San Diego draws near...

Less than 5 days and I'll be on vacation in sunny (I hope) California. I mentioned before that I have entered an aquathon in San Diego - a 1000m swim followed by a 5k run. I'm very much looking forward to seeing if my swimming has improved at all over the winter. Wetsuits are allowed for the race, and I have one mild concern with respect to my wetsuit. I have a QR Ultrafull size XL short, which used to fit perfect due to my non-tall and non-skinny body-type. The "problem" is that I'm down about 20 lbs since I bought it, and now - according to the sizing chart - I'm out of the weight range for the XL and I should be in a Large. I haven't had it on in the water yet, only at home. It still feels ok just standing around, but I'm having visions of half the lake leaking into my wetsuit during the race and sloshing around my belly like the Michelin man... if the Michelin man was a wetsuit wearing kind of guy, of course. I have noticed that San Diego tri shops carry the Ultrafull QR wetsuit in the "large, short" size for $220. That seems pretty good for a brand new suit, considering I paid $200 for mine at the end of the season in 2006, and it was a former rental. The price falls nicely within the amount of Duty-free purchases I'm allowed to bring back into Canada at the end of the trip, too. Now that's something to think about.

F.I.S.T. Bike fitting... with my freak body

Earlier this week, I went through an official tri-bike fitting session with a recent graduate of the Slowtwitch F.I.S.T. workshop (Fit Institute Slowtwitch). Since I don't have a tri-geometry bike and I would really like to get one, I thought it best that I be fitted before heading out and making a (rather large) purchase.

As it turns out I'm very glad I did the fitting first. Small tangent: I am not a tall man. It has taken me time to be able to admit this, instead of telling myself I was of average height. So to add insult to injury, apparently my 5'9" frame is freakishly disproportionate, with my upper body being short and legs being long.

So basically I need a relatively short reach to the aerobars, compared to the rest of the bike. Based on my fitting session, I would only fit onto 3 bikes out there. That's three specific models, not everything offered by 3 different manufacturers. If I had gone out and bought the Cervelo P2SL that I wanted, I would have been having some uncomfortable rides to say the least. That leaves me with one model from each of Specialized, Trek, and Kuota. The Specialized is nice, but out of my price range at well over three grand. The Trek is aluminum and readily available where I live, which is nice.

I might have to go out of town to get it, but I think I've fallen for the Kuota K-Factor.

It is the closest, measurement-wise, to my fitting results, which bodes well. It seems to get good reviews from everyone who comes across it. And it looks damn good... can't forget that one. So, no purchase yet, but I think a Saturday trip to a bike shop or two in the region is in order... and soon!

