Race report will follow.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
From Island Sea Swim to Louisville Preparation
It has been ages since I posted to this blog. No particular reason, just haven’t had the urge to write anything.
The previous post was about our sea swim in Denmark. To round that off, we had a great swim without any upsets. After a few test swims in our wetsuits where Alex was introduced to the jellyfish soup, we could only wait for calm waters which came a week after our arrival on island.
Jellyfish soup may sound a bit terrifying and it certainly took a few swims to become comfortable around them. For some reason the first test swim we did, only 40-50 m off shore, was probably in some of the worst jellyfish conditions we would experience. There were literally hundreds if not thousands of Moon Jellies and one in every twenty was a Lions Mane capable of a nasty sting. During the actual swim jellyfish were not really a big issue. We did go through patches with fairly large concentrations, but by and large they did not cause much concern (I think Alex might have a different perspective). I did get one fright when I came within 5-10 meters of the mother of all Lions Mane. The largest Lions Mane I have ever seen, a body 80 centimeters across and with tentacles 5-10 meters long.
It was a great experience to do the swim and it has given me a completely different perspective on the waters that surround my home island. We are indebted to Svend who took the time to sail with us all the way. Thanks Svend!
Once we reached Ærøskøbing we were greeted by a journalist from the local paper. Her spin below (I won’t bother translating it) with picture of Alex and I.
Once back in Cayman after a much too short holiday in Denmark I started my ramp up towards Ironman Louisville 30 August. Training has been going well and without the family around I have been able to put in some very solid hours.
With less than two weeks to go I am tapering for the big event and gathering information on the event that will help me lay a race strategy. My primary goal is to break 10 hours and set a new PB (current PB is 10h17m). If I can do that there is a reasonable chance of qualifying for the world champs in Hawaii. Unfortunately I was reading on a forum the other day that the bike course is pretty tough and could add as much as 3o min to the time you would have on a flat course. Having looked at its profile and watched several videos from the event I think 30 min might be an exaggeration (it should really be measured in relative terms as well), but I guess we’ll just have to see. A couple of weeks ago I did 4h56m in training for 180 km in the flat and horrendously hot conditions here in Cayman. I expect sub 5h15m to be possible. My run training has been going really well lately and I’m going to pace myself for a sub 3h30m marathon off the bike. I won’t know for certain whether that is the right choice until half way into the run (on the second loop). Regardless, during my last (and first) Ironman I played conservative during 95% of the race. That strategy worked like clockwork. This time I intend to take some chances and accordingly reap the benefits that may bring or bear the costs should I struggle.
For those interested below are youtube links to an overview of the Louisville course with Heather Gollnick (split in 7 parts):
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgwRSdmPf9A
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB5-fWb1YYg
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgjravy9PGs
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiAxQ1-9KcA
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15sfllGuj6M
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHSiakDpGbo
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA5WYXhspHA
And here is a profile of the bike course.
The previous post was about our sea swim in Denmark. To round that off, we had a great swim without any upsets. After a few test swims in our wetsuits where Alex was introduced to the jellyfish soup, we could only wait for calm waters which came a week after our arrival on island.
Jellyfish soup may sound a bit terrifying and it certainly took a few swims to become comfortable around them. For some reason the first test swim we did, only 40-50 m off shore, was probably in some of the worst jellyfish conditions we would experience. There were literally hundreds if not thousands of Moon Jellies and one in every twenty was a Lions Mane capable of a nasty sting. During the actual swim jellyfish were not really a big issue. We did go through patches with fairly large concentrations, but by and large they did not cause much concern (I think Alex might have a different perspective). I did get one fright when I came within 5-10 meters of the mother of all Lions Mane. The largest Lions Mane I have ever seen, a body 80 centimeters across and with tentacles 5-10 meters long.
It was a great experience to do the swim and it has given me a completely different perspective on the waters that surround my home island. We are indebted to Svend who took the time to sail with us all the way. Thanks Svend!
Once we reached Ærøskøbing we were greeted by a journalist from the local paper. Her spin below (I won’t bother translating it) with picture of Alex and I.
Once back in Cayman after a much too short holiday in Denmark I started my ramp up towards Ironman Louisville 30 August. Training has been going well and without the family around I have been able to put in some very solid hours.
With less than two weeks to go I am tapering for the big event and gathering information on the event that will help me lay a race strategy. My primary goal is to break 10 hours and set a new PB (current PB is 10h17m). If I can do that there is a reasonable chance of qualifying for the world champs in Hawaii. Unfortunately I was reading on a forum the other day that the bike course is pretty tough and could add as much as 3o min to the time you would have on a flat course. Having looked at its profile and watched several videos from the event I think 30 min might be an exaggeration (it should really be measured in relative terms as well), but I guess we’ll just have to see. A couple of weeks ago I did 4h56m in training for 180 km in the flat and horrendously hot conditions here in Cayman. I expect sub 5h15m to be possible. My run training has been going really well lately and I’m going to pace myself for a sub 3h30m marathon off the bike. I won’t know for certain whether that is the right choice until half way into the run (on the second loop). Regardless, during my last (and first) Ironman I played conservative during 95% of the race. That strategy worked like clockwork. This time I intend to take some chances and accordingly reap the benefits that may bring or bear the costs should I struggle.
