I got up at 3 am as I usually do, I stretched in the dark for about 10 mins and then ate my oatmeal for breakfast along with a cup of coffee. This time I neglected to eat my toast and a banana. There was a slight increase in pre-race stress as I was leaving from the race to go on vacation but not too bad (usual pre vacation inventory before leaving). Dan rode over with Jess and Steph and I (Mom and daughter came later). We left at 4:30 and got there around 5:15 and parked 1 block west of main st just off the first turn of the course.

Transition set up was business as usual, checked my bike, put my socks in my shoes, shoes in a plastic bag, gels in all the right places etc. The one thing I forgot to do was take my straw extension for my aero bottle out of my pack. (This was realized about 2 miles into the bike). We took the mile walk down the beach and then sat and waited for what seemed like an eternity.

Swim start was good, there is a long entry (shallow water) so I did a combination of 3 step dive, 3 step dive action until I was about waist deep then started swimming.  I swan to the first buoy mostly with my head up to gauge the other swimmers around me. At first most of my wave seemed evenly paced though after the 2-3rd buoy many of them fell off pace and I began passing people on both sides of me. Even though I take great care in not getting kicked in the face someone managed to get me in the forehead this time with a heel… Ouch! Luckily it did not slow me down but it still didn’t feel very good. My breathing pattern on the swim was stroke x3 glide and breathe which worked very well and I was comfortable the whole swim. The run from the beach to transition was pretty long but I used it to clear my head and prepare for the bike.

I came to the mount line with about 4 other people  but had my pedals staged correctly (left pedal forward) so I just hopped on with no problems and I was already in a nice low gear so I just spun up the hill (as I have done many times before). No sooner had I turned the corner out on to main I noticed two problems; my straw was in my bag under my seat, and there was a repetitive clicking sound like something was wrong. I figured out that the clicking was my cadences sensor which must have been bumped on the mount so that was a relief however I think it annoyed all the riders around me as it pretty much sounded like a turn signal the whole ride. As for the straw I managed to reach back, open the zipper, pull out the straw and close the zipper again but it was challenging and I’m sure it cost me some seconds. Next challenge I had on the bike was that I must have gotten gel in my right hand because it got extremely sticky and I had to fight with my water bottles to try and wash off both my hand and the aero bar but eventually got it to a tolerable point. It began to rain very hard for the last mile or so and I was getting pelted very hard and some guy came up next to me and said “kinda stings right?” I thought this was the universe smiling on me as I was dreading the run in the hot weather… yeah right! The guy in front of me at the dismount line fell down and I had to jump to not crash into him.

T2 was smooth, except that it was pouring rain and my shoes we soaking wet from the downpour so that wasn’t a good way to start the run, although it was still raining and overcast so I was hopeful! Fat chance though, the rain not only stopped about 1/4 mile into the run but the clouds parted and the sun came out BLAZING! (Car said 93 degrees after the race) So now it is KILLER hot and I have wet socks and shoes! My goal was a 10:30 pace and the heat made that absolutely impossible this time around. There we people cramping up, laying on the ground, stopping under trees all over the place; I was all too aware from my EFR training of heat exhaustion, stroke etc so grabbed as many cups of water as I could get my hands on at every aid station and dumped them on my head, down my back etc. I talked to several people on the course who have PRs in the low 5 hour range that were walking along side of me saying “I”m not even trying for a time at this point I just want to finish without passing out”. But as usual I just refused to quit and ran as much as I could while thinking to myself … it’s definitely time to get a running coach.

As I entered the finishing shoot I saw Jess and Morgan on the sidelines cheering so I reached out and ^5′d both of them and then unloaded everything I could muster up to cross the line. Last year at this race my legs cramped and I almost fell down to the ground but this year I felt nothing but relief to be done. I immediately took off my soaking wet socks and shoes (took my shoes several days to dry) and stayed barefoot for the rest of the day. I did some minor stretches and waited for Dan to come around for his first 70.3 race; we screamed and cheered for him as he came through the shoot and then I handed him his 70.3 sticker that Jess had ordered for him weeks in advance.

Swim: 40:45 (2:07)     T1: 2:57     Bike: 2:52 (19.5)     T2: 2:15     Run: 3:02 (13:57)     Total: 6:40

Full Gallery HERE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRRNtbc7FfQ

I followed my nutrition plan for Racine 70.3 from last year to carb load 2 days before this race and for breakfast on race day I had 2 packets of oatmeal, 1 piece of toast with strawberry jelly and 12 oz of orange juice. Then 90 min before the race I drank an Ironman sports drink and ate 1 packet of sport beans.

The swim went pretty smooth, I was able to distance myself from the majority of my wave and I passed quite a few people in the wave ahead of me. The water temp was around 75 degrees and the wind was out of the north. I ended up a bit slower than I wanted but not by much.

