Summary of Week 12
Training Goal: Absorb Training / Recover
Personal Goal: Race PD Tri
Distance Covered: All Activities: 65.96km
Duration: All Activities: 11h29m
Elevation Gain: 434m
Overall Training Completion Rate (Actual Vs Planned):
101.5%
Swim Time:
2h12m
Swim Distance:
4.9km
Bike Time:
5h22m
Bike Distance:
40km
Elevation Gain:
229m
*For indoor bike - time measurement only and some (insignificant) distance may be recorded
**Including brick
Run Time:
2h03m
Run Distance:
21.06km
Elevation Gain:
111m
*Including brick
Time Spent Doing Strength/Core/Stability Exercises:
1h39m
*Including rest/chit chat
Time Spent Stair Climbing (ascent):
13m15s
Elevation Gain:
94m
*Based on what was recorded only
Unaccounted for
~ foot workout
~ run drills/warm up/cool down
~ Stair descent
Training Notes for Week 12:
1) Swim was quite good, the difference was, this week, I felt the integration of legs, body, hand etc during the whole cycle of the stroke. So kind of feel like the whole body was working not just the hands. Scaled back to 1700m per session. Only 2 session this week considering the race I'm having at the weekend.
2) Bike time was utilized to read. I've gotten up to Chapter 20 of Born to run. Time flies. Sessions should've probably feel a lot harder. I did try to increase the intensity but I can only manage to squeeze so much.
3) Got some sore muscles and tightness after last week's race. So ran hills on Monday and what should've been an easy run on Friday turned to a tempo. Still focusing on breathing and high cadence.
4) No brick session because racing. For strength workout, did 3 session. Could be the main contributor for swim improvement.
5) There were few issues with my garmin. a) forgot to charge my garmin and b) garmin didn't transfer file (sync issues).
Feeling Notes for Week 12:
1) Feeling a bit lackadaisical about training. I guess that's what happens when things get routine. Some things gets a bit sloppy. Starting to forget stuff. Small stuff. And end up starting workout too late and thus finishing late. And during workouts, I was daydreaming and my mind was wandering. Couldn't really focus. But I think, subconciously it happened because I know it's recovery week. So I kind of took it easy without knowing it.
2) Sleeping has been awful. I was up either to catch the olympics or just watching shows on comedy central/sports etc. Energy level were really low and felt sleepy most of the time. Coffee helps get me through the workouts. It all caught up to me when I got headache after the race. So I did what the body asked of me which was to get some sleep after the race.
3) There's a fine line to what I'm doing and I've been taking it for granted. Things like relationships and injuries should always be something I need to pay more attention to. I'm always pushing myself and there is a breaking point somewhere in there and I seem to be roaming around it. But whenever I've surpass a milestone or made a breakthrough, I must always remember the things that went my way which was not my doing.
4) Recovery week was a relief since I get to be home relatively early. Sometime training consumes you. So a mental break from all of the training was good which also left me to attend to other non-triathlon stuff.
Race notes for Week 12:
Port Dickson International Triathlon 2016
1) The plan was to try my best to swim straight. Be comfortable in the water. On the bike, find a peloton, stick to them and not get dropped on the hills. Effort should focus on staying with the peloton. On the run, I plan to attack the last third of the run, considering I cramped the last time I went out too fast (Semenyih Eco Trail Run).
2) Everything went quite well I must say. The day before the race, I ate well. The only thing I didn't do too well was sleep. The olympic badminton final was on so I went to sleep quite late. Considering I've already missed some sleeping hours during the whole week, I was ok. Picking up the race kit was ok, nothing different. On my way back from race kit pick up I realized my garmin's battery was low. I forgot to bring the charger with me so I turned the watch off hoping whatever battery life I had left would be enough for next day's race.
3) So the next day, woke up, had breakfast, toilet breaks and assemble the bike at parking area. Went to pass my buddy his race kit and both of us went into transition. I placed everything and went off to swim start. Warm up a little + practice some sighting + toilet (in the water). Pop a gel, flush it down with some water and went to swim start. Kill time by chatting to other fellow triathletes. Few minutes later, I set my garmin and we're off.
4) The swim start was a bit crowded and I had to constantly sight with a 1 breath 1 sight pattern. There were 3 main turn:left turn, u turn and right turn (L shape). Swim wasn't that rough and I got into the rhythm quite early. At the first big buoy or the first turn, I took a sharp left and almost went off course since I was actually sighting the last buoy for the last turn. I heard people yelling and didn't know what was up then. I looked up and realize there was a bunch of people swimming the other way. I knew the course was "L" shape so sense something was not right. It was more like an "I" if i were to proceed. Sight some more and saw the 2nd buoy which marks the second turn, a "U" turn. Now that looks right. So I went on, and by this time the crowd had thinned a little so I was doing a 2 breath 1 sight pattern. Finally I turned at the last buoy and saw the shore. I picked it up a little, you know to look cool and stuff haha. Once I reached land, I stood up and felt good. So I decided to run to transition. I overtook few guys and with the crowd cheering I was pumped for the bike ride.
5) In T1, I put on everything as intended. I was fumbling with the helmet trying to secure the straps. By the time I was on the bike there was a 3 person peloton. We stayed for a bit then a big peloton arrived and I thought this was it. So I hooked on to them. I held on, even on the hills. It was quite an effort to stay with them. The peloton grew as more people joined. By the halfway mark, I dropped a little. I was taking my gel+water and suddenly the gap grew. I tried to catch up. There was few hills and i did my best but the peloton was gone. I formed a small 2 person peloton with a guy who eventually dropped me haha. So I was riding alone for about 5-10km. Then towards the end, a peloton arrived, and I manage to hook onto them. It started to rain. Heavily. So I'm glad it was almost T2. Looked at my watch and all I could see was blank. Great, battery's dead. Got off the bike and saw everything was wet. I felt a sting on the left side of my chest which turned out to be a bee sting. A bee sting instead of a jellyfish sting. What's the chance of that happening in a triathlon? haha.
6)The sky was overcast even before the swim started. So the rain wasn't a surprise though I hope it would rain after the race. I put on my shoes, grab 2 gels, some salt and left everything else including my sunglasses and calf sleeve. Before heading out, I pass my garmin to my wife who was taking shelter at a nearby covered space before I hit the tarmac. So, for the first time in years, I was running without a watch. I only had the course markers for distance and had to perceive my own effort which was best done through breathing. I focused on having a high cadence early on. Passed few guys and felt ok. I knew I can give it all on the final third of the run if things stayed that way. Considering the effort on the bike, I wasn't sure how my legs would behave so it was probably in my best interest to take it easy at the start of the run. I didn't spend much time at water stations. Got my salt in halfway and before the attack, I took a gel for a quick boost. Then I took off trying my best to pass as many people as possible and finally caught up to a guy who was about the same pace as I was. Decided to hold on to him. And I'm glad I did cause, if it weren't for him, my pace would've been a lot slower. He dropped me towards the end (haha .. dropped again!). I went as fast as I could at the red carpet. Medals on my neck and it's done.
7) After the race, stayed a bit, chatted, packed my stuff and went back. By this time, I knew some had missed the 2nd buoy and went straight for the final buoy. So there was some DQ going on but some probably went on. There wasn't much kayak around during the swim and the last buoy was so close to the first one. So it's understandable that people would miss the 2nd buoy. I guess that's what all the screaming at the first buoy was about. Intentionally or not, they've probably shaved roughly 300 - 400 meters.
8) As far as training is concerened, there was some lesson from all of this:
- Sleep. It helps you race and more importantly recover better;
- Because of the rain,I felt a lot cooler and didn't drink much. I think I would've been dehydrated had the run been longer. Nutrition was a bit haywire;
- It was stupid of me to not charge my garmin BUT I never felt more liberated. I focused solely on breathing and form. I didn't have to constantly check my watch and just .. run. But for recording purposes I do need them and as of Monday, I still don't know my finishing time. More importantly I couldn't assess my pace, heart rate etc. which bugs me the most. Since the result doesn't split T1 and T2, I have to guess where time was lost; and
- Know the race course. It's really hard to think when you are racing and especially in open water. Doubt can slow you down and worse, can get you DQed.
9) There were some positives:
- Run cadence was good, I think . .since I have no record of my run;
- Breathing was good;
- Testing my ability to gauge effort by listening to the body and make decisions based on that. This could be pivotal in races and training; and
- I gave it all on the bike and though I risk cramping on the run, I just had to find out whether I can withstand all that hammering. Brick sessions was good during training so I know it's worth a try. Turned out, I did ok on the run. Maybe the rain helped a little or a lot. Guess that's still something I have to keep an eye on.
10) All in all, it was good. The race was good but was marred a bit by the swim course fiasco but, shit happens. Not to mention the unfortunate incident involving a participant in the sprint event. My condolences to the family of the departed.
11) Result:
Category: AG 34 - 40
Category Placing: 31/247
Overall Placing: 115
Swim: 31:47 mm:ss
Bike:1:11:40 hh:mm:ss
Run:48:57 mm:ss
Total (Incl T1&T2):2:32:25 hh:mm:ss
12) Week 13 is going to be a disaster. Looks like I'll be away for the whole week + the weekends. So no racing on the weekends. Don't know how to adjust but I'm gonna try. I'll try to salvage next week. There's suppose to be a trail run race next week but I have to skip that one. Till then, I have plenty of time for the next race which is the 30km trail run followed by a half marathon some weeks after.
13) 81 days till Ironman Langkawi.
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