About Me
- triathlondon
- This is my 6th Summer of racing triathlon. I have now completed 3 Ironmans under my belt, Florida 2009, Coeur d'Alene 2010, and most recently Ironman Wisconsin on 9/11/11. I love my family and I love my sport and everything they have both done for me.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Monster weekend
Ok folks...tomorrow is an hour open water, 6 on the bike, and an hour run. So tonight is carbs for dinner!! Weather looks like it'l hold with very little wind and not 90 + degrees. Hopefully this weather will better simulate CDA... I will update soon, or maybe even while I ride...you'll have to wait and find out. Happy Friday!!
Don
Don
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
26 days to go...
Alright people, almost a month since my last entry and only 26 days til the big race so lemme fill u in. Overall, I would have to say I am feeling prepared and fit. I have one big weekend out of the way, which consisted of an hour open water, 4.5 on the bike, followed by a :40 minute brick run on Saturday. And a 2 hour run on Sunday. Saturday was very hot - mid 90s and windy. I started out riding into the wind and it kinda sucked... I had 5 bottles of fluids with me, and I filled them all once, and drank them all. So I went through 10 bottles of fluids in around 4.5 hours. Plus 2 powerbars, 2 uncrustables, and 2 salt tablets. Kinda felt like hell when I got off the bike, but I'm guessing thats due to the fact that I'm not used to training when it's 90 + degrees. I cooled off for around 20 minutes after the ride, and then did my :40 at a very slow pace... The run on Sunday went very well and I felt strong. I did one gel halfway, 2 salt tablets at about :45 and 1:30, and hydrated with water and I felt good. I was very happy at being able to hold around a 10 minute mile pace. As for Saturday, I don't think it's going to be 95 in Coeur d'Alene, so I think I may have "acclimated" just fine. And I feel good and strong on the run, with the longest weekend still to go.
As always, there are little aches and pains I am working through, the most persistent of which is the calf tendon on my left leg. After trying the prolotherapy, and then a cortisone injection with some but limited success, my doctor suggested I try a course of prednisone to try and get the body to heal. It has been a week and I do feel it working. The idea behind taking prednisone is that it is systemic and will suppress the inflamation long enough that the body heals. I have a week left of taking it and then we'll see. I trust this doctor very much and he really goes the distance to make sure I'm taken care of...
Ok... So thats what's going on. This weekend on Saturday is an hour open water, 6 on the bike, followed by a :50 minute run. And on Sunday is a 2.5 hour run. Then I start my taper. I will be sure to post more frequent updates about training and as the date draws closer. As always, thanks to my readers for your support. Keep reading!!
As always, there are little aches and pains I am working through, the most persistent of which is the calf tendon on my left leg. After trying the prolotherapy, and then a cortisone injection with some but limited success, my doctor suggested I try a course of prednisone to try and get the body to heal. It has been a week and I do feel it working. The idea behind taking prednisone is that it is systemic and will suppress the inflamation long enough that the body heals. I have a week left of taking it and then we'll see. I trust this doctor very much and he really goes the distance to make sure I'm taken care of...
Ok... So thats what's going on. This weekend on Saturday is an hour open water, 6 on the bike, followed by a :50 minute run. And on Sunday is a 2.5 hour run. Then I start my taper. I will be sure to post more frequent updates about training and as the date draws closer. As always, thanks to my readers for your support. Keep reading!!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Napa Half Iron Race Report
Ok ladies and gentlemen...here is my official race report from last Saturday's race at Lake Berryessa near Napa, CA. Flew in on Friday with my father, who was kind enough to accompany me to this race. Made our way to Fairfield in our rental minivan, and got checked into our hotel. I got my bike put together with relative ease and then found a local bike shop to pick up CO2 cartridges. Then we made our way back to near the hotel and ate dinner. After dinner, I got my bike and nutrition and fluids all ready to go for the morning. Woke up at about 4:45 on Saturday morning, ate a bagel with peanut butter and had a cup of coffee and made our way to the race site. It was about an hour drive on some windy and narrow roads. Once there and parked I got my transition all set up, got checked in, did a little warmup jog, put the wetsuit on, and then made my way down to the swim start.
