Ironman Augusta 70.3 2014 Race Recap

I <3 Ironman Augusta 70.3.  I did this race in 2012 and again this year and it really is a great course.  The weather has been great both years, mid-70’s with overcast.  The swim is always great because it’s so fast and I love that it’s an in-water start.  It allows you 2 minutes to get in and wade around in the water to warm up a bit.  Plus, I think not having to run first keeps my heart rate down. 

Friday

I got to Augusta Thursday night and met up with Jamie, Dan, and his brother, Ed.  They already ate but went with me to Mellow Mushroom so that I could get some pizza.  I go the Magic Mystery Tour Bus with curry tofu.  I was so hungry and it was so delicious.  I was disappointed when I was only able to get down two slices.  After eating, I headed back to the hotel, La Quinta Inn on Washington Rd.  I recommend this hotel.  It’s right behind a Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins and there is a Whole Foods and Publix right down the street.  The hotel room was nice and clean with a refrigerator and microwave.  Can’t ask for much more for $80/night. 

I tried to get as much stuff together for Sunday as I could before going to bed.  I went to bed around 11:30 with no alarm set. 

Saturday

I woke up around 8:30 and checked in with Jamie and what her plans were.  She was heading to the expo for packet pick-up so I got in the shower and headed that way.  I ended up missing her at packet pick-up.  I was starving so met up with Jamie and co. to get some brunch and decided to hit up the expo after.  We ended up going to New Moon Café which is the same place that I went in 2012 to get the Green Monster smoothie.  I knew it was going to be a good weekend from that moment!  I also got a breakfast quesadilla and grits.  It was probably too much food because I was full until 5:30.

Green Monster!

Will a full belly I went to the expo, got my packet, and bought a sweater and new sandals because the ones I had on were starting to dig into the top of my feet.  I also found single packets of hyper-hydration from Skatch that I wanted to try.  

Next on my to-do list was to drive around to the swim start, then over to T1 to drop off my bike.  Not too much to tell with that.  Except, Friday night, I pumped my tires up and Saturday morning my front tire was flat.  I pumped it up again, tightened the valve, and prayed that it wouldn’t leak.  I must have checked my tires 50 times between Saturday and Sunday morning. I hopped on my bike and rode down to the finish area and back (one mile each way) to make sure everything was working A-OK before taking my bike into transition.    

I usually have good intentions of getting in some sort of pre-race warm up with a swim, bike, and/or run.  I actually got it in this time.  The Y was allowing race participants free entry into the gym.  I was able to get in a 10 minute swim, 10 min ride on the stationary, and then I went outdoors for a 15 minute run.  I’m still not totally sold on the pre-race (day before the race) warm up.  I guess it helps to calm the nerves a little bit. 

At this time, it was around 3:30 so I headed back to the hotel.  I stopped in at Whole Foods and Publix on the way back.  I wanted to get my race cookie (*the double doozie / yo-yo) from Publix.  They didn’t have it so I went over to Whole Foods to see what they had.  They had way too many choices and I ended up getting everything I saw…A gingerbread whoopie pie, vegan vanilla cupcake, and a bag full of assorted (mostly small double doozies) cookies. 

*double doozie / yo-yo – Cookie sandwich – 2 cookies with icing in the middle.

I made it back to the hotel around 5:30, dropped everything off at the hotel and then headed back out again for dinner – sushi from Miyako.  I got shrimp steamed dumplings and 2 rolls.  I ate about ¾ of each roll.  My dessert was one of the small double doozie cookies  J.

Yum!

Yum! Yum!

After dinner I took a shower, got all of my things ready for the next day, painted my nails, and then called my brother and Daniel before turning off the lights around 9:00.

Drinking the Beet Juice

Sunday – RACE DAY!

I set my alarm for 4:15 with intentions of being out the door by 5:45. This did happen.  I made it down to T1 around 6 and was able to get one of the last spots on Broad St.  So, I was able to see my car twice on the run  J.

Race gear:

·         Zoot Ultra Tri suit

·         Nike Pro Combat sports bra

·         Nike padded socks (thanks Lindsay!)

·         2XU Project X wetsuit – my hair keeps getting caught in the velcro and creating a birds nest at the nape of my neck.  I need to figure out how to prevent this ASAP.  Otherwise, I love this suit.  My shoulders don’t feel restricted and it’s really not that tight around my neck (relatively speaking)

·         Tyr Special Ops 2.0 goggles

·         Louis Garneau X-Tri-Lite bike shoes

·         Scott T2C run shoes

·         Lazer Tardiz aero helmet

·         Tifosi sunglasses

·         Garmin HRM and GPS watch, Garmin Edge 500 on my bike
       Tri-Slide spray for the wetsuit
       Slik anti-chafe spray by Skin Strong

Nutrition:

Pre-race –

·         2 hours before – Picky Bar

·         1.5 hours before – half bottle of Monster drink

·         1 hour before – Skratch hyper hydration (this stuff has 1600 mg of sodium) and 2 SportsLegs pills; 1 banana

·         30 minutes before – 1 bottle of X2 Performance and 1 Gu Endurance pill

Bike - 

·         Profile Design HC Aero bottle with water

·         1-24 oz bottle with 2 scoops of Infinit and 1 scoop of Fluid Passion Fruit Tea – 373 calories total

·         1 Power Bar Waffle – 170 calories

·         1.5 bottles of Powerade Perform from the course

Run –

·         2 SportsLegs pills and 1 Gu Endurance pill

·         3 gels – 1 Gu Salted Caramel, 1 Honey Stinger, 1 Clif Double Espresso – 300 calories total

·         Oranges, 2 cokes, Powerade Perform from the aid stations.  I also took water from every aid station

Transition setup in the AM - bike shoes clipped in, socks on the ground (pre-stretched), helmet with glasses in them and open, run gear next to run shoes to grab and go after getting shoes on

