Sam's Triathlon Blog

Nice ride today

2011-11-06T17:51:00.001-08:00

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Location:NE Hoyt St,Portland,United States

2010 Race Season Wrap up

2010-09-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well my 4th Triathlon season of focused training has wrapped up. As with most Triathletes (most of the time) it was a mixed bag.

I felt I had 2:07 in me, but the best I eeked out it 2:09. So I am pleased I broke the 2:10 barrier and I will keep chipping away

Most importantly I feel I have learned a lot this season which I can apply in the future. Not everything that I have learned will make me a faster athlete, but perhaps a happier person

I did most of the local Portland short course triathlons and nothing
spectacular happened for me. Most of the races after blue lake (first
race of the season) I found myself wanting to go home and go back to
bed in the middle of the race - not a good sign. Certainly work and
family commitments played a part in that.

Here is what I have learned this year in no particular order:

1) Keep it fun - if it ain't fun why am I doing it? I am not going to be a pro and my priorities are to have a balanced life without wearing down my body and energy to where I am stressed out. Also if I am constantly missing fun bike races or other events because I am training so specifically then this is something to look at. Even if I don't do as well at a race I have to make sure I have my triathlon goals are aligned with enjoying training and racing.

2)Training harder doesn'tt necessarily make you faster at triathlon
and training smarter is key

3) Following a written plan without adapting it constantly to how you
feel is not training smartly. This opens the question on how you use
a coach without constant communication ...which is not
always practical unless you pay someone 300 + dollars a month and have
a great fit.

4) Be careful with track workouts. Especially if you are tall and if
it affects your flexibility/recovery/energy

5) Running: tempo runs are bread and butter. I like the 25 mins at
zone 4 then 10 min easy then 20 mins hard that coach Grant prescribed
earlier in the season.

6) Bike - do a few 60 min time trials followed by run and allow
enough recovery time for it prior to race day. I know Grant doesn't
agree with me here. I lack some bike base and strength which makes
running a slower process after. My hips take a beating especially.

7) Bike - Long bike rides can definitely be beneficial even for short
course if you lack base and bike strength. There needs to be a good
mix of intensity and hours in the saddle.

8) Swim - swimming 3 times a week adds aerobic base and helps you all
around if you need more aerobic fitness. It also helps you feel
stronger the rest of tour race If you have a good swim base.

9) Endurance - us amateur short course athletes often forget an
Olympic distance triathlon is still an endurance sport. We need speed,
strength, and flexibility...but we need the heart and lungs to let us
run after the swim and bike is over. This brings up the next point.

10) For days where it works, I really benefit from double workouts
even if shorter and if low/moderate intensity. The second workout
causes adaptation as you are already carrying a "load" into the
workout. The only downside is...more showers and messing about.
Finding efficiency in getting the workouts done is key (not wasting
time for prep and showering). For me those days might be the days
where Kacy doesn't work and I don't have the same child care
responsibilities. Also begs the question if I would benefit in having
a treadmill at home which I could use when I am watching the kid (soon
to be kids) after work or when they are asleep early in the morning.

11) Flexibility and recovery. Important especially for taller folks
like myself. I will be focusing on how I feel more next season and
will be stretching each and every day ..as well as incorporating foam
rollers (hot tub, etc), ice, and massage where needed.

Next I will be training for cross season while building up a good base
again after taking a week off training in Hawaii. I plan on enjoying
myself and hopefully finding some longer rides and runs as well. A new
carbon road bike will help build my inspiration no doubt! :) Drop me a
line especially if you want to ride long.

Happy training..

Sam Manages 2:09:17 at Blue Lake Triathlon

2010-06-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

After a solid 6 months of training I managed to PR this year at Blue Lake.
The swim went pretty well. I found a big guy to draft, he could have gone a little faster and a little straighter..but all in all not too shabby a swim at 25:07. I did not push too hard and I was in control the whole time.

Transition went well and I had plenty of energy left. I was not hypoxia induced or dizzy for the first time. I managed a decent T1 time even while falling down when the wet suit snagged my timing chip strap around my ankle. I will need to find a way to avoid that for the next race.

Bike went well. I managed to average over 25mph and came in at 59:48. I felt pretty fatigued a few times during the bike. Might have pushed a little too hard to start. I ended up almost drinking my entire bottle. That gave me good energy, however I ended-up having stomach cramps on the run. There is something magical about breaking the 60 minute barrier in a triathlon for the first time. It is very satisfying. Sorry Steve (inside Joke as he did 1:00:01). The bike split was the bright part of my race and what I am most happy with. Being most pleased with my bike leg is strange and unexpected as I am a natural runner.

