Labor Day Training

Lots of grilling over the weekend

It's seems like its been awhile since I've had a three day weekend, so I took it as an opportunity to get some solid training in. We had something going on each day with family/friends - so I made sure to get out early and get in the miles. I put in four days of swimming too, which I'd never done before. I made a commitment to myself to get in the pool 4-5 times a week. My priorities over my first year of training for triathlon have always been: 1. Run 2. Bike 3. Swim. Because of this, my swim has not really improved a whole lot. I was only getting in the water 2-3 times a week, getting lazy with drills and just didn't strive to improve. Change is on the way. They are actually in reverse order for now. Swimming is definitely my limiter so I'm really focusing now in the water. Taking it way more serious. If I can't make time for a workout, I make sure it's a run I miss - not a swim or even a bike for that matter.

Right now as I prepare to race the San Diego Triathlon Classic I come in very confident on the bike and run, but not so much on the swim. It's because I've put in the work on the bike and run - I'm hitting workouts that tell me I'm prepared, but I haven't given swimming the same kind of attention. That's why I'm committing to 10,000 meters a week (6.2 miles) and then that will bump up to 15k then maybe even 20k come next year. It's not even that I want to become a FAST swimmer, I mostly just want to be able to get away with a decent swim but come out of the water FRESH. Every triathlon I've done so far, I come out of the water exhausted - in Vegas I was even cramping already! This takes away from all those hours I've trained on the bike. So becoming efficient in the water is key for me.

Stats for last week:

Swim: 3hr 45 mins (8,700 yards)

Bike: 6hr 30 mins (117 miles)

Run: 3hr 22 mins (24 miles)

Total: 13hr 37 mins

LOVE riding in wine country

I guess the highlighted workout of the week would have to be the 61 mile bike ride w/3X10 min intervals that I did on Saturday. I met up with the Temecula Valley TRI club at 7 and headed out towards wine country. Scott and I eventually split off of the group at around 15 miles and then after some climbing and descending we decided to hit the intervals. There's a long stretch out near Diamond Valley Lake (Domenigoni Pkwy) that is great for flat intervals. Temecula is very hilly so its not too often that I can get a long flat straight away were you can just let it go. There's a huge shoulder, lots of cyclists and lots of wind. So you can easily just get going, find your next target and pick people off. So much fun. Of course we had a headwind. It seems like no matter what part of the day it is, you're always into a headwind in Temecula. But I look at it in a positive way. Only makes you stronger!




Ride data

We took off for our first 10 minute interval and immediately my legs were feeling good. So I just went off of feel. I tried to imagine being in a race. Just staying calm, powerful, effortless. I averaged 26.2 mph and covered 4 miles exactly. We took a little over 6 min recovery and hit it again this time I hit 24.9 and was feeling great. We recovered for about 2 minutes when a cyclist we had passed earlier came up on us and passed us. For some reason I couldn't let him go, so we jumped on him and he pulled us for about 2 minutes before he bowed out. We kind of did another interval during that time cause we did 7.5 mins in 25.2mph and then I jumped right into the next one and pulled another 25.7 for 4 miles. It was great to see how effortless they were. My cycling has come a long way since San Diego International and I'm excited to see what I can do on the hilly bike course there. I picked this race over the TRI Rock because it's a big one. Last year 2010's Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack won the race so it usually draws some good talent and a larger field then the TRI Rock. By the way, if you haven't read "I'm here to Win" by Chris McCormack, I suggest you do so. Great stuff. I have the audio book if you want to borrow it. Better yet, buy it and support him -he's a great asset to the sport.

Labor day was capped off with another ride up Palomar and back, which I'll get to in my next post. It was a great week of training and this week is setting up to be my biggest week ever! (15+hrs). I plan on training through my race which is on the 17th with bigger plans of peaking and nailing my first 70.3 at the Soma Triathlon next month. Can't believe the season is almost over. Not gonna lie, I'm a little envious of all of the athletes hitting up the 70.3 World Champs at Vegas this weekend and then Kona next month. Trust me, this is fueling the fire for my big plans next year. After talking to my wife and figuring out timing/scheduling, I am all in next year! Big training goals and big racing plans. I will share more as it all develops, exciting!