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Jamestown Olympic Race Report

June 10th, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Triathlon - (0 Comments)

Jamestown Olympic Triathlon 2013 – June 8, 2013

Training

Here is what my planned and my actual training looked like. As you can see, they’re two totally different things.

I guess I’ve never enjoyed sticking to a training plan. I prefer to pop in for an afternoon swim on a rainy day when I know the evening session is going to be crowded, or do a long run when it starts to drizzle and the cloud cover is significant, or do a long bike on a nice afternoon. The numbers on the left are my long run distances for that week. 10% rule baby.

Jamestown Oly Training Plan and Actual Training Plan

As you can see, I planned to do a lot more running than usual to try to get my run times down. That didn’t happen. I also took a lot more rest days than planned.

My goals for the race were a 29 minute swim, 1:18 bike, and 53:00 run.

So here’s how it went.

SWIM

The swim was open water in the James River. The water was a little cool (and dirty) due to the heavy rains the day prior. There was also a current as the swim got further out into the river. The race director let people know to start on the right side because the current would drag you left. I took his advise and maintained a pretty direct sighting line. Some people didn’t and put in more effort than required. Overall, I finished as expected, but a still a bit slower than I had hoped. I really wish I could work on open water swimming more because it is totally different than swimming laps in the pool. Perhaps I should head down to the shore one of these days and get my dad to kayak beside me to practice.

Final Time: 31:09

BIKE

The bike course was mostly flat. I felt like I was pushing a pretty good pace most of the race. I wanted to push harder towards the end but felt a twinge of what could be a cramp coming on, so I decided that pushing it hard but then cramping up wouldn’t be worth it. My goal for the bike portion was 1:18 (maintaining a 19mph average). I actually finished a few minutes faster than that, and I barely trained for the bike. Go figure.

Final Time: 1:13:27

RUN

Just like the bike course, the run course was flat like a pancake. It was actually one of the nicer triathlon runs I’ve done, as a lot of it winded through forest paths and across expansive fields of wheat. It also helped soften the pounding that my knees would usually take. The heavy leg feeling wasn’t too bad after the bike and I ran what felt like negative splits. My goal for the run was 53:00 but I was a couple of minutes shy of my goal. If only I had followed through with all those planned track sessions and hill repeats!

Final Time: 55:09

Overall

At the end of the race, I had an awesome time. I did as well as I was hoping to and always enjoy finishing a great race. I took ten minutes off of my combined bike and run time from the last olympic distance race I did, and hopefully I can take ten more minutes off before my next race, Nation’s Triathlon, on September 8 in DC.

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Kinetic Sprint Race Report

May 16th, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Triathlon - (0 Comments)

Kinetic Sprint 2013 Race Report

This past weekend was the first race of the season and first race in over two years. I chose an easy sprint as a way to ease back into the sport after being injured for so long.

Swim- 750M

I wore a full wet suit and boy did I feel slow. While the suit fits fine up top, I have short legs, so water just sat in my lower body area when I was swimming and weighed me down. There was also a chop on the water so timing breathing was a little more tricky than in the pool.

Speaking of difference between the pool and open water, in the open water I just couldn’t get a feel for the water and my pace. A pool is consistent. A race in open water, not so much. I was shooting for a pace of around 1:40 /100m because it was something I was able to consistently do while I was training. However, at the end of the day, I landed up with a 2:00/100m pace. Super disappointing.

I think next race, assuming its warm enough, I’m going to go sans wetsuit or am going to try to get my hands on a better fitting, sleeveless wetsuit. While it may not be as buoyant, I’ll be able to feel the water better.

Total swim time: 00:14:56

Bike- 15.5 Miles

I was lucky enough to get to the race a day early and drive the bike course. I scoped it out and noticed there were really only two or three big hills that may give me a hard time. One long hill in particular had a decent downhill before it. I used that to my advantage to really get up some speed to make powering up the hill easier. It worked and I landed up passing about five people because of it. Yay. Overall I felt really good on the bike. There is just something great about passing people with fancy triathlon bikes while on my crappy road bike with clip-ons. I did about as well as I expected to and was happy with my bike time.

Total bike time: 00:49:18 Average of 18.9 mph

Run- 5K

I’ve never been a great runner. I ran track in high school, but it was mainly the 55m, 200m, and 400m. Nothing longer than that. No cross country, no long distance. I have been working hard to improve my 5K times but am always cautious of ramping up training because that is how I originally hurt my knee. For me, 27:15 was not a bad time, however, if I could drop five minutes from that time, I would have came in fourth place in my age group instead of tenth. Boo.

Looks like its time to head to the hills and the track.

