Ironman NC 70.3 Race Report

After watching John’s first ironman I got the bug and decided to sign up for my first half ironman last December. I won’t bore everyone with the 4 months of long, hard tireless training along with a different saddles because of saddle sores and raw spots and 3 different pairs of running shoes because of burning pain with the balls of my feet…Finally, I’ve worked out all my issues and I’m ready for this race!

John and I drive down the day before and it pretty much is a crazy hectic day in itself. The drive was great but when we get to the convention center to sign in the line was out the door. An hour later I was registered. Realizing how bad traffic was we made sure all my stuff was in my run bag and left it there. We headed for a bite to eat and then checked in our hotel. I laid everything out on the bed and went over in my mind again what had to go in each bag…bike bag, morning bag, stickers on bike,helmet, etc. Thankfully, going through this with John two times made it a little easier. We then went to drop off my bike and headed for a great dinner with several of our teammates. We had walked at least 4-5 miles that day already! Went to bed around 8:30 but of course slept a good 2-3 hours and woke up…mind spinning. Finally get back to sleep and the phone rings. Wake up call? No, a stupid wrong number. Get back to sleep, with my ear plugs in, and John is snoring so loud I make him rollover! The alarm goes off at 5. Everything goes smoothly with breakfast, roll out my lower body and do my Precision exercises and hit the road. John drops me off at 6:15 and I head to my bike to put my water in my speedfil and make sure my tires aren’t flat and chain is on! John had thought to put plastic over the bike the night before and thankfully did because it poured rain! I then headed to the bus to go to the swim. Of all things it’s extremely windy and maybe 58 degrees and it’s an open air trolley that takes us over! I’m normally never cold….BURRRR! I immediately see my teammate Anna and enjoyed talking with her while we WAIT!! That for me is the hardest part because I didn’t go out until 8:58 and boy was I nervous and cold! Almost 3 hours of waiting. It was so nice to talk with other triathletes to take my mind off things though…Matt, Annabelle, George, Erik, Alice, Nichole and Julie.

They finally called my big group and we head slowly towards the water. The water actually felt warmer than it did outside! I remember John telling me to get the water in my face because it’s saltwater so I put my goggles on and went under. My right goggle was leaking…I had less than two minutes to fix this or I was going to have a miserable swim. I realized my cap was too low and finally with 30 seconds to go was good. The horn went off and I took off. I would say for the first 2 minutes there were so many people kicking and stopping in front of me I wasn’t able to even get my head inthe water to get a good rhythm. Finally, I got into a good swim rhythm but about every minute a huge white cap of water would slap me in the face. Thankfully, I didn’t swallow too much and tried to push through it. I honestly have never been in water that rough before in my life. I kept remembering everyone telling me how much I would love the swim because it was so fast. Well, that was not the case! I just kept telling myself, “you can do this, you are fine!” After 38 minutes I was finally at the dock! This is always my weakest area…I’m always usually the slowest swimmer but had put in a lot of swim time and it helped. Yeah, get me on that bike!

It was quite a long run barefoot to the bike area. I quickly ran through the water tent to rinse off the salt and over to find my bike bag in numerical order. Then I headed right into the first white tent. All I could think about was getting out of that wetsuit! I had put two Gus in my tri suit pockets and evidently they came out when I took my wet suit off. I sat down stripped it off, took my towel to wipe my feet off, put my bike shoes on and helmet and stuffed my goggles, cap and wetsuit in the bag. I headed out and handed the bag to the nice volunteer. He said, “Ma’am, just so you know this is the men’s changing tent!” Oops, I was so focused I never even paid attention to my surroundings…probably a really good thing!!

Thankfully my bike was all in one piece so I pushed it through the grass to the start. The first 40 miles of the bike was extremely windy! MOSTLY A HEAD WIND! A couple times it was a cross wind and with the combination of cars on the interstate passing at 70 mph it felt like a whirlwind! I was able to keep a steady momentum passing several cyclists. I don’t remember a single girl passing me which felt really good! I had downed one of the two water bottles with my nutrition in it and had squeezed my other bottle into my speedfil bottle on my handlebars. I had had about three big gulps of it when I went over some really rough railroad tracks. There were tons of trash that had dropped off people’s bikes so I tried my best to stay straight over the tracks and dodge all the bottles and trash. Don’t wreck, don’t wreck…then before I could do anything my speedfil bottle tumbled right off my handlebars. I thought to myself…do I stop and turn around, it takes a while to get it latched back on.Nope, I would stop at an aid station and get more water along with something else since my 2 Gus were also gone. Of course in the back of my mind I was thinking….John’s gonna kill me that wasn’t cheap! The aid station wasn’t too far away so I stopped refilled my other bottle with water and picked up some strawberry chomps. We went over one really high bridge over the interstate and I thought my bike was going to blow right off the side! I couldn’t believe the wind and the line of traffic they had backed up for this event. I’m sure there were some pissed off motorists! Finally, we did a turn around and it was a tailwind! Yahoo, I tried to take advantage of that but keeping in mind it was the last of the 56 miles and I still had to run 13. I crossed the final bridge and was feeling great! The dismount was on a downhill which was a little tricky. The guy right in front of me decided to slam on his breaks way before the line. I locked up my breaks and about did an endo right over the handlebars. Thankfully I was able to unclip and get control of my bike without going down. I started to roll my bike and realized the back breaks were locked up on the wheel and it wouldn’t roll. I had to push it a long way to get to transition. I asked the volunteer if he could take it and he said no I had to push it to the end. I picked up my seat and rolled it on its front wheel. That being very cumbersome, I then squeezed the back break multiple times and thankfully it came undone. I rolled it on and handed it to a volunteer. I found my run bag and headed into the WOMEN’S tent this time!