THE SWIM - The swim was relatively uneventful, maybe coulda been a little faster cuz I stopped a couple times to adjust goggles and unfog them. Water was a chilly 62 degrees, but I adapted to that quickly. Overall I came out of the swim in about 10th position. Transition was ok. Always a little wobbly going from horizontal to vertical and then running...
THE BIKE - Out on the bike now...The course was definitely hillier than I was used to. Had some good climbs and some good descents. The course was very beautiful and I did admire the scenery as I rode by. Nutrition and fluid intake was on. Although I was getting sick of my energy bar and didn't quite finish it as I was starting to feel a little "iffy". I did have gel and sports drink too...so it all worked out. Got off the bike with a little less than a 3 hour bike split...around 19 mph, which I was happy with, considering the course profile and the effort I was putting forth - I tried to ride somewhat conservatively so I didn't completely explode on the run. So I made it into transition sitting at around 3:30 cumulative time.
THE RUN - I went out on the run which started with a nice little hill right out of the park. Seems like every time the run starts with a hill. Oh well... So the run was a double out and back of about 3.3 miles on the same road as the beginning of the bike course. The run was not all together as bad as it could have been. Took some gatorade and water at the aid stations, as well as hits from the gel flask I was carrying. I used the downhills to my advantage and did what I could on the uphills. That is to say that I ran on the hills til my heartrate hit about 170 and then walked til it went back down - again, I did that to avoid blowing up...blowing up is bad. I was doing well until about a mile before I hit the aid station at about 9.5 miles. I was getting very thirsty... So naturally when I hit the aid station I grabbed an entire bottle of water in addition to some gatorade. I probably took in a bit too much fluid at this aid station when in reality I shouldn't have taken any more than I had been before. I felt a little full the last 3 miles...oops...so I made sure to take only gatorade from then on and only use the water to cool off and wet my mouth when I felt thirsty. My half marathon split was around 2:20...which is not all together terrible actually - around a 10:45 pace, which I was happy with considering the hills - damn hills...
Crossed the finish line around a 5:50... I guess the only thing I would have done differently is not grabbed all that water around 10 miles and shoved it down my throat. It might have saved me a few minutes and enabled me to run a little more effectively the last 3 miles... But all in all I was happy with the race and it was a great experience.
A special thank you very much to my dad who traveled and watched me. Couldnt have done it without you dad... Thanks!!
THE SWIM - The swim was relatively uneventful, maybe coulda been a little faster cuz I stopped a couple times to adjust goggles and unfog them. Water was a chilly 62 degrees, but I adapted to that quickly. Overall I came out of the swim in about 10th position. Transition was ok. Always a little wobbly going from horizontal to vertical and then running...
THE BIKE - Out on the bike now...The course was definitely hillier than I was used to. Had some good climbs and some good descents. The course was very beautiful and I did admire the scenery as I rode by. Nutrition and fluid intake was on. Although I was getting sick of my energy bar and didn't quite finish it as I was starting to feel a little "iffy". I did have gel and sports drink too...so it all worked out. Got off the bike with a little less than a 3 hour bike split...around 19 mph, which I was happy with, considering the course profile and the effort I was putting forth - I tried to ride somewhat conservatively so I didn't completely explode on the run. So I made it into transition sitting at around 3:30 cumulative time.
THE RUN - I went out on the run which started with a nice little hill right out of the park. Seems like every time the run starts with a hill. Oh well... So the run was a double out and back of about 3.3 miles on the same road as the beginning of the bike course. The run was not all together as bad as it could have been. Took some gatorade and water at the aid stations, as well as hits from the gel flask I was carrying. I used the downhills to my advantage and did what I could on the uphills. That is to say that I ran on the hills til my heartrate hit about 170 and then walked til it went back down - again, I did that to avoid blowing up...blowing up is bad. I was doing well until about a mile before I hit the aid station at about 9.5 miles. I was getting very thirsty... So naturally when I hit the aid station I grabbed an entire bottle of water in addition to some gatorade. I probably took in a bit too much fluid at this aid station when in reality I shouldn't have taken any more than I had been before. I felt a little full the last 3 miles...oops...so I made sure to take only gatorade from then on and only use the water to cool off and wet my mouth when I felt thirsty. My half marathon split was around 2:20...which is not all together terrible actually - around a 10:45 pace, which I was happy with considering the hills - damn hills...
