Another Training Update

I was planning on doing these updates monthly as we progressed towards race day, but I think that might be a bit too long between updates if anyone is actually following my progress via this method.

Training is progressing very well.  I'm at the point that I'm beginning to see real improvements in all three disciplines.  The improvements in the pool aren't so much in my time, but in my stroke.  My training plan incorporates a lot of drill work (sets where you work on your form), and I can tell doing those sets has really helped my form.  I'm a particular fan of the Zipper drill.  In that drill, as you bring your arm back towards your head to make a stroke, you trail your thumb along the side of your body, as if you were unzipping something.  I've noticed that when my form starts to get sloppy, I can do this drill for just a few strokes and it helps calm me down and get my form back to where it needs to be.  If I get in the lake at the race and feel my form is not where I want it, you can bet I'll be using this drill during the race to help me out.

Beyond my form coming along, I've been working on figuring out what kind of pace to take in the swim.  I'm convinced that in every single other triathlon I've done, I've started out too fast in the swim.  In the few races I've worn a wetsuit, the wetsuit has only made this worse, as the compression on my chest makes me gasp for breath even more than normal.  I think I've settled on trying to hold a 2:00 per 100 yard pace at the race. That would put me finishing the swim in roughly 45 minutes.  I know from the pool it's a pace I can hold, and I've been doing a lot of work in the pool during my cool down sets to make sure I know what that pace feels like so I can hold it on race day without having to stop and look at my watch.

My biking is coming along nicely as well.  Due to some uncharacteristically warm weather this weekend, we were able to get the bikes off the trainer and outdoors yesterday.  We did laps at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport.  The scenery down there gets boring real quick, but it's safer than normal public roads and the 3.7 mile loop makes it impossible to get lost, and if something happens to either my wife or myself, we're guaranteed to come upon each other within fifteen minutes or so.  My cadence was down from the trainer rides (73 RPM yesterday, 88 RPM on my last trainer ride), but that's expected when you transition from the trainer to the road, so I wasn't worried.  I average a speed of 17.7 mph and got in 22.13 miles in 1 hour and fifteen minutes.  Overall it was a very good ride on a flat course.  Soon, I'm going to have to get out on the actual roads and start tackling some hills to prepare for Wisconsin.

Today's run was stellar.  I did this run by myself because my wife had to go into work.  It was warm enough outside that I could finally run in just shorts and a tee-shirt.  I managed 5 miles in 57:40, with an overall pace of 11:32 minutes/mile.  This is by far the fastest I have ever gone for this long of a run, and I'm very proud of it considering the course I picked.  I left my house and went to 108th street, and then just went straight down 108th.  There are some pretty massive hills on 108th (not necessarily steep, buy very long hills), and I managed to run all of them.  I didn't stop to walk once today, and I can't tell you how big of a boost that gave me when I was done.  It's been a very long time since I've gone that far without stopping to walk, and I've never done it on a course that is as hilly as the one I ran today.

This weekend was the first time that I really began to see true gains from my training.  I could have gone harder on the bike yesterday, but that wasn't the point; it was my first outdoor ride and I was just trying to shake off the rust and see what I could do with a normal effort.  Today's run was a bit more than a normal effort, but I was happy I put in the work I did and managed the pace I did.

The runs I've been doing on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings with the Endurance House people are obviously helping.  (This week was a bit of an anomaly as I had plans with family on Saturday morning and couldn't make it to the EH run; hence why I flipped the bike and run workouts this weekend).  Scott has been giving me tips and has been pushing me while I run, and all of that helped out today.  If you're in the KC area and are looking for a run group, check them out on Tuesday nights.  It's a good group.

Despite the gains I've made so far, I don't think I'm ready for the half-Ironman yet.  I think I could get through the swim and the first half of the bike just fine, but the last 25-30 miles on the bike and the entire run would be very rough right now.  Thankfully, I've got plenty of time to continue preparing.  Despite the fact that I know I'm not ready yet, the gains I'm seeing have got me more excited than nervous about the race.  I think when race day comes I'll be ready.

Half Ironman Training Update

Now that I've finished a full four weeks of training for the Wisconsin 70.3, I figured I'd give a quick update on how things are going.

I've really enjoyed the training plan, but recently I can tell it has been taking a toll on me.  Today was a rest day, and I needed it; this weekends workouts left me exhausted.  The training has progressively gotten more intense the further into the plan I get (Captain Obvious statement, I know), and while I can tell my body is adapting to it, I can also tell that it's not something I'm entirely used to yet.

I'm pretty proud of what I've done so far.  In the first four weeks of training, I've only missed/skipped a total of three workouts, all swims.  I had to skip the first two swims during the first week because I was unable to swim - I started the training plan knowing I would not be able to do these workouts.  Since swimming is my strength, I figured starting my swimming training one week behind my bike and run training was no big deal.  The third skipped workout was this past Friday - the pool was closed due to a high school swim meet, and I wasn't aware they'd be closed until I arrived at the pool and found out.  I wasn't happy about it, but there was nothing to be done, so I just took it as another rest day and moved on.

