Ishigaki Report

Ishigaki 2009 happened last Sunday, and I am quite satisfied with the result. Overall 2:36, with 30:00 swim, 1:15 bike (pb) and 51:00 (pb) run. Before you say anything, let me point out that this is an overall PB for me, with 7 minutes less that my prior OLY distance in Choshi 2008.

Training was pretty light overall as the early season date (26 April) meant that this was pretty close to the end of the ski season (which as many people know, takes precedence for me over triathlon). I started running a little bit (2 x 30 minutes per week) about 12 weeks ago, and despite the low volume and intensity (this was merely a job), this helped me shaving 4 minutes over my previous run. Ski and leg strength training must have helped keep the mechanics in good shape, and the light running would have restored some of the required endurance. During the last 2 weeks, I did a few bricks with the triathlon group, doing repeats of run after bike to get the feeling of the run after the bike.

During Ishigaki, the run part was a little rough to start with, but very quickly (within 1k) became reasonable comfortable, ie within the range of my usual comfort.

The bike split was pretty good for me as well. This is 5 minutes faster than my prior split in Choshi, and Ishigaki 09 had a pretty long transition (a least 2-3 minutes run to reach the transition) so I think this pretty good. In comparison, the fastest age grouper this year completed the bike in 1:04, so my 1:15 is within reasonable range considering my current ability.

The swim was the part I actually lost ground over last year. My Ishigaki 08 swim split was 28' and I think I managed to get this down to 27 or 26 in Choshi. Doing 30' on Sunday was a little lame, and this basically reflect the total lack of training (baring 3 or 4 sessions) in the pool.

Overall race was awesome, with the whole NFCC team and my wife, and this is a great motivator to get back into triathlon training for the season. I'll make Choshi my A race this year, with 1 or 2 intermediate races before then to keep me in good check. I am currently building a training plan to improve both the running and swimming, hopefully significantly, while also making some small improvements on the bike. I'll post the training plan soon, watch this space.

Drole de velo

Last Sunday in Oi Futo, there was a guy with a custom made "bike". Let's just say that he was not unnoticed.

I didn't ride next to him so don't know how fast he could or couldn't go with his contraption but he seemed to be able to stick with his group.

Now it turns out, if you follow the web link on the side of his bicycle (http://formula-cycle.com) that there are many many bikes like these, and the competitive scene of the recumbent bike seems pretty active... 

Could this be an off season (when there is no triathlon) cross training sport?

Bike fit complete. Now I have to deliver...

Today Ben from T1bicycles.com finished my bike fit. I had started last week spending some time with him to get my road bike adjusted the best possible for aero position.

It's amazing how a few ajustments make a huge difference on confort on the bike. In the end, it's only a matter of a few centimeters here, a few millimete

rs there, but the result is quite stunning.

I highly recommend to an

yone who feels (s)he is not as confortable as s(he) could be on the bike. Check Ben's website for more details.

So next week is Ishigaki Triathlon, and I should have no excuse to do a slow time on the bike split now I have my bike sorted.

A couple of notable changes: the seatpost and the saddle are new. The position is a lot more forward than previously, and the Adama saddle makes the ride more confortable as well.

Another nice trick I learnt is to use the bottle holder to store a bottle shaped box to store the repair kit and the spare tube. With the new saddle my old pouch doesn't fit well, so this is a nice way to replace this.

To blog or not to blog

I guess the question needs to be asked. Why the hell do I need to get started on this? Trend? Fashion? Maybe... Something interesting to tell? well, you'll have to judge, but that seems far fetched. Anyhoo, I am here, and so are you, so I guess that's too late to be shy.

I'll try to cover a few of the  things I am interested in these days. One of these is food. Food as in nutrition. Nutrition as in, what is the ideal nutrition program for a healthy and fit lifestyle. Some significant changes hapenned in my life related to fitness and nutrition, and I think this is worth telling.

Stay tuned!