April 2014: Training Ramblings......Running? What's That?

As the title of this post suggests, running was lackluster this month and that would be an understatement. With Ironman St George 70.3m on the first weekend of May, preparation wasn't exactly ideal but cycling has been a blast and I feel the strongest in many years on the bike. So much so that I actually hit over 1000 watts in April for the furst time ever...for a scrawny triathlete I am pretty pleased about that!

In total I raced on the road three times - the All American Road Race Cat 3 race which was just forgettable for the ABRT team. We had the team but some errors lead us to miss the major break of the day, pretty much the only team that did so we were literally playing catch-up for the rest of the race and couldn't make amends.  By the end of the race (60miles) I was totally gassed and just about held onto the group.  The combination of a lack of  longer miles and just hard work in the middle of the race made it one tough race.

A couple of weeks later at the Carl Dolan Circuit race, it followed the typical pattern of the standard industrial park race with a few futile attacks, some squirrelly crashes and then a gallop of a sprint finish.  I made a few futile attacks, missed the crashes and declined the gallop.....I did my best to get an ABRT'er to the top ten so not all was lost.

The final race of the month, which will be the last for a while was the Melford Circuit race....with it being just 2 miles from the house you can't not race really! As Carl Dolan, this is your typical industrial park circuit race with nothing of any note to separate the field aside from some amped up racers all wanting to hurtle round at 26mph for 45mins.  Want to know what that looks like?  take a look at ABRT Cat 3 Captain and general Sprint King as he orders his team around like a BOSS! (Capt. Hogan starts barking at about 2:00mins in but look for the good #sockdoping from me)




All in all a good and fun month.  Road racing takes a hiatus for May as IM St George takes over as well as visits from both set's of parents in the coming weeks.....besides I probably should start running a bit more in prep for these triathlons!

April Total: 678.55 Miles / 38 hours 9 minutes

Swim: 4,130 yards / ~2.35 miles / 1 hours 19 minutes

Bike: 657.7 miles / 34 hours 37 minutes

Run: 18.50 miles / 2 hours 13 minutes

Carl Dolan.......

Saturday started off with a nice 65 mile ride at D-Ville at a relatively relaxed pace. Considering the weather it was a low turn-out but most people were either racing at Syn-Fit or saving their legs for Carl Dolan on Sunday. I managed to get a 25 minute run in after the ride so was all good. The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the BBQ in the evening.....shopping, grass cutting, cleaning the grill from the 2008 season, food prep! It was all go, but the BBQ was a hit and I think Sarah's cupcakes were the final bit of carbo loading that everyone needed (esp. as all attendees were racing Carl Dolan!).

I was racing twice on Sunday, the Cat 3/4 and the Cat 4/5. Fortunately there was a few hours in between the races for recovery. I hadn't raced a Cat 3/4 race since way back in 2006 at the Giro Di Coppi and so I wasn't expecting much other than just hanging in. The first few laps I found myself sitting too far to the back for my liking....the concertina effect isn't too good for me and I was spending way too much energy getting back into the bunch after the one corner when it gunned to the 40MPH mark. I gradually moved up and about halfway through the race was close enough to the front to actually close some gaps and cover a couple of moves. It was then down to the last few laps and time for the Team Latitude/ABRT to help Steve Wahl win his 2nd race in as many days. I rolled over the line in the bunch, pleased with the workout (not often you can get a 27MPH average for an hour).

The wind had kicked up a bit for the Cat 4/5 race, and with only 15 Cat 4 guys in the field of 75, I was looking for some points and prizes! The plan was just to sit in the field and then see what was going on in the last few laps. About 5 laps in (of 12) and after Stu had finished his solo break attempt (good photo opportunities apparently!), a group of 7 got off the front and looked as though it might be a bit dangerous. It was then that we started to chase and fortunately it didn't last too long or take too much effort to get the "groupo compacto".....Ty was able to roll off the front for a prime, although I think it may have gassed his finishing sprint slightly. No breaks stuck for the rest of the race as most that went just got stopped in their tracks by the surging pack and the winds. Coming into the final 1km, it was the usual mayhem and with the uphill sprint, guys were just dying all over the place. Stu stayed strong for 2nd place, Fabrizio grabbed 15th (3rd Cat 4) and I was in 19th (4th Cat 4). So mission accomplished in terms of grabbing some points and prizes ($35) and also two good workouts. The ride home didn't workout as the skies looked like they had rain in them and the car looked way more comfortable!

Next up is Bunny Hop and then we have the first triathlon of the year at the New Jersey Devilman 1/2 Ironman on May 9th. I think I might squeeze in a Greenbelt during that week as well.