Thread: Heading to sprint distance tri in Ft. Lauderdale

Sunday, 9/17/06
CB Smith Park in Ft. Lauderdale
.25 swim / 10 bike / 3.3 run

My goal is under 1:10 with major improvements in the run over my last races. I've been training 9-11 hours a week for the last three getting ready for a series of Olympic distance tri's in October and November.

I also just put a set of aero bladed deep race wheels on the bike that my shop asked me to test along with a reduced diameter tire. They are aluminum, and aside from the aero advantages, these weigh significantly less than my stock wheels. I have not trained on them at all and am only trying them as an experiment for the shop owner. I don't even know the manufacturer!

This is also my first time traveling away from home to race, so it's my first chance attempt at not forgeting anything and a new pre-race routine.

I'll post results on Monday.

Good Luck, and how do you get the local bike shop to let you "test" things? I'll be heading down to mine for the first time next week to rent a road bike for my first sprint tri.

Trust me,
I spend lots of $$$ at the bike shop between myself on my training buds. You develope a good relationship with them when you refer your training buddies over and they all buy expensive road bikes. I'm trying to hit them up for a sponsorship, but that's harder than I thought.

The wheels are Focus 20/20 with Michelin pro 23X700 that have a measured diameter closer to 22mm. They are blue sidewalls, not sure if anyone has tried these. I haven't been able to ride yet as it has been raining all afternoon.

The wheels have 16 bladed spokes and a rounded inner lip. They look cool..we'll see. I did a search on line and couldn't find anything on them.

This week, my training was as follows:

Bike - 2:30 minuutes
Run - 1:36 minutes
Swim - 1:30 minutes
weights - 1:30 minutes
stretching - 1:00 (using videos 15 minutes a day and 30 minutes on day before race)

Add a liitle over an hour on the race, and I'll be at my target for the week. I took two days off before the race except for stretching.

My group is having our usual pre-race party tonight. We eat some whole wheat pasta and do a jagermeister shot for good luck. I don't know if that helps, but it sure tastes good!

Originally Posted by sfricks

Knock 'em dead guys! 1:10 is humpin' and 10 hrs/wk training!!! I'm barely getting that for my Ironman! Great job. Looking forward to Sun/Mon post from you!

As with Chappy, my Sprint is next week. Best of luck to you Chappy.

Thanks for all the tips, Scott. I got some easy laces yesterday and those things are awesome. Good luck on your sprint.

Didn't make my goal, but this course was much slower than my home course.

8:07 / 2:59 (t1) / 32:31 / :39 (t2) / 28:43

The bike course was over 11 miles and made 4 laps around the park, so slowing down at all the turns really slowed my bike time. So much for aero wheels and thinner diameter tires, I needed the wide ones for traction on the turns! It rained all night, so the course was wet and sandy at all turns. My previous fastest time on a 10 mile race was 30:49, so maybe 2 minutes off wasn't bad.

My previous best time on a 5K run (3.1 mi) was 28:41, so running a 28:43 on a longer course makes me feel that the training is paying off. I'll spend alot of time turning myself into a runner this month. I start some speed work with my coach this week at the high school track.

The swim was nice. A fresh water lake is very different from open ocean swimming. No waves slamming you in the face. That was my fastest swim time to date.

The run to transition from the lake was a 500 yard sidewalk with gravel and rocks throughout. That was interesting.

It was nice trying a new venue. Next up, The Escape from Miami Olympic distance tri [ TRI MIAMI! ] in October.

Scott,
The Olympic tri in October drops us off on an island in Biscayne Bay. We have to swim .7 miles to a park near down town and run to the bike. The biking and running take place on Miami Beach.

The November Olympic tri is the one that runs through Miami Metro Zoo. Here are the links to both incase anyone wants to travel.

TRI MIAMI! - This is the Escape Challenge in October

Welcome to Multirace.com - You can find the MIAMI MAN event on their listing as well as the past years events.

As for the bike,
I was happy to have the drop bars on my road bike. I have been looking at a tri bike with bar end shifters and "short bars", but I see where the road bike came in handy this time.
The focus wheels are being sold in his shop for $300. They actually look pretty cool, and I'm going on a long ride this week to test their "aero" advantage over my stock wheels. I know my speedo is usually showing anywhere from 19 MPH to 22 MPH when I'm riding what I would call my normal speed in the aero position on flat roads without much wind. If I get on it, maybe 24-25, but I can't keep that speed for miles on end. While riding the longest stretch of open road at the race, I saw 23 pretty steady on my speedo, so I'm interested to see if there is a real advantage there. Compared to the $1800 Xentis wheels or the $1950 Zipp's I was dreaming about, these will have to do for now. I just hope there is some advantage.