Measurements Matter

Good morning.

I'm looking forward to the long holiday weekend. Aren't you?

Training continues to go well as I juggle various event preparations.

My next event in Ironman 70.3 Branson. The swim is held in Table Rock Lake and the water temp is 78-83 degrees. In Ironman, a water temp of 78 or higher means NO WETSUIT.

This does make a difference. In a wetsuit you are very bouyant. All you need to do is lay down in the water face first and start moving your arms. No worries about sinking.

Without a wetsuit one needs to focus much more and work much harder. Especially in open water with many other athletes around you.

In order to prepare for this I did an open water swim in Lake Michigan on Wednesday. I decided to swim my regular route. But first I would measure the route as best I could. I think my Garmin has been tricking me in thing I was swimming longer and faster than I had.

I wanted to swim 1 mile. I walked with my Garmin along the swim route. Guess what. The Garmin had measured my swim as 1.41 miles or approx 2642 yards and I would swim this distance in 34 minutes.

The distance is acually 1760 yards or one mile. What a big difference. This is why I had high expectations heading to the Chicago Tri. Well, I'm not as fast as I thought I was. That's ok at least I know where I stand now.

So, I swam the 1 mile sans wetsuit and it was challenging. Especially in Lake MI. The swim took 39:30 which is 5-6 minutes slower than when wearing a wetsuit. Something new to work on.

Another ball I'm juggling is the LSD runs in prep for the Chicago Marathon. I want to fit these in but also stay fresh for Branson 70.3.

In that vein I did a long run yesterday. I decided to run 17 miles in the pouring rain. Running in the rain can be very enjoyable. The only negative is heavy shoes.

The run went well. The first 10 miles were on the slower side and then I wanted to test the legs by speeding up miles 11-16. Mile 16 I got it under 8 pace which was nice. Mile 17 was a cool down.

The legs felt very good and responsive. I could have easily gone 20 but thought to save it. The run looked like this:

Split Time Moving Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Pace Avg Moving Pace Best Pace Avg HR Max HR Steps Calories
1 0:09:24 0:04:03 1 0 5 9:24 4:03 7:03 113 126 0 59
2 0:08:43 0:04:57 1 10 0 8:43 4:57 7:07 131 160 0 58
3 0:08:39 0:03:46 1 3 7 8:39 3:46 7:11 126 130 0 60
4 0:09:06 0:03:47 1 0 3 9:06 3:47 5:28 120 128 0 51
5 0:09:18 0:04:32 1 0 11 9:18 4:32 6:52 118 127 0 46
6 0:09:08 0:04:56 1 9 9 9:08 4:56 7:59 118 125 0 48
7 0:09:24 0:05:04 1 0 0 9:24 5:04 8:47 116 123 0 44
8 0:09:21 0:04:41 1 8 8 9:22 4:41 8:51 118 128 0 45
9 0:09:28 0:03:33 1 88 73 9:28 3:33 4:57 115 124 0 44
10 0:09:02 0:04:02 1 0 0 9:02 4:02 6:36 120 127 0 45
11 0:08:31 0:04:05 1 7 7 8:31 4:05 7:04 126 134 0 50
12 0:08:46 0:03:47 1 4 0 8:46 3:47 6:58 127 132 0 52
13 0:08:50 0:03:59 1 0 0 8:50 3:59 6:44 130 135 0 56
14 0:08:34 0:03:27 1 0 4 8:34 3:27 6:21 135 138 0 60
15 0:08:14 0:03:58 1 0 10 8:14 3:58 7:18 141 147 0 64
16 0:07:52 0:04:43 1 8 0 7:52 4:43 6:57 148 153 0 69
17 0:08:44 0:04:32 1 0 5 8:44 4:32 7:35 144 153 0 70
18 0:00:02 0:00:03 0 0 0 11:21 12:59 8:54 144 144 0 0
Summary 2:31:14 1:11:55 17 137 142 8:53 4:13 4:57 125 160 0 921



-----
" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

* It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin