Sharks Classic Race Report

Got to Siesta Key at about 5:55 am for the 7:00 race and already I could tell it would be a bigger race than last year. The wind was already kicking up at about 10 mph which doesn't bode well as the high winds usually don't start until later in the day. I checked in and got my bike racked and everything laid out of the race. Out of transition at about 6:40 and went to the beach. The surf in the bay was a choppy from the wind but nothing too bad. It looked like we'd be fighting waves on the way out and getting the benefit on the way back.

I was supposed to go off with the over 40 group at 7:06 but the buoys were taking longer than they expected and the elites didn't take off until about 7:15. I was in the 3rd wave and took off about 7:19. The course had us swimming our about 100 yards, then turning right and swimming down to the turn around and coming back, keeping the buoys on our left the entire time. The first buoy was at a sand bar so most all the swimmers were running/wading to it before turning right and I did also. Seemed to be able to get there a little quicker than swimming able to get my heartrate going a little before swimming.

Once I turned right, I immediately felt pretty good, which isn't unusual for me in the swim but it usually becomes a struggle sooner rather than later. I found I was right and and waves were pushing into on the way out but they weren't too bad and I was able to get into a good rhythm and before I knew it I was at the turn around buoy and heading back. I was still feeling good at this point and the push back was nice. Pretty uneventful coming back but I was starting to struggle a little and didn't think I was going to do as well as last year(35:56) but as I exited the water I looked at my watch and saw 32:20 as I crossed the timing mat!! I was excited and all the swimming I've been doing the last month seemed to have paid off.

The transition run to T1 is in soft sand and about 1/4 mile so I knew I had to hustle to keep the time down. Last year I did 4:24 on T1 and this year I was able to shave a little time off with a 4:06. I was on my bike and on the course quickly and feeling good. The course is a 2 loop long oval and the wind was in our faces to start. It's about 4.5 miles to the turn around and I was able to hold a steady pace just trying to maintain decent speed before the turn. Once on the turn I tried to push it hard for the 7+ miles or so before the next turn around. There was a section just before the turn where you had to turn right and then left very quickly and all I heard was left so I turned left where I was supposed to turn right and quickly realized my mistake. I lost a few maybe 10 seconds but nothing major. The rest of the ride was uneventful and I was able to finish in 1:19:59 as opposed to 1:23:49 last year but last years course was about a mile long on my bike computer and this years was pretty close to exactly 24.8. I hit T2 was in and out quickly but gave back 40 seconds to last year with a 1:40.

I was off on the run which starts with the first mile or so cutting back and forth thru some woods before heading out onto an asphalt path. I was feeling pretty good and running steady if not fast. There are no mile markers on the run so I have no idea where I was at any one point or what any of my splits were. There was no shade after leaving the woods and it was already 85+ and high humidity and the sun/heat was taking it's toll. I still felt better than last year and figured without the beach section at the end, I would surely beat last years time. Except apparently after the beach section was removed early in the year, many participants complained they liked it and it was added back in. So, with 1.7 miles to go according to the race director, we cutover to the beach through very loose sand(probably 1/4 mile) until we hit the hard packed sand. Then it was swerving in and out of all the beach goers for the next 1.2 miles or so until we turned back up the beach(and the soft sand) to the finish. I was shocked when I looked at my watch and realized I gave back 2 full minutes to my less than impressive run from last year.

Though I was happy swim and bike my run leaves a lot to be desired. Only recently have I begun to run pain free and I've yet to get back on the track for speed work, so there is some hope of a little speed. But for someone that used to be a decent runner, having the run as my limited in the tri is very disappointing. I think my swim and bike will come along fine as the summer progresses but I've got to definitely start to attack the run a little more.

May update

So far so good for May. First week in the books and I'm at 11 hours. Did my 10 mile run this morning and it's starting to get warm. I've been fortunate the last month or so where I was able to take advantage of some cool mornings for my long runs but this morning it was 72 when I left and 82 when I finished. Just a hint of what's to come this summer.

This Saturday is the Sarasota Sharks Classic triathlon. I'm doing the Olympic distance(1500 meter gulf swim, 40k bike and 10k run). I did this race last year and hope to beat my time in each discipline. Last year the bike and run were long and the last half of the run was on soft sand. This year, they claim to have corrected the distances and no beach run, so I should be able to set my goal.

April in the bag

So, April ended with me hitting or exceeding all my goals for the month. I was hoping to break 40 hours and went 47 plus. Had a 50 mile/4 mile brick, 2 66 mile rides, 3 10 mile runs and 2 2500 yard swims in there. Took 2 days off and including 2 a days, I had 36 workouts. Considering May is going to be a tough month with each weekend booked solid, I tried to get as good a base as possible. I will probably struggle to break the 40 hour mark again this month with all the commitments but I'm still hoping to get there. Also, I'd like to get a 70+ mile ride in and a couple more longer bricks.

