Got it!

The W.  Finally.  As Lee, the lifeguard at my pool said, "You've been knocking on that door for a while now, it's good to get through it!"

Recap of that win...

The Manassas Mini Tri, like the other super sprints I've been racing this season, is a short swim at 250 yards in the pool, a 4 mile bike and 1.5 mile run.  It's red line the entire time with no room for error in each discipline or transitions.  Everything must be fluid.  Races here are won and lost by seconds.  Last year, I placed 4th on this same course missing 3rd by 12 seconds and separated from first by 40 seconds.

With a start time of 7:15, I rolled into the parking lot by 6:10.  Transition placement is first come, first serve and I try to be as close to the bike in/out as possible.  I setup my transition area, talked with some younger kids about the bike, racing, and made my way to packet pickup.  With about 20 minutes to start, I was able to walk transition a few times to know my lines for in and out.

Pre-race meeting was standard except for the DJ stopping the "Star Spangled Banner" about one verse in.  No matter, the crowd of 200 participants, staff, and volunteers kept singing away without musical accompaniment.  It was awesome.  I may have wept. 'Merica.

Time trial swim starts are always interesting.  For this 250 yards, I seeded myself at 4 minutes.  I was 16 people back, with each person going off every 5 seconds.  There were a few ::cough::too many::cough:: people that were nowhere near swimming a 4 minute 250 yd.  Whatever.  As the race director said at the pre-race meeting, "you can swim over, under, or around anyone".  So I did.  After I got the "GO"  I sprinted the first 25 caught my 5 second man, hit the wall and kept hammering.  I passed 10 people in the swim, easily.  I hit the 4th fastest (3rd fastest male) swim time for the day. Out of the water, I quickly moved off the pool deck and once outside sprinted for my bike rack.

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.  56 second T1 down and onto the bike.  I'd changed over to a new tri-specific shoe.  These were much easier and comfortable post swim to get into and start cranking on the bike.  eBay steal at $10 for the Specialized Carbon Tri Vent shoe and they only needed $5 replacement parts to make them 100% again.  Again, a steal.

I'd also spoke with Chris at Bike Doctor Waldorf on lowering my front end position.  This was the first race in the position and it was amazing.  That guy can do wonders even just over the phone.  I held a 24 mph on the flats and ended up with the fastest bike split for the day.  The Manassas bike course has around 5 180 degree turns with even more 90 degree turns.  It's difficult to hold a top speed for long, but it's a fun course!  Riding the 180's properly and not losing speed is a key.  As they teach in cyclocross racing, ride the tape to apex to tape on each turn.  I passed the remaining early and stronger swimmers by the 1st mile and didn't look back. Strava link:  http://www.strava.com/activities/151004705/analysis

I moved into T2 with a full sprint, bobbled the re-rack a bit losing a few seconds, but remained calm and pressed on.  Right into my shoes and grabbing my race belt, I was off onto the run.  From reading what ITU professionals do and in my traning I've incorporated going to a full sprint right off the bat.  This destroys that heavy leg feeling and gets the blood moving to run muscles sooner.  Note:  This works for me and it works for me at short distances, I wouldn't use this tactic a anything longer than an Olympic.  With the bobble, my T2 time was at 52 seconds.  It's usually around 25 seconds.

The run was as smooth as I could make it.  I had a relay team leave just in front of me, so I used her as my pace for the first half of the run.  Chase that rabbit.  By the .75 mile mark, the top female gained on me, but she was an early swimmer and I knew I had 80 seconds on her at least.  She was a fast runner, ending the day with the fastest run time overall.  She and I crossed the finish line within steps of each other. I was able to maintain a 6:20 pace.  Wheeew.  I looked at the clock and figured I was around 27:45.  I waited around the finish line for the next few people to cross.  The next male racer was about a 2 minutes back.  I had a feeling I took the win, but wasn't 100%.

I found out later when the results were posted.  Happiest. Guy. In. The. World.

 

Rage Cage (aka taper week)

The urge to good fast or go hard in the week coming up to a race is almost unbearable.  You'll want to push yourself, but remember that this is the time for your body to recover and re-energize before being asked the most of it.  I have the most difficult time here in my training, knowing when to just not go out. 

I've read studies that you won't see any gains 2-3 days prior to a race anyway.  The key for me is to stay flexible, keep to easy rides, runs, and swims.  And keep them shorter.  No need for an easy 8 mile run if your race is a Sprint with a 5K. 

Nutrition wise, I'll stick to water for a majority of the week, taking in as much as I can remember to throughout each day.  I'll mix in a 50/50 of water and juice (either cranberry or apple) to keep it interesting and not dilute or wash away minerals & vitamins from my body.  With a reduced level of exercise, I'll be more cognizant of my food intake.  While I won't starve myself, I will keep clear of any high carb treats, like cookies or large amounts of bread.  I want to keep my race weight throughout the taper week and be comfortable on race morning at that weight.  We'll all have after the race to eat whatever we want!

http://www.triradar.com/training-advice/how-to-fuel-for-the-perfect-race/

I set up my bike early in the week and get my other gear together by Thursday.  This allows me enough time should I need any last minute parts or gear.  Most likely, I'll be squared away and won't, but it's good to have that out.  I'll get 1-2 quick rides (on the trainer if needed) on the bike in it's race set up to get the feel and make any last adjustments.  Ideally, you never do anything new on race day, so this is your last chance to dial in your equipment.  With my Felt AR5, I use clip-on bars and have to switch my seat post around, so it never stays in the tri setup full time.

Race day is another story... and another post!

Pre-season is winding down

I'm into my last week of winter base training (see earlier post on the program from TriRadar).  Next Monday starts a 4 week plan focusing on speed and sprint format triathlons.

Again, I've picked a race and lined up a training plan to get ready for it.  End of March is the race and this 4 week plan gets me there.  Take a look.

http://mos.triradar.com/Training_Plans/Sharpen_Sprint_Speed.pdf

Author Phil Mosely writes that "during these four weeks of training I want you to separate your sessions into two main intensities: easy or hard. When I say easy, I mean easy, so save your energy for the hard stuff. It’s the hard sessions that’ll make you faster, so you need to be fresh."

This goes well with the periodization and polarization talk I posted about.  Don't train at race pace.
When you're supposed to work at easy efforts stay there.  Same with hard efforts, go all out!  Stop making the easy efforts sessions harder and the hard sessions easier. Avoid that "black hole of training".

With a race on the horizon, it's a good time to focus on those transitions.  Not just the logistics of gear, but the muscles that get engaged at T1 and T2.  Know how you'll feel and be comfortable with it so you know what's normal and what's not on race day.

Training Periodization

Interesting video on periodization.

http://www.canal-insep.fr/fr/training-periodization-deep-root-cultural-heritage-and-innovative-paradigms-2013/ei_13_10_va_pr_stephen_seiler-mov

'X' is race pace

Remember planning

Plan now while you're not in the midst of spring training.  Winter base miles are boring inside.  Use that time on the trainer or treadmill while staring at the wall to come up with your A and B races.  Great article from USAT today on top 10 tips for planning your season.

http://www.usatriathlon.org/about-multisport/multisport-zone/multisport-lab/articles/triathlon-season-planning-011014.aspx

Metrics and Management

You can't manage what you don't measure. It is an old management adage that is accurate today. Unless you measure something you don't know if it is getting better or worse. You can't manage for improvement if you don't measure to see what is getting better and what isn't. 

