The last year has been quite turbulent and demanding, but was also successful. I had some really good races, experienced my first DNF, received my PhD, started a postdoctoral fellow position at the University of Alberta, started coaching with the Edmonton Triathlon Academy, and most importantly became father to a little baby boy born on August 23 named Sean. I still can't believe that all that happened last year.
Anyway, 2012 is over and 2013 is in full swing. What will be my part in 2013? Besides spending most of my time with my little family, this year I definitely won't be as competitive as I was last year. This means, I will race for the sake of having fun and not try to reach a certain time goal. So far, I am only signed up for the Great White North Triathlon (GWN) in July, but I am also considering participating in the Black Foot Ultra 50 mile running race in May. I always wanted to know how it feels to run (walk) 50 miles ;) Since there are no major triathlon goals this year, now it would be the best time to try it out. Anyway, we will see what happens. I am also really looking forward to bicycle racing this year again.
Besides my goals as an athlete, this year I will also put a major focus on starting up my coaching career. Last year I shadowed Bill Humby from the University of Alberta Varsity Swim Team as well as Kevin Clark from the Edmonton Triathlon Academy (ETA). Both taught me many valuable things I am really grateful for. This year, I continue working with Kevin who is currently mentoring me coaching the swim session of the ETA age group program.
That's a rough schedule of what lies ahead of me.
If you like, stay tuned and as always happy training!
Cheers,
Stefan
Friday, 18 January 2013
Monday, 15 October 2012
Ironman Hawaii 2012 Race Report
So, race day went by and I had to drop out after developing some intense low back pain on the second half of the bike course. I was actually hoping to write a different kind of race report but this time it just didn't work out... Now, I have to think about what happened, why it happened and how to go from there. Here are a few first thoughts.
1) Did I push too hard on the bike?
I would say that this wasn't the case per se. My quads felt good and my nutrition went perfectly well. I ingested about 1600 calories of CarboPro, had one bottle of water on every aid station and another bottle so spray on my arms, legs and through my wicked water hole in my aero helmet :) Energy-wise I was ready to go. The weak point this time was obviously my lower left back which couldn't handle the force and therefore in a way I did push too hard. In this situation I had to decide whether I want to keep on pushing and stay on schedule, or just roll back into town and give my back some rest. I then asked myself why am I here? The answer was clear, I wanted to place top 5 in my age group and not just finish another Ironman. So, I decided to push it and see how things will turn out during the run. After I came into transition, my back was very sore and I had hard times putting on my runners while bending over. I ran out still hoping the problem will resolve but the pain just didn't want to stop. Then, after the first eight miles or so, I felt a decision and stopped running and dropped out of the race. It was a strange and new feeling for me to not finish a race. That's my first DNF, however, in some way it also feels like a valuable experience since it clearly showed my limits and what has to be improved.
So, what to do? I certainly won't stop doing long distance endurance events, BUT I have to accept that I need to take more care of my back, core and other stabilizing muscles. I actually did feel the same issue at the Great White North triathlon (2km/90km/21km) but not as severe and it disappeared after the first couple minutes into the run. I also had the same experience on a few longer training rides, but again it resolved by itself. It may sound silly but all this tells me I am reaching an age at which I have to take more care of my back and core muscles or else I won't be able to keep on performing at these levels of intensity. Unfortunately, I just cannot jump on my bike anymore and hammer it out. SO, for the next season I will spend some time in the gym strengthen my back and core on a regular basis.
2) Maybe it just wasn't the right time to accomplish such a goal?!
Since I also became a father to a wonderful son (August 23), plus finished and defended my PhD in the same time period (September 7), plus spending time training with only a few hours of sleep (all the moms and dads out there will know), I should have decreased my expectations and rather adjust my goal than push through it. In the end that would have probably been the smartest move given the situation. However, I decided the way I did and this DNF is a result for which I am fully responsible and which cannot be blamed to anyone/anything else.
3) Miscellaneous (or things that shouldn't have happened)
a) I decided that for my next salt water swim I will just swim in my speedo and not risk chafing on my neck. I severely chafed and this in combination with sweat, sunscreen and the Hawaiian sun was not a great feeling. I guess the time you lose by swapping your speedo with a trisuit in the transiton tent is marginal if there is a difference at all. Or, alternatively, if you have the luxury to live at the sea test it and find stuff that works for you in the ocean.
b) Don't forget to put a towel in your T2 bag! It's an open water swim and it's on a beach (not in the local pool at home) - so chances are high that the transition tent is wet and full of sand (a severe case of baby brain ... haha).
c) Make sure your googles are tight enough so that they not fill up with water all the time. Again, it's not a pool swim at your local pool, it's a mass start and feels like a washing machine (again, a case of baby brain?!)
d) Take your Garmin off the bike before running out of T2, or else you are running in no man's land. Then you better have a good gut feeling about pacing --- if you are still able to pace at all at that point.
