April Totals

April is done and it is my highest training effort to day in all disciplines since I started triathlon training.   My total time is just shy of 20 hours*. What is amazing is that people training for an Ironman put in about 16 hours a week. 

With my rest for my upcoming triathlon, plus some travel, May will likely be somewhere in between March and April.

*These times are pure workout times and do not include all the other things that may or must be done: stretching, filling tires, driving to bike trail, driving to the pool, stopping at red lights (on the bike), rest in between swimming sets, etc. It also doesn't include walks, such as warm-up or cool-downs before running, going to the park, to a lunch location, etc.
I logged another 7.2 miles of walking (I only log it if it is greater than 1/2 mile). This is another 2+ hours of activitiy.  As a benchmark, if you exercised for 30 minutes on alternate days, you would put in a total of 7.5 hours for the month.

Hours

Distance

Forecasting Water Temperature

Original Post (April 24th)

For my upcoming tri on May 4th, I had seen last year's temp (84 F) for Lake Woodlands so it didn't even cross my mind that it could be wetsuit legal this year, so I wasn't thinking about it. However, I looked yesterday at the race website and it said 73 F, which got me starting thinking about a wetsuit.  I don't need one to finish ... it's not a life preserver but the cold temperature at my first tri (68F) definitely added to the anxiety of my first OWS (along with the mass of people, sighting, and the dark lake). I figure OWS anxiety would go away with practice, but its not something you can practice easily. This tri may be a bit warmer, but there will be lots more people and it will be 500m versus 150m.

Some will cite time savings from the wetsuit, which is true. I estimate I could save about 40 seconds off the 500m swim and probably lose 20 seconds in T1 taking it off. I don't really care about a net savings of 20 seconds. If I did, I would be buying race tires.

I took a quick browse on eBay and saw a used Xterra sleeveless for sale for $70, so I hastily pulled the trigger. I figure even if I can't use it this year, I could use it next spring. I hope it arrives on Friday so I can practice with and without it at the open water swim practice this Saturday.

So will it stay below 78F? I first did a little research into temperatures for the race prior to 2012. Water temperature race had ranged from 74 F to 78 F from 2005-2011, so the 84 F experienced last year was more of an anomoly.

I found this website that predicts pond temperature based on forecasted air temperatures. Last night a cold fron came through and it rained, so the lake temperature was down 5 degrees to 68 F this morning. The 10 day weather forecast looks rather mild: highs around 78-80 and lows between 58-64. Based on the forecast, water temperature may stay in the lower 70s.

Update (April 29th):

The temperature this morning is 74 F, so it is right on line with the prediction from last week. Below is an updated prediction. 66 F is getting chilly, so I am happy I got my wetsuit. It will also help keep me warm while we stand around for the race to start. 45 F in May in Texas. So much for global warming.

For future reference, I will track the daily temperatures leading up to the race:
April 23: 73 F
April 24: 68 F
April 25: 69 F
April 26: 70 F
April 27: 71 F
April 29: 74 F
April 30: 75 F
May 1: 71 F
May 2: 72 F
May 3: 69
May 4: 68

Chris, the Overglider

About two months ago, I wrote saying about how swimsmooth.com really nailed me as an "overglider", but I really spent the last two months building endurance. I haven't focused too much on my stroke rate, because I wanted to first have the endurance to finish the 500m without being exhausted for the bike.

Over the last two months,  I've seen improvement over my 500m time or my 1000 yd time, but my 100m time has been the same.  Last Friday, I completed my first 1500m swim: all freestyle, without stopping. So now I think it is time for me to start focusing on my stroke again. A more efficient stroke will also help conserve energy for later parts of the race.  I decided to purchase the guide to improving the overglider.

While there are several applicable tips on stroke mechanics in the guide, the key takeaway is stroke rate. Increasing arm turnover naturally fixes the some of the issues on stroke mechanics. My stroke rate is now about 50 spm for an endurance pace. I tried increase my arm turnover, but I cannot sustain that for more than 50m-100m without getting tired.

So I think the next task after my tri is to do more speed work. Sets of 50m - 100m where I am pushing the pace and getting uncomfortable.

Race Goals

Everyone has goals in mind before a race. For me, I think race goals are like Maslow's Heirarchy of Human Needs. My first goal is to finish and not get hurt, then there are performance goals followed by more aggresive goals. For this race in two weeks (500m swim, 15 mi bike, 5k run), my stretch goal is 90 minutes which is won't even likely put me in the top 1/2 of my age group for this race.

