Back into the pool and on the diet

After last week's debacle on the swim, I'm back in the pool and working hard. Trouble is, swimming is HARD for me. I'm signed up for a pricey private swim lesson hosted by SCAQ (Southern California Aquatics) and I'm hoping for some miracle form breakthrough that will suddenly drop my paces a good 10sec/100m, but honestly, I doubt that's going to happen.

I suspect a major part of my problem on the swim is actually less my technique, but my lack of swim power. This sounded strange to me, as my lats and back muscles were always very strong on weightlifting in my prior athletic life, but for sure, when it comes to the swim motion, I'm very weak compared to experienced swimmers.

For swimming, it seems that you can do interval after interval without risking injury due to the no-impact nature of the activity. A lot of folks on the triathlon forums recommend this, with sets of 100s through 400s at higher speed versus the running method of lower speed with intermittent speedwork. I have now adopted this style of training, and will see if it yields any benefit. I hope it will, as currently, I can cover the distance of 1+ miles no problem, but my swim pace is ungodly slow.

As for technical corrections, I'm sure I have several, but I doubt they are glaring anymore. I'm honestly having a hard time correcting any parts of my stroke now, which means that I've fixed all the obvious errors and thus will need a coach to fine-tune the stroke. I do find it easy to hold form at low relaxed paces, but my form degenerates somewhat at higher speeds, which requires more practice.

For the upcoming LA Olympic triathlon in September, which is my next goal race, I am hoping to maintain my bike ability as is, and I will willingly take a hit on my running speeds to improve much more on the swim. I will be willing to drop my 10k from my recent 42:50 to 44 or even 45 minutes in exchange for 5+ minutes improvement on the swim, or getting at least into the bottom third as opposed to the bottom quarter. This is in line with the triathlon mantra, "work on your weakness, but race your strength."

A few changes to my workout schedule will also be made. I'm not sure this will yield great results, and I suspect it may even slow me down a little, but I'm hoping it will be more bang for the buck in terms of time and intensity for Olympic distance races. I'm aiming to increase overall intensity with at least one run interval day, one run short-sprint day, and 1-2 bike interval days, coupled with 2-3 swim interval days. That's a lot of hard days, but I think with the x-training effect, it won't be too bad after the first week or two of suffering. This will hopefully increase my leg speed and leg power to perform optimally in the shorter-course races, which require somewhat different ability than the marathon training I used to do. Still, I'm a believer in high-volume training, and although I don't have the time to do it right now, I wish I could still maintain high running, swimming, and cycling mileage for optimal performance.

Finally, yes, it sounds strange, but I'm on a diet. I guess it would be hard to call it a real "diet", as I'm still eating more than would be recommended for a person my size, but I've decided to get my weight back down to my marathon racing weight or as close to it by the LA triathlon in September. 2 weeks ago, I weighed 151 in the morning, which is what I've been at for the past 6 months post stress-fx. However, at my peak speed last year, I was 141 (!!) without any crazy dieting. I'm not carrying much fat, but for sure, there's some extra fat hiding somewhere on my frame that can be shaved off for performance, as I've been eating probably 2-3x more than a typical person would eat. The past 2 weeks has been somewhat of a challenge to reduce portion sizes to at most 1.5x a typical one (instead of 2-4x typical, my norm) without detracting from my endurance training, but it's all coming together, and not too painfully at that. I'm now for sure down 2 lbs since 2 weeks ago, and I'm hoping it'll continue until I'm at my svelte racing weight come September.

Strawberry Fields Olympic Distance Tri 7-19-09

Updated race results:

Overall: 126th/286 (middle of pack)

Swim: 252th, 53:00 / 1500m / 2:55 pace. <- Long course for sure - top swimmers were 2:00+

T1: 2:55 (middle of pack)

Bike: 72th, 1:03:10, 23.6 mph

T2: 1:22 (middle of pack)

Run: 38th, 42:50, 6:53/mi

Today I completed my first ever Olympic distance triathlon. I entered this race only 2 weeks ago, as I felt that I needed some race experience to fine tune my training, so I did no special race preparation for this race. Unfortunately, my lack of preparation showed in spades today, as things didn't turn out anywhere near as well as I had hoped, but on the bright side, I now know what things I really need to prioritize in training to improve.

Cody Westheimer, friends and myself. Before they both smoked me in the water

This was an exceptionally organized race held in Oxnard, Ventura right on beachside. It is the same beach where you can catch boats out to the Channel Islands, so I've been here before. I left Santa Monica at the ungodly hour of 4AM for a 7AM race start, and that was actually the perfect amount of time for preparation, as I arrived at the locale at 5AM. Registration pickup was a breeze, with computer validation of entry, a tightly run transition area with your own rack area with your race number affixed to your area, and great race support all along the course. A very well run, professionally done race, in my opinion. I would definitely do this one again in the future.

