Jersey Shore Kickoff Classic Triathlon 2012 Pictures

Quick post here. I finally got around to editing the shots I took at Genine's race a couple weekends ago.

This is the link.

Eventually I'll pick some of my favorites and post them here.

Columbia 2012 Race Report

I almost decided to skip this race this year. I’ve had very limited training the last 3 weeks. My left hip was just not getting better. Finally between a couple massages during this last week and just giving it a ton of rest, it felt like it was possible. I’ll admit there were a couple other factors. We have friends that live near the race site (15-30min) and it’s not often we catch up with them other places. I would have been sad to miss those visits. Also because the race was a 5150 Qualifier, there were more pros attending the race. I wouldn’t see much of them but Genine had fun watching the race.

The Swim: I’m always feeling ready to put in a solid swim. This event puts some big gaps between swim waves. 8 minutes. Which I think is the right thing to do. I appreciate that they do this. I would love it if they would divide up our age group start tho. Our 40-44M  group was 232 people. I put myself up at the line in hopes of catching a fast pod and potentially missing some of the mayhem. At the final 60 seconds to start, I found myself behind 5 people. What can you do…

We start. Sun is directly in our line of sight, so if you are hoping to see buoys, it’s not going to happen unless you are in the front. That’s not an issue tho. Just follow the crowd. Up to the first turn it was incredibly frustrating. Constant contact, which I don’t mind. No easy way to negotiate around the swimmers that sprinted and are already struggling. I was nearly kicked in the face 4 times by the same guy that would swim for 3 or 4 strokes. Then go into a breast stroke. WITH THE KICK!!! Are you kidding me! In this crowd?!?! Obviously I had to get away from this situation. So I powered over/through and l actually pushed people away from me to create the space I needed. (I will probably send a note to the race director asking that if the group is going to be this large, mention that this type of kick is a dangerous idea. Or even better, split the division in two. People going for the podium in the AG should indicate that on their application and the contenders can be in the same wave.)

After the first turn conditions improved for half the distance to the next buoy. I closed the gap to a group ahead of me then did a terrible job getting around them. I should have gone to the outside to make the pass. The 2^nd turn sends us away from the sun so sighting is no longer an issue. Now I felt that I really started to swim well. I’d pick out someone to close the gap on and it seemed as if I was on their feet in no time. At which point I would just make the pass and pick the next cap to chase down. I was really feeling good about my swim at this point. I didn’t consider the fact that I may have lost so much time at the start that these people were considerably weaker swimmers than me. It was during this stretch that I realized that I didn’t start my watch, so I wasn’t going to know my swim split as I came out of the water.

Turns out it was a 27:32 or 1:51 pace. Slower than last year…

T1: I hear Genine cheering for me as I run up into transition. I’m feeling good, wetsuit came off easily. Sunglasses, Helmet, Shoes, Leg Cramps. WHAT?!?!  I hardly use my legs when I swim! My interior quads (or whatever they are, adductors?) are freaking out right now. So here I am standing at my bike at a complete standstill, waiting for them to relax. Finally I decide to try to run up the hill to the bike start. Halfway up the hill, WHAM, they cramp up again. Now I’m standing on the hill watching people run by me with their bikes. Eventually they relax and I cross the timing mat for what turns out to be a 3:36 T1 time. Except they still aren’t done. Now I’m standing at the back of the start on the far side waiting… waiting. I’m guessing another full minute. As I get started, I look for Genine. I spot her and yell, “we will see how this goes…” She thinks I’m referring to my hopes of not flatting out. Some other woman yells out, “You are going to do great!” Race days are awesome.

The Bike: Obviously I’m going to have to go easy to avoid cramping. I figure I’ll know soon enough whether or not this is going to get better or worse. It wasn’t long before I came across people changing flats. I shouted out as I approached asking if they had what they needed. I figure if there was going to be a race where I should be helpful this seems to be a good one. They were set. I didn’t need to stop. The next person I came across was standing roadside with their bike on one of the climbs looking disappointed. I asked if they needed help. She said she had a broken cable. It was unlikely I was going to be able to help that situation, so I kept going. Shortly after that, someone up ahead of me goes off the road slightly, then crashes back onto the road. I ask if they want some help and they tell me they are okay.