4) Okay and finally some impression from the race:
a) I did find a good spot before the swim start and was very happy. At that point I thought it will be a good day. Then the canon went of and the first couple hundred metres were still okay up until my goggles started to fill up with water. I had to stop a few times to fix that and right away people are swimming right over you. "Stupid idiot why is he seeding himself in the front and then starts breaststroking" :) Not even half way through the swim I could feel that my neck is experiencing some serious chafing. One good thing was that the turn around came pretty fast, or at least it felt that way. On the way back things slowed a little, possibly due to the current, but more likely due to the fact that I couldn't properly recover my arm anymore in order to minimize chafing. Finally the shore came closer and the last 100 metres were the hardest because the surf always pulled me back a little bit. I wonder if other people also felt this way... so if you did the race and read this please comment!
b) I went out of the water, hosed off a little with fresh water, grabbed my bag and headed into the transition tent. It took me a while to organize myself but made it out found my bike ride away and left T1 at about 1h:10min into the race. On my way up Palani road I could hear Sanja yelling and screaming "Stefan Go Go Go!!!" We first looped through the city and then we were off to Hawi. The first 60 km flew by and we had the wind mostly in our back. The climb up to Hawi was then a bit more challenging and things slowed significantly. I wore my cool wings again and they definitely helped me stay relatively cool, but most importantly also saved my skin from sunburn. After the turnaround I was expecting crazy gusts of crosswinds but it wasn't as bad as I remembered from two years ago and I was able to stay in my aerobars all the time. Then during the last 60 km my low-back pain flared up and intensified all the way back to town. I had to stretch and change the angle of my pelvis about every 10 minutes which interrupted the flow of pedalling. As mentioned above I decided to keep the speed where it was at and not back-off, hoping the pain will disappear during the run. I finished the bike leg in just above 5 hours.
c) I handed my bike to the volunteer, forgot my Garmin on the bike (which I realized about 10 min later), grabbed my run gear and tried to get my shoes on, which pretty hurt because of my sore back (see above). I ran out of transition and was in severe pain. I saw Darren who took pictures and giving me some info on times and placing in my age group, but at that point I wasn't able to say anything. I kept on running still hoping things would get better. After the first turn around point on Alii drive, I decided I will stop any second now. However, I still kept on running almost till I was back at transition. I just couldn't stand the fact people looking at me while I was walking home. Then I saw Andrea taking pictures of me. That's the point when I started walking. I didn't want to have any documentation of my misery. Of course she didn't know what was happening to me but I was so grateful that both Darren and Andrea also joined us to come here to Kona and help us out! Thanks guys!!! Andrea and I walked back to transition where we could see Pete Jacobs finishing. She told me also that Sanja was at the King Kam hotel, and after officially dropping out, grabbing a piece of pizza and ice cream, I found Sanja nursing our little Sean under a tree. Her back was towards me and I just sat down beside her and told her I dropped out. We both understood each other without a lot of words and I was really happy that this burden is off my shoulders now. Now I can finally start enjoying our little family 100% :)
Cheers,
Stefan
1) Did I push too hard on the bike?
I would say that this wasn't the case per se. My quads felt good and my nutrition went perfectly well. I ingested about 1600 calories of CarboPro, had one bottle of water on every aid station and another bottle so spray on my arms, legs and through my wicked water hole in my aero helmet :) Energy-wise I was ready to go. The weak point this time was obviously my lower left back which couldn't handle the force and therefore in a way I did push too hard. In this situation I had to decide whether I want to keep on pushing and stay on schedule, or just roll back into town and give my back some rest. I then asked myself why am I here? The answer was clear, I wanted to place top 5 in my age group and not just finish another Ironman. So, I decided to push it and see how things will turn out during the run. After I came into transition, my back was very sore and I had hard times putting on my runners while bending over. I ran out still hoping the problem will resolve but the pain just didn't want to stop. Then, after the first eight miles or so, I felt a decision and stopped running and dropped out of the race. It was a strange and new feeling for me to not finish a race. That's my first DNF, however, in some way it also feels like a valuable experience since it clearly showed my limits and what has to be improved.
So, what to do? I certainly won't stop doing long distance endurance events, BUT I have to accept that I need to take more care of my back, core and other stabilizing muscles. I actually did feel the same issue at the Great White North triathlon (2km/90km/21km) but not as severe and it disappeared after the first couple minutes into the run. I also had the same experience on a few longer training rides, but again it resolved by itself. It may sound silly but all this tells me I am reaching an age at which I have to take more care of my back and core muscles or else I won't be able to keep on performing at these levels of intensity. Unfortunately, I just cannot jump on my bike anymore and hammer it out. SO, for the next season I will spend some time in the gym strengthen my back and core on a regular basis.
2) Maybe it just wasn't the right time to accomplish such a goal?!
Since I also became a father to a wonderful son (August 23), plus finished and defended my PhD in the same time period (September 7), plus spending time training with only a few hours of sleep (all the moms and dads out there will know), I should have decreased my expectations and rather adjust my goal than push through it. In the end that would have probably been the smartest move given the situation. However, I decided the way I did and this DNF is a result for which I am fully responsible and which cannot be blamed to anyone/anything else.
3) Miscellaneous (or things that shouldn't have happened)
a) I decided that for my next salt water swim I will just swim in my speedo and not risk chafing on my neck. I severely chafed and this in combination with sweat, sunscreen and the Hawaiian sun was not a great feeling. I guess the time you lose by swapping your speedo with a trisuit in the transiton tent is marginal if there is a difference at all. Or, alternatively, if you have the luxury to live at the sea test it and find stuff that works for you in the ocean.
b) Don't forget to put a towel in your T2 bag! It's an open water swim and it's on a beach (not in the local pool at home) - so chances are high that the transition tent is wet and full of sand (a severe case of baby brain ... haha).
c) Make sure your googles are tight enough so that they not fill up with water all the time. Again, it's not a pool swim at your local pool, it's a mass start and feels like a washing machine (again, a case of baby brain?!)
d) Take your Garmin off the bike before running out of T2, or else you are running in no man's land. Then you better have a good gut feeling about pacing --- if you are still able to pace at all at that point.
4) Okay and finally some impression from the race:
a) I did find a good spot before the swim start and was very happy. At that point I thought it will be a good day. Then the canon went of and the first couple hundred metres were still okay up until my goggles started to fill up with water. I had to stop a few times to fix that and right away people are swimming right over you. "Stupid idiot why is he seeding himself in the front and then starts breaststroking" :) Not even half way through the swim I could feel that my neck is experiencing some serious chafing. One good thing was that the turn around came pretty fast, or at least it felt that way. On the way back things slowed a little, possibly due to the current, but more likely due to the fact that I couldn't properly recover my arm anymore in order to minimize chafing. Finally the shore came closer and the last 100 metres were the hardest because the surf always pulled me back a little bit. I wonder if other people also felt this way... so if you did the race and read this please comment!
b) I went out of the water, hosed off a little with fresh water, grabbed my bag and headed into the transition tent. It took me a while to organize myself but made it out found my bike ride away and left T1 at about 1h:10min into the race. On my way up Palani road I could hear Sanja yelling and screaming "Stefan Go Go Go!!!" We first looped through the city and then we were off to Hawi. The first 60 km flew by and we had the wind mostly in our back. The climb up to Hawi was then a bit more challenging and things slowed significantly. I wore my cool wings again and they definitely helped me stay relatively cool, but most importantly also saved my skin from sunburn. After the turnaround I was expecting crazy gusts of crosswinds but it wasn't as bad as I remembered from two years ago and I was able to stay in my aerobars all the time. Then during the last 60 km my low-back pain flared up and intensified all the way back to town. I had to stretch and change the angle of my pelvis about every 10 minutes which interrupted the flow of pedalling. As mentioned above I decided to keep the speed where it was at and not back-off, hoping the pain will disappear during the run. I finished the bike leg in just above 5 hours.
c) I handed my bike to the volunteer, forgot my Garmin on the bike (which I realized about 10 min later), grabbed my run gear and tried to get my shoes on, which pretty hurt because of my sore back (see above). I ran out of transition and was in severe pain. I saw Darren who took pictures and giving me some info on times and placing in my age group, but at that point I wasn't able to say anything. I kept on running still hoping things would get better. After the first turn around point on Alii drive, I decided I will stop any second now. However, I still kept on running almost till I was back at transition. I just couldn't stand the fact people looking at me while I was walking home. Then I saw Andrea taking pictures of me. That's the point when I started walking. I didn't want to have any documentation of my misery. Of course she didn't know what was happening to me but I was so grateful that both Darren and Andrea also joined us to come here to Kona and help us out! Thanks guys!!! Andrea and I walked back to transition where we could see Pete Jacobs finishing. She told me also that Sanja was at the King Kam hotel, and after officially dropping out, grabbing a piece of pizza and ice cream, I found Sanja nursing our little Sean under a tree. Her back was towards me and I just sat down beside her and told her I dropped out. We both understood each other without a lot of words and I was really happy that this burden is off my shoulders now. Now I can finally start enjoying our little family 100% :)
Cheers,
Stefan
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Less than 4 weeks to go!
The big day is coming soon and I feel very strong and ready for this day. This will be the end of my 2-year "Next Stop: Kona 2012" project and trust me I will be in the shape of my life when I set off in Kailua Bay on October 13!
This past weekend was the final test to see where I am at. The last "big" weekend. In fact, it was the biggest weekend of my training plan. I did a 40 km run on Saturday in the Edmonton River Valley in 3:02:47 averaging 4:34 min/km with an average heat rate of 142. I ran the first 28 km relatively conservative and did not feel tired at all. Since I felt so good, I decided to go for it and pick up the speed. It worked out and I ran the the last third the fastest.
On Sunday, I went out for a 180 km bike ride from Edmonton via New Sarepta, Camrose and Bittern Lake and turned around after 90 km straight into a headwind for the rest of the ride. If you live and bike in Alberta you know what I am talking about. Nonetheless, I finished this ride in 4:50:56, with an average of 37.2 km/h, 261 watts and a heart rate of 122 bpm.
These results allow me to enter the 4-week tapering period with confidence and excitement. I did everything the best I could given the time I had available. I worked very hard on the bike this year, kept my running and swimming form from last year and may have even increased it a bit. Although the big work is done, the intensity still remains high, however, the duration of my workouts will slightly decrease. I will now also focus more on brick- and race specific workouts, including practising fast transitions - I don't want to lose a single second due to a slow transition etc. Relaxing will happen post race on a chair on our patio watching the pacific while sipping an ice cold beer with my family and friends who are also coming with me.
I still cannot believe that the big day is coming, but I am looking forward to it!!
Cheers,
Stefan
This past weekend was the final test to see where I am at. The last "big" weekend. In fact, it was the biggest weekend of my training plan. I did a 40 km run on Saturday in the Edmonton River Valley in 3:02:47 averaging 4:34 min/km with an average heat rate of 142. I ran the first 28 km relatively conservative and did not feel tired at all. Since I felt so good, I decided to go for it and pick up the speed. It worked out and I ran the the last third the fastest.
On Sunday, I went out for a 180 km bike ride from Edmonton via New Sarepta, Camrose and Bittern Lake and turned around after 90 km straight into a headwind for the rest of the ride. If you live and bike in Alberta you know what I am talking about. Nonetheless, I finished this ride in 4:50:56, with an average of 37.2 km/h, 261 watts and a heart rate of 122 bpm.
These results allow me to enter the 4-week tapering period with confidence and excitement. I did everything the best I could given the time I had available. I worked very hard on the bike this year, kept my running and swimming form from last year and may have even increased it a bit. Although the big work is done, the intensity still remains high, however, the duration of my workouts will slightly decrease. I will now also focus more on brick- and race specific workouts, including practising fast transitions - I don't want to lose a single second due to a slow transition etc. Relaxing will happen post race on a chair on our patio watching the pacific while sipping an ice cold beer with my family and friends who are also coming with me.