Swim:

Time – 24:26

Cat Place – 5^th

Gender Place – 32^nd

This swim is awesome.  Well, it’s scary when you swim in the river by yourself. But, when there are a bunch of other people around you and people on kayaks, it’s not scary. Why is it scary, you ask?  Well, there are “grass monsters” that come up very close to your face and if you have long enough arms, I’m pretty sure you’re arms are swimming through them.  Good thing is you’re go so fast through the river, you’re done before you know it.  And, it’s really mostly just in the beginning and when you’re closer to the edge instead of more in the middle.  So, stick closer to the center of the river, the current is faster there anyway.  You start in the water for the swim.  There are 2 minutes between each wave so you have about 90 seconds to be in the water and wading before the gun goes off. Just enough time to do a little swimming around and get out any last minute nervous race pee.  Yup, I said it and yes I did it!

The velcro from my wetsuit got caught in my hair again.  Not as bad as before, but still enough to pull on my neck when I turned to breathe and give me a small bird’s nest.  I tried to grab on to some feet, but there wasn’t really anyone for me to grab on to.  Everyone was pretty spread out.  When I was getting close to the end I started kicking my legs harder to get some blood flowing to them.  I think this helped me.  I think.  This race has wetsuit strippers which is really awesome.  I<3 wetsuit strippers too. 

T1:

Time – 3:32

The run from the swim exit to T1 is kind of long. Nothing else to really say here. 

Bike:

Time – 2:40:05

Cat Place – 1^st

Gender Place – 17^th

The bike course is kind of hilly.  Not super crazy.  If you’ve ever ridden San Antonio (Florida) then Augusta is pretty easy in comparison.  There is nothing that is super steep.  Some of the hills are kind of long, though.  The second aid station is right in the middle of one of the hills.  I guess it’s a good thing since you’re already going at a slower pace.  The first half of the course is harder because it’s more uphill.  But, that last 20 miles are almost all downhill.

I sipped my juice every 15 – 20 minutes (Infinit and Fluid mix) and at 1 hour into the ride I ate the Powerbar Waffle.  I was hoping that the hyper hydration would keep me from needing anything other than additional water.  But, I found myself grabbing a Powerade Perform bottle at the 2^nd and 3^rd aid station.  I downed the entire first bottle and half of the second one. 

I didn’t go out too crazy on the bike.  In fact, I may have held back a little too much on the first half.  I don’t have a good reason other than I just wanted to get settled in for about the first hour. 

T2:

Time – 2:33

I took 2 more SportsLegs pills and 1 Gu Electrolyte pill at this time.  I dropped the electrolyte pill and had to turn around to pick it up.  I was trying to use the SaltStick mini-dispenser and I couldn’t figure out which way to turn the darn thing to make the pills come out.  I ended up popping off the top and just dumping the pills in my mouth. 

Run:

Time – 1:38:4

Cat Place – 1^st

Gender Place – 11^th

This is a great run.  It’s flat and the majority of the run is on Broad St. which is lined with spectators.  The have water, powerade, coke, oranges, and gels at all the aid stations.  They have bananas, cookies, Bonk Breakers, and ice cold sponges near mile 4.5/9 and 6.5/13.  There is some shade, but this year and when I did the race in 2012 it was overcast the entire time.  That is always an added bonus for me. 

On the run course, I took the 3 gels (mile 2.3, 6, and 9) plus oranges and coke at mile 4.5 and 9.  I took water at every station and powerade at every 2^nd or 3^rd station. 

I started off at a conservative pace and also slowed myself because I was messing with my watch trying to get it to change from measuring in kilometers to miles.  I don’t know why it switches like that.  I felt good for the entire run.  I didn’t feel hungry or tired.  I didn’t feel fatigued until around mile 9.  I tried to keep myself calm, but I knew I was almost done and I really wanted to hold my pace.  Mile 9 – 7:28, mile 10 – 7:31, mile 11 – 8:09 (walked through the aid station), mile 12 – 7:33, mile 13 – 7:24.  Right around mile 9/10 I could feel my left quad starting to get really tight.  I knew my legs were going to start cramping soon.  It subsided until mile 12.  The last mile I was begging my legs to not cramp.  I made it to the finish and the only thing that cramped were my toes!  I’m used to that though and thankful that it was after I crossed the finish line. 

Overall:

Time – 4:49:10

Cat Place – 1^st

Gender Place – 11^th (including the pros, 3^rd o/a amateur)

All done.  This is before i found out my actual time and place

Couple of notes to mention that don’t really fit anywhere.  There was a girl on the ground with a flat tire in T1.  She was asking for someone to help her.  I really wanted to, but I’m just not that non-competitive.  I’m not a super competitive person, but I am enough to not spend 5+ minutes helping a fellow competitor change her tire.  I really felt for her because I’ve had 2 flats during a race. 

The other thing is, I saw a lot of people with flats.  It seemed like more than usual too. 

I definitely recommend this race for a first time race.  If you’re looking for a “big” name race.  If you’re looking for a smaller race, I would recommend Beach 2 Battleship in Wilmington, NC. 

In case you’re wondering, I did not take the world championship slot to compete in Austria next year.  I have a lot of reasons: money, time, and the possibility to either go to Kona (if I qualify at Florida) or to take my pro card (if I don’t qualify for Kona). 

Harvest Moon Triathlon 2014 Race Recap

Our friends, Chris and Erica, in Denver, Colorado, are super awesome and kept asking when we were going to visit them again.  So, of course I had to plan it around a race.  Or at least try.  :).  I did find one and it was the Harvest Moon Tri in Aurora, CO.  This race is about 30 minutes from where Chris and Erica live (1 point), the race is smaller (1 point), the bike course is hilly (1 point for good training), and there is a slip n' slide at the end just after you cross the finish line (5 points!).  Not to give any spoiler alerts, but as cool as the slip n' slide is, I cramped half way through the darn thing.  My left inner thigh went totally concave and my right calf completely seized up.  A nice gentleman had to come into the slip n' slide and drag me out because I couldn't move.

