Hills!

Got up this morning to a nice, muggy 71 degree morning. I have no idea what the "feels like" temperature is, but it's NOT 71. By the end of our .8 mile warmup, we were all sweating. Never a good sign.

Hill repeats were on the plate this morning, 7 of them. I got in 4 of the big hill near Coach L's house and then did the long, gradual one on the way back to the car. I'd rather do the big hill. It'll all out for a shorter distance, even if it's a bigger incline. It's over with faster too. Ah well. The four on the big hill felt pretty good. I wish I could stay and do all 7 one day... it'd be nice to actually finish a track workout!

Later today - spin class. No TNT since it's cardio week.

Thie week's workouts

Here's this week's workouts. I'm looking forward to it! It's cardio week for TNT, so no weight lifting for me!

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Track - Hill repeats - 7  hill repeats all out / walk jog down hill for recovery
Spin class

Wednesday
Swim - wu -  8 x 75 swim (:15 rest), odds - breast/back, evens - free; 2 x 200 free medium pace (:25 rest); 100 swim easy pace (1 min. rest); 200 free - fast pace (:30 rest); 4 x 100 free - medium pace (:10 rest); cool down

Thursday
Bike - 1 hour good wu and cd. In the middle do: 3 x 5 min. at race pace with 2 min. easy btwn.

Friday
Swim - wu 500 swim/drills; 1 x 400; 30 sec rest; 2 x 200; 30 sec rest btwn each; 3 x 100; 30 sec rest btwn each; 4 x 50; 30 sec rest btwn each

Saturday
Run - easy 6 mile if not racing or day off if you aren't racing today and are tomorrow.

Sunday
If you aren't racing, join the others on the Diabetes Ride. Bike - 2 hour
RACE DAY!!!! (Broadlands Sprint)

Official TriRock Annapolis Race Report - Post Race/Summary/Lessons Learned

Part 3 of the official race report

Post-Race

I felt GREAT at the finish line. As we got closer to the line, I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to finish (and in decent time) my first triathlon. The clock time was 1:57 something, which was about right since I had entered the water around 7:20. I was so happy and proud of myself!

Once I crossed the line, I got my medal, food, and drinks. Jon caught up with me and I threw him the cookies for later. I was a bit confused on how to get back into the transition area to get my stuff, but managed to figure it out. One of the girls in my age group was just heading out on the run, so I directed her on where to go. I finished packing up my stuff and we headed out. If the weather had been better, we would’ve hung out at the post-race party. But it had started to sprinkle again and I just wanted dry clothes!

The race results were posted later that same day, which was good. The distances were not accurate because of the volunteer on the run course. I think the swim and bike ones were though. There didn’t seem to be too many race officials on the course or I’m sure a lot of us would’ve gotten hit with the drafting penalty on the bike ride. The photos came a few days later. I was happy to see them and might even order a couple.

Summary and Lessons Learned

Overall, I was pretty happy with how this race went, even in the rain. I need to get in more open water training, biking in the rain, and be more comfortable on my bike in general. I’d probably do this race again, but am looking forward to the rest of my season!

Official TriRock Annapolis Race Report - Swim/Bike/Run/Transitions

Part 2 of the official race report

Bike

It was still misty raining. The road was wet and definitely dangerous. I hadn’t ridden in the rain before, so that was new to me. No potholes really, but the metal gratings on the bridge were NOT safe in the rain. The course was too tight in some areas, roomy enough in others. It was a 2-loop course. The turn-around point to do the second loop or to go back to the transition area wasn’t safe. People were all over the place. There were no food/water stops since it was a 12 mile course. The shot blocks I had in transition helped to keep me going.

I need to get out on my bike and ride more often. I’m not incredibly comfortable in close quarters and in dangerous situations. That’ll all come with time, I’m sure.

Run

Coming out of T2, I felt better than I thought I would. I’d only done about 3 short bricks before the race, so I wasn’t sure how I’d do. I’d say by the time I got around the first corner (maybe .2 miles into the run) my legs felt back to normal. I didn’t wear a hat/visor, which was fine since it was just starting to not rain anymore (YEA!). I also didn’t bring any gels with me given that it was a short run and I had the shot blocks after the swim. I think that was plenty. There were a couple of aid stations and one water station. That was definitely enough for the 5k. There wasn’t a lot of crowd support, but a few of the volunteers were AWESOME. There was one band along the way, which was cool. For being TriRock, they definitely didn’t have the number of bands I thought they would (aka: the number that were stated in the original sign up information). There were a good number of hills, but I felt great doing them. No problems on the run.

One of the volunteers added .4 miles onto the run for everyone by sending us back up this one hill. Since it’s the racer’s responsibility to know the course but also to follow directions on the course, we all did the extra .4 miles. Ah well… I did meet Meredith and Mark along the run and they were great company.

