So here I'm with my new TT position. I droped my stem to a negative 27. Previously I had a negative 18 I beleive.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Xterras and MTB Races
I wish I could race regular triathlon as I do in this types of events. So far I have done 3 MTB races and one Xterra and they have been an absolute blast. The atmosphere is way laid back and super friendly. I hope I'm not coming across as a typical "the triathlete" when I'm at this races. I make an effort of talking to everyone and giving good wishes to all competitors. My results have been better than I expected this year. I have some strenghs that helps in this types of endurance events, I just have to develop them this winter season. I'm be looking forward to next year's events where I will have some focus training in Xterras and MTB races. I will continue doing regular triathlons but I will not kill myself on them.
Go Xterras!!!
Gregory
Go Xterras!!!
Gregory
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Memphis In May Triathlon
It was a pretty good week leading to MIM Triathlon. I was sore until Thursday from Panama City Half but looking forward about racing again. By Friday I was ready to hit it hard again so that was a sign that my recovery was almost complete, at least mentally. I decided to camp out again like last year but this time with my mom and my 4 year old son. Saturday before I left I decided to do a short brick, I went out and did 45 min on the bike and ran 2 miles. The whole short workout felt great I was able to feel quick on the bike and run 6:40 miles after that(also a good sign of recovery for me) Around 2pm we headed to Memphis and set the camp by 7pm.
It was an interesting night since Lance always acts like he is on speed. This was his first camp trip so he was really excited which translated into too much energy for me until it was time for bed time. That's why I'm in endurance sports to keep up with him and maybe race him in another 10 years. We watched Surf's Up the kids movie and by 9pm we were falling asleep. We had a good night of sleep and I was up and ready to go by 5:30 am when all the cars started to arrive into the racing area. It was a 2 min walk to set up my stuff in transition, geting extra sleep is one thing I love about camping at this race so far. I defenetly recomend that to anyone trying to save some money.
I was ready to go right after I finished taking my Fast Twitch performance drink by cytosport(favorite and highly recomended brand). I did a 5 min ride and the legs felt great I knew I had something that day. Then went for a shor 3 min jog and headed back to get my wetsuit on. I was the person #101 to hit the water, it was cold but my stroke felt great all the way through the swim. At time I could not beleive I was moving so well that I was afraid of going any faster. Came out at about 22:XX not bad for me, a 2x per week swimmer.
T2 went real smooth and I just jumped on my bike and started to hammer. The first thing was to get moving adn let the legs go for it. The bike section starts on a down hill so you move quickly then. After that you hit a few rollers and is flat all the way. I was moving well despite the intense head winds for the entire bike. I gave a good test to my new TT position since the winds did not stop for th entire time on the bike. I was able to finished strong setting a new PR: of 24pmh at 1:01:xx. heading towards t2 I did my usual nad was out of there in a heart beat.
I ran my first mile under 7 min and all i wanted to do was control that pace and keep it that way. The first mile is mostly flat there at MIM but as soon as you hit the mile 2 you hit a little wall then 2 more. there was the reality check, mile 2 went over 7 min. After mile 2 I had a guy running behind me and that created a little mental push for me, that plus the combination of the tightness in my quads was good to keep me mentally focus. The heat was getting to me by mile 3 but notice that the guy had stay far back, so that gave a me a little boost of confidence. The hill at mile 3 is another little wall that you don't expect because you come from a very good down hill. Hitting the turn around a new there was the long incline that can take whatever you have left by then. I was able to go over the last up hill until mile 4 and still feeling good. After I hit mile 5 I could hear a couple of people coming behind me moving quiet fast. One of them was the guy who I had droped at mile 2. It was a good come back since he was doing low 7 while I was doing just under 7:20. I tried to pick it up but i did not have much left in me. Having only one bottle of gatorade was not the best idea, but I know that for next time I should have at least a bigger bottle. I coul d see the finish line and as normally do gave all I had until I crossed the finish.
I came in at about the same time as last year, felt better enjoyed more and did not hurt as much.
