Swim Progression

Since pool conditions are the same day-in and day-out, it is easier to keep track of progression. I'm posting it here, not to brag about my mediocrity, but in case anyone in a similar position is curious to see how long it takes to get somewhat decent.

Long Course
1500 meters

• Apr 12: 34:30
• May 10: 33:04
• June 3: 32:54
• June 18: 32:36

500 meters

• Apr 10: 10:48
• May 6: 10:08

100 meters

• Apr 10: 1:55
• May 6: 1:50
• June 10: 1:41

50 meters

• Apr 10: 0:48

Short Course
1000 yard progression

• Feb 27: 20:48
• Mar 29: 20:21
• Apr 04: 19:49

550 yard progression:

• Oct 19, 2012: 15:53
• Jan 9, 2013 : 12:46
• Jan 16: 12:25
• Feb 7: 11:30
• Feb 27: 11:06
• Mar 29: 11:02
• Apr 2: 10:52
• Oct 6: 10:47
• Dec 21: 10:17
• Jan 29: 9:47
• Feb 5: 9:36

 100 yard progression:

• Oct 19: 2:21
• Dec 18: 2:14
• Dec 20: 2:06
• Jan 7: 2:00
• Jan 9: 1:58
• Jan 16: 1:52
• Jan 22: 1:50
• Feb 27: 1:47
• Mar 7: 1:41
• Apr 2: 1:40
• Feb 5: 1:26

Race Report: C Different Triathlon

I completed my first triathlon!

Swim
This was my first open water swim. The swim distance was only 150m, which is basically my warm-up in the pool. However, the water was cold (68F) and the visibility in the lake was nil.  We waded in for the start and a had a few minutes to get acclimatized to the temperature. I did a very short warm-up off to the side (but I don’t think it was enough).  Start is announced and I'm redlining it from the start - I didn't intend to but with all the adrenaline, I was telling myself to stop kicking so much, but my body wasn't listening. I sight - and I am going too far to the right, so I corrected. I swim some more and after sighting again I realized that I over-corrected and was about to broadside a bunch of swimmers. I corrected again but quickly hit a traffic jam by the buoy. GPS data says it took me about a minute to get to the buoy. While I did some practice in the pool turning, I wasn't nearly as smooth due to the other people. I didn't want to swim into people, but this caused me to slow.  I tried to water polo swim around this group which was tiring and slow. Getting going again was also difficult and there were lot of people in the way. It took about 25 yards to be able to get some space and get going again.

My overall time compared to my pool time was pretty good so I am not too unhappy about it. (I am not good at turns in the pool). Even if everything went well, I might have gained 40 seconds at best.

The below picture is my Timex GPS vs an estimate of the buoy line.

Time: 2:59
Speed: 1:59/100m
Rank after Swim: 18/70

Transition 1
I didn't wear a wetsuit, so I was able to get going a little faster than others, but I spend a few extra too many seconds drying my feet. I passed 6 people in transition, and got passed by 2.

Time: 2:00
Overall Rank after T1: 14/70

Bike

Overall it was a fairly good ride which was rather consistent with recent training time trials.  Getting on, getting going, and clipping in was fairly smooth, helped by some recent practice as well as setting the crank arm in the right spot prior to transition. 

I quickly passed some of the kids that exited T1 before me in the first mile. Then I started getting passed by a lot of people, mostly the riders doing the full sprint on their second lap. Of those doing the super sprint, I ended up passing 5 people and getting passed by 5 others.  When we hit the 2nd u-turn, I noticed that this young girl wasn’t too far behind me, but more on that later.

My Timex GPS said that the course 6.47 miles so my average speed may have been a bit higher (16.8 mph). It also showed that my peak 12 and 20 minutes was 18.5 mph and 17.6 mph, respectively. That indicates that I was tailing off towards the end, but also that I lost a a little time getting on and off.  Data shows that I took about 18 seconds after transition to get on and start moving, but only a few seconds to dismount. So, average time actually cycling was about 17.1 mph based on Timex data.

Time: 23:05
Speed: 16.38 mph (based on official distance)
Bike Rank: 17/70
Overall Rank after Bike: 14/70

Transition 2
Everything went fairly smoothly and was slightly faster than my practice runs. Some others were faster because they didn't wear cycling shoes.
There was a 16 year old guy who had the bike spot right next to me. He was out of T1 before me, but I passed him towards the end of the bike ride. He wasn’t wearing cycling shoes, so he was out of T2 before me.

Time: 1:11
Overall Rank after T2: 15/70

Run
Surprisingly, the run was my strongest compared to my competition. 

