Patriot Half Iron Weekend

Well it's finally here ... The big race season has begun. I will be racing in the open division with the big boys on this one. I will be going hard. Enough said, I am hoping this is a race that I finally earn some respect in this sport - we'll see.

Last weekend's last huge training; 115 miles on the bike (4 loops of the course +) and 30 minutes of hard running, followed next day by a 20 mile run (7.5min/mi) is over - thank god. My mileage last week was the biggest ever; 350 miles bike, 55 runing and ~ 10K yards swimming. I wouldn't even consider this tapering for the race, but the timing is for me to be peaking with Lake Placid approaching. That is the race, Patriot will have to come second to the IM training. Anyway, I'm told to keep training by the coach - no days off, so I'll keep the high cadence stuff going, light running and moderate swimming. I'm looking for the big PR in this race, so wish me luck. I'm also anticipating big PRs on the swim and bike legs.

I hope everyone has a great race - team mates, friends, training partners and all! This should be an interesting inaugural race. I've already placed my money on my coach to win, probably by a landslide. Hopefully, he will tire everyone out from chasing him and I'll place in the top decade or so of the open cat.

Cheers! I'll post a race report when I get back.

-Kyle

Pivotal IronMan Training Day

So you are thinking about doing an Ironman sometime. Lake Placid is always a good choice, because you don't need to get on a plane (if you live in the Northeast US or Canada). Unfortunately, if you do sign up for a race (the year before, because they sell-out in about an hour), you'll need to do these kind of pivotal workouts - unless you want to suffer out there on race day, which I don't recommend. Read on ....

Sunday's workout:

105.4 miles on the bike; 7mi warm-up, 3x25+ on with 7mi recovery.

10 mile run; 2.5 warm-up, 4x1mi with .25mile recovery, 2.5 cool-down

We averaged overall about 19 mi/hr including warm-up and recovery loops, so I figure that the on-ntervals were between 21-22 miles an hour. All good when considering the on-interval loop climbs Oak Hill (only the locals can appreciate).

My 1 mile run splits were between 6:00 (1st) and 6:20 (last) and I felt real good, but the last one took some effort.

The total workout time was 7 hours. Not a bad day at all. I felt great all day and I am feeling real good on the bike for a change. I thought I might actually run four 6min flat miles, but the fact that I could run as well as I did after riding 5 1/2 hours, means I'm pretty fit. I hope I feel that good on race day - it will be a big day for me (cross fingers).

I followed up today with 1:44 run (12+ miles) not too fast, but to keep those legs going. Light commute on the mtn bike with back-pack et al. - I also like to get in a different (upright) position. I hope to get in 3200 in the pool tonight.

Tomorrow back to the track for some fast 400s, probably an early morning ride. This weekend will be the townie road race, which I hope to bag, but seems every year that a non-local comes in to take it. The following day is the next scheduled complete day off - June 17th - exactly three weeks from the last.

Anyway, the 42 year old body is holding up okay. I need to add in some type of yoga or I guess more stretching to keep the body loose. Anyone that has any questions about Ironman training should feel free to email me (included in profile). I continue to be coached and am doing some coaching, so I can see both sides of the fence.

We are 6 weeks away from Lake Placid IM http://www.ironmanusa.com/ . I'll do another one of these in two weeks, but it will probably be less miles because of the Patriot 1/2 Iron race http://www.patriothalf.com/ .

I'll conclude with three words; bike, bike and more bike.

Party On!

-Kyle

Race Report Mooseman International Distance Triathlon

I don't think I've ever won anything at a triathlon before, certainly not at a race this big, not to mention the short distances I didn' have big hopes for this race, but I managed to grab 2nd in my age group and 25th overall.

The weather held out and didn't produce any rain, in fact at times it was very sunny and felt hot.

The race featured Jarrod Shoemaker (Pro/ITU/U23 World Champion), who was just looking out over the water taking in the sights as he passed me by from the out and back run, cruising along at a 5min/mile pace.

This race for me is a big disadvantage because of the long swim. I did go into the race thinking I would try to swim hard and follow with a fast bike. I sprinted at the beginning of the swim and got into a decent pack which I held onto throughout the swim. A few times I had to sprint to stay in the paceline, which was just fine with me, since we were moving at a good pace (and I wasn't leading). I am getting better at taking a breath every four strokes on the sprint, which is helping me a lot. Also, I stop kicking to preserve the legs for later in the race. I didn't start kicking until the end, where I opened back up and sprinted in. Probably my best swim at a tri to date and felt really fresh going into T1. I had a good bike. I rode hard, but I got passed by my AG competitor at shoreline drive and I really needed to stay with him. I am kicking myself because I know I could have stayed with him - I just needed to ride harder. I could see him throughout the run, but could not reel him in, despite a hard charge the last two miles. I felt hot on the run and really didn't have a fast run, but I'll take it. I think it is all a result of the heavy training the last few weeks, with many hours on the bike. The most important race is July 22.

Some fast times the next day at the 1/2 iron race. Almost all of my team mates had PRs. My biggest AG competitor for Lake Placid (that guy from Quebec) put in some blazing splits and won the AG with no competition. It's motivating me to reanalyze what I need to do for Placid. I'm not concerned with the swim, but I need to get faster on the bike and still have a great marathon.

Anyway, a light couple of days and back to it tomorrow. Here's the splits from the race:

Swim (1mile) - 24:52, Bike (27+mile) -1:15:03, Run (10K) - 40:24, Total - 2:23:00