Thursday, January 6, 2011
The 400 Watt Dream
I started riding when I got a bike for Christmas is 2008. After riding without power for two months I began riding with power on February 13th 2009. As I was new to cycling I saw rapid, improvement in my power. For a while I was setting new power records each week. It was nice to set records for the different time periods from 5 seconds all the way to 2 hours, but to me the most important record became the 30 minute average power. I saw it rise from 315 my first test on Feb 16th 2009 up to 368 on May 22nd of 2009. At that point I thought if I could get to 368 in three months then it was only a matter of time before I hit the big 400 for 30 minutes. But I stalled at that level. My power actually dropped for a few months. I matched the 368 again in October. Then on January 7th of 2010 I hit 375. In this past year my overall cycling has continued to improve and I have set new average power records for most of the designated times from 5 seconds to 2 hours but I haven’t improved on my 375 for 30 minutes. It looks like 400 watts for 30 minutes might never happen, and I will be fine if it never does but I really want to hit it. I have adjusted my training a bit and I hope the changes eventually translate to 400 for 30. In the whole scheme of things my power level on the bike doesn’t really matter, when I step back and look at how obsessed I am with my watts I am a little disturbed with myself, but to go down to my basement, get on my bike, have a 30 minute suffer fest, and then plug my power tap into my computer and confirm 400 watts for 30 minutes would be pure joy. The increase from 375 to 400 comes out to an increase of 6.68% ....I hope that it happens.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Christmas Eve Testing
I am quite the scrooge. I told my kids there is no Santa Claus, (the parents of my children’s friends just love me for that one), I don’t buy anybody but my wife and parents presents, and I am annoyed that the pool is closed Christmas Day. So to be true to my scrooge nature I decided to spend Christmas Eve doing some swim and bike testing to see where I am at. My swim speed and bike power have gotten better so I wanted to test exactly how much better.
At Masters I did a 1000 yard time trial in 14:46. That is the fastest I have ever done 1000 yards, but about 10 seconds slower than what I expected. I am lucky to have some great friends who have helped me to get my form better over the last few months. I need to cut another 3 seconds off per hundred before St George. If I can do that I should be able to do the swim in about an hour. I finished my swim with around 3500 yards on the day.
I ate a lot of food and waited about two hours and then I got on my bike. I did a 5 hour bike ride. I warmed up for a half an hour then I started with a 10 minute interval then I did my test interval, 20 minutes all out. I had good power. I was able to increase it throughout the 20 minutes. My first 5 minutes were 369 watts and my last 5 were 399. I averaged 380 watts over the 20 minutes which is my most ever by a few watts. The real good news is even though it was very tough it was not overwhelmingly difficult. My heart rate reached only 173. That is 5 beats lower than my max. This gives me some hope for the future as I think I have room to push myself harder. After my 20 minute test I continued for a total of 2 hours of intervals. Including rest my average power was 310 for 2 hours and my normalized power was 325. Those are good numbers for me considering I started with the hard 20 minute test.
I have major mental problems as this is the stuff I think about all the time. I wish I were more like Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa and thought about how I could make the world a better place. I do think about that stuff as well, but for some reason I am just compelled to think about getting faster, maybe I just need a triathlon intervention.
At Masters I did a 1000 yard time trial in 14:46. That is the fastest I have ever done 1000 yards, but about 10 seconds slower than what I expected. I am lucky to have some great friends who have helped me to get my form better over the last few months. I need to cut another 3 seconds off per hundred before St George. If I can do that I should be able to do the swim in about an hour. I finished my swim with around 3500 yards on the day.
I ate a lot of food and waited about two hours and then I got on my bike. I did a 5 hour bike ride. I warmed up for a half an hour then I started with a 10 minute interval then I did my test interval, 20 minutes all out. I had good power. I was able to increase it throughout the 20 minutes. My first 5 minutes were 369 watts and my last 5 were 399. I averaged 380 watts over the 20 minutes which is my most ever by a few watts. The real good news is even though it was very tough it was not overwhelmingly difficult. My heart rate reached only 173. That is 5 beats lower than my max. This gives me some hope for the future as I think I have room to push myself harder. After my 20 minute test I continued for a total of 2 hours of intervals. Including rest my average power was 310 for 2 hours and my normalized power was 325. Those are good numbers for me considering I started with the hard 20 minute test.
I have major mental problems as this is the stuff I think about all the time. I wish I were more like Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa and thought about how I could make the world a better place. I do think about that stuff as well, but for some reason I am just compelled to think about getting faster, maybe I just need a triathlon intervention.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Ironman World Championship Race Report
Swim
Good: I got really lucky on the swim. I put myself in the middle pretty far back and I didn’t get too caught up in the thrashing. I took a few elbows but I felt like I was able to get some room pretty quick. I took both of the right turns as tight as I could right around the buoy and very strangely everyone else was taking the turns wide so I gained some time and missed the trashing scrum. On the way back in I got on a guys feet and just hung with him for a long time. Then a girl came whizzing by me and I wondered if I should jump on her feet, I decided to jump and hung on her slipstream for dear life till about 100 meters to go when the arch of my left foot cramped and seized up. I just thought I was very lucky it did not seize up earlier. Time 1:10. I’m happy with it.
Bad: Despite my lucky swim it still put me way, way behind.
Ugly: My torque swimskin helped me swim faster. Unfortunately it tore the skin of my arms and lats up pretty good as well. I would recommend anyone thinking of getting a torque to get the pro version not the elite like I had. The elite’s Fabric is closer to sandpaper and the Pro is closer to neoprene.
Bike
Good: I felt in control and under my limit the whole Bike. I think I rode the right pace. The last 2/3rds of the bike were very windy. A lot of people were really struggling to keep their bikes upright. I was bombing down a hill about to pass a guy when we got hit by a huge gust of cross wind. The guy in front of me came very close to biffing it on the bike but pulled out some evasive maneuvers to keep himself up right. If he had gone down I would have nailed him and we both would have been really jacked up. I biked a 4:51 slower that what I thought I could do but considering the wind I am ok with it.
Bad: It felt very hot and I got stung by a bee. The bee got stuck in my race bracelet and stung me. It hurt…Bad.
Ugly: I normally POUND the calories on the bike and I did that in this race also but it was hard. My stomach did not want anything in it. I had to force down the Gu and Ironman’s new drink called perform. My stomach bothered me a lot and kept telling me to stop putting things in it but it was so hot that I thought I really needed to drink a lot in order to keep from dehydrating. I ended up taking in too much and paid for it on the run:
Run
Good: I felt great I was able to run fast and my heart rate was lower than what I expected. I was able to cruise a majority of the time (other than the steeper hills) at between 6:30 and 7:30 miles. The Heat didn’t bother me too much. My time was just under 3:27
Bad: I had some major Gastro Intestinal distress. At mile 3 I stopped at a Porta potty. After that I was ok until around mile 12-14 I suddenly had to go again. I was between aid stations and I slowed way down to see if I could keep myself from going but then it just came. I diarrhea’d myself right there on the Queen K. I walked for a little bit and thought about what I should do and then I thought “Duh stupid” I better just keep running. A few miles later it happened again. I was close to a porta potty but didn’t make it. I got about half in my shorts and half in the porta potty. I kept running and I think it happened one more time… maybe not...I can’t remember for sure. Looking back I could have pushed myself harder on the run. I had gas left in the tank at the end and I guess I paced myself too conservatively. I would like to have changed two things on the run. First I would have liked to push myself to my limit and held a faster pace. Second I would have been wiser with my calorie intake on the bike thus avoiding the GI problems on the run. I think with these two changes I could have had a better run time.
Ugly: My shorts and Socks. I started the run with white socks and ended it with brown socks.
Overall My time was just under 9:35. It was an awesome experience. Racing against the best in the world was really cool. It was neat to be here with my friends. Keena, Jay, B.J. and Doug all had great races. Sean and Michelle also came to support us. It was great to have the support from all my friends at Power Tri. My final overall feeling when it was done is that I need to improve. I hope that I can get better at this whole thing.
Good: I got really lucky on the swim. I put myself in the middle pretty far back and I didn’t get too caught up in the thrashing. I took a few elbows but I felt like I was able to get some room pretty quick. I took both of the right turns as tight as I could right around the buoy and very strangely everyone else was taking the turns wide so I gained some time and missed the trashing scrum. On the way back in I got on a guys feet and just hung with him for a long time. Then a girl came whizzing by me and I wondered if I should jump on her feet, I decided to jump and hung on her slipstream for dear life till about 100 meters to go when the arch of my left foot cramped and seized up. I just thought I was very lucky it did not seize up earlier. Time 1:10. I’m happy with it.
Bad: Despite my lucky swim it still put me way, way behind.
Ugly: My torque swimskin helped me swim faster. Unfortunately it tore the skin of my arms and lats up pretty good as well. I would recommend anyone thinking of getting a torque to get the pro version not the elite like I had. The elite’s Fabric is closer to sandpaper and the Pro is closer to neoprene.
Bike
Good: I felt in control and under my limit the whole Bike. I think I rode the right pace. The last 2/3rds of the bike were very windy. A lot of people were really struggling to keep their bikes upright. I was bombing down a hill about to pass a guy when we got hit by a huge gust of cross wind. The guy in front of me came very close to biffing it on the bike but pulled out some evasive maneuvers to keep himself up right. If he had gone down I would have nailed him and we both would have been really jacked up. I biked a 4:51 slower that what I thought I could do but considering the wind I am ok with it.
Bad: It felt very hot and I got stung by a bee. The bee got stuck in my race bracelet and stung me. It hurt…Bad.
Ugly: I normally POUND the calories on the bike and I did that in this race also but it was hard. My stomach did not want anything in it. I had to force down the Gu and Ironman’s new drink called perform. My stomach bothered me a lot and kept telling me to stop putting things in it but it was so hot that I thought I really needed to drink a lot in order to keep from dehydrating. I ended up taking in too much and paid for it on the run:
Run
Good: I felt great I was able to run fast and my heart rate was lower than what I expected. I was able to cruise a majority of the time (other than the steeper hills) at between 6:30 and 7:30 miles. The Heat didn’t bother me too much. My time was just under 3:27
Bad: I had some major Gastro Intestinal distress. At mile 3 I stopped at a Porta potty. After that I was ok until around mile 12-14 I suddenly had to go again. I was between aid stations and I slowed way down to see if I could keep myself from going but then it just came. I diarrhea’d myself right there on the Queen K. I walked for a little bit and thought about what I should do and then I thought “Duh stupid” I better just keep running. A few miles later it happened again. I was close to a porta potty but didn’t make it. I got about half in my shorts and half in the porta potty. I kept running and I think it happened one more time… maybe not...I can’t remember for sure. Looking back I could have pushed myself harder on the run. I had gas left in the tank at the end and I guess I paced myself too conservatively. I would like to have changed two things on the run. First I would have liked to push myself to my limit and held a faster pace. Second I would have been wiser with my calorie intake on the bike thus avoiding the GI problems on the run. I think with these two changes I could have had a better run time.
Ugly: My shorts and Socks. I started the run with white socks and ended it with brown socks.
Overall My time was just under 9:35. It was an awesome experience. Racing against the best in the world was really cool. It was neat to be here with my friends. Keena, Jay, B.J. and Doug all had great races. Sean and Michelle also came to support us. It was great to have the support from all my friends at Power Tri. My final overall feeling when it was done is that I need to improve. I hope that I can get better at this whole thing.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Kona Outlook
Body Weight: I have been eating a lot of cucumbers and green beans and I’ve lost some pounds. I’ll try to lose a bit more before the race.
Bike: I am in good bike shape. I had a good indicator workout Friday the 24th, I did a ride with a two hour average power of 335 w.
