Meriden Rotary Club Daffodil Festival 5K Race Report

I was scheduled to race at the Wrentham Duathlon on April 17th, but a combination of unpredictable weather and the distance from home led me to re-evaluate my plans for the weekend.  Ultimately I

decided that after being sick earlier in the week, riding in a potential rain storm with 40mph winds may not be a good idea.  Also, I needed to drive up the night before, as my tri bike is still unassembled after being shipped back from Miami.  Once the morning came, the rain was over but it was still very windy.  I was feeling guilty after not racing the duathlon.  I was able to find a 5k that wasn’t far from home and decided at the last minute to go.    I made it to registration with minutes to spare.

 

I was familiar with the road the race was run on, as it is the first portion of road that leads to a well known, popular mountain that is used frequently on the group rides that I go on. 

I knew it was going to have a pretty steep uphill at the beginning, then a bunch of rollers; then the opposite on the way back.  Luckily we didn’t keep running straight, or we would have been heading up one of steepest 2 mile stretches of road around.  However, this would have been the view from the top (taken from a previous visit):

Here was the final elevation profile.  So between the course and the incessant wind, this did not look like a day for a fast time.  This works out to 544 feet of climbing in just 3.1 miles.

Sadly my support crew was unable to make the race.  Here are some shots I found from the local newspaper – I am the last person to the right in the blue top warming up.

Just a small local race, so here is the field.  Again, I’m way to the right behind the kid in red.

And we’re off…

The start was gently downhill and good for getting up to speed.  The real runners and cross country kids immediately pulled away at sub 6 min/mile pace.  The winner was one of these kids and he averaged below 5:30 min/mile!

 

After the short downhill stretch we turned left and immediately started the biggest climb of the race.  Luckily the wind was generally behind us up the hill.  I actually made it up the hill pretty well, but was at my limits.  I was also leading a small pack of runners.  I tried to back down the pace a little after the uphills to recover and work the climbs as much as I could.  As we approached the halfway I was surprised that I hadn’t lost as much time as I was expecting with the uphill course.

 

After we turned around it was into a significant headwind.  I was looking for help and found it behind big blue #78 above.  This kid was huge and perfect for drafting.  I stuck with him through most of the rollers until we reached the 2.5 mile mark.  At this point it was just he and I, with the rest of the group we were running with on the way out now a few hundred yards back.  As we approached the big downhill he put in a surge on the last uphill I couldn’t respond to.  I had to let him go as my heart rate was through the roof.  But now it was almost all downhill to the finish.  I was flying down the hill, at about 6:45 pace but my legs were taking a pounding.  I definitely need to work on this as my legs get destroyed by steep downhills – probably a form problem.  I kept looking back to see if anyone from behind was catching up.  There was one guy who was making a big effort and was getting closer.

 

As I reached the last right turn and slight uphill to the finish, he had closed down to probably about 100 yards.  I was really resolved to not let him catch me so I mustered what little sprint I still had in me to the finish.  I was able to hold him off by just a few seconds.

 

It was a good thing I did as he was in my age group.  Which resulted in me taking first in my age group.  Admittedly this was only because the field was weak in my age group, with only 4/113 people being M30-39.  Also my “winning” time was much slower than a lot of the other categories.  But it was a new PR for me at the 5K distance by about 45 seconds, and almost 3 minutes faster than the 5k a month ago.  Given the difficulty of the course, I am feeling good about being able to hit my goal of a sub 21:45 race by the end of the year.

 

I finished in 22:46 which was first in M30-39 and 23rd overall out of 113.

 

Here are the splits:

And here is the full trophy!  

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HEAT

 

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I have joined the HEAT racing team for 2011.  Click the banner above to jump to the site.

 

HEAT is a well known racing team with over 100 members; you will see them at almost every race in New England with their distinctive uniform.

 

I’m hoping that I will meet some fellow triathletes in the Hartford area and potentially gain some training partners.  The members also meet up for group runs and rides as well as host clinics with coaches.  I’m hoping I can use some of these resources to improve during the year.

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Max’s O’Hartford 5k Race Report

On March 20th, I had my first race of the year – the Max’s O’Hartford 5k, which coincides with St Patrick's day celebrations in Hartford.  The best part of this race is the location, literally right outside my front door.

 

My goal for the race was simply to be faster than last year.  My training was running behind last year, so I had not run as much over the winter.  However, unlike last year I did have my obnoxious bright orange Kinvara shoes.  Here I am right at the beginning weaving through the crowd.