T2 went pretty well. It was a very very muddy rainy day. The transition area was a real mess. The run did not go so well however. I ran around 41:30 and I am in good running shape. I was hoping to come in around 38-39 minutes as I can run a 36 min. stand-alone 10k. Last year I managed 40 mins. on the run and was hoping to improve on that.

All in all, I will take the sub 2:10 result and am happy with my race overall. I have some easy gains on the run if I can find a way to run "better off the bike" in the future. Swimming and biking will also improve over time. I can see 2:07 right around the corner. Something to shoot for!

Hopefully next year I will be able to get top 20. This year I missed an Age Group Medal by 10 seconds and a spot in next years elite wave by 2 spots. Oh well! :) Bye for now.

Sam finishes in the Top 10 at Portland City Triathon

2009-12-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

2009 Final Wrap-up & Thoughts

As the race season for 2009 did not go as expected I lost the motivation to even update my blog. Because of that I never posted my race report for my last few races. Although I did not reach my PR goal this year, I did achieve a Top 10 finish at the Portland Triathlon (Olympic distance). The Portland City Triathlon is a very challenging and extremely hilly bike course with multiple laps which include steep climbs and rollers. As I have mentioned earlier, I have been plagued with Stomach cramps all season and it seems I am able to suffer through the discomfort on those courses that have hills (as I am not in the same position constantly on the bike). Because of this, the only two races I had decent results at where both B or C races on hilly course this year.

Right now, I am not following a training schedule and enjoying the off season. I pretty much train when I feel like it. I am in the process of joining a master's swim team (Barracudas) and am also changing coaches. January 1st I will be working with Grant Folske. Click here to see a short bio on Grant. Due to a price increase with Scott and the ability to have a coach in the same city I decided on the switch. At my level, $200 a month with Scott was not the right thing (especially since Kacy is studying these days).

2009 was overall a disappointment due to stomach issues on the run (and on the bike to some degree). I did not reach my goal of sub 2:10 although I felt I did reach the fitness level required to achieve 2:10. In keeping with my goal of reducing my time 2-3 mins each year - my 2010 goal will be sub 2:08. In order to pull that off I have to get stronger and faster still in addition to learning a proper swim technique.

Good Blog Entry From Factor 9 on Expectations

2009-08-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

http://triathlonfever.com/index.php?view=article&catid=41:7-mental-training&id=181:barrys-expectations&tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=

Hagg Lake Race Report - 3rd Place in Age Group

2009-07-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

Overall, not a bad race for me: http://racecenter.com/results/2009/res_2t09.htm . I won 3rd in Age Group (30-34) & did a fair swim, bike, and run on this very hilly and challenging course. My time was 2:18:53 - an improvement from last year's result which was 2:23:13. An improvement of about 4 minutes which is on-track with my goal of improving my Olympic distance time of 3 minutes per year. If anything I would have liked to go a bit faster on the bike -- but after putting in 22 hours the previous week at a Bend training camp -- I decided to be pleased. Technically (transitions, etc) this race was perfect. No major mistakes including "nutrition" this time.. Although my race at Blue Lake was flawless, my pre-race nutrition plan had killed my A race of the year. Oh Well.

I went with the 900 calorie "liquid breakfast" this time. Can't say it was the most delicious breakfast I have ever had. I also did not feel "satiated" and maybe a little nausea even -- from not having any real food to counteract the coffee.

1) Swim (25:53): I was not "really feeling motivated" on the swim. I swam about a minute slower than my time at Blue Lake. Almost felt like I was asleep. Mentally I was in a daze from training a lot. Found some feet about 10 mins into the swim (for a draft) after being bumped around by side-ways swimming "weekend warriors", then eased into the swim. Used some techniques from the open water camp (wide pull on outside of feet when I got very close). I figured the guy I was drafting was an OK swimmer because he was not wearing a wet-suit. Sure enough he went straight as an arrow at an even pace. My heart rate was in control coming into T1 from getting a good draft and not working very hard.. Even had a chance to look around and smile at some on-lookers who where cheering for me. Clearly this was not my A race and I was pretty relaxed (although I felt like I needed a nap constantly on the swim and bike). I was still pretty dizzy from the swim so I did identify those cheering for me (however you were, thanks!).

