April was a very productive month for me. My goal was to continue to build my bases and since the weather has started to clear up and get warmer, I wanted to start getting some work outdoors in, especially on my bike. I signed up for three events over the month that provided a lot of hill work on my legs in a half-marathon race and bike ride. Lastly, I joined the Philadelphia Triathlon club's weekend trip to Jim Thorpe, PA to preview the Black Bear Triathlon course.
Bucks County Half-Marathon
The Bucks County half-marathon was held on Sunday, April 13th in Tyler State Park. The course consisted of a figure 8 pattern for the first eight miles and then there was a second loop on the bottom loop of the figure 8. The first five miles were pretty much downhill and fast (good Broad St prep) and I know I was doing a sub 7:00 minute pace. Then the hills started, they seemed long with a few plateaus but I got through them fairly well between miles 6 - 8. There was a nice downhill towards the Finish line which also was the start of the second loop so the downhill started again from miles 8 through 10. Then it was back up the hills again. The hills definitely slowed me up the second time around and I walked through two of the aid stations on the plateaus. Since I know what they looked like, they seemed shorter the second time around even though I ran them much slower. I cruised the final downhill to Finish and completed the half-marathon in 1:36:34 which was about a minute under my goal. The bigger surprise hit me later when I checked my result and found that I was 21st Overall and 2nd in my Age Group. I got to stick around for the awards ceremony to get a small plaque.
Fleche Buffoon Bike Ride
The Fleche Buffoon was another ride that I had targeted because of the elevation climbs during the ride. It had like 14 steep climbs in the 73+ mile route. Here's the course elevation profile:
Luckily the weather was great and I met a couple of guys that I rode with from the Philadelphia Triathlon Club. I think my first hill workout went really well as I tackled most of them fairly well on my tri-bike and there were two climbs (Miles 30 & 42) that I felt were much steeper than the rest, but I was able to make it up both of them on my bike. The second steep hill, I couldn't figure out which way to go at a small plateau and I ended up tipping over on my bike and spraining my wrist. That was the only downside to the ride so I had it iced and wrapped for a few days. We completed the 75 mile route in just over 5 hours and then headed over to the Triumph Brewery in New Hope for some good food, conversation and beers.
Jim Thorpe Weekend
Lastly, I signed up for the Philadelphia Triathlon Club's Jim Thorpe weekend to get a preview of the Black Bear triathlon course for the Half-Ironman that I am doing on June 1st. We camped out in cabins in a state park along a lake. They scheduled two rides for us while we were there. The first ride started on Saturday morning and was a 28 mile out and back near the park and people could do as many laps as they felt like. The course included a large hill which was fun going down but brutal going back up. I rode the first 28 mile lap with Chris and Michelle. It took us about 1:44 to complete the lap. Chris and Michelle weren't doing a second lap so I went back out on my own. I got a little lost at one point but ended up doing the second lap in 1:50 so I was happy with the ride. Upon getting back to the campground, I laced up and went for a six mile run on a trail in the park that ran along a stream. It was a nice gradual downhill on the way out which helped get my legs underneath and the uphill return wasn't too bad either. I felt like I got my first solid brick workout in.
Sunday morning we headed over to Beltzville State Park to ride the Black Bear course. I have to admit that I really didn't have my legs under me on Sunday after the brick workout on Saturday. Since Black Bear is also a two-loop course, I planned to do a single loop and try to do a longer run. The bike course is much hillier than I expected and the 28 mile route took us 1:55 that morning. It was much cooler and windier than the previous day and I think that contributed to our slower pace. I dropped my stuff off at my car and suited up to go for a run. I was hoping for an eight mile run but ended up only doing 4.5 miles. My legs were drained and part of the run course was closed so I packed it in. Two brick workout in one weekend was certainly a lot. My understanding from both bike routes that weekend was the total elevation gain is about what I should expect when I get to Lake Placid, just over a longer distance.
Here's a summary of my training mileage to this point:
| January | February | March | April | |
| Running (Miles) | ||||
| 2013 | 115.25 | 103.89 | 100.01 | 99.41 |
| 2014 | 112.52 | 117.22 | 138.07 | 102.58 |
| Biking (Miles) | ||||
| 2013 | 201.4 | 190.26 | 104.19 | 217.89 |
| 2014 | 309.8 | 281.37 | 355.29 | 410.49 |
| Swimming (Km) | ||||
| 2013 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 10.0 | 14.9 |
| 2014 | 22.2 | 19.7 | 25.3 | 27.0 |
May Training Goals
Now that the weather is warming up, my goals for this month are to ramp up my training volume, mostly on the bike and some running. I plan to be doing one solid brick workout per week that includes my long ride followed by a 6-10 mile run. In addition, I plan to start open water swimming at Camp Ockanickon again which is timed nicely with the Penn pool closed for a few weeks. Lastly, I'm also starting to practice my nutrition plan while on long rides. I'm told that I should be taking in 300-400 calories and hour during the Ironman so that's going to take some practice to see what I like and how easy things are to carry while I'm riding.
Upcoming race schedule
Phillies 5K - 3/22 Finished 24th place out of over 4,700 runners. Time 19:32, Pace 6:18 min/mile
Bucks County Half-Marathon - 4/12 Finished 21st Overall, 2nd Age Group, Time: 1:36:34, Pace 7:24
The Fleche Buffoon 75 Miles Bike Ride - 4/19 Completed in 5:10:37
Million Dollar 73 Miles Bike Ride - 5/3
Broad Street Run - 5/4
WPR 26x1 Relay - 5/17
Black Bear Half-Ironman - 6/1
ODDyssey Half-Marathon - 6/8
Lake Placid Training Camp - 6/19 - 6/22
Lake Placid Ironman - 7/27
Bucks County Half-Marathon - 4/12 Finished 21st Overall, 2nd Age Group, Time: 1:36:34, Pace 7:24
The Fleche Buffoon 75 Miles Bike Ride - 4/19 Completed in 5:10:37
Million Dollar 73 Miles Bike Ride - 5/3
Broad Street Run - 5/4
WPR 26x1 Relay - 5/17
Black Bear Half-Ironman - 6/1
ODDyssey Half-Marathon - 6/8
Lake Placid Training Camp - 6/19 - 6/22
Lake Placid Ironman - 7/27
That's all for this month. Next monthly update in early June after the Black Bear. Happy training!
