Back In The Saddle Again

My nephew Scott finished his first triathlon on Saturday, and he "finished with a smile"! It was really fun for me because I was able to race with him. He was a REALLY good hockey player a few years ago, but swimming, cycling and running are fairly new to him.

Like most people who do not come from a swim background, the swim was tough. He had trained for it and he had done a few open water swims leading up to the race, but the adrenaline of the race adds an element that is tough to train for. He caught a mouth full of water at the swim start, and was never able to catch his breath or get into a rhythm. Unfortunately for him, the swim was a long one for a sprint race - about 900 to 1,000 yards. Once he was out of the water he had a blast. He had a nice bike split (riding the Giant TCR) and a nice run.

After that race I told him to keep the bike and wet suit for a while. Maybe he'll find another race soon... I did mention a race I'm doing on August 24th, but he is getting married on August 23rd and his fiancée and future in-laws quickly said "NO!". Gee, I'm going to wedding too, but I'm still racing the next day ;-)

As for my race, I'm happy with the results base on my lack of training. Since the only swimming I've done since last September was last Monday and Wednesday, I kept the swim relaxed and steady. I made it out of the water WAY behind the AG leader, but still close to the front. The bike was a little tough in the opening few miles due to wet roads with lots of turns, but it felt good to be back racing the Kuota again. I knew I was a couple of MPH slower than normal, which was kind of frustrating. The run felt great. It had some rolling hills, but by the end I was at a decent race pace.

In the end I was lucky to place 2nd in AG. But I know I can be a lot faster than that and I have to start really training again. So first thing yesterday morning I headed out for a structured training ride, doing intervals based on percentage of LT Watts, followed by drills and hills. It was hard, but it felt great to be back to real training and I'm now looking for more races and setting new goals.

However, this week I'm going to be a spectator. Sheila has her first rowing regatta of the year on Saturday, and the Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro cycling stage race right in my neighborhood.

It's great to be back.

To all of you that survived Rockman - Congratulations! Um, wind, hail, rain, lightning, trees falling on the run course - WTF is that? It sounded like a very scary race, and it was lucky no one was injured or... I'm glad you are all safe!

See you out there.

Doug

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It's Never Too Early

Yep, that's right - I'm back in the pool! After a nice 9 month layoff (since IMOO) I finally got back to swimming.

You see, I'm doing a small triathlon this coming saturday and I decided I should swim a bit before the race. Not to get back into swim-shape (are you crazy?), but to get a feel for the level of pain I'm going to experience in the race due to not swimming during the past 9 months. You know me and swimming: Get in, Get out and Get it on!

So what got me going again? My 27 year old nephew signed up for his first triathlon. A small, loosely organized sprint this coming saturday. Like a lot of newbies he was going to swim sans wet suit and ride his hybrid bike. Being the proud uncle I set him up on my Giant TCR and gave him one of my sleeveless wet suits (current water temp is in the upper 60's). Of course I saved the full wet suit and the Kuota Kalibur for myself because I decided finally get back into competition and race with him.

My racing plans for the year are to slowly build through the summer and peak for the bigger races at the end of the summer (as opposed to last year where I peaked in May and June and then lengthened it out for the rest of the Summer).

So how is the training? Running is great, but its time to reduce the high mileage and add several speed workouts per week. Swimming? Well, the Minneapolis lakes are warming up so I plan to start open water workouts...

As for the bike, I finally found some killer training routes right in my back yard. My favorite is a 40 mile loop with 1400 feet of climbing along the Mississippi River bluffs. Two of the climbs are 200+ feet in 3 to 4 blocks - quad busters. I've done the route on the Giant, the Kuota and the new Trek cyclocross bike (in the rain). The Nature Valley Grand Prix pro cycling stage race is doing their Time Trial on part of this loop this Friday (with the finish on a steep 200 feet climb).

Sheila is also turning into a good cyclist. We did a nice run last Sunday morning, followed by a 20 mile bike ride. Her rowing season is getting underway, so we will each go our own way during those sessions, and do our low intensity runs and rides together.

See you out there - somewhere.

Doug

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Doug

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