For those interested below are youtube links to an overview of the Louisville course with Heather Gollnick (split in 7 parts):
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgwRSdmPf9A
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB5-fWb1YYg
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgjravy9PGs
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiAxQ1-9KcA
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15sfllGuj6M
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHSiakDpGbo
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA5WYXhspHA
And here is a profile of the bike course.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Inter-island swim
Tonight we fly home to Denmark for a bit of a break from the Cayman heat. We will be joined by Alex. He has agreed to the mildly crazy idea of swimming to my favourite island in Denmark Ærø located in the Danish Baltic Sea. Click on the picture to get better view of the swim route.
Total distance is about 12 km with about 9.5 km of that swimming. Should be fun - in a wetsuit of course. Look out for more posts on the swim. We will be trying to do it ASAP upon arrival which might already be Friday this week.
Total distance is about 12 km with about 9.5 km of that swimming. Should be fun - in a wetsuit of course. Look out for more posts on the swim. We will be trying to do it ASAP upon arrival which might already be Friday this week.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Race report Florida 70.3
My two main goals for this race were to go sub 4:40 and have good run, as my previous run effort on the same course last year was pretty slow and painful. My running fitness has been coming along nicely since New Year so I was pretty confident that I could pull off a decent run.
The swim was fairly uneventful. I placed myself in the second row upfront closest to the buoys. With a bit of leap frogging we were off. As is normal in events like this there was a bit of struggle for position initially, but after about 100m it calmed down. I basically adopted a comfortable cruise tempo for the duration of the swim, keeping myself aerobic and focusing on my stroke. At times it was difficult to keep a steady pace having to pass masses of slower athletes, but experience from last year’s event made it a lot easier. I had only one minor mishap; swallowing a large gulp of lake water causing me to cough and stop momentarily. I was out of the water in exactly 33 min.
Feeling relaxed and fresh from the swim the transition was quick and easy. Compared to last year the transition was moved a bit making the run to the bike a bit longer.
Out on the bike course I settled into a good pace. Initially my stomach was fairly tight, but 30 min into the bike I had my first power bar and the tightness disappeared. My ride can be seen below. The graph reflects a fairly flat course with only a few rolling hills.
My initial plan was to race a bit conservatively on the bike to save myself for the run, but I just felt great on the bike and ended up pushing harder than planned, but enjoying the speed! The result was a 2:19 bike split, about 4-5 minutes faster than I had planned (average speed 38.8 km/h or 24.1 miles/h).
Into transition again, a quick change and I was off.
The first 2 miles I felt good and kept a solid pace of just under 7 min/mile. However, it quickly deteriorated. By the first 10k my pace had slowed and I was on target for about a 1:36 finish. But even that would not hold. I simply didn’t have the energy to run faster or rather it was as if my mind/body just wouldn’t let me go any faster. When that is said, the pace I did settle into was fairly “comfortable” and felt very much like a full IM pace. Final run split was 1:42, slower than expected.
Final time was 4:39, 21st out of 361 athletes in my age group (94th overall out of 2150).
Post race I was lucky to qualify for the Foster Grant Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida. There were 10 slots in my age group and based on the principle of role down (where unwanted slots are rolled down to the next athlete) I was awarded a slot. While qualification to Kona is my main focus, I couldn’t say no to a chance to race Clearwater. If I do manage to qualify for Kona, it will be some busy months leading into Christmas.
The swim was fairly uneventful. I placed myself in the second row upfront closest to the buoys. With a bit of leap frogging we were off. As is normal in events like this there was a bit of struggle for position initially, but after about 100m it calmed down. I basically adopted a comfortable cruise tempo for the duration of the swim, keeping myself aerobic and focusing on my stroke. At times it was difficult to keep a steady pace having to pass masses of slower athletes, but experience from last year’s event made it a lot easier. I had only one minor mishap; swallowing a large gulp of lake water causing me to cough and stop momentarily. I was out of the water in exactly 33 min.
Feeling relaxed and fresh from the swim the transition was quick and easy. Compared to last year the transition was moved a bit making the run to the bike a bit longer.
Out on the bike course I settled into a good pace. Initially my stomach was fairly tight, but 30 min into the bike I had my first power bar and the tightness disappeared. My ride can be seen below. The graph reflects a fairly flat course with only a few rolling hills.