I still cannot believe that the big day is coming, but I am looking forward to it!!
Cheers,
Stefan
Monday, 10 September 2012
A quick update on my progress: II
The past weeks have been extremely busy and some major events happened in my life. The first one was that Sanja and I became parents of a baby boy named Sean :) This little guy is absolutely amazing and the best that could ever happen to us.
Secondly, I successfully defended my PhD degree! Given these circumstances I wasn't able to train as focused as I did before, nonetheless I am very happy how my training progresses. I have to say though that I am mentally quite tired now and cannot push hard intervals on the track and in the pool anymore. On the bike however, I am still working as hard as I can, and to my surprise, I am still progressing significantly. As for running and swimming I increased distance since it's easier to deal with mentally. Although I increased the distance, these runs/swims are not slow. I am able to run and swim comfortably and steady 4:40min/km for 30+ km runs, and swim 1:35min/100m for 4km, respectively. I guess this is good enough and with the right motivation on race day, I am sure I will do well!
Cheers,
Stefan
Secondly, I successfully defended my PhD degree! Given these circumstances I wasn't able to train as focused as I did before, nonetheless I am very happy how my training progresses. I have to say though that I am mentally quite tired now and cannot push hard intervals on the track and in the pool anymore. On the bike however, I am still working as hard as I can, and to my surprise, I am still progressing significantly. As for running and swimming I increased distance since it's easier to deal with mentally. Although I increased the distance, these runs/swims are not slow. I am able to run and swim comfortably and steady 4:40min/km for 30+ km runs, and swim 1:35min/100m for 4km, respectively. I guess this is good enough and with the right motivation on race day, I am sure I will do well!
Cheers,
Stefan
Monday, 20 August 2012
ITT Provincials
Yesterday, I took part in the Alberta Time Trial Provincial Championships. It was not really on my race calender and more a spontaneous idea to test and see where I am with my training. The moment I signed up for it, I knew it will be hard especially because my legs are very fatigued from the training program I am on (see previous post). That being said, I mentally prepared myself to only treat this race as a hard training session in which my goal was to hold 360 watts steady over the 38km. Since my theoretical functional threshold power (FTP) was 353 watts (see here), I thought it might be possible even though my legs are pretty tired. So, I chiselled 360 watts in my mind and was only thinking about this, ignoring the other competitors and also ignoring other aerodynamic benefits such as racing wheels etc. Essentially, I rode my bike in a training set-up but with an aero helmet.
The race course was nice and relatively flat with only a few turns. So, a perfect location for power testing. During the race I felt very strong and was pushing close to 400 watts consistently. I knew I was riding above my theoretical FTP and was hoping I will be able to hold this pace all the way. After the turnaround point, it started to feel a little bit harder and it definitely took more effort to keep the watts high. During the last 2 km, I was able to stay above 400 watts and I knew I would have met my goal to average 360 watts. In the end Brian came in first (pretty awesome performance from this guy), second was Josh (strong as always) and I finished third. It kind of reminded me of the Devon Grand Prix in which the three of us finished in the same manner.
Here are the stats of my ride:
Time: 51:39 min
Average watts: 374
Average heart rate: 173
Average cadence: 89
Average speed: 43.6
New functional threshold power: 367 watts, which represents an increase of 14 watts! Thanks to Jesper Bondo Medhus! Your training plan is working well!
And here is a screen shot of the ride:
With this results I am very motivated to hit the last week of hard training before next weeks down week (which I am really looking forward to). Then, I will have another 2 weeks of hard training before I start tapering (or peaking, a term which I like better).
Yes, I am almost there! Kona is around the corner!!
Cheers,
Stefan
The race course was nice and relatively flat with only a few turns. So, a perfect location for power testing. During the race I felt very strong and was pushing close to 400 watts consistently. I knew I was riding above my theoretical FTP and was hoping I will be able to hold this pace all the way. After the turnaround point, it started to feel a little bit harder and it definitely took more effort to keep the watts high. During the last 2 km, I was able to stay above 400 watts and I knew I would have met my goal to average 360 watts. In the end Brian came in first (pretty awesome performance from this guy), second was Josh (strong as always) and I finished third. It kind of reminded me of the Devon Grand Prix in which the three of us finished in the same manner.
Here are the stats of my ride:
Time: 51:39 min
Average watts: 374
Average heart rate: 173
Average cadence: 89
Average speed: 43.6
New functional threshold power: 367 watts, which represents an increase of 14 watts! Thanks to Jesper Bondo Medhus! Your training plan is working well!
And here is a screen shot of the ride:
With this results I am very motivated to hit the last week of hard training before next weeks down week (which I am really looking forward to). Then, I will have another 2 weeks of hard training before I start tapering (or peaking, a term which I like better).
Yes, I am almost there! Kona is around the corner!!
Cheers,
Stefan
Monday, 13 August 2012
A quick update on my progress
Finally, after submitting my PhD thesis, I did find some time to get some good workouts in during the past two weeks. Although I couldn't train the way I wanted during the last months, my form is coming!
My cycling program is really working well and I can feel and see how I am improving. After the first 4 weeks, I was able to average 306 watts with a heart rate of 143 over two hours and felt very strong. Yesterday, I finished a three hour bike on my trainer with an average of 284 watts and 135 bpm. Both rides however, included some intervals at higher intensities meaning that without those I might have felt even better. But I also have to say that the purpose of these workouts were not to discover my 2/3 hours maximum power output. The wattages I mentioned are just the result of general 2/3 hours workouts that included intervals and rest periods in order to lift my critical threshold power. Nonetheless, these values tell me that my Ironman race pace will most likely fall between 280-300 watts.