The group runs with Endurance House have been a big boon, and I'm very much looking forward to group rides once the weather improves and we can get the bikes outside.  The owners of the store have really helped me out in multiple ways.  If you're in the Greater K.C. area, check them out.  It's worth your time and the drive to the Northland if you live down south.

Overall, training is going well.  I'm keeping up with the volume, and I can tell I'm getting better.  I've lost a few pounds since I started, and the weight sets are helping me to gain muscle, so I think I've lost more than two pounds of fat, it just doesn't show on the scale.  As mentioned, I'm enjoying the process so far, even when I have days like today when I'm sore and exhausted.

I'm beginning to look forward to race day with excitement instead of panic.  I think the panic/apprehension will still be there until I actually complete a race of this distance, but it's slowly starting to fade to the back, which is a good thing.

Kuota K-Factor Triathlon Bike

In January of 2016, I ended up upgrading my bike from a Nishiki Maricopa road bike to a used 2008 Kuota K-Factor triathlon bike.  I spent all last year getting accustomed to the different geometry of a tri bike and absolutely fell in love with it.

Tri bikes vary greatly from road bikes.  The overall geometry is different - you are more aggressively positioned on a tri bike than a road bike.  The intent of a tri bike is to make the aero position more aero and, hopefully, more comfortable than on a road bike.  The more aggressive geometry leads to faster times on the bike.

The bike took a bit of getting used to.  It stands higher than my road bike, and the different geometry threw me for a loop at first.  I was very wobbly getting into and out of the aero position for the first few rides, something that wasn't the case on the road bike.  Since the frame is made of carbon fiber, it was also much lighter than my road bike, which also took some getting used to as the bike felt more responsive than my road bike.  That's not a bad thing, but it did take me a few rides to get used to it.

I credit a couple of friends - Scott and Anne - with really helping get me used to the bike.  They contacted me one day and wanted to go for an eighteen mile ride.  I'd never been anywhere near that distance on the tri bike to this point, but I also didn't want to turn down the opportunity for a group ride.  

I met up with them and we road on public roads, which was also fairly new to me.  I'm used to riding at the downtown airport, which is technically still on public roads, but the vehicular traffic is minimal and is typically comprised of either airport security staff or other cyclists, both of which have a good respect for cyclists and give you plenty of room.  There are also no real intersections there to deal with as the road is one 3.7 mile loop - all you have to do is turn in our out of the parking lot, and that's really the only intersection you have to deal with.

The ride with Scott and Anne was on regular roads that had stop-lighted and stop-signed intersections and normal traffic.  This is not something I would have tried to ride by myself, but since I was with them I had to swallow my nervousness and just get it done.  While riding, they offered me many pointers and tips, and by the time we were done I felt 100% more comfortable on the bike.  The wobbliness with the aero position was gone, and I felt like I could handle regular public roads in the future. 

I've fallen in love with the Kuota K-Factor.  I've added my aero bottle to the aero bars, and have upgraded my pedals to the Speedplay Zero pedals.  I have new tires on the bike (the new tires aren't in the pictures), but that's the only upgrade I've done so far.  The different geometry - which was alien at first - is now second nature.

If you're a triathlete that is on the fence about upgrading to a tri bike, I can't recommend it highly enough if it's something you can afford to do.  This bike is much easier and much more enjoyable to ride than my road bike is.

Half-Ironman Training

Last week, training for Ironman Wisconsin 70.3 officially kicked off.  With this race, I'm trying something new and have gone with a training plan from Training Peaks.  A week in, I've been very pleased with the plan and with the Training Peaks platform in general.  It imports all my workout data from Garmin Connect, and the premium edition shows me more graphs than Garmin does, which I like.

I've also started group training with Endurance House Kansas City, a multi-sport store that is set to open in the Northland at the end of January.  I'm friends with the two owners, and did group open water swims with them last summer.  Right now we've been running on Tuesdays, but once the store opens the plan is to incorporate track workouts and spin nights at the store as well.

Another cool option from Endurance House is the fact that they have official teams.  Joining with them (for a cost) gets you some pretty sweet bonuses, including a tri kit, store discount and priority scheduling for bike services.  It is something I'll be taking advantage of to get in shape for this race.

Overall I'm really looking forward to the race.  This is a first-year race; WTC bought out the old Wisconsin Milkman Triathlon.  From what I understand, it will be the same, or a very similar, course.  WTC is known to put on well supported events, so there's that to look forward to.

The swim is the only portion that I'm worried about, and solely because it is projected to be wet-suit legal.  I need to get some practice swimming in a wet-suit, because if not experience has taught me the swim will not go well, regardless of my level of fitness.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a few open water wet-suit swims in before the race.

It feels good to have something big to train for again.  My level of fitness is such that I can out and do a sprint triathlon on any given weekend.  I'm not saying I would do particularly well in that event, or that it wouldn't end up as a sufferfest once I got to the run, but I could finish it.  That is not the case with the half-ironman, so having this race on my calendar really crystallizes my training for me, and that has made all the difference in the world.