2) Bike (1:08:31): Again, not feeling very motivated on the bike. I have been low on energy and have had trouble getting up in the mornings. Got on the bike and felt like I needed a nap. Definitely in a training "hole". No one passing me and making me push harder for most of the race, so it felt somewhat like a scenic ride although I am pretty sure my body was working at a decent pace..but it felt sort of "dream like".. With about 15 minutes to go...two weekend warriors passed me on road bikes -- (one drafting within 3cm of the other guy's wheel). They looked like wrestlers..built like trucks. Anyway. That woke me up a little and I said to myself; "hey, I wonder if I can bike at that pace".. Sure enough, I put it in high-gear and managed to pick it up significantly and keep in contact with them for the remainder of the bike portion (about 100yds behind). They were really moving. I think I improved my time by about 30 seconds (to what it would have been if they did not pass). So I probably ended up averaging another 1-2 mph for the last 15 mins.
How Roger Thompson bikes this extremely hilly course in under 1 hour, I am not sure..

3) Run (0:41:18): Got on the run, left T2 and legs felt OK for the first time on this course. Besides having a stomach cramp, it felt like I could accelerate out of T2. The cramp kept me from completely accelerating however. Nice to know the legs were there. Again, not really feeling that motivated. As per usual, I had a slight/moderate annoying stitch on my right side (from drinking on the bike). After about 15 minutes I had burped 3 or 4 times (big burps) and tried to relax and take deep breaths like coach Scott showed me. By the time I got to the turn-around the "stitch" was totally cleared up and I could put it in high-gear. Now I felt motivated to go fast, and I went into the pain cave and put out a decent run for me on this course (41:18). If I would not have had the stitch it would have been about 20-30 seconds faster I think. I managed to push through the pain (stomach cramp/stitch) and not lose too much time. Being in an aero position after drinking doesn't do my stomach much good. I drank about half a small bottle on the bike. It was not hot, but I really do not want to drink much less than that -- because I sweat like a pig on the run. I didn't take in any liquid or nutrition on the run as usual.

.....The limiter for the last 10 mins on the run was 1) Quads on the verge of cramping-up and locking up.. I just would back-off a bit each time I felt them spasm and start to lock-up..I know once they do "lock up" that I have to start walking..so I did not want to push it 2) General fitness

Final thoughts:

1) Realizing you can get a decent time going easy on the swim if you find the right feet. Even though I was not motivated, I banged out a decent swim time (for me).

2) I have started thinking about a new strategy for swimming. If you go pretty hard the first 800 Meters or so, then ease off a little.. It might be somewhat easier to latch onto the good swimmers as they start to pass you. I find it is extremely difficult to really find the good "feet" at the start. So many take off extremely fast (who swim in my range) the first 10 mins... and these "weekend warriors" are not good at sighting or pacing themselves. What do you all think of this strategy? Go harder than you can sustain, then hope to find some feet to ease you into the last half?

3) Taking it a bit easier on the swim and bike helped me PR a run on this course. Although I am a decent runner, I am not good at running up hills so this was a good run for me.

4) Having said that.. I would ideally like to bike 2 mins faster on this course and still run well.Going a minute faster on the swim should be possible as well. Those will be my goals on this course for next year or later this season perhaps.

Recap:

Essentially, I am pleased with Swim and Run under circumstances. If I could have an area to target -- it would have been the bike (go 1:30~2:00 faster). I feel that that time would be the "easiest" to gain. Also, I was not able to get into Threshold HR on the bike (which is unusual for this course). I was able to get my HR up on the last half of the run though. My body (& mind) is pretty tired.

Best, Sam

Blue Lake Race Report

2009-06-23T15:37:00.001-07:00

Not much to report. I "bonked". I have had stomach cramp issues on the run since I started doing triathlons. In the attempt to avoid stomach cramps I did not put in enough calories the night before and on the day of the race.

The swim went great. Shortly after getting on the bike I felt something was wrong. My body simply did not work anymore. The race was just a whole lot of pain and suffering after that and I did not improve my time much from last year.

If any good news is there it is that my swimming is getting better and that even if I "bonk" that I can still finish the race with a sub 2:15 time. My transitions are also getting smoother although I did not have any energy to move quickly through them.

I sat shivering under many blankets after the race was over -- and many commented that my lips were blue. Not good & not fun. On to better races.

I was glad to see that Steve Murcott had a fantastic race, getting 2:09 and gaining a 3rd place in his Age Group at the fastest short-course race in the North West. :)Also kudos to non-pro (haha) Roger Thompson age 37 with a winning time of 1:53:54 and a 54:00 40k bike split! That is smoking fast!

Happy training, Sam

Sam Places 4th in Heart of The Valley Sprint Triathlon

2009-05-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

http://racecenter.com/hotv/

I placed 1st in my Age Group & 4th overall on Monday (out of 238), May 25th, at Heart of the Valley Sprint Triathlon. 750 Meters in a 50 Meter pool & a very hilly and challenging bike leg.

