Blood Testing, Lactate Testing, and Dehydration

Last week I took an easy recovery week to recover from all the racing I have done so far. With this down time I figure it was perfect to get my blood tested to make sure everything was in check. The main things I were interested in were my hematocrit and ferritin levels. Everything came out to be within the normal range, but I am far from being a genetic freak. My hematocrit was .44 and .50 is kind of the arbitrary line they made for doping. Ferritin was 144ug/L which I was glad to see because I know a lot of endurance athletes have problems with iron levels.

This week I am trying to get back on to a normal schedule and decided to get a cycling lactate test done with Cliff at Transition Point Training and MultiSport Zone. It was a great experience and hopefully will get me to where I need to be on the bike. My aerobic power was 165w and my anaerobic power was 193w. Cliff's suggestion was that I need to raise my anaerobic power first then raise the aerobic power.

Indoor cycling in the summer equals tons of sweating. I have never sweat so much in my life as when I did the lactate test. I should have taken this as a sign that I may need to drink a lot to refuel. I didn't do this. Went out to the Tuesday night bike ride, and my legs were absolutely toast. I was doing everything I could to hang with the leaders. A combination of both these rides absolutely wrecked my body. When I got home I was cold and shivering then hot and sweating. Tried to stomach some food, and thought I was going to throw up for sure. Still felt terrible the next day and just stayed in bed drinking water all day. I was finally able to eat a bit at dinner. Tried running a bit today, but I cut it a bit short as my stomach was really upset didn't feel 100%. I am going to try and do an easy swim tonight.

I would also like to thank MultiSport Zone for the sponsorship. I can't wait to rock the tri suit in my next race.

Leamington Race Report

This weekend was my 3rd race in as many weeks, and surprisingly I still had some gas in the tank for one more solid effort. This was was the one I wanted to do best in out of the three since it was age group provincial sprint championships, and there was going to be some tough competition with Josh Seifarth and Ryan Power being on the confirmation list.

The day started with getting up at 4:15am, and we were out the door by 5. I was the first person at the race, and this allowed me to just get in the zone and start setting up my transition area. The 7:30am start time was way too early for my liking, and I was glad I had been getting up at 5 all through the school year to swim.

Swim - 4^th 11:31 (1:33/100m)

The race started about 10 minutes late, but these ten minutes felt like an eternity. I tried to just keep moving. The harbour at Leamington was overrun with weeds and the current pretty strong. That is one problem with being little, I just get tossed around. I tried to get into a rhythm and after the first buoy I started feeling pretty good.  Andrew Lee and Ryan came out of the water just behind me, and this really helped to push me on the bike.

Bike – 4^th 33:18 (36kmh)

I moved into 2^nd during transition, but didn’t realize so I went out hard on the bike. I really tried to push the first half since it was into the wind. The first bike going the other way passed me about 750m from the turn around. I was a bit nervous because it was not Josh, and I thought there were others in front of me. It turned out that they were in the duathlon. Coming off the bike Ryan was still nipping at my heels so I knew I had to put in a good run or he was going to get me.

Run – 1^st 18:04 (3:30/km)

The run went extremely well, and I had the fastest run in the race. The run was two loops. This was nice for the spectators especially my brother who made it to his first race and my uncle and cousins who came to watch. I find these types of courses hard to get rolling on because as soon as I start to really roll I have to slow down and turn around. I’ve heard the run was between 300m and 400m long which means this would have been my first sub 17 minute 5k in a tri. It pretty awesome because it took me until this spring to break 17 in an open 5k (did it once in high school but that was a long time ago). Unfortunately it was not enough, and I ended up with another second.

I just want to say congrats to everyone especially all the first timers. Max Lowther has improved his swim 100% and completed his first tri, and Dan and Ming completed their first du. Hopefully all will stick with it and keep improving.

Woodstock Triathlon

All my posts lately have been race reports, but next weekend in Leamington will be my last of three tris in three weeks. After that I will have a couple weeks off of racing before I gear up for a strong end of season finish.

Overall I had a great race at Woodstock, but I still have some small things that need to be worked on. I was second overall, and won my age group in a time of 1:30:00. However, the winner was about four minutes ahead.

Swim - 750m 11:53 (1:35 pace)
The swim went well, and I was able to get some open water ahead of me and get in to a rhythm. I was 6th out of the water compared to last years 42nd. I was a couple seconds per hundred meters faster than Knoxville, but the race was half the distance. I felt strong and controlled the whole way.

