Training Log Archive: Nielsen

Pace swim! Did very well:

400y warm up
30sec rest
400y - 6:21.53
40sec rest
600 - 9:24.18 (the first 400y was at 6:14)
200y cool down

I'm feeling a bit uneasy about the race this weekend. I am strong in my training but still I feel somewhat unprepared. The swim is especially intimidating for me. I've also been dealing with some nagging injuries ( my hips ) and that is not helping me mentally. The thoughts of my running performance in The Cradle are scaring me.

We're heading down a few days early to go over the course and will have plenty of time to relax and get focused. Hopefully this will boost confidence.

C • 3

"Highway Weave" loop, I think I'll call it, since this route crosses under rt 89 several times(4). Took me about 20 minutes to warm up, which is tough when faced with the large climbs 10 mins into the ride. After that I was feeling great and riding well. Found a new lake with lot's of interesting lake houses. I really like this whole area.

Erin and I went out for breakfast and then drove all the way down to Manchester to go MTBing. We got out there and I was feeling strong and motivated, however about 30 minutes in my rear wheel busted a spoke. On any other day I would have maybe kept riding on it and delt with the damage later, but considering this upcoming weekend's race and it's importance on my season I decided against it. Oh well.

Beautiful hot day and swimming was well warrented so accross the lake we went, dodging motor boats and kayaks. Lot's of traffic out there.

EMS Sprint Adventure Race Series (Race 3) • Waywayanda, NJ

"raced" with a teammate I had never met before. She ended up showing 2 minutes before the start of the race and we made it into the starting shoot about 30secs before the gun went off. We managed to run about 800m with the rest of the crowed befre she totally blew up and we regressed to a slow and painful walk through the woods. Paddle was slightly less rediculous and the bike was just pure torture. I would ride ahead and wait for her to push her bike up the hills. Anyway, I have to give her credit for making it through the long 7 hours of this hot day. With the exception of CP B which was missplotted (my fault) I had very clean nav.

Lots of climb on this little route. This, shamefully, is the first road ride we've ventured on since we moved to Sutton. And, we dicovered that the surounding area is very hill intensive. Avg. speed was way down from what I'm used to, granted I'm still recovering from the AR. Lungs were fine but the legs just weren't there. Felt good to back on smooth riding road bikes again though.

The race organizer published this as a 100 mile race. I think it was maybe half that, but still a very fun race. Raced with Erin and JoeB. I think we worked well as a team and were pretty efficient. Urban O went fine finishing only a minute or two behind EMS. First bike was strong but made a 25-30 minute error heading up a wrong bike path. I was having some debilitating hip problems during the O section at night and slowed the team down quite a bit. I think this is where we lost most of our time. We had a strong paddle and once we got our heads back into the last bike section we started to race strong and make up time on the bad guys.

2nd coed, 2nd overall

C • 2

Cradle Of Liberty • Adventure Race • Pilidelphia, PA

Several short loops to warm up and open up the stride. Then a loop around the lake with Erin. Then I decided to pick up the pace a little bit and did the second loop by myself. After finishing the second lake loop I did an other slow short loop for a cool down.

Tough!

350y warm up 6:59
6x50y 15sec rest (Target :48)
45.25
45.88
43.48
46.43
45.66
45.46
100y recovery 2:17.74
2x400y 60sec rest (Target 6:32)
6:25.53
6:25.34
100y recovery 3:09.32
1x600y (Target 9:36)
9:43.57
200y cool down 4:38.49

It seems I start loosing pace somewhere between 400 and 500. I think within a month of this type of swim workouts I'll get there.

Run around the lake twice and a bit extra. Heat and humidity was crazy.

Swam accross the lake with Erin. New weatsuit kicks ass. Feels so much better than the Ironman suit. I feel faster in it and it doesn't constrict like the other. I'm looking forward to racing in it.

Wish I was wearing my HRM for this workout. Very hot and humid with very intense riding. For being flat terrain this is about as technical as it gets. I would recommend this place to anyone who enjoys aggressive mtb where you use you brain as much your body. Wish I was wearing my HRM for this workout. Very hot and humid with very intense riding. For being flat terrain this is about as technical as it gets. What it lacks in large drops and hills it makes up for easily with sustained intensity. I would recommend this place to anyone who enjoys aggressive mtb where you use you brain as much your body. The trail “Lady Slipper” provides the most excitement in my opinion.