No major complaints on the swim except that I am still a slow swimmer. I could have pushed a little harder here too (lost track of laps and that didn't help either).

A good early season race to remind me of the things I have to learn and improve on! Onwards and upwards. Looking forward to Blue Lake as my next major race. I am also doing a 2000 yard open water race on the 31st (Hagg Lake).

Overall it was an "OK only" race despite the good placement. I had a very poor 1st transition and lost my shoe off the pedal which slowed me down. I got up to the start line and had to run back get my shoe and then put it on my foot, then run back up to the "mount line" and try to get on the bike as best as I could. Not pretty. I finished the swim right behind Steve Murcott -- but after my terrible transition he gained about 300 yards on me (after we got on the bike). I had to push a bit to catch back up to him.

On the bike I was rather "un-smooth" (power wise) and did not push hard enough on the sections that I needed to surge on. Partially it was because I was trying to be strategic and stay behind Steve, however after some time I realized that Steve was going too easy on the uphills due to having too many Starbucks Frappuchino's over the past few months. . Had it been a flat course things would have been different. I was also "spinning out" on the several very hilly down-hill portions. I was somewhat "saving my legs" to push hard on the downhill portion of each hill. Only 1 or 2 (major) down hills allowed me to add significant power due to "lack of proper gearing". Crap! Triathlon is a technical sport! :)

On the run I suffered from stomach cramps again despite a very small breakfast (half a pop tart) and a cup of coffee followed by liquid nutrition over the next 2 hours. I think the larger problem was a EXTREMELY large dinner the night before with 3 pieces of cheesecake as dessert. We had guests over last night and Kacy prepared an amazing Salmon dinner with delicious mashed potatoes, etc (I could keep going on this topic as I love GOOD food). Anyway, lesson learned. I felt like I was going to throw up several times on the run again and was "burping my way along" the run. oh well.

Happy training
~Sam

Spring Training in Sweden

2009-04-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

The trip to visit my Grandmother is going well and I am managing to train in the morning, spend time with my Grandmother during the day and put in a regular work-day -- working remotely from here. I can't seem to fall asleep before 3 am anyway..

I feel refreshed and fast again after being a bit over-trained for the Duathlon.
I feel like I am on track to achieve 2:10 this year for the Olympic distance. Getting to my ultimate goal of sub 2 hours is yet a few years away & swimming will be the road-block again. I am confident I can get there with the bike and the run.

This year to reach 2:10 -- The key will be getting a little faster on the swim as I still am very slow at swimming. I feel confident that my running and biking is on-track. I will be sure to put my Daughter into swim school as kids who start swimming early "find" the bio-mechanics effectively/quickly through programs and school. The same is not true for us adults..

Scott is getting ready to hammer me with some run workouts to get my speed to where it should be. I know I am capable of running a 17min 5k (if I schedule a peak and train for it), so I have no idea what happened at the Duathlon. In retrospect I would probably not have looked at my HR monitor except for the bike. The next time I do a sprint Duathlon I will probably just go by "feel". I was pretty excited and this drives my HR WAY up. For me, I believe looking at HR is important the first couple minutes after getting off the bike -- as it feels like you are running SO HARD, when in fact you are barely moving. I am convinced you almost have to take off like a sprinter and run through the pain (in the first 1.5 miles) until the legs loosen up -- just to get up to a decent pace & HR. I don't know what others have found or if I off on this.

Wednesday I start doing some track work (3.3k of swimming also thrown in for good measure):

WU: 15 minutes of easy running followed by 8*40m strides and light stretching. MS: 4*400 r10s at 10k pace then 400 very slow jog, repeat that 3 times. CD: 15-20 minutes easy jogging, stretch afterwards.

Happy training all, Sam

Spring Classic Sprint Duathlon - Race report

2009-04-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

The race was not my best race, but it was early in the season. Placed 17th overall. http://racecenter.com/results/2009/res_mz09.htm

Lessons learned:

1) Went out too hard the first mile. The goal was to run the first 5k at 6 mins pace. Instead I did the first mile in 5:40 (felt really easy). When I saw the split I backed off to much. One thing that has helped me in the past is to run mile intervals during training...that helps to "dial-in" the pace..now that I am getting coached I neglected to.. It felt like I was holding back during the 1st run (which is good), but generally I was having problems focusing -- and drifted into running too slowly. It didn't help that I ran the first mile too fast either. I think I am tired or over-trained. I also have my parents in town and a lot of other stuff going on. I generally have had an energy problem recently. I was letting my mind wander too much (not in a thinking way -- but a SPACED out way). I am considering taking a few days off and catching up on sleep, etc.