THE SWIM - I'M STILL TERRIBLE

If there's one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb on all my tris so far, it's undoubtedly my horrendous swim performances. I was hoping that this time around, with my improved stroke, new wetsuit, and open water training experience, that I would have a real shot at a MOP (middle of pack) swim finish, but once again, I was proven wrong with yet another BOP (back of pack) finish.

I'm so far back already that I'm not even in the picture

The swim course was likely long today, as everyone in my age group finished 10+ minutes slower than their usual swim time. This was extremely disheartening for me, when I looked at my watch halfway through the swim and realized that I was already exceeding the time I was hoping to finish the entire swim by. Regardless of the distance, I'm still a truly lousy swimmer, as I was completely unable to keep pace with the pack of swimmers in my age group, and I was rapidly caught by waves of swimmers behind me. I never struggled at any point in the swim, but I had a very difficult time sighting the buoys amongst the waves and the people, and for sure, this slowed my pace down substantially. My final time for an alleged 1500m swim was 52+ minutes (!!) - I was definitely not this spectacularly slow, as I never needed to pause or rest en route, but I was flat out back-of-pack for sure in my AG. It was another disappointing transition to the bikes as I noticed that nearly all the bikes were again gone by the time I arrived. I estimate that I lost nearly 15-20 minutes to a MOP swimmer in my age category, which pretty much destroyed any chance I had of having a decent showing in the race.

Update: To put it in hard results of how spectacularly badly I'm swimming, I finished 21st/22nd in my AG in this race. Even WORSE than my first race where my wetsuit didn't fit properly and I had to backfloat for part of the race. What the heck happened out there? I know the obvious answer is that I have a glaring deficiency in my stroke, but I can't identify it at all. Swim coach, here I come...

THE BIKE - 2 BATHROOM BREAKS. WTF!?

If I look like I'm struggling, it's only because I needed a bathroom break - badly!

I was honestly expecting my bike split to be the strongest of my splits in this race, as the bulk of my training has been on the bike, including 6 hour long hellaciously hilly rides and sprints with the local bike club. This wasn't my day, however. The moment I mounted my bike, I really had to go the the bathroom. As well, I was really mentally disheartened by my terrible swim. After riding for about 10 minutes, I simply had to stop to relieve myself on the side of the road. I jumped back on the bike, hoping to make up some time, and I was averaging 22-23 miles per hour at a not-too-hard pace with comfortable breathing on a dead-flat course. Yet 30 minutes later, I had to go to the bathroom AGAIN. Unbelievable. This never happens to me in training; I suspect that a combination of the cold ocean water plus some ingested salt water on the swim led me to have some strange bladder issues. After two complete bathroom breaks requiring full unclipping, I was in no mood to hammer the bike. I kept it comfortable (but not easy), while maintaining a speed of 21ish miles per hour, which was enough to continue passing lots of people but not anywhere near what I would consider a strong effort for me on the bike. I also noted that my strength is definitely climbing hills now; on the 2 small roller hills on the course, I disproportionately passed lots of riders. Granted, I crank up the effort when a hill presents itself, but for sure, I feel more comfortable hammering on a hill incline than I do in aero position on a flat course. This is something I will have to address on my midweek rides, which may have to be geared at developing a fast cadence and power on a flat, steady course.

THE RUN - NOT BAD

I was dreading the run at this point, as my bike didn't feel right at all, and my runs as of late have been ridiculously slow and plodding. I had another ungainly transition, with race officials yelling at me to roll to a complete stop, which I fully did, but apparently I didn't slow enough, as they were all up in arms right before I came to a stop right at the line that they indicated. I was in full control and knew I could stop, but I guess my technique is unconventional, so I need to change it for the future.

For some reason I look a lot more comfortable running...

I started the run intending to just finish the race decently, and not hammer it. My legs felt surprisingly lousy off the bike, and without my Garmin to tell me my pace, I had no idea how fast I was running, but it felt reall slow. Almost immediately, I was passed by 2 guys near in my age group, and I felt that they were moving fast enough that they'd drop me within 200 meters with no return. I was in a pretty bad mood at this point - nothing was working out as I had planned. The run was a 2-loop flat course, and fortunately, I felt better and better as the run progressed. I went through the first 5k in 22:00ish, which is actually on target with my expected pace. I gradually accelerated through the second 5k as I felt better and better, and got it up to race pace by mile 5, which was near 7 minutes/mile. By then, I was in full passing mode, and nobody on the course was remotely close to keeping up with me this far back from the front. I also managed to catch the 2 guys who passed me from the get-go, and dropped them for good in the final half mile. I actually had a good amount of gas at the end for a hard pickup, likely accumulated from my relatively mellower bike. I timed myself through the 10k at about 43 minutes, which is pretty much exactly what I thought I would run on a good day. At least something turned out right. Whew.

