Rev3 Williamsburg Intermediate Race Report

Race Report: Rev3 Williamsburg Intermediate Distance:

According to my training plans, I had to race an Intermediate Triathlon 6/23/2013. I had heard that Rev3 put on great races and knew that I wanted to check out the Virginia area in hopes of landing a teaching job down South for the 2013-2014 school year. When I heard that Rev3 Williamsburg was holding an intermediate race on the exact day I needed, the perfect opportunity presented itself. Nonetheless, it was the weekend of my buddy's birthday who is currently living in Virginia Beach.
 I traveled down with two friends on Friday morning and as we were in no rush to get anywhere, it took us 12.5 hours including stops. A painful experience compared to the 10.5 hours it took us to get home from Virginia Beach, which is further South. When we got into Williamsburg, we forgot that you have to request non-smoking rooms when not in New York. After walking into what I can only describe as an ashtray, we promptly checked out of the hotel, packed up the car, and settled into a classy motel charging $39.99/night. The motel was a short drive from the race site and turned out to be a great location.

The plan for the race was to show up, throw down 100% effort, and see where the fitness was as I prepare for Musselman and Mont-Tremblant. I knew I could swim with whoever showed up and form there on out, it would be a matter of staying away from the runners on the bike and marking anybody that tried to get away on the bike or run. Sounds easy enough, on paper.

Swim: 0:21:43 (1 AG / 3 OA):
We sat on the shore of the beautiful James River waiting for the start of the Olympic race.

As with most races of this distance, I was expecting a very fast swim, at least from the gun. There was a considerable amount of dolphin diving at the beginning of the course as it took a while to get deep enough to swim. Through the first 200m there was a good group of about 5-7 swimmers. I sat in the middle of this group and kept an eye on the front of the group, ready to cover anybody that made a move. People started shifting around and jockeying for position. I am extremely comfortable in the water and being on the larger side, for a triathlete, the bumping and thrashing doesn't bother me one bit. The swimmers that tried to cut in front of me quickly realized I wasn't about to budge and decided to drop back. Through the first buoy at 500m our group was down to 3-4 swimmers. Around this turn, the lead swimmer decided to make a move which I almost missed seeing. I quickly got around the swimmer in front of me and started making a move to close the gap. I noticed the swimmer settle back in and I made a push to get on his feet but he had put too much ground on me around the buoy. Instead of wasting a ton of energy trying to close the gap, I just held a steady distance behind him as he wasn't putting any more ground on me. I knew I would catch him on the LONG run to T1 or in transition as long as I could stay within 15 seconds and stay comfortable. The rest of the swim was uneventful and soon enough we were approaching shore. I don't know why people like to throw away time but the lead swimmer decided to stand up in water above his waist and start wading into shore. I dolphin dove up to him very easily and thought "well, that made closing the gap really easy. Thanks!" We reached shore together and stripped our wetsuits to waist level. I decided it was time to start the mind games. I caught my breath and briskly jogged past him as we left the lake and in my calmest and most cheerful tone said "Nice swim, bud" and ran past him without looking back.

T1 0:02:32 (Including the longest run of my life):
Besides being the longest transition of my life, T1 went perfectly. I guess Rev3 decided to make up for cutting the run course short by 0.2 miles by making the run to T1 0.25 miles long.

Bike 1:00:04 (1 AG / 2 OA):
I got out of T1 on a mission to put as much time as possible between myself and the pure runners who typically aren't as strong on the bike. I knew I could handle a HR of 170 bpm on average for the ride and dialed my HR in right at 165-170.

