In many ways I am dissatisfied with my spring season. I only raced 3 times (Galveston 70.3, Kemah Aquathon and Tri-Tyler Half) and none of those races were at the level I was hoping for and believe I am capable of. Despite lackluster results one big improvement that I'm very pleased with is my swimming. Even though my biking and running have not been up to par I'm pleased that my swims in races have been consistent with the level I feel I'm at in training. I'm not swimming exceptionally fast but I am swimming consistently, and much faster than I was last year which is a big step forward for me.
To highlight this fact I created a graph based on my swim at the Kemah Triathlon (turned Aquathon) a month or so ago. Comparing the times of the pro's who competed in 2012 and also in 2013. One side represents 2012 and the slope represents an improvement or decrease in performance to 2013.
It's hard to compare swim times directly for various reasons. The course isn't measured the exact same, wetsuit versus non, different current or amount of chop. However, what I think you can compare is a CHANGE in times across the board. If the majority of top swimmers swim 10-25sec faster than they did last year then you know the course is probably 10-25sec faster. Most of the good swimmers don't actually improve much year-to-year because they are already fast. I was pleased to see that my swim improved by 5.4 % compared to last year while the majority of swimmers only improved 1-2%.
At Kemah where the waves were quite big and I had to employ my porpoise skills just to see the shore-
The storm the night before had actually blown over the big archway at the swim exit so our instructions before the race were to- "swim towards the light." The point of all this is that I've had no issues sighting during races thanks to, ZOGGS USA. I stumbled across these goggles last year and immediately loved them. The "predator" model that I use is sleek and gives you great visibility. On top of that they are super comfortable and I don't feel like my eye balls are being sucked which is always nice.
I'm in the middle of my mid-season break right now and enjoying some down time before ramping up for the fall. No more long course racing for me this year! I'm going back to the Olympic distance. My whole goal with doing some of these longer races was to give me some strength and a good base of fitness that I haven't had before. Even though the results weren't what I wanted I know that strength will pay off when I go back to the shorter stuff. I have a nice little line up of sprints and Olympics starting in August and I'm looking forward to finding some speed again!
A big thanks to Sock Guy, Superfeet for supporting me and making my training and racing that much easier. I have had no issues with blisters this year or shin problems thanks to my feet being taken care of and supported. Fluid Nutrition is still the best recovery and during exercise drink I've found and I probably drink wayyyyy too much of the tropical recovery drink.
My wife and family is awesome too so thank you guys!