I put my socks on, my Hokas, my run belt and fuel belt with nutrition in it just like I had trained. There were so many nice volunteers asking if we needed anything…water, chomps, sunscreen. I took some sunscreen for my face, rubbed it in and I was off.It was so nice seeing all the cheering people down by the water and on Front Street. John’s voice was in the back of my head telling me to walk that little steep hill in the very beginning, so I made myself walk almost to the top and took off again. I got behind three girls with 40 on their calves that seemed to be doing a pretty good pace. I stuck with them for a least 6 miles. One of the girls was talking the entire time…I was amazed because all I could do was BREATHE HARD! I tried to let that take my mind off the fact that I was only half way done. I unfortunately didn’t have my garmin set to do each sport individually. I was just paying attention to the time. When I got off my bike and started running my garmin said 3:40. I rounded the halfway point, 6.5 miles, yahoo! I was feeling good and looked down at my garmin and it wasn’t even 4:40 yet. I was doing less than 9 minute miles. Somewhere between mile 9 and 10 I saw Kathy Goody on a bike asking how are you doing? I’m sure I looked a little ragged and thought to myself, “Can I do this….am I going to finish?” As some of you might not know I’ve only done two half marathons in the past. One at Hilton head (flat) in 1:57 and the other was a DNF!! The mistletoe half in Winston Salem. I pushed an 8:15 pace on an extremely hilly course and at mile 11 was delirious. I was knocking into people and had to sit down. Ended up getting fluids, didn’t know quite what was going on and had the most painful total body spasms for 30 minutes in the ambulance. In my training for this HIM, I really watched my pace and had great long runs with the longest at 11 miles. Anyway, after seeing Kathy at mile ten, I was having flash backs of the mistletoe!!

I then staggered into someone and into the other side of the street. My mind was going crazy. I swear I heard a buzzer go off and someone yelled, “penalty”. I thought for sure they were penalizing me for going out of bounds or something! If anything it should have been a penalty forgoing in the men’s tent! The last 2 miles were of course a little hilly and hardly any shade. It had gotten much hotter than I liked also. I told myself to walk up the hills and in the sun and run in the shady areas. Every time I started to run I could feel my heart rate shoot up and I knew I would not finish this if I pushed myself. I tried to run at least 4 times during that 2 miles and every time by body said WALK!! Tons of people were yelling my name down Front St (it was on my race belt)…you can do this, don’t give up Jen.

Part of me was humiliated because I was walking instead of running because I was SO CLOSE! Oh how I wanted at least to do under 6 hours! The other part of me said who cares you just need to get to that finish line! About a quarter mile to the finish line my teammate and friend Erik Greenfield caught up with me. Wow, what a blessing he was. He asked if I was OK and I said I definitely couldn’t run…I had to walk or I wasn’t going to make it. He said I’ll walk it with you. I pleaded for him to go on…unselfishly he stayed with me! On the last little stretch I mustered up the courage to run to cross the finish line right alongside Erik! I was done and an ironman (half that is)!She put the medal around my neck and had to catch me. My blood pressure dropped and I almost past out. The medic pleaded to take me to get looked at and I refused. I’m normally bright red and I was completely pale. I got some chocolate milk in me and after about 30 minutes started feeling a little better.I have the ultimate respect for people who do these events along with full ironmans! I secretly wanted to beat John’s time of 5:33…but in 2014 it was only 4 mph winds! I also definitely underestimated how hard it would be! Six hours and fifteen minutes. I’m so glad I got to experience this long journey and I’m so happy for all the people I’ve met along the way and how much I have learned about myself.

Ironman Louisville Kentucky 2015 – Here We Come !

Ironman Louisville 2015 registration has been the buzz as of late. I was hesitant to sign up for a full distance or half distance Ironman triathlon event until after I completed Beach to Battleship 2014. I knew my body needed to experience the Half distance and then decide on my 2015 triathlon event goals.

Prior to Beach to Battleship I contemplated attempting an Ironman Full event early in the year. Ironman Texas looked appealing due to the early date and potentially warmer water. After I encountered a struggling run effort in B2B, I knew if I wanted to go the distance, my run would require a lot more work and training.

I couldn’t help noticing that several of my Team Ignite teammates had already signed up for Ironman Louisville. My initial reaction was why would they want to race in such a possibly hot event. As I browsed over the official Ironman race dates, I noticed that Ironman Louisville had been moved to October from August. Ah Ha, that explains it. IM took the weather out of the equation. They also took away the purse which means no Pros will be there 🙂 Too bad, I’d like to compare my bike times with them.

Training is obviously a very important aspect of preparing for any triathlon event, especially ironman half and full distance events. With multiple Ignite teammates already signing up, I knew I would have training partners willing to group train all of 2015. This was a very beneficial deciding factor in signing up. Now I know putting in all of the base miles on the run and bike will be fun rather than boring and solo.

With that in mind, I jumped on board the Ironman Louisville 2015 bandwagon. 832.50 later, I am registered for my first full distance Ironman event. That’s the easy part. There will e a lot of long rigorous training days between now and then. Over the winter, I’ll focus on base miles, and strength training. I have no doubt that neglecting core strength work hurt my efforts at B2B. That will never happen again!

Now that my Ironman Louisville registration is secure, I need to pick a properly timed half distance event. I can’t help to wonder if I should register for an Ironman half distance event. I hear the IM events are over the top and can be exciting. I would think that participating in a half, might help calm my nerves and better prepare me for the full event experience.

The Ironman half event that I really like is near Kona Hawaii. I’ve been there, I’ve biked from Kona to Hawi, and I know it’s a hot, super windy, and tough course. My good friends and Ironman volunteers are generous enough to let us stay with them for the week. Plus we can make a vacation out of it. Even better, I love Kona, Hawaii, the BIG Island.

So Game On! Ironman Louisville 2015, here We come!

Lake Davidson Triathlon Amateur Experience Ruined by So Called Pro Triathlon Racers

Yesterday I went to cheer on 15 to 20 cycling and triathlon friends at the Lake Davidson SPRINT Triathlon sponsored by the Jimmy Johnson Foundation. Notice I capitalized SPRINT ? Perhaps I should have capitalized Jimmy Johnson instead or perhaps USAT for allowing what occurred.

The event was a huge success with many amateur competitors and by far more than last years event. I figured the crowd would be big being that a big name Nascar driver would be there. What I didn’t expect was the number of so called Pro card holding triathletes to be there competing. Competing for what? A sprint race title? Money…..which there wasn’t any, or perhaps to get there name in front of their Nascar driver buddy?

Now don’t take this wrong, I had a blast watching the pro gals and girls race and do the course at full throttle. What I didn’t like is the fact that amateurs lost out on what could have been a super cool experience for their hard efforts.