Getting there:
Daniel and I flew into Denver on Friday, arriving around 5pm.  We flew Southwest, which I have to say is the best airline to take your bike on.  They are one of the cheapest ($75 each way and it does not count as one of the 2 free checked bags) and since it's an over-sized baggage they handle it separately from the other baggage.  The curb side assistant in Tampa was super nice.  He helped pulled the bike up to the side and explained the whole process of how they take care of the baggage.  The curb side assistant in Denver was effective, but not quite as helpful/friendly.  If you're trying to compare airlines, Frontier also only charges $75 each way and JetBlue charges $50 each way, but it counts as your 1 free checked bag.  All the others that I've checked are $150 each way.

I actually was able to break down my bike and pack it up all by myself.  I borrowed a friend's bike box.  Thank you Megan!

Prep Time:
Friday night we visited the Epic Brewery then went down the street to have pizza for dinner.  I refrained from drinking any alcohol until Sunday.  When we got back to the house, I pretty much just went to bed and didn't set my alarm.

Saturday I was up around 7am and we, minus Erica, all headed out for a couple mile hike in the Mount Evans area - Mt. Bierstadt.  We didn't go too far because I didn't want to wear myself out for Sunday.

When we were done, we went home to pick up Erica and then go grab some lunch and beer (for everyone else) to have that night since we weren't planning on going anywhere except for dinner.  I had vegetarian biscuits and gravy with fruit and we shared fries for lunch.  I wasn't really hungry, but it was delicious and once I started eating I didn't stop until it was all gone.  After lunch and going to the beer store, we went to an Organic Grocer's store to pick up some beet juice.  Thanks to Erica for helping wrangle the boys and getting me to the store and back to the house in time to set up my bike.

I started setting up my bike once we made it back home.  Daniel and Chris "supervised".  It took me about 45 - 60 min. to set up my bike.  I was taking my time for sure.  Once I was all done, I took my bike around the block for about 10 minutes to make sure that it wouldn't fall apart on me, everything was set properly and my power was working correctly.  All was good and I was a happy camper.  I took a shower and about 30 minutes later we headed out for some Sushi for dinner.  Daniel and I ordered 3 rolls and crab rangoons.  We ate almost all of it ourselves.  I think we shared a couple of slices with Chris.  Nice and full, I headed to bed around 10:30 and realized I hadn't painted my nails yet.  So, I got out of bed, did them real quick and hoped I didn't fall asleep and move around too move, messing them up.

Race Time:
Chris and Daniel got up with me and took me to the race.  I had a Smooth Caffeinator Picky Bar for breakfast.  1 hr before the race I took 2 SportsLegs pills, 30 minutes before the race I drank X2 Performance (I am really liking this stuff) and took an Gu electrolyte pill, and about 15 minutes before the race I ate half a bag of PowerBar strawberry/banana gels.  I sprayed on some TriSlide and used plastic bags to get on my wetsuit and I was able to get it on very quickly.  I was kind of in a hurry too because I wanted to warm up in the water before they kicked everyone out.  I made it in time for a quick 5 minute warm up that I thought was helpful, but turned out to be almost useless.  More on that below.

Gear and nutrition for the race:

• Zoot Ultra trisuit with Tribal logo
• Tyr earplugs
• Tyr Special Ops 2.0 goggles
• Wigwam socks
• Nike sun visor
• Louis Garneau x-tri-lite bike shoes
• Tifosi sunglasses
• Lazer Tardiz aero helmet
• Xentis Mark 1 race wheels
• Profile Design aero bullet bottle holder 
• 2XU X2 Project X full wetsuit 
• Scott T2C running shoes
• Fuel Belt race belt
• Bike nutrition:
• 2 scoops Infinit mix and 1 scoop Fluid - Passion Fruit Tea 
• Powerbar Waffle
• 2 SportsLeg pills and 1 electrolyte pill that I lost on the bike course
• Run nutrition:
• EFS Liquid Shot - Kona Mocha 
• oranges, water, and gatorade from the course

The Swim
Time - 33:27
Cat Place - 2

The swim is an out in back in the Aurora Reservoir.  It wasn't as clear as they made it out to be, but at least it didn't taste salty.  So, about the warm up.  I got in and dunked my head under and immediately was gasping for air because the water was so cold.  I dunked my head about 6 or 7 times before I finally started to get used to it.  Once I could hold my breath under water, I started swimming around to loosen up my wetsuit a bit.  I was in the second wave so I was off quickly.  I was only out of the water for about 4 minutes.  When my wave went, I got in about 2 strokes before I started gasping for air every time I put my head under the water.  I had to swim with my head above water for what felt like the first 400 yards, but was probably more like 200 or 300.  Which is still a lot.  When I was finally able to swim with my head under the water, I noticed my hair getting caught in the velcro of my wetsuit.  It kept pulling my head so I wasn't able to turn my head without extra effort.  Very annoying and it started early in the swim.  I finally got into a rhythm about half way and of course the water became choppy on the way back.  As I came out of the water, I had to yank my hair from the velcro.  Ouch!  Also, I didn't hit the start button (well, I hit it, twice, but I guess I didn't push hard enough because it didn't start) so I had no idea what my swim time was.

On a good note, even though my hair got caught in the velcro, my wetsuit felt good.  I didn't feel constricted around the neck and shoulders like I usually do.  I'm hoping it has a little to do with swimming a few times before the race in my wetsuit to get used to it.