2) Got on the bike well, but was again having problems focusing on a smooth peddle stroke and staying steady. Again, I never really realized I was "choppy" (in terms of output) until I started riding with my friend Steve who has a power-tap (measures wattage). I never really felt like I "pushed" on the bike, but I kept it in the zone I was supposed to...however it felt like I was slowing down quite a bit and speeding up quite a bit (to make up for slowing down when my focus drifted)..having said that I never drifted below the "zone" that Scott had instructed me to stay in -- my HR was just up and down by 3-4 beats at most (and then very briefly). I now realize HR is not very accurate. I would stop focusing and slow down too much, then "mashing" a little too hard to get back up to speed..but again, I never really felt like I was "pushing" too hard. just not "steady and smooth". Anyway..probably something that will get better especially when I am in better racing "mode".

3) Stomach cramps on the last run.. Since I didn't carry any nutrition, I decided to drink a LOT before the race. Bad idea. I drank more than 30 oz after eating oatmeal (over the next hour)..and my stomach just felt bloated. Sure enough..after the bike I had pretty bad cramps on the last run and thought I would "hurl" several times. A bummer, because I felt like this was my chance to "catch" all the folks ahead of me.

4) 2nd Run - Again, just having trouble focusing. I was so "spaced out" that I didn't even realize that it was time to "go"..I had quite a bit left (for the last mile) in the tank..and didn't put it in high-gear for some weird reason. I could easily have crushed the last mile but just didn't..the stomach cramps had cleared up after 2 miles. At that point my stomach wasn't "great" but good enough to "go hard". I had pushed the "split" button on my watch at mile 1, and for some reason didn't realize this (later) -- and thought there was a lot more left in the race. This doesn't excuse the fact that I should have known where I was in the race. The course is very simple. Totally spaced out!

5) Another thing I learned/re-learned is that you just have to "run hard" through the pain after getting off the bike (your legs will eventually clear up). Even though I had quite a bit left in the "tank" -- I "forgot" how crappy it feels getting off the bike (stomach cramps didn't help)......My legs felt pretty miserable -- partially because I rode in the last mile on a flat and was mashing hard on the pedals.. I was also getting calf cramps because of that, etc. So for my next race I will definitely "get mentally ready" to jump into the "pain cave" for the first mile after getting off the bike. It was amazing that after the first mile "I could run again" -- and the pain went away in my legs...but it took a while longer to get through the stomach cramps after that. ** I ended up running WAY too slow after I got off the bike. Christian ran by me and shouted at me..suddenly I woke up (thanks Christian)..and I pushed and got behind him....then at the end I over-took him..but if he had not shouted at me to "GO" I probably would have just continued at a miserable 6:45 pace or something slow like that.. So weird! The "mind" totally fools you..You think you can't deal with the pain, but then you find out that you definitely can run through the pain until the legs loosen up again. It was windy and cold which didn't help my legs.. My HR was pretty low at that point...10bpm under threshold..

So anyway..All in all, a good learning experience..and I guess this is what racing is good for! Thanks again to all for all the support... I will try to learn from my mistakes. I've actually had very few "good races" in general, but I am sure things will get better. The main thing is to stay positive.

Sam

Shamrock 15k Run

2009-04-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

So I had a great race a few weeks ago. I ran just over 57 minutes on a hilly course. That is 6:08 pace. It made me realize that running 4 days a week really helps. I also realized that running is something that is natural for me. I just have to figure out how to run "fast off the bike". That is another story! :)

I took the plunge - I now have a coach

2009-02-14T11:54:00.001-08:00

After much deliberation I decided that my training would be much more effective if I work with a coach. I think there are several reasons for having a coach in my situation. Besides the knowledge and aid a coach brings I think the collaborative process also yields positive gains. I have learned from the small amount of Triathlon training "knowledge" that I have -- that it isn't how hard you train...it is how well you train consistently without "burn-out". Planning is the most important training element perhaps, and the better you plan the better you train.

So who did I pick? I went with Scott McMillan who has a company called Factor 9 training: http://triathlonfever.com . Why did I pick Scott? I think the attractive factors were that he does coaching as his full time job, that he cares about detail, and he really cares about his athletes (and their goals and aspirations).

Why all this fuss about Triathlon? Some people think it is a little silly for people to do what we amateur triathletes do. Why work 45+ hours a week then workout for another 12+ hours on a regular basis (peaking well over 15 hours for some)?? What do we call these non-triathletes (who ask these logical questions)? Maybe they are the "regular people" (this is a cultish term I know)..and are we non-regular? I think serious athletes are somewhat "non-normal" but it seems very few of us have any "excuses". Being a pro is more socially acceptable though (and fewer questions asked), especially if the lifestyle has a shot at paying for "itself". This is probably because we grew-up watching the Olympics or other competitions. Collegiate sports are also pretty much not "questioned". Those college athletes seem less "nutty" to society.