For example, there was a very young and talented 14yr old racing from Community School of Davidson. This kid finished 6th overall and was flying. Guess what finished in front of him……..4 pros and one guy who won the event last year. Now, how special might it have been if a 14yr old would have been on the podium in 2nd or 3rd overall position? Do you think that would have attracted the attention of Jimmy Johnson?

The situation spirals down from there because the Pros take overall positions in both male and female categories. This means that a few other amateurs that train and work hard to do their best, get bumped off the podium back into age group categories.

So does the sport of amateur triathlons in local communities thrive off pro triathletes? Heck NO. The amateur competitors are buying products from your local bike shops, and buying training packages from local coaches, and fitness centers. The pros get their equipment for free in most cases. I feel pros competing in local sprints does nothing but hurt the moral of our amateur athletes.

I personally want the sport of Triathlon to continue to grow and attract more competitors. The only true way to do this is by introducing more kids, juniors, and local amateur competitors into the sport. Once people are there, at least allow them a chance at the experience of winning. Pros should be volunteering at the events, cheering people on, and sharing their helpful tips.

Why don’t these Pros just nullify themselves from the awards? Good Question……Ego, Pride, recognition, who knows.

What does the USA Triathlon Org think about this? Or do they even care? If they want the sport to continue to grow, perhaps USAT should add a few new rules.

The only TRUE PRO Triathlete I know of from this area wasn’t at this event. Had he not been out of town, he would have been there cheering people on. Well most of the people anyway.

Many of my friends ask me why I didn’t do the lake davidson triathlon sprint race. In all honesty I wanted to. My last 2 weekends consisted of tri events including my first international at Langley Pond. I have bigger goals in my near future and that is to finish Beach to Battleship 70.3 Half. My training provided by a PRO Triathlete wouldn’t allow 3 events back to back. So I chose to stick to the plan and cheer on my friends and I had a great time doing so.

Beach to Battleship Half Distance Triathlon 2014 – My Training Plan

Beach to Battleship 70.3 Half Triathlon Training Log

This year I have decided to ramp up my game a bit by challenging myself to complete a Half Distance Triathlon. I looked around for some Tri events that were open. Beach to Battleship, Wilmington, NC on Oct. 25th was the choice for me. No it’s not an Ironman Branded event, but honestly who cares. If this event goes well for me I will consider a full distance Ironman event in 2015.

Now with nothing more than sprint distance triathlons under my belt, I decided it would be best to train under the guidance of a USAT coach. I’ll reveal my coaches’ name after my completion of the event. For now I’ll just say I like the style and furthermore love the fact that I don’t have to use TrainingPeaks. Yeh,  one less thing to not have to log into daily.

And so it begins. I am making notes daily and by October 25th, I can come back to this page and read it in reverse order from bottom to top. Everything I’ve done will be logged here for review.

Week 10: Taper Week

Day 6 – B2B 70.3 day. Swim was fast. Out of the water in 28 minutes thanks to the strong tidal current. Took my sweet time in transition 1. It had to be a 1/4 mile or more run from the pier to the bike. Bike leg was awesome and fast. I rolled the 56 mile course with ease. I maintained proper zones, never jacked my heart rate and breathing up, and didn’t get caught up in the excitement of ripping by so many other cyclist. I hit T2 with a 2:30 bike time. Again I took my time in T2 and continued to the run. No sooner than I hit the mile 1 mark, my low back and hip flexor was doing some serious aching. This is the point I knew, the only way I would finish is by run/walking the remainder of the event. And so I did with a 5:33 time for my first half distance Triathlon. I was happy with finishing but let down by my run. My goal was to finish the event and get the experience. Perhaps next year, the race is on.

Day 5 – Rest Day – Travel to Wilmington
Day 4 – Run 20 minutes E2
Day 3 – Swim 1000 – Pool swim in coldest YMCA water I could find. 18:30 total time. Probably my fastest to date.

Bike 40 minutes @ E2 on computrainer. Nice steady spin with good sweat.

Day 2 – Run 30 minutes at E2
Day 1 – Rest Day

Week 9:

Day 7 – Run 2 hours at E2 – This is a test…..a big test.. 1 hour went smooth and well. I challenged myself to hit all the hills in the area. Started in Davidson and went all the way to the very back of the greenway in River Run. 6.5 miles out. I was just over 7 miles at the 1 hour mark. I started counting down the miles. At 1:38 my left quad was on FIRE. The hills were taking a toll. I stopped briefly to stretch my quads and continued to run back into Davidson. I ended up at 13 miles, 1:52 an 8:42 pace with lots of hills. Needless to say, I was DONE! Stretched for 30 minutes and then went to dunk myself in the hot tub. I went 2 miles further than my longest run, and made it over 20 minutes further non stop. up, I’m pretty happy with that.

Day 6 – 2 Hour ride on the bike. Joined the Spirited Cyclist club ride from the Davidson shop. 32 miles total, nice workout but nothing terribly hard today.

Day 5 – Pool Swim – 2800m total. Main set was 20L, 5 x 4l, and 10x2L with paddles and pulls bouey.

Run Workout – Run Intervals workout. 43 minutes total. 10 minute warmup, 4 @ e2, 3 @ e3, 2 @ e3, 1 @ e3 with 1ve easy in between. Repeat set and 5 minute cold down. Had the pleasure of Jennifer doing the workout right behind me.

Day 4 – Bike – 69 minute Computrainer workout. Rode 3 15 minute 85% FTP efforts. 3 minutes at VE in between. 10 min. warm up, 5 cool down.

Day 3 – Designed plan states a rest day. I hadn’t been on my real bike in a week. Decided to get a 1 hour computrainer session in. I rode 1 lap of the Wisconsin Age Group National course. Pretty solid effort in mostly the small ring with high cadence. Ended up with 20+ mph/avg. Felt great.

Day 2 – Rest Day – Traveled back from St. John to Davidson, NC. Enuff said.

Day 1 – Last day on St. John Island USVI. Back to the Dreadmill for a 30 minute run. 3.5 miles total. slow to faster pace. Felt great.

I noticed an aquabike over at the Westin Resort yesterday and wanted to give it a shot. I figured it was at least a way to spin out the legs a bit. The Westin at Chocolate Hole Bay also has a nice roped off swim area on their beach.

The guys from Cruz Bay Watersports let us hang out on the beach prior to our snorkel excursion. This gave me time to get in a 25 minute open water swim. No Garmin today, so I swam to time instead.