Total run time: 00:27:15 or 8:46/mile

Overall

Overall I was happy with my performance. I am still at the same fitness level I was at two year ago, which is saying a lot since I had to take one entire year off. However, there is significant room for improvement and if I can drop five minutes off of my run time and a couple minutes off my swim time, I could be podium bound next sprint. Too bad my next races are olympic

kinetic sprint 2013, race report

May 7th, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Triathlon - (0 Comments)

A year and a half ago, I completely busted up my knee. Six months ago I started training again.

This Sunday I’m doing my first triathlon in two years, and I am so glad to be back.

I’ve found that over the past couple of months as I’ve gotten further into my training, I’ve been checking off a lot of those “You know you’re a triathlete when….” boxes. I always thought they were bullshit cliches, but here I am, realizing that they’re real. I now know I’m a triathlete because…(oh god, here it goes)

My baggage for any out of town trip includes running gear and goggles. Sometimes even a bike.
Bonk Breaker and Cliff bars count as a major food groups
I take more showers at the gym than at home
I’ve blown a snot rocket in public just out of pure habit (gross…sorry, I know)
My bike is worth almost as much as my car (but that’s not saying much for either of them)
I have more than one type of heart rate monitor
The idea of kona makes my heart skip a beat
I don’t spend money on workout clothes because of all the race shirts I have
My bikes take up more living space than my desk
I would rather own a pair of Sidis than a pair of Christian Louboutins
My collection of jerseys has grown larger than my collection of jeans
Late nights out have become not as fun. I need to wake up and train.
My favorite subreddits are r/running, r/swimming, r/triathlon, and r/bicycling
I have awful “farmer” tan lines.
I drink protein shakes in the shower.
I always have laundry to do. And none of it is ever “real” clothes.
I have an ongoing debate in my head of whether my next wheelset should have Chris King or White Industries Hubs.
I’d rather spend $200 on a new helmet than a new Michael Kors purse

Wow. This is embarrassing.

Post.

To finish what you

May 1st, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Life - (0 Comments)

I must admit that I’m god-awful at poetry. I could never get the hang of it. Even after a creative writing class, it still wasn’t something that came to me naturally. Which is why I had to chuckle a little bit when I saw this tidbit on the internet the other day.

Space is limited
In a haiku, so it’s hard
To finish what you

Fitting such intense meaning in a short 5-7-5 structure is difficult. You have to be concise, but descriptive. Imaginative, yet brief.

Here are some haikus I’ve come up for problems and events I face today. They definitely will not be as clever as the one above, nor even remotely good. But wtf, when was the last time you wrote a haiku…I think the last time I did was in middle school, right after attempting limericks.

They’re god-awful as I said before. But no one reads this anyways, so here it goes!

For shits and giggles

A foul stench lingers

Laughter at the computer

A bizarre haiku

For twenty-something life questions

Swingsets or paychecks

Youth is coming to an end

Choose stable or free

For Triathlon Training

Quads burn, Hamstrings ache

My body tells me turn back

Smile and cross the line

For Job Searching

Plugged into software

Keywords and auto-rejects

Hopes and dreams grow dim

For Summer in DC

Cool breeze and warm sun

The switch is flipped, June has come

Hot and muggy, yuck.

My App got Approved!! Yay for TriAlly!!

April 25th, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Triathlon - (0 Comments)

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh! Whoooooooooooooooo! Oh god I’m so excited. Ok, hold on for one second while I curb my enthusiasm….

Ok, I’m good now. I’m just excited because my app, TriAlly, got approved for sale in the App store. After teaching myself objective-c for the last few months, I started on building an app for myself, because what better way to learn then to throw yourself into the fire? It was hard and there were times where I was frustrated beyond belief. There were also times where I was ecstatic after getting a feature to work after working for hours on it.

Development of TriAlly Was Kind of Like a First Round of Golf

I’d equate my first experience to a first game of golf. The first game of golf you ever play is frustrating to say the least. You’re cursing yourself when you can’t sink that putt or you shank your drive into the woods. But then you hit that perfect shot and you’re hooked. You don’t care about the rest of the time when you were making double pars. When you finish your first round, all you want to do is get better. Building TriAlly was something like that.

Features of TriAlly

TriAlly, aka your ally in triathlon training, lets you:

Find new workouts based on discipline, how long you want to go, and how hard you want to go
Calculate expected finish times for races based on paces for each discipline and transition
Check all the latest triathlon news
Find races nearby
Makes sure you don’t forget anything for your next race with the use of handy checklists

I learned to use a lot of features such as UIPickerView, sliders, rss feeds, web views, scroll views, etc. I know I only brushed the surface of the potential apps one could create. I didn’t even get into CoreData and other advanced features.