So what are some theories for us "aging & full-time working" Triathletes? We do it because we "need to do it" and "that's that". No more explanation needed. We aren't always sure why "we need to do it" even. Perhaps it is the focus, the regularity that we achieve when transcending our limits each and every day -- the feeling that we get when we get yet another workout done? Perhaps we didn't like "everything" in our lives before we started down this path? Not sure, there are only a lot of questions...but one thing is for sure.. The addicted triathletes stopped asking these questions of themselves at some point and just accept that they have a "lifestyle" choice. Perhaps we are just coming out of the closet. Perhaps we always had some sort of addictive tendency and we need to find out where we can focus our energy?

Anyway, enough "belly button study". Maybe I told our little secret too openly. :)
So how is my training going? Well! It isn't easy, but I feel even more focused and I am learning so much. I don't have any crazy near-term goals, but I do have some rather irrational long-term goals. I want to give myself about 10 years to achieve them. I will work on shaving off a few minutes every year and build a healthy life-style rather than try to achieve too much too soon and not have fun (burn-out). Where do I want to be 5 years from now? I would love to go under sub 2 hours for the Olympic distance one day. Am I crazy? Maybe!

Sam

Training with an Olympic Medalist! Fun!

2008-12-09T16:26:00.001-08:00

I had a chance to do a trail run on Saturday with the Bejing 2008 Triathlon Silver Medalist! Simon (in the middle) won the Gold Medal at Sydney in 2000.

What fun! It was part of the grand opening of the new Athlete's Lounge store in NW Portland (26th/Vaughn). I also had a chance to ask him some trianing questions. The guy is amazing and such a good sport. He had amazing energy and focus. Shaking his hand and chatting with him made me realize that his entire life is based on a razor focus and determination (not to mention discipline).

It really gave me some inspiration to keep training hard.

Here is a photo of me wearing his Olympic Gold medal:

Last week I managed 12 workouts in one week, but this week I'm sick unfortunately. Let's hope I bounce back quickly before Christmas and can gain some more fitness.

My ultimate goal is to get into the pool by 6am at least 3 times a week and start swimming about 4-5 hours a week. I think this is what I need to get stronger and faster. I also realize I need to do one anarobic swim (all out) once a week. Jeff Henderson has been giving me some good tips on swimming. I respect his advice as he swims 1.5k in 18 minutes in the open water during an Olympic Distance triathlon. He is as fast as a pro in that discipline. Training with a faster group would also help instead of always swimming slow on my own.

Off-season training update

2008-11-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm getting back into it..after some down-time I'm slowly starting to work-out again.. I try to do something every day, even if its just getting my body used to less sleep and dragging myself somewhere at 6am in the morning. So far I don't think I'm gaining much fitness, but I'm getting back into a routine.

I did Kevin's cup 8km, crazy cross country race last Saturday. Over logs, down 20% mud banks, and jumping over streams. No serious injuries this year. It was a lot of fun. I biked to and from the race in the rain. Portland rain! Well, there might be a little sun this weekend.

Portland Marathon - Race Report

2008-10-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well it was a lot of fun and I did better than I thought. I guess I was in slightly better shape than I thought in my post racing stupor.

I had decided to run 8 min. pace, then Doug stated he was running with the 3:20 group -- shucks I said..let me run it and see what happens.. We met outside of bike gallery on sw10th and Salmon.. then we headed towards the river and that is when I noticed the streets were filled with people at 6:30 in the morning, ton's of cops and officials every where! Not like the NYC Marathon, but not like a tiny local Triathlon either. ENERGY was everywhere!

I was freezing by the time we got to the 3:20 line-up. Then I noticed it was about 5 degrees warmer in the crowd (just like with the penguins I guess). The gun went off and slowly we all got over the start line and started. Even our pace guy went a bit fast at first. I felt wide awake and it was all pretty exciting!

We chatted and had a great time (a group of 4-5 people) and the 3:20 pace-setter was pretty good. At around mile 15 Doug started to pull away, Trevor was already gone, and Steve decided to go after Doug. I looked down at my heart rate and was sure I should stay with the 3:20 group. I was already at about 176bpm. This eventually went up to about 185 where I spent a good deal of the last part of the marathon above my lactic threshold. I think taking some aspirin helped greatly around mile 15. The cool weather didn't hurt either.

