I am reading a book on the Science of Triathlon Speed. Maybe I'll grab the book and give it a proper citation later. Anyway, it gives lots of advice on what techniques in swimming, biking, running will make you measurably faster, and what equipment will help, and what equipment will not. The biggest, most important piece of equipment the book recommended for improving bike performance was a power meter. Power meters are really expensive, at least relative to my bike. If I bought one, it would be like buying 60% of a new bike. I don't really want to spend that kind of money on a hobby, especially since it doesn't matter that much to me how fast I can do an Ironman.
This brings me to why I am doing an Ironman this year in the first place. It will be my second full-distance triathlon. My first was the Rev3 Cedar Point, an amazing, awesome, rewarding experience in 2016. I signed up for Ironman Maryland (IMMD) in 2018 because I had so much fun during Rev3 Cedar Point. So what should be my goal at IMMD? Obviously, I want to finish the race safely, and do it before the time cutoff. I also want to have as much fun as I can. What about my speed? Since the two courses are completely different, it doesn't make sense to try to "beat my time" from 2016 (13:37:57). I have never raced to beat others; I am simply not fast enough to be competitive for a podium spot.
Is it worth training to increase my speed? What would that do for me, since I don't expect to be competitive anyway, and I have no personal best to beat? In this context, buying a power meter just seems to be too much of a luxury. Still, I do desire to be fast. Fast is fun. Faster is better, and I want to be better. I had a motto in 2016 for my first iron-distance race: I don't need to prove myself, I just want to improve myself. I will take that idea on this year as well. So in 2018, I want to improve my result from 2016. That means that maybe I should look up my 2016 age group ranking and try to beat it. That means I should look up my bike and run times from 2016 and try to beat those. The two courses are completely different, but neither route features many hills. If anything, the Ohio race had some elevation change, while Maryland will not. Meanwhile, I hear there is a lot of wind in Maryland, so maybe that will cancel out any gains I might get from a flatter route. Yes, so I will come up with some times to beat:
2016 Results
Swim: 1:27:54
Bike: 6:41:43
Run: 5:00:40
Total 13:37:57
Age Group Rank = 9 out of 11 = top 82%
2017 IMMD
I scanned the 2017 results of IMMD to determine what times would give me a top 82% finish. I found Bart Mehring. He was at the 82nd percentile, and amazingly, his swim and bike times almost exactly matched mine. He swam in 1:26:33, biked in 6:41:44, and ran in 6:11:35. He clearly walked more of his marathon than I did, so I'm not sure he's the guy I want to beat. I can do better. Scrolling up exactly one page, I find Yossy Pinhas. His swim was 1:27:40, bike 6:34:22, and run 5:27:36. I still assume I can beat that. Going up one more page, I find Michael Lanzisera. He swam in 1:27:06, biked 5:59:48, and ran 5:00:36 for a finish time of 12:59:04. So that's what my goal is going to be: finish in under 13 hours. If I do that in 2018, my age group rank will be 62 out of 160 athletes, or top 39%. So let's make my goal to be in the top 40% just to use a round number. Given my previous triathlon results, that is very reasonable. I am a middle-of-the-pack athlete, and this won't change. However, my goal is to cut 42 minutes from my bike time.
What if I cut 60 min off my bike and/or run time? That would take me to the top 35% in my age group. What's the difference between 35 and 40? I don't think I care.
I think I might have more time this year to train. I will take the book's (less expensive) suggestions on how to improve my speed. This will help me achieve my "improve" goal, and if I can finish my race earlier, I'll probably enjoy it a little more...but only if my gains come from improved efficiency more than speed. I don't want to work so hard that I don't enjoy it. I'll still have to think about this some more.
Monday, February 19, 2018
Friday, February 2, 2018
January mileage
It's an Ironman year, so I'll start posting my monthly mileages. You might not care, but posting them publicly keeps me motivated. So, I start with what I did in January: 6 miles of swimming + 63 miles cycling + 23 miles running + 4 miles walking = 96 miles. This is 4% of my goal for the year!
Sunday, December 31, 2017
2017 Mileage
I kept up with a baseline level of fitness in 2017, but I logged the least amount of mileage in biking, running, and swimming since 2011. This will change significantly as I prepare for IRONMAN Maryland in 2018.
Friday, November 17, 2017
AMYMSA Greensburg
Race: masters swim meet
Date: November 19, 2017
Location: Greensburg, Pa
I always skimp on a warmup at the Greensburg meet. First, we go to church so we arrive late and there is less time to fit in a warmup. Second, I sing the national anthem and my singing voice is negatively affected by all the chlorine I inhale during a warmup. So, I did two 25-yard sprints off the block and counted that as my warmup. Then I spent 10 minutes in the hot tub to warm my body in a different way. Ha!
I sang the national anthem with Shannan and Arianne and I think we sounded great. Then I swam in heat 2 of the first event so I had to get ready right away. The first event was the 100 Freestyle. I had a good race, finishing in 1:04.52, less than a second slower than my personal best of 1:03.57. Ben approached me later and scolded me for having lousy turns. "Be sure to tuck your head," he said, because it slows you down. "You were ahead of Dan most of the race but he beat you to the wall because you has a bad turn." Dan was three lanes away, so I had no idea where he was in the race. I just know that I was feeling pretty strong, I limited my breathing, and I kicked pretty hard. I was giving it everything I had, and I was surprised because I didn't think today would be a good meet. I swam only once in the last 7 days. My work life has been so busy.
My 100-yard breaststroke was pretty lousy. I was 5 seconds slower than my personal best. My kick didn't seem to be very strong, and I was still kind of out of breath from the 100 free, even though it was more than 15 minutes earlier. Maybe the air quality was poor?
The 50-freestyle was the very next event, so I had no time for rest. I felt pretty good while swimming, so I was surprised to see that I was 2.45 seconds off my fastest time! Part of this was a dive that was too deep. My underwater swimming isn't very fast.
I had mixed feelings about my 200IM at the start. I didn't feel like doing it, but another part of me wanted to work hard. I started with the butterfly and this went well enough. I didn't tire out or get out of breath..until near the end of the stroke where waves of water poured into my mouth on a couple of the strokes. I had good rhythm and I am happy that my knee didn't hurt, as that kept me from practicing the stroke for more than a week. I had a bad turn starting the backstroke (I was out of breath there, having swallowed water), but I am happy that I was able to keep my hips up. I liked my backstroke turn at the opposite wall, but my back-to-breast turn was nasty. My breaststroke was very sluggish. I didn't seem to have a lot of arm strength at this point, and my legs were not much better. I also swallowed more water. By the freestyle section I was just happy to be finishing up and I knew it was going to be a slow swim for me. I was more than 13 seconds slower than my fastest time. Ha! I had quite the leisurely time in the pool. I remained in a good mood, though. Swimming makes me feel young--an important feeling on a birthday weekend!
Date: November 19, 2017
Location: Greensburg, Pa
I always skimp on a warmup at the Greensburg meet. First, we go to church so we arrive late and there is less time to fit in a warmup. Second, I sing the national anthem and my singing voice is negatively affected by all the chlorine I inhale during a warmup. So, I did two 25-yard sprints off the block and counted that as my warmup. Then I spent 10 minutes in the hot tub to warm my body in a different way. Ha!
I sang the national anthem with Shannan and Arianne and I think we sounded great. Then I swam in heat 2 of the first event so I had to get ready right away. The first event was the 100 Freestyle. I had a good race, finishing in 1:04.52, less than a second slower than my personal best of 1:03.57. Ben approached me later and scolded me for having lousy turns. "Be sure to tuck your head," he said, because it slows you down. "You were ahead of Dan most of the race but he beat you to the wall because you has a bad turn." Dan was three lanes away, so I had no idea where he was in the race. I just know that I was feeling pretty strong, I limited my breathing, and I kicked pretty hard. I was giving it everything I had, and I was surprised because I didn't think today would be a good meet. I swam only once in the last 7 days. My work life has been so busy.
My 100-yard breaststroke was pretty lousy. I was 5 seconds slower than my personal best. My kick didn't seem to be very strong, and I was still kind of out of breath from the 100 free, even though it was more than 15 minutes earlier. Maybe the air quality was poor?
The 50-freestyle was the very next event, so I had no time for rest. I felt pretty good while swimming, so I was surprised to see that I was 2.45 seconds off my fastest time! Part of this was a dive that was too deep. My underwater swimming isn't very fast.
I had mixed feelings about my 200IM at the start. I didn't feel like doing it, but another part of me wanted to work hard. I started with the butterfly and this went well enough. I didn't tire out or get out of breath..until near the end of the stroke where waves of water poured into my mouth on a couple of the strokes. I had good rhythm and I am happy that my knee didn't hurt, as that kept me from practicing the stroke for more than a week. I had a bad turn starting the backstroke (I was out of breath there, having swallowed water), but I am happy that I was able to keep my hips up. I liked my backstroke turn at the opposite wall, but my back-to-breast turn was nasty. My breaststroke was very sluggish. I didn't seem to have a lot of arm strength at this point, and my legs were not much better. I also swallowed more water. By the freestyle section I was just happy to be finishing up and I knew it was going to be a slow swim for me. I was more than 13 seconds slower than my fastest time. Ha! I had quite the leisurely time in the pool. I remained in a good mood, though. Swimming makes me feel young--an important feeling on a birthday weekend!
Monday, October 16, 2017
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Penguins 6.6k
Race: Penguins 6.6k run
Date: October 15, 2017
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
Time: 33:40
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: 38 out of 201
Results: http:
This went very well. I had an 8:13 min/mile pace, which is pretty fast for me, and it was faster than 81% of men in my age group. I ranked 38 out of 201. I have run this race twice before. In 2014, the most recent year, I finished in 34:34, so today I finished almost a minute faster. I am still in good shape, despite not having done a lot of workouts this year. Mile 1 was easy. By Mile 2, I had passed the 8:30 pace runner. I knew if I was staying ahead of her, it would be a good (enough) race for me. By Mile 3, I wanted the race to be over, but we were running what seemed like forever along the river and I knew the hardest part was still to come. The last mile was a lot of steady uphill, including the tunnel. When i was within sight of the finish line I started sprinting and it took a lot out of me. I pushed myself today and it was a struggle. Good thing I was rewarded with a good finish time!
Date: October 15, 2017
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
Time: 33:40
Overall Rank: X out of XX
Age Group Rank: 38 out of 201
Results: http:
This went very well. I had an 8:13 min/mile pace, which is pretty fast for me, and it was faster than 81% of men in my age group. I ranked 38 out of 201. I have run this race twice before. In 2014, the most recent year, I finished in 34:34, so today I finished almost a minute faster. I am still in good shape, despite not having done a lot of workouts this year. Mile 1 was easy. By Mile 2, I had passed the 8:30 pace runner. I knew if I was staying ahead of her, it would be a good (enough) race for me. By Mile 3, I wanted the race to be over, but we were running what seemed like forever along the river and I knew the hardest part was still to come. The last mile was a lot of steady uphill, including the tunnel. When i was within sight of the finish line I started sprinting and it took a lot out of me. I pushed myself today and it was a struggle. Good thing I was rewarded with a good finish time!
Sunday, October 1, 2017
AMYMSA Allegheny Valley
Race: masters swim meet
Date: October 1, 2017
Location:
Event #1: 100 IM. My fly was good, but the backstroke--oh boy--do I need to work on that. My legs sank, despite my head being in a good position and my efforts to contract my buttocks during my kicking. Shannan says I need to concentrate on raising my hips, so I will work on that. My finish time was 1:16.49, which was 0.9 seconds slower than Dan, and about 4.7 seconds (6%) slower than my personal best. My quads were burning a little after this race, so I know I put an appropriate amount of effort into it.