Erin's riding at this place was impressive.

Up King Hill access road. Took the lower rd (poor farm rd) from the top this time which seems to make this loop about 10-15 mins shorter. Fun rd with some small drops and semi techinical sections. Large water hole to ride through, due to beaver development. A nice relaxing ride with enough excitment not to make it boring.

Biking around time with Erin. Did 3x3min hill accelerations. A very hot evening.

Running around the Kearsarge High School area. Did a 1600 meter interval type thing on the track. Sprint the turns all out and jog the straights.

Pace Swim workout in the pool this morning. Tough workout for me. Aiming for a 12min 800 meter or 12:48 800 yard. Swam in a 25yard pool.

300y warm up
4x50 :15sec rest (target :48)
45.39
44.56
45.32
45.99
100y recovery
4x100 :15sec rest (target 1:38)
1:35.0
1:35.56
1:37.37
1:37.14
100y recovery
2x200 :20sec rest (target 3:14)
3:16.65
3:13.84
100y recovery
1x600 (target 9:48)
9:58.08
200y cool down

On the lake. Got in some good work before the T storms blew in. Erin and I sat on the porch watching the extreme winds, lots of rain, and lightning.

Around the lake twice. Although it's the same loop in a row it's actually quite nice. Small amount of elevation gain, maybe 100m, dirt road for half of it. Nice views and no cars. Feeling pretty strong. Very hot weather.

A short mountain bike loop to cool down. Erin wanted to explore a trail that start a little ways from the house and heads towards Kearsarge. Very wet and muddy and populated with about a billion misquitos.

Did abs with Erin while watching a really cheezy movie about some dude murdering Iditarod racers. Lifetime is truely top quality television.

EMS Sprint Adventure Race Series (Race 2)
• Hartford, CT

My first time in a sprint race with a female teammate (not counting Erin in the winter AR). It's a lot different then racing all-male or solo. I think I handled it well overall. Also the first time racing with Natasha. She's an expedition racer and has never raced at "sprint" pace. We did well enough on the bike, keeping up with all other top teams. Managed to trap my finger on Natasha's bike during th first loop, poping the nail off my finger at the root and bleeding all over everything for the rest of the two bike loops before duck taping things back together.

The paddle along with mental laziness at the start of the trek lost the race. The paddle was VERY slow with all lead teams, with exception of EMS, passing and putting 10mins on us. Will H. managed, however, to come back from his huge kayak deficit and place second.

Bike/Run: One runner, one biker. Could switch off if one chose. I ran the whole loop, trying very hard to make up for lost time on the paddle. Got into the TA only a minute or so back.

On the start to the trek I started heading out to CP6 and because of laziness and spending too much effort on moving me and my teammate quickly missed the key CP order. Didn't locate CP C until 200 meters from 6 and then had to backtrack to East Hartford. I should hav known better. I think we actually moved quickly and had it not been for the extra distance we may have caught the evil empire.

I think the heat was an issue for everyone. There are some really good teams in this years series. It should be very interesting in the races to come, especially when we get into some real woods.

C • pooped finger? 4

not exactly sure what my finishing time was. I'll update when I get it.

Finally putting this illness behind me. Also life is settling down again and I'm starting to get a bit of consistent training in. Excited about tomorrow's AR and looking forward to a solid 4 weeks of training in preperation for the Richmond, VA Xterra East Coast Champ.

Easy run around the lake to try to loosten up my right hamstring. Pretty darn hot... for once.

A bit of biking around the lake and beyond to make sure my mountain bike was ready for the race.

Spent some time on the lake to work on form.

Swam across our lake yesterday with Erin. The water was much warmer then the other day due to the few days of sun we've been having. Took a bit to get used to and we were certainly not swimming fast. On the way back I actually got a decent heart rate going.

Looking forward to doing it again.

Run around the block with Erin. Nice day, but not feeling very good.