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No cancellation but I did talk to the race director, myself, and decided to move it from Sunday to Saturday since the weather looked better! Only 75 degrees and cloudy in mid-August? That was excellent race weather!
Granted this is not a real tri with everything that goes into race day, but my two goals this year were to 1. Feel better at the end of my race this year than I did last year (especially the run), and 2. Get my race time under three hours. I am happy to report I was able to accomplish both!
Bike went well without any issues and I stayed on target for my time and hydration. I felt great during my run, incorporated run/walk and hydration, and finished right around my goal time. I finished the run few minutes earlier than expected so I had to wait for the pool to open up. Swim was fine, although I had some cramping in my legs which is probably why we normally swim first! Luckily I was in a 4ft pool and not open water. But all in all I finished in 2:47:40 and felt pretty good at the end!
Not sure I would make the Fairlington Tri an annual event, but for a virtual race it was a good day!
I transferred my registration for the Williamsburg Race to the virtual race. Since I have been training for something this whole time, I’ve decided to design my own race from my front porch for this Sunday. I am calling it the “Fairlington Tri”. The perimeter of my neighborhood is approximately 1.3 miles. So I am thinking with an 8:30 a.m. start, I will ride my bike along this loop ~18 times to get to 24ish miles and then do my 10K run along the same route. I’m hoping to finish my run around 11 a.m. when the community pool opens. I can then hop in for 1600 meters (in my tri suit?) and run back to my front porch. Transition area opens whenever I roll out of bed. Still trying to decide on some post-race food!
One of my primary goals for this season was to feel better at the end of my race. Last season, I seriously bonked during the run and felt terrible crossing the finish line. To that end, I have been experimenting more with my nutrition and hydration during my workouts to see what works best. But even more than that, I’ve been spending a lot of time on run form and heart rate zone training. So much so that I only run listening to a metronome at 180 bpm. Which gets old really fast!!!
Not saying I didn’t believe you Coach AJ about the benefits of both of these, but initially the thought of doing my runs in Zone 2 just seemed so slow. Especially when combined with the smaller steps when trying to run with a cadence of 180. After a workout when looking at my Zone 2 pace compared to how I would normally run, it didn’t seem like I would ever get faster or more comfortable. But over time, I have definitely seen an improvement. At least my watch is not notifying me as often that I am running below my cadence goal! 🙂
For example, a few weeks ago I had a long Zone 2 run scheduled with the last two miles in Zone 3 (basically a 10K). I even incorporated some run/walk into this during the Zone 2 portions. Honestly, I was super surprised that I completed this run basically in the same amount of time (a few minutes longer) than I would have done so previously, although before I would probably have been running in Zones 3 and 4 the whole time. And even better, I felt good at the end and like I could run further if I needed to. So generally the same amount of time at an easier effort (even with some walking!) while feeling better throughout the whole workout. Success!
I’ve also generally felt better during my brick runs after the long bike rides and during the running intervals where we are working in Zone 4/lactate threshold. So for me, fine tuning my workouts will continue to involve working on this concept to try and keep the same feeling when we are finally able to bring the swim back and then when putting all three legs together. But for now I am optimistic that this is possible!
Overall, I think my training is going well. Not having to commute to and from work has really helped me get each of the workouts in!
At the beginning of all of this, I was doing a good job of substituting strength workouts for the swims. As the weeks go by though, I can definitely tell my motivation to do longer strength workouts is waning. Kind of difficult to stay motivated during each of the workouts.
My biggest issue though is making myself go outdoors for my bike rides. If the weather doesn’t discourage me, its hard to get out for a ride when there are so many other bikers/runners/walkers on the trails here in Arlington. Avoiding people has proven difficult. A couple of weeks ago, I forced myself to take off a random Wednesday and drove almost 40 min outside of the area to find some quiet roads, but I can’t do that each time. So if anyone has any recommendations for quiet areas in and around Arlington, I’d appreciate it!
Kirsten – I also just started using Skratch and I like it so far. In the past, I’ve used Osmo and that seemed to work well for me. I pair the powder with a Honey Stinger energy waffle halfway through my ride to help keep me going.
Regarding the frequency of drinking, do you have a smart watch for training? I have a Garmin and I am able to set alerts for every X number of minutes to remind me to drink or eat. I find that helpful for making me get through a water bottle each hour.
I have a Garmin and did not know about following people. I’ll look into it! I’m also on Strava and tend to use that more. Thanks for organizing!
AM Masters Swimming at UDC just closed fyi. While I’m disappointed I won’t be able to get my swims in, I appreciate them removing the uncertainty at this point. I’ve been struggling with the decision as to whether or not to go in order to keep swimming.
Thank you for sharing the dry-land exercises. Those will come in handy over the coming weeks!
Friday is supposed to be almost 80 degrees out so hopefully everyone can get in a nice outdoor bike or run!
I couldn’t do the Splash ‘N’ Dash last year and was hoping to do it this year! But that is also the last day of the Off-Season Spin Program so I will be biking and most likely wishing I was swimming instead.
The woes of having an active tri club with a lot of events I guess!
I regularly attend the Master Swim morning sessions and they have been super helpful with improving my form and helping me get faster in the pool. So I would highly recommend going for at least one session!