T1
Time - 1:44
Cat Place - 4

I had to walk for about 20 seconds coming out of the water to catch my breath.  I've been trying really hard to just get out and run, regardless of how slow or fast, into T1.  But, the initial freak out and having to pull my hair out of the velcro was enough to make me need a quick break.

The area from the beach to the entrance to T1 is on sand and concrete that is covered with a mat.  I really love this.  There are some races here at Sand Key in Clearwater and Ft. Desoto in St. Pete that do not cover any part of the concrete and it just kills my feet and slows me down to a walk.

The Transition area is set up as first come/first serve.  So, you can pick where you want to set up at.  I chose to set up near the bike exit taking a spot in a four bike stand.  They had the standard racks, but I like the stand better.  I don't have to worry about bumping bikes with anyone and I can just pull my bike out instead of trying to finagle it out from under the bars.  

The Bike
Time - 2:49:58
Cat Place - 2

The bike started off good.  I already had my shoes clipped in and was able to hop on and ride off quickly.  The first 10 miles was 5 miles out and back of rolling hills.  The way out was with the wind.  The way back was against, but didn't feel too hard I guess because it was still early in the race.  The next 25-ish miles were with the wind and slightly downhill.  It was great.  I was averaging 23 mph + the entire time.  Starting around mile 30 was when I started hitting the wind.  Some climbing started around 37.  Mile 42 is when I really started hitting the big hills.  I had one mile at 11.1 mph!  Thankfully the elevation never really hit me so at least I wasn't gasping for air for any other reason than just trying to get up the hills.  Going down was a lot of fun, but you can never regain the time lost going up the hill.

The bike course is a 10 mile out and back and then a big square back to the race site.  Pretty simple and very few turns.  There are 3 aid stations stocked with gels, gatorade and water.  I refilled my water bottle once.  From the point where you start the big square loop to the first turn of the square loop is about 7 miles.  This stretch is my least favorite (even considering the hills at the end).  There were these horizontal gashes every 10 feet or so across the whole road.  The gashes made the ride very bumpy which was unfortunate because I had the wind on my back and would have loved to just go.  But, I kept coming out of my seat because of the bumps and slowing down.  I also lost my salt stick dispenser with 2 additional SportsLegs pills and 1 electrolyte pill because of the bumps.  Semi trucks were allowed on this road and I almost got blown off the road by one.  I was so happy when I finally turned off this road.  The rest of the ride was nice.  The road was in good condition and the sites were nice and calming.

     

T2
Time - :50
Cat Place - 1

I actually came in 1st overall for women and 9th overall all participants.  My T2's are lightning fast.  Still working on T1  :).

The Run
Time - 1:51:22
Cat Place - 1

I always come out of T2 too fast.  My first mile was 7:48 and I quickly slowed down as the miles went on.  I bounced around a lot from low to mid 8's.  My last two miles were 9:06 and 8:52.  Starting around mile 5.5 I couldn't feel my legs.  I just kept telling myself to keep going, as long as my legs were moving then I was ok.  Starting around mile 8.5 my calves started to cramp up.  They were more just kind of threatening, like at Beach2Battleship, so I just kept going.  Around mile 10 I could feel the stiffness working its way into my quads.  At my 11, my calves did cramp, but didn't totally seize up.  I had to throw cold water on my legs at the aid stations and stop a couple of times to rub my calves.  A couple of times I couldn't really even move my feet, they just felt like wood blocks when I would take step.  So, between mile 11 and the end I think I stopped around 4 times to stop and rub out my calves so I could keep running.

There is a slip n' slide at the end of the race and I knew I would totally cramp up when I went through it.  But, the slip n' slide was one of the reasons I picked this race so I was going to do it anyway, damn it!  I made it half way through the slip n' slide and my left quad seized up on me as did my right calf.  I couldn't get up or even try to crawl my way out.

I was expecting the run course to be fairly challenging.  It is all out in the open with no shade.  However, I was not expecting the rollers.  The were mild up and downs, but it was constant except for miles 5 - 7.  I love that there was an aid station at every mile.  Not all small races have that and it was greatly appreciated.  All of the stations were stocked and even if the volunteers weren't ready for you, it was easy to grab what you needed because everything was set out.

Overall
Time - 5:17:23
Cat Place - 1/18
Gen Place - 4/145 (3rd excluding elite)
Overall Place - 52/363

I didn't do as good as I was hoping, but I did do what I was expecting I could do.  I don't know if that's necessarily a good or bad thing.  I could maybe have pushed a little harder on the bike, but I know that would have meant cramping even earlier on the run.

I would recommend this race to others.  Especially if you live nearby.  I would also recommend it for anyone training for a hilly half or full distance race but don't want to pay Ironman price for a 70.3.  This race is super cheap if you sign up early enough and cheap (relatively speaking) if you wait and sign up a bit later.  You can also get discounts if you can volunteer or get some of your sherpa(s) to volunteer at the race.  

Getting Better At Swimming

I dislike swimming the most out of the swim/bike/run trio.  I have expressed my dislike to my coach and he nicely said, "...if you don't want to swim, then you should do duathlons".  Psh.

Fiiinnnneee... I'll swim more.  So, I was swimming and swimming and swimming and swimming, and... You get the point, right?  For almost 2 months I was at the pool/beach 3 - 4 times a week with no improvement.  My splits were still the same.  This was getting very frustrating because it was taking away precious time that I could be using to get faster/better at biking or running.  YouTube to the rescue!  Honestly, I think I've watched at least a dozen videos.  Maybe even somewhere between 15 and 20.  And I took a couple of pointers from the masters swim coach at the new gym I'm going to (Harbour Island Athletic Club).  So, for the last 3 months I have been working on my form, making little tweaks here and there, and I have finally started to make some improvements.  So much so that some of my training peeps are noticing!  Bryan asked me to send some of the YouTube videos that stuck out to me.  So, I sent him a whole email and I thought it would be good to post here as well.  Hopefully someone who reads this will find something useful out of all the videos.      

Most of my adjustments came from watching how the pros swim.  I only posted one video, but there are a bunch online.  When they are swimming race pace and in the open water, they all have a high turnover... there is minimal/no gliding.  Some of them swing their arms around, almost horizontal to the water, instead of up and over to get the faster turnover.  So, one thing I focus on when I'm doing fast and sprint sets is to make sure that I am constantly moving my arms.  Gliding can have the potential to create dead spots and slow you down (see the third link below).

  

Freestyle Stroke Analysis: Pro Triathlete Scott Neyedli

			Freestyle Stroke Analysis: Pro Triathlete Scott Neyedli
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Another adjustment for me was learning that I was an over-glider.  This was creating dead spots for me and making me scissor kick when I would take a breath, throwing me off balance and forcing me to work harder on the next stroke to get back up to speed and straighten out.  Also, when I would stretch out to try and get more reach, I was lifting my fingertips which was slowing me down.  

Discover Your Swim Type!

			Discover Your Swim Type! Hi there and welcome to Swim Smooth! You know, when I left England in 2001 and became head coach to Australia's largest triathlon club, I encountered a ...
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Freestyle Swimming - how to develop a longer more efficient stroke.

			Freestyle Swimming - how to develop a longer more effici... High stroke rates - How To Develop A Longer Stroke short scrappy stroke technique? lacking stroke length? See related articles: Rhythm, Timing and Strok...
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Swim Type 4: The Overglider

			Swim Type 4: The Overglider
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The 'catch and pull" and "high elbow" phrases/techniques were very confusing to me.  I tried bending my elbow to almost 90 degrees because that's what a lot of the videos and articles made it sound like you had to do for high elbow.  But, it's not really 90*.  When you are doing faster sets, you want closer to a straight arm with a slight bend, like a 150*, and when you are doing steady work you want a "high elbow" which is really like a 120-130* bend in the elbow.  

Straight arm vs. High elbow catch freestyle swimming

			Straight arm vs. High elbow catch freestyle swimming
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Swimming Technique - Swimming Down A Narrow Corridor

			Swimming Technique - Swimming Down A Narrow Corridor
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2 more videos showing the difference in stroke styles: 

Swim Smooth: What Is An Efficient Freestyle Stroke? Part 1

			Swim Smooth: What Is An Efficient Freestyle Stroke? Part...
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Swim Smooth: What Is An Efficient Freestyle Stroke? Part 2

			Swim Smooth: What Is An Efficient Freestyle Stroke? Part...
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I don't have a videos for my last 2 adjustments.  They are just things that I was told to work on by the masters swim coach at Harbour Island.  One is working on finishing the stroke, making sure that my thumb comes close to or even brushes the side of my thigh.  This is really important when I start to get tired.  I have to remember to relax my shoulders and finish my stroke.  This usually helps me keep pace.  I don't always worry about this if I'm doing sprint sets, but I try to remember because it does help.  The other thing is to rotate more.  Well, relax my shoulders and rotate more to get into a better position for a longer reach.

Garmin Vector Pedals - update 1

I was supposed to give an update on the pedals a couple of weeks ago.  But, they didn't function the way I wanted them to so I made some more adjustments, made some adjustments on my bike seat, made some more adjustments to the pedals, changed my bike seat, changed my bike seat again... yada-yada-yada.  Anyway, I didn't want to give an update when I only had faulty data that I didn't know what the cause was.  So, as for the pedals, after I have everything pretty much set, or as good as they're going to get for now, they work ok.  As far as I can tell, they work exactly like any other power meter.  Although, if you don't have the torque right, you're going to get different outputs.  Which is annoying because if you take off the pedals, you have to set the torque exactly to how it was before to get the same output.  I think this is a user error, but for $1500 and the selling point that they are easy to install and move to different bikes, I think the torque should have some wiggle room and still achieve the same output.  I compared the pedals to the CompuTrainer at my LBS and the CompuTrainer was always 10 - 20 watts higher than the Vector.  It's not a huge deal because if I'm only using my Vectors then I'm always going to be using the same equipment to measure my output and gauge my effort.  It's just a little discouraging to feel like I'm working harder than the power is reading out.  Oh well.  I'm going to try re-installing the pedals one more time.  If it magically starts working how I want it to, then I will post an update.

 


10/3/14 Update:
After some trial and errors and taking my time, I have learned how to successfully, install/uninstall/repeat the vector pedals.

After buying a 15 mm wrench with a long handle, removing the pedals is a lot easier.    



If I can't apply enough pressure using my upper body, I steady the bike and use my legs by putting one foot on the wrench and pushing down.  But, so far I've only had to do that once.  Other times I just need to wrap the handle with a towel so it doesn't dig so much into my hand.

As far as re-installing them, make sure to add some grease to the threads of the pedals to make it easier to get them off later.



Hand-tighten the pedals first, then snap in the back piece of the silver/grey pedal pod, then tighten with the regular wrench just enough so that you would need the wrench to unscrew them.  Then use the torque wrench with the attached crows foot (the picture below shows 19 mm, but you will need a 15 mm with 3/8'' Drive) to tighten down to the recommended torque: 34 - 40 Nm or 25 lb/ft.  I have installed the pedals 3 times successfully.  Each time, I set the torque to 40 Nm and my readings have been consistent after each install.  So, I recommend just going to the full 40 Nm every time the pedals are installed.



Hope this is helpful to someone.  Please let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them.

Garmin Vector Pedals

So I took the plunge and invested in a power meter for my bike.  And, when I say investment, I really mean it.  They are not cheap.  I was able to find a decent deal online for the Garmin Vector pedals at $1500.  See what I mean?  An 'investment'...