In general my legs are very tired though. The training plan is very challenging and takes up all my mental strength to complete. Especially the VO2max intervals are killer! Whenever I ride my commuter bike, my legs feel so empty that I start to wonder how am I going to finish the next workout?? But so far it has always worked somehow :)
I also started to cycle with a higher cadence. On average, I am now at about 92-94 compared to 88-90 before I started the training plan. I guess that's a result of pushing the big gears with tired legs. The only way to get up to watts beyond 340, while having tired legs, is to pedal quicker and becoming more efficient.
Despite my tired legs, I also had an awesome 32 km run last Friday. I finished the workout in a time of 2h 25min, resulting in an 4:31min pace per kilometre with an average heart rate of 143. Since it was quite a hilly run through the river valley of Edmonton, I am very happy with the result.
I also feel that I have developed "2 sets of legs", one for cycling and one for running. Whenever my cycling legs feel empty and tired, my running legs are still ready for a fast and long workout.
Swimming has moved a little big in the background, which doesn't mean I am neglecting it though. I switched back to the Swim Smooth Ironman Training Plan. This plan has served me well for my race at IM Cozumel last year and I totally believe in it. I only need to do what needs to be done, without spending to much energy thinking about it. If you haven't checked out their recent book yet, you better should! This book is priceless!
Although everything seems to work well (given my current situation), there is still a lot of work to be done during the next weeks. But generally speaking my training results tell me that I am on track for a 9:00h Ironman time. I am hoping to swim an hour, finish the bike in 4:50 h and run a 3:10h marathon.
So long,
Stefan
My cycling program is really working well and I can feel and see how I am improving. After the first 4 weeks, I was able to average 306 watts with a heart rate of 143 over two hours and felt very strong. Yesterday, I finished a three hour bike on my trainer with an average of 284 watts and 135 bpm. Both rides however, included some intervals at higher intensities meaning that without those I might have felt even better. But I also have to say that the purpose of these workouts were not to discover my 2/3 hours maximum power output. The wattages I mentioned are just the result of general 2/3 hours workouts that included intervals and rest periods in order to lift my critical threshold power. Nonetheless, these values tell me that my Ironman race pace will most likely fall between 280-300 watts.
In general my legs are very tired though. The training plan is very challenging and takes up all my mental strength to complete. Especially the VO2max intervals are killer! Whenever I ride my commuter bike, my legs feel so empty that I start to wonder how am I going to finish the next workout?? But so far it has always worked somehow :)
I also started to cycle with a higher cadence. On average, I am now at about 92-94 compared to 88-90 before I started the training plan. I guess that's a result of pushing the big gears with tired legs. The only way to get up to watts beyond 340, while having tired legs, is to pedal quicker and becoming more efficient.
Despite my tired legs, I also had an awesome 32 km run last Friday. I finished the workout in a time of 2h 25min, resulting in an 4:31min pace per kilometre with an average heart rate of 143. Since it was quite a hilly run through the river valley of Edmonton, I am very happy with the result.
I also feel that I have developed "2 sets of legs", one for cycling and one for running. Whenever my cycling legs feel empty and tired, my running legs are still ready for a fast and long workout.
Swimming has moved a little big in the background, which doesn't mean I am neglecting it though. I switched back to the Swim Smooth Ironman Training Plan. This plan has served me well for my race at IM Cozumel last year and I totally believe in it. I only need to do what needs to be done, without spending to much energy thinking about it. If you haven't checked out their recent book yet, you better should! This book is priceless!
Although everything seems to work well (given my current situation), there is still a lot of work to be done during the next weeks. But generally speaking my training results tell me that I am on track for a 9:00h Ironman time. I am hoping to swim an hour, finish the bike in 4:50 h and run a 3:10h marathon.
So long,
Stefan
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Sylvan Lake Half without me
The past weeks have been incredibly busy. Besides training for IM Hawaii, I am also about to finish my PhD thesis. Since the latter is more important, I decided to not start at the Sylvan Lake Half today but rather spend the time polishing things up and get it out of the way. Thesis submission is this week and I am very excited about this.
So long!
Stefan
So long!
Stefan
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Great White North Triathlon 2012: Race Report
On Sunday (Jul-01), I passed a big milestone on my way to Kona. I finished the Great White North Triathlon 2012 with a solid performance. Of course, there is still a lot to improve but given where I am right now and what I have trained so far I am very pleased with my result. This race was the end of my first training block in which I focused mostly on speed and interval work and not on volume (you can read more on that here). My second training block is heavily tailored for a fast bike split in Kona, but also has a focus on reinforcing my running speed and increasing distance. Now, I have a week off, and then 14 hard weeks of training ahead of me.
And here is the report:
Sanja, Jan, Lenka and I arrived at Hubbles Lake bright and early with enough time to spare. Lots of friends were there and the University of Alberta Triathlon Club had a huge contingent of people racing and also spectating. Although the weather forecast didn't really look nice, Keegan, Derek, Emily and Antony rode out to Stony Plain on their bikes even though it was raining till about noon! THANKS GUYS!!! Also a huge thanks to Andrea, Lenka and Becky for taking awesome pictures of the event!!!
