Tri-ing to stay young!

Yahoo! Finally - a swim without problems! I made two significant changes to my pre-race routine which I credit for my improvement: 1: I had a complete breakfast - 2 fried eggs, toast and coffee (5:00AM) and went for a twenty minute pre-race run (6:15 to 6:35). I had always blamed anxiety for swim problems but after yesterday, I believe that heart rate spiking was the real culprit! (I usually spike to 175 to 180 at the start of a run and feel stomach pressure from eating pre-race) The new routine seemed to handle both! My swim was slower than I would have expected seeing as how I didn’t have to hang on to the canoe this time. I seem to be stuck at 3min/100Km. The time is good enough for Ironman but I think that my rides would be better if I could get out of the water in a time that allows me to ride against faster cyclists, especially in Olympic or Sprint Distance events. My ride was okay but I wasn’t able to catch any of the males in my age group. My run goal was to do the full 10Km without stopping. (I usually do a walk-run) I’m not sure if I was any faster (+/-1:02) but I felt more satisfied for having run straight through. I’m sure that this run will change my mental expectations, which over time should improve my overall run performance. Overall time: 3:22 which was about 15 minutes slower than I was hoping for but having my first race with no issues in any of the disciplines sure makes up for the time. Hopefully, now that I seem to have my “problems” worked out, I can concentrate on times.
Talk to you soon;
Bill

I have attached my email to Coach Grant who made the pre-race suggestions:

Hi Grant
A quick update on yesterdays race: I had the 2 fried eggs, 1 piece of toast and a coffee for breakfast at 5:00; went for a 20 minute run at 6:15 and then for a 150M swim just before race time. The swim went flawlessly. My time was 44 minutes for 1500M. (I seem to be stuck at 3min / 100M.) I had no anxiety or most likely no breathing problems or heart rate spiking during the swim. My bike ride was okay but I’m sure that I could have done better if I was able to get out of the water sooner so I could have rode with the faster cyclists. My goal for the run was to do it without walking and I did it with the exception of 2 quick stops at the water stations. My overall time was 3:22 by my watch; about 15 minutes slower than I had hoped for, but each leg went without any problems so I should be happy. Once again, other than for a bit of lower back stiffness, I have no soreness today, which tells to me that I could have gone harder? How do I kick-start my brain to get better times?
I weighed myself pre-race and after going through the food line up and lost 1/2 lb. for the day. I consumed 1 bottle of Gatorade and 1 bottle of water, 1 “train-harder” bar and 1 gel during the race.
How would you suggest that I increase my output, especially on the swim? Based on my 2 4500M swims, I’m sure that I can maintain the 3min/100M pace for the 3800M Ironman but it would be nice if I could shave 10 minutes or so off of the 1h54m projected time. I haven’t done any weight training but intend to do legs and (shoulders?) for the next couple of weeks. Medium weights and high reps.
I was talking to a couple of people after yesterday’s race and they mentioned that they are taking their NUUNs every day to get their system used to it. Should I be doing this too?
As for new gearing, I can only find 12/27 cassettes. I currently have 11/25. Would 2 cogs at the low end make any real difference or should I concentrate on building my legs up? My quads are 30 to 40% smaller than before I started tri’s so I know that I can build them up over a couple of weeks.
I moved my cockpit up about an inch (max for this post) and it made a real difference. I was able to spend most of the 40K in aero position with no real neck discomfort. I’m going to play around with the armrests this week to see if I can get them a bit wider. I raced at 150PSI. I think that it made a bit of a difference especially of the downhills.
My transitions were slow but I don’t think that a minute or so at Ironman will make any difference.
See you in Penticton;
Bill