Zoot Zenith 2.0 Triathlon Wetsuit

Today I tested my new Zoot Zenith 2.0 wetsuit at the pool. I wore the suit for the main set of 3x1,000m and boy, was it sweet. As I've become accustomed to, the week prior to a wetsuit race, I'll break out the suit and get adapted to it. As was true with both of my last two suits (a Zoot Zenith 1.0 and a Blue Seventy), I had to modify my stroke a bit and had to get adjusted to the increased power needed to "muscle" the suit through the stroke. Totally and pleasantly surprised how great the new 2.0 is. I am of course glad that I am "pre-swimming" the suit, but I would have been fine come race day had I not....stroke was totally normal and no noticeable fatigue to speak of. Sweet!

Zoot made some noticeable changes with the 2.0 vs the 1.0. First, the used a much thinner and perforated neoprene on the tops of the shoulders that also wraps around the upper back. This significantly improves range of motion. Second, the collar has been made of a thinner material and is cut a bit lower thus making it much more comfortable and makes breathing easier. Third, the "catch" pads on the forearms are made of a similar perforated materials as on the shoulders. I can't say if my catch is any better 2.0 vs 1.0, but it seems to grab water. Fourth, the materials around both the wrists and ankles was thinned out similar to the neck material. In my prelim trials this made getting the suit off quickly much easier. Fifth, they've molded the pieces together differently and integrated the flotation pads differently. I can't quite nail down exactly what they did, but the suit fits better, moves better and feels less bulky. And....finally....it is fast. I love the feeling doing a set with a wetsuit on, then taking it off for some additional swimming....you really notice the benefit the wetsuit provided in both speed and buoyancy.

I will train in the suit a couple more times before Saturday's race.

Gearing Up for Xterra West Championships, Lake Las Vegas

This weekend is the first Xterra Cup Series race at Lake Las Vegas.  I'm pumped and ready to race.  I've been doing a whole mixed bag of different training this season and I feel the mix will produce a big smile.  We will be driving up to Vegas from Phoenix on Thursday to get in some pre-riding and to preview the venue.  The course looks to have plenty of climbing on the bike and the run.  That's what I've been training, so it will be fun.  I am not doing a full taper for this race, but am changing up the typical training plan a bit to ensure a solid performance.  I am making final prep to gear tonight which includes breaking out my new Zoot Zenith wetsuit and putting some new Specialized SWorks Fasttrack tires (which I'm finding extremely difficult to get onto my Stan's Notubes ZTR Race wheels).  See you in the desert.       

Grasky Endurance Triathlon Camps - The Best

Grasky Endurance puts on the best triathlon training camps around.  I tagged along during one of their recent camps down in Tucson and it was great.  Excellent locations with epic swims/bikes/runs.  Of course the camp had plenty of strategically staged volume as most do, but the details are where this camp and other Grasky Endurance camps excel.  If you have never considered a camp or are out searching for a camp I recommend thinking through these things.  Personal attention - How much will you get from the top/headlining coach?  Will this personal attention include getting to know you personally, understanding your strengths and weaknesses, listening to your race ambitions and actually formulating a plan to immediately improve your success during the camp?  Added value sessions - In addition to just training, what additional events are part of the camp's itinerary?  It is common to have a nutrition talk and maybe a race strategy talk, but what about bike fits, stroke analysis, gait analysis, physiological testing and in-session, real-time discussion and commentary?  Support - Having a SAG vehicle might not seem like a big deal to you...until one day you need it.  You are never alone at a Grasky Endurance camp.  Through a committed and thoughtful staff and great product supplier partners your needs as an athlete are taken care of so you can focus on training.  Need a gel or tube?  Covered.  How about an entire tire or PowerTap loaner?  Yeah, covered too.  What about a ride back to the hotel when your legs give out on a ride after a 30hr training week.  Of course Grasky Endurance has your back!  Also, don't underestimate the value of camaraderie amongst campers.  Grasky Endurance camps builds social events into the camp schedule to foster an exceptional atmosphere and experience  You will not only meet great people, but you will make great friends.  