But, with school ending at the end of this month, no more gymnastics meets after June 6th and baseball games ending, June will be scheduled as a huge month.

I'm hoping to update this a little more often for you 3 people that read it:) I'll try to get updates 2-3 times a week including some more pictures and maybe even a video blog or 2.

April off with a blast

So, I when I decided to do B2B, I decided April would be the official kick off month for training. Obviously, I've been training but the idea is the 6 months leading up to the iron distance race would start to get serious. As stated in my last post I was looking to finally break 40 hours this month and after 7 days of training, I'm well on my way. Right now, I'm sitting at 11.5 hours. I've done my first 2 a days of the year, with a 1500 yard swim in the morning and a 30 mile bike at lunch and I've done this twice. I also got in a nice 50 mile ride on Saturday. I hope to get in my 2nd 7 day week in a row this week leading up to my first brick of the year. Since there are no baseball games this weekend and 2 of my kids have sleepovers Saturday night, I'm hoping to get in a 50 mile ride followed by an easy 4 mile transition run.

With 55 miles being my longest bike this year, I'm also hoping to get in a 65+ mile ride before the month is over and get in a 2500 yard swim. For most swimmers, this is nothing special, but up to now 2500 yards is my longest swim workout EVER. This will begin a slow workup to 4000+ yard swims later in the summer

March and Natchez Trace

OK, so March is 'in the books' and I did not hit my goal of 40+ hours but I did hit 35. Had to take too many weekend days off because of kids sports. Still a decent month overall and I did get some quality workouts in including 3 50+ mile rides and 2 different run 'streaks'. I ran 3 days in a row and then the next week put in 4 days in a row in the hills of Georgia while visiting my sister. I followed up those 4 days in a row by riding 50+ in the hills of Nashville on the Natchez Trace, which has to be one of the best spots to ride in the world. After training on the flats of Florida, riding the Trace is quite a different experience. Pretty sure there were no stretches which could be considered flat for 50 miles, just up and down. Also, very little traffic. In 50 miles, I never had to stop, except to take some pictures(above) for any crossroads. Because it's a national park(even though it's 444 miles long) no commercial traffic is allowed and since the speed limit in many spots is 35-40, very few cars frequent it. During the whole ride, I saw less than 30 cars. I easily saw more motorcycles and bicycles.

We're now 30 weeks out from B2B, which seems like a long time but really training is going to be here in no time. I really need to go over 40 hours in April as well as start to throw in some training bricks.

3 runs!!!

Not much new has been going on, still slogging along with about 110 mile bike weeks, 20+ run weeks and a couple swims each week. But, I did a 50 mile bike on Sunday and it was time for my bike to get a tuneup, a new chain and possibly a new bottom bracket. Since I knew it would be in the shop a few days, I decided it was time to push the run a little bit. I have run 2 days in a row only 2 or 3 times since last August, because of my knee. And each time, the 2nd day of those was a terrible run. Usually feeling horrible most the way. But today, I ran for the 3rd day in a row. Now, it's not much but it was 5 miles each day and each run was actually faster than the day before. The knee held up well. Hopefully this will be good going forward. The kids spring break is next week and we're heading up to my sisters in Atlanta for Easter and a couple days after then to Nashville for my daughters gymnastics meet the following weekend. Hope to get some good running and riding in in the mountains and in Nashville I hope to ride Natchez Trace for a good 50-60 mile ride if the weather holds out.

February

Well, February is "in the books" and actually turned out pretty good. I had a cold/cough for about 12 days which I was able to train through a lot of but still set me back a bit. Did miss a few days because of it but was able to get in 38:09 of training so I was happy with that.

Since the Strawberry Century is the Sunday we'll be coming back from Nashville for Emmas gymnastics meet, I won't be doing it. But I have added the Sharks Classic Olympic Distance race to the schedule which I did last year. Unless I add a half iron distance or a century, this may very well be the last 'event' I do leading up the B2B.

One of the reasons I was able to get in a decent amount of time in February was I ended the month by swimming/biking/running the last 10 days so I started off March by taking off Saturday but followed that up by riding 55 strong miles yesterday. I haven't done any bricks yet this year or even 2 a days but I'll start adding some of those in during March. My modest goal for March is to break 40 hours, which may be a bit of a challenge going to Atlanta and Nashville for a week during spring break but I'll be taking my bike, shoes and googles so hopefully I won't miss much. Also, with no races in March, I should get 2 good days of running/biking each weekend.