone Star Sprint)
• Late October - Great Pumpkin Fun Run - This time in costume!?
• Thanksgiving Day - Turkey Trot - This time the 10k?

Updated (January 18th)