Run: Hooray, my calves are not injured. I have gotten in 3 months of solid running so my run is looking better than before either of my other Ironman races. I had a good indicator run Saturday the 25th, I did 10 miles in 60:45.
Swim: Please pray for lightning because I will probably be 1,756th out of the water. Unless I suddenly gain Michael Phelps type ankle flexibility I am going to be way behind.
Overall: I have a broad expectation range. I think that if things go my way then I could have a good day. If I can minimize my losses on the swim, really hammer the bike and deal with the heat ok on the run then hopefully I’ll do good.
Bike: I am in good bike shape. I had a good indicator workout Friday the 24th, I did a ride with a two hour average power of 335 w.
Run: Hooray, my calves are not injured. I have gotten in 3 months of solid running so my run is looking better than before either of my other Ironman races. I had a good indicator run Saturday the 25th, I did 10 miles in 60:45.
Swim: Please pray for lightning because I will probably be 1,756th out of the water. Unless I suddenly gain Michael Phelps type ankle flexibility I am going to be way behind.
Overall: I have a broad expectation range. I think that if things go my way then I could have a good day. If I can minimize my losses on the swim, really hammer the bike and deal with the heat ok on the run then hopefully I’ll do good.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Utah Half Race Report
I was very excited for this race mainly because of the competitors that were racing. Going into the race B.J. Christensen was definitely the guy to beat. He has established himself as the top over all Utah triathlete. He wins almost every event he enters and is close to untouchable at the Ironman and Half Ironman distance. Also in the mix to win were Heath Thurston and Dantley Young who both have their pro cards and race professionally. My buddy Casey Robles is another competitor that had a shot if he had a good day.
I swam as hard as I could, when I came out of the water my boy Grant told me I was 9:30 behind Heath. That is a LOT of time to make up on the bike. Heath is a strong biker. (The only other time I have raced Heath was at Ironman Florida and over that 112 miles on the bike I only gained 5 minutes on him.) I got out on the bike and started pushing it. I was surprised to catch Casey within about 5-6 miles. I caught Dantley just before the overpass at about mile 9-11 then I didn’t see a soul until just before the turnaround I caught B.J. I was happy with that. I know that the only way I had a chance to beat B.J. was to have a huge lead off the bike and then have a fast run. I didn’t catch Heath until I got back into town. I caught him on the last turn with just a mile or two to go. He had a faster T2 and so we basically started the run together. We were running right about my planned pace. I ran a 1:27 last year on this course averaging 6:40. I wanted to average a 6:27 and be under a 1:25 this year. Unfortunately I just couldn’t hold that pace. After about a mile I watched Heath steadily pull away from me as he held a 6:33 average and ran a 1:25. B.J. caught me around about mile 8 or 9 on the dirt road. At that point I knew that I wasn’t going to catch Heath or B.J., I had a tendon in my right calf that hurt and I knew that no one else was close to catching me so I didn’t want to risk that tendon so I saw no point in pushing hard to the finish. I ended up having a disappointing half Iron run split averaging 7:00 minute miles. I finished 3rd 5:45 behind the winner which I thought would be B.J. but when I crossed the finish line I found out Heath had been able to hold him off and win by a minute.
The win was great for Heath. He has been a good friend of mine and has helped me with my swim and given me some valuable advice. He raced a smart race and had a lot of grit to finish with his fastest career half Ironman run split. He also had his fastest overall half iron time. It shows that he is improving and is doing some things right.
I wanted to win this race real bad but…..oh well.