FUTURE PLANS

I now have about 2 and a half months prior to my real target triathlons, the LA Olympic distance and the Malibu Olympic distance triathlons. I am making some big changes to my weekday workout routines, which will cut back on running/cycling volume and replace it with swim workouts, which will hopefully become my new #1 priority. Until I can manage a MOP swim, no amount of performance on the bike or run will allow for a reasonably fast finish for me. With luck, I'm hoping for 4 swims per week, with speedwork on at least 2 of those sessions. No pain, no gain. I admit that I dislike swim training, but that is more of a function of the suboptimal pool that I train in which is a short 20meter pool in Ballys, which makes distance swimming difficult. It's also not a pretty place to swim. Regardless, it's time for me to HTFU on the swim, and get serious about it.

Cycling and running will have at least one weekly speedwork session, like it or not. I have been neglecting speed in both, and it showed on a short race such as today's race. I will be back on the gym bike once per week to hammer on the wattage to make sure I can ride as hard and as fast on flats as I do on the hills. I also will be doing a weekly tempo run with a local running group to increase my leg speed.

I admit that I'm somewhat disappointed in this race, mainly because of my still-horrendous swim. I could have been lousy on the bike/run, but if the swim went even half-decent, I would have considered today a successful race day. I guess you live and learn though, and I've now got a true Olympic distance triathlon under my belt, and I know for sure that I can swim the mile in open water without drowning, stopping, or undue distress. This race is a good kick in the rear for me though, and expect some serious changes in my workouts to get ready for the next race.

All base - no speed, and my big BMI

I've spent the past 3 weeks building up my base, particularly in cycling, but also in running. This means, lots of long SLOWWW runs, and building up on long bikes. Particularly long bikes, as I was experiencing some serious bonks last month at rides over 60 miles, with tremendous dropoffs in pace and speed.

Since then, I've really focused on cycling, and in particular, improving the length of my long ride. In the past 4 weeks, I've gone 70, 75, 80, and then this week, pullback week of 63. These are pretty long rides, mainly because at least half of those miles are on serious paved mountain roads with steep inclines averaging 7-8%, and reaching 12-15% in the steepest sections. This is pretty steep; in fact, this type of incline would be considered "beyond category" in sections compared to hills on the Tour De France. (Granted, those guys ride these hills over twice the speed that I do!)

These long bikes have been challenging, but extremely rewarding. In particular, I've come to really enjoy the vacation-like scenery of these gorgeous bike rides. Trail runs impart a similar experience, but since you can cover so much more ground on a bike, it really is a more scenic experience for me. I have to admit that at least half of the attraction of the bike for me now is the gorgeous mountain locales with waterfront views that I get to experience in Malibu and nearby. If you took that away from me, and stuck me in a featureless gym, I would never be able last longer than 90 minutes on the stationary bike. In contrast, I've run 20+ miles on a treadmill without too much difficulty, probably because for me, running was nearly all about performance and not about the enjoying the outdoors when I was pushing hard for a PR/BQ.

Lately, I have been trying to strike a better balance between performance and enjoyment. This means in general, more enjoyment and less performance compared to my prior training - it's a bit of a hard sacrifice for me to make, but I think it's important for my long-term success in triathlon or marathon. Running in particular, has taken a big back seat for the first time, and I'm ok with it for now. I've lost a LOT of speed, as I've done very little speedwork for the last 2 months, and I definitely notice on my long runs, which have slowed to ridiculously slow paces of 10-11 minutes per mile. In fact, I cranked out a fast 10k run with a local running group today, going at nearly race pace, and I could barely survive for 5 miles at near my half marathon pace before fading hard. Ugly, but that's what I get for neglecting my runs.

Ok, I'm not this overweight, but I'm at a record-high body weight now for sure!

Another issue that is actually bothering me is my body weight. For sure, I'm not carrying much extra visible fat, but I am now heavier than I have ever been in my entire life, with a weight of 151 lbs and a BMI of 25.9, which is in the overweight category (25-30 BMI). Of course, the BMI calculators do not take into account extra muscle mass, which probably comprises the bulk of my weight, but carrying around record-weight for me is certainly adversely affecting my running , and I definitely feel the extra poundage on my runs. (I race my last marathon about a year ago at 141lbs, or 10 lbs lighter.) Probably 5 lbs of the weight is necessary due to the power needed for cycling as well as swimming, but for sure, I could stand to eat less and shed 5 lbs prior to my goal race in September.