Any heat at all and I would have been a goner. I had two bottles of nutrition that I sipped the whole way. Little tiny sips and then water at every aid station. I think I had about 300 calories stuffed in those two bottles with salt and all the rest. I should have not sipped the last 3 miles when I pick-up the pace though. Other than that I was happy with how I kept my body from bonking by keeping the high quality malto-dextrin flowing down my throat (or yard mulch as Kacy calls it) -- and the front of my shirt.

Steve sent me this great link (if you click on the course map you can see the splits if you hover the mouse over certain sections) http://www.runpix.biz/por08/42/finord.php?LastName=6955&lan=&aset=0 which shows I actually ran the last 5 miles at 7:30 pace. I think I ran a good tactical race for the shape I was. The last 3 miles felt hard but everything before that didn't feel half as bad as the last 7 miles in the 70.3 IronMan I did earlier in June (in Boise). I think part of the trick was staying positive, smiling, drafting in the group and staying focused..

With around 2 miles to go Steve #2 from Con-way left the 3:20 pace group, so I dropped behind him and gave it all I got. I guess they were actually a little over the 3:20 pace -- as even with the increase in speed I barely broke 3:20. Oh well! They pace-setters from Red Lizard did a great job for the most part.

At about 25.5 miles I saw that Steve had paid for it dearly by trying to stick with Doug. We ended up having a mad dash to the finish line and finishing around the same time. By the time I crossed the line I was about ready to throw-up and thought I would..but kept it down with some help from a guy who walked me over to the side.. Definitely should have stopped drinking the malto about 10 minutes prior to going hard at the end... Oh..and my left leg started locking up as I did my 100 yrd dash to cross the line and try to overtake my running friends.. chuckle :)

The course is great, you get to run over two bridges.. the music was great & the Iron Heads came out and cheered us on. The only bad part about the cool drizzle was that my blisters got worse. I've got one on the inside of my left big toe the size of Texas. I realize Adidas are not for me. The toe box is just too narrow. Too bad as our Tri team is sponsored by them. Oh well! :) Its all over now anyway isn't it?!

Until next time.. Sam

After weeks on the couch - I'm running the Portland Marathon

2008-10-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I got a bit bored, a little agitated, a little hazy, dopey, and a little stir-crazy not training.. so I decided to put in a few days Marathon training and go run my first Marathon! Steve, Trevor, & I ran on Saturday. I was amazed how much fitness I had lost just by watching TV and drinking beer for 3-4 weeks. After 20 miles at 7:30 pace I was about 5 beats about lactic threshold doing 8 min pace. Yikes. Let's see how the marathon goes -- but I'm thinking Marathon's are kinda a tough thing and require more than a weeks specific training to get close to the initial 3:15 target I had. Now I think I would be happy to go under 3:30.. Like I said, this will be quite an experiment!

Nationals at Hagg Lake

2008-09-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

What a scene! It was fun spectating. Had a chance to see many Olympians race. Got in a nice conversation with Hunter Kemper (finished 10th in Bejing this yr) and also had a photo opportunity with him as well as an autograph. What a friendly guy! He was the #1 Ranked Triathlete in the World recently. We tried to recruit him to join the IronHead. :)

Steve Murcott did great as did many other Iron Heads including Grant Folske who did an amazing 2:01 on this very hilly and challenging course. Probably equivalent to 1:56 or something like that on a flat course! Amazing!

Relaxing

2008-09-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

In the past 5 days I've gone for a run once and just relaxing feels great!

Portland City Triathlon - Race Results (not pretty)

2008-09-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

Short version of the story is that I made a wrong turn and didn't cross the finish line until after about a slow 10 minute+ jog back -- after I realized I missed the turn. With about 300 yds to go instead of making a right, I made a left and embarked to trying to continue my zone 5b pace another lap without knowing it. After 5 minutes I started blowing up then realized why I couldn't continue the pace.. I had ran a hell of a lot more than 10k which leads me to the realization that I probably could have "turned it on" at about 35 minutes and held that pace until the finish (if I made the correct turn that is).

