Redneck Engineering for Triathlon

If you know me, I can be pretty frugal (my wife calls it cheap!), but I have a hard time shelling out big money for things I think/know I can get for less or make up myself. You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. Anyway...I got a great race helmet from Julie that I really like, the Giro Advantage 2. I've done several training rides in it and it definitely makes a difference.

I really had eyes on the Spiuk helmet, but couldn't stomach the price tag. So I modified my Giro to get what I liked about the Spiuk (clean underside that goes along the back). I was inspired by T.J. Tollakson's homemade aero setup at NOLA 70.3. http://jayprasuhn.blogspot.com/2009/04/tj-tollaksons-new-race-setup-revealed.html

Notice the opening at the point on the end for any air that may make its way in there to escape.

Tools of the modifications: Duct tape, elec tape scissors, synthetic sponges

Now to give it some test rides!

Is My Watch Broken?

Here's a crash course on my athletic background...played every team sport native in North America, culminating in 4 years of Div II soccer from '97-2000. That being said, I was/am more naturally a runner than anything else. I have the most background there. I know how hard I can go for how long, etc, etc.

This whole biking and swimming thing is new to me as of two years ago. The biking part I get: 1) Find a good bike that fits (done, see last post) 2) Get your butt on it and ride, often (still working up to that one!).

Swimming, though, I discovered is so incredibly technical. I was a lifeguard through high school and college. I thought could swim because I was awesome at "Shark" in the deep end! Wrong!!!! Once I started doing actual distance with a clock watching me, I realized how far I had to go. The last three months I've been working more on my swim technique and pushing myself to go harder and faster in the water. It must be working because today I had some crazy times compared to January. Either that, or my watch is slow today!

1/12/2009
150 100 50
2:18 1:34 0:41
2:24 1:37 0:41
2:25 1:37 0:42
2:28 1:36 0:44
2:28 1:37 0:44
2:24 1:36 0:42

4/6/2009
150 100 50
2:14 1:27 0:41
2:15 1:30 0:42
2:16 1:30 0:44
2:19 1:30 0:44
2:18 1:30 0:43
2:16 1:29 0:42

8 seconds off of the 150s and 7 seconds off of the 100s. That's crazy progress in a sport where progress is measured in tenths of seconds. I'm definitely excited to see the jump in speed. Now I need to learn to maintain it over 1500m and more. Now to get the bike speed up too!!

New Bike!

Just picked up my new bike build from Go Tri Sports in Greenville today. It is a new-old-stock Guru Trilite frameset that I picked up on eBay. That means it was a frameset that was in a store that never sold, so they let it go for a steal! I took the components off my old frame and let the Go Tri Sports guys put the pieces back together.

On a side note...I drove to Greenville because I was looking for a bike store that treats you like a person and acts like you're the reason their doors are open and not like you are bothering them. I won't go any further by pointing fingers, but I had to drive 30 minutes to get that. Great bike/tri store, so I highly recommend them if you need any gear!

I love the paint scheme and look of the new frame. It is a more aero frame than the older version I was on and the geometry fits me better. Hal helped me get setup with a fitting, but we basically moved the seat up and tilted down slightly and that's it. It fit well from the start. I definitely ready to get on the road with it to see if there's a performance improvement over the old frame. Now I just need a nice set of carbon tubulars to race on and I'll be set!!!!!!!

Little River Bridge 8K Report

Rain, rain, go away...

After rains all day long, the race started about 15 minutes late but the rain cleared soon after and made for good conditions except for a few large puddles that couldn't be avoided on the course.

This is the third year I've run this event and last year was the first race I ever placed in my AG (2nd). I really wanted to go under 32:00 this year. The course is pretty hilly and knowing where the hills are helped me pace and plan very well. The first 1.5mi is basically up a long grade. I held back as best I could and took the first mile in 6:32. By mile 2 the leaders were nearly out of my sight, but I could see two guys that I thought I could bring back. Mile 2 was 6:20. Mile 3 was 6:25 (caught the first guy) and mile 4 was 6:25 (guy two is about 100yds in front). The last mile goes down a long grade and flattens out with the finish by the river. I caught up with the other guy at the start of the flat. I made the mistake of starting my final kick too soon and he ultimately pulled away at the finish. Last mile was 5:58.

I ended up 8th OA and 1st in my AG. I was happy with the speed since I haven't been doing any significant speed work over the winter.

Ahh...progress.

Alas, I see some positive results! This winter I have done a better job keeping up with my biking (sort of!) and swimming, while continuing the running base. Last two years I did a marathon and the biking and swimming got set aside for a few months. Well two months ago I hired a coach to help plan the training and keep things moving forward. Even with several rounds of colds/sinus infection in the last couple of months, I am seeing progress.

How do I know? Well, all of my run/bike workout efforts are heartrate based. So, if I'm doing the same courses in the same heartrate ranges with faster times, that equals improvement. Which I am starting to see. It's not a huge paradigm shift, but it is steady progress. If I can solidify my base some more, I know I'll have significant race improvement. See, I've survived athletically on my generally high pain tolerance and never say die attitude. It served me well through a collegiate soccer career (never was the most skilled, but definitely the most tenacious) and has showed to come in handy in endurance events as well. I think if I can get back the big base and the metal fortitude, I'll see the paradigm shift I'm looking for. Now to cut back the calories and loose 7-10lbs to get ready to race!

Here's to slow and steady producing fast and ready!

Zebras Do Exist 5k

We're less than two months away from the 2nd annual Zebras Do Exist 5k Charity race that I direct. This event raises awareness of rare medical conditions ("Zebras") and raises money for the medical bills of Nick and Samantha Napier.

It should turn out to be an great event. This year we have chip timing, a certified course, and $1,000 in cash payouts to the top 5 men and women. All courtesy of the nation's largest triathlon production company: Setup Events!

Last year we had about 280 participants and with our sponsor's help raised $10,000 for the Napiers. Sounds like a great first year and a nice amount of money, but it barely scratched the surface of their needs. These two kids have had 5 brain and spinal surgeries that are "out of network", read: "insurance is not paying for it!"

If you're available to run/walk on April 18th in the Spartanburg, SC area then you need to go to www.zebrasdoexist.com and register. If you can't make it, but want to contribute, then you can securely donate to the cause on the same website with your debit or credit card. See you there!

What's goin on...

Pretty much been putting in some base miles/meters in preparation for the upcoming race season, speaking of, it looks something like this:

3/28 Little River 8K
5/16 Clemson Sprint
6/7 Fest of Flowers Oly
6/27 Go Tri Sprint
8/16 Greenville Sprint
9/6 Hartsville Oly (this one's a maybe)
10/4 SC Half
10/17 Hickory Knob Oly

My swimming is getting better slowly and my bike is a little stronger too. Run is pretty consistent, but I'm not working hard to get faster there yet. I really need to get a bigger bike frame because I'm very closed up/cramped on the 51cm I'm currently on. I think getting the right fit would immediately give me a 5-10% power gain or more.