Well I was ready to not have such a great race. Coming from months of no training and just a few weeks of doing a few workouts here and there, I could not expect great results. My mission was simple and clear... to get some motivation to kick start training and put a good few weeks of solid swim,bike,run work before flying off to Germany.
Ok, so one thing is not expecting a great race, and another is actually having what's possible your worst race ever! Anyway, I'll spare you of the whole story and will just say it was an awful swim (had nothing to do with poor fitness in the water), followed by a pretty hard bike where I struggled from the moment I stepped on transition area and then closed the day with a horrible, very painful run (side stitches that wouldn't give me a break) in which on top of that I felt like I was breathing through a straw the whole time (yes, not such a subtle reminder that I need my asthma meds :-/ ) Good thing it was a beautiful day and I was happy to see so many friends! :)
There are good, regular and bad races, and things to be learned from each... right? So here's the stuff I learned this weekend.
1- Sleeping with the chip on your ankle might sound crazy but hey, there's no way you'll forget it ( i already did forget it at a previous race).
2- GOGGLES! Well this is one of those things that no one tells you and you find out the hard way. ALWAYS have two pairs of goggles in your transition bag. A pair of tinted goggles and regular, clear ones. On days like last Sunday, you won't be able to see buoys or your way to shore if using clear goggles. And on a darker day or earlier start, you won't see anything if using tinted goggles! That's why the need to have two. Just warm up, and if your goggles are not working properly for the conditions, switch them.
3- Swim Caps- Always have a sylicone cap in the transition bag. This time swim caps were really big and thin. I figured it was going to come off during the swim, so I used mine first and put the race cap on top.
4- ORTHOTICS- They help me a LOT. They keep my nasty shin splints away.
5- Anti- chaffing sticks- Forget about them! Baby powder in the socks and shoes worked a lot better. Also, tape the neck, where the tri-suit rubs with strokes. Especially in my case that I breathe only to the left on races and when doing reps and working really hard. That is double the rubbing on the same side! And yes, I do need to work on bi lateral breathing.
6- If I end up loosing time in the water for whatever reason, do NOT try to make up for it by swimming even harder. It'll very likely set me up for a bad bike and even worse run! Just discovered swimming on too hard of a pace takes a big toll. Yes, it sounds logical, but that's not the way you think in the middle of the race while you are still in the water trying to figure out exactly where you are in time/space.
7- Forget about taping the gels to bike. I'd much rather VELCRO a flask inside the Profile Design bottle holder. Have to try it though. The reason for this is I prefer a 50/50 mix of gel/water. If I eat one gel just out of the packet I need to drink a lot of water to swallow it. And then that much water at once makes me feel sluggish. Plus the timing for the gel might not be the exact time when I want to drink 3/4 of a water bottle. Need to try the velcro thing though.
8- TRANSITIONS - It's about darn time to learn to do transitions well. Easier and faster!
9- Heart Rate- I normally do not like to pace myself or base my training on HR numbers, let alone use a HR monitor for swimming. However, it would have helped a lot if I had pressed the start button on the Garmin at the start of the race. I'm still puzzled by how bad that race went and I'm sure some numbers from the swim might have helped because I'd have a bigger picture with data from the moment the race started until it ended.
Now time to get some solid work in these last weeks here in Puerto Rico and then off to hurt in the Alps! :-O
Ok, so one thing is not expecting a great race, and another is actually having what's possible your worst race ever! Anyway, I'll spare you of the whole story and will just say it was an awful swim (had nothing to do with poor fitness in the water), followed by a pretty hard bike where I struggled from the moment I stepped on transition area and then closed the day with a horrible, very painful run (side stitches that wouldn't give me a break) in which on top of that I felt like I was breathing through a straw the whole time (yes, not such a subtle reminder that I need my asthma meds :-/ ) Good thing it was a beautiful day and I was happy to see so many friends! :)
There are good, regular and bad races, and things to be learned from each... right? So here's the stuff I learned this weekend.
1- Sleeping with the chip on your ankle might sound crazy but hey, there's no way you'll forget it ( i already did forget it at a previous race).
2- GOGGLES! Well this is one of those things that no one tells you and you find out the hard way. ALWAYS have two pairs of goggles in your transition bag. A pair of tinted goggles and regular, clear ones. On days like last Sunday, you won't be able to see buoys or your way to shore if using clear goggles. And on a darker day or earlier start, you won't see anything if using tinted goggles! That's why the need to have two. Just warm up, and if your goggles are not working properly for the conditions, switch them.
3- Swim Caps- Always have a sylicone cap in the transition bag. This time swim caps were really big and thin. I figured it was going to come off during the swim, so I used mine first and put the race cap on top.
4- ORTHOTICS- They help me a LOT. They keep my nasty shin splints away.
5- Anti- chaffing sticks- Forget about them! Baby powder in the socks and shoes worked a lot better. Also, tape the neck, where the tri-suit rubs with strokes. Especially in my case that I breathe only to the left on races and when doing reps and working really hard. That is double the rubbing on the same side! And yes, I do need to work on bi lateral breathing.
6- If I end up loosing time in the water for whatever reason, do NOT try to make up for it by swimming even harder. It'll very likely set me up for a bad bike and even worse run! Just discovered swimming on too hard of a pace takes a big toll. Yes, it sounds logical, but that's not the way you think in the middle of the race while you are still in the water trying to figure out exactly where you are in time/space.
7- Forget about taping the gels to bike. I'd much rather VELCRO a flask inside the Profile Design bottle holder. Have to try it though. The reason for this is I prefer a 50/50 mix of gel/water. If I eat one gel just out of the packet I need to drink a lot of water to swallow it. And then that much water at once makes me feel sluggish. Plus the timing for the gel might not be the exact time when I want to drink 3/4 of a water bottle. Need to try the velcro thing though.
8- TRANSITIONS - It's about darn time to learn to do transitions well. Easier and faster!
9- Heart Rate- I normally do not like to pace myself or base my training on HR numbers, let alone use a HR monitor for swimming. However, it would have helped a lot if I had pressed the start button on the Garmin at the start of the race. I'm still puzzled by how bad that race went and I'm sure some numbers from the swim might have helped because I'd have a bigger picture with data from the moment the race started until it ended.
Now time to get some solid work in these last weeks here in Puerto Rico and then off to hurt in the Alps! :-O
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| First cap on, second almost there |
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| Ready for warm up, and that's when I realized I was in trouble with clear goggles! |
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| Lost in transition. I could not find my bike... :( Arghhhhhh |
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| Look whose cycling shoes are still clipped on the bike! :-D lol that's my first attempt. Wasn't all THAT bad |
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| I guess even when I can't run, somehow form is pretty decent |
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| Forget that I was having a bad race. As we would say... al mal tiempo buena cara! :) Google it ;) |
