The Prep for Clermont Draft Legal Sprint and Challenge Florida

My running has been going really well for the last several weeks.

I rested a little after Redman but really continued on my long runs and fast runs without issues since then.  Including the run at Redman I've had 5 good long runs and 5 good faster effort runs while continuing my easy days in between them.

The difference between last year's and this year's running is instead of doing threshold I'm doing short and fast intervals with 3 minutes of rest.  I'm hoping that will help me run faster for the DL sprint.

The bike training has been going ok since the weather has been warmer but nowhere near where I was during the summer.

Swimming is going well, I've had 5 good weeks in the pool and now it's time to rest up and see how things are going to go.

This week will be easier with 4 days of running, 3 easier rides and swimming as I feel.  I need to be at 100% to make it in the top 10 at the sprint, I don't know how that will turn out but I do have experience doing draft legal racing that I think others lack.

Now the last 2 weeks are here and I need to be smart and get my energy back. 

A followup from Redman (Long Course Nationals)

The race went pretty well but I was not as strong on the run as I hoped to be.

I had a solid swim, things went well.  I stayed out of trouble in the beginning by staying to the right.  It was a one loop swim and the first turn was a long ways off so I had time to settle in.  Starting on the right makes me a little more comfortable cuz the water is calmer to my breathing side so in the beginning it's easier for me to breathe.

After things settled out I was looking for someone to follow, I found some feet a few times but really just hopped around from person to person.  I remember being on someone's feet most of the return leg but I don't think it helped much.

There was a small (and by small I mean 6 inches) chop on the way out, it seemed like boat traffic waves but they were consistent.  On the way back it appeared to be a little bigger but they were behind me by then.

On the bike the first goal was to get my HR down under 140bpm, it's an arbitrary number I picked because during training most of my pacing practice produced a HR of 135.  It took me about 5 miles to get it down and then planned to ride on the short side of 170 watts.  After a few miles I noticed there was someone about 100 yards ahead of me going the same speed so I figured rather than ride by myself I would sit 10 meters behind him and save some energy.  It took another mile to close the gap and I settled in behind him.  Shortly after than 4 or 5 guys passed me slowly and both of us latched onto them.

It seemed to me that all of these guys knew what they were doing, everyone stayed 7 to 10 meters apart and passed up from the back.  When we went uphill everyone kept the same effort and rode smart.  Sometimes a person would get off the front or fall off the back buy we seemed to ride well together for most of the time.  There were a few guys that rode through us and the draft marshals were on us from mile 30 to 45 but we were clean.  I saw a group of 20 people that was riding fairly close, I was with them for a few miles but they were going faster than I wanted to go and I held back.

Near 50 miles I dropped back to save some more energy since I knew my running was undertrained.  It was a wise decision, as I was able to get my HR down nearer 130 and got ready for the run.

The run started off well, I short-stepped the beginning cuz I knew my fitness wouldn't support a fast run, after 5 miles I started dropping off and was really just holding on.  My HR was really high for that effort but again I expected that.  I wound up running a 1:47 which isn't too bad but is still a long way off of the 1:38 I ran last fall.

Lessons from this race:
Probably need to drink a little more on the bike.  Drinking only 1.5 bottles might have contributed to the higher HR on the run.  At Florida I'm going to try and get 1 bottle down in the first hour of the ride and see how things go.  Hopefully I can get another bottle down in the next 1.5 hours.

Sitting 7 to 10 meters behind someone all of the time really helped the speed.  I road 2:24 on 163 watts.  That's about 7 watts saved.

Starting off conservative on the run was the right way to go again.  I knew in the first 5 miles what kind of shape I was in.  Still 4:47 in a half is good for me despite the run issues.