The bike was a bit more challenging than my warm up sets as the wind was much stronger on race day. I was shooting for 21 mph average as I have done this course at 20.9 without preparation but considering the weather and the swim before the ride I’ll settle for a 20.5 mph avg. Unfortunately I was monitoring my performance during the ride and I pushed way to hard on the last couple miles to try and bring my avg up to 21 which ultimately hurt me on the run. The mount and dismount on the bike were great for this race also, no problems getting my feet into my shoes, no balance issues and no other racers were in my way.

The run started out with a 9:21 pace and seemed to fizzle out from there. My pace fell below 10 min about 1/2 way through mile 2 and though my heart rate was around 145 I could not seem to dig down and find any more speed. So I was not out breath I just couldn’t push my legs to move any faster. I will definitely have work on my run before the Racine 70.3 this year.

Swim -- 29:44    T1 -- 1:56  Bike -- 1:13:26   T-2 1:45  Run -- 1:03:59  Final -- 2:50:47

none the less this one is for the Chicago Spring 1/2. I have greatly improved my running since last year (somehow) without really running that many miles. If there was one thing I wish I had done more of in preparation for this race it would have been more 10+ mile sessions.

The goal with Dan this year was a 9:45 pace which I held up through mile 7, I actually told Dan we should ease back several times. Miles 8-11 I slowed to a low 10 min pace and felt really tired for some reason. I am not sure why this happened as I was well rested, had taken a couple gels although I did keep ending up with gatorade at the water stations in stead of water. So perhaps I should have followed my own rule of alternating back and forth at each station. As mile 11 passed my energy started to return and I picked up the pace again and finished strong carrying a 5:30 sprint over the line but it wasn’t a long enough sprint to offset the slow miles and I finished with a 10:00 min pace 2:12 time.

The good news is that I felt fine afterwards, I was not exhausted or in pain and I escaped this race with no blisters. We went out to Sola in Lincoln Park for breakfast after the race and I had steak n eggs as I love to do after races. And I was on my bike back to training doing 20 miles the next day.

Next up Pleasant Prairie Olympic Tri.

It was an absolutely beautiful day for a race. It started at 3:30 as planned, ate my usual bowl of oatmeal and drank a cup of coffee while watching youtube clips of various ironman races. Jess and I left the house on time by 4:15. Was a bit confused driving around looking for the split transitions but eventually found both. Dropped my running gear at T2 and drove over to T1 and parked where Jess could easily get in the car. I had a funny issue before the race started as my big toenail was falling off from the 1/2 marathon I did last month and it was lifting off my toe while I was doing my warm up swim; so both Jess and I looked around for medical tape to wrap my toe in and eventually found it about 2 mins before the race started.

The horn went off and I was in the first wave and as usual I kept my face above water for a good part of the first leg just paying attention to everyone around me. I am still very conscious  that if I get a heel in the face it would ruin my race, even though there is a lot of bumping side to side and the occasional hand collision with other swimmers. I felt okay but not great through the swim, I have not been training with my wetsuit which forces me to use some additional muscles to overcome the buoyancy of the neoprene. My shoulders were definitely still sore from the 1k m I did to warm up 2 days earlier. I am pretty satisfied with my ability to maintain a semi straight line though according to my garmin tracking.

I got caught behind someone in the narrow isles of transition wadling in their bike shoes so that slowed me down a bit (2 min transition time) and hopped on the bike at the mount line. About 50 yds into the bike was a hill I didn’t anticipate and I was not in the right gear; lesson learned the hardwayI could not make it up with my feet out of my shoes and possibly even in the wrong chain rung. I had to dismount and run up the hill with my bike and re-mount at the top, needless to say this was not a feel good way to start the bike. It was a very nice ride through the town of Lake in the Hills, a couple rollers and then a few really steep hills which were challenging but all in all fun.

As I came into T2 the path to get into the corral was long and winding so I probably lost a few seconds coasting in and trying to figure out where I was supposed to go, but my T2 time was 38 seconds so I’m satisfied with that. The run was extremely challenging for me and proved that I certainly need more hill work. During the run I heard several first time participants complain to the effect of “what is up with these hills, up down up down … I just can’t get in a comfortable rhythm”. I was hoping for a much better run time on this race as most of my 4-5 mile training runs are in the low 8′s but I ended up with a 9:39 pace on the run. I only used one gel on this race and it was about 10 mins into the run.

After the race we ate at a breakfast restaurant called “Burnt Toast” which was very good food and there were quite a few racers in there sharing stories. So… chalk another one up, with more lessons learned and an overall good experience.

