Vacation in St Maarteen

No bike, nutrition, or wetsuit packed this time. We spent an amazing long weekend in St Maarten (Caribbean), away from NY and from triathlon for once. Taking the "offseason" seriously, not watching what I ate or drank (it's good to enjoy a beer once in awhile!), and no swimming, biking, or running involved ( except for the casual swim in the beautiful turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea). 

Off season - Muffin ride with Mariesa!

With the offseason officially kicking in this week, it was time to dust off the Tarmac SL Pro, put on the GoPro, and enjoy some easy ride with Mariesa.

An easy ride starting from the Palissades Park near the GW bridge. Some rolling hills led us to 9W where we rode North towards Piermont, NY for a delicious Chocolate muffin and hot chocolate at Bunbury's.

No Power, no intervals, no aero position to focus on, simply riding. I barely looked at my computer, which felt good. I miss the intensity of training, but I need those down times to enjoy cycling.

IM 70.3 Worlds - 79th in the WORLD!!

PR! PR! PR!!

I could not have hoped for a better way to wrap up my season! IM70.3 World Championships in Mt Tremblant, Quebec, offered a spectacular venue and I took full advantage of it! 

I finished in 4:13:10, 12 minutes and 7 seconds faster than my previous PR! To top it off, I finally had a great swim (for a non-swimmer) and reaped the benefits of many hours in the pool. 

In a nutshell, before my race report, here is how I did:

Swim: 28:03 - about 3 minutes faster than my previous PR @ 2013 IM 70.3 Miami

Bike: 2:13:37 - 25.1mph, and about 4 minutes faster than my previous PR@ 2013 IM 70.3 Miami

Run: 1:25:41 - about 6 minutes faster than my previous PR @ 2014 IM 70.3 Eagleman

IM 70.3 World Championship, Mt Tremblant, Quebec (Canada)

IM 70.3 WC - Swim and get Coffee half way in!

Beautiful day out today on the shore of Lake Tremblant. Perfect for a pre race swim in a clear and safe lake.

Water temperature is around 69F, which is, to me, ideal wetsuit conditions for Sunday's race. The temperature is supposed to drop tomorrow and Sunday, but that should not affect the water temp too much.

They have a boat 300 to 400 yards out where they offer free coffee to all swimmers passing by! Swim out, do your thing, and stop by on the way back. I should have done that!

Well, check out the swim start this morning

World Championship Week! Arrived in Mt Tremblant, Canada

It's race week again!

And this time it's the last Tri of the season with Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada.

After spending Labor Day weekend in Lake George, NY where Mariesa completed her second Olympic tri of the season, we drove up to Canada yesterday for IM 70.3 Worlds.
We stopped in Montreal for lunch and arrived in Mt Tremblant around 4. Though still quiet, you can tell the village is getting excited for the event. Ironman signs everywhere, the Ironman village is already up and the transition area is already set up. Awesome!

Mt Tremblant is beautiful! The village is very charming, with lots of restaurants, shops, and a gondola that takes you over the village and up at the top of the mountain behind it. You see hydro planes landing in Lake Tremblant, Canoe and kayak rentals, hiking and MTDing trails all around. All that adds up to the quintessential cliche I have of Canada. Everything is at walking distance. the locals are (so far) very nice and welcoming.
A nice surprise awaited us at our rental: a deer was patiently waiting for us to feed it with carrots.

My pre & post workout breakfast this am

Have you ever had that crazy obsession on 1 topic that you cannot think about something else?

 

Well, aside from my obsesssion for triathlon, I've been trying to understand why eating breakfast is so important. Here is what I understand from reading the net...

 

There's no right way to fuel before and after a morning workout, but the consenus is that you should never skip breakfast!

 

Breakfast is an important meal that allows your body to replenish its reserve of glycogen (energy storage) in your muscles that are depleted from last night's workout (glucose used to repair muscle damage, ect...trainingpeaks.com). Glycogen is also stored in your liver, which breaks it down into blood glucose, a vital source of energy supplied to your brain and other organs.

 

Add some morning workout to your routine before work and your reserve in glycogen lowers even more, hence the importance of replenishing those reserve with a solid breakfast. You'll do good to your body, speed up your recovery (muscles will have the fuel they need to recover), and improve the quality of your next workout. 

 

Here is what I had this am before my swim workout. It's not a routine, but I find it helpful to have 2 breakfast to optimize my workout and recovery:

 

Before my swim

 

- A cup of coffee (admittedly heated it up from yesterday)

- A Chobani passion fruit yogurt

- A banana.

 

All that approx. 1 hr before my workout. I felt great throughout my workout and could have done more.

 

Breakfast Round 2 to help refuel and replenish some of the empty tanks with:

 

- 16oz. Of cream of wheat mixed with granola and fruits

- A large coffee

- A banana

- 10oz of OJ. 

Rooftop Pain Cave - Quality session on the trainer

First time on the trainer since the 1st week of July (I believe) and I forgot how painful it could be.

Especially when you have to push at around 105-110% of your FTP!

Training session was as follows:
30min WU
4x
4min @ FTP - 2min Rest
2min @ 105% of FTP - 60" rest
2min @ 105 of FTP - 2min rest
5min cooldown

Massive Stretch!

Sometimes it's not about quantity, but about quality. It was 80 min total, but 80 min of high quality training where I managed to hit all my target wattage and stayed focused the entire time. I gained confidence after IM Zurich and it showed tonight. 10 more days of intense training before 1 taper week and Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Mt Tremblant, Ca.

The legs started to burn after the first set, and became really painful at the end of the second.
The rest of the session was all about mental focus and will. I struggled hard in the last set. My #1 support +Mariesa Carrow met me for the last set.

We had Tacos for dinner! :) Delicious!