In an effort to not let this blog go to waste, I’m going to attempt to post here and there during the offseason. I’ve had some time to process since my last race as well as rest. I haven’t swam or biked but I have continued to run, which is what this is going to be about. I fought burn out for most of the summer. I had some great quality and volume in my training at the beginning of the season but my numbers trailed off pretty bad towards the end of the season which was bad. Both my 70.3s were at the end of the season. Anyway, I decided no swimming or biking until January. I wanted to get the passion back. I’m already starting to itch to get back into tri training. Which is a good sign.
The main thing I learned from this past season, and the one thing I’m going to make big strides to change, yes pun intended. My run. I ran great in the two sprints I did, but still struggled a tad. I ran ok in the oly’s I did. Both were hard courses that I fared well on. I ran flat out terrible in both 70.3s, 1:55 and 2:08. Both times are slower than my first ever ½ marathon, 1:54, which I ran in clunky 10 oz training shoes in pouring rain without stopping to walk. I walked a ton in both 70.3s. Now I knew that I would struggle with this distance since it was new to me. I struggled with the Olympic distance two seasons ago but did much better this past season. So I’m expecting to do much better next year.
My stride. Leading into Augusta I had some calf/soleous/ knee pain from the shoes I changed to. I also had major knots in my right hip flexor all season long as well as low back pain and sciatic pain. My legs were always sore if I did any type of long run and most of the time felt beat up. It was around this time that I started researching shoes and I found Newton (www.newtonrunning.com) I knew something needed to change. Don’t get me wrong I love my K-Swiss Kwicky’s but I knew I needed to change my shoes and my form. As I began to research natural running on Newton’s website it didn’t take long for me to see the value. It wasn’t the bright colors of their shoes that sold me. It wasn’t the cool technology that sold me. It was the testimonials of countless runners that had made the switch and were now running without knee, hip, and back pain. While in Augusta I saw several athletes running in Newton’s. They all had crazy defined calf muscles. Why did I pick this out? Well I have nice calves, but not like they did. That’s because they were using a natural running motion which puts much greater use on your calves. I was more of a heel/mid foot type striker, so my calves didn’t do as much work.
The shoes are quite expensive and I couldn’t buy them right away, and actually still haven’t bought a pair. I will in two weeks though. However, I knew from reading all the advice online and talking to a training partner who happens to be a Newton Certified coach, that I would have to ease into this. What I knew for some reason didn’t translate into what I did. I ran 1 mile on September 26th to get the soreness out and to test the running motion. It was awkward. On September 28th, 3 days after Augusta, I went on a three mile run. I had reviewed the natural running motion…found here http://www.newtonrunning.com/run-better/optimal-running-form and I had watched a few videos, and I had my 1 mile attempt of it. Of course I knew Craig Alexander was a Newton runner and we know how awesome he is. So I had a pretty good idea how the form should look which gave me an ok idea on how to execute the new running motion. Most people said to only try the new motion for ½ mile to a 1 mile at a time, a few times a week. I tried it for the entire 3 miles of my first run back. I had to switch back to my old form 3 or 4 times to let my heart rate drop. I didn’t run slow like suggested. I tried to run my normal paces. Natural running requires a much higher cadence than my old stride did. So my slow pace was spiking my heart rate because of the higher cadence. After that run I was sold. Yes completely sold, after one run, and without even using the shoes. I was sold on the motion. Despite the run being difficult because of my heart rate. I noticed my legs felt great. They didn’t feel like I had run 3 miles. Heck they didn’t feel like I had run at all. That’s the benefit of the natural running motion. It is much more efficient and less damaging to your legs. The next day my calves were pretty sore. Yeah, way to go bonehead. That’s why they say ease into it. My second run was on a lunch break with a new running buddy who is more of a jogger. He’s in his 60s. It’s good for me because it forces me to just go slow and enjoy the time on my feet. I had a lot of soreness but did the entire run without switching to my old form for a break. The next day I ran 8 miles!! I took 30 seconds at the 4 mile mark to catch my breath and to let my heart rate go down. I ran this entire run with the new motion. The following day I ran 6.2 miles with my Ragnar team. The pace ranged from 10min to 4:53. So this run was all over the place pace wise. My calves hurt on this run for sure. But being a full blooded American male running with my new team I had just met and my brother. I sure could bow out or not accept the speed challenge from my brother. So in the first 7 days of attempting the natural running motion I had run 5 times for a total of 21 miles! Including 3 days in a row which I NEVER do. Because usually I’m too sore and drained to pull off multiple days in a row. I was over joyed that legs felt great. I didn’t feel like I had run three days in a row. I didn’t feel like I had run 5 out of 7 days. My hip didn’t hurt my back never flared up. My calves…WERE STRAINED. I mean completely shot. I have having to ice and wear compression socks at this point. But continuing to be hard headed. I took one day off to let some of the soreness subside.
On the following Tuesday I went out for 7 miles with speed work. I knew within 10 feet of leaving my driveway that my calves were not ready to run. It was stupid in all honesty and I’m lucky I didn’t tear them. Not only that, but I was in my racing flats so I had less cushion. But I pressed on. I did a two mile warm up, then some mile and half mile repeats then hobble jogged home. All of this was with the new natural running forefoot strike. I haven’t used my old running form since the very first run. I took another day off then ran, painfully, a moderate 5k, followed by lots of ice and compression. Another day off. Then I ran with my running buddy again at lunch. That was last Friday. I had a 10 mile run on my schedule for Saturday but finally got smart and listened to my severely strained legs. I took this past Saturday and Sunday off but still iced a few times. Yesterday I ran 3 miles and my legs were much better. My calves were probably at 95%. But yesterdays run is what made it all click for me. A twitter friend posted this video (http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/craig-alexander-running-analysis/ ) a 10 minute analysis of Craig Alexander’s running form compared to Chris Lieto’s. Chris runs like I used to, and Craig runs like I’m attempting to now. It was the perfect way for me to see the old vs the new. It showed me the one piece I wasn’t quite getting right, and the reason that my calves were so strained. Newton uses the 3 L’s. Land Lever and Lift (http://www.newtonrunning.com/run-better/land-lever-lift) . I had the land and lever part down. But until last night’s run I didn’t have the lift. They tell you not to excessively push off of your toes, but to lift your foot off the ground. Once I saw the analysis video and heard them explain how Craig uses his hamstrings it clicked. I went out for my run and although I felt awkward, I got it right. and like all the runs before. My legs felt great during and after and they feel great today.
So that’s my ramble for the day. I’m going to start working with a running coach in November and I think with the new running motion and the coaching that I will be quite different next tri season. I’m pretty excited about it. Until next time, happy training and racing to you all.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Augusta 70.3; When dreams don't become reality
I ended my 2011 triathlon season this past weekend with the Augusta IM 70.3. This was my second IM70.3 but technically my first. My first was IM Steelhead 70.3 but the swim was canceled so I don't count it. It was more of an expensive training weekend.
Anyway, why the title you say? I had looked forward to Augusta since August of 2010 when I decided that I wanted to make it my A race of 2011. So over a year of anticipation. I told myself that as long as I stayed healthy then I would be more than ready. Famous last words. About 4 weeks before Augusta I changed my shoes up but not my mileage. I didn't realize I had changed from a neutral shoe to a mostly neutral with some stability type shoe until it was too late. Yes I should have researched but I've never really payed much attention to shoe types. LESSON LEARNED. After the first long run I had strained my calf and soleous and was unable to bear weight. I should have known it was my shoes when I couldn't tie the injury to any specific incident. So of course I kept trying to run and just had no improvement. My training dipped pretty badly. 2 weeks before Augusta I was contemplating not even going because I wasn't sure what the injury was and what damage I would do in competition. I ran a total of 10 miles that week. One week before Augusta I ran 6. I knew at this point my A race was shot. I had barely trained on the run for nearly a month. My goal had been to run a 4:40 but that was replaced by just finishing the race.