Swim:
Since I experienced some restriction in the shoulder area with my old wetsuit, Dave gave me his wetsuit for the race, which is way more flexible. Thanks Dave!! I seeded my self in the front and a few minutes later the race was on. For me this was the roughest start ever! It was super wild and intense for the first couple hundred metres. After the first buoy the field was stretched out a bit and things calmed down. The rest of the first lap as well as the second lap was normal again. I exited the swim with a time of 29:34 min and headed on to the bike.
Bike:
Again my transition wasn't the fastest and I still have to put some more effort into getting things changed quicker. I left transition, passed the huge support crew and was out in the rain for the next 2+ hours. Although it was raining and a bit chilly, I was very focused and didn't mind the rain at all. In terms of effort my goal was to average 300 watts which worked out very nicely! My actual average power was 301 watts. After about 20 km into the race I got passed by Trev Williams, whom I know is a time trial specialist, and I tried to keep him in sight. However, looking at my power output I knew this wouldn't be a good idea. So after about 10 km, I decided to back-off again and do what I wanted to do. Before the turnaround I rode up into fifth place and then shortly later I was in fourth position in which I remained till the end of the race. On the way back my power slightly decreased, and my heart rate immediately dropped as well (see Figure below) - and this time it was not necessarily the fact that it went slightly downhill (see previous race report), but rather a lack of strength to keep pushing the 300+ watts. But this will be very thoroughly addressed during the upcoming 14-week training block.
I came into T2, put my socks on (which proved difficult with cold fingers and feet), shoes on and off I was. Again, the transition could have been quicker, but given the conditions I guess it was okay. Good thing I had fair amount of baby powder in my socks and in my shoes, which helped to dry up my feet a bit.
Run:
I started running at a good pace and I didn't feel any cramps on the first kilometre. But then after 2 km my good old friends Musculii vastus-mediales (left and right) begun to dictate the pace for the next 2 km or so. I finally managed to convince the two to work with me and from that point on I was running a consistent 4 min/km pace! Never done before in an Half Iron distance race ever! At the halfway turnaround point I saw Ben and Becky and I still felt pretty good at that point. I also saw all my other friends who were racing, as well as my Fiera Race Team buddies. Thanks to Josh who was yelling and screaming when I came by. This definitely gave me a push! Also on my way back to the finish, I passed the soaking wet UofA TriClub crew and a few minutes later Sanja and Lenka. Sanja already spotted me before I could see her, but I knew I was close since I heard her screaming at the top of her lungs :) Even though I cannot see her sometimes, I always can hear that she's there for me! I also saw Darren who only signed up for the race because Sanja did - and then she got pregnant ;) So, he ended up doing the race although he was actually not planning on doing it this year. But still, he looked like he had a good time :) Thanks for cheering Darren! On the very last turnaround point I saw that James Curran got very close in the end. Not to risk losing 4th place, I picked up the pace and ran sub 4 min/km for the final 2 kilometres. In the end I was still 33 seconds ahead of him and enjoyed my arrival!
This time my heart rate data actually suggest that I was racing. My average heart rate was 149 bpm and I spent 56:34 minutes between 148-163 bpm, and 28:55 min between 132-147 bpm. And what was really cool is that I felt my outer thighs were getting sore at the end of the race, a feeling which I usually don't experience very often since mostly I cannot run that fast to make them hurt.
To sum it up, this race turned out to be a great day, despite the rain, and I am very happy with my result. It definitely showed that I am still improving and certainly haven't reached my limit yet. It gave me motivation and I am looking forward to the next 14-weeks of training!
Thanks for reading and happy training!
Yours,
Stefan
P.S. Results can be found here
P.P.S. Pictures will follow! Stay tuned!
And here is the report:
Sanja, Jan, Lenka and I arrived at Hubbles Lake bright and early with enough time to spare. Lots of friends were there and the University of Alberta Triathlon Club had a huge contingent of people racing and also spectating. Although the weather forecast didn't really look nice, Keegan, Derek, Emily and Antony rode out to Stony Plain on their bikes even though it was raining till about noon! THANKS GUYS!!! Also a huge thanks to Andrea, Lenka and Becky for taking awesome pictures of the event!!!
Swim:
Since I experienced some restriction in the shoulder area with my old wetsuit, Dave gave me his wetsuit for the race, which is way more flexible. Thanks Dave!! I seeded my self in the front and a few minutes later the race was on. For me this was the roughest start ever! It was super wild and intense for the first couple hundred metres. After the first buoy the field was stretched out a bit and things calmed down. The rest of the first lap as well as the second lap was normal again. I exited the swim with a time of 29:34 min and headed on to the bike.
Bike:
Again my transition wasn't the fastest and I still have to put some more effort into getting things changed quicker. I left transition, passed the huge support crew and was out in the rain for the next 2+ hours. Although it was raining and a bit chilly, I was very focused and didn't mind the rain at all. In terms of effort my goal was to average 300 watts which worked out very nicely! My actual average power was 301 watts. After about 20 km into the race I got passed by Trev Williams, whom I know is a time trial specialist, and I tried to keep him in sight. However, looking at my power output I knew this wouldn't be a good idea. So after about 10 km, I decided to back-off again and do what I wanted to do. Before the turnaround I rode up into fifth place and then shortly later I was in fourth position in which I remained till the end of the race. On the way back my power slightly decreased, and my heart rate immediately dropped as well (see Figure below) - and this time it was not necessarily the fact that it went slightly downhill (see previous race report), but rather a lack of strength to keep pushing the 300+ watts. But this will be very thoroughly addressed during the upcoming 14-week training block.
I came into T2, put my socks on (which proved difficult with cold fingers and feet), shoes on and off I was. Again, the transition could have been quicker, but given the conditions I guess it was okay. Good thing I had fair amount of baby powder in my socks and in my shoes, which helped to dry up my feet a bit.