Crossed the finish line around a 5:50... I guess the only thing I would have done differently is not grabbed all that water around 10 miles and shoved it down my throat. It might have saved me a few minutes and enabled me to run a little more effectively the last 3 miles... But all in all I was happy with the race and it was a great experience.
A special thank you very much to my dad who traveled and watched me. Couldnt have done it without you dad... Thanks!!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Race week
Hello all!
It's been a significant amount of time since my last entry so here goes. First off, the knee/leg issue...I haven't really seen a whole lot of improvement along those lines. The good news is that it does get better with rest and it never really seems to get any worse. I did visit the doctor last week and had what is called prolotherapy. It is a dextrose injection into the area in an attempt to stimulate bleeding which theoretically in turn will stimulate the body to heal iteself. I haven't noticed a marked difference but it has only been about a week, so we'll see how that progresses.
Next... I am going to California on Friday to race the Napa Valley Vintage 70.3 distance race on Saturday. I feel well prepared, and well rested these last few weeks with my little mini taper. My dad is coming with me because my wife used up all her time to go to some Ironman in Florida in November :-) I am excited for the trip and for the race, hopefully I can pull a decent performance out of myself. My bike...I do love my new bike. I threw the race wheels on a few days ago and it just looks sweet. So even if I don't go fast, at least I'll look like I did.
I also did some metabolic testing a few weeks ago. I found out that my VO2 max is 59, which is apparently very good. I also did lactate threshold testing, for which I have not received results yet. I am going to check on that. All in all, it was a valuable experience and I am glad I did it. It will be a useful training tool once I finally get the numbers. On this same trip I also met with my coach and completed another power/weight test. I saw a 10% increase in my average watts over a 6 minute all out effort, which coach said was amazing, so both of us must be doing something right. After the test, I got to do a beautiful ride following the Liberty Half Iron distance bike course. Very beautiful ride.
My run feels solid, so does my swim. Little worried about the cold water temps in lake Berryessa, but it's the same for us all so I'll have to deal I guess. Anyway...I'll for sure post a race report next week. Wish me luck all, and thanks for reading!!
It's been a significant amount of time since my last entry so here goes. First off, the knee/leg issue...I haven't really seen a whole lot of improvement along those lines. The good news is that it does get better with rest and it never really seems to get any worse. I did visit the doctor last week and had what is called prolotherapy. It is a dextrose injection into the area in an attempt to stimulate bleeding which theoretically in turn will stimulate the body to heal iteself. I haven't noticed a marked difference but it has only been about a week, so we'll see how that progresses.
Next... I am going to California on Friday to race the Napa Valley Vintage 70.3 distance race on Saturday. I feel well prepared, and well rested these last few weeks with my little mini taper. My dad is coming with me because my wife used up all her time to go to some Ironman in Florida in November :-) I am excited for the trip and for the race, hopefully I can pull a decent performance out of myself. My bike...I do love my new bike. I threw the race wheels on a few days ago and it just looks sweet. So even if I don't go fast, at least I'll look like I did.
I also did some metabolic testing a few weeks ago. I found out that my VO2 max is 59, which is apparently very good. I also did lactate threshold testing, for which I have not received results yet. I am going to check on that. All in all, it was a valuable experience and I am glad I did it. It will be a useful training tool once I finally get the numbers. On this same trip I also met with my coach and completed another power/weight test. I saw a 10% increase in my average watts over a 6 minute all out effort, which coach said was amazing, so both of us must be doing something right. After the test, I got to do a beautiful ride following the Liberty Half Iron distance bike course. Very beautiful ride.
My run feels solid, so does my swim. Little worried about the cold water temps in lake Berryessa, but it's the same for us all so I'll have to deal I guess. Anyway...I'll for sure post a race report next week. Wish me luck all, and thanks for reading!!
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