Another All-Triathlon Weekend

It is another Monday morning following an all triathlon weekend.

Saturday: Morning Run and Friel Clinic

The weekend began with a run with the team out at Pierce Mill. This is a nice little spot in Rock Creek Park. The DC Tri Club often has events here, but I have never known where it was or how to get there. It was time that I changed that. It turns out that I have run past here a few times. Unfortunately, the weather stunk despite the forecasts that indicated that the rain had a 90% chance of staying away at that hour. Not fair! It was in the low 40’s and raining. Put in 11 steady zone 2 miles with the ladies, averaging slightly sub-11/minute miles. Some very interesting conversation made the earlier part of the run flyyy by. Piercings and tattoos…enough said.

Next up was the 8-hour clinic hosted by triathlon gurus Joe Friel and Ken Mierke. I was really excited about this. I got home and took a (short) hot bath in order to stop myself from shivering. I put on a bathing suit and sweats, grabbed some nutrition, and headed back out the door in under 40 minutes. Ugh.

The clinic started with pool time. Drills and some individual coaching. The highlight of this was “Swim Golf.” Basically, you swim as fast as you can for 50 meters and count your strokes. You add your number of strokes to your time for your score. Then you swim at a nice, easy pace for 50 meters, again counting strokes. The idea is to compare the numbers. The lesson, of course, is that swimming hard and fast just wears you out and that it is more efficient for you to swim at a slower pace and take fewer strokes. I won’t share my actual numbers (mostly because I can’t remember) but suffice it to say I am still slow.

Other interesting notes from the day included a seminar on climbing from Mierke, which I had heard before. It was worth hearing again. The basic premise is that your pedal stroke should be a triangle – from 12 o’clock, to (around) 4 o’clock, to (around) 8 o’clock. The most important of these three sides is the third one – from 8 to 12, where your hip flexors should be doing the bulk of the work. Next, you want to focus on the 4 to 8 stroke straight back, instead of pushing down on the pedal. I began incorporating this approach in early March and it made a tremendous difference in my cycling.

There was also a very controversial presentation by Joe Friel on the Paleo diet. It included a discussion of race day nutrition. Friel believes that athletes are too concerned with hydration, and that we’ve been given a “bill of goods” when it comes to the whole electrolytes/sodium/potassium school of thought. He believes in nothing but water for the first 90 minutes of any workout/race. After that, water only when you’re thirsty, and approximately 200-300 calories of carbs per hour. I’ll leave it at that. If you want to hear more, let me know.

Sunday: Long ride and Team Z picnic

Departed Arlington at 7:30 am to reach Boyce, VA for a long, team ride. The ride coordinator said that the 80 minute drive would be worth it, and I would have to agree. 44 beautiful, rolling zone 2 miles took me around 4 hours with a number of stops (traffic, eating, adjusting my cue sheet umpteen million times).

Afterwards I was handsomely rewarded by a Team Z cookout. This flexitarian (definition: one who eats a mostly vegetarian diet) loves her hot dogs. Such a great treat after a tough workout. I enjoyed a hot dog, a grilled chicken sandwich, a bag of chips, and a cupcake (someone brought some delicious, Easter-colored, homemade cupcakes). Hey, I burned close to 1500 calories.

3 hours of driving, 4 hours of riding, 1 hour of hanging out, and there went the day and the weekend. Home for a shower and a short nap. I just barely had enough energy left to go get groceries for the week and then I was out of time and energy.

Today is the first day of recovery week. Hallelujah! This means the workouts are fewer, shorter, and easier. No strength training this week (hooray – 2 fewer workouts right there). No biking tomorrow (yes! Lunch plans, perhaps?). Still waking up at 4:30 on Tuesday and Thursday for the swims, but because I only have one workout per day on Monday and Wednesday, I can sleep a little longer and do my runs at lunch.

PS – For those paying attention, my leg issue (back of my knee) was better last week, but started acting up again this weekend. It wasn’t as excruciating as it was last weekend, but it hurts. I know I should ice it. I have emailed my PT/chiro guy and will see him on Wednesday. We’ll see how today’s lunchtime run goes.