Triathlon Results

Dane, Logan, and I finished our first triathlon yesterday. It was a lot of fun, and we all did extremely well. Out of over 320 participants, the three of us were all in the top 69 finishers!

My final lap of the swim

So, as promised, here are the results. I could not get a chart to fit on this page, but all the results are listed at http://fsseries.com/results/smileTrainResults.htm. BUT, I will list out the times for Logan, Dane, and myself. I listed our rank for overall men, as well as for our 20-24 year old age group. T1 and T2 are transition times, s=swim, b=bike, r=run.

Chris: 20th men, 2nd age, 4:07 s, 1:22 T1, 37:08 b, 1:08 T2, 22:18 r, 1:06:00.9 total
Dane: 44th men, 4th age, 5:13 s, 1:55 T1, 39:59 b, 1:44 T2, 21:39 r, 1:10:28.1 total
Logan : 60th men, 6th age, 5:53 s, 1:37 T1, 40:58 b, 0:34 T2, 24:45 r, 1:13:44.7 total

Waiting to start the race

Highlights included Dane having the fastest run in our age group and one of the top 10 runs overall while mine was #16 overall and 2nd to Dane in the age group. I was also able to crack into the top 20 times overall (19th in men). I also thought it was pretty impressive that all 3 of us were easily in the top half of our age group, despite having never run a triathlon before.

If I had quicker transitions, I would have won the 20-24 age group, as I beat the winner by 2-3 minutes total if you only count the run, bike, and swim (without transitions). So that was disappointing, as I only lost by 15 seconds and it wasn't because he was more athletic...but because he knew how to transition extremely quickly because he has run these before. But now I will no better next time!

Dane finishing on the bike

We are hoping to take what we learned from this race and enter another tri later in the summer or in the beginning of the fall. If anyone is interested in joining us this time, let me know. I can honestly say that it was a great time that we all enjoyed, and it gave us something to train for in between the end of last season and the start of the next.

My medal for the 2nd place finish

Complete results can be viewed at http://fsseries.com/results/smileTrainResults.htm

Helloooooo.....

Is anyone out there?

This place was hoppin' for the first couple of weeks, but apparently now either no one is working out anymore, or we've just ditched the blog. I personally hope that for most of you it is the 2nd option.

Anyways, figured I would let everyone know what I've been up to. I was on vacation last week so we'll say i did some "cross-training" consisting of wakeboarding, surfing (or at least attempting to...so a lot of paddling/swimming), and kayaking the Cape Fear, Haw, and Nantahala Rivers.

I did, however, do some regular training as well, since the triathlon is coming up fast, TWO MORE DAYS! White Lake is relatively flat, and has a nice 7 mile loop that circles the lake, so I spent some time biking laps around the lake, and one day I ran it....but it was entirely too hot for that, so I just about killed myself.

As I mentioned, the triathlon is this Sunday. The seeding was based on the 100m swim time you entered, and apparently I was a little more confidant in my swim than Dane and Logan, as I am starting 27th and they are starting 214 and 217 respectively. I sure hope they don't catch me! that would be trouble. If you are interested in tracking our progress Sunday morning or seeing the results, they will be posted during and after the race at www.fsseries.com. The race name is the BASF Smile Train Triathlon. I'll try to post the results on here shortly after as well, or at least give you an exact link.

I hope everyone is having a good summer. I also hope you haven't ditched the workouts already. I know it's hard with the lake, the beach, the pool, the girls, etc., but you'll be glad you put in the time over the summer when you get back in August.

Summer School Sucks

So I'm at UNC for summer school and there have been two things that I do daily: workout and do chemistry. I live on an all male hallway which I have to say shattered my expectations of meeting some fine looking ladies this summer. Complaining aside, I have been keeping up with my cardio and have begun to erg again, which brings back some painful memories. I go to the gym everyday whether it's for lifting or for doing cardio. Contrary to popular belief (tucker) I have been doing a lot of lower body work, I hope to one day have the massive thighs of the great Jake Soberal.

Last week I rowed on Lake Wylie with David Bierer along with some members of the women's team; an interesting experience to say the least. I also took out a pair with Ivan yesterday morning which was really fun because the weather was nice.

I hope you guys are having a good summer and I look forward to catching up with you when we see each other in August.

Trainer, diet, etc.

Well, I've gotten myself a few workouts a week with a trainer down the street and he's helping me build strength in addition to my cardio workouts. I'm still doing about an hour of erging on a regular basis, and now that my friend from the Naval Academy is home, we're probably going to be running together. The trainer also has me on a bit of a diet of 6 really healthy meals a day, so I'm starting to feel pretty good. I hope ya'll are all keeping with your workouts too.

And Taylor - be careful in that spinning class. You know how good you are at setting off gaydars, haha.

HELLO? IS ANYBODY THERE?

Hey guys,

So for the past week or so I've been doing a lot of swimming, for me it's been the easiest way for me to get my heart rate up (and keep it up).

I'll generally do 3 or 4 x 250m, followed by a lift (squats, shoulders, back) then I'll hop on the bike or the elliptical for 20 or 20 min.

Today I experienced a spinning class for the first time...it was 75% girls, 20% gays, and 5% straight guys (me, only). Spinning is really good for interval training, you'll go all out for a few minutes, then rest, and you'll switch off from strenght settings to cardio settings.

Anyways, I'm out, Rachel is sitting next to me making irritated impatient noises...

T

UPDATE

Glad to hear you're still with us Tucker.

I've been generally keeping up with my workouts, I don't think I have the self-discipline to hit the gym every day, but I've been going every other day or going in small bursts of back-to-back days.

