A Final Speed Day Pre-TC 10 Mile

Last Friday my legs were feeling A-OK after the Square Lake Sprint Triathlon from 12 days before. (Here's my race report and here are more photos from that tri.) So I headed out to do that same 5x (3 mins HARD / 3 mins MODERATE) that I did 3 weeks before. I don't usually like to do the same speed workout so close, but 3 weeks ago it was just a quick random workout, and last week it was a workout that Coach Jen had me do around the same time before the 2010 TC 10 Mile when she was my coach. As I said a few weeks ago, this workout is one that looks fine but is harder than you might expect because there's no EASY - you don't get to recover because your non-hard efforts are still MODERATE.

After a short warm-up, here were my efforts (HARD in red, and MODERATE in orange):

My split were similar to last time:

- 0.54 for both 1st splits
- 0.53 for both 2nd splits
- 0.52 instead of 0.53 for the 3rd split (slower this time)
- 0.54 instead of 0.51 for the 4th split (faster this time - a nice difference!)
- 0.48 instead of 0.44 for the 5th split (again, noticeably faster this time!)

(That last split was shorter because it was all up Marshall Hill coming up from the Mississippi River - a brutal end to the workout.)

The "build" at the end of the workout this time was promising!

And the "moderate" efforts were the same or better this time: SAME for the 1st, 0.01 farther for the 2nd and 3rd and 4th, and then 0.03 farther for the 5th, but I kinda screwed that one up and started walking thinking I was done this time, so after 0:30 seconds I started running again and tacked on 0:30 on the end (so those final 2 moderates of 0.40 and 0.08 need 0.04 of walking subtracted, so I went 0.44 after a short walk break instead of 0.41 a few weeks ago).

Pace graph. The first 4 efforts are pretty clear, and then the 5th is hard to see as it
was uphill. And then I started to walk when I should have been doing 3:00 moderate yet.


My foot strikes show the 5 efforts pretty clearly (and me walking in red down low).


Very similar look to last time, but this one is FASTER (REDDER) between split 10 and 12!

And JUST MAYBE the reason why this workout was faster was because last time I had just inhaled a large cinnamon roll about an hour before doing that workout. Oops. This workout had efforts that were much more consistently red, vs last time had some more random green and orange paces in my harder efforts as well.

Alright, now to see if any of this will translate to a fast TC 10 Mile THIS WEEKEND. My Saturday post will have some pre-race thoughts/goals/predictions.

Read more...

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Kipchoge's Bottle Guy is my Hero

You've all heard about Eliud Kipchoge lowering his marathon world record to 2:01:09 over the weekend:

And maybe you've seen this guy. He was the person responsible for Kipchoge's water bottle, and he had PASSION for his job. Check out this video:

Direct link: youtu.be/5MSoP4Z4z7o

With a little research, I've learned his name is Claus, and he was Kipchoge's "bottle handler" for his world record marathon in 2018 as well! (Click that link to see him at work back then.) He's been appropriately dubbed "Bottle Claus!"

Read more...

Official Photos from the Square Lake Triathlon

There's an album on Facebook of 900 photos from the Square Lake Sprint Triathlon, and here are a few I want to share. (In case you missed it, here's my race report from 2 weeks ago.)

It was a foggy day!




The other swim buoys had disappeared in the fog! Luckily, it cleared up before the race started.


I can see part of my bike on the far left behind the person in the hoodie.
And you can still see the foggy lake in the background.


I met her years ago at a race. She looked at me 2 weeks ago and said "I KNOW YOU!"


Loved this watermelon tri suit!


Judi starting pre-race announcements under the tent.


The National Anthem was on a sax! (Well done too!)


I'm back there with the blue pits talking to some former swimmers.
I was telling them they should go in front of me. :)


One of the former swimmers taking off...


... with the other one behind her...


... and me barreling in after them! What's with my face/neck/entire being?!?


Former EvoTri buddy Michelle had seen me but hadn't
said hi yet. I didn't know she was there at this point!


Jesus cheated and just ran across the water.


That 'stache MUST drag him down in the water.


More common than you think: running in with your goggles still not on.

When I exited T1, I had a number of people in front of me. The 2 guys who took 1st and 2nd were already in 1st and 2nd, but I caught everyone else in the first 1/4 mile of the bike. We started up a steep little hill, and the eventual winner actually ran up it:

The "mount" line was out of frame way off the top of this image, so he really ran aways!


2nd place powered up on his bike.


This was the last guy I passed, just before getting out onto the highway.


I left transition shortly after this guy (with a shoe issue), and I flew by him as he ran up the hill.


Here I come! Lookin' pained and ready to work!


As I noted in my race report, I'd catch 5 people in front of me right away
(not all pictured here) and then ride the rest of the bike by myself in 3rd.


Michelle!


Lots of people coming out of T1 back there ready to climb this hill.


Pretty sure this is the Invisible Man because I can't see any skin. Ha!


Very muscley on the left side.


Another train of people coming up.


A temporary sunglasses malfunction.


Mustache man made it!


Nasty time to have to "teeth" a gel!


Love that you can wear anything in a tri!


Heading up that short nasty hill with a friend.


The eventual winning out of T2!


2nd place out of T2! Which means...


... I was next. 2nd place was WELL in front of me when I rode towards T2, but I was still fighting.


At least my hair looks good. Sheesh.


Michelle having a problem that I often have.


Waiting at the finish line!

The winner was a mile in front of me, so he was gone. I made up some time on 2nd, but couldn't close the gap - 2nd place beat me by 2:24, but left T2 4:44 in front of me, so I made up half that gap (2:20).

The winner!


Wait... did he barf? What's that white stuff on his face? Maybe a poorly consumed gel?


2nd place.


Me coming to the line in 3rd.


I'm not looking for any particular split here, but just to make
sure I hit the right button as this was my first tri with this Garmin.


4th overall with the fastest run split trying to reel me in!


The "aqua bike" athletes just finish the ride and then run across the line with their bike.


Michelle finishing as the 2nd place female!


Mr. Mustache made it!


Thumbs up.


This is partly cute and partly seems like a bad idea. Not a problem at a smaller race like this.


What has to go so horribly wrong that you end up with your jersey like this?
(It's tied around his neck like a necklace!)


A pack heading to the line.


Love this!...


... and then a big smile!


Strike a pose.


A family finish! Go Mama!


The watermelon tri suit and her friend made it! :)

Here's the entire album on Facebook, and here's my race report from 2 weeks ago.

Back with some pre-race TC 10 Mile thoughts shortly!

Read more...