The previous races I have done (5Ks), there were so many people and almost everyone is significantly better or worse than you, so you are really just racing against yourself. However, here, since the race was smaller, it started to feel like you were racing specific people, which was a fun motivator. 
The run went pretty well and I started passing people. First it a 47 year old who seem to have stomach cramps, then I passed a 61 year old who blew by me on the bike, then it was the 16 year old who passed me in T2, and finally it was a 19 year old girl who was always just ahead of me. 
However, about 1/2 mile from the finish, the 13 year old girl passed me. I was determined not to get beat by her, so I starting keeping pace with her, intending to out-sprint her at the end. Up a small hill, I passed her, but as we rounded the corner towards the finish line straightaway, she started passing me again. So I went for an all-out sprint. Her parents/friends starting cheering for her, but luckily was able to edge her across the finish line and retain my "man-card."

The final timing shows I placed ahead of her, but with equal finishing times. times are only down to a 1/10th of a second, so the difference must have been less than that.

Run Rank: 13/70

Overall


Final Rankings
2/4 - Age group
10/50 - official overall finish (overall excluded Clydesdales/Athenas and First-Timer division)
11/70 - amongst all super sprints, including first timers and Clydesdales/Athenas, (given that it was my first time, it was fair to include them). An "athena" finished ahead of me so I beat the other first timers.
8/31 - amongst all men.

I didn't finish any slower than anyone under 30 or over 50, so I can feel pretty happy. I also like the design of the medal.

Power Increase of Clipless Pedals - Part 2

On Friday, I took the bike out for another ride, redoing the George Bush trail from 4 weeks ago. This time I had my clipless pedals and was ready to ride.

Unlike my ride from February 8th, I hit the halfway point and was ready to continue. I had to turn around and took a minute to refill my Speedplay waterbottle with the one on my seat tube. Unfortunately I didn't bring anything to eat, which I would later regret. As you can see from the graph below, I was met by the man with the hammer at mile 18 (right at the hour mark).  Despite my best efforts to tell myself to HTFU, I couldn't muster any sustained speed. I had to stop one other time to rest my bum and refill water again.  On Feb 8th, I had several rest stops, but the impact of the Honey Stinger waffle was evident during the last few miles.

Note: Speed indicated on charts exclude rest time

So what's power increase due to clipless pedals? It hard to be precise, because of different conditions.  Besides the rest and the food , the wind was a bit stronger in March (I may have had a wee tailwind at the beginning offset by a headwind at the end) and I had a month's extra of training (125 miles).

Compared to my previous post, I saw a speed increase from the start, but this could have been due to the wind in the first three miles. If we look at the entire distance to negate the wind issue, we have a bonk vs rest factor. So if we look at miles 4 through 11 (before the halfway point rest), we see a 14% power increase. Despite the rest, the power increase continued  to grow to 19%, before the bonk in mile 18.

Power in below chart back calculated using bikecalculator.com

Conclusion: I think the general conclusion from Part 1 was correct. Clipless pedals don't increase your power persay, but helps prevent you from losing power as quickly. So the title of the below chart should actually read power differential. Compling the two sets of data leads to the below graph.



Power Increase of Clipless Pedals?

Before I got clipless pedals, I wondered what the power or speed increase with them. I googled the question, and answers on forums ranged from nothing to 40+% power increase. It had to be more than nothing since professionals use them (and toe clips/ straps before that). So I decided to test the difference myself after purchasing them.

About five weeks ago, I did a mini-time trial of 6.2 miles, which is the distance of my super sprint in two weeks. So today I did the same thing.

The results were interesting : No improvement over the first three miles. Almost exact same time down to the second. However, the next three miles I was able to better maintain a faster speed. By pulling up, I was able to give my quads a chance to clear the lactic acid. So over the next 3.2 miles, I was 0.95 mph faster.

Overall: The first time it took me 23:05 and this time it took 22:20. Looking at it from a power perspective, it was a 10 watt or about 8% increase. At the finish I felt like I could keep going at a faster clip. So I image if I continued to go further, the difference would have continued to increase. If I only had done three miles, I might think that they were worthless ;)

Conclusion: I would say that clipless pedals don't increase your power, but allow you to maintain a more consistent power output over time. Measuring the total impact, depends on how long the ride is.

What is the Cost of Doing a Triathlon?

The cost of doing triathlons can vary greatly. I've read stories about people doing a triathlon in board shorts with a beatup mountain bike, etc etc. There are also many people with extremely expensive gear.

What about the rest of us? What is the cost, given other financial obligations, for someone looking to get into and do multiple triathlons. I've kept track of my purchases.