 

Rocking the green in honor of St Patrick's day.

 

I got off to a pretty good start with an 8:16 first mile, but this is the flattest portion of the course.  I was a bit concerned with holding that pace until the end as it was a bit faster than any of my training runs.  I struggled a bit up the hills in the second mile and my pace slowed to 8:23.  Right at the 2 mile mark the course heads downhill and then enters a nice flat section.  Here I was able to accelerate a bit and then hold the pace.  Approaching the 2.5 mile mark the course heads up a nasty drag by the state capital.  I tried to work this section hard.  At the top you turn left and come down the hill below, with only a bit more than 1/4 mile to the finish.

 

Even with the rolling terrain, I managed to average 7:57 for my third mile.  Then it was time to accelerate down to the finish, which was at about 5:36/mile pace for the final tenth of a mile.

 

I hit the tape in 25:27 which translates to 8:12/mile pace.  I was pretty happy with the race as I ran at a consistent effort level and was able to hold a faster pace then I was anticipating.  The legs seemed to remember race effort from last year and I was able to go much faster with a lot less training – a good sign of the rest of the year hopefully.

 

After the finish:

 

My finish put me 55/121 (top 45%) in my M30-34 age group and 488/2234 (top 22%) in the overall standings.  My time last year was 28:05, so I was about 2:38 faster this year.

 

Here are my splits from the race:

 

The support crew also kicked off the season at this race.  Thanks for coming out and getting some great pictures!

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Jason 2011 Goals

General goals:

Improve my times in every race, in every discipline.

For me this is the most important goal.  Given that last year was my first, I believe that I should be able to get faster times at every race and in every discipline.  Showing improvement is one of my key themes for this year.

 

Stick to my training plans and approach each workout with a stated purpose.

Racing two half Ironmans and 2 olympics is going to require solid execution of my training plans.  My build up during 2010 went well and I peaked nicely for the Miami 70.3.  This gives me some confidence that all my planning last year worked and resulted in a good race.  Although I followed a defined plan last year, I know I didn’t execute every workout as intended; for example taking longer rests between sets at the pool or not pushing hard enough on the bike or cutting runs short.  So although I peaked for Miami, I think by pushing harder throughout the year I can set new standards in 2011.

 

Survive increased volume.

This is another key theme for 2011.  I’m thinking about a full ironman in 2012, but I need to feel comfortable about maintaining a higher volume of training.  In 2010 I did two macro phases – a 16 week olympic plan for the first half of the year and a 20 week half Ironman plan for the second half of the year.  In 2011 I will be starting off with a Half Ironman plan aiming towards Providence in July and then doing a modified half Ironman plan for the second half of my year.  Although my season will end 6 weeks sooner, I expect to have a much higher total volume.

 

Do more group rides and group runs.

This was something that I did not do enough of in 2010.  I really enjoy training in a group and am lucky to have about 10 possible group rides I could join throughout the week and quite a few group runs as well.  I want to take advantage of these to push myself on loosely structured training days. 

 

Repeat as age group mileage leader at Cornerstone Pool.

This is a simple one.  I won’t know where I stand relative to everyone else until the end of the year, but I will shoot for 100 miles and hope that I can repeat.

 

Minimize injuries with more stretching.

I certainly had my issues with injuries last year, particularly from running.  This resulted in several physical therapy sessions and limited my run training.  I know flexibility is one of my problems and need to incorporate stretching into my weekly routing.

 

Keep having fun.

This is perhaps the most important goal.  This is what I do in my free time.  If it doesn’t continue to be fun – both the racing and the training – my career as a triathlete will be short. 

 

 

Race performance goals:

Sub 21:45 5k.  (7:00 min/mile pace)

This is probably my toughest goal for the year.  Running is my weakest discipline, but I need to keep working at it and the speed should come with more volume.

 

Sub 2:30 Olympic Distance Tri. 

I was let down by silly mistakes at Esprit last year.  I know that without those mistakes, this goal is achievable.

 

Lower my Half Ironman time. 

I will be racing at both Providence and Timberman.  I am targeting Providence as one of my 2 A races (along with Esprit), but it is hard to say which course I might go better on.  In theory, both of these courses should be slower than Miami since they aren’t as flat.  Timberman should be hillier on the bike but Providence should be hillier on the run.  I will be happy with any improvement in time at either race.

 

Improve Relative Placing.