I'm due this weekend for my first Olympic distance triathlon, the Strawberry Fields triathlon in Ventura county, CA. It has an ocean swim of 1500meters (approx 32 minutes for me), a 23.6 mile bike (about 1hr10 minutes with transitions), and a 10k run (about 45-46 minutes - yuk.) After my terrible 10k run today, I'm going in with very low expectations on the run; 8 minute miles are very likely given my lack of leg speed and mileage. I'm hoping that I will excel on the bike, as that is where most of my training has been going, but my #1 goal is not not be DFL (aka Dead-F****** last) on the swim, as I pretty much was on my first triathlon. With my new wetsuit, ample open water experience, and new and improved stroke, I think I have a very good chance to place in the back of the middle pack on the swim. If I could accomplish that, I will consider this race a success, as I know I can dramatically improve my run in the next 8 weeks with more mileage and speedwork.

Love the LA Weather - and progress

June weather has been simply spectacular for training in Los Angeles. Now that I've returned for a good stretch from my incessant traveling in the past 4 months, I'm really appreciating the mild temps, beachside scenes, lovely endless sun, and long daylight hours of LA. It feels like a neverending good dream to train out here, where I can have my choice of hours and environments to train and improve while enjoying the spectacular outdoor scenery.

I cranked up the volume of running and biking over the past 2 weeks, which gave me a real beatdown. I was running 10-11 minutes/mile for a lot of long runs of up to 16 miles, and doing some really slow cycling at big volumes as well. I've been here before though, and I'm well familiar now with the payoff after hanging in through such a beatdown. A lot of less experienced or motivated folks would probably give up or pull back training at this point, thinking that they simply can't hack it, but I know that these moments of beat-down are the moments of true improvement as long as you don't give up.

Sure enough, after a small 2 day pullback in volume, my legs are starting to come back to me. My running is picking up in pace, and I cranked out a solid 18 hilly miler this week with no problems, which was the longest run I've done since my stress fracture 10 months ago. For sure, the marathon option is now fair game again should I decide to go that route in the near future. Cycling long distances is still challenging after the 4-hr mark, but I am definitely improving. I can outpace the entire intermediate Saturday group in the LA Tri Club, and end up riding solo for the last 2 hours since everyone bails out on the last major push, but it has definitely yielded real benefits. I still have a ways to go before I can confidently hang with the 100+ mile riding advanced group of 5-6 riders, but for sure, I'm close.

A nice field test of my current fitness is a weekly brick workout that the LA triclub now hosts at Beverly Hills High on Wednesdays. It's a hard bike interval session (on bike trainers) followed by a 25 minute hard run. I hammered on this workout, and got my run down to 6:30-6:40/mile for the entire run, even after going all-out on the bike. With luck and continued training, I'm hoping for 7min/mile over 10k for my upcoming triathlon, which would be the fastest I've run in a triathlon to date. (I did 7:10s over 4 miles in a sprint in November.)

Nutrition has been going really well as well with my maltodextrin liquid mixes and salt caps. I've had no problems or hangups with it, and it has been fueling my long rides and runs extremely well. Gone is the shaking hunger that I sometimes got after 4+ hrs on the bike, and gone are the postworkout headaches I got from dehydration. I'm not sure if the salt caps are making a difference on the ride, but I do believe that they're important for maintaining blood volume on long rides, as simple fluid replacement will be ineffective if there is insufficient extracellular salt to osmotically retain the fluids. I used to get ringing headaches during the day after big workouts, similar to a hangover, but those have been eliminated after addition of salt caps + liberal hydration.

I signed up for the Strawberry Fields triathlon on a whim - it's in 2 weeks (!) This is by far the shortest signup interval I've done for a significant race (meaning longer than a 10k), so I'm not expecting to throw down anything amazing that day. It will, however, be a big test of whether I can survive a true triathlon Olympic-distance mile swim, which is the single biggest impediment to my participation and success in triathlon. I have now done over 10 successful open water swims of a mile or less, but it will still be interesting to see on race day whether I can complete the distance with gas to spare as well as not falling too far behind the entire field.

I'm going to attempt to spend more time in the pool in the next 2 weeks to get myself as close to swim-race shape as I can. It's a real time challenge, as my run & bike require so much time even to maintain fitness let alone improve, that swim time is very limited. I'm also hesitant to spend a large amount of time on swim improvement until I take a private lesson with video analysis to fix the remaining big flaws in my form. This is high on my priority list, and hopefully I can get this done in the next few weeks.

I'm off to a gorgeous mountain run up Westridge road and the neighboring trails!