Swimming

• Pool Access - This is the big cost of swimming and can vary based on how good of a swimmer you are to begin with. For me, I knew how to swim freestyle, but made all the classic beginner mistakes. After three months I am close, so I would say four months of training is required. Pool access can couwill If you figure 4 months of regular training at $50/month, or some places allow pay per visit at roughly $5/ visit. Either way you would need about 40 sessions to prepare: $200.
• Goggles - The first time I swam I did so without goggles and my eyes hurt for two days. Invest in goggles. I got and recommend the Speedo Speed Socket Mirror -$25.
• Jammers - For men, swim trunks can act like a parachute and hinder training. Not only will it add about 15 seconds to your 100 meter time, it will make rotating the body more difficult.  I got the TYR Duralast: $45
• Wetsuit - Wetsuits keep you warm in cold water, but also help with bouyancy which in turn helps your swimming. Since the water in my area only drops to 65 F even in the spring, I got a sleeveless wetsuit. I did my first triathlon in 68F water without a wetsuit, but I wouldn't want to go colder than that. Make sure you get a triathlon wetsuit though. I got a Xterra Vortex 3, secondhand for $70.

Biking

• Road Bike - Obviously the single biggest expensive. There were so many manufacturers and options, but you should be able to get a fine ride from between $500-$800. I found a gently used 2011 KHS Flite 300 from my LBS. $600
• Bike Helmet - Required by law. $40.
• Cycling Gloves - Your weight is partially supporting by your hands, which can get uncomfortable. In colder weather, you hands can also get very cold. $40
• LED Lights - If you ride when it is dark, these are a must for safety. - $30
• Better Saddle - Give a little more cushion and has a grove in the middle to reduce pressure on your pernieum. (I got the Sunlite Cloud 9). Bike shorts could be an alternative, but that would make you feel like you are wearing a diaper and you would need more than one. - $30
• Bicycle Pump - I pump up before every ride to avoid pinch flats. - $30
• Bike Repair - Two spare tubes, tire levers, a bag to hang under the saddle, and CO2 inflators. Luckily I haven't had to use them yet - $70
• Sunglasses - I picked up some Foster Grant Ironman sunglasses at a discount store. They are made of flexible plastic and won't shatter if I crash on the bike. $10
• Clipless Pedals - These certainly not a must have, but eventually you will want them. More on them n another post, but they help to maintain speed for longer without your quads burning. The Look Cleo classics were heavily recommended and they have been working rather well so far. $138
• Cycling Shoes - These are needed with clipless pedals. Louis Garneau. $120.
• Bottle Cages -  Two are needed eventually for longer training rides. $20
• Hydration - If you are comfortable riding with one-hand and drinking, you can cover this for about $10-$15. I got the Speedfill Hydration system - $54
• Bike Rack - There are many options and your need for one depends on your ride. Tray style hitch racks are popular (and expensive, $250), but you might even need to add a trailer hitch ($180) which gets prices. There are common trunk mounted racks for much cheaper- $40

Running (you might have some of these already)

• Quality Running Shoes - There are certainly cheaper options, but I found Newton Gravity to meet my needs the best. A few more bucks in shoes is worth avoiding pain and injuries.There are other good options for less, but mine were $175
• Athletic Shorts - Because you can't run in jeans. 3 pairs - $60
• Athletic Socks - Because blisters suck- 4 pairs -  $30
• Technical Shirts - Cotton t-shirts suck to run in... especially in the summer. You may get these for races, so if you can stretch having fewer, you will collect them as you go. 4 pairs - $80
• Winter shirts - The number needed could vary depending on where you live. Expensive but the Addidas Climacool is very nice; 2 pairs - $90
• Winter pants - The number you need also could depend on where you live. I really like the Addidas Response. They aren't super tight, but aren't baggy and noisy like track pants. I just have one right now, but they are $50 each. 
• Speedlaces - You can probably save 20 seconds for $6. Not bad. 

Race Day

• Tri Shorts and Shirts - You could go in jammers and then add an technical shirt, but many people struggle with the shirt in transition. Tri-suits have some added padding between your legs to help with the bike. Probably a must on longer tris. $120

Total Costs

• The total cost based on the range of options provided:  $1,700 - $2,800.

January & February Totals

I stepped up my game in February, logging 57% more hours than January, even in the shorter month. I actually only had three complete rest days.
February was definitely the most volume of exercise I've ever done in a month (withstanding one grueling month in July of 1996), but it pales in comparison to others training for HIM and IM.

Normally I can only squeeze in a 30 - 45 minute workout during the week and not too much more on the weekend. Of course, that is pure workout time, so running warm-ups, travel to the pool, etc, are real time factors that don't make into the totals.

I've been trying to improve my biking and swimming, so running has taken backseat.  However, some of my rides were at a more social pace.