Photo album – http://digiternal.net/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=6074

Swim: 15:06  T1: 2:01  Bike: 47:21  T2: 0:38  Run: 38:15 Total: 1:43:19

It was a beautiful morning, I woke up at about 3:45 and took about 15 mins to mentally prepare before I got out of bed. I came downstairs and ate a bowl of instant oatmeal (2 packets) and had 2 cups of coffee while I tweeted a bit. I was disapointed to find that my laptop had gone into sleep mode overnight and my Garmin (which was charging via usb) was left on all night. So I had to charge my Garmin using a DC inverter in the car on the way to the race. We left at 5 am right on time and Dan’s wife Melissa joined us as well; it was a very nice drive into the city, very little traffic the entire way.

We arrived around 6:10, had no trouble parking in the Aqua garage. We hit the bathrooms early after an hour drive and another cup of coffee and there was almost no line. We then stretched and took a short 1/2 mile warmup before the start. As the gun went off my Garmin was having trouble with satellites so I didn’t get the full race recorded but once we got out by the lake I was able to get a good signal. We got out a bit faster than originally planned and found ourselves out in front of the 9 min pacer around mile 5 so we slowed up a bit just before the 1/2 way point of the race. I was feeling good but I think the faster pace took a bit out of Dan. We maintained about a :9:50 pace between miles 6 and 10, and then Dan told me to go on without him so I could get the most out of the race but I declined. I told him we started together and we would finish together and I was not going to let him quit with 3.1 miles to go. Our pace fluctuated between miles 10-12 quite a bit while Dan pushed hard then we would slow to mid 11′s while he recovered. I asked him around mile 11.5 if he was getting wind back in his sails but he said no. We picked up the pace around mile 12.5 to high 8′s and carried a 4:03 pace across the finish line…  Dan right there with me so he pulled it together for a strong finish. I feel pretty confident that I could have finished under 2 hours had I been running alone but camaraderie was more important to me than the finishing time. Full image gallery here.

This was the inagural year of this race and I must say it was very well organized. The course was very comfortable with only minor inclines and declines and an amazing view of Lake Michigan and the Chicago Museum District. Parking was easily accessible and everything was extremely well marked. I will definitely be back for this race next year and I would STRONGLY reccomend this race to both new runners and veterans.

As a final note for this blog entry I decided to wear my “where is Holdie” shirt again as he has now returned to running but is still struggling with the knee as I blogged about in the Philly 1/2 post and I hope he makes a full recovery soon. If you see this Matt we WILL run a race together in the future!

Official:
10k-1:01:11 10k pace-9:51 overall-2:10:29 pace-9:58

100 each of Swim / Kick / Pull

4×25  R 10 Build Up

Negative Split / Endurance Set – RPE 16 through out

2×100 R 30 (Broken @ 50 for :20 seconds)

2×100 R 30 (Broken @ 50 for :10 seconds)

2×100 R 30 (Broken @ 50 for :5 seconds)

 **Try to have 2^nd 50 3-5 seconds faster than first 50

100 Recovery (50 Drill / 50 Swim)

1×200 R 30 (Broken @ 100 for :20 seconds)

1×200 R 30 (Broken @ 100 for :10 seconds)

** Try to have 2nd 100 5-7 seconds faster than first 100

100 Recovery (50 Drill / 50 Swim)

1×500 Broken @ 250 for :20

** Try to have 2nd 250 7-10 seconds faster than first 250

100 Recovery (50 Drill / 50 Swim)

Warm Down – 200 Choice

Total : 2400 meters

Additional Work Out

Work Out 1	Work Out 2
100 Swim 5×25 Drill (Fist Drill, Finger Tip Drag, Catch Up, Splash Out, 6 Kick and Switch)   Speed Work – This entire set should be swum at high intensity (RPE 17 or above) 4×50 w/ Paddles R 15 4×50 w/ Fins R 15 4×50 w/ Fins and Paddles R 15 4×50 Swim (no equiptment) R 15   Endurance Set – 2×100 R 30 RPE 16 – Time yourself and establish your base time 4×100 on interval (base time + 30) 2×100 on interval (base time + 20) 1×100 on interval (base time +10)   Warm Down – 100 Choice	200 Swim 5×50 Drill (Fist Drill, Finger Tip Drag, Catch Up, Splash Out, 6 Kick and Switch)   Speed Work – This entire set should be swum at high intensity (RPE 17 or above) 6×50 w/ Paddles R 15 6×50 w/ Fins R 15 6×50 w/ Fins and Paddles R 15 6×50 Swim (no equiptment) R 15   Endurance Set – 2×100 R 30 RPE 16 – Time yourself and establish your base time 4×100 on interval (base time + 15) 2×100 on interval (base time + 10) 1×100 on interval (base time + 5)   Warm Down – 200 Choice
Total:  2025 meters	Total:   2750 meters

