Sunday, June 30, 2013

Ironman Lake Placid Training June highlights



Swim: 11.5 hours / 20 miles
Bike: 41.5 hours / 690 miles
Run: 21.5 hours / 156 miles
Rest Day: none

Highlights: my first 3 century bike rides, first look at Lake Placid during my triathlon training weekend with Breakaway Bikes crew, Quassy Half Iron, personal best at Philly Tri Olympic, track workouts at Temple Univesity, steady run workouts, focusing on hills during run & bike

Lowlights: temporary mental exhaustion after the Lake Placid trip


Ironman Training

Ironman Training

Ironman Training

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Ironman Lake Placid Training Stats



Training stats for April 2013
Swim: 12.5 hours / 24 miles
Bike: 38 hours / 602 miles
Run: 23.5 hours / 160 miles
Rest Day = 0
Track workout at Temple University

Training stats for May 2013
Swim: 11.5 hours / 20.5 miles
Bike: 43.5 hours / 720 miles
Run: 20 hours / 143 miles
Rest Day = 1
Lake Placid Triathlon Training Camp
Lake Placid Triathlon Training Camp
Lake Placid
Lake Placid Triathlon Training Camp


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Sunday, June 23, 2013

TriRock Philly 2013 Race Report

Finally! I was able to string together a triathlon performance that I am proud of.


Swim
Bike
Run
Final 
00:27:33
01:12:27
00:41:23
02:26:30



173 out of 1333 overall finishers in the OLYMPIC distance.
22 out of 167 in Age Group M35-39.

Breakaway Racing at TriRock Philly

Breakaway Racing at TriRock Philly


TriRock Philly Olympic

TriRock Philly Olympic

TriRock Philly Olympic


Swim (0.9 miles) - Actual time = 27 minutes 33 seconds (goal = under 30 minutes)
I definitely benefited from the newly implemented time trial swim start. 10 at a time jumping off a dock off of St. Joe's boathouse. I had a lot of room to swim. I stuck with my strategy of taking it easy on the swim. I stayed slightly behind my training partner Steve Tarrant and even draft off of him and a few other swimmers. Water temp & condition were ideal for me. I was very happy to see a 26:xx on my watch as I exited the Schuylkill River.


Swim Data (GPS signal lost after 900 meters)



T1 swim/bike transition - Actual time = ? (goal = 2 minutes)
I ran into a wrong bike rack!!!! I made a point during transition set-up to learn where my bike was but in the post-swim rush, I lost my mind and lost about 20 seconds. Once I took my bike off the rack, I was fast running out of the transition area.

Bike (24.8 miles) - Actual time = 1 hour 12 minutes 27 seconds (goal = under 1 hour 15 minutes)
I was in Wave 9 out 15 so when I got on my bike, the road was full of slow riders from earlier waves. The bike course consisted of 2-loop, 12.4 mile per loop. There were mostly 3 or 4 riders constantly riding side-by-side. I found myself constantly passing other riders, and intermittently being passed at the same time.

I had pretty much an even split for each loop. I was in the small gear for every hill and went hard during flats. I stayed within my power zone (thanks to the coaches at @BreakawayBikes) so my heart rate never spiked too high.

Bike Data


T2 bike/run transition - Actual time = ? (Goal = 2 minutes)
No transition drama this time. I ran fast pushing my bike to my transition spot and quickly got out my running shoes.

Run (6.2 miles) -- Actual time = 41 minutes 23 seconds (Goal = under 42 minutes)
Wheeeeee! I knew I was on my way to a new personal best at the start of my run. My legs were strong. I started out fast and never slowed down. Only one fast runner past me during my run. The weather got hot during my run, which allowed me to pass even more pooped-out runners.

Run Data




Nutrition:
1 pack of Roctane GU before swim
1 pack of Roctane GU during first big hill on bike, first loop
2 salt pills while climbing Lemon Hill first time
1 pack of Roctane GU during first big hill during second loop
2 salt pills during last climbing Lemon Hill second time
Finished first bottle of Ironman Perform at start of second loop, and refilled it with 2nd bottle on bike frame between my legs
1 pack of Roctane GU at start of the run
Water or TYR electrolyte at almost every fluid stop during the run, even just to cool down my face.
2 cans of Michelob Ultra in the beer garden post-race :)

Post-race recovery meal: Pho 75 No. 1 special & iced coffee with condensed milk
TriRock Philly Olympic

The finisher's medal is also a beer bottle opener!
TriRock Philly Olympic


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Ironman Lake Placid Training Update: First Century Ride


My first century ride was the French Creek Iron Tour Cycling for Open Space

French Creek Iron Tour 2013

I joined a few members of the Philadelphia T3 Triathlon team to ride the 100-mile option of the French Creek Tour. I had a great time ricing this hilly but smooth & well marked course. Most riders in this ride weren't training for an Ironman so they seemed to take their time to enjoy the amazing country scenery, while our group kept a fairly good pace.