In 2010, on average, in triathlons I seemed to perform roughly in the top 1/2 of my age group and top 1/3 overall.  For 2011 I want to try to move this towards top 1/3 of my age group and top 1/4 overall.

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Jason 2010 Year in Review

Even though we are already a quarter of the year into 2011, it is finally time to summarize 2010 with a few facts and figures.  What better way to show this data then a bunch of charts!

 

First off here is a calendar showing each activity for the year:

Blue = Swims

Green = Runs

Red = Bike Rides

Yellow = Races

Black = Snowboarding

 

Next we have a graph that is basically tracking my fitness and race readiness throughout the year:

Blue shading is form (how in shape I was)

Red line is fatigue (how tired I was)

Yellow bars are the “stress” from each workout

The Brown shading at the top indicates race readiness – the higher it is above the horizon the greater the amount of taper, which should improve performance for that particular race.  It is basically the value of the blue minus the value of the red.

 

 

Next let’s break down each individual sport and see how much training I did:

Swimming:

157,170 yards/89.3 miles

49:49:44

89 swims

I also had the most laps in my age group at the pool:

  

 

Cycling:

1940.63 miles

116:18:35

82 rides

 

Running:

348.11 miles

55:42:38

93 runs

 

 

 

Racing:

 

Finally let’s take a look at some highlights from the racing season:

 

Number of running races: 5

Number of duathlons: 3

Number of triathlons: 10

 

Since this was my first year, I set PR’s at every distance:

New PRs:

5km 23:30 at Living Well 5k

10km 48:20 during the Esprit Montreal Olympic Tri

Half Marathon 2:14:13 during the Ironman 70.3 Miami

Oly Tri 2:32:22 at Esprit Montreal

Half Ironman 5:50:41 at Ironman 70.3 Miami

 

Best Race Performances of the Year:

By %: Westboro - 7/31 age group (top 23%), 34/316 overall (top 11%)

By Placing: Hockomock - 5/13 age group

Fastest bike split at Queens in age group

Best relative performances overall in each discpline: Westboro (top 10% swim, top 9% bike, top 27% run)

 

USAT Rankings:

74.55596 score

27/52 age group in CT

196/1993 male overall in CT

1528/13092 male age group overall

 

9 reporting races:      

Rohto Ironman 70.3 Miami        74.7007        
Journey for Sight Triathlon     73.25388       
Marlborough Triathlon   74.28861       
Hockomock Y Sprint Triathlon    70.76048       
Rev3 Quassy Olympic     72.02174       
Webster Lake Triathlon  72.97369       
Amica 19.7 triathlon at Ocean Beach    72.55889       
Sudbury Spring Sprint   64.11864       
Westborough Sprint Triathlon    74.67289      

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Ironman 70.3 Miami Race Report – Part 4 - Run

Getting off the bike I was feeling pretty good.  I had expected the bike to take more out of me than it did given the windy conditions.  Right out of transition we took a right and wound our way behind the Intercontinental before doing a 180 back to transition.  The first water station was out of water.  Bad sign.  Temps were already well into the 80s and without water I would be in serious trouble.  I was mentally prepared for this possibility though and soldiered on.  Almost immediately I saw Ronel, which meant he was only about a half mile ahead of me.  This was a huge mental boost as we had estimated him to be the fastest finisher in our group.  After winding through the Bayfront shopping area it was time for the first trip over the bridge.  This was completely exposed, on concrete and into the wind as we headed toward the ocean.  However, I was running and the vast majority were walking up the hill.  I knew I was making time on all these people.  The next aid station before turning back over the bridge had water.  I took as much water as I could carry. 

Once I got behind the American Airlines Arena I saw Rico coming the other way.  I felt good about this as he was about 10 minutes ahead on the road, so I knew I had made some time on him since his wave started more than 10 minutes before mine.  I then saw Ronel again and I had made up all but 2 minutes on him.  It was back up the bridge for third time and I was still feeling pretty good.  My run training had been lacking in the weeks prior to the race due to some knee issues, but I knew I could run at least half the race and was determined not to walk during the first lap (6 miles).

 

I passed Ronel on the 4th trip up the bridge, while I was running and he was walking.  Here are some shots just after coming off the bridge and heading toward the start/finish line to end lap 1.   

 

Ronel caught up to me again shortly after the above pictures and as we ran together we decided to work together.  We shortly saw Rico again and the gap was holding roughly the same, so we knew we were all running at similar speeds.

 

Here are some shots as we head back out on lap 2.

 

My mom cheering Ronel and I on:

Thumbs up for the photographer:

Ronel and I were working well together.  It was mentally easy to keep pushing when you have someone right on your shoulder; the temptation to walk is completely negated.  We did agree to walk the uphills and keep our pacing on the flats and downhills.  As we hit the final turnaround our gap to Rico was still the same.

We started calculating our finish time.  We knew we had under 6 hrs in the bag, but 5:50 would be close.  Neither one of use could go much faster, so we just kept moving.  We also just kept drinking as much water as we could find on the course.  Any aid station that was open was a free-for-all with people pushing and shoving for water. 

 

Here you can see the pace impact of walking on the uphills (as well as slowing at water stops).

As we got onto the final downhill I started to hit the wall a bit.  My legs were really taking a pounding and this was by far my longest run.  In training I never got in my long runs and the longest run I did manage was 9 miles back in July.  Once we got on the flats we were less than a mile from the finish.  We decided to just cross the line together and let it be a photo finish.

 

Here is the run, mile by mile.

 

Nutrition during run:

6 oz gel flask – 3 Gus diluted with water – 300 calories, 75g carbs – probably only used about half

Tons of on course water and ice

 

Time/Placing:

Run – 2:14:13, 10:15 min/mile, 83/187 AG, 603/1899 OA

 

I was in 632 out of T2 and finished in 562 at the finish, so I passed net 70 people on the run.

 

Clearly the run was a death march for a lot of people.  My run is my weakest leg and I was under-trained but I still made up time.  I felt pretty good after the race – top half of a competitive age group and top third overall felt great for a first race at this distance.  I’m looking forward to trying again in 2011.

 

Thanks to my whole family for coming down to Florida and being a part of a day that was important to me and marked the culmination of a year of dedicated training.

 

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
# Entries				187		1930
Swim	45:38	1.2 miles	2:10/100 yd	108	58%	680	35%
T1	4:37
Bike	2:44:15	56 miles	20.46 mph	94	50%	707	37%
T2	1:58
Run	2:14:13	13.1 miles	10:15/mile	83	44%	603	31%
Total	5:50:41			84	45%	562	29%

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Ironman 70.3 Miami Race Report – Part 3 - Bike

It’s been nearly 6 months since the race, so it is about time I finish this race report!  I need to start getting ready for 2011 race reports!

 

Here are some shots leaving T1:

After leaving transition, the route took us southwesterly towards SW 248th street – nearly to Homestead Air Force base.  I knew from my scouting around Google Earth that many of the early roads would be very narrow and that there would be many turns.  This made it pretty hard to pass and get into a rhythm as the course felt very crowded until about halfway thru the ride out. 

I also was expecting pretty much a tailwind out and a headwind back.  Therefore I really took it easy on the way out.  Even without much effort I was flying, although I was getting passed frequently.  I had to keep reminding myself to stick to my plan as I knew I would need to put out a lot of effort in the second half of the bike.

 

Probably the smartest move I made on the bike was carrying nearly all my nutrition with me.  I had read reports earlier in the year where Ironman had run out of supplies at Ironman Wisconsin on a particularly hot day and I guessed that it may happen here, particularly given that I was in the last wave of competitors.  Sure enough aid station number 1 was nearly abandoned when I got there, just a few drinks left.  Aid station number 2 near the turnaround was being disassembled when I went by.  I felt bad for people who were relying on these stations.  I could have used another water, but at least I had all the calories I needed.

 

Once we made the turnaround the wind was at times quite frustrating.  But there seemed to be enough shelter and turns to keep it from being a huge problem.  I was expecting a more open course, but there were actually a lot of trees and buildings blocking the wind.  I think the tight course might have actually helped in this regard.  In the second half of the bike I started passing a lot of people.  Many of them were from earlier waves, but some were struggling after going out too hard in the first half, or were bonking because they didn’t get their expected nutrition at the aid stations.

 

While I was riding, the family moved down the monorail to a spot just before the last drawbridge.  I understand that their cowbells and cheering were very popular with the passing riders.

 

Here are some shots of me as I went buy them, passing another large group of riders.  Notice how none of them are in the aero bars!

 

Overall the bike went better then I was expecting.  Looking at the conditions and the technical race course, I was expecting to be a bit slower. 