But there’s Still Work to Do

Now I know that simply putting out the app isn’t the end of things. I’ll have to keep updating workouts, adding features, and fixing bugs. Maybe I’ll even create a PRO version, as my current app is free. We’ll see where it takes me. I guess I have to get a few downloads first

If you want to download TriAlly, and why wouldn’t you want to, you can download it from here or search for TriAlly in the AppStore and download it from there.

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The ONE Thing. Can it Really be this Easy?

April 22nd, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Life - (0 Comments)

What is the ONE thing you can do such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unneccesary?

This one simple question is the premise behind Gary Keller and Jay Papasan’s (and my new favorite) book, The ONE Thing.

A Concept So Simple, It Must Work

The concept of the book is just as simplistic as its title. We need to pick the one thing that is most important to us in terms of work, relationships, faith, and personal life and devote focused time and energy towards it.

Our lives often seem to be centered around multi-tasking, to-do lists, and frequent distractions that keep us from doing the things that are the most important. While many of us would prefer to concentrate on one thing at a time, we are rarely able to. Keller and Papasan make a strong argument for putting your focus towards a sole goal, rather than spreading yourself thin across many unnecessary tasks.

They argue that once you find the one thing you need to do every day to help you work towards your one big goal, the goal becomes more realistic and attainable since it is broken down into manageable chunks. In a nutshell, your one someday goal breaks down into management time periods. It goes like this:

What is the one thing I want to do SOMEDAY?
What is the one thing I can do in the NEXT FIVE YEARS to get me to my someday goal?
What is the one thing I can do THIS YEAR to get me to my five year goal?
What is the one thing I can do THIS MONTH to get me to my one year goal?
What is the one thing I can do THIS WEEK to get me to my monthly goal?
What is the one thing I can do TODAY to get me to my weekly goal?

So, What is Your ONE Thing?

The hardest time I had with this book was determining what my someday goal is. I have thought about it lightly, but have never really narrowed down my focus. I usually think, oh, I want to run my own business, or oh, I want to complete an Ironman, or hey, if I live in Hawaii and surf everyday someday that would be pretty cool. I don’t think that this was the authors meant when they asked to determine a someday goal.

I think my problem here is that I’m thinking too small for my overall goal. Focusing on one thing a day can surely result in some big things happening. Here are some lofty goals I’ve come up with. You may thing they’re crazy, but isn’t that kind of the point?

Become a tech mogul, not just a female tech mogul, but someone who can play with the big boys. Focus on creating software that can really help change and enhance people’s lives.
Write a book that becomes a New York Times Bestseller. Spend my mornings writing, my afternoons skiing or at the beach, and my evenings winding down with a glass of wine and a good book.
Run an event company that puts on events that help people to challenge themselves and see that their once thought limits don’t really exist. Make it so that all can enter, not just those who can afford $800 entry fees and ten thousand dollars plus worth of equipment. (Ironman anyone?)

Breaking it Down

Ok, so let’s say I decided I want to become a bestselling author. Lofty goal, eh? I’m not sure if I have the skills to do so, but using the principles of The ONE Thing, I can at least figure out how I would get there.

What is the one thing I want to do SOMEDAY?
- I want to write a book that makes it onto the New York Times Bestseller List.
What is the one thing I can do in the NEXT FIVE YEARS to get me to my someday goal?
- Publish a first novel, non-fiction, children’s, self-help, or young adult book through a publishing company.
What is the one thing I can do THIS YEAR to get me to my five year goal?
- Learn storytelling, character development, and composition through the completion of a novel or non-fiction book.
What is the one thing I can do THIS MONTH to get me to my one year goal?
- Outline a novel or non-fiction book based on brainstorming completed in the weekly goal.
What is the one thing I can do THIS WEEK to get me to my monthly goal?
- Begin brainstorming for topics or stories I would enjoy writing about
What is the one thing I can do TODAY to get me to my weekly goal?
- Determine what my favorite stories are and why I like each one of them

In principle, its simple. Today I can figure out why I like certain stories, which could lead me through all the steps of becoming an author over time. Breaking down the process and really visualizing the process makes the end goal more achievable.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Hey, NYT Bestseller list, I’m coming for you. Mwahahahaha.

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The Top 5 Places I’d Like to Live

April 8th, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Life - (0 Comments)

So, I’ve been living in Washington, DC for the last few years. While it’s been a great time filled with free museums, cherry blossoms, running and biking along the potomac, and hiking at Great Falls, I’m thinking about exploring a new locale when my lease is up at the end of this year. So far, I’ve narrowed it down to around five places, so I now present to you, the top five places I’d live to live right now.