I rode the first 12 miles solo until a young kid from Virginia Beach caught and passed me. After a quick survey, I decided to change the gameplan a little bit. This kid was pretty large and I guessed that if I had to put money on it, I'd favor myself in the run. From that point on, I decided to pace off of him and keep checking back to make sure nobody was bridging up to us, a dangerous game in a wave start. Fortunately, this allowed my speed to increase with a decreased HR as I wasn't stressing over being caught. The catch had happened and now it was time to race which was far less pressure for me. The there cyclist was very strong and tried to make a few moves but I was able to cover them pretty easily thanks to my new bike fitness, thank you QT2 Systems! I could tell the cyclist was frustrated that he couldn't drop me and I made sure to make things look effortless every time he looked back. The rest of the ride continued this way and I started to prepare myself for a monster run. Continuing with the mind games, I smiled as I took over the lead heading into T2, letting him know that whatever he thought was going on throughout the ride, that I was in control despite being second. I was very happy to finish the ride with an average speed of 24.0 mph on a beautiful rolling course.

T2 0:01:05:
I wanted to throw socks in since I hadn't raced in my new Mizuno Musha 4s yet but didn't have time as the other fella was quick in transition and left me chasing him out.

Run 0:38:21 (1 AG / 1 OA):
Exiting transition, I had about 15 seconds to close down on the race leader. I had a guy on a mountain bike pull up beside me and tell me "Hello, I'm Rob. I'm your guy for the rest of the run." It was extremely exciting to have a lead bike and I wanted Rob to be at the front of the race.

The goal was to average 180 bpm on the run and I knew my HR would rise in the last ten minutes of the race so the goal to keep it 170-175 in the early stages of the run. I was very happy to see that I was running 6:00 per mile at 165-170 bpm and knew that this was enough for now. The gap started to come down and closed within the first mile. I raised my HR to 170 as I passed the lead athlete to ensure that he would chose not to go with me. I ticked through the first two miles at 12:02 and reached the 5k in 19:10 including the largest uphill portion of the run. The big hill from mile 2-3 beat my legs up a bit and I was slowed to about 6:30 pace for the rest of the run. I could see that some of the pure runners were starting to work their way through the field once I reached the turn around at the first out and back. I knew that half the race was over and it was time to go to work. The HR started to rise quite a bit, a great sign so deep into the race. I was able to bring it up to 180-185 and settle into a pace for a few miles. We ran past the finish line and there was a 0.4 mi out and back that went downhill and turned around to come back uphill to the finish. I knew that if I could hammer down the hill without being caught, that all I would have to do is jack the HR through the roof and get home. On the uphill to the finish, I reached 191 bpm which is just about a max for me. The only time I have seen higher since I started Ironman training was in a pure running race of 8k or less. Certainly a new high for 10k at the end of an olympic. It was great to come through the finishing chute solo and wait for the resuts of the other wave to see if I had won my first big Olympic distance tri. Results were funny but it turns out that 2:03:45 was fast enough to win it that day. The weather held out great for us and I couldn't have been more pleased with the results.

Things are looking right on track for Musselman and Mont-Tremblant. I cannot thank Tim Snow and QT2 Systems enough for teaching me what endurance training is really about this year. I look forward to more PR and fun racing. I also would like to thank my friends and family for their understanding and support as I make sacrifices each week. I could not make it through the long, tiring, blocks of training without being joined by my awesome training partners and friends. I assure you that your efforts are in the back of my mind as I suffer in the late stages of a race. My trust in my run form is courtesy of RunSmart and the great work they are doing helping athletes become more efficient and less injury prone. Finally, I want to give a big shout out to my sponsor X2 Performance for believing in what I'm doing as they send me to Ironman Florida in November. Be sure to check this company out and use the coupon code "Daniel" at checkout for a $5 discount. I look forward to racing on the X2 Performance Triathlon Team for the remainder of the season.

*Places reflect standing within the race at the end of each leg, not ranking based on split time.

Base Phase Finally Completed!

This is the first season I have really followed strict guidelines for periodized training. I started the first of my base phases January 6 and followed my plan as closely as possible. If I weren't already, I became a master of time management packing my days full of teaching, taking graduate classes, training and acting as head coach of the Alden Varsity Swimming and Diving team. It was a miracle that some of the workouts were achieved. For a while, the only time I ran in the daylight was on the weekends. Every single weekday run I completed required a headlamp which was promptly traded for my bed sheets by the time the workouts was over.