My initial plan was to race a bit conservatively on the bike to save myself for the run, but I just felt great on the bike and ended up pushing harder than planned, but enjoying the speed! The result was a 2:19 bike split, about 4-5 minutes faster than I had planned (average speed 38.8 km/h or 24.1 miles/h).Into transition again, a quick change and I was off.
The first 2 miles I felt good and kept a solid pace of just under 7 min/mile. However, it quickly deteriorated. By the first 10k my pace had slowed and I was on target for about a 1:36 finish. But even that would not hold. I simply didn’t have the energy to run faster or rather it was as if my mind/body just wouldn’t let me go any faster. When that is said, the pace I did settle into was fairly “comfortable” and felt very much like a full IM pace. Final run split was 1:42, slower than expected.
Final time was 4:39, 21st out of 361 athletes in my age group (94th overall out of 2150).
Post race I was lucky to qualify for the Foster Grant Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida. There were 10 slots in my age group and based on the principle of role down (where unwanted slots are rolled down to the next athlete) I was awarded a slot. While qualification to Kona is my main focus, I couldn’t say no to a chance to race Clearwater. If I do manage to qualify for Kona, it will be some busy months leading into Christmas.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Florida 70.3
The weekend and Florida 70.3 is nearly here. For all you that unfortunately can’t make it to Orlando on Sunday, you can follow and cheer me on via ironman.com where you should be able to look me up either by bib number (2152), age group or name. I am looking forward to testing my fitness and getting some revenge on a course that last year sucked the life out of me on the run.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Super Patch
I have had a few problems with punctures lately. Came across this today: the pre-glued Super Patch. Exactly what I need as an extra precaution when all else fails.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Start of a new phase
My "limiter" phase is soon over. Scott and Russell are off to race the Boston marathon 20 April and as a consequence I will switch my attention to biking.
The focus of this first phase of my preparation for IM Louisville has been to improve my running which has been my main limiter in previous triathlons. Looking back there is no doubt that I have experienced substantial improvements since the beginning of the year. Indeed I don't think I have ever been in such good overall running shape as I am now. Further, I think I might finally have cracked the nut wrt. running off the bike. On the second leg of the DHL Duathlon last weekend I was able to run comfortably off a hard bike without the stomach issues that previously have caused me a lot of grief.
For my second phase I will cut back a little on running, continue to do at least one long ride a week and spice it up with a number of indoor trainer sessions. Here are two I am going to try:
Workout#1 (duration 1 hr) - Threshold
On the subject of short work-outs, something else I am going to do a couple of times a week is the Tabata protocol adapted for cycling: 8 x 20-second intervals at maximum intensity with 10-second passive recoveries between intervals. That’s a four minute workout with two minutes and 40 seconds of all-out sprinting. I'll do a bit of warm-up, but the whole thing should be over within 15 minutes.
The focus of this first phase of my preparation for IM Louisville has been to improve my running which has been my main limiter in previous triathlons. Looking back there is no doubt that I have experienced substantial improvements since the beginning of the year. Indeed I don't think I have ever been in such good overall running shape as I am now. Further, I think I might finally have cracked the nut wrt. running off the bike. On the second leg of the DHL Duathlon last weekend I was able to run comfortably off a hard bike without the stomach issues that previously have caused me a lot of grief.
For my second phase I will cut back a little on running, continue to do at least one long ride a week and spice it up with a number of indoor trainer sessions. Here are two I am going to try:
Workout#1 (duration 1 hr) - Threshold
- 10 min warm-up
- 20 min Build by 5 min to 90% effort last 5 min.
- 3 min Easy
- 5 min 90% effort - Finish with all out 20 sec effort
- 3 min Easy
- 5 min 90% effort - Finish with all out 20 sec effort
- 3 min Easy
- 5 min 90% effort - Finish with all out 20 sec effort
- 6 min Cool Down
- 5 min warm up
- 15 min single leg drill (3 repeats of 2 min left leg, 2 min right leg, 1 min both)
- 15 min steady riding
- 20 min low cadence (5 min 70 rpm, 7.5 min 60 rpm, 7.5 min 50 rpm).
- 20 min ladder effort (1 min easy, 1 min hard, 2 min easy, 2 min hard, 3 min easy, 3 min hard, 4 min easy, 4 min hard)
- 5 minute cool down.
On the subject of short work-outs, something else I am going to do a couple of times a week is the Tabata protocol adapted for cycling: 8 x 20-second intervals at maximum intensity with 10-second passive recoveries between intervals. That’s a four minute workout with two minutes and 40 seconds of all-out sprinting. I'll do a bit of warm-up, but the whole thing should be over within 15 minutes.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Odds in Compass
Click on the image to read the article.
UPDATE: The journo got it right! Read the article in the Compass.
UPDATE: The journo got it right! Read the article in the Compass.
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