10k Race Report

This past Sunday was our local Run for Retina - proceeds going to... wait for it... retina research! The event has many options for all levels of runners - a 2.5k, 5k, 10k, and a half marathon - and it is a very well organized event. There is also some kind of scamper for the kiddies. I opted for the 10k - I think I could have (maybe?) completed the half marathon, but there likely would have been a bit (or a lot) of walking. Considering my Sunday long run is only up to about 16k at this point, I think the 10k was a good call. Besides, I did a 10k in April/07 and much like the earlier 5k race, I was very interested in seeing what kind of progress I had made in the last year. Last year's spring 2007 10k time = 57:34. My race didn't start until 9:30, but with limited parking I wanted to get there early. The weather didn't look promising early on, as there was a snow/rain mix falling and it was cold. So much for wearing shorts. It didn't really clear up until later in the day, but the precipitation did stop before the gun went off. I had set a goal of 50 minutes early in the year for this race. Based on my 5k race time of 24:18, I knew it would be tough to achieve. I didn't really have a plan for the race - just don't go out too hard at the beginning... keep the HR in control. Well, much like the 5k, there's no way I could have gone out very hard at the beginning... everyone was trying to stay on the narrow path, since the surrounding grass was mostly mud. This made for a very tight (and slow) pack. I passed the first km marker in 5:33... sheesh. Ok, time to pick it up. My HR was only 158 - so I knew I wasn't really pushing it, since it averaged 166 for the 5k race a few weeks ago. So for the next few km I tried to increase my effort without it turning into an all-out sprint. I was successful, in that over the next 4k, my time for each km was less than the one before. They had 2 aid stations, each to be passed twice on the out & back course. When I'm out for a 10k run on my own I don't take any water or other fuel, so I wasn't going to grab anything. But I figured that for longer races in the future I would likely be grabbing all I could get my hands on, so I took something as practice and tried to run and drink at the same time. I did ok, not choking and not spilling too much on myself... I used the "squish the cup, hold it sideways, take small sips, and don't inhale at the exact time the liquid flows into your mouth" method. Seemed to work. Meanwhile, my HR seemed to be staying at around 160... given the 166 average for the 5k, I didn't know if I should be pushing the pace more or not. It seemed reasonable that with twice as far to run, my pace would be a little slower, and therefore my HR would be, too. It seemed to make sense, but I really had no idea. The only times it really increased was up a small, steep hill, and at one point along a long stretch of path that was down the middle of a huge, open field (between 2 soccer fields, actually) and was slightly uphill and into a very stiff wind. There was a point on the course where we ran through a tunnel which was going under some railway tracks. I knew from earlier scouting that after the tunnel there would be less than 2k to go, so my plan was to exit the tunnel at a faster pace than I entered it. I don't know what my pace was for the final 2k, since I forgot to check my watch at the 8k mark just before we entered the tunnel. Smart! But my effort increased and so did my heart rate, and I finished strong, so I was relatively happy. Final time = 51:35 -- about 6 minutes better than last year, or about a 10% improvement. This is consistent with the improvement in my earlier 5k race time over 2007. Average HR for the race was 160, max was 170. I was a little disappointed in not getting down to 50 minutes. I spent some time on the drive home wondering where I could have shaved off an additional 1:35 (other than just the old adage, "run faster"). Maybe starting a little quicker, and maybe trying to keep my HR a little higher for the duration of the race. I don't know... it would seem that my body is just not ready to run that fast... yet. Next race is the Mission Bay Aquathon in San Diego when I'm on vacation, April 27. A 1000m swim followed by a 5k run. Can't wait!

San Diego soon! Plus aquathon?

The last week of April/first week of May I'm taking some vacation time and heading west to San Diego with my future wife, her brother & sister-in-law, and my future in-laws (I know what you're thinking, but actually I'm very lucky, in that I get along quite well with all my future relatives-by-marriage). But here's the really great part: I recently discovered that there will be an aquathon race - consisting of a 1000m swim and a 5k run - on the 27th of April... one day after we arrive! Unfortunately no one else in the group is as excited as I am... in fact, with a 9am start and a 3-hour time difference to get used to, I'm not expecting any kind of personal cheering section to be joining me... I'll just meet them back at the hotel for breakfast (my 2nd, their 1st). I was surfing the 'net and checking to see if there might be a small road race I could enter while I was there, and suddenly there it was... the Playa del Run Aquathon in Mission Bay. It is definitely within driving distance from our hotel. I think I'm more excited about the race than the actual vacation itself... it will be a great opportunity to see where my swimming is at -- I'll be able to determine whether I'm still really, really slow, or just plain slow. I'm looking forward to it very much.

First race report of 2008!