I swam as hard as I could, when I came out of the water my boy Grant told me I was 9:30 behind Heath. That is a LOT of time to make up on the bike. Heath is a strong biker. (The only other time I have raced Heath was at Ironman Florida and over that 112 miles on the bike I only gained 5 minutes on him.) I got out on the bike and started pushing it. I was surprised to catch Casey within about 5-6 miles. I caught Dantley just before the overpass at about mile 9-11 then I didn’t see a soul until just before the turnaround I caught B.J. I was happy with that. I know that the only way I had a chance to beat B.J. was to have a huge lead off the bike and then have a fast run. I didn’t catch Heath until I got back into town. I caught him on the last turn with just a mile or two to go. He had a faster T2 and so we basically started the run together. We were running right about my planned pace. I ran a 1:27 last year on this course averaging 6:40. I wanted to average a 6:27 and be under a 1:25 this year. Unfortunately I just couldn’t hold that pace. After about a mile I watched Heath steadily pull away from me as he held a 6:33 average and ran a 1:25. B.J. caught me around about mile 8 or 9 on the dirt road. At that point I knew that I wasn’t going to catch Heath or B.J., I had a tendon in my right calf that hurt and I knew that no one else was close to catching me so I didn’t want to risk that tendon so I saw no point in pushing hard to the finish. I ended up having a disappointing half Iron run split averaging 7:00 minute miles. I finished 3rd 5:45 behind the winner which I thought would be B.J. but when I crossed the finish line I found out Heath had been able to hold him off and win by a minute.
The win was great for Heath. He has been a good friend of mine and has helped me with my swim and given me some valuable advice. He raced a smart race and had a lot of grit to finish with his fastest career half Ironman run split. He also had his fastest overall half iron time. It shows that he is improving and is doing some things right.
I wanted to win this race real bad but…..oh well.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Utah Half Testing
I've done my Utah half test workouts:
Bike Friday 13th: I did the Utah half bike course as part of my long bike. I pushed real hard for 30.5 miles of it and was happy with it. I had an average power of 336 over those miles and had good speed as well.
Swim Wednesday 18th: I did a 1000 meter time trial at masters. Diane put me as the first person in the second lane instead of being the last person in the fast lane so "bummer" no drafting for me. I wanted to do between 16:40 and 17:00 and ended up doing a 17:03 so I guess that is OK.
Run Wednesday 18th: I did a 10 mile descending tempo run as part of my 19 mile long run. miles 1-4 at 6:00 pace, mile 5 at 6:27, mile 6 at 6:40, miles 7-8 at 6:53, and miles 9-10 at 7:03. Miles 1-4 were really hard but the rest was cruising. I wanted to do 6 miles at 6:00 pace but didn't have it in me.
Conclusion: I think I have an outside chance at the Utah half. I would love to come in first. But Heath and B.J. are both such awesome, complete triathletes that it makes me a long shot.
Bike Friday 13th: I did the Utah half bike course as part of my long bike. I pushed real hard for 30.5 miles of it and was happy with it. I had an average power of 336 over those miles and had good speed as well.
Swim Wednesday 18th: I did a 1000 meter time trial at masters. Diane put me as the first person in the second lane instead of being the last person in the fast lane so "bummer" no drafting for me. I wanted to do between 16:40 and 17:00 and ended up doing a 17:03 so I guess that is OK.
Run Wednesday 18th: I did a 10 mile descending tempo run as part of my 19 mile long run. miles 1-4 at 6:00 pace, mile 5 at 6:27, mile 6 at 6:40, miles 7-8 at 6:53, and miles 9-10 at 7:03. Miles 1-4 were really hard but the rest was cruising. I wanted to do 6 miles at 6:00 pace but didn't have it in me.
Conclusion: I think I have an outside chance at the Utah half. I would love to come in first. But Heath and B.J. are both such awesome, complete triathletes that it makes me a long shot.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Swim lots and lots and cross my fingers
I am a terrible swimmer. My swimming used to fall in the category of "is that person drowning?" but luckily with the help of some of my friends like Keena, Heath, Diane, and others I have drastically improved my form and raised my swimming ability up to the "stinks" level. Without their help I would still be drowning. In an effort to raise my game above the "stink" level I have decided to increase my swim volume. Last week I got in 27,000 meters/yards with 15,000 of the 27,000 being high intensity. I plan to do between 27,000 and 32,000 for the next few weeks and see if I improve. (Previous to this I would do between 15,000 and 20,000 a week). I hope that this will jump start my swimming and boost me up to the "average" level.
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