My experince is improving and the system of doing a half ironman a week before may change next year. I want to be faster at this particular race distance so droping the other event may be the best option. Good race for the results will be back in 09.
See you next time
It was an interesting night since Lance always acts like he is on speed. This was his first camp trip so he was really excited which translated into too much energy for me until it was time for bed time. That's why I'm in endurance sports to keep up with him and maybe race him in another 10 years. We watched Surf's Up the kids movie and by 9pm we were falling asleep. We had a good night of sleep and I was up and ready to go by 5:30 am when all the cars started to arrive into the racing area. It was a 2 min walk to set up my stuff in transition, geting extra sleep is one thing I love about camping at this race so far. I defenetly recomend that to anyone trying to save some money.
I was ready to go right after I finished taking my Fast Twitch performance drink by cytosport(favorite and highly recomended brand). I did a 5 min ride and the legs felt great I knew I had something that day. Then went for a shor 3 min jog and headed back to get my wetsuit on. I was the person #101 to hit the water, it was cold but my stroke felt great all the way through the swim. At time I could not beleive I was moving so well that I was afraid of going any faster. Came out at about 22:XX not bad for me, a 2x per week swimmer.
T2 went real smooth and I just jumped on my bike and started to hammer. The first thing was to get moving adn let the legs go for it. The bike section starts on a down hill so you move quickly then. After that you hit a few rollers and is flat all the way. I was moving well despite the intense head winds for the entire bike. I gave a good test to my new TT position since the winds did not stop for th entire time on the bike. I was able to finished strong setting a new PR: of 24pmh at 1:01:xx. heading towards t2 I did my usual nad was out of there in a heart beat.
I ran my first mile under 7 min and all i wanted to do was control that pace and keep it that way. The first mile is mostly flat there at MIM but as soon as you hit the mile 2 you hit a little wall then 2 more. there was the reality check, mile 2 went over 7 min. After mile 2 I had a guy running behind me and that created a little mental push for me, that plus the combination of the tightness in my quads was good to keep me mentally focus. The heat was getting to me by mile 3 but notice that the guy had stay far back, so that gave a me a little boost of confidence. The hill at mile 3 is another little wall that you don't expect because you come from a very good down hill. Hitting the turn around a new there was the long incline that can take whatever you have left by then. I was able to go over the last up hill until mile 4 and still feeling good. After I hit mile 5 I could hear a couple of people coming behind me moving quiet fast. One of them was the guy who I had droped at mile 2. It was a good come back since he was doing low 7 while I was doing just under 7:20. I tried to pick it up but i did not have much left in me. Having only one bottle of gatorade was not the best idea, but I know that for next time I should have at least a bigger bottle. I coul d see the finish line and as normally do gave all I had until I crossed the finish.
I came in at about the same time as last year, felt better enjoyed more and did not hurt as much.
My experince is improving and the system of doing a half ironman a week before may change next year. I want to be faster at this particular race distance so droping the other event may be the best option. Good race for the results will be back in 09.
See you next time
Friday, May 23, 2008
Panama City Triathlon
Gulf Roast Triathlon as it called by people who have done this race before. I was not concerned about the heat on the race, the thing that had me worried was the ocean and the wind. Thursday when we arrived there were waves up to 3-4 feet high. I was thinking this is going to be a challenge for most people, but I like the swim for it to be that way.
My nutrition and hydration were where they needed to be and I felt good about my preparation for this race. We went out to eat the pasta from the same restaurant we ate last year, except this time the same good salad dressing which is very popular at this restaurant gave me some stomach cramps right after I got done eating. That is all I needed the night before the Half Ironman. It did not go any further than the cramps but I felt like I could not eat more late that night. Anyhow, the ocean was still looking rough by Friday afternoon after the expo the waves were smaller. I was hoping that by Saturday morning it would be much better.
