6/3 - 6/9 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

Pre-race @ Elkhart Lake Tri with brother-in-law

Another Wisconsin week is in the books, and as predicted a couple months back, this has turned into some of the worst training weather in existence. I'm not a wuss for weather, but my body certainly prefers nice weather and the only thing the cold and rain has done for me is make 65 degrees and cloudy feel like a tropical heat wave. Oh, and my bike handling skills have increased rapidly, but so have the number of hours I have spent doing bike maintenance in keeping the bike clean and ride ready.

As for specifics this week, it was more hard training on the body and then I jumped into a local Olympic race on Saturday morning up at the Elkhart Lake Triathlon. I was planning to do back-to-back races, but I invited a friend up for the weekend at that last minute and I promised that after 10am on Saturday morning that I would do whatever she wanted to do. This was my way of getting in a little forced rest similar to what I had before Ironman Cabo back in March, but in that case the forced rest was caused by sickness.

Unfortunately it took me a little longer than I expected to finish the race and it was more like 11am by the time I actually got done. The delay occurred because I suffered a double sidewall cut at the halfway point of the bike. The side wall cuts led to instantaneous blowout of the tube, and unfortunately for me it happened while descending while also having a little tailwind. At the time I was in 2nd place and about 30 seconds down from 1st, but at that instant all I could think about was not crashing, riding straight and steady, and not jamming on the brakes as I came to a controlled stop.

Running the 10K run course at the Elkhart Lake Triathlon

After coming to a stop and dismounting I got to work changing the tire. Although it has been about 2 years since I had a flat in race, I knew if I had a decent change I could still do very well in the race. I took the wheel off my bike - no easy task as it requires a hex wrench as I don't have quick release skewers - changed the tube, filled it up and put it back in the bike before 3rd place had even passed me. I thought that was pretty remarkable seeing that I came out of the water with 3rd place and he is an incredible biker. I would estimate it took me all of 1 minute and 30 seconds to change that tire, however I knew it likely wouldn't hold as I needed a patch kit for the sidewall failure. As expected the tube did not hold and that put and end to my racing. I waited it out for the support vehicle, got a new tire and tube, and road it in. I then ran the 10K run at an aggressive tempo pace, and then re-ran the course with my guest as a cool-down.

Post race with the newest triathlete in the family

The blown tire was a little bit of disappointment but that is part of racing, and if you race enough, you are bound to eventually have a mechanical. However the great news and a big part of the day is that my brother-in-law had a great time doing another triathlon, and my niece competed in her very first triathlon. I always wondered who the next family member would be to complete a race and I'm so very proud of my niece and hope she can inspire some more family members to give triathlon a TRI!!!

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 200 Miles / 21 hours 46 minutes
Swim: 31,824 yards / ~18 miles / 8 hours 51 minutes

Bike: 141 miles / 7 hours 9 minutes

Run: 41 miles / 4 hours 56 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes