Running the Numbers

While on my lunch break I started playing with doing multi-year comparisons of the race results. 2008 had 109 women finish, 2007 had104, and 2006 had 108. There may be slightly more data points than that in the swim and bike in case women dropped out. I kept the numbers because I don't know why they dropped out.

Overall, the times got lower as the years increased. Not by anything significant. However, the item of major note is that the swim times got longer by a fairly sizable amount. Using the average swim time (though the pattern carried through out including the fastest times), 2006 had an avg of 9:36, then 2007 went up to 10:53, then 2008 was at 11:50. My guess is that the women as a whole did not get slower (especially since it did carry into even the fastest time going from 6:03 to 8:24). Most likely the course distance has been getting slightly longer.

Other than that, my goals to have my bike around 1:05 and run around 30 are well within reason. Those goals happen to be less than a minute lower than the average time. So basically, I'm looking to go from being in the 80s in rank to right around 50s in rank (again, out of about 105-110 women).

I would also like to get my transition times down a bit since every second helps. Last year since I was just going for completing the triathlon I took my time to get something to drink between the bike and the run. If I can streamline that, I think I could easily gain some time there.

Getting Realistic, part 2

A few posts ago I wrote that I wasn't training as much as I needed to be and that caused me to drop out of the Cville 10 miler. The second casualty has been the Muddy Buddy. I have not ridden a mountain bike in quite some time and certainly not offroad. With only 3 weeks until the event, it isn't going to happen. Instead with the 10 weeks I have left until the first triathlon, I'm going to focus on the activities for that.

My revised list grouped by liklihood
Definites:
Cville Sprint Triathlon
Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon
Richmond Marathon
Iffy:
Cville International Triathlon (as part of relay team - thus need to check with my team)
Unlikely:
Luray International Triathlon - it's just too close to Pennsic
Boys and Girls club ride - I just don't enjoy biking that much and I should be well into marathon training at that point.

Time to get Realistic

There comes a time when you must face reality and accept the consequences. One of my stated goals and races was to do the Cville 10 miler. I would like to do it, it just won't be this year. I haven't trained sufficiently for it so actually running it would only be setting myself up for failure and possibly injury. As it is I'm hoping to even be able to finish the Martha Jefferson 8K (~5miles). Again, I haven't trained enough. I know my time will be worse than last year and that is just the consequence of not training.

2009 Race Schedule

I've decided on my 2009 Race schedule. Please note I use race as the official term about what the events are, but I don't necessarily plan on competing with others. For most of the races, it is a matter of finishing the race (especially for the longer distances) and trying to improve my PR (Personal Record) on the courses I have done before.

March 14, Martha Jefferson 8K Run

April 4th, Charlottesville 10 miler

June (?), Charlottesville Sprint Triathlon
~ 0.3 mile swim, 16.5 mile bike, 3 mile trail run

July (?), Charlottesville International Triathlon
Trail running portion of relay team.
~ 6 miles

July (?), Muddy Buddy
~6 miles split between running & biking. And the mud pit

August 15th, Luray International Triathlon
~ 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run

August 23rd, Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon
~ .62 mile swim, 17.5 mile bike, 3.4 mile run

October 18th, Boys & Girls Club Challenge Ride
~60 miles biking

November 14th, Richmond Marathon

(Links to each event are on the side)

Tour de Madison

On Saturday Guillermo (henceforth referred to as G) and I did the Tour de Madison ride. It is a yearly ride that Madison County puts on to tour the country-side of rolling hills. This year 280 riders did one of three courses - 15 miles, 40 miles, 62 miles. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Just barely 70, some wind (but not enough to push us over), and clear skies.

G & I got there around 7:45 to pick up our t-shirts, enjoy a pancake breakfast, and watch the impressively in-shape people arrive. It seemed like most folks had some sort of sponsored jersey from a previous ride and that was rather intimidating. If I knew anything about bikes besides they have two-wheels and some gears, I might've been more impressed with the quality of bikes there too. Some of the riders were clearly in groups with matching apparel and some even had support vehicles following them. We also saw a handful of tandem road bikes. I can't imagine riding with someone else on a road bike, I can barely keep myself stable.

They started the ride at 9:30 with a bag-pipe player and the 62-mile group going first then having the rest of us roughly stage ourselves behind that group. The entire ride was nicely organized and set up. There were bright arrows painted on the roads for all major turns and even straight arrows for minor roads we were supposed to pass by. In addition, for the 40-mile ride, there were 3 rest stops set up. Gatoraid, water, fruit, pretzels, and cookies.



The first little bit was nice flat (for VA) road where the group could really spread out and I felt rather comfortable just taking off on it. The first real hill of any sort G & I passed a bunch of people on the way up and that felt great. The route we do from work has a much worse hill, so we know how to keep going and climbing, where as a handful of the folks got off and walked it.

The real b*tch of a hill went on for what was probably 3 miles and a good 30 minutes. (All times in this paragraph are relative because I didn't check my watch). At first I didn't think too much about it, but after about 20 minutes of riding up hill it was getting rather tiring and steeper. I just stayed in first gear for what seemed like forever. Not really passing anyone, not being passed, just slowly grinding up the hill. The one thing that made me smile is that just when I was getting to the point of physical and mental exhaustion of "when will this ever end?!" I came across a note painted on the ground "Almost there!" It made me smile and meant the folks marking the course weren't actually trying to kill us and did want us to make it.

After that b*tch of a hill, I was determined to enjoy all of the downhills from then on out. Up to that point I was rather scared of going too fast and losing control, but now it was just a matter of shear "me against the hills." The hills may get their pain on the way up, but I was going to take my pleasure on the way down!

After that first killer hill, none of the rest were all too hard. Right before the 3rd rest stop there was a rather long one, but we took a break mid-way up so I could eat (not quite the right word) a power-gel because my energy was starting to fade.

All in all, I kept up with G reasonably well. We did approximately 10 mph. That is pretty slow all things considered, but hopefully as I do more hills (both up and down) I'll be able to speed that up.

At the very end, I was rather sore but I accomplished a lot of my goals of just making it all 40 miles with minimal whining. I enjoyed a nice rest in my car and plenty of advil (see picture).

1500m finally!

Last night I swam 1500m in ~40 minutes. Yet another very zen like experience. Swimming is quickly becoming my favorite part of the triathlon. The 1500m is the distance I would have to do for the international length triathlon. Therefore, I am going to try to work up to doing 2000m and also improving my speed.

Bike Goal

Yesterday I did a group brick workout (biking then transition into running). We biked 11.6 miles then did a 1.7 mile trail run. Wow, I am not used to so many biking hills and it just killed me both in my cardio and in my leg muscles. Though I guess that is why we practice because the short bike distance is ~16 miles and as I am now, I wouldn't make it.

Also, given that I really don't like going fast and was rather frightened that I hit 28mph, I'm a bit worried about making the time cut-offs. Even for the running because it is trail running and that takes a different set of muscles to stabilize everything. Guess it's time to hit the woods.

Swimming Zen

Today's swimming effort was very zen like. The 1000m felt very calm and not the struggle that it sometimes is. It took me 30 minutes to do the 1k, which is on the slow end but the technique is feeling more comfortable so I'm happy with that. I also did some sprints after the main portion. The 25m sprints weren't too bad, but doing 50m just killed me by the 40 meter mark. Sadly, the speed at which I was doing the sprints is where I need to get to for the actual races. As long as I keep doing both the length and the speed, I should be alright.

Guess this also meets my 40 lengths, any stroke without stop goal since it was 40 with frontcrawl.

First Two Weeks of Training Plan

The first couple weeks on my training plan have not gone overly well because I still haven't placed proper emphasis on the Tri over SCA. Last week I choose to go to an SCA event all day Saturday which left me wore out for Sunday. Then on Monday and Wednesday I did SCA stuff which reduced my planned exercise (though I still got some). Then this weekend I will be doing yet more SCA stuff. Thankfully, this should be it for a while.

That being said, I do need to go back and adjust the training plan based on what it appears my pattern will be. For instance, group ride with work folk on Thursdays, and possibly group runs on Mondays.

Now to today's group ride. It was my first one with my road bike. First off, I hate hills. Not just going up them. I'm not a great fan going down them. I topped out at 22 mph going down at one point and that just scares the heck out of me. In contrast, riding really fast on flat, straight areas is enjoyable and perhaps even fun. Interestingly enough, I got up to 19mph on a flat. I guess it is not so much the speed as the relative "I'm going to die" feeling that gets me.

A final thought... I'm a white & pasty girl. Thankfully I only burned a little.

16 weeks

It's now less than 16 weeks until the Int'l length which means I need to get in gear and really start training. I posted a link to a training plan a couple entries back, I am now starting to customize and populate that. This morning was already successful with the swim portion, and planning on the biking after work with hopefully new spiffy clip-in shoes :)

Swimming Lesson

On Monday I had my first swimming lesson in over a decade. Evidently the techniques I learned a long time ago stuck with me so there were no comments along the line of "Oh my goodness, what have you been doing?!" I got a few pieces of advice on how to increase the efficiency and strength of my strokes, so that is good.

Beyond that it's been a slow couple of weeks for training. Last week I hurt my arm (don't ask) and this week I've had other commitments. Though with the time rapidly closing in, the Tri needs to become the commitment I skip other things for. I'm considering starting a more structured training plan based on one I found. I will shift the days around so that Wednesday is my rest day (which is only rest from exercise but will still be full of SCA goodness). Then I think the Sat/Sun rest day will have to be flexible based on my SCA schedule as well.

Martha Jefferson 8K race

This morning I ran in the Martha Jefferson 8K race. It was cold (40-45ish) and wet (mostly drizzle but one good down pour right before the race), but I ran it anyways. Despite the conditions I had my best time and pace yet for anything over a 5K.

I ran the 4.9mi (according to my Garmin) in 45:38 with an average pace of 9:18/mi. I was honestly expecting to be closer to 10/mi so that's quite a jump. Guess I just REALLY wanted out of the rain. My heart rate stayed mostly in zone 4 & 5 (as it should be) which means I was pushing at a reasonable pace for myself but could probably up it a little as I get more fit.

Based on last year's results, I would place in the 45-50 percentile range overall but dead middle for my division (female, 20-24). However, with the weather keeping all but the die-hards or the crazies (you may guess which I am) away I would suspect I might end up ranking lower. That does not diminish my achievement since I still ran and set a new PR (personal record).

Edit: Looks like this race knocked out all sorts of my time based running goals. Only original one that I had remaining was 10K in 60 minutes. I'm pretty confident I can do this and on a surface besides the UVA track. Just a matter of getting out there and doing it. I may add some goals to increase distance such as becoming comfortable running 10 miles, though I don't think I will be to that point by March 29th for the Cville 10 mile race. I need to work more on sustained energy.

Longest run ever.

Luckily it didn't feel as long or as draining as the nasty hill run. Though, I did accomplish my goal of a 5 mile run in under 50 minutes outside. I did it in a 45:34 so a pace of 9:06/mi which is pretty good for me.

Just for full disclosure, it was on the UVA track so nice, flat, springy surface. My knees were not up to road running so the track gave me the ability to do the distance, work on techniques, and get used to running in the cold without the extra pain of concrete. I do still plan on running where there are more hills and course variation, but it's still kinda neat to run farther than I ever have in my life.

Just for the nerds out there, I'm including a graph of my HR & pace. I don't think my pace varied all that much, but then again, I know I stayed in the exact same lane on the track and the GPS map has my path of ranging quite a bit from side to side. Therefore, I take it all with a grain of salt, but I do believe the pace average and that I sprinted at the very end.

Climbing Uphill

In knowledge it is commonly said that you don't know how much you don't know until you start to learn more about the subject. I believe it is similar in actions, you don't know how much you can or can't do until you try. The last two times I went for 5K runs with coworkers outside, I didn't make the entire distance running. Both times I had to walk for a portion of it. As in the opening statement, I didn't realize I would have such great difficulty with long gradual hills and also steep short hills, and having them back to back. (Also doesn't help that these hills are on the way back.)

Today, I was victorious against those hills. I did the 5K in 31:44 (which isn't spectacular) but more importantly, I did it all running. Now next instead of worrying if I can even make it, I can focus on bringing the time down.

15 Miles bike inside - I think

I completed the 15 miles biking inside goal... I think. I went to the cycle cinema class where we watch a movie while biking. Those bikes are notoriously inaccurate. I biked for about 90 minutes and I went about 16 miles. Yes some of that was up 'hills' but we also had some down hill down. So it is probably right, or at least close enough. While it is good to work the muscles some, my next big push is to start getting outside for running and biking (no... not crazy enough to swim outside yet ;) )

30 Lengths w/o Stop

Last night I completed the 30 lengths w/o stop - any style goal. It was about half freestyle and half backstroke (with a few breast strokes for good measure). I didn't record the time but as for exhaustion level, it is definitely at my baseline or right above. At 25 lengths I was getting pretty tired, but I pushed myself to finish the 30. I will definitely need to put in some good quality pool time but it's doable.

Train hard, race easy

Since I'm enjoying my late night oatmeal (the reasons why are a whole separate post), I thought I'd take this time to share with you the advice I got today: "Train hard, race easy." Simply put, the training program should be harder than the actual race. Meaning that I need to increase my distance goals for all of the segments. I will not update the distances now since I believe those lengths would most likely be achieved when I'm already in the phase of combining workouts, thus a new set of goals will appear at that point anyways.

Right now I'm excited to try to knock out a few more of those current goals. Especially the swimming. I haven't really done a good measure of what I can do in that area so I want to find my baseline.

5K in under 30 min inside

It took me a few tries, but I made my first goal of running a 5K in under 30 minutes on the treadmill. To be exact I ran it in 29:22. Woohoo! Only a few weeks ago was the first time I ran just under 5K and felt SO good about it. It was an amazing feeling - the first point where I realized that I was in better shape than I thought and that I truly could do this! No excuses, no wimping out, I'm going to finish this thing because I'm in good health and BIFC.

While the HR (heart rate) graph may not be interesting on the treadmill, I will post fun stats such as avg HR. Look forward to future times when running outside I can combine the HR, distance, and pace. Yes, yes, I admit it. I love my data.

Goals

I work best by setting small incremental goals and trying for the next highest one. I may not make it in the next work out I do for that portion, but it is what I'm trying for. On the right side it displays my current goals. Some have two goals for inside & outside since I know the treadmill, stationary bike, and pool are nothing like the trail run, roads, and lake that I will be doing. Whenever an outside distance is accomplished it will automatically fill the inside goal if the inside one has not already been achieved.

Swimming
One length = 25m. So 60 lengths = 1.5km of race.

• 30 lengths of any style w/o stop - DONE 1/25
  
• 40 lengths of any style w/o stop - DONE 4/25
  
• 50 lengths of any style w/o stop - DONE 5/1
  
• 60 lengths of any style w/o stop - DONE 5/1
• 40 lengths freestyle w/o stop - DONE 5/1
• 50 lengths freestyle w/o stop - DONE 5/1
• 60 lengths freestyle w/o stop - DONE 5/1
• 30 lengths freestyle w/o stop in under 18 min
• 30 lengths freestyle w/o stop in under 15 min
• 60 lengths freestyle w/o stop in under 35 min
  
• 60 lengths freestyle w/o stop in under 30 min
• 750 m in open water
• 1500 m in open water
• 1500 m in open water in under 35 min
• 1500 m in open water in under 30 min

Biking
Full length for biking is 40K (~25 miles)

• 15 miles inside - DONE 1/27
  
• 20 miles inside (see outside)
• 25 miles inside (see outside)
• 10 miles outside - DONE 4/27
  
• 15 miles outside - DONE 5/17
• 20 miles outside - DONE 5/17
• 25 miles outside - DONE 5/17
  
• 25 miles outside in under 90 min
• 25 miles outside in under 85 min

Run
Full length for running is 10K (6.2 miles)

• 5K in under 30 min inside - DONE 1/21
  
• 4 miles in under 40 inside (see outside)
• 8K in under 50 min inside (see outside)
  
• 5K in under 30 min outside DONE 3/8 (Appears to be about 28:30)
  
• 4 miles in under 40 min outside DONE 3/8 (Appears to be about 37:30)
• 8K in under 50 min outside DONE 3/8
  
• 10K in under 60 min outside

Combining
Eventually I need to combine them and get my body used to the transitions. I'm not entirely sure what those goals are going to specifically be. My training plan will be to do things in the correct order and perhaps start small. For example bike for 30 minutes then run for 10. Then up it to bike for 30, run for 30. When I get closer to really focusing on these I will revise these goals with actual distances.