Training Log Archive: Nielsen

Big Blue Off-Road Triathlon, California part of the Xterra series

Swim: 2x600m w/50m run in between
Mountain Bike: 2x9mi loops (huge elevation)
run: 2x3mi loops

Total Time 2:19:45

Not a good swim. Wetsuit was so tight (borrowed) and water was very choppy. I had trouble breathing and whenever I came up for air a got a mouthful of water. Can't really use it as an excuse because everyone else had the same issues as far as rough water goes. I can say that I was not swimming up to the level that I've been training at in the pool. I need more experience swimming in a race setting. The pool is not the same as a windy lake or ocean. I lost about 4 mins to the leaders on the swim.

I felt very strong on the bike. The elevation was unreal and at times I remember being surprised that they actually had us ride this stuff. Way more technical than AR bike legs and I bet it would have made a pretty brutal MTB race.

Being so far back after the swim I had a lot of ground to make up. Passing people was a pain do to the narrow trails and technical riding. In hind site looking at results, I should have pushed on the bike harder, but I was concerned about burning out my legs on all the climbing. The down-hill sections were an all out effort but I could have pushed more on the accents.

Run went well. I had no trouble off the bike. Again, I should have pushed harder on the bike. The course was flat, at least it seemed flat compared to the bike course. I had one of the faster run times of the day which is encouraging.

Overall, a great race!

I'm taking it rather easy this week because of this upcoming weekend's race. It's my Xterra debut and I want to be well rested and strong for it.

This past weekend's long juants in the woods were a bit rough on the ankles and lower legs. I'd rather rest up and race this Sat without pain.

It was late but I was nervous about the race and wanted to get it out of my system. The weather was really warm (65 degrees). Erin and Chris came along too.

Some weird Cheek2Cheek drills
3x200m steady state intervals

an easy day.

For this race I decided to start off slower and cleaner since Sats. race started off very poorly. It worked pretty well up until C3 were I got pushed all around by the sea of thorn bushes. I ended up way to the left and had to traverse across, counting gullies until I thought I was in the right spot. I got to the right area but then failed to notice how high on the bank the circle was. Because of this I over ran the control and then eventually got confused as to which set of gullies I was in between. After relocating and realizing that the control circle was not down near the water I found it rather quickly. Needless to say, I lost a great deal of time on this one. The rest of the course went pretty smooth. I forced myself to take it slow and be more cautious of thorn bushes. I think un-runable fields of thorn bushes in the woods should be marked in Blood Red on the map rather than green. Oh and additionally I lost my SportIdent e-punch somewhere between C14 and C15.

On a brighter note I ran the 12K (which was more like 18K with my route choices) at a pace of 12mins per K, which is a 2 min improvement over Sat.