French Creek Iron Tour 2013

I did get separated from my group on the second half of the ride, since I needed to stop to pee. I ran out of water within the French Creek State Park when I came across a building with a huge sign" French Creek General Store". I parked my bike and opened the door to the building. It turned out to be a private residence! There was a naked crying baby running around. A nice woman there told me that this wasn't a store and asked me if I needed water. I had never been happier to receive a bottle of water. I went on with my ride and eventually reached an official rest stop, and eventually caught up with my group at the end.

French Creek Iron Tour 2013

French Creek Iron Tour 2013

French Creek Iron Tour 2013


100 miles didn't seem to be a big deal, as I was fine running 7-min pace for 30 minutes after the ride.

RAY SLAVINSKI: FRENCH CREEK 2013 IRON TOUR &emdash;

RAY SLAVINSKI: FRENCH CREEK 2013 IRON TOUR &emdash;

RAY SLAVINSKI: FRENCH CREEK 2013 IRON TOUR &emdash;

RAY SLAVINSKI: FRENCH CREEK 2013 IRON TOUR &emdash;

RAY SLAVINSKI: FRENCH CREEK 2013 IRON TOUR &emdash;

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Friday, June 21, 2013

Rev3 Quassy Half Race Report 2013


Pre-race with Ryan & Steve, my training buddies
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Happy to have a calm, uneventful swim in 74F water
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My aero helmet got shifted after a steep descent. The bike course was full of hills and turns. I was never comfortable for 5 minutes on the bike.
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Another strong run to finish a tough race
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New Jersey Devilman Half Lite Race Report 2013


Piranha Sports' Devilman Half Lite was a cheap local race on Sunday May 5 to open my 2013 triathlon season. Its distances were exactly 1/3 of a full Ironman length: 



Half Lite 50™: 0.80 Mile Swim~40.3 Mile Bike~8.8 Mile Run

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Race Plan
I trained hard in the off season, and I was ready to race. I wrote a race plan for myself:

Swim: 0.8 miles = 1408 yards. I plan to swim at my base interval of 1:45 minutes per 100 yards. 1408 yards will take me just under 25 minutes. Be aggressive.

Swim/Bike transition
Getting out of lake, taking off wetsuit, putting on socks & cycling cleats. Sunglasses. Helmet. Gloves. 3 minutes.


Bike 40.2 miles.
I will target 180-185 watts. This is my low zone 3 power.
Nutrition plan:
Gu at mile 0, 12, 24, 36.
Salt pills after first loop
Cycling plan: stay in aero position as often as possible. Be aggressive.
Target: 21 mph or 1 hour 55 minutes.

Bike/Run transition
Rack bike. Take off helmet & gloves. 1 minute.

Run (Wheee!)
Salt pills at start of run
Gu at half way
Strategy: run like hell
Target: 7 minutes per mile or 62 minutes total



What really happened:

Swim (0.8 mile) - Time = 0:28:06 (Goal = 25 minutes)
Cold and dirty lake water. I had a panic attack in the water at the start. I couldn't breathe. My body couldn't move the way my brain wanted to move. I had to take a few seconds in streamline position and a few breaststrokes to calm myself down. Slowly I gained composure and started swimming
New Jersey Devilman 2013

T1 - Time = 0:04:22 (Goal = 2 minutes)
I was so happy getting out of the lake. I saw plenty of bikes still racked, so I was still in middle of the pac. My hands were frozen. I had a hard time taking off my wetsuit and putting on my bike gear. It was a quite a wreck and my heart rate spiked again.

Bike (40.3 miles) - Time = 02:07:29 (Goal = 1 hour 55 minutes)
Course was flat with few turns but there was some nasty wind. I did well keeping my cadence high but should have pushed a little harder. The 2-loop out-n-back bike course allowed me to see many of my teammates.

New Jersey Devilman 2013




T2 - Time = 1:42 (Goal = 1 minute)
Not sure what happened as I needed almost a minute more than I expected.

Run (8.8 miles) - Time = 1:01:13 (Goal = 62 minutes)
The run was the only part that I met my goal time. By the time I started running, I realized that my Garmin 910xt GPS was not functioning. I should have turned it off / on to reset, but I didn't. I just ran like hell. The out-n-back course was flat. I passed a few people but not that many. The turnaround point came faster than I expected. On the way back, I sped up and passed a few more people on my way to a sprint finish.

New Jersey Devilman 2013

New Jersey Devilman 2013

Overall finish time = 3:42:54
Overall placement = 59 / 227
Age group placement = 12/29

I thought I could finish under 3:30 hours but apparently I was too optimistic. The race was a good reality check for me so I could re-calibrate my expectation for future races.


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