Swim: I tried to follow Grant's advice to draft someone on the way back as the last 750 meters is going up-stream. Problem, the guy I decided to draft was going the wrong way even though he was exactly the pace that I needed (about 10% faster). I ended up swimming about 100 meters more than most other people I reckon but came out of the water at a good time anyway. This means my focus on swimming is starting to pay off. Only problem here is that I got so discouraged realizing I was off-course that my mind started to wander and I panicked a bit. I picked-up the pace too much in sections and as a result I went into the transition zone in an anaerobic state. As a result of that I lost time on the run into the transition zone & the transition zone itself. Lesson for next time; make sure you draft someone on the way back, but also make sure that the person is going in the right direction!! Duh! Duh! Duh! :)

Bike: To make matters worse I panicked again realizing how much time I lost and churned up the first hill on my bike in zone 5c 190bpm in a crazy effort to "make up time" (which you can't really do in this way). The bike ended up being a series of recoveries and too hard efforts. I settled in on the second lap. I feel the bike course is very technical and its impossible to guage the course strategy correctly on the first lap. To some degree my entire bike was influenced by the bad strategy during the swim (going to hard in sections). You have to nail the swim and stay in the right zone to set yourself up for a good race. Lesson learnt. Besides this it was great fun trading off with Steve on the bike leg. This was the only fun part of the race for me. It certainly made me feel like a little kid again racing the kid down the block on my BMX. This is the "up-side" to Triathlon and being on a team..you get to be a kid all over again racing your friends on their bikes.. Women will never understand us men I'm sure of that.. :)

Run: I mashed a little too hard on the bike in some sections where I should have accelerated my pace slower. In other sections I felt I could have employed "spinning" a little bit more. By the time I got to the run my poor swim and bike strategy left my legs in a less than optimal position to make use of the fact that running is my strong suit. My nutrtion was also wrong. I was bloated and my legs were cramping at times. Oh well. Making the wrong turn at the end only made my race a complete disaster instead of a partial disaster. Hope the course stays the same for next year so I can finally get this race "right"!

Getting ready for taper week

2008-08-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

..Feeling a little tired...13+ hours of training this week but some of it
intense speedwork in all 3 disciplines.

Looking forward to Portand City triathlon in one week (Sunday)
Had a great 50 mile ride today from Lake Oswgo to Sovie joined half way
by Steve and AJ. Did 1 lap in 30:43 (12.5 miles) then some big hills on the
way back

Best regards,
Sam Bradshaw

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www.snappermail.com

Next Race

2008-08-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

After two 3rd place finishes in my age-group (Olympic Distance) I am encouraged to keep training & racing. Having said that I'm running low on motivation and am enjoying "slacking-off" to some degree. I think its my body saying that I need this. Even though my base fitness is somewhat decreasing I think I should listen to my body as this is my first racing season that I am really pushing this hard.

I have registered for Portland City Triathlon at the end of this month and that will be my focus to keep pushing forward. I am going to try to formulate some type of training plan soon!

Sam

Update for week 3 of July

2008-07-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

I have been hanging out in NYC for the past week. Its been great fun but
minimal training took place. I swam twice, ran once and did a 50 min
session on a trainer. My achilles tendon still bothering me on the right
foot so I don't feel too bad about just running once.

Best regards,
Sam Bradshaw

Sent from my Treo wireless device with SnapperMail
www.snappermail.com

Working Hard

2008-07-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Seems like I'm doing a race pretty much every other weekend or every weekend. Put in a solid week of training after Hagg Lake (placed 3rd in age group and PR'ed by 11 mins), with one long swim with Steve and 2 shorter swims. My training log says I put in 11 hours this week.

Heading off to New York Tomorrow for a week. Not sure how much training I will get done there, but I'm hopeful I will try to hit the gym (for swim, or stationary bike) or try to run in Central Park every day. Goal is to try to do something for an hour everyday, but with all the fun to be had in the city..it will be tough!

Overall, doing longer swims including paddles and other drills is having a huge affect on my shoulders and upper body. I feel pretty slow running and shoulders have a dull ache.. I think I am definitely on the right track to getting stronger at the swim. Will just take my body a while to get used to it.

Till next time.

Saturdy & Sunday Workouts

2008-07-06T13:17:00.001-07:00

I biked 40 miles with a 30 minute low cadence time trial interval on Sunday. Was glad to meet up with A.J. in order to have some company. Sunday I ran 16 miles with Dave, Anne, Aleck & others on wildwood & leif trails. A great run and felt less punishing than expected due to great shade from the trees on wildwood where we spent the bulk of our time. I never realized just how far this trail goes (over 20 miles) !

Anyway, felt great to be back "in the saddle" after being a desk jockey for the bulk of the week with limited workouts and high-stress.

Got some great advice from Dave & Anne on swimming and am inspired to start trying to get faster again.

First Entry

2008-07-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well this summer of Triathlon Racing has been progressing pretty well except for my swimming. I have done three races so far; Boise 70.3 Ironman (5:01), Blue Lake Olympic (2:15), and Pacific Crest Olympic in Bend, Oregon. My best result was 3rd place in my age group at Pac Crest.

I have discovered I'm too busy to update my own website with my training and racing progress so I am going to try this since blogging is possible via email and my PDA.

Best,
Sam