Hard to believe, but I've never done a sprint distance triathlon. I tend to go big (and then go home and sleep), so I've never seen much point in a sprint tri. I'm an endurance girl!
On Saturday, the IronTeam held its "Cherry Pop" Sprint Triathlon in Pleasant Hill. For several teammates, this really was their first time, and it served as a good skill-building event. For me, it was a workout, and one of the shortest weekend workouts this season, but also a chance to push harder than I normally would.
I arrived at 6:20 with my sausage egg sandwich and coffee from Starbucks. It was dark, and under 40 degrees, and the thought of taking my clothes off and getting in a pool was making me regret getting out of bed that morning. The thought of transitioning from pool to bike in wet clothes and riding 15-20 mph in 40 degrees made me shudder and clutch my coffee harder. I wished I was like normal people and used winter as an off-season spent mostly indoors.
The coaches wanted to simulate a real race experience as much as possible, so we checked in, received bib numbers, and got body markings. At the last possible moment, we disrobed and hustled into the pool. Steamy water was so welcoming, I was sad the swim was the shortest leg. There weren't many of us racing, about 30 or so, but we managed to simulate a mass swim start pretty well. The swim was 400 yards, or 8 loops around the perimeter of the pool. Because it was so tight, there was no room to get a good swim rhythm or even think much about my stroke. The swim mostly involved 8 loops of trying not to get kicked in the face.
Also, 8 loops of keeping all my body parts inside my clothes. I decided to swim in a sports bra and tri shorts, which is my normal triathlon event outfit for the swim, except I'm usually wearing a wetsuit over it all. It seems that when sports bras get a little worn, they get pretty stretchy in the water. Oops. So my swim went something like: stroke, stroke, tuck, stroke, stroke, tug, stroke, stroke, tuck... I don't think anyone noticed.
I spent 9:36 in the pool, and then 3:24 in shivering transition to the bike. Oh the cold! The wet, wet cold. Actually, 3:24 is one of the shortest transitions I've had, particularly T1, which tends to be longer since there's a lot more to put on for the bike. Perhaps it was shorter because I wasn't worried about re-applying sunscreen and body glide and other lubricants for some epic bike ride. For 12 miles, I thought I would be okay as-is.
The bike route did not have too many extreme hills but did have some rollers and some smaller climbs. I managed to catch up to and pass a few of the guys who were out of the water ahead of me, but I knew there were several I would not be able to find on the road. I put some solid energy into the ride, tried to keep my pace strong.
However, I definitely noticed that I flagged a bit on the climbs. I have not been training hills recently, not like I did this past summer, when all I ever rode was hills. But I also think that I'm not used to pushing hard up hills. When I was cycling this past summer, we spent so much time on hills that if you pushed each one, you'd be pooped before you got halfway through the ride. Hills meant settling in, getting comfortable, and steadily making your way to the top. In a triathlon, slow and steady doesn't win the race. There are too many Type A crazies out there on the course (I might be one of them). So I need to start training hills more, and start training hills fast more, too.
I completed the 12-mile bike course in 42:08, averaging about 17 mph. I found out these times after the fact, since my bike computer died halfway through the course, and I could only go on my own perceived exertion. My transition from bike to run took 2:15, which is another miracle. Again, I'm pretty sure it's due to a lack of lube, which can only apply to sprint events.
The run was pretty hard. By that, I mean that my feet felt like hard rocks hitting the hard ground, over and over. They did not warm up until the halfway turnaround point. I felt pretty slow for the first 5-8 minutes, mostly due to how much my feet hurt, but soon I felt like I found my pace. I forgot my watch at home, so again had to rely only on perceived exertion, but based on my overall run time, I think I was pretty accurate in pacing myself.
It was fun to do an out and back on the run, to see my teammates and cheer them on. The power of the team is the community spirit. I finished the run in 28:02, averaging an 8:45/mile pace. In total, the triathlon took me 1:24:25 to cover the 400 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. A decent workout. I was the first female finisher, and about the 5th finisher overall, out of the 30 or so participants. Not a bad showing!
I had fun out there, but triathlon is not a winter sport. I'll have more fun once the weather warms enough to feel happy on the bike again. Also, I'm still an endurance girl by nature. I like to go fast, but I prefer to go far. I'll just consider this one step on the path to the ultimate distance: IRON!
On Saturday, the IronTeam held its "Cherry Pop" Sprint Triathlon in Pleasant Hill. For several teammates, this really was their first time, and it served as a good skill-building event. For me, it was a workout, and one of the shortest weekend workouts this season, but also a chance to push harder than I normally would.
I arrived at 6:20 with my sausage egg sandwich and coffee from Starbucks. It was dark, and under 40 degrees, and the thought of taking my clothes off and getting in a pool was making me regret getting out of bed that morning. The thought of transitioning from pool to bike in wet clothes and riding 15-20 mph in 40 degrees made me shudder and clutch my coffee harder. I wished I was like normal people and used winter as an off-season spent mostly indoors.