Race Morning
It was kind of a blur. I woke up at 4:30, 3:30 my time. I need to pick A races that are in my time zone haha. Went downstairs and had some breakfast, eggs and a waffle and drank some gatorade. After that I headed downtown to catch the shuttle to transition. This was the first race I had done where the start, finish, and transition were not in the same place. But the volunteers did a great job and the logistics were flawless. When I got to transition I dropped my stuff off and then went to meet a twitter friend. We talked at his bike for a few minutes before I headed back to set my transition up. As usual I was not nervous. Once I had set my transition up it was time to throw everything I would need after the race into my "dry clothes" bag and head to the second shuttle to get a ride to the swim start. I got to the swim start about 3o minutes before my wave. So I dropped my clothes off and jumped in the porta potty line. Now that I had taken care of that it was time to head to the start, which was now 10 minutes away. No time to stretch. I got my wetsuit on and into my wave about 5 minutes before they ushered us onto the dock.
Swim - 1.2 miles 24:28
This was a pretty fun swim for two reasons. It was all down river and it was wetsuit legal. So it was like floating on a small raft while going down a water slide. The current was strong enough that we kept having to swim backwards to get behind the line while we waited for the countdown. They counted us down and I was off. The first 200-300 feet were pretty rough. It was like a cross between a water polo match and a Slipnot concert. Actually since we were all in wetsuits, it probably looked like a bunch of seals trying to make it to land without getting hit by a great white shark. Anyway, once the chaos cleared and we all found our way it was a pretty smooth swim. Apart from the constant sea weed getting wrapped around my head and arms it was a blast. I kept feeling like I wasn't swimming hard enough then I would look over and see the bank just flying by as the current propelled us. I'm pretty sure I barely kicked the whole time.
Tranistion 1 - 3:17
This was a pretty long transition distance wise, which for me worked out for the best. usually i'm still huffing and puffing when I hit the bike. But this was long enough that I had settled down by the time I jumped on my bike.
Bike - 56miles 2:36:46
The bike was a little more calculated this time compared to Steelhead. Since I didn't count Steelhead, I ended up just going all out to see what I could do. I rode a 2:30 that day and had 0 legs. I mean they were fried. So for Augusta I knew I wanted to back off about 1 - 1.5 mph on my avg for the day. Which I did. Unfortunately with my lack of training it didn't really do me much good on the run, but we'll get to that. So the Augusta course is one rolling hill after the next. Which I'm used to. The night before I had dinner with the Central Flordia Tri team and I listened as their coach explained how to pace and to watch out for these "hills". I think I heard the word steep at one point. I knew coming from Flordia that the hills he had seen would not look nearly as big to me, but I still listened. It was a fun course aside from a few rodes that were in bad shape. I felt good until about mile 50 and that's when I knew the day was going to get a lot harder. The lack of training had finally hit me. I began to struggle to maintain my speed. In hindsight I probably should have just let myself slow so that I could have taken some juice with me on the run. But I didn't. I held my speed until the end of the bike. I had wanted to hit the run at the 3 hour mark because "Surely I can run a 13.1 in under 2 hours". More famous last words. I ended up hitting the run at the 3:07 mark. Now I needed a 1:53 13.1.
Transition 2- 1:58
Pretty simple as always. Run in and put your bike up then put your running shoes on and leave.
"Run"- 13.1 miles 2:08:19
As I left for the run I knew I was going to struggle. I didn't know I was going to suffer, although I should have expected it. The temps were rising and the humidty was kicking in. I barely made it to mile 1 when the wheels began to come off. Yes you read that right, M I L E 1. That is a bad feeling when you know you have 12.1 to go on a two loop course. I ended up having to run walk the rest of the way. My 6.5 mile split was 57:59 and my second loop was a whopping 1:10:20. That's painful to even admit but it is also the fuel for the offseason. As the run drug on I continued having to walk and run, walk and run. I knew I wouldn't break 5 hours, I knew I would be under 5:30. I just had nothing in my legs. If I tried to run a long stretch, the heat and humidity would get me and I'd have to walk to get my heart rate back down. At two stations they had sprinklers. I stood in them. Yes stood, as in stopped moving and just stood in them.