Saturday morning as I woke up I was doing a mental evaluation of how my body felt, no sore or tight muscles, pee was clear, I was ready to go. I was in a hurry to get down to the race start with my heavy bag and nutrition stuff. The cytomax milk shake and muffin were exactly what I felt like eating. I don't like trying to get food down in a rush before a race. I walked on the beach towards transition a good 5 min walk, checking the water that was still looking rough with some clouds covering the skies. I got to transition and in no time I had everything set up. I put my 2 gels on the bike with tape and finished eating part of my muffin as I walked down to the starting line. I saw some of my competitors by the beach getting into the water and I did the same as we all warmed up, it was cold and the current was just looking challenging.
Before the start I saw my wife and mother in law who took a good shot before I jumped into the water. I was in the front as we hit the water, 10-20 strokes later I feel my heart rate higher than normal and my breathing out of control. Going over the chops and over people I started to get somewhat anxious. I told myself to calm down and get into a rhythm but it took me at least 150-200 yards for me to do that. The whole swim I felt like I was just looking over waves and swimming almost with half of my upper body out of the water. I finally came out in 33:xx and ran pretty good into t1.
As I take off on my bike and look down I notice that my 2 gels were missing, the humidity had made the tape to come off. So I lost the gels I normally train with. I did not think much about it since I knew they will have some on the aid stations. I just had to make sure I would catch then on my bike . At the same time I notice that my bike computer did not work so I had to play it by feel, I was hoping to have a way to pace myself with it, but I also had to improvise with that. We had a good tail wind for the first half of the bike, just before the turn around I felt great passing people and people passing me. But I was moving well, I just needed to maintain that to be able to reach my predicted time. Too much of that as soon as we hit the turn around there was this strong head winds. A girl was passing and I could not let her passed me that easy, so I went around her but she came back. We were passing each other back and forth for at least 8-10 miles she was not giving up.
Looking at my time I was shooting to be around the same time I had last year. But I felt short by about 3 or 4 min. I came in into t2 around 2:34 and my legs felt great. Great meaning I could run better than I did last year. So my race goal was under way. To run as far as I could without stopping since I had been fairly conservative on the bike. On the run the heat started to get to me so I just kept drinking and eating in each station, I passed people that had blown by me on the bike. That gave me that extra push I needed at times. I ran my first mile @ 7:14 pace a bit to fast for my entire 13.1 course pace. I decided to keep running by feel and let the heat slow me down. I knew it was going to be a matter of minutes before that happened. Mile 2 went around 7:45 and things after that went around 8:14 to 8:45. I kept it up until about mile 4 where I started to walk but my goal was to run as much of the 13.1 mile as I could. By the time I got to mile 8 all I was saying to myself was to keep going until end without walking, I did that but I paid the price at mile 12. By then I could not eat any more oranges and my legs felt very very heavy. Anyhow, it took me 13:49 to go from mile 12 to mile 13.1. It seem
ed for ever and it was, most people were talking about being 13.49 miles instead of 13.1.
It was nice to seat down and eat some piazza, Pepsi and hang out with my family that were there waiting for the entire time while I was out there racing. They keep me going for everything I do, including this hobby of mine. Real endurance athletes they are.
Finally done, I was totally wasted, hurting and thinking to myself I can't do this anymore, this is not my race distance, while looking at the results by the food area. My time was 7 or 8 min slower than last year at 5:07. Not very happy with it, but considering I did not train as much as the previous year and that the conditions were harder I should say it was a good outcome. Never had another thought about not coming back the next year after my race soreness wore off, so here I will be again if things work out well.
Be safe and see you at Memphis in May
Gregory Garcia
My nutrition and hydration were where they needed to be and I felt good about my preparation for this race. We went out to eat the pasta from the same restaurant we ate last year, except this time the same good salad dressing which is very popular at this restaurant gave me some stomach cramps right after I got done eating. That is all I needed the night before the Half Ironman. It did not go any further than the cramps but I felt like I could not eat more late that night. Anyhow, the ocean was still looking rough by Friday afternoon after the expo the waves were smaller. I was hoping that by Saturday morning it would be much better.