Training tools:

• Strava w/Premium Account ($6 a month)
• Zephyr Heart Rate Monitor (Bluetooth) ($45)
• Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman (ANT+ smartphone) w/32gb SD card ($50 on ebay)
• ipBike - http://www.iforpowell.com ($7)
• Powertap ANT+ wireless speed and cadence sensor ($35)

With the amount of indoor training I do, I needed a system that measured heart rate against time or hopefully distance. ipBike on a cheap Sony Ericsson smartphone does more than a Garmin Edge 500/800 does and cheaper too!  This setup allows me to track my HR, time, and distance for indoor running (treadmill or track) as well as HR, speed, cadence, and distance for indoor bike time on the trainer.  It also has a solid setup for calculating power on the bike without the need for a costly power meter.  For the level I'm training at and competing at, this is close enough to what a $1500 power meter provides.  

Remember, the management of improvement comes during training, not during racing. So there's no need to use a costly power meter during a race.  I'll just push myself by how my body feels for the swim, bike, and run with an extra eye on my cadence during the bike.

Also, I needed an online database to store everything and review later.   While some people look down on Strava, as a training tool, it's great.  There are plenty of options out there on the webber-nets, but make sure you can upload to it from your work outs and capture as much data as you can.

The Sony Ericsson has the bonus of holding a SD card for mp3s and a builtin FM radio.  This makes runs much more enjoyable while not having to carry 2 devices to track the workout and play music.  Show me a Garmin that can do that! Load a high tempo and low tempo playlist on there.

In the end, you need a tool combo that you're comfortable with.  I can geek out on IT based solutions and programs like ipBike.  But if that's not your forte or comfort level, go with something like the Garmin ForeRunner line.

As that barista said to me last week when I ordered the Red Eye at 6AM, "go knock it out!"

Winter Base

So I should give you something to start with.

http://mos.triradar.com/Training_Plans/Build_Winter_Foundation.pdf

This is the plan I am following from Jan 1 through the end of March.  I'll share the 2 other plans soon. TriRadar.com has some great resources and tools.  Very simple approach and time manageable.

Get some!

The Intro and Plan

I've put one solid year of racing and training behind me.  Being fully into the training months, I now acknowledge that 2013 was my "base year" of training and getting to understand how to race.  Sure I was ambitious throughout last year and even posted some good finishes, but in reality, I was just figuring it all out.

Now is the time to take that rookie coat off and get into how to win.  This blog will be my journey to getting on the podium each and every race.

First step is planning.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” 
― Abraham Lincoln

I'm realistic in setting my goals for 2014.  Last year, I was so enthralled with racing that I wanted to race everything and thought I could.  This did not work out well.  Between triathlons, duathlons, and USAC bike racing season, it would (and did) not work.  With that said, pick your "A" race.  The one that you would do if you couldn't do any others.  From there, back up your schedule with a number of smaller and less stress races.  I've chosen the USAT Olympic-Distance National Championships in Milwakuee, WI this year as I qualified with a top age group finish in a triathlon in 2013.  From there I fill in my calendar backwards off it's August 9th date with 1 (maybe 2) triathlons a month until the end of March.  So the list looks like this:

Tune Up Tri 
Manassas, VA, USA
Sun Mar 30 2014

East Coast Super Sprint
Glen Allen, VA, USA
Sun May 04 2014

Naylors Beach Triathlon
Warsaw, VA, USA
Sun Jun 08 2014

Tupper Lake Tinman Sprint
Tupper Lake, NY, USA
Sat Jun 28 2014

The 14.06 - TIN
Manassas, VA, USA
Sun Jul 27 2014

USA Triathlon’s Age Group Olympic-Distance National Championships
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Sat Aug 09 2014

6.  That's right, 6 races. All but the last are sprint or super sprint distance races.  Why?  To limit injury.  By not training for Olympic (or even longer) distance races all year, I reduce the fatigue and injury on my body.  Through this blog, I'll share how recovery and rest, along with focused workouts on speed, will increase the overall goal of being faster and winning.

Remember, I'm no expert, this is what works for me.  But hey, I just started a year ago, so I've got to be doing something right.