Wed. I hit the erg again, 40 min around 2:00 split with a couple of stretching breaks included (you guys know how much it hurts my ass haha). Then I got on the bike and did a solid 20min trying to keep my heart rate up. I find that my muscles get tired and achey before I get winded, in fact, I usually never struggle for air, and I find it hard to keep my heart rate up, does anybody have any suggestions?

Does anybody have an opinion on running vs. say, erging/biking? I just feel like sometimes I'm cheating myself by working out in a gym (I have been a soccer player all my life). Plus, it's been so damn hot these past couple of weeks running outside during the day would probably kill me, and I'm too tired to do it in the morning since I'm always up late hanging out with Rachel....what do you guys think, is running essential, or can it be substituted with other cardio-intensive activities?

Miss you guys, can't wait to get back to CH. (just two more months of boredom)

Tay

Still Here

Even though I've kind of been neglecting posting, I'm still here. Things have been crazy for the past two weeks. Work and Kiffy have been keeping me busy, so I haven't been as consistent as I'd like with my workouts, but I've made all of them count, usually doing a 60-75 minute run or erg, along with core work. I think I've finally organized my schedule enough so that I can do these workouts on a more regular basis, and hopefully supplement them with some lifting in the near future.

Big thanks to Dane and Cottrell for weighing in on what we should be doing to build the foundation for the season. Hopefully everyone is taking your wise words to heart.

Hope everyone else is doing well. I miss y'all a lot. Keep posting!

A Week in the Life

My triathlon is officially 3 weeks from today. With 2 jobs and an internship, it has been hard to train as much as i would like. I have not lifted any weights at all, but i figure that is not near as important as the cardio endurance and leg strength. Here is what I have done over the past week:
Sunday: Swam 500m (20 laps) directly followed by a 4+ mile run
Monday: 15 mile bike
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Swim 500m, 250m, 500m
Thursday: 45 min run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 7 mile run (in 102 degree heat...bad idea)
Sunday: 250m Swim directly followed by a 12.15 mile bike (both are the exact distances that i will have to complete in the triathlon).

It sounds like everyone is trying to stay on top of their workouts, which is awesome, and hopefully it will translate into some fast boats next year. It gets harder as the summer wears on and the heat index rises. I've noticed that it helps if you set goals for yourself. This triathlon has helped to keep me on track. And after this triathlon, I am going to find some other races to compete in over the summer to keep me focused. It really does help you make it through because having a goal as far off as the fall can be difficult at times (at least for myself). So stay on top of it, and enjoy your summers!

Sunday-Rowed with the Asheville rowing club (a collection of weird pieces and thangs)
Monday-Biked 28 miles at 145-155 HR, Shoulder Lift
Tuesday-Biked 30 miles at 140-155 HR, 8 x sleep
Wednesday-60 minute run? Try and make it up to 7 miles?

Echoing Words of Wisdom

Like to see the chatter, looks like SOME of you guys are going to be f'n serious this fall.

Think about this.  A 2k race is still about 75% of an aerobic endeavor.  You sprint at the end, and in the beginning, but the bulk of it depends on how well your body operates in the aerobic zone.

Allow me to use some authority of person here to echo what Dane posted.  Cardio is the big-time work for the off-season.  I would also say pound out the weights this summer, but definitely cardio is the most important.  The extra stength from weights won't hurt you and it's fun.  You might want to ask Coach Richard for some ideas, as I don't think you'll be doing the same weight workout during the year as the varsity did this year.  Either way, let yourself relax this summer-- your workouts should aim to build weaknesses that you can't address during the year, and let your body recover from the rigors of sprint race training.

Also, as Dane said, the heart rate should match the type and length of workout.  If you try to do 90' at 30' pace, you will feel tired.  Long, slow distance (LSD) only breeds slow rowers if the training never changes, but it will during winter, so don't worry.  Think of your fitness as a pyramid, with sprinting being at the top.  You want your base (cardio) to increase so your peak gets higher.

LSD workouts train different body systems than does, say interval work.  Long, easy aerobic workouts train your body to utilize oxygen, and to transport the fuel in and the trash out.  They're good.

Like Dane said as well, once you pass AT, you got about 90".  Not really worth working on right now.  But, one key of training is getting your body to delay how long it takes to pass the anaerobic threshold.  As such, you might want to consider what I would call "AT" work.  This is basically 40-80' a week of working at the highest level of repeatable aerobic capacity as possible, usually heart rate around 180, going 75-85% of max.   Whoever did the 10k @ 1:59 split, you were probably close to this level depending on your fitness.  So this might explain why you didn't feel so hot on the bike afterwards (Nat'l teamers go in the low/mid 1:40s, good varsity can do 1:50-sub range).  These workouts are tough stuff, so you might want to keep it on the low side for the off season, doing 40-60' a week max.  The famed HOP is a good example of this type of work, but I'll let one of the rising seniors explain that bad boy.

Most importantly, keep it varied, have fun, take some breaks.  Don't jump into huge volume right away if you've been couch surfing all summer so far.  If you stay active and do more than the occasional structured workout, you'll be okay.  If you want a plan, mix LSD and mid-length aerobic workouts for about 75% of your work.  Weights, AT, fun "sprinting" (hills, BBall, track work, stairs, tennis, whatever), can make up the rest.  And, of course, ABS ABS ABS.  Build your core stability muscles to avoid nagging injuries in the fall.

ME CHINESE, ME PLAY JOKE.........

Guys check this out, shits gunna go down in Beijing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/sports/olympics/01gold.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

There's a cool video at the bottom, and a slideshow towards the top....

Tay