Bike - 30k 50:52 (35.4 kmh)
On the bike I had the 5th fastest bike split but still remained in 6th place because I only passed one person, and one person passed me. I felt like I had no power in my legs during the bike. This could be due to a number of reasons as it was really windy and a pretty hilly course (for southwestern Ontario). By this point the leader already had a five minute advantage over me, but the rest were within a couple minutes. I knew I was going to have to have a big run if I wanted to catch them.

Run - 7.6k 25:50 (3:24/km)
I'm not sure if not having legs on the bike helped my run, but I had my best triathlon run to date. I felt absolutely amazing. The Woodstock course is a hard one to make up time because you cannot really see anyone ahead of you due to the twists and turns. Luckily I was able to keep catching glimpses of the people ahead. I knew I was reeling them in, but they were strong runners. I caught the first guy about a kilometer in, then about 4k, and finally the last one at about 6k (the other person ahead of me started in the wave after me so I didn't actually no he was ahead). When I caught Cliff with 1.6k to go I could not drop him, so I went into my bag of track tactics. When we hit the windy stretch going across the dam I dropped the pace immediately, and he moved to the front. I sat right on his heels, and with about 450 to go I made my final move. Cliff is strong runner so I just made sure to focus ahead and not slow down.

Overall it was an excellent performance, and I was able to show some people just how hard I have been working. This weekend is Leamington Sprint Provincials so it should be another tough race. I have to thank my grandparents for letting me stay at their house for the weekend, and my parents once again being there to cheer me on and support me. Once again Multisport Canada put on an excellent race, and I have enjoyed all their races I have done.

I am off to the pool. Have a good day everyone.
Peace

Belle River Triathlon

I decided on writing a quick race report from the Belle River triathlon this morning before I go out for my run. It was an excellent race, and my first win in an open triathlon.

Swim 600m + 400m run to transitions - 10:33 (1:46/100m)

Belle River and Knoxville are perfect examples of why you cannot compare triathlon results from race to the next as conditions and course can vary so much. In Knoxville I swam 1:37s for almost 3 times the distance. I blame the approximately 400m run to transition. Either way this was my best placing in the swim. I came out of the water in third with both first and second in sight.

Bike 30k plus T1 and T2 - 44:24 (40.5 kmh)

The bike felt very good, and I was riding behind the lead car for the whole thing except a small part when I was putting my shoes on. Compared to the rolling course in Knoxville the Belle River course was pancake flat. This showed when I averaged almost 4 kmh faster over only 10k shorter. It felt good to be in the lead, and I just kept the head down trying to keep everyone away.

Run 5k - 17:20 (3:28)

After pushing hard on the bike I had nothing left in the tank for the run. I think the only thing that got me to the finish line was that I was in the lead. I was actually surprised I ran this fast because it did not feel like it.

Transitions 

They didn't have mats to separate the transition times from the bike times, but both my transitions were much faster than the others in the race. I was able to go from third to first during the first transition. This is becoming a pattern as I did the same thing in Kingston and the Queen's Spring Fling.

Overall I put together a pretty solid performance through all three disciplines. This was my first of three triathlons in three weeks. This weekend I will be doing the Woodstock Triathlon that is part of the Multisport Canada Series. This race will have a bigger field with some strong competitors if it is anything like last year. I am getting pumped because my parents said if I can finish out this triple strong they are going to try and send me to Kelowna for age group nationals.

It was a busy weekend of racing around the world, and congrats to everyone on some big performances.

Summer Race Schedule

So this summer I am going with the strategy of racing myself into the best possible shape I can be in. To not miss my long rides and runs I am going with Monday long runs and Tuesday long bikes (this is when the group in Chatham rides so that works well). I will couple those with a bike workout on Wednesday, run workout Friday, and brick/race on Sundays.

So the race schedule for the summer is
June 5th - Belle River tri
June 12th - Woodstock tri
June 19th - Leamington tri
July 10th - Peterborough tri (I may skip this depending on how I am feeling and my financial situation)
July 23rd - Bluewater tri (sarnia)
August 7th - Windsor or Bracebridge I am leaning towards Windsor because it looks like the faster race and it is closer
August 21st - Chatham
September - I may do lakeside, but it will depend on how I am feeling after all the racing early in summer.

