6/18/12

Triathlon is a lot like golf

A long time ago I tried my hand at the game of golf, thanks in part to my two cousin's who happened to be very good at it. During the time I played or attempted to play, I noticed that it was very difficult to get all three disciplines down, meaning, driving, hitting irons and putting. Some days I would drive good and putt good, but couldn't hit an iron to save my life. Most other days I just couldn't do any of them which basically put an end to my golfing career due to sheer frustration.

Yesterday at the Maumee Bay triathlon I felt like I was having one of those days that were so frequent on the golf course years ago. I started out with a fast smooth swim and exited the water feeling strong. Got into transition and fumbled with my helmet straps that were tangled up from after my warm up ride, pulled my shoes on and ran 100 yards to the bike exit, all of that seemed to take forever.
Got rolling on the bike and at mile 2.68 my computer quit. My legs hadn't quite started to respond yet but I was keeping the speed around 23- 24 mph, and hurting too...
I tried to get the computer to work by moving it back and forth in the holder but it was no use. I took it out and banged it on the bars and that didn't work either, so I figured oh well I'll ride on feel. Well I felt like crap. My legs weren't responding the way they have been and I was pushing myself into an anerobic state, which I didn't want to do, so I backed it off a little with about two miles to go to possibly salvage a half way decent run.

Got into transition and exited fast, nice! Rolled out onto the run course and picked off one of the riders that transitioned just ahead of me. By now the sun came out in full force and it was hot and windy and there was no shade to hide under. By the time I came to the turn I was ready to chalk this one up as a loss and walk the rest of the way back, I didn't but wanted to real bad. The second half of this mammoth 5k run was hard, since there was a slight incline and I didn't want to run hills today, they told me this was a flat course! I trudged up what seemed like forever till I hit the last bit of concrete along the Bay and I could see the big HFP finish chute. As I was running down the walk I could hear the announcer call out Eric Gibb's name so I knew I had 3rd place in the age group locked up since Curt Haywood was up the road as well and no-one else from our age group was between.

This season so far I've been able to put together some decent races, meaning, getting all three disciplines to jive, this race it didn't happen and I know why. Too much hard fast stuff during the week, I can't do it, my body doesn't recover as fast as it used to and I have to be smart about my training. This race wasn't an A race for me so it's not that big of a deal, but any time you toe the line in a race you want to be able to do your best. As a wise man named Rudy Sroka told me many times before, you should be training to race and not racing in your training...true, very true!

Cross Fit Triathlon this weekend, hopefully I get it right.

2 comments:

Jim said...

I have often said that it is tough enough to train properly for one sport. "Train properly" being the important part.
I really don't know how it can be done for three sports.
Recovery is so very important but with three activities, how does one fit recovery in?
Some tough choices to make.

Unknown said...

When racing every weekend I can only get a fast workout in three sports per week. I run off the bike every time, but not fast, I have a fast run day for that. This past week Tony and I did the TT and ran a fast 5k after. I did openers on Saturday afternoon and raced Sunday morning along with a long hilly trail run on Tuesday with speed work. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday were strong swims with the bike in there too. Not much recovery time this week and I had not been doing that much intensity during race week prior to this week, so I do believe it was the lack of recovery time that cost me, that and it was really hot and humid on the run, and I have never did well in those conditions.
I want to do the TT's so I think I'll not run afterward and just do a cool down ride, that should save some wear and tear on the legs for the weekend.