6×50 on 1:00 (25 Drill / 25 Swim)

Endurance Set

20 Minute Endurance Swim – Increase Intensity every 5 minutes (whistle will be blown).  Finish at RPE 16

Speed Set

10×25 Kick w/ Fins (As Fast As Possible) R 20

10×25 Kick (As Fast As Possible) R 20

10×50 Pull w/ Paddles (As Fast As Possible) R 30

10×50 Swim (As Fast As Possible) R 30

Warm Down

100 EZ Swim

Total:  1900 meters + 20 minute swim distance

Additional Work Out

Week of 2.02.09

Work Out 1	Work Out 2
6×50 R 20 (Odds- 25 Backstroke/25 Free; Evens- 25 Breast stroke/25 Free) 4×50 Kick R 20, RPE 15   6×50 R 30 (25 Drill*/25 Perfect Technique)   8×50 R 30 Negative Split** by 25 50 Recovery 4×100 R 1:00 Negative Split by 50 50 Recovery 1×200 Negative Split by 100   Warm Down – 100 Easy	4x75 R 20 (25 Backstroke/25 Breast stroke/25 Freestyle)   4×50 Kick R 20, RPE 15   3x100 R 30 (50 Drill* / 50 Perfect Technique)   6x100 R 30 Negative Split** by 50 50 Recovery 3x200 R 1:00 Negative Split by 100  50 Recovery 1×400 Negative Split by 200   Warm Down – 200 Easy
Total:  2000 meters	Total:   2700 meters

]]> http://digiternal.net/willdothis/?feed=rss2&p=156 0 http://digiternal.net/willdothis/?p=154 http://digiternal.net/willdothis/?p=154#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:26:10 +0000 angill http://digiternal.net/willdothis/?p=154 Warm Up

4×75 (25 Swim / 25 Kick w/o Board / 25 Swim) R 20 seconds

4×50 Pull (Count Strokes per 25) R 15 seconds

4×25 Build Up by 25 (Each 25 is faster than previous one) R 10 seconds

Speed Set

8×50 w/ Fins and Paddles RPE 19 (As FAST as POSSIBLE! – you should NOT be able to have a conversation b/n each repetition) R 40 seconds

8×50 (with OUT Fins and Paddles) RPE 19 (As Fast as Possible) R 40 seconds

Endurance Set

20×50 RPE 17 R5 or 10 seconds

Warm Down

200 EZ Swim

Total:  2600 meters

Additional Work Out

Work Out 1	Work Out 2
Warm Up – 4×75 R 20 (50 Free / 25 Non Free)   5×50 on interval (50 base time + 15 seconds) RPE 17   2×150 R 30 (RPE 14, 16, 18 by 50)   1×300 R 1:00 (50 Drill / 50 Free) RPE 14   2×150 R 30 (RPE 14, 16, 18 by 50)   5×50 on interval (50 base +15 seconds) RPE 17   Warm Down – 100 Choice	Warm Up – 6×75 R 20 (50 Free / 25 Non Free)   5×100 on interval (100 base time + 20 seconds) RPE 17   2×250 R 30 (RPE 12, 14, 16, 18, 12 by 50)   1×500 R 1:00 (50 Drill / 50 Free) RPE 14   2×250 R 30 (RPE 12, 14, 16, 18, 12 by 50)   5×100 on interval (100 base +20 seconds) RPE 17   Warm Down – 200 Choice
Total:  1800 meters	Total:   3150 meters

]]> http://digiternal.net/willdothis/?feed=rss2&p=154 0 http://digiternal.net/willdothis/?p=147 http://digiternal.net/willdothis/?p=147#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:20:35 +0000 angill http://digiternal.net/willdothis/?p=147 Warm Up

8×75 R 15 (1^st 25 Drill of your Choice/2^nd 50 Good Technique swim)

4×50  R 10 (1^st 25 Build Up/2^nd 25 FAST RPE 18)

Endurance Set – Pyramid Set

100

200

300

400                      - Every Odd 100 RPE 17; Even 100s Recovery RPE 14

300

200

100

Warm Down

200 EZ Swim

Total:   2600 meters

Additional Work Out

Work Out 1	Work Out 2
Warm Up 100 Choice   6×25 Drill of your Choice R 20   4×25 Build Up R20   Endurance Set: 3×100 RPE 16; R 45 6×50 RPE 17; R 30 8×25 RPE 18; R 15   Warm Down – 100 Choice	Warm Up 200 Your Choice   6×50 Drill of your Choice  R 15   6×25 Build Up R 15   Endurance Set: 5×100 RPE 16; R 30 10×50 RPE 17; R 20 20×25 RPE 18; R 10   Warm Down – 200 Easy
Total: 1250 meters	Total: 2150 meters