Hope I will see you at some of these races. Let me know which ones you are doing.

Rev3 Knoxville Olympic - Race Report

I am so glad to finally be done Knoxville and to be able to say it was a success. I registered for this race in the beginning of January and it has been on my mind since. This was my first time racing the Olympic distance, since the race in Sarnia definitely has a short swim. My time was 2:07:41 and I finished 37th overall, 33rd overall male, 8th non-professional, and 2nd in the 20-24 age group.

Swim 1500m 23:24 including approximately 300m run to transition (1:37/100m) 58th overall (9th age group)

The swim started out with approximately 400m into the current then a turn around and 1100m to the exit. My plan was to go out hard in the first 400m and try to get into a good position. Well my fast just is not quite as fast as the others and I felt like I was swimming alone the entire race even though there were people all around. The male 20-24 was the 2nd last wave to start and we made up the 2 minute head start on the wave before us pretty fast. The Half Rev started before the Olympic Rev, but had to swim further than us. Therefore, once I made the turnaround a was weaving around and over some of the back of back Half Rev and Olympic Rev swimmers, and this made it very difficult to get into a good rhythm. When I got out of the water I heard my dad yell I was about 3:30 minutes behind the leaders in my age group so I knew I had my work cut out for me at this point. 

T1 - 1:48 in 58th (9th) out 52nd (7th)

Terrible transition. Got into transition and my bike pump got knocked over and was in my way so I had to move that before I could get my bike out. Then on the way out I dropped my sunglasses. However, I still managed to pass 2 people so I'm not quite sure what they were doing.

Bike - 40km 1:05:09 (36.8kph) start 52nd (7th) finish 40th (3rd)

The bike ride went really well for how much hill riding I get to do during training. There was not a single flat section on the course, but luckily there were not any really steep climbs just a lot of long gradual ups and downs. The first part of the bike was the harder part of the bike with the exception of one climb in the second half so I really hammered during this section trying to catch all the fish. I realized I am a pretty strong climber for a triathlete as people seemed to be standing still as I went past. The course was not a true out and back so I had no clue how many people were still ahead of me. There were a few guys on the side of the road that had mechanicals and flats so that moved me up a couple positions as well. 

T2 - :49 in 40th (3rd) out 41st (3rd)

Another terrible transition. My running shoes are a little tricky to get on, and I had them covered because it looked like it was going to rain.

Run - 10k 36:31 (3:39/km) start 41st (3rd) end 33rd (2nd)

The run was a bit flatter than the bike, but still had some long gradual ups and downs with a couple steeper ones. Except for maybe the last mile I could always see someone ahead so I would just say go get the next one. The first 4.5k I averaged 3:41s and the last 5.5 in 3:37s so I think I could have probably pushed a bit harder at the beginning.

From this race I know I need to keep doing what I am doing and just keep improving. If I compare my bike and run to Sarnia (same distances but perfectly flat and a way shorter swim before) I was 3 minutes faster on the bike and 2 minutes faster on the run. Not to bad since my main focus has been on swimming and only running a couple times a week. I need to work on my open water swimming because I felt very awkward and my stroke did not feel smooth. I think this should come with just doing it more. This week I will probably just take it easy, then get back to work at the end of the week beginning of next week depending on how I feel. I still need to find a job for the summer so I am not sure if I will be in London or Chatham for the rest of summer, but I hope London since swimming in Chatham is lacking.

Next triathlon will be Woodstock on June 12th, and I hope to see some of you there.

Knoxville Prerace

Hey everyone I am in currently in Knoxville, Tennessee getting ready to race the Rev3 Olympic Race here. This morning I went out and drove then rode the bike course and the roads are absolutely beautiful. The majority of the bike course are back country roads that always seem to be going gradually up or down but no major steep climbs. It is so much nicer than riding in squares around cornfields. I didn't get to swim in the river yet because nothing was marked, and I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to just swim because they were doing some construction on a bridge and large chunks of concrete were falling into the river. Tomorrow I will be swimming in it for sure though and then doing a short run.

The drive went well and my legs felt great on the bike today so maybe compression where works. I picked up a pair of the CEP compression sleeves before leaving on Thursday and I am debating racing in them as well.

I'm off to dinner though and I will update the blog after the race. Cheers