Sprint Tri

Heart of the Valley Sprint:
The good: won the masters division and well run event
The bad: missing almost a week of running and swimming not a great thing before a race
The ugly: Got freaking hammered on the bike by the top guys, despite putting out 351 watts for 32 minutes.

Ann missed the overall win by 23 seconds or so, and I think it was mostly on the swim. I think she is just a bit reluctant on the bike still, as she hasnt been on the bike much since AZ. Her not riding a disc probably cost her half that time too. Neither of us rode discs, but the winners did, and this was a disc course even with the constant hills. The down hills were long and straight, perfect for disc speed. However, this race is just what she needed. Her ave watts of 184 is strong for her. Oh yeah, her 5k portion about a 19:40...uuhhh 6:20 pace? For God's sake she was within 20 sec per mile from me. She will beat me on the run someday. I think she'll crush her next one.

Well, my foot wasnt too bad for the race. The cycling shoe "window" worked like a charm, and the running shoe was ok but felt like I was running on pavement in barefeet almost. No cushion in my shoe as this raises my foot and the top of the "window" scrapes my stitches.

No socks as I cant touch anything to my foot. Main pain problem for the run was due to the bruising on my heel. A bit of blood toward the end but good for the wound to weep a little...cleans it out.

Regardless, my mild limitation on the bike and my poor performance on the run was primarily because of missing workouts this week. Especially the lack of running and swimming for 6 days.

Swim 12:02 (750 meter)
Bike 32:40 (12.2 miles) 351 watts ave, total ascent 1060 ft on bike.
Run 18:42 (6:03 per mile, 3.1 miles)
Total time of 1:06.42
Transitions flat out slow. T1 over 2 minutes, half of that trying to get my damn shoe on.

My time was good for 5th overall and top master (>40). I just cant run with these guys over 10 yrs younger than me. A few very fast dudes showed up anyway.

My major goal was to win the masters, so goal accomplished. Its nice to win the masters because here they treat the masters as a separate race, with separate results, and of course, the same award as the overall winner...so, yeah its nice to get something for my effort.

I have a "back of my mind" goal of winning the masters division in all 8 local races I plan before ITU worlds on Labor day weekend. This will be tough for my next race in 2 weeks as the plan is a sprint on Saturday and olympic race the next day Sunday. The Pacific Crest 1/2 IM will be just flat out competitive, in 4 wks, and I just dont feel ready to race a half. So, the goal wont be easy.

Anyway, now I know I can pull off some short runs this week, until stitches come out in 9 days. I will likely just pull them out myself on Saturday so I can run long Sunday with "normal" shoes.

At least I can bike, as I have 6 days planned on the bike this week. Big mileage? I dont think so. Frequency is the key, not mega miles. 200 miles in 6 days is far better than 200 miles in 3-4 days when you consider intensity factor. I try to teach this to my athletes....its hard to break habits and pre-conceived ideas on what makes a successful athlete.