 

Nutrition during bike:

32 oz Aero Bottle – 3 scoops carbo pro – 330 calories, 74g carbs

24 oz Bottle – 3 scoops carbo pro and 1.5 scoops gatorade – 430 calories, 102g carbs

20oz Water Bottle

1 Cliff Bar – 250 calories, 43g carbs

3 Shot Blocks – 100 calories, 24g carbs

 

Time/Placing:

Bike – 2:44:15, 20.4566 mph, 94/187 AG, 707/1899 OA

T2 – 1:58, 60/184 AG, 392/1865 OA

 

I was in 690th out of T1 and 660th after the bike, so I passed net 30 people on the bike.  After T2 I was 632nd, so I passed another net 28 people in transition.  Funny to think that I passed almost as many people in the 2 minutes during transition as I did in 2.75 hours on the bike.

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Jason 2011 Race Schedule

Date	Race		Location	Time	Placing
Mar 20	Max O'Hartford 5K	C	Hartford, CT	25:27	55/121 M30-34  488/2234 OA
Apr 17	Daffodil Festival 5K	C	Meriden, CT	22:46	1/4 M30-39  23/113 OA
Apr 23	Bradley Intl 10k Road Race	C	Windsor, CT	50:11	13/28 M30-39  33/100 OA
May 1	Sheriff Sprint Triathlon	C	Ludlow, MA	58:51	5/9 M30-34  40/136 OA
May 15	Queens Biathlon	C	Queens, NY	1:43:44	4/22 M30-34  29/134 OA
May 22	Shamrock Duathlon	C	Glastonbury, CT	1:43:30	5/18 M30-34  71/342 OA
Jun 4	Rev 3 Olympic Tri	B	Middlebury, CT	2:52:07	40/61 M30-34  205/539 OA
Jun 19	Webster Sprint Tri	C	Webster, MA	1:15:04	6/15 M30-34  53/219 OA
Jun 25	Madison 1M Open Water Swim	C	Madison, CT	37:54	4/11 Wetsuit 126/145 Overall
Jul 11	Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island	A	Providence, RI	6:04:05	95/191 M30-34  666/1651 OA
Jul 24	Amica 19.7 New London	C	New London, CT	1:30:41	8/22 M30-34  51/355 OA
Aug 14	Sharon Triathlon	C	Sharon, MA	1:43:07	22/32 M30-34  233/510 OA *
Aug 21	Ironman 70.3 Timberman	B	Gilford, NH	6:12:10	126/177 M30-34  1039/1692 OA
Sep 3	Quassy Swim Festival – 1.5M	C	Middlebury, CT	53:23	2/3 M U35 Wetsuit  78/113 OA
Sep 10	Esprit Montreal Olympic	A	Montreal	2:32:37	29/51 M30-34  237/519 OA
Sep 17	Somers Great Escape 5k	C	Somers, CT	22:55	8/21 M30-39  36/205 OA
Oct 15	Hartford Half Marathon	C	Hartford, CT	2:08:40	248/328 M30-34  3035/5153 OA
Nov 13	Old Wethersfield 5k	C	Wethersfield, CT	48:37	20/36 M30-39  53/301 OA
Nov 24	Manchester Road Race	C	Manchester, CT
Dec 4	Mitten Run	C	W Hartford, CT

 

* crashed during bike but finished the race

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Rico 2011 Race Schedule

Date	Race	Location	Time	Result
Jan 22	Manhattan Half Marathon	Fair Lawn, NJ	2:04:58	2836/4369 Overall
Feb 6	Gridiron 4M	Central Park, NY	29:57	913/5813 Overall
Mar 6	Coogan’s Salsa, Blues & Shm	Manhattan, NY	35:29	4675/5374 Overall
Jun 26	Westchester Med Ctr Duathlon	Valhalla, NY	1:22:31	49/170 Overall
Aug 21	Ironman 70.3 Timberman	Guilford, NH	6:13:49	1068/1649 Overall
Oct 15	Hartford Half Marathon	Hartford, CT	1:50:31	1105/5153 Overall
Nov 6	New York City Marathon	NY, NY

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Marc 2011 Race Schedule

Date	Race	Location	Time	Result
Jan 1	1st Day 5k	Fair Lawn, NJ	26:59	163/313 Overall
Jan 22	Manhattan Half Marathon	Central Park, NY	2:10:48	3269/4369 Overall
May 15	Stomp The Monster 5k	Marlboro, NJ	24:47	146/704 Overall
Jun 26	Westchester Med Ctr Duathlon	Valhalla, NY	1:25:15	69/170 Overall
Sep 24	Westchester Triathlon	Rye, NY
Nov 6	New York City Marathon	NY, NY

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