Next time, I’ll definitely bring my Garmin. I had no idea what my pace was and that was really screwing me up.

Transitions

When I got to T1, I was happy that I had gone back a couple of times to readjust everything. My final setup was just what I needed. In T1, I grabbed 3 shot blocks and some water.

For T2, I took too long thinking about changing socks. I should’ve just gone without even thinking about it. My feet were wet and would stay wet no matter what I did. I realized halfway out of the transition area that I left my Garmin watch behind. Since it was race time, I decided not to worry about it and just get onto the run course as fast as possible.

Next race, I need to make sure my watch is somewhere I remember to put it on. Also, if there’s rain in the forecast, I need to throw a garbage bag into my transition bag to cover everything so that my shoes don’t get wet.

Part 3: Official TriRock Annapolis Race Report - Post Race/Summary/Lessons Learned.

Sunday brick turned into Monday ride

Sunday's workout was supposed to be a 90 minute ride followed by a 20 minute run. Guess who didn't do it. I figured cleaning my house - for once - was more important. 3 hrs of that got me one floor of the townhouse and the stairs. Yea... there's still 2 floors to go. We'll see if/when that happens.

So, we got up today and did a 70 minute ride and no run. (See, I really am slackin on my runs.) The ride was great! We headed to the W&OD trail and headed west and then back. On the way back, I picked up the speed and cadence a bit. It felt great! Can't wait to get back out on my bike with my hubby... maybe we'll even get up the nerve to get off the trail!

Saturday Volunteering

Today was the Cascades 10k that Amazia Fitness was co-sponsoring and volunteering at. J and I got up and went to help hand out water and man our table. It was a fun time! Coach L is all casted up. So frustrating for her. She did mention that her dr was going to put a water-proof cast on so that she could at least pool run.

The workout for the day was a 10k time trial... so did not happy. My mom and nephew came up and we went out and about instead. Oops...

I REALLY need to start getting my long runs in and stop putting them off. I have to be prepared by October for this Olympic distance!

Afternoon swim

Today's swim was:
wu drills and swim - 400; Main set: 4 x 300 medium pace :30 rest after each; CD - kick and non free

And that's exactly what I did. It felt pretty good, though I was definitely tired by the end of it.

I'm also tired of kids getting into the 1 designated lap lane in a 3 lap lane pool. I get the lessons taking place in one lane, but the other kids in the middle lane need to get out of the pool. This summer should be interesting as far as that's concerned. I chatted with the lifeguard and she said they were having a huge guard meeting that night to discuss kids in the lap pool. We'll see how it all plays out next week!

Official TriRock Annapolis Race Report - PreRace

Apparently, my recap of the TriRock race wasn't what I should've written in an official race report. So, I'm writing the official one based on this article: http://www.examiner.com/triathlon-in-washington-dc/how-and-why-to-write-a-race-report

·  Race Name: TriRock Annapolis

·  Race Date: May 14, 2011
·  Race Location: Annapolis, MD - City Docks
·  Race Distance: Sprint (500m OWS, 12.1 mi bike, 5k run (which turned into a 3.5 mi run)
·  Division: F 30-34
·  Total Time: 1:39:25
·  Time Breakdown: Swim - 14:06, T1 - 3:40, Bike - 48:23, T2 - 2:16, Run 31:03

·  Age Group Placing: 29/52

·  Overall Placing: 567/825 (male and female)

Pre-race:
I registered online about 2 weeks before the race after my May 1 triathlon got canceled. The fees were a high ($140/USAT members). The course maps and directions were provided online before hand - which was nice.

I was a little annoyed that there was no race-day packet pickup as it's an hour long drive (with no traffic) from home to Annapolis. It turned out to be ok, because we just made a weekend out of it instead of driving to/from Annapolis twice. Packet pick-up was from 2-8pm on Friday, May 13.

We arrived around 1:15, checked into the hotel, dumped our stuff (including my bike), drove down to where pick-up was, and promptly turned around to find parking. We got kind of lost during this process, but found one of the two race-day garages, so that was good. We walked down to the venue and picked up my packet. We had allowed plenty of time to hang out at the expo, but were pretty disappointed in the offerings (small expo). We did enjoy listening to the race MCs talk a bit. There wasn’t much swag at all (especially for that expensive of a race). I signed up for TriRock Gettysburg and got a TriRock shirt, which is free advertising for them, and another shirt for me!

I didn’t get much sleep, but woke up at 4 and took a shower. Weird since I knew I’d be doing the race, but I needed it. Got my race tattoos on, packed everything for the race into my bag, and headed to the car. On the way over to the race, I had my Luna protein bar (standard breakfast before a morning workout) and some water. We found the parking garage, pumped up the tires on my bike, and started heading down to the race area.