Event #4: 50 Fly. Dan and I were in the same heat and we talked about strategy. I said my speed would depend on whether or not I took a breath during this swim. I did, in fact, go without a breath for the first 25 yards and I took about 3 breaths on the return. If I had skipped just one of those breaths I would have beat Dan, since he beat me by 0.01 seconds. My finish time was 32.18, which was 2.1 seconds (7%) slower than my personal best. Danise says Dan was well ahead of me at the turn and I just about caught up with him in the last 25. I wasn't aware of any of that, but I know that my rhythm felt better during the last half of my swim. I concentrated more on my kick during that time, and less on my arms.
Event #9: 200 Free. There was lots of talk before this race about what a difficult race it is. You can't sprint the whole time, but it's not a long distance, either. I went fairly confident that I would pace myself well. I have a long history with this distance--I've done it a lot at meets--and I do a lot of these distances in practice. I was in heat 1, lane 6. This made it hard to judge my pace because the people next to me were much faster. Anyway, I finished in 2:32.52, which was 4.7 seconds (12%) slower than my personal best. Given this result, it appears I went slower than I could have. I am not surprised. I was not extraordinarily tired or winded when I got out of the water. I did feel some lactic acid circulating through my body (a queasy stomach feeling), but it didn't last long and was probably just from sprinting the last 25 yards. I had more fuel in the tank and I should have burned it.
Event #10: 25 Breast. I had a good race until I swallowed water during one of my strokes. It is terribly hard to get air after that because with each successive breath my timing was off and I kept getting more water in my mouth. Oh well. My result was 17.16 seconds, which was 0.18 seconds (1%) slower than my personal best. This record will definitely fall sometime this season.
Event #11: Mixed Medley 200 Relay: I had the freestyle segment. There were no splits so I don't know how I did. I felt really good, though, at least after a lousy dive.
Date: October 1, 2017
Location:
Event #1: 100 IM. My fly was good, but the backstroke--oh boy--do I need to work on that. My legs sank, despite my head being in a good position and my efforts to contract my buttocks during my kicking. Shannan says I need to concentrate on raising my hips, so I will work on that. My finish time was 1:16.49, which was 0.9 seconds slower than Dan, and about 4.7 seconds (6%) slower than my personal best. My quads were burning a little after this race, so I know I put an appropriate amount of effort into it.
Event #4: 50 Fly. Dan and I were in the same heat and we talked about strategy. I said my speed would depend on whether or not I took a breath during this swim. I did, in fact, go without a breath for the first 25 yards and I took about 3 breaths on the return. If I had skipped just one of those breaths I would have beat Dan, since he beat me by 0.01 seconds. My finish time was 32.18, which was 2.1 seconds (7%) slower than my personal best. Danise says Dan was well ahead of me at the turn and I just about caught up with him in the last 25. I wasn't aware of any of that, but I know that my rhythm felt better during the last half of my swim. I concentrated more on my kick during that time, and less on my arms.
Event #9: 200 Free. There was lots of talk before this race about what a difficult race it is. You can't sprint the whole time, but it's not a long distance, either. I went fairly confident that I would pace myself well. I have a long history with this distance--I've done it a lot at meets--and I do a lot of these distances in practice. I was in heat 1, lane 6. This made it hard to judge my pace because the people next to me were much faster. Anyway, I finished in 2:32.52, which was 4.7 seconds (12%) slower than my personal best. Given this result, it appears I went slower than I could have. I am not surprised. I was not extraordinarily tired or winded when I got out of the water. I did feel some lactic acid circulating through my body (a queasy stomach feeling), but it didn't last long and was probably just from sprinting the last 25 yards. I had more fuel in the tank and I should have burned it.
Event #10: 25 Breast. I had a good race until I swallowed water during one of my strokes. It is terribly hard to get air after that because with each successive breath my timing was off and I kept getting more water in my mouth. Oh well. My result was 17.16 seconds, which was 0.18 seconds (1%) slower than my personal best. This record will definitely fall sometime this season.
Event #11: Mixed Medley 200 Relay: I had the freestyle segment. There were no splits so I don't know how I did. I felt really good, though, at least after a lousy dive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)