The basic structure of my blocks are three weeks of building followed by a recovery week. At the end of each recovery week is a race to assess fitness gains. Three phases into my plan, I have been training for 12 weeks, have completed 3 running races (5k, 8k, 10k respectively) and am very much looking forward to some more exciting and taxing workouts. I'm sure I will be eating those words in no time at all as my zones creep beyond Z1.
I have never spent all my time training in specific heart rate zones and it was amazing to see the changes in my body throughout the first 12 weeks. At the start of training, I hauled my body, plump from a long hibernation, onto my Withings scale and was appalled to see the damage: 183.2 lbs, 12% of which were body fat. I started to drag myself through workouts, excited to properly build an aerobic base for perhaps the first time in my life. I was absolutely astounded to see that 8 weeks in my weight dropped to near race weight: about 173 lbs and 8% body fat. At one point, I recorded metrics of 170.4 lbs and 7.4% body fat. Never before have I been so sleek this early in the season; a fact that I am reminded of as I shivered my way  through the winter and continued to do so in March.

Swim: 16:52:35 / 51350 yds        4280 yds/wk
Having a background in collegiate swimming, I am used to pounding through 13,000 meters/day (roughly 8 miles)  over training trip in January. With respect to the training I know my body can handle, my swimming in base has been an absolute joke. With a total of 51,350 yards in 12 weeks, averaging 4280 yards/week, the pool and I have grown apart. 51,000 yards was a very manageable volume to swim weekly in college and 4000 yards used to be the point in a practice where my body finally started to loosen up and get ready for the hard sets. I understand that triathlon training and competitive swimming are a light-year apart, although I am very surprised with how smooth, balanced, and powerful I feel in the water despite my lack of time spent there. I most recently recorded a 4:21 400 yard TT where I negative split the swim, something I rarely do at max effort. This is a far cry from the 5:15 500s I used to repeat in sets, although this fitness has been achieved without intervals, speedwork, and obviously few hours logged in the pool. The swim is not something I am worried about at all in my races, I'm just glad to see it isn't completely vanishing despite my neglect of training in the water. Come August, I fully expect to see anything from 52-57 despite the condition I show up in. I'll let the rest take care of itself from here.

Bike: 83:54:32 / 1431.42 mi.     119.29 mi/wk 
Indoor cycling has taken on a whole new meaning for me this winter. I used to think that 3 hours in a week, done as three one-hour sessions was adequate. Once in my life prior to this winter I had suffered through 3 hours on the trainer and decided never to do that again and froze outside. I made sure I had the correct equipment this Winter. Many people get hung up on equipment and I am certainly one of them although I truly believe that with the right indoor setup, trainer workouts can be very enjoyable. Of my 1400 miles completed in base, I have only been outside three times, totaling roughly 150 miles. That left roughly 1300 miles on the trainer in 2013. If I can go as far as to consider myself a trainer veteran, I have a few suggestions to make your time spent spinning more enjoyable.
First and foremost, a nice, smooth, solid trainer is a must. The Kurt Kinetic continues to earn my seal of approval each and every time I lock into it. This trainer is expensive when purchased at retail, thank you chainlove (throwback!), but it is completely worth it if you plan to spend any kind of time on the trainer. The base is so solid that it doesn't even think about moving while I am pumping 1000+ watts into it during intervals.The flywheel is smooth and unlike any other trainer I have had the displeasure of using.First and foremost, a nice, smooth, solid trainer is a must. The Kurt Kinetic continues to earn my seal of approval each and every time I lock into it. This trainer is expensive when purchased at retail, thank you chainlove (throwback!), but it is completely worth it if you plan to spend any kind of time on the trainer. The base is so solid that it doesn't even think about moving while I am pumping 1000+ watts into it during intervals.The flywheel is smooth and unlike any other trainer I have had the displeasure of using.

