After Timex 226 last December 1, 2012,
I decided to take a couple weeks off to let my body recover from the
months of long distance training/racing. Once I felt recharged, I
veered away from my structured training program; instead, I just
focused on maintaining some level of fitness and prevent excessive
weight gain from the holiday season. I wanted to have a mental break
from my training routine without getting too “out of shape.”
During the start of the year, I decided
to focus on my weak links for triathlon racing. I noticed I lacked
short end power. For the couple of years I've been racing, sprint and
standard distance races seemed to be my Waterloo. I couldn't produce
the speed needed to perform well at this distance. I assessed what
was wrong and noticed that I lacked strength but had a huge aerobic
engine. To remedy this, I focused on muscular strength and anaerobic
efforts.
I spent the past two months preparing
my body for the upcoming season. Sessions were short and intense; the
effort level was really high and recovery between sessions was very
critical. During this phase, I primarily focused on efficiency and
form. Once this is at an acceptable level, I started to lift weights,
do short time trial efforts and I also did some sessions purely
focused on generating force (big gear work, paddles, hill repeats
etc.) Since racing was still out of the picture. I focused on getting
the “dirty work” done rather than maintaining form for my races (where form=fitness-fatigue).
I decided to try out Yellowcab-Triclark's DIY Duathlon series. Race fees were minimal (mainly for the marshall's salaries). The race was a hammerfest; it consisted of a 5k run, a 30k bike ride, and a 2.5k run. Though the distances may seem short, intensity was through the roof. I was on the limit for around 80% of the race. During the first run, I already had trouble hanging with the legends Abe & Jumbo Tayag, Hiroshi Takei, and Rondee Aquino. I already knew the bike was going to be difficult as I felt my quads tightening with only 10k into it. During the second run, I was barely hanging on. I tried to run as fast as I could knowing there's a medical team nearby if I collapse. Despite all this, I'm glad I made the 2 hour trip to Clark as the race was one of the best "bang for your buck" races. A Php200 reg fee entiled you to a great race, and post-race food from the Taco Truck of Edward Ifurung. Of course, racing/training with TriClark wouldn't be complete without hanging out over a few beers.
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| Jumbo, Abe, John V, Rondee, Me, Hiro |
A few weeks later, when I did my first tune-up race last
February (NAGT Leg 1), I immediately reaped the benefits of my new
training regimen. I was able to cut around 16mins from my finish time
last 2012, I was even lucky enough to finish first in my age-group.
This gave me some more confidence that I was on the right path; I
tweaked my program a bit to address some areas that are falling
behind.
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| Jay, Me, Paolo M., Chin |
My next race was the Ateneo Aquathlon
last March 3. Even though, this event wasn't one of my strong suits,
also resulted in a PR as I cut my previous time down from 33mins to
31mins. I was outclassed in this race as I was only able to get 2nd.
Nonetheless, I was really happy with my performance especially since
I went into it with a lot of fatigue.
TriUnited 1 last March 10 was a race I
was really looking forward to. It was supposed to take place in
Laiya, Batangas, which from experience, was a really fast course.
Calm waters, flat bike and run route had the makings of a PR-friendly
course. When the organizers transferred it to Subic Bay, they decided
to make a relatively flat course compared to SuBIT. This seemed like
another fast course though it would be tougher than Laiya.
Going into TU1, I decided not to taper
or rest much since I was feeling good all week and kept on nailing my
sessions. By Thursday, I was starting to regret it as I felt like I
got hit by a car. Needless to say, I wanted to do well for the
weekend, so I scheduled a session with my friends at Peakform in
Bonifacio High Street. They treated my problem areas (calves, quads,
knee) and assured me that I'd be ready for the race on Sunday. They
explained to me the cause of my soreness and gave me tips/remedies to
prevent or ease the pain.
Race day was something quite familiar
to me. I cant count how many races I've entered but I always feel
pre-race jitters. There's always that feeling of anxiety and
excitement that you just can't control nor explain.
The Swim
It was a mass start for the Standard
Distance participants. I knew this was going to be trouble because of
the sheer number of participants. The small swim course wasn't going
to help either. I positioned myself towards the front as I always do
hoping to put some distance between me and the main pack. Once the
signal went off, we ran, dove and sprinted into the water. For the
first 100 meters or so everything felt great, I was in a good
position and I was able to maintain a fast pace. Suddenly, I got
kicked in the face which dislodged my goggles a bit. It was no big
deal, I could still see a bit and decided to continue swimming. After
a minute or so, I decided to fix it and everything spiraled down from
there. As I was attempting to re-fit my goggles, I mistimed my
breathing and it caused me to ingest some water. This really took me
out of my rhythm, the body contact from the other swimmers also took
its toll on my swim technique. I decided to hold on to the buoy line;
this turned out to be a bad idea as my heart rate shot up. I had
trouble recovering; it took me a few moments to regain my calm and
swim properly again. When I realized how far behind I've fallen back,
I felt a sense of urgency. I hammered my last loop and tried to chase
the front pack.
The Bike
Going into T1, I aimed for a speedy
transition to offset the mistakes I made during the swim. As I
mounted my bike I immediately went into overdrive and hammered down
from the airport road going to Argonaut Highway. I kept on pedaling
for the downhill portions and reached close to 60kph for some
segments. I tried to stay aero for this windy course as I stayed
tucked and almost never went on my bullhorns. There were some
segments though where I would go out of my saddle to climb or when I
wanted to make a quick pass or surge. My goal for the bike was to
trim down the lead so I could be within striking distance for the run
leg.
The Run
Off the bike, I felt okay. Legs weren't
cramping up though I did feel somewhat exhausted from the effort on
the bike. It took me a kilometer or so to get my rhythm dialed in and
built the pace from there. I tried to maintain proper form with my
Newton Distance S shoes. With these shoes, I had to emphasize
mid-foot striking and proper stride length. I've been doing well with
these shoes in this training and knew that I could rely on them
during race day. I committed to a 4min/km pace for most of the run.
Since It was relatively flat, I developed a steady yet hard rhythm
without going too anaerobic. I caught up with a few guys who were
ahead of me and kept on pushing hard all the way. During the final
segments of the race, I increased the pace to sub 4mins and just gave
everything I had in the tank. After crossing the finish line, I was
surprised to find out that I had actually beaten my NAGT PR with a
2:19:02 finish time. I had no regrets, I gave it my all even when
things looked bleak. I didn't expect to finish first especially after
getting left behind on the swim leg.
Post Race and Awarding
Another good part of racing is seeing
your friends, training buddies, and teammates. It's always fun to
catch up with them after the race; this is the time to exchange
stories, share experiences, and make plans for future events.
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| Iah, Me, Kevin |
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| #WU boys represented very well! Retzel, TJ, Bobby, Javy, Erick, Drew, Elmer, Me |
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| Team Secondwind (new faces for 2013!) |
Photo Credits: Yellowcab-Triclark, Ateneo Aquathlon, Bike King Philippines, Triton Sports, Pet Salvador