4 minutes of transition was factored into the above totals

 

Triathloncalculator.com is an interesting website that gives predicted race times, based on previous times/test as well as training volumes and course distance. They asked for a 400 yd pool swim time (7:55), a 20 minute bike TT (17.2 mph) and 5k time (27:17). Below was the output. So the swim time is essentially verbtaim, but over 500 m, the bike likely accounts for a longer distance and the run is the most interesting. I've wondered how much my 5k split will compared to my standalone 5k time.



Change to Bike Training Needed

On a good note, I completed my longest ride: 31.6 miles. It was a group ride (beginner, no-drop) which was good, because otherwise I wouldn't have pushed myself as much.  There were rolling hills and a headwind at the beginning.  Overall, it was hard and I couldn't sustain any sort of speed... especially on the uphills. There were some hills where I was barely going 7 mph per my GPS. I was definitely the slowest in the group. We averaged a pokey 14.75 mph.

Since I've started this journey to triathlon, I've seen dramatic improvement in both running and swimming, but only a minor increase in biking ability. The first time I did a 6.2 mile TT in late January, it was 23:05 (16.2 mph) and last Sunday it dropped to 21:45 (17.2 mph). So there has been some improvement over a short distance, but it hasn't transferred to a longer distance. From the ride today, my peak 60 minutes was 15.5 mph.... so I will likely be one of the last at the CB&I tri on the bike (it is a 15 mile ride).

I think part of the problem is most of my rides are in the morning in the neighborhood.  There are frequent stop signs or lights which interrupts a sustained workout. Its been over four months since I bought my bike,and I've gone for over 40 rides, but less than 10 have them have involved lasting sustained workout without interruption from frequent stops. During the week, I workout and 5 am so its too early and I don't have enough time to go over to a bike trail. Only during the weekend may I have sufficient time to hit the bike trail.

I think there are a few options:

1. Get a trainer - recommend by a coach but its another $340
2. Attend spin class - recommended by a friend but another $70/month for the YMCA
3. There are a couple loops in the neighborhood where I can go round and round with only a brief slowdown. One loop is 1/2 mile and the other is 1 mile. It would get boring, but perhaps not as boring as a trainer or a spin bike.

Being out on the road was a must at the beginning because I really needed to relearn bike handling skills. While I am not great, I have come along way, so I could alternate getting outside with a trainer. I think #1 or #2 would be a must if I tried for a half-Ironman. However, I think I will try #3 at first. I need a break on spending money and I still like getting outside. 


More on the upside. It did give me confidence that I could do an Olympic distance... not well, but finish.

Swimming Longer

I love workouts where I achieve something that is a new milestone. Today I swam, 50 laps - 1250 yards straight.... and I did it in 24:49, which is under my benchmark of 2:00/100yds.

I haven't seen much progess in getting faster over short distances but I have been able to maintain that 2:00/100yd pace for longer and longer. Energy wise I felt fine at the end. The only thing that bothered me was my a back and neck muscles from repetitively turning to breathe 14 times per lap for 50 laps. This too is getting better. The first time I swam 1000 yds, it hurt much worse at 800 yds then it did today at 1250yds.

Bike Weight is Overrated

Efforts to reduce bike weight amongst amateurs are largely wasted. Many are willing to pay beaucoup bucks for a carbon fiber component, but does it really matter? For example, my pedals are the Look Cleo classic. The pedal and cleats in carbon weigh 0.1 lbs less than the steel version but cost $100 more. Is that worthwhile?

Playing with numbers on bikecalculator.com, shaving a full 6 lbs off your bike on a flat half-Ironman (56 mile) course would save 34 seconds (assumes you are generating 150 watts and you weight 190 lbs). If the grade is 2% up, and then 2% down, you can save 2:06. On a course that would then take 3 hours and 40 minutes, even an extra 2 minutes is quite minor. Again that's 6.0 lbs, not 0.1 lbs.

So in a nutshell, spending beaucoup bucks on a carbon components is wasted. 

As a final note, any good analyst would ask: "is bikecalculator.com correct?" The September 2003 Bicycling Magazine had an analysis by James C. Martin, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of exercise and sport science at the University of Utah.  He wrote that for a 160 lb rider who puts out 250 watts, traveling up a 7% grade over 5km, would add 30 seconds to the climb for every 5 lbs added. Running these numbers into bikecalculator, that model said the difference would be 31 seconds, so yes bikecalculator has been validated.

March Totals

March is over and the totals are weak, and as you can see they are down greatly from February. Three main reasons:

1. The place I swim at was closed for two weeks for Spring Break and then high school swim meets.
2. The week before my tri, I tapered the mileage and instead used my available time to practice transitions and mounting/dismounting the bike.
3. Then after the tri, I came down with a sinus infection that knocked me out for a week.