Hills O' Talihena Oklahoma

I took an epic journey to Oklahoma to ride the hills of Talihena. I must admit I was very impressed and very exhausted by the end of the weekend. Coach Sean started the weekend with a simple 25 mile spin ride on Friday. Remember a spin ride for him is a hard ride for me. I was able to draft and keep up for most of the ride. It felt good to be back on the bike after a week long rest to recover the hip.

The real ride of the trip was Saturday when we went to the By-Way for 56 miles of gruelling hills. I knew we were in trouble when I saw a sign that said 13% grade next 5 miles. I did not quite know what that meant until after 5 turns I was still climbing at an average speed of 6 mph. After about 45 minutes of pretty consistent climbing it was time to descend a little. This is where the fun began. I was able to hit a max speed of 52.1 mph. That was scary but exhilarating at the same time. The fun was rudely brought and end several times when coming down a hill only to have to go right back up the next one. I was extremely surprised how quickly you loose your momentum on a 13% grade hill. I would routinely hit 40 -45 mph on the down hill only to return right back to 6 mph in a approximately 100 yards of climbing. Luckily the hills only lasted for 30 miles. The rest was a gruelling chip seal road with rollers.

Totals for Saturday ride.
56 miles
3:45
Avg 14.6 mph
Avg HR 149
Max HR 176
Total Ascent 4500 ft

Saturday night was a potluck dinner and smores over a wonderful campfire complete with a sore ass.

Sunday ride was a simple 30 mile spin (at my pace) to loosen the legs in preparation for a 3 hr car ride home. All in all it was a fantastic weekend. Anyone who cares to experience this let me know and I will get us there.

Playtri Olympic Race Report

Here are the numbers:

2:58:04

88/242 overall place
14/33 age group finish

1500m swim 36:10 (horrible)
T1 4:13 (could have been better)
27mile Bike 1:25:16 ( felt great)
19.0 mph avg
AVg Hr 157
Max HR 169
T2 1:40 ( a little slow)
10K Run 50:42
8:10 pace

Pre-Race
Felt Great. Good breakfast. Ready to go.
Swim
Horrible. I was not comfortable in the wetsuit. First half of the race I could not find a rhythm. I settled down for the second half of the race, but the damage had already been done.
T1
I was winded coming out of the water so I walked a bit to catch my breathe. Not disappointed jut know I could have been faster.
Bike
Felt really strong on the bike. The wind was more annoying than anything else. It forced me to work hard, but not see the results which makes for a frustrating ride. The flip side was some incredibly fast portions of the course to help make up for the slow stuff. I know as I get more mile under me this year I will feel more comfortable on the bike splits.
T2
Not bad still a little too deliberate.
Run
I felt really good coming out of transition. I pushed hard the first mile because I knew I had the wind to my back and I wanted to get a good head start before the wind slowed me down. This backfired a little because I cramped badly at mile 2.5. I hobbled into the water stop refueled and took some salt tabs. It worked itself out quickly just in time for the wind to be at my back again. I was able to pick up some time until the last stretch. It is rather difficult to run fast when your legs are tired and you are running into a 20 mph wind. The only comfort was that I was still passing people. Overall the run was positive. I think I can still run faster. I will shoot to stay under 8 min pace next Oly.
Overall
I was satisfied with my performance. I think I can do better, but I am not upset. I have identified where I need improvement and areas that just need a little tweak. My next focus will be trying to break the 6 Hr mark in the Kansas 70.3 in June.

Injury Report

Here is my excuse before the race. I went to the Chiropractor for a nagging stomach muscle. The report was a starined hip flexor, likely from not stretching properly. I am supposed to give it a couple of weeks rest. HA!! HA!! That will be hard medicine to swallow. I am cleared to run Sunday, but am supposed to take it easy after that. Apparently, I will not make it worse just won't allow it to get better.

Plan for race. Go all out for as long as I can and see what happens. This race is supposed to be a baseline for the rest of my training for Kansas 70.3.

No Big "D" for me

I wanted to sign up for the Big "D" Half and be like Peter, but my coach strongly discouraged it. At least that is my story and I am sticking to it. They want me fresh for Playtri so they can evaluate where I am in my conditioning phase of my training. Maybe next race. Good Luck Peter.

Recap since last blog entry:
Lotsa swimmin' bikin' and runnin'

Too lazy to write it all down.

I am looking forward to a taper week to prepare for Playtri.

Yearly totals

Bike 825.8 miles 47hrs 58mins
Run 217.6 miles 30hrs 49mins
Swim 24.8 miles 18 hrs 15 mins