Run:
I started running at a good pace and I didn't feel any cramps on the first kilometre. But then after 2 km my good old friends Musculii vastus-mediales (left and right) begun to dictate the pace for the next 2 km or so. I finally managed to convince the two to work with me and from that point on I was running a consistent 4 min/km pace! Never done before in an Half Iron distance race ever! At the halfway turnaround point I saw Ben and Becky and I still felt pretty good at that point. I also saw all my other friends who were racing, as well as my Fiera Race Team buddies. Thanks to Josh who was yelling and screaming when I came by. This definitely gave me a push! Also on my way back to the finish, I passed the soaking wet UofA TriClub crew and a few minutes later Sanja and Lenka. Sanja already spotted me before I could see her, but I knew I was close since I heard her screaming at the top of her lungs :) Even though I cannot see her sometimes, I always can hear that she's there for me! I also saw Darren who only signed up for the race because Sanja did - and then she got pregnant ;) So, he ended up doing the race although he was actually not planning on doing it this year. But still, he looked like he had a good time :) Thanks for cheering Darren! On the very last turnaround point I saw that James Curran got very close in the end. Not to risk losing 4th place, I picked up the pace and ran sub 4 min/km for the final 2 kilometres. In the end I was still 33 seconds ahead of him and enjoyed my arrival!
This time my heart rate data actually suggest that I was racing. My average heart rate was 149 bpm and I spent 56:34 minutes between 148-163 bpm, and 28:55 min between 132-147 bpm. And what was really cool is that I felt my outer thighs were getting sore at the end of the race, a feeling which I usually don't experience very often since mostly I cannot run that fast to make them hurt.
To sum it up, this race turned out to be a great day, despite the rain, and I am very happy with my result. It definitely showed that I am still improving and certainly haven't reached my limit yet. It gave me motivation and I am looking forward to the next 14-weeks of training!
Thanks for reading and happy training!
Yours,
Stefan
P.S. Results can be found here
P.P.S. Pictures will follow! Stay tuned!
Monday, 25 June 2012
An amazing weekend of road racing!!
This weekend the City of Devon was again host of a fantastic bicycle spectacle, the Devon Grand Prix of Cycling 2012 (link downloads a pdf file). I participated on Saturday in the United Cycle Downtown Criterium Provincials and on Sunday the Juventus Genessee Hills Road Race. It was my first Criterium in Category 2 and I was pretty nervous since these crits are a sink or swim. You've got to be 100% committed if you want to finish with the main pack and you have to stay always alert as crashes happen often due to the speed and the exhaustion of the riders. In our category we had to cover 40 laps of approximately 900 metres. And man, this race was fast! We averaged 45 km/h and I had an average heart rate of 163 and a maximum heart rate of 185! I cannot remember when I had 185 bpm on a bike! It was crazy! Also from a power perspective this race was quite interesting. I spent 48 % in "active recovery" (24:06 min), i.e. from 0-195 watts due to coasting, and 23 % in the neuromascular zone (11:15 min), i.e. from 534-MAX. The remaining 29 % were evenly distributed over the remaining zones in between these two extremes. Here is a nice visualization of the work done:
The winner of the race Dan Wood (ERTC), actually crashed and had some intense road rash on his right thigh and shoulder. After he crashed (~6 laps to go), he managed to get back and win the race! This was pretty impressive!
The next morning at 9 am we started for our 127 km ride and the weather was quite windy but beautiful. At about 10 km into the race there was an attack, initiated by Josh I believe, and a few other riders and me followed. This was when I felt that my legs were still torched up from the crit the night before. We eventually got caught and I was afraid I won't play a big role today since my legs felt pretty empty. After about 10 more kilometres, Josh launched another attack while we were having cross-winds. The attack was perfectly set and again, a few other riders and me were back in the break. We really were working very hard together for the first kilometres and then managed to find a rhythm that worked for everyone in the break. It was great riding with these guys and we were increasing our lead. At some point we also collected a Velocity guy, who took off sometime after our first attack and stayed away till then. He managed to hang on when we were passing him and also started working with us. At the turnaround we could see our gap and it was quite impressive! Our group got motivated right away and sped up again. With about 30 km to go, quite a few hard attacks were launched just for 100 metres or so to shake off people. And guess what, Dan Wood, the guy who left quite some skin on Athabasca Ave in Devon was attacking and eventually made it first into the finish! What a performance! When he was off the front, more short attacks were launched and we kept on losing people until it was only Josh, me and Brian from Velocity. At that point my tank was pretty empty and I switched into damage control mode. During the last 2 km we were going quite slow since no one wanted to start sprinting too early. I took a look behind me and could see the pack was getting closer. This time though, they wouldn't get us. In the end Brian had the best legs of the three of us, and Josh and I tied for 3rd place (on the results), although he actually won (see picture below).
In case you are interested here is another picture below of how different a criterium looks like when compared to a road race:
In conclusion an amazing weekend of road racing!!
Cheers,
Stefan
P.S. Thanks to Sanja for feeding me, and to Corey from ERTC for giving Sanja a ride to the feed zones and back since the feed zone were 35 km away from the start!