The top requirements I have are:

Access to the outdoors, whether its mountains or a beach
Walkability, congestion free driving, or public transport-ability to groceries and restaurants
Rent of less than 2Gs for a typical one-bedroom apartment (so basically no NYC)
Sunny days are more prevalent than rainy ones

1. San Diego

Mountains AND a beach AND beautiful weather

Where else can you wake up in the morning to go surfing and then go mountain biking in the afternoon? While the cost of living here may be higher than average (and lots of taxes), it may be worth it for that extra bit of happiness every day when you wake up and see the beautiful ocean and mountains in the background. There are also plenty of other twenty-something young professionals that keep the place interesting as well.

2. Kailua-Kona, HI

Swimmers in the ocean along ali-i drive in Kona, HI

A beautiful spot for a morning swim

Where else can you get small town charm with so many activities to choose from? The only place I can think of is Kona. A quaint town on the sunny side of the Big Island and the home of the Ironman World Championships. Plus the coffee…..ohhhhhh the coffee. Sooo good.

3. Fort Lauderdale, FL

The best of the east coast and west coast

I must admit, growing up in Jersey has given me an affinity for the east coast. Fort Lauderdale seems to combine the laid back lifestyle of the west coast with the go-getter attitude of the east coast. Plus, its rather beautiful if you ask me….and closer to mom and pops than some other locales on this list! Although I don’t think some of the houses in the picture would go for less than 2K a month

4. Lake Tahoe, NV

Lake and mountains and beer and bluegrass

While this one may be missing a beach, it makes up for it with awesome skiing. The opportunities for exploration seem limitless. Kayaking, skiing, fishing, swimming, mountain biking, climbing, you name, this place seems to have it. Although I’m not sure how it would be for meeting tons of new people compared to the other locations on this list.

5. Charleston, SC

Charm and southern hospitality in Charleston, SC

This place has charm. It is close the ocean, has tons of options for entertainment, and its residents exude southern hospitality. The only drawback is the muggy east-coast summers, but when I can go check out an art exhibit, sit by the ocean, and go golfing? So why would that matter?

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Competition in Triathlon App Land

February 25th, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Life | Triathlon - (0 Comments)

A Triathlon App

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on an iPhone App for triathletes. Its a pretty simple app that has a workout finder based on type of workout, difficulty of workout, and length of workout, a race time based on pace calculator, a news from various triathlon blogs, as well as resources such as race checklists and motivational tidbits, although I didn’t originally plan on having these features. Originally it was only the workout selector part of the app, which looks something like this…

Uh-Oh!

Last week I completed the workout finder portion of my app. Prior to putting it on the app store I decided that I would take a look at the other triathlon related applications on the app store and to my surprise, there was a workout finder that was very similar to the workout finder I had created (which wasn’t there during my initial research). I felt a slight sinking feeling and probably said some explicative out loud that my mother wouldn’t approve of.

I guess I have some competition…and two ways to handle the situation.

Move On or Move Up.

I could decide to mope and curse the person who had the same idea as I did and stop working on my app. Or I can keep working on it and make it better than theirs. I’m not the kind of person to sit around and mope over something so silly, so of course I’m going with option two.

So far, I have the workout selector completed, although I still need to work on filling out the database with enough workouts and am currently working on the module where users can input their average pace and determine how they would finish a sprint, olympic, half, or full ironman based on those paces. My strategy is to make a full-featured triathlon app, which doesn’t yet exist on the app store and make it free (ad-supported) which is something almost all of the competition is not doing.

I’ve always followed my rule of not doing something that everyone else is doing, because if everyone else is doing it, its probably a crowded environment with a lot of want-tos. I’m going to pivot my app to something no one else is doing and hopefully reap the reward.

app, apple, appstore, Triathlon

Returning to Running After Injury

January 31st, 2013 | Posted by nniroclax in Life | Triathlon - (0 Comments)

Oh-M-G

I am so slow.

Every stride burns. Not even my carefully selected, highly upbeat playlist can get my feet to turn over faster. And those slight inclines? They may as well be Mount Everest. But I guess its all just a part of the process. The process of getting back into running after a forced year off.

After injuring my IT band in November 2011 during a half marathon, I just started running again around December 2012. I’ve been running again for around two months now and while it sucks, it also feels so good.

Running is my livelihood and without it, life just seemed so much, well, its hard to describe, but I guess you could say slower and less upbeat. Right now, even a painful three miles feels better than sitting at home watching reruns of “Say Yes to the Dress” or “Property Brothers”.

My average pace on a four mile run yesterday was above 11:00/mile. A year ago, even my shag jog would have been faster than that. While it is disheartening, I know that I will eventually get back to a place where I can go run for a care-free, pain-free hour.

For me at the current moment, its not worth stressing out over my times because I know that if I do and I push myself too hard, then I’ll just be right back at square one, unable to walk because my knees hurt too much. I must take this time to gradually build things back up again, and not worry about how embarrassingly slow I’ve become, because like, really, I am like, soooooo slow, ya know?!

But I am perfectly fine with that.

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