I followed the swim with a little aqua bike workout while Jennifer tried out the kayaks and standup paddle bording (SUP).

Week 8:

Day 7 – TOOK THE DAY OFF – way too much “out on the town” the night before.

Day 6 – Rented a Dinghy from Little Noah’s Arch rentals in Cruz Bay, St. John. Ventured to all the beaches on the North Shore and decided to swim at Mahoe Bay beach again. Ended up with a 1.2 mile swim at a steady pace. Great swim day!

Day 5 – On St. John Island, there really isn’t a place to ride a bike. So today I ended up hitting the treadmill for a solid 1 hour run. 6.2 miles total. Felt great, no issues,

Day 4 – Today I had the great pleasure of swimming in Mahoe Bay on St. John Island. What an incredible place to work on open water swimming. The water at this beach is crystal clear. 1500m total swim distance today.

Day 3 – Rest day – Travel to St. John USVI

Day 2 – Bike 3 hours on Computrainer. Rode 2.5 laps of Tuscaloosa Ironman course. Good solid long paced effort. 52 miles total.

Day 1 – Run – 5 mins VE – 5 mins E2 – followed by 8 x 1 sprints VH – 2 mins VE between each. Cool down 5 mins. 39 min total. – Run went very well as planned. No issues completing the hard efforts.

OWS practice was cancelled tonight.

Week 7:

Day 7 – Bike 2 hours at E2. Back on the Computrainer. Focused on high cadence steady heart rate. Lowered seat down 2mil. Pay attention to see if I am still rocking(reaching) to the left side. ** saddle adjustment helped.

Day 6 –Rest Day – Will do the Spirited Cyclist Club ride from the Davidson shop. 32 miles total at a sweeper pace.

Day 5 – Swim Workout – Went to HFFA to swim int he cold pool (78 degree). Cold to me anyways. Did a 1000m TT run at 18 minutes. Not on the plan, but I’ll make up tomorrow with a long lake swim.

Day 4 – Swim Workout – Started out feeling pretty beat and tired. Needed to swim 2950 with a 1750 TT run. I managed to get in 1000 total before shutting it down.

Day 3 – The Tester! – Bike 3 hours @ E2 – Long steady high cadence ride. Took in 1 bottle of G2 and 1 bottle of pure water. Knocked down 2 packs of Power Bar Energy Gel Blast.

Followed the Bike with a 1 hour run. Plan called for 1:30 run at E2. At the 50 minute mark, my dishes were done. Too much discomfort in the hips and ankles to continue.

Overall a great brick practice day.

Day 2 – Bike 2 hours @ E2 – Created a computrainer course and rode with steady cadence at 75 to 85% FTP. Stayed on bars as much as possible.

Day 1 – 1 Hour Run @ E2 – My body was aching a bit this morning after my 10.5 mile run effort yesterday eve. I chose to hit the mostly flat greenway to help keep my heart rate at the proper level. Once I started running, most of the pain didn’t seem to bother me. My left IT band was the only real aching pain. More stretching and rolling occurred after the run.

OWS – Great workout tonight. Some deep water start drills 1 person starting at a time. Followed by a 20 minute steady swim of 1000 meters.

Week 6:

Day 7 – 1 Hour and 40 minute @ E2 run day. My longest run by far and I didn’t know what to expect. I started out in Davidson, ran up to Cornielus, back to Davidson and around a few neighborhoods. Very surprisingly made it al the way to 1:20 mark without a need to walk. My heart rate and lungs were good but the aching pain in my heels, ankle and left IT band were screaming at me to walk. I had to walk 2 short periods of 2 minutes and 1 minute. By 1:36 I had 10.5 miles in at a 9:20 pace. This was 3 miles further than I had ever run before.

Day 6 – Rest Day – The Lazy River at Ocean Drive Resort was calling my name.
Day 5 – Bike for 2 hours on Blue Triad up and down Ocean Drive, north myrtle beach. Rode into the wind in one direction and with the wind coming back. Ended up with 40 miles.

Pool Swim – 1800 meter workout in the cold pool at North Myrtle Beach Aquatic center. Great workout. I felt like I was flying thru the water.

Day 4 – Run Work out. 51 minutes total. 10 minute warm up followed by 2 15 minute sessions at E22. The second of which was hard to make it thru. Overall the run went well.

Day 3 – Swim- Warm up- 12L swim/ 8L pull. @VE with rest- 10secs. Drill set- 8 x 2L as 1L
drill*/ 1L swim. @VE with rest- 5secs. Sprint set- 4 x 1L swim**. @VH with rest- 20secs. Main set- 20L swim/ 2 x 10L swim/ 5 x 4L pull & paddles. @E2 with rest- 50secs on 20L 25secs on 10L, 15secs on 4L. Cool down- 8L choice. @VE. Total- 2700.

Day 2 – Bike in Computrainer – Warm up- 5mins@VE/ 5mins@E2. Main set- 8 x (1min@VH/ 2mins@VE). Cool down- 5mins@VE. Total- 39mins.

Day 1 – Long run day – run 1 hour at E2. Started at the River Run soccer field, ran into Davidson, up to Davidson Day then circled town and back. All went well up to the 46 minute point. My hips were aching in the ball joints. Could have been from the run last night. Had to walk it our for 2 minutes an then finished up the hour. 6.8 miles total.

OWS workout.

Week 5:

Day 7 – Make up for yesterday. Rode with my Team Ignite teammates Izzy Justice and Jennifer Finney. Izzy needed to get his long ride in and didn’t want to go solo. We started out in the rain and did a hard 28 mile loop effort. Jennifer joined us for the second loop in reverse. 56 miles total.

Part 2: Bike workout on the computrainer later in the day. – 10 minute warmup followed by 4 x 10 minutes at 80% FTP. with 2 minutes easy in between. 5 minutes cool off.

Part 3: Run for 40 minutes at e2. Ended up with 4.7 miles and a 8:33 avg pace.

I was very pleased with the brick workout, especially with the 56 mile earlier ride.

Day 6 – Long Bike day. Should ride for 3 hours @ E2 this morning. Started at 7am on the Computrainer due to rain. At 8, nine riders showed up to do our club ride. I grabbed my road bike and headed out. Normally we ride for 2 hours, but I had to cater to a few newbie riders. I took them on the 17 mile route at a very easy pace. Once back at the shop I hopped back on the trainer for 20 more minutes. Overall I got about 2 hours in on the bike. Not enuff.

Week 5:

Day 5 – Swim OWS 2000m –
Run Work Out – Run- Warm up- 5mins@VE/ 5mins@E2. Main set- 5 x (3mins@LowerE3/ 1min@VE). Cool down 5mins@VE. Total- 35mins.

Day 4 – Swim Workout – Pool: 2800m total
Warm up- 8L swim/ 8L pull/ 4L kick. @VE with rest- 10secs. Drill set- 8 x 2L as 1L drill*/ 1L swim. @VE
with rest- 5secs. Sprint set- 4 x 1L swim**. @VH with rest- 20secs. Main set- 12L swim/ 8L pull & paddles/
12L swim/ 8L pull & paddles/ 12L swim/ 8L pull & paddles. @E2 with rest- 30secs on 12L, 20secs on 8L.
Cool down- 8L choice. @VE.

Day 3 – Today felt like a rest day because I had to wait until 7pm to complete my last 10 mile time trial out at lowes motor speedway. The TT went well. I picked up about 10 seconds over the last time out. The conditions were right, so I expected to be a little faster. It was a solo effort with no drafting, s the time was true.

Day 2 – Rest Day

Day 1 – Run Workout – Run 1 Hour at E2. Started at Greenway in the back of River Run. Left greenway, ran thru the back entrance of River Run, and all the way to the front entrance point. Turned around at 3 miles and headed back. Steady climbs out of the gate followed by rollers. Had 6 miles in at 52:30. Continued running until I hit 7 miles at 1:01. Managed heart rate an rarely went over 148 bpm.

OWS – long warm up, followed by out and back mass start bouy drills.
Practiced deep water starts, waste deep starts and beach starts.

Week 4:

Day 7 Looking forward to watching and cheering for 11 Spirited Cyclist club members as they compete in the Lake Davidson Triathlon this morning. I’m certain there will be a larger crowd there this morning due to the Nascar driver Jimmy Johnson being there.

Day 6 – Bike – 2 Hours at E2 – Did the Spirited Cyclist Club ride out of Davidson, NC. Added on an extra 20 mile loop just to get 50 in. Road Bike. The Beach to Battleship course will be very flat compared to riding around the Davidson / Mooresville area. But, we have no winds to deal with here so to speak.

Day 5 – Swim – changed from OWS to Pool Workout.
Warm up- 8L swim/ 4L kick/ 8L pull. @VE with rest- 10secs.

Drill set- 8 x 2L as 1L drill*/ 1L swim. @VE with rest- 5secs.

Sprint set- 4 x 1L swim**. @VH with rest- 20secs.

Main set- 20L swim/ 20L pull/ 20L pull & paddles. The paddles kicked my butt!!
@E2 with rest- 50secs.

Cool down- 8L choice. @VE.

Total- 2700.
*Recommended drills- Single arm/ Kick & glide.
** Recommended sprints- Sprint each 1L with deepwater start.

Run workout: 1 Hour at E2. Others might call it slow but I call it a great run today in the heat. 1 hour total 6.5 miles. Not fast, but steady and non stop. Building up the base !

Day 4 – Brick Night: Bike Workout on Computrainer / PerfPro Studio Course –
10 minutes warm up VE to E2
5mins@UpperE22/ 218-244 Watts 1min@VE
4mins@LowerE3/ 244-260 Watts 1min@VE
3mins@LowerE3/ 244-260 Watts 1min@VE
2mins@UpperE3/ 260-270 Watts 1min@VE
1min@UpperE3/ 260-270 Watts 2min@VE

4mins@LowerE3/ 244-260 Watts 1min@VE
3mins@LowerE3/ 244-260 Watts 1min@VE
2mins@UpperE3/ 260-270 Watts 1min@VE
1min@UpperE3. 260-270 Watts 5min@VE

Run: 40 minutes at E2 – last ten minutes, pushed the limit of E2 up slightly.

Day 3 –Pool Swim workout: 2400m total – warm up – 8L swim/ 8L pull/ 4L kick. @VE with rest- 10secs. Drill set- 8 x 2L as 1L drill*/ 1L swim. @VE with rest- 5secs. Sprint set- 4 x 1L swim**. @VH with rest- 20secs. Main set- 6 x 8L swim. @E22 with rest- 15secs.
Cool down- 8L choice. @VE. drills- Fists/ Catch up. I’m whooped !

Day 2 – Rest Day – 45 minutes of P90X Yoga and Core exercises.

Day 1 – Rode 60 miles on road bike with 1 water stop. Pedal the Park charity group ride. The route included about every possible hill in our local area.

OWS Practice – Warm up followed by three sets of team relay competitions. Fun stuff. One team had to swim with a hat on. 2 teams had to swim with a shirt on. One team went normal. Each person had to tag the teammate and pass the hat or shit off to the next person. Did a cool of lap between each sprint. total .8 mile workout.

Week 3:

Day 7 – Rest day and needed it badly. soaked feet in sea salt.

Day 6 – Langley Pond International Triathlon – 1st Intl. event. Goal was to swim steady and smooth. Go 90% on the bike course and conserve some for the run. Struggled on the run after mile 2. The heat and humidity resulted in multiple blisters on both feet. I managed to finish by running a mile and walking 20 seconds for the remaining way with a strong run to finish at 2:54. Not great, but not bad for my first Intl. event. The bike course included a 3 mile climb that Intl. participants had to hit twice. The Blue Triad SL was amazing on the climbs, staying on the bars and shifting with the Dura Ace DI2 was super nice. This was the first time I rode a Dash Nine saddle. I’m so glad I used it compared to the Fizik Tri 2 saddle which totally sucks for me.

Day 5 – Run 20 minutes at E2 – 138-148 heart rate zone

Day 4 – Rest Day

Day 3 – Bike 40 minutes at E2 – Rode tri bike on the computrainer – used perf pro studio course with 10 min. warm up, 80% x 10 min x 2, 90% x5 min.  Maintained heart rate in correct zone.

OWS Practice – wearing HUUB Speedsuit tonight. Lots of max effort sprint starts out to the turn bouy. Followed my max sprints to the bouy, turn, and hard effort recovery to the shore. I mixed up starting spots. (right side, middle, back of the pack). Great practice with 20 people. The HUBB speedsuit made a noticeable difference.

Completed Beach to Battleship participant online meeting and quiz.

Day 2 – Run 30 minutes at E2 – run went great.  8:35 mile at 3:53 total distance.

Day 1 – Rest Day – glad too because neck is sore from the tri bike. Rode 14 miles easy at the business par with the Junior team.

Week 2:

Day 7 – Bike 2 hours at E2.  Great ride on the Blue Triad SL Rode up into Mooresville and down Linwood to 152. 2 minute Break and reversed the route. Averaged 19mph and stayed on the bars most of the time.

Day 6 – Lake Norman YMCA Sprint Tri – 750m swim , 17 mile bike, 5k run.  Swim was good, bike was good, run not so good. Relied on my Garmin and didn’t realize it has missed 5 minutes of the swim. No more Garmins on sprints.

Day 5 – Rest Day

Day 4 – Swim- Warm up- 4L swim/ 4L pull/ 4L kick/ 4L pull/ 4L kick. @VE with rest- 5secs. Drill set- 8 x 2L as 1L drill*/ 1L swim. @VE with rest- 5secs. – Sprint set- 4 x 1L swim**. @VH with rest- 20secs. – Main set- 6 x 4L swim. @E3 with rest- 10secs. Cool down- 8L choice. @VE. Total- 1800. *Recommended drills- Sculling/ doggy paddle. **Recommended sprints- MAX sprint first 10 strokes of each 1L, with remainder of length easy.

Needless to say, My but was wooped after this swim workout.

Day 3 – Run 1:30 at E2 –  Struggled on this workout, stopped at 1:10 7.5 miles. Was very hot toward the end.

Day 2 –  Bike- Warm up- 5mins@VE/ 5mins@E2. – Main set- 8 x (1min@VH/ 2mins@VE). Cool down- 5mins@VE. Total- 39mins. Created a modified version of Sufferfest on Perf Pro Studio and completed the workout on the computrainer.

Day 1 – Run- Warm up- 5mins@VE/ 5mins@E2. – Main set- 3 x (10mins@LowerE22/ 2mins@VE). Cool down- 5mins@VE.  Total- 54mins.

OWS Practice – Total 1 mile – Lots of sprint out practice with long swim & recovery.

Week 1:

Day 7 –  Bike- Warm up- 5mins@VE/ 5mins@E2. – Main set- 2 x (10mins@LowerE22/ 2mins@VE/ 5mins@UpperE22/ 1mins@VE/  5mins@UpperE22/ 1min@VE). Cool down – 5mins@VE. Total- 63mins.

Rode indoors on the Computrainer. Created a course on Perf Pro Studio to match the workout plan.

Day 6 – Bike 3 hours E2 – Rode 2 loops of the Lake Norman YMCA Triathlon loop  17 x 2. Then went out in the country and pulled Jennifer along until I had my 3hours in.  Rode the Blue Triad SL, focused on staying on the tri bars as much as possible.

Run- Warm up- 5mins@VE/ 5mins@E2. – Main  set – 5mins@LowerE3/ 1min@VE/ 3mins@LowerE3/ 1min@VE/ 2mins@UpperE3/ 1min@VE/ 3mins@UpperE3/ 1min@VE/ 2mins@UpperE3. – Cool down- 5mins@VE.  Total- 34mins.  Bailey Road Middle School Track.   Very Hot day!!

Day 5 – Swim 1500m E2 steady pace – Started 6:30am in Lake Norman – out and back with no drafting help. Forgot my Garmin 910.

Day 4 – Swim- Warm up- 12L –  swim/ 8L pull. @VE with rest- 10secs. – Drill set- 8 x 2L as 1L drill*/ 1L swim. @VE with rest- 5secs – Sprint set- 4 x 1L swim**. @VH with rest- 20secs – Main set- 8 x 1L swim. @VH MAX with rest- 30secs. – Cool down- 8L choice. @VE. – Total- 1400. *Recommended drills- Finger drag/ Water polo head up stroke. **Recommended sprints- Start each 1L easy with last 10m MAX sprint.   —- All was great but I didn’t realize L stood for lengths rather than Laps. 🙂

Run 40 minutes at E2 ( 138-148 heart rate ) – Heart rate spiked on the last mile with the incline. Otherwise perfect run.

Day 3 – 10 Mile Time Trial at Lowes. Rode the Blue Triathlon bike for the first time. Out of the box build, eyeball fit, with a high stack headset. Good result – 1st in AG and 25 seconds below last TT.

Day 2 – Rest day before Time Trial at Lowes otor Speedway

Day 1 – Run 1 hour @ E2 maintain heartrate 138-148max – Run went well, first time I made it an hour without stopping. Controlling heartrate was the key.

Swim – Open Water Swim Practice ( OWS ) – Sprint drills – deep water starts, beach starts, double sprints with beach runs.  1 mile total distance. 30 people at training.

Bought a New Blue Triad SL Tri bike with DuraAce DI2.

400 meter swim test:   7:48

CP20 test on computrainer: 257  FTP:239

Max Run Heartrate: 177bpm

Carbon Aero Base Bar – My choice – Zipp Vuka Stealth

My search for the perfect carbon aero base bar and extensions is over. For well over a month, I have researched the currently available aero bars for my 2014 Time trial and Triathlon season. My considerations included the Zipp Vuka Stealth, the Pro Missle Evo, the Profile SVSET Zero, and Easton’s Attack aero bars.

The carbon aero bar system will be mounted on my 2014 Cannondale Slice. Obviously not the RS version which comes with an integrated stem and headset. That bike is another story. Aero position is certainly an important concern, but for endurance triathlon events, I really wanted a system that was adjustable and comfortable. My budget was somewhat open on the aero bar system because I saved quite a bit of money on the bike itself. So the search began

I never thought much of looking at a Profile model, but just happened to run into a rig at a local bike shop. They had it marked way down on price, so I started looking. The rig consisted of the svset base bar, carbon strike ski tip extensions, arm rest, and brake levers to boot. All in all not bad for a discounted retail deal of $395. Employee purchase is not much better than that.

The Profile Svset with strike extensions actually was 2nd on my list of aero bar choices. The weight was good, adjustability was good, looks were good, and the price was very good.

The only reason I didn’t go with Profile was the resale factor. One could argue foe the price, why would I worry about resale. Quite honestly, I like using my gear for 1 season and then trying to get my money out of it.

The Easton Attack aero bar with integrated extensions really caught my attention. I can’t stand to hit my knees on the back side of the extension bars on most aero bars.  I also noticed that the overall weight seemed to be less, most likely due to decreased hardware.

Two big reasons why I didn’t spend much time looking at this option were:

1. no adjustability, 2. It appears Easton stopped making them.

The only available attack bars I found were either on Ebay, or big online bike stores. In fact, they are not listed on Easton’s site any longer. I can only wonder why not.

Next came the Pro Missle Evo aero bar system. This is a very attractice sweet looking aero bar. The bar is light, adjustable, and matches my paint scheme really well. So, it was hard to not consider.

Our Schimano rep. dropped off a rig we could look at and try. Thanks for doing this by the way. I liked the bars a lot with the exception of the pointed edges on the backend of the brake handles. I know this feature is an aero add, but I really didn’t like the pressure on the palm of my hands.

The downside of this system that helped me rule it out was the extra cost of the stem. Ideally you want to use the Pro stem that is also aero and fit specifically to the base bar. You could use a regular stem if desired, but exactly why mess up a good looking rig. The total price cam out to around $1100 full retail.

And the winner is the Zipp Vuka Stealth. For many reasons other than just the name.

This was by far the lighter option coming in at 820 grams with extensions. The Zipp stealth has virtually unlimited adjustability. The stem is integrated and can be ordered in 3 varying lengths. The base bar platform is super comfortable when climbing. The ski tip extensions can easily be mounted so they don’t protrude off the back of the bars. No knee banging there…

The Zipp product line is very popular, proven, and well sought after on the used market. With any big name brand, the price is always higher. My aero bar rig retails for about $1200+. That’s quite alright, I know I can get good money out of it at years end, as long as I take good care of my “Stuff”.

I look forward to getting this thing mounted on my Cannondale Slice, topping it off with a Retul fit, and then hitting the A2 Windtunnel to fine tune the aerodynamics before Time trials begin.

PerfPro Studio Indoor Cycling

PerfPro Studio

indoor cycling training software has been a great addition to my Computrainer Studio this season. We added on the PerfPro Studio after deciding to look outside of the normal, somewhat outdated, Computrainer software & courses. Now, please don’t take me wrong here, I still love the Computrainers. The data presentation and on screen feedback from Perf Pro Studio takes the Computrainers to the next level of cycling training.

Perf Pro & Computrainer Indoor Cycling Workouts

Perf Pro Studio comes preloaded with hundreds of pre designed indoor cycling training programs. These include FTP Workouts, Wattage workouts, Strength workouts, Conditioning workouts, Sufferfest video integrated training, and many more. The interval sessions are awesome! You can even design your own Computrainer workout on Perf Pro Studio. The courses provided by Perf Pro Studio are constantly being updated and added to. Every time you crank up the software, it automatically checks for new updates.

Indoor Cycling Training

This winter season of indoor cycling training has been fun. Pairing up the Perf Pro Software with the Computrainers has really changed up the training routines. In my opinion Perf Pro makes it easy for riders to focus on their training zones with nice Color Displays rather than simple numbers. For example, some courses are designed for higher cadence riding and maintained wattage. Perf Pro displays 2 scales on the screen. One for power, an One for cadence. The rider can focus on bringing their cadence u to a small red arrow and the cadence graph will turn green. The wattage graph will do the same as the cadence settles in. Once you are in the green color zones, the goal is to stay their. The junior cyclist catch on to this feature really quick. It’s a very nice training aid for them, as well as myself.

Perf Pro Studio Ant+

To allow your indoor trainer or computrainer in my case to work well with Perf Pro Studio software, it is desired to use ANT+ devices. I purchased two Garmin USB adapters and snapped them into the computer. These pick up cadence from my Garmin cadence sensor as well as heart rate. It’s very simple to assign the ANT+ devices to the riders display. Wattage is picked up from the Computrainer.

Perf Pro Studio Price

As of this post PerfPro Studio software for the home user is only $99. Yes, you can upgrade to multi rider version, and studio versions for a bit more money. The home edition works great for me because it works with up to 3 trainers. For the cycling training data geeks, Perf Pro ofers some low cost plugins as well. You can pump your data to the cloud, or export CSV results to your own MySQL database. I like simply exporting my performance files and sending them over to TrainingPeaks.

If you’re like me and still have a few months of winter left, check out PerfPro Studio. It works with Wahoo Kickers, and other stationary trainers too. Btw, I’m not an affiliate for Perf Pro. I simply like sharing good info about things that work and make my cycling life better!

DIY Bike Repair review by Bike Shop Employee

DIYBikeRepair Review from a Bike Shop Employee

My name is John Finney and I work at a Local Bike Shop, particpate in road races, crits, and time trial events. I’ve recently bought the DIYBikeRepair course. This is honest review of the product and it covers both pros and cons.

What Is DIYBikeRepair All About?

DIYBikeRepair is a complete collection of over 200 videos and diy manuals covering the repair and maintenance of bicycles. It covers mountain bikes, road bikes and a section on racing bikes.

The videos are well-explained and informative. The presenter goes through every single detail and covers all aspects of bike mechanics – from the simplest procedures to complex ones like derailleur gears adjustment. This makes it suitable for both beginenrs and experts alike.

Person behind the Product

The person behind the product is Dave Delgado. He is the creator of DIYBikeRepair and is also a professional bike designer. He contributes to various biking magazines and other cycling publications regularly.

What Do You Get?

With your purchase, you will get the complete DIYBikeRepair system which includes: (VIP Deluxe edition)

1. Over 200 step-by-step videos
2. Hundreds of pages of repair manuals
3. TuneUp Secrets and Upkeep Tips Book
4. Complete Bike Repair and Maintainence Manuals
5. Free Lifetime Updates
6. Free One-On-One Training (limited spots!)
7. A DVD containing all the videos and books

Visit DIYBikeRepair below:
DIY BIKE REPAIR GUIDE

What I Like:

– An All-In-One Product

DIYBikeRepair covers almost everything you need to know about bike repair. Whether you need a simple fix or an upgrade, DIYBikeRepair handles it. The great thing about it is the all-inclusive nature of the training which comprises of videos and manuals. It makes things a lot easier when you have someone explaining concepts to you.

– Great bonuses

I also enjoyed the bonuses that is included in the offer. The extra manuals is well worth the original price.

– Guarantee

The 60 day money back guarantee is always appreciated. I like seeing a merchant who stands behind their product 100%. It puts the consumer at ease, knowing that they aren’t going to lose a cent if they choose to not use the system.

What I Don’t Like

The regular edition has only a small section covering racing bikes. The vast majority of training covers mountain and road biking (which is very extensive!). If you want comprehensive coverage of racing bikes, you should get the VIP deluxe edition.

Do I Recommend It?

Absolutely. This is by far the most comprehensive course available on bike repair and maintenance. Other courses are limited in scope and the good ones are only available in book format. DIYBikeRepair goes the extra mile in providing step-by-step videos on top of fully illustrated books.

P.S IMPORTANT NOTE: I’ve just been told, DIYBikeRepair is currently running a huge promotion. Normally it sells for over $150, they have slashed the regular price down to $47…for now.

I’m told the price is going back up within a matter of days. So if you’re at all interested, now is the time to buy this.

Visit DIYBikeRepair below:
DIY BIKE REPAIR GUIDE

Enjoy!

John

Tour De Wish 100 / 50 / 33 Cycling Event Columbia, NC

We are just about 90 days out from the fourth annual Ride To A Wish Event in Columbia NC. I wanted to take a moment to invite you and your family to this incredible weekend! The Cycling event is a 100/50 and 33 mile ride through scenic Tyrrell County and beautiful Lake Mattamuskeet! Our ride is THE RIDERS EVENT! We have through the years implemented virtually every bit of input from our riders, staff and emergency personnel. Our rest stops are well spaced and well manned, they are stocked with PB&J sandwiches, fruit and pretzels, dill pickles and sports drinks as well as ice cream, candy and power bars. We have 8 roving SAG vehicles, four with trained first responders in addition to the rescue team from Kill Devil Hills Fire and Rescue. SAG teams can help with repairs, bring you back to the start/finish line or get you to a rest area. All riders will get a free ticket to the WISHFEST, the Ride To A Wish music festival!

 The music this year includes Tuesday’s Gone (the Skynyrd tribute) Christian Radio Award Winner Eowyn, national recording artist and lead vocalist for the LA Guns Dilana as well as southern rockers Direct Message, Blackwater and  all starting with acoustic gospel from Jake Brickhouse!

 Back at the hall, your family and or friends can register for our 5 and 8K runs, a run/ride/run duathlon, a motorcycle and hot rod poker run or an ACA sanctioned cornhole tournament.  There will be food and drink venders, displays, custom cars and a monster truck. We also have kid’s activities including a bounce house, face painting, a kid’s bike ride and plenty of cotton candy, sno-cones and popcorn. When you get back from your ride, be sure to stop by and say hi to the kids you are riding for!!

The kids, Anastacia, age 6 (will turn 7 in February) is a bubbly, soon to be 7 year old, who lights up the room when she enters. Her father is in the military and we are grateful for his service. Anastacia suffers from several disorders/diseases including an immune deficiency, Von Willebrand’s Disease and Colonic Inertia. Anastacia’s dream is to go to Disney World to be a princess. She chose this dream because she wants to be a real princess. She is such a princess already, it is difficult to imagine her being more of a princess. Zachary, age 5, Zachary is a little shy at first, but then he warms up and becomes a different person. Zachary has a brain tumor and has recently had surgery in the hope of arresting the growth. Both parents are in the Navy serving our country. Zachary is very clear that his dream is not only to go to Disney World and Universal Studios but he wants to meet Captain America, Wolverine and most of all Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. Oh yes, throw in Will also as a favorite character Zach wants to meet.

You probably remember my Dad, he is the guy most of you from the CycleNC event called the Infomercial guy, he truly believes in this event, in our volunteers and our riders, and most important, he will do anything to help these kids out! He has done everything he can to make this the most rewarding event you will ever be a part of and to make sure you want to come back every year! Ride To A Wish is an all volunteer organization, we have NO paid venders, NO paid employees and NO overhead! EVERY PENNY YOU RAISE/DONATE OR PAY IN A REGISTRATION FEE GOES STRAIGHT TO TOBY’S DREAM  to make sure that these special kids get to live their dreams!!

There is free camping onsite and reduced rate lodging in both Manteo and Plymouth (see the web site for details) You can register online for any and all of the events at www.ridetoawish.com, please do not hesitate to call me at 919-912-WISH with any questions or concerns!!

Zach Coberly

2012 Ride Coordinator 

RacesOnline FAILS or BSG Riders During Blood Sweat Gears Sign Up

Blood Sweat Gears BSG faithful riders have been failed by RacesOnline.com during the 2012 sign up process. At 12:01 today Registration opened or the 2012 BSG event in Boone, NC. A 12:02 RacesOnline.com was timing out. Riders couldn’t tell if they were registered, paying, or signed up.

I was able to get one century 100 ticket secured finally. But as of 1:00 am I am still waiting on the racesonline.com system to process the second one. If the second one doesn’t process, I will be looking for a refund or to sell the first one.

I have already received over 20 text and several emails from fellow cyclist running into the same issue. I’m glad I’m not the event planner. I feel bad for him right now. This is certainly not a good start for the 2012 BSG event.

BSG, how do we fix this glitch??

Cycling Guy

Cyclists of North Carolina Petition to Governor Perdue

To all cyclist of North Carolina,

I wanted to bring your attention to The Adam Little Foundation and ask you to first, sign the petitions yourself online and secondly, if possible, spread the word about the organization. You can sign and send both petitions online. One goes to 5 members of the NC General Assembly encouraging them to pass a law to toughen penalties against anyone who harasses, assaults, hits, injures or kills a cyclist.  The other petition is to Governor Perdue and the DMV Commissioner and encourages them to add questions about cyclists to the written portion of the driver’s license test as well as requiring that all new motorists demonstrate how to safely pass a cyclist on the road portion of the driver’s license test. The more people who sign and send the petitions, the faster things will get done.
This took me about 2 minutes to fill out, please take the time to fill out the 2 petitions (Petition Legislators and Petition DMV) and forward to your friends.

http://www.theadamlittlefoundation.org/index.html