There were plenty of volunteers directing us where to enter the transition area. By the time we got to the transition areas, it was 5:30 and I had plenty of time to set up (maybe too much). I went back and forth several times about how each item was laid out in my transition area. I think this generally worked for me and I’ll probably do something similar next time.

Thankfully, by getting to the transition area early, I was able to use the bathroom before the rush. They definitely needed more port-a-potties. The pre-race safety meeting included a lot of chatter from the MCs of the event, most of which wasn’t heard by most of the athletes. There were close to 1000 of us and everyone talking, moving around, and being nervous made it difficult to focus on the task at hand.

The pre-race National Anthem rendition was one of the worst I’ve ever experienced. In my survey after the race, I made sure to note it. Following a thank you to all of the military participants, the National Anthem should’ve been a lot more traditional. I get that it’s the TriROCK series, but still.

As the misty rain fell, it was 7am and time to start!

Part 2: Official TriRock Annapolis Race Report - Swim/Bike/Run/Transitions.

Thursday TNT

Today was a TNT day. Both of our newbies showed up again - always a good thing. The workout was definitely tough. I think it was because of the order of the exercises. It makes all of the difference in the world some days.

I didn't do my bike today because I did spin on Tuesday. I need to start doing the bike on Thursdays and stop making excuses.

I like afternoon swims

If there's one thing I learned today, it's that I like early afternoon swims. The pool is quiet, not too many people around, and it's easy to just do the workout.

Today's workout was:
wu - ladder of 25, 50, 75, 100, 75, 50, 25; 300 pull :30 rest; 200 kick - medium pace : 20 rest; 100 choice - fast pace : 30 rest; 4 x 25 swim - easy pace :20 rest; 9 x 50 swim , every 3rd 50 fast (:30 rest btwn each)

I added a 50m cooldown to it, but kept everything else the same. It felt good. My "fast" is getting faster. My pulls are getting stronger. My kicks are also getting stronger.

Total: 1600m

Can't wait for my next swim.

Tuesday Track

There were three of us this morning for mile repeats. We ran almost a mile warm-up, then 2 of the repeats (resting for our 400s instead of running that too), and then I had to go. It turns out that it was almost a mile back to my car too. Oops. It was about 73 degrees and already sticky as all get out. Made for a tough workout this morning.

TNT and spin tonight. Got to do both, need the miles for the Get Moving Challenge at work!

Edited in:

Did both TNT and spin tonight. Man was spin rough. It was a great class, but it took a lot out of me!

Workouts for the week

As I said in my previous post, Coach L broke her ankle, so she can't even come to the workouts. :(


Monday
Day off

Tuesday
Track  - wu - 15 min easy; 4 x 1 mile tempo pace; follow each by 400 jog recovery; cool down - 10-15 min. easy
TNT

Wednesday
Swim - wu - ladder of 25, 50, 75, 100, 75, 50, 25; 300 pull :30 rest; 200 kick - medium pace : 20 rest; 100 choice - fast pace : 30 rest; 4 x 25 swim - easy pace :20 rest; 9 x 50 swim , every 3rd 50 fast (:30 rest btwn each)


Thursday
Bike - wu 20 min.; 2 x 20 min - alternate 10 min. at high cadence followed by 10 min. at low cadence. Ride 5 min. easy after each.
TNT

Friday
Swim - wu drills and swim - 400; Main set: 4 x 300 medium pace :30 rest after each; CD  - kick and non free

Saturday
Run - 10k time trial - wu 15 min. then time trial, cool down 15 min.

Sunday
Brick - 90 min . bike followed by 20 min. run

Sunday...

Today's workout was supposed to be:

Sunday Brick: 90 min. - 2 hour ride/ 30 min. run

But, it's my birthday and I didn't wanna. :) In all seriousness, we had brunch with J's cousins and then did some shopping. I did get a 30 min ride in and a 3 mile walk, so that's good, right?

Coach L broke her ankle last week, so she won't be at our workouts next week (which will be a different post). I hope she's ok other than the broken ankle. That would totally suck...

Warrior Dash 5k

Ok, my workout was supposed to be a 6 mile run. HA! I did the Warrior Dash 5k with my siblings and spouses instead. We had such a great time. Lots of walking around, a little running during the race (I took it at my sister's pace), and just a great time.

Before:

After:

Friday Free Swim

Today's swim was 1600 - 2000 freestyle, kick, pull. I did about 1800m with a good combination of the three. There were a ton of kids in the lap pool and it was super annoying. Had to yell at one kid to get out of my lane. Thankfully his dad had been yelling at him to get out too. Ugh. I dread these summer days and the outdoor pool... if there's a thunderstorm or something, I can see the lap pool being taken over by kids.

Glad to have that workout done...