 

So, if you missed the Tucson camp don't worry.  You have a couple of Grasky Endurance camp options on the horizon that will be sure to be awesome.  First is the Grasky Endurance High Altitude camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.  Starting May 17 the 7,000ft elevation camp will boost your fitness to the next level.  Plus, the scenery is hard to beat...ever seen the Grand Canyon?  Well, you will get to ride there and check it out.  Get more details here:  http://graskyendurance.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=14.  Another exciting camp to check out is the Grasky Endurance Wine Country camp in Santa Rosa, California.  This camp is the week after Vineman and starts July 20.  Start the second half of your season off right with an unbeatable mixture of training, resort accommodations and vineyard tours and wine tastings.  Learn more about this one here:  http://graskyendurance.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=16

 

 

 

 

Prescott Punisher Result - NO DNF!

3rd time's a charm. I finally finished my first MTB race of the season. My goal was to be Cat 1 by this race, but that didn't quite work out. I did end up winning the Cat 2 race though. I'll take it.

The Prescott Punisher took about 1.5hrs and had, maybe, 2k worth of climbing. The temp was cool in the high-40s, but fresh at 6k ft elevation in the pines. I heard plenty of details about the course beforehand, but nothing beats a pre-ride. Fortunately, I did squeeze in one lap prior to the race. Great move! The course had a couple of medium-ish climbs and lots of little pops. I'd say it was an exercise in cadence and shifting. As in, high cadence and lots of proper shifting. The course was loose and dry.

I got to the trail head in 3rd position, waited for the first 3min, then surged to the lead. I got a pretty good gap going into the first downhill section...then took a crappy line and had a super subtle crash. Fortunately no injuries or bike issues! 2nd place passed me, but I was right on his wheel. Coming up to some traffic from other waves of racers, I took advantage and surged again. That was that. I road the second lap faster than the first, but had some mechanical issues on the third lap. Coming through the feed zone prior to the final lap, I noticed my front fork air was getting low. Typically if this happens it goes dead flat. I decided to go for it anyway. Charge the climbs and keep it upright on the descents. Fortunately, the shock held enough air & firmness to finish off the race. Phew. I would have been mucho pissed with another DNF.

I am really loving the bike right now. Road. Mountain. Whichever. Let's race. I want to move up to Cat 1 on the MTB to test my luck, but the next race is on the same weekend as the first big Xterra of the year. Vegas....which is what I am training for after all. So, yeehaw. Let's do some Vegas off road triathlon. I hear there is some serious climbing on the bike and the run. Uphill is my friend

Recovery is So Nice

Last week was a recovery week. Phew! This week I am back at and my body is ready to roll. I use to get freaked out during recovery weeks because I was afraid of loosing fitness. Not anymore! Even last season, I remember thinking I appreciated recovery to its fullest. Not like I do now. All I have to say is fresh legs are nice. My mind has been sharp and motivated. This early in the season, that usually isn't a problem.

Went out on the group ride this morning and had a good showing. Not that there is a prize or anything, but I do monitor my power and how I stack up to track progress. Thank you recovery week. Blasting away in the morning made my lunchtime 3750 swim tough, but I got it down. I can't keep enough food or water in me these days. Such is life.

I picked up a new desktop computer today. I've been working from a laptop exclusively at work and home for 5yrs. Boy is this big honking HD monitor nice. Not like blogger pumps out 1080i or anything.

Going to stuff in some more nutrition before bed and get some much needed sleep. Big'ol gnarly brick tomorrow. But...just one workout/day is a piece of cake.

Lake Havasu Triathlon Results; 1st AG, 2nd OA

Should be posted here shortly: http://www.tucsonracing.com/LHTinf.htm

I did the olympic distance today and finished #1 in my age group and #2 overall. I haven't seen my splits yet, so I can't quantitatively tell how I did. But, here is what I do know.