The next morning at 9 am we started for our 127 km ride and the weather was quite windy but beautiful. At about 10 km into the race there was an attack, initiated by Josh I believe, and a few other riders and me followed. This was when I felt that my legs were still torched up from the crit the night before. We eventually got caught and I was afraid I won't play a big role today since my legs felt pretty empty. After about 10 more kilometres, Josh launched another attack while we were having cross-winds. The attack was perfectly set and again, a few other riders and me were back in the break. We really were working very hard together for the first kilometres and then managed to find a rhythm that worked for everyone in the break. It was great riding with these guys and we were increasing our lead. At some point we also collected a Velocity guy, who took off sometime after our first attack and stayed away till then. He managed to hang on when we were passing him and also started working with us. At the turnaround we could see our gap and it was quite impressive! Our group got motivated right away and sped up again. With about 30 km to go, quite a few hard attacks were launched just for 100 metres or so to shake off people. And guess what, Dan Wood, the guy who left quite some skin on Athabasca Ave in Devon was attacking and eventually made it first into the finish! What a performance! When he was off the front, more short attacks were launched and we kept on losing people until it was only Josh, me and Brian from Velocity. At that point my tank was pretty empty and I switched into damage control mode. During the last 2 km we were going quite slow since no one wanted to start sprinting too early. I took a look behind me and could see the pack was getting closer. This time though, they wouldn't get us. In the end Brian had the best legs of the three of us, and Josh and I tied for 3rd place (on the results), although he actually won (see picture below).
In conclusion an amazing weekend of road racing!!
Cheers,
Stefan
P.S. Thanks to Sanja for feeding me, and to Corey from ERTC for giving Sanja a ride to the feed zones and back since the feed zone were 35 km away from the start!
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Chinook Half 2012 - Race Report
This past weekend (June-16) I participated in the Chinook Half Triathlon in Calgary. This is the second time that I did this race (see here for Race Report 2010) and it's really fun and well organized. The highlight for me was definitely the beautiful run through the Fish Creek Provincial Park one of the largest urban parks in North America. On top of all that my parents were also here for the first time since I am in Canada and we had a wonderful time.
Race morning:
We woke up at about 4:45am with a lot of time to slowly get up, have a breakfast and drive to the race venue. The race started at 8am, transition opened at 7am and we were at the parking lot at about 6:40am. Everything went smoothly.
Swim:
The swim was a 2 by 1km loop in Lake Midnapore with a quick run around a buoy on the beach. The water wasn't as cold as two years ago but still only 16 °C. I was really looking forward to the swim since I spent so much time in the pool during the last 2 years. At the end though my time this year was not faster than it was 2 years ago (32:56 vs. 32:36), although I felt better. I was hoping to be a bit faster of course, but that's what it was. The only thing that was bugging me was that I forgot how constricting it is to swim in a wetsuit, or rather in my wetsuit (Entry level Nineteen - Pipeline). My arm recovery felt way more difficult than without. It was also the first time since almost 2 years that I swam in a wetsuit. Maybe that was the problem... Since I am usually training without a wetsuit, I might not have trained as much those muscles required to swim well in a wetsuit. Swimming in a wetsuit looks quite different then swimming without one. But since my big race is a warm pacific ocean swim, I am not really concerned with this issue.
Bike:
The bike course is a 96 km quite scenic out and back heading straight into the Rocky Mountains, but for my taste the road is too busy to give it 5 stars. The turn around was close by the town Bragg Creek. As I am now in the lucky situation to ride with a power meter (see my previous post), I was not looking once at the speed I was going. In fact, my selected Garmin window didn't show speed at all. I was only concerned with my watts and cadence. My goal was to just collect some power data to better adjust my training zones for the upcoming 14-week IM Hawaii preparation. Based on my recent 5 min and 30 min all-out efforts, I was guessing to average around 300 watts. That would be racing at 85 % of my functional threshold power (FTP, 354 watts). According to "Training and Racing with a Power meter" by Allen & Coggan 2010, it is suggested to race the Half Ironman distance at about 80-85 % of FTP. On my way out I averaged 297 watts (normalized: 306; heart rate 142 bpm) and back 278 watts (normalized: 281; hear rate 134 bpm). The lower averages on the way back are mostly due to long descent back into Calgary (see figure below). Given that I was racing correctly at just below 85 % of my current FTP, I was right on with my effort. Compared with the 2010 results, I was about 3 min faster (2:28:49 vs 2:31:17).
Run:
As I already mentioned above the run was really beautiful (2 laps through the Fish Creek Provincial Park). It had some up- and downhills and was not boring at all. For the first 2-3 km I had some issues with my quads (nothing unusual for me). But this time they were cramping quite badly and I was considering stopping for a few seconds to stretch them. Luckily though, as fast as they came they also disappeared. I know I am prone to cramping during the first kilometres into the run, but I forgot that they usually disappear as well. So it was good to get reminded of that for the upcoming races and not become totally devastated as soon as I feel them coming. Anyway, at that point in the race I was running in second place with quite a gap to third place. So, I didn't really had a reason to push it any harder so early in the season. I paced both my laps evenly within seconds and had an average heart rate of 146 during both laps. Compared with the 2010 results it almost exactly the same time (1:30:17 vs. 1:30:22; but my average heart rate was 153 bpm back then). But I do have to say that I felt my muscles were getting tired. I guess due to the fact that I am doing so many hard interval workouts my cardiovascular system is superb but my muscles need more distance now. And this is what comes in my next training block starting in 2 weeks.
Transitions:
My transitions were rather slow. I took quite some time to get everything right and to not forget things. This is something that needs improvement for sure. But with two more Half Irons coming up there is also time to practice again under race conditions.
Thanks to Sanja and my parents, as well as Pat (raced the Olympic distance) and Becky, and Ben and Lindsay (raced the Aquabike) for cheering and having a good time.
Next Stop: The Great White North Triathlon next Sunday on July-1.
Cheers,
Stefan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)