In order to avoid scratching your eyeballs out and banging your head against your aerobars, entertainment is a must! I turned my basement into a multimedia command station that I can control via a bluetooth mouse without coming close to leaving the trainer. I can access Spotify, Netflix, movies on my computer, TrainerRoad, the television, bumping speakers, blacklights, and for a short while, Google+ Hangouts but more on that in a moment. It's amazing how a change in stimulus can help a rough hour or two in a four-hour ride pass.
One of the major keys in staying focused on my workout and not my misery was setting up a whiteboard with my goals and protocols for each workout. On my whitebaord, I include heart rate goals, low cadence efforts, 30-second pickups in all workouts over 1:00 and sometimes quotes. A 2:10 ride, which has happened more weekdays than I want to know, feels like 45 minutes when you're focused on keeping yourself in check, following the Sabres game, and setting up songs for intermission.
My most important trainer tip is to find company whether virtually or in real life. For a while, the Buffalo Triathlon Club had a number of members who logged onto Google+ Hangouts Thursday nights at 7pm so we could chat as we worked through our workouts. It was kind of a silly setup but it was really nice to know that other people were out there putting work in with you. The outfits, virtual props, and encouragement through tough intervals were also very much appreciated. While those sessions eventually faded out for whatever reason, they allowed me to become consistent and learn how to enjoy myself on the trainer. It also helps that two of my friends have their trainers and bikes set up in my basement and they like to jump on my on a regular basis.
Before I knew it, I was completing four-hour sessions, calling 2 hour weekday sessions "quick rides", and finding myself excited to jump on the trainer to hang out with some tunes and training partners. I was a little shocked to see that on a consistent basis, I was putting in 8-10 trainer hours per week. These hours are hours I will never get back in my life but I am sure that they will be very much appreciated once the racing season is upon us and I'm laying down some sexy numbers on the bike. The addition of a new member in my fleet of bikes will play a major role in my racing this year. She has been flawless so far and spoke her name during her first ride outside, GrAce!

Run: 46:10:55 / 334.14 mi.       27.85 mi/wk
The running volume has somewhat snuck up on me. Last season I was consistently running 35-45 miles per week from December through May. Those miles took a tole on my body and left my injured through October. My workouts are based on time this year and I'm rarely paying attention to how far I am running. A few weeks into my training, I realized that I was running 30+ miles per week and it felt like nothing. A focus on time, HR and most importantly running mechanics, has left me feeling happier, fitter, and much more healthy than previous seasons. My RunSmart analysis allowed me to focus on a few areas of my running to improve speed and resilience to injury. Running still feels the same (striking pavement, muscle stress, etc) however I can now tell how I am carrying the load of my body and I know what to look for to make sure I am not tearing down my joints. The new running form I have been practicing allows my calves to take the brute of the force instead of my knees and ankles. Obviously, this lead to more muscle soreness through the calves while adapting. By design, it also allowed my knees and Achilles tendon to heal and remain stress free.
The volume is sure to increase during my build phase but I am most pleased with how well my body is adjusting now that I have a proper aerobic base. During a typical training run of about 10 miles my heart rate used to hover around the 150 mark and I'd run roughly 8:00 miles. Now that I have rebuilt my base, I can run sub 8 minute miles over the course of a 90 minute run without my heart rate ever exceeding 146. When my heart rate climbs to 156, the pace looks more like 7:15-7:30. I have a long way to go to reach the level of some of my teammates who can run 6:50 miles in zone 1 but I also understand that my zones are a bit lower than theirs so I may never achieve those speeds in zone 1 but I will be able to match it at the same HR at some point.
The race schedule has been finalized and can be found on this blog. It was a tough decision but I decided to bite the bullet and race Rev3 Williamsburg, VA on June 23rd. I have heard great things about the Rev3 races and look forward to testing my fitness against a strong field. It is a little disappointing that the bike course is longer than your typical Intermediate race at 28 miles. I would have liked to look for a PR at the distance but I will have to compared results based on pace. I expect to be at an entirely different level of fitness by this race and shouldn't have a problem laying down a good race even considering I will not have more than a few days rest heading into it.