This post is kind of a review, but also a 'lessons learned' about the Garmin Vector.  My reasoning for buying the Vector was because it was just as much as the crank set power meters, but I could move them around if I wanted.  I had contemplated the Stages power meter (PM), was actually really close to buying them, but then decided that 1) I just bought a new crankset and I didn't want to pay extra to replace one of the cranks and 2) it would be harder to sell if/when I decided to sell them.  This is because with the Stages, you have to pick the right crank, or buy the whole crankset which makes it almost as much as the Vectors or any other power meter.  So, if I just bought the one crank, in order to sell it I would have to find someone that needed that specific brand crank and size.  If this is confusing, you can check out the purchasing options of Stages here.

On to after the purchase.  I got my pedals on Tuesday and was super excited until I spent 2 hours trying to get my old pedals off.  They were on so tight neither Daniel nor I could get them off.  I was sweaty and aggravated and wanted to throw my bike across the room.



I didn't though.  On Wednesday I took my bike to the closest bike shop around me first thing when they opened, smiled big, and asked them to please help me take off my old pedals and put on the new ones.  They did.  All was good in the world again to me.  That is, until I got home and realized that I am an idiot.  I put my bike in my car, laying it down on one side  Well, it put so much pressure on the pod that it snapped!  I didn't notice when I first put my bike in my car, but as soon as I pulled it out, I knew exactly what I did.

Here's a picture of what the pod is (not broken, not on my bike):


My next course of action was to super glue it.  Which worked, but I had to apply about 5 coats and wait about 4 hours.  I put one end of the tape on the back of the pod and the other end on the pedal to hold the pod in place so the glue could dry.  It lasted through a 75 min indoor trainer session Wednesday night and about 1.5 hours of a close to 2 hr ride on Saturday.  On Wednesday I did two other things.  1) emailed Garmin, told them my story, and asked them if they would send me a free or discounted pod this one time.  They emailed me back on Sunday (yeah, 4 days later) and said they would this one time send me a free pod replacement.  Minor points deduction for the delayed response (this is only because they do say the will get back to you in about 2 or 3 days) but major points added for sending me a replacement pod.  2) I ordered a pod online that I could get in a few days.  I ended up getting the one I ordered online on Saturday.

After a little lounging around I got to work putting on the new pod.  Here is where the 'lessons learned' starts to really kick in.
Lesson 1) You really have to put a lot of elbow grease (weight) into getting the pedals off.  I was getting sweaty again and on the verge of tears.  I was literally standing on the wrench and pushing down with my foot.  



After about 20 minutes of trying to get the pedal off it finally budged and I was stupid happy.


Lesson 2) When removing or installing pedals, think of removing the pedals as requiring you to loosen the pedals by turning in the same direction as pedaling backward.  And, to tighten go the same direction as pedaling forward.  All of the videos and tutorials that I watched and read online kept saying that you need to turn the pedals clockwise on the non-drive chain side (side without the chain) and turn it counter-clockwise on the drive chain side.  For me, this was kind of confusing.  I know what clockwise and counter-clockwise are.  For whatever reason, it would just get mixed up in my head.  Then I watched one video that mentioned the pedals are self-tightening, so when you pedal they automatically tighten some.  Which is why the pedals can get on so tight (Lesson #3 here).  And, why for me it seems more logical to think of it as tightening is the same way as pedaling forward and loosening is the same way as pedaling backward.

Lesson 4) Power meters don't like to talk to your Garmin 910xt or any other wrist GPS device when it's on your wrist, especially when you're outside.  When I was riding indoor on Wednesday, I was getting pretty steady data.  I didn't really know what to expect, so I thought getting a couple of 2 or 3 second drops a minute was ok.  I went for an outdoor ride on Saturday and got hardly any readings at all.  I figured it was because the broken pod that was super glued just wasn't working right.  But, Saturday I put on the new pod, re-calibrated and rode on Sunday.  Sunday I got about 10 minutes worth of power data out of an hour ride.  Can you feel my frustration at this point?  I went online and scoured the internet forums for something, anything, that would help me.  I finally came across a forum where it was an actual Garmin support staff answering the questions.  Someone had the same problem as me and it turns out that when you wear the watch on your wrist, the signal can't reach the watch as well as if it were in the middle of the handlebars.  It semi-works indoors because the signal can bounce off the walls and then eventually hit the Garmin (hence why I was some worthwhile readings on Wednesday night).      

So, after all of this, I will try one more ride indoor and one outdoor using the power meter tomorrow and Thursday with my watch on the bike in between my bars.  Not sure where I'm going to put it, but I'll try to finagle something and will post my outcome.  Wish me luck!          

On My Mind Update

I posted a lot in 'On My Mind', so thought I should give an update on it all.

1) Isagenix - I deem the 9 day cleanse successful.  It's been over a month and I have been able to keep 5 of the 9 pounds that I lost off.  I will take on the 'Race to Maintenance' at the beginning of August to get ready for Augusta and IMFL.  My reason for waiting until August is to train heavy and race light.  'Race to Maintenance' is 5 days of Shake Days with 1 to 2 normal meals and snacks throughout the day, then 2 Cleansing Days.  Repeat until you reach the desired weight.

2) Harbour Island Athletic Club - I think I am going to stick with this club.  Everyone really is super nice and I haven't missed any of my swims in the last 2 months.  This is because I can't use the excuse 'I don't have enough time'.  Because really, 99% of my swim workouts are only about an hour.  Meaning, I can leave my house and be back in 1.5 hours.  It's hard to talk myself out of swimming when I know it will only take me 7 minutes to make it to the pool.

3) Strength Training - I have been sticking to my strength training regimen of at least 2 days plus the one day of strength training with Jon.  Some weeks this makes my legs or arms dead for the tri training stuff, i.e. swim, bike, run, but I just try to push through my workouts and give all that I can.  No rest for the weary, or wicked ;).  I have also been sticking to my plan of not eating carbs at night unless I have a big training day or race the next day and not eating before a workout if the workout is less than 90 minutes.  I think both of these have contributed to me keeping off those extra pounds.

4) Races -

• HITS went pretty good.  I finished 5th female overall, 1st in my a/g.  Definitely glad that I dropped down to the Olympic distance.

Swim - 27:17
Bike - 1:15:26
Run - 44:44
Total time - 2:30:16
My bike could have been better, but there was quite a bit of wind.  Everyone was talking about it after the race so I was glad it wasn't just me being a wimp.  My run was awesome though.  The time off and dropping to the Olympic distance was a good idea.  I didn't have any issues with my Achilles.  This is the first time I've participated in a HITS race.  I enjoyed it.  The venue was good; setup and coordination were good also.  I would do this race again and recommend it to others.  

• You can check out the recap for Haines City 70.3 here.
• Hurricane Man was cancelled because of weather.  I ended up doing 80 laps in the pool (booooo!  Soooo boring!)  

Ironman 70.3 Haines City 2014 Race Recap

This race turned out good so I feel obligated to write a recap.  If for nothing else, to help remember what I did pre- and during- race time.

Tuesday 04/08/14
75' Spin, 45' ROB (run off the bike).  I asked the class if they would stay for 75' because that's what I had on my training plan and they agreed.  It was nice to have the company AND not have to change my training.  For the run,  I was supposed to find a hill, but there is no such thing around where I live.  I got on the treadmill and tried to mimic the first two of the three loops of the race run course.  This was the workout:
.3 mile @ 0 incline, easy pace
1 mile @ 5 incline, 9:27 pace
.25 mile @ 0 incline, 8:00 pace
.25 mile @ 3 incline, 8:00 pace
2.7 mile @ 0 incline, 7:47 pace
1 mile @ 5 incline, 9:27 pace
.25 mile @ 0 incline, 8:00 pace
.25 mile @ 3 incline, 8:00 pace
.55 mile @ 0 incline, 7:30 pace
Run time - 56'
Run distance - 6.55 miles

Wednesday 04/09/14
100's to failure swim, 30' easy run, and 30' strength training.  This is the last day that I did any strength training and it was mostly body weight stuff and some abs.  On the run, I tried to do 30' of the same workout from the previous day but with a little more warm up and cool down.
Swim distance - 3000m.  I did 18 - 100's between 1:34 and 1:37
Run distance 3.2 miles

Thursday 04/10/14
45' Bike, 30' ROB.  The run was supposed to be a progressive run, getting faster for mile 3 and 4.
Bike distance - 18.1 miles
Run distance - 4 miles

Friday 04/11/14
I did not workout at all on Friday.  I did, however, have 4 glasses of wine, coal fired oven wings, and half a pie of pizza from Cristino's in Ybor for dinner.  That place is soooo good!
This is the day that I started drinking 8 oz. of beet juice... 3 days of beet juice, up to and including race day.  I drank it before I started drinking.

Saturday 04/12/14
I did a short 10 min. swim to test out a wetsuit I was borrowing since I have a nice hole in the crotch of mine.  Suit worked out nicely.  When I was done, I put on my running shoes and did a 2 mile test run of the course.  Mostly to tackle the awful hill that is at the beginning of every loop to get a feel for it.
I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Ezekiel bread for breakfast.  I didn't eat again until 5:00.  I grabbed some sushi from Publix and a yo-yo cookie.  I've always had some sort of sweet the night before a race or even the morning of.  I used to eat mini powdered donuts before races.  But, now I just stick to the night before.  I ate the sushi around 5:00 and held off eating half the cookie until 6:30.  I save the other half for after the race.  Throughout the day I was sipping on a 24 oz bottle of Gatorade.  2nd day of beet juice.  I was in bed by 8:00

Race Day! Sunday 04/13/14
I set my alarm for 4:10 AM.  That gave me 30' to get ready.  My plan was to eat at 4:30 (2 hours and 48 minutes before my wave) and be out the door by 4:45.  I actually was done by 4:40, but didn't pull out until about 4:50.
Breakfast:
Bagel from Publix with whipped peanut butter and banana slices.  Last 8 oz of beet juice.  Monster vanilla light coffee drink.  I drank half of this and then threw it out.  I didn't want it to upset my stomach, but I wanted the calories, nutrients, and of course caffeine!
I got to the race site around 5:10, 5 minutes to park, and was in transition by 5:45.  Sarah and Shirah turned out to be racked right next to me.  So, I chatted with them for a bit while I was setting up my area.  I thought my back tire was a little low, so I borrowed someone's pump and filled it up.  The transition isn't the best.  It's U shaped and slightly uphill.  I was at the bottom of the U.  So, it made it easy to find my bike at least.  They had water in the transition area for you to fill up your bike and there was also a bike mechanic around to help with pumping up tires or checking out other quirks.  After I left transition, I walked to meet the rest of the TRIBAL and Mad Dog groups.  Kelly was nice enough to watch my transition bag so I didn't have to take it all the way back to my car.  I went to the bathroom shortly after meeting up with them and that was the only time I had to go.  I didn't have any stomach issues or have to pee the entire race.  I did get a little nervous pee in the beginning but I was able to take care of that in the water (ewww.  LOL).  30 minutes before the swim, I took a gel.
My outfit - LG tri top, SOAS tri shorts (LOVE THESE SHORTS!!!), nike pro compression sports bra  

Let's get to the good stuff:

Swim course:
This swim is a little weird.  It's in the shape of an M, so there are a lot of turns and you need to do a lot of sighting.  I think this was the first year ever that wet suits were allowed because they moved the race up a month and so it was still cool enough for suits.  Not freezing though, which was nice.  When you get in and out of the water, it's very mushy and grassy.  Feels really gross under your feet.  There are also patches of deep holes (for me at least) that require you to keep swimming when you think you should be close enough to shore to walk.  
Execution:
I used a borrowed Xterra sleeveless wetsuit, used my Tyr Special Ops goggles, and remembered to use my Tyr ear plugs.  Those things are amazing!
I recently read some article on tips for mastering the swim.  I took away a few pointers and tried them out on this race.
1) warm up beforehand.  To do this, I ran back and forth in the sand about 5 times to get my legs loose and air and blood pumping through me.  Once I was in the water, I dunked under a few times and swam side to side and out and back (wherever I could find room).
2) position yourself on the outside, furthest from the first turn buoy.  This is to avoid getting caught in the 'windmill' where arms and legs are just flailing everywhere.  I started in the front on the far left.
3) don't stop swimming.  Even if you grab someone, just keep swimming.  I am really bad about this.  As soon as I see bubbles in front of my I think feet around are going to start kicking right in front of me and I will stop.  Every time I accidently grab someone's leg or foot, I stop and see what's around me.  This time, I just keep swimming.  Except for one time when I pulled some guys arm down.  I stopped to say I was sorry.
In the end, I was happy with all these points.  I will continue to execute them and hopefully it will work in IMFL.
I should mention that the swim coach at Harbour Island Athletic Club also gave me a couple of pointers on my swimming style that I thinking helped me.
1) open up more.  Meaning, don't swim sense tense with everything so close together.  Reach my arms out as far as I can
2) follow through on the stroke.  Instead of cutting the stroke short when pulling it out of the water, follow through.  I like this better than short strokes anyway.  I am not a sprinter.  To me, short strokes are for sprinters.
When I got out of the water, I started unzipping my suit and running up the sand hill.  I didn't stop or slow down.
Swim time - 35:11.  I wanted to do under 33 minutes.  Oh well.
Division rank - 6

T1 - 3:20

Bike course:
The bike course starts off with a nice little hill right when you get out of transition.  If you do this race, REMEMBER to set your gears to easy.  After you get pass the first .5 mile, it's relatively flat and fast until mile 27 in which the climbs start.  They end around mile 42.  The wind wasn't too bad this year.  There are 3 stations, one about every 15 miles stocked with water, Perform, bananas, and gels.  Probably some other stuff, but that's what I remember.
Execution
I put on sunglasses that were driving me bonkers in the beginning because they wouldn't sit right with my helmet.  I almost threw them on the ground and said forget it, but I just bought them and didn't want to look for or pay for another pair.  I used my Lazer Tardiz aero helmet, a pair of Wigwam socks, and LG Tri-Lite bike shoes.  For my nutrition, I had 2 scoops of Infinit and 1 squirt of MiO Energy in a bottle on my back holder and water in my Profile Design bullet water bottle that sits between my handle bars.  I also had 2 gels in my bento box.  I drank the Infinit mix about every 15 minutes and took the gels at mile 25 and 50.
I didn't even make it a half mile before I saw that I had a flat tire.  I used the same wheels that I used at Des Moines and the same thing happened.  I pumped my back tire up in the morning, and by the time I got on the bike, it was flat.  I was pissed, but glad I brought Pit Stop this time.  I was back on the road in less than 2 minutes, but was praying the whole time that my tire would hold up.  Thankfully it did.  I have to say that tubular tires are kind of a pain and are expensive to replace the tire.  But, fixing that flat in 2 minutes was awesome.  
Bike time - 2:39:19.  My goal was 2:40:00.  So, I did pretty good considering I had to give up 2 minutes to fix the flat.
Division rank - 8

T2 - 1:58

Run course:
The run course is hard.  It's 3 loops, with each loop starting off with a .8 mile ascent.  There is very little shade.  There are aid stations about every mile with ice, water, Perform, gels, pretzels, oranges, bananas, and coke.
Execution
I took 3 gels with me on the run.  I put them in my shirt pockets at the beginning of the race.  So, when I got to T2, I just needed to slide on my run shoes and grab my race belt and visor.  Shoes I wore were KSwiss Kwicky QT2 (LOVE THESE SHOES), race belt was Fuel Belt with just the bib holder, and the visor was my usual black Nike visor.  My plan was to take a gel at mile 3, 6.5, and 10.  It ended up being 3, 6, and 9.  I had a couple of oranges on the course, a couple cups of Perform, lots of water, and 1 cup of coke at the very beginning.  These were my thoughts:

• "Run Happy... with good form".  
• "Who am I?  I am a Champion!"  - I got this from a motivational video I watched on YouTube about a week before the race.  It was simple and easy enough to remember but tough enough to keep me pushing myself

  I didn't stop running except for through one aid station on the last loop.  I tried not to look at my watch and just run.  Not worrying about how fast or slow I was going.
Run time - 1:48:15.  My goal was 1:45.  But, I am not upset with a 3 minute difference.
Division rank - 5

Overall time - 5:08:03
Division place - 5

I missed the World Championship slot by 11 seconds.  There were two slots available.  1st and 2nd didn't take the slots so it rolled down. 3rd and 4th place took the slots.  And, I missed 4th place by 11 seconds.  I try to think about all the ways I could have made up 11 seconds.  Not having a flat tire is #1.  Not stopping at the aid station, paying more attention to my pace on the run, not stopping to fix the timing chip that was digging into my ankle...  Woulda, shoulda, coulda.  I didn't go into this race trying to qualify for World's.  I just wanted to beat my time from last year.  Which I did by 14 minutes.  I like racing.  Not stressing about how I'm going to afford racing.  So, it's probably better that I didn't get it.  The World Championship for 70.3 this year is in Mont-Tremblanc, Canada.  I could probably do 2 or 3 other Half or Full races for the price tag that it would cost me to race in Canada.  At least at the Hy-Vee 5150 Championship, if you place high enough you win money.