Eventually, I realize my legs seem to be cooperating so I start to dial up some intensity. I’m easily 5 miles in already and probably have been biking harder than I think I am. The road conditions were fantastic. Staying aero on this course was so easy. One downhill I put myself into a very aggressive aero position because I had nobody near me. I had my hands on the bullhorns and practically lay myself on top of my areo pads. I hit 40mph and closed the gap with the group ahead of me. That really showed me how important, minimizing frontal resistance is.

There were more than a few times where I got caught behind people that were blocking. Heck, one time I was blocked by the official on the motorcycle. (I think he was blocked as well). Not that big of a deal. It would be awesome to be able to ride that course as a time trial tho’.

I finished the bike in 1:19:02 or 19mph. This was better than I expected to be honest. Although judging by my HR monitor, I was pushing pretty hard.

T2: 1:42 I didn’t rush through this. I was trying to decide whether or not I should run.

The Run: It’s only 10K. That’s what I left transition thinking. Try to get into a zone and knock it down. The first mile 8:20. 2^nd mile 8:00. 3^rd mile never saw the marker. I’ll admit to walking part of a couple of the steeper hills. My right quad was feeling it. I watched people from my age group run by. It was sad. I just couldn’t bring myself to stay on the gas.  In hindsight, I wish I would of. I doubt I would be any more sore as a result of having pushed it the rest of the way. I suppose the good news is, as I reached the final mile or so of the run where it’s basically flat, I got to thinking about how next year I will be ready for this run. (Have I said that before?)

53:46 or 8:41 min/mile. I was just under 8 min/mile last year. So this was a significant drop off compared to last year.

Other than the leg cramps, (which for the life of me, I do not understand how that happens after a swim) I really enjoyed the race. Catching up with our friends in the area was even better. It all goes by too quickly. It was a great weekend.

Columbia Triathlon 2012 Some Pictures of the Pros

Genine kept busy while I was racing on Sunday at the Columbia Triathlon. Here are some of her pictures of the pros at the race.
Here is the link to the full set of our pictures of the pros at the race that day.
Columbia Triathlon 2012 Professional Athletes Photos
Here is the link for the AGers.
Columbia Triathlon 2012 Age Group Athletes

Laurel Wassner Swim Warmup

Laurel Wassner Swim Start

Rebeccah Wassner SwimWarmup

Men's Swim Start

Cameron Dye, James Seear

Cameron Dye

Ben Collins

Women's Swim Start

Beth Shutt

Cameron Dye

Ben Collins

Laurel Wassner

Lindsey Jerdonik

Cameron Dye

Laurel Wassner

Rebeccah Wassner

Beth Shutt

Going to Race this weekend

I've dialed my training so far back the last few weeks, that I feel like I'm in the off season. My left hip was in a bad place. Even pushing off the wall during my swim would cause me some pain.

Sunday I went in for a massage. I decided to switch to the person Genine has been going to, hoping I may have better results. It was a good decision. Initially I was flinching from pain as it was being worked on. By the end of the hour, I was surprised by how much better it was feeling. I asked how often one typically could have that type of injury worked on. He said he really only had people come to him once a week at most. On the way out I booked a session for 2 days later. (Tuesday).

Then Wednesday night, I got on the bike trainer and got 40 minutes in. Then I went to the pool and some easy swimming.
Thursday night, I went out for a 3 mile run. Within the first mile, I ran past a place that was burning garbage or yard waste. My lungs didn't like that at all. Everything else was pretty good tho'. After the run I tightened up a bit and my lungs were a wreck until the next morning.

Woke up this morning and my hip wasn't complaining about the run, so I guess it's time to start things back up.
We are going to make the trip to Columbia this weekend. I had been considering saving money by not making the trip if I was only going to be able to swim. It looks as if I should be able to do more than that. Pacing on the bike will be key. This is a similar situation to last year's Timberman for me in terms of my training the 2-3 weeks leading up to the event. I had to quit after the bike at that race.