And yes, that title totally deserved the exclamation point. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, a race report for the first race of the year... a 5k in beautiful downtown London, Ontario! I did this race last year as well - same distance, same course. So I was looking forward to seeing if my first winter of actually doing some training would pay off with some improvement. Last year's time = 27:16... plenty of room for improvement (I've told you before... I'm slow). Race morning turned out to be colder than I would have liked for late March, but it was mostly sunny and that took some of the edge off. I was actually thinking of wearing shorts, but with the wind gusting I decided against it at the last minute. Long sleeved T, zip-up vest, toque, gloves, running pants (side track... I bought these Nike pants a couple of years back... they're not tights, but they aren't as loose as something like say, windbreaker pants. I just call them running pants and try not to look too ridiculous while wearing them... I still think I don't look as goofy as the tight-wearing guys). Ok, moving on... this race usually has 400-500 people in it, and last year I started near the back of the pack, not wanting to get in anyone's way. Well... I thought I was slow... turns out the people who are there to socialize during the race and push their kids in strollers also start at the back. After taking something like 7 minutes to complete the first km, I was finally around everyone and was able to continue on my way. Lesson learned. This year I started closer to the front. I was still paranoid about being trampled by the 5-minute mile dudes, so I kept myself about 25% of the way back. It's a narrow starting area, so there was still some dodging-the-crowd issues, but not nearly as bad as last year. It seemed like a fast pace right from the start, but I felt in control... it felt good. My HR jumped up to 166 almost instantly (my first race ever with a HR monitor!). I was a little worried - I hadn't seen it that high since I tried to give myself a lactate threshold test on the treadmill a few times last fall. The tests I did all had my LT pegged between 166 & 169... I had kind of written it off at the time as inaccurate, but my average HR for this race turned out to be 166, so it might have been closer than I originally thought (I've been trying to find someone in this city who will do a lactate threshold test in a lab-type environment, but no luck so far). So my HR seemed high, but as I ran along I felt good... my heart didn't feel like it was going to explode out of my chest, or anything, so I just kept going. This race is two loops of a 2.5km course, and as I passed by the clock to start my second lap, I was just under 11:30. This thrilled me a little, and I let it creep into my head that a 23 minute 5k was possible. Yeah, right... nice try, though. The second half felt just as fast, but the clock told a different tale. In fact, I was about 30 seconds per km slower on the second loop. How is that possible when it felt so fast? I was passing people like crazy! Needless to say, this unthrilled my previous thrill. Final time = 24:18. About 3 minutes faster than last year, or almost an 11% improvement. I am happy to have gained 3 minutes over 5k, but I'm disappointed my second loop was so much slower than my first. Maybe I went out too fast, I don't know. At least now I know that the winter training did actually do something, and this race gives me a good benchmark for the rest of the season. Next up: 10k road race on April 13.

Great to see you, where have you been?

Ok, since no one really reads this, there is no one for me to see. But still, it's been a very long time since I've posted anything. Mainly because since my last post in December, my workouts have been anything but exciting, consisting mostly of some kind of base building, with the occasional speed or power session thrown in for variation. That's pretty much all I would have been writing about, so I just let it be for a while. Recently I had my first race of the season... just a 5k, but it certainly got me looking forward to the start of triathlon season. I plan on doing a mini race report for the 5k in a separate post, so I won't divulge any details here. Oh, yeah... you're on the edge or your seat. Training-wise, I'm currently doing eight sessions per week (up from 6 sessions during the winter) -- 2 swim, 3 bike, 3 run. The swims consist of a lot of drill sets and base intervals, with a few sprints in there, too. I'm working on breathing on each side (bilateral breathing? Is that what it's called?), and I stink at it. Not much to add, other than my confidence has increased in the water, but I continue to be a very slow swimmer. It kind of bums me out, actually. Three bike rides a week, all on the trainer so far. I've replaced some base building rides with other stuff... sometimes power intervals, sometimes speed intervals. I'm gradually bringing in some brick workouts, too. Three runs a week -- one speed, one tempo, one long. I try to do all my long runs outside, but with winter refusing to fully go away, sometimes I'm relegated to the treadmill. I don't mind it for speed intervals or tempo runs, but if it's a long run, after an hour on the treadmill I find it very difficult to maintain focus and boredom creeps in. I don't experience the same problem while running outside, thankfully. It seems to be a weakness of mine -- not sure how to fix it, other than with more practice. I've actually decreased the bike intensity just a little. The logic being that it will help with recovery and let me focus a little more on my running workouts... I have my first half marathon coming up and would like to do well. All this stuff is just preliminary, anyway. My "real" training will start at the beginning of May, a 20-week deal with the number of sessions per week being nudged up to 9. My big race this year is the Muskoka 70.3 in September -- my first half ironman -- so I'm looking forward to getting into the structure of the program, with a specific focus and goal instead of "getting fit for some short races this summer." That's it for now... 5k race report coming soon!