Saturday morning as I woke up I was doing a mental evaluation of how my body felt, no sore or tight muscles, pee was clear, I was ready to go. I was in a hurry to get down to the race start with my heavy bag and nutrition stuff. The cytomax milk shake and muffin were exactly what I felt like eating. I don't like trying to get food down in a rush before a race. I walked on the beach towards transition a good 5 min walk, checking the water that was still looking rough with some clouds covering the skies. I got to transition and in no time I had everything set up. I put my 2 gels on the bike with tape and finished eating part of my muffin as I walked down to the starting line. I saw some of my competitors by the beach getting into the water and I did the same as we all warmed up, it was cold and the current was just looking challenging.
Before the start I saw my wife and mother in law who took a good shot before I jumped into the water. I was in the front as we hit the water, 10-20 strokes later I feel my heart rate higher than normal and my breathing out of control. Going over the chops and over people I started to get somewhat anxious. I told myself to calm down and get into a rhythm but it took me at least 150-200 yards for me to do that. The whole swim I felt like I was just looking over waves and swimming almost with half of my upper body out of the water. I finally came out in 33:xx and ran pretty good into t1.
As I take off on my bike and look down I notice that my 2 gels were missing, the humidity had made the tape to come off. So I lost the gels I normally train with. I did not think much about it since I knew they will have some on the aid stations. I just had to make sure I would catch then on my bike . At the same time I notice that my bike computer did not work so I had to play it by feel, I was hoping to have a way to pace myself with it, but I also had to improvise with that. We had a good tail wind for the first half of the bike, just before the turn around I felt great passing people and people passing me. But I was moving well, I just needed to maintain that to be able to reach my predicted time. Too much of that as soon as we hit the turn around there was this strong head winds. A girl was passing and I could not let her passed me that easy, so I went around her but she came back. We were passing each other back and forth for at least 8-10 miles she was not giving up.
Looking at my time I was shooting to be around the same time I had last year. But I felt short by about 3 or 4 min. I came in into t2 around 2:34 and my legs felt great. Great meaning I could run better than I did last year. So my race goal was under way. To run as far as I could without stopping since I had been fairly conservative on the bike. On the run the heat started to get to me so I just kept drinking and eating in each station, I passed people that had blown by me on the bike. That gave me that extra push I needed at times. I ran my first mile @ 7:14 pace a bit to fast for my entire 13.1 course pace. I decided to keep running by feel and let the heat slow me down. I knew it was going to be a matter of minutes before that happened. Mile 2 went around 7:45 and things after that went around 8:14 to 8:45. I kept it up until about mile 4 where I started to walk but my goal was to run as much of the 13.1 mile as I could. By the time I got to mile 8 all I was saying to myself was to keep going until end without walking, I did that but I paid the price at mile 12. By then I could not eat any more oranges and my legs felt very very heavy. Anyhow, it took me 13:49 to go from mile 12 to mile 13.1. It seem
ed for ever and it was, most people were talking about being 13.49 miles instead of 13.1.It was nice to seat down and eat some piazza, Pepsi and hang out with my family that were there waiting for the entire time while I was out there racing. They keep me going for everything I do, including this hobby of mine. Real endurance athletes they are.
Finally done, I was totally wasted, hurting and thinking to myself I can't do this anymore, this is not my race distance, while looking at the results by the food area. My time was 7 or 8 min slower than last year at 5:07. Not very happy with it, but considering I did not train as much as the previous year and that the conditions were harder I should say it was a good outcome. Never had another thought about not coming back the next year after my race soreness wore off, so here I will be again if things work out well.
Be safe and see you at Memphis in May
Gregory Garcia
Monday, April 28, 2008
Scenic City Triathlon
I can't say everything turned out the way I wanted to. I got to the race site only 25 min before my race was supposed to start and I rushed until I got into the water. Very stressful up to that point. I decided to make the race more enjoyable to make up for that. I did have a good performance with the amount of effort I gave that day. my resting week helped and the nutrition technique also worked. I can't wait until GCT in 2 weeks. Here is a picture of how I pimped the bike.
See you again soon.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The start
I think I have done plenty of training thus far to start working on my reports for this triathlon season. I have spent tones of time on that trainer with the Powertap that logging workouts becomes fun, but that has helped a lot. On this day it was snowing and a trainer sesion was perfect.
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