The coaches wanted to simulate a real race experience as much as possible, so we checked in, received bib numbers, and got body markings. At the last possible moment, we disrobed and hustled into the pool. Steamy water was so welcoming, I was sad the swim was the shortest leg. There weren't many of us racing, about 30 or so, but we managed to simulate a mass swim start pretty well. The swim was 400 yards, or 8 loops around the perimeter of the pool. Because it was so tight, there was no room to get a good swim rhythm or even think much about my stroke. The swim mostly involved 8 loops of trying not to get kicked in the face.
Also, 8 loops of keeping all my body parts inside my clothes. I decided to swim in a sports bra and tri shorts, which is my normal triathlon event outfit for the swim, except I'm usually wearing a wetsuit over it all. It seems that when sports bras get a little worn, they get pretty stretchy in the water. Oops. So my swim went something like: stroke, stroke, tuck, stroke, stroke, tug, stroke, stroke, tuck... I don't think anyone noticed.
I spent 9:36 in the pool, and then 3:24 in shivering transition to the bike. Oh the cold! The wet, wet cold. Actually, 3:24 is one of the shortest transitions I've had, particularly T1, which tends to be longer since there's a lot more to put on for the bike. Perhaps it was shorter because I wasn't worried about re-applying sunscreen and body glide and other lubricants for some epic bike ride. For 12 miles, I thought I would be okay as-is.
The bike route did not have too many extreme hills but did have some rollers and some smaller climbs. I managed to catch up to and pass a few of the guys who were out of the water ahead of me, but I knew there were several I would not be able to find on the road. I put some solid energy into the ride, tried to keep my pace strong.
However, I definitely noticed that I flagged a bit on the climbs. I have not been training hills recently, not like I did this past summer, when all I ever rode was hills. But I also think that I'm not used to pushing hard up hills. When I was cycling this past summer, we spent so much time on hills that if you pushed each one, you'd be pooped before you got halfway through the ride. Hills meant settling in, getting comfortable, and steadily making your way to the top. In a triathlon, slow and steady doesn't win the race. There are too many Type A crazies out there on the course (I might be one of them). So I need to start training hills more, and start training hills fast more, too.
I completed the 12-mile bike course in 42:08, averaging about 17 mph. I found out these times after the fact, since my bike computer died halfway through the course, and I could only go on my own perceived exertion. My transition from bike to run took 2:15, which is another miracle. Again, I'm pretty sure it's due to a lack of lube, which can only apply to sprint events.
The run was pretty hard. By that, I mean that my feet felt like hard rocks hitting the hard ground, over and over. They did not warm up until the halfway turnaround point. I felt pretty slow for the first 5-8 minutes, mostly due to how much my feet hurt, but soon I felt like I found my pace. I forgot my watch at home, so again had to rely only on perceived exertion, but based on my overall run time, I think I was pretty accurate in pacing myself.
It was fun to do an out and back on the run, to see my teammates and cheer them on. The power of the team is the community spirit. I finished the run in 28:02, averaging an 8:45/mile pace. In total, the triathlon took me 1:24:25 to cover the 400 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. A decent workout. I was the first female finisher, and about the 5th finisher overall, out of the 30 or so participants. Not a bad showing!
I had fun out there, but triathlon is not a winter sport. I'll have more fun once the weather warms enough to feel happy on the bike again. Also, I'm still an endurance girl by nature. I like to go fast, but I prefer to go far. I'll just consider this one step on the path to the ultimate distance: IRON!
Week 8 Mileage
Tuesday, January 1 Extra Rest Day - starting the year right, with mimosas. Wednesday, January 2 - TRACK Run - 5 miles, 47 minutes 2nd 3-mile run marker, not my best work at 24:48. I added over 50 seconds to the 1st marker, and had no consistency in my laps, adding seconds to each. I blame my cold! Core - 25 minutes Thursday, January 3 Spin - 25 minutes LT Test - Coach Mike tested my heart rate on the bike to get my Lactate Threshold and create heart rate zones to use to structure my workouts. It was 14 minutes of steadily increasing resistance at constant cadence. Friday, January 4 Run - 2.1 miles, 20 minutes Core - 25 minutes Saturday, January 5 - SPRINT TRI Swim - 400 yards, 9:36 T1 - 3:24 Bike - 12 miles, 42:08 minutes T2 - 2:15 Run - 3.1 miles, 28:02 minutes Total Time: 1:24:25 Sunday, January 6 - COACHED Bike - 23 miles, 1 hour 20 minutes Run - 5 miles, 50 minutes Cornering at Treasure Island, 30 minute bike loops with run intervals. PLUS - I tested out of tire changing drills by changing my rear wheel tire in under 4 minutes! Woohoo! | Totals: Swim - 400 yards, 9:36 minutes Bike - 23 miles, 2 hours 30 minutes Run - 15 miles, 2 hours 25 minutes Core - 50 minutes Total - 5 hours 55 minutes |