As bad as the hills are on the run at Columbia, I'd like to get through the run. If I feel my hip is going to be a problem I will stop. Mooseman is just 2 weekends away. That is more important to me.

As tentative as all that sounds. I AM looking forward to seeing how I do on the swim. The bike course is fun no matter what speed you ride. And because the race is a 5150 qualifier, there will be a bunch of pros there. (not that I'll see much of them). Genine will have fun tho'. I'll have to wait for her photos.

(hope I don't regret not making time to replace the tubular on the rear tire/ why didn't I drop it off to have the shop do it?)

Edit: Forgot to mention that I skipped last weeks NYRR 4 miler in Central Park.

Injury update

Training has not been good. My left hip is still unhappy. I guess lowering the volume of work wasn't enough. It looks like some time off along with some NSAIDs and Ice is going to be the plan. Which is frustrating but really there are worse things that can happen. So I need to get over it and get myself to the pool, as that's the one thing I could be doing at this point.

Just for the sake of record keeping, here's why I think this happened. The switch to outdoor riding and riding long too quickly. If it were flat, I'd probably be fine. The other week where I looped Round Valley 3x. That was probably too much of a ride.

The other thing is that my bike fit was off and I didn't realize it. I spent an hour this week on the trainer messing with my setup. My saddle was low by nearly a half inch. I found when I was doing single leg drills my left knee was having to move way to the outside in order to go over the top. I'm sure that was a contributing factor. (I'm not sure why my right knee didn't seem to have the same issue at the lower height)

I've got a race a week from Sunday. I'm hoping that this hip issue clears up before then. I'm sure I could race with the problem but with 2 Olys and a Half all within 5 weeks, I'm not sure that would be the smart choice. None of the courses are flat and hills seem to give my hip the most grief.

Genine races her first triathlon of the season this Saturday morning.
I have a 4 miler in Central Park Sunday. (maybe, it's not going to be fast if I go).

My other weekend project is to get a new tire glued on to the Hed 3's. I flatted out at Columbia last year. The rear tire has a couple questionable spots on it. I'm thinking I'll pull that tire off and that will become the spare as it will be nice and stretched. I don't plan on flatting again, but if I do, I really hope the slime would bail me out.

Lastly, because I haven't been working out much lately, it's been interesting to note the changes. Initially I wasn't sleeping well. I think I was so used to being exhausted that nothing would wake me up. So for the first 3-4 nights I just didn't sleep well.
My calorie requirements are much lower. Of course that took awhile to get the feel of. Again the first few days I just wanted to keep feeding the machine. Then it hit. I'm not needing all the extra calories and I just started to eat like a normal person. (sort of).
Yes my hip hurts because of tendonitis or bursitis or something. But overall, I can tell you, I feel much better when I'm doing all these crazy workout, than I do when I'm not doing them. I'm talking physically/muscularly.

Hoping that I'm back on the move soon.
I would say this has the feel of the lead in to Timberman last year, except that my expectations for these early races are nowhere near as high as what they were last summer for Timberman.

Easy week

Monday night I had a 30 minute swim lesson. It turned out to be a terrible time slot. All the lanes had swim team up until my lesson started. So no warm up. The pool was freezing. Normally that isn't a problem. Without my warmup, I was a mess. The coach basically ripped into me and I never swam anything over 100. Even tho' it was somewhat of a disaster, I got a bunch out of it. It's just that none of the improvements showed up until my next workout. I've done 2 workouts since and I'm heading back in the right direction.
I cut my 90 minute run to 45 minutes this week and I haven't biked yet. I'm giving my left hip / IT Band a break. I'm not sure why I didn't schedule a massage. It's feeling much better tho' and I think it was a good call to back off on the workouts.

Looking to step it back up this weekend.
Genine races next weekend. I race in 2 weeks. It's getting close!
Time to throw the wetsuit into tub to presoak it. Does it help? I don't think it hurts.