Swim - water was a cool 62 degrees and made for perfect wetsuit open water racing temp. This past week I did all my swims in my Zoot Zenith wetsuit (THANKS ZOOT!) while at the pool so I felt accustomed to my suit. I started off pretty fast, but smooth. I have also been working at relaxing and finding easy speed while going hard. Worked pretty good. I "let" three leaders get away at the first buoy. Good lesson and something I've forgotten. How important it is to stay focused at critical moments of the race. Just a little discomfort pays back dividends later. Point taken. After that I hopped on a guys feet for about 200 then went around him and set my own pace. This is training after all. Myself and two other guys formed the chase. I have not been doing a lot of swimming, but I felt totally fine/strong enough and held a reasonable pace. We'll see when the splits come in, but the time will be fair.

T1 - SUCKED! Another reminder that practice is critical when every second counts. I didn't run out of the water hard/fast enough, fumbled around with my zipper etc etc. I got my wetsuit all hung up on the timing chip around my ankle. Tick tock. Next calamity was with my shoes. I am not a roadie, but an Xterra guy...and I've never played around with leaving my shoes clipped in...but today I tried. What a mess. I probably lost at least 30sec screwing around trying to get my feet into my shoes. I even went off the road twice. So, don't try new stuff on race day. Again, point taken.

Once on the bike I felt good and was ready to fly on my new Kuota Kween K (THANKS TRISPORTS.COM!) I had a nice set of 56mm, Easton EC90 Aero tubular wheels compliments of Focus Cyclery (THANKS FOCUS!). The course had some fairly long stretches of flat road a couple of 1:30min climbs, tons of corners, rollers and 2 or 3 really really steep, little ring, stand up style short climbs. I road ok, but three things would make for a much better performance next time.

1. Get accustomed to my bike. Riding aero fast is much different that riding hard on my road bike or mtb. Duh. I had only done one ride with any effort on the bike ever prior to the race.
2. Get accustomed to road tri biking. Honestly, the bikes at road tris I've done are boring. I mean c'mon, how could they ever compare to racing flat out on twisty single track on a mtb in Ogden or blasting along the flume trail above Lake Tahoe? But, if I want to actually do well at a road tri, I ought to consider modifying my training to get use to the mindless ahead.
3. Get my shifting working correctly. Not sure what the deal was today, but I was only solidly in a gear a couple of times throughout the race. Major bummer as this race required tons of shifting to do it right.

The last final stretch of ~4 miles was pretty straight and flat for the most part, but into a pretty dead on headwind of about 15-20mph. Some guy who I passed at the start of the section decided to jump on my wheel and draft. It took a while to drop him particularly since the only gears that weren't skipping were my two biggest. No horsepower for those. After the race while talking about the drafting incident, I was enlightened about how drafting at some races has been a big problem. It makes me not want to race on the road. Period.

My plan on the run was to go until I pucked. That didn't happen, but I ran fair. I focused on high turnover right from the start and before long I was in run mode. The course was basically flat out and back road the whole way except for a 1/5 mile of sand and a ~40 step staircase. I pushed, but not too hard like I had wanted, but I was starting getting way dehydrated and felt on the verge of multi-muscle cramping although nothing that hampered my pace.

On the bike there were many places to spot the competition and the same held true on the run. I didn't see the guy ahead of me at any point. Not saying I could have caught him, but had I seen him, I can guarantee I would have buried myself trying to chase him down on the run.

There you have it. I lost ~1:15 on the swim, another :30 in T1, ~:30 messing with my shoes and, most likely, the majority of the rest on the bike. I lost the overall by 3min.

Considering the last three races this season I DNF'd, I'll take today's race as a success.

Great Time Trial Intervals

Today was a solid day of quality on the run and on the bike.

During my lunch time run the main set was 4x6min @ zone 4. My legs have been sluggish for a while and were again today. I don't go by HR as much as go by both pace (Garmin Forerunner 305) and perceived effort.

This evening I hit a great set that I know will pay dividends as it builds. It went like this:

-warm up

-5x5min intervals at 105% of FTP power w/2min rest between each

-1omin spin

-5x1min intervals at at 160% of FTP power w/4min rest between each

This set will certainly grow. Longer. Less rest. More power. Not all at once though.

I also debuted my new road shoe/pedal set up. Not quite dialed in, but close.

Shoes: Shimano SH-R220 Custom Fit Road Shoe

Pedals: Speedplay Zero Titanium (in yellow)