Knowing that my A race was over and I would not be putting in some phenom level time, as I had dreamed nearly a year before, I had to distract myself and stay positive. So I watched the other athletes, some struggling and some excelling. I read the signs of people watching. I thought about my season and all the things I thought I would accomplish and how I had fallen short on all but 1 of them. I thought about next season and how I wanted to do it different. I was happy for the older men who seemed in such amazing shape. The oldest I saw pass me was 58. It encouraged me and reminded me that I have time and success doesn't happen overnight. It was during the run that I decided I was not going to remove my athlete bracelet until next season. I decided I would wear it as a constant reminder that if you don't put in the work, you will not reach the result that you aim for. I also decided on the run that I would not attempt a 140.6 until I had properly prepared and competed in another 70.3.
When I crossed the line, which happened to be with a twitter friend of mine that I had met the day before at the CFL team dinner, I stopped my watch and looked down. 5:14:48. I knew most of my friends would say how great that was. I knew I would be told I should be proud. I also knew I had started slacking off in my training and my diet since July. I knew I had shown up at a race, injured or not, under trained. I had merely survived a 70.3. Then I was encouraged. If 5:14 is what I get for being un prepared and just merely getting by, then look out when I show up ready. Look out when I train hungry. Look out in 2012 when I come back with a vengence.
Today I start my off season training and the images from Augusta will be in my mind every single day until I toe the next line at a 70.3 next season. The memory of being embarrassed on the run and being cheered on by bystanders to try and keep running and to not walk, will give me the fuel I need to put in the time and training needed to not survive a 70.3 but to burn up a 70.3.
With that I would like to say thank you to all my friends and family who cheer for me and encourage me everyday. I know you don't like to see me be hard on myself, but that's just how I am. I will never be satisfied with a performance until I feel that I fired on all cyclinders. But I know I couldn't do any of this without the support that I get.
Thank you to my beautiful girlfriend Kayla. You will never know how much you inspire me to be better at everything in life. I love you so much.
Thank you to Base Performance Nutrition. You truely are an amazing company with an amazing product. The friendly service and great products make it easy for me to be a continued customer. Whether I'm sponsored or not, I will use BASE.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
Anyway, why the title you say? I had looked forward to Augusta since August of 2010 when I decided that I wanted to make it my A race of 2011. So over a year of anticipation. I told myself that as long as I stayed healthy then I would be more than ready. Famous last words. About 4 weeks before Augusta I changed my shoes up but not my mileage. I didn't realize I had changed from a neutral shoe to a mostly neutral with some stability type shoe until it was too late. Yes I should have researched but I've never really payed much attention to shoe types. LESSON LEARNED. After the first long run I had strained my calf and soleous and was unable to bear weight. I should have known it was my shoes when I couldn't tie the injury to any specific incident. So of course I kept trying to run and just had no improvement. My training dipped pretty badly. 2 weeks before Augusta I was contemplating not even going because I wasn't sure what the injury was and what damage I would do in competition. I ran a total of 10 miles that week. One week before Augusta I ran 6. I knew at this point my A race was shot. I had barely trained on the run for nearly a month. My goal had been to run a 4:40 but that was replaced by just finishing the race.
Race Morning
It was kind of a blur. I woke up at 4:30, 3:30 my time. I need to pick A races that are in my time zone haha. Went downstairs and had some breakfast, eggs and a waffle and drank some gatorade. After that I headed downtown to catch the shuttle to transition. This was the first race I had done where the start, finish, and transition were not in the same place. But the volunteers did a great job and the logistics were flawless. When I got to transition I dropped my stuff off and then went to meet a twitter friend. We talked at his bike for a few minutes before I headed back to set my transition up. As usual I was not nervous. Once I had set my transition up it was time to throw everything I would need after the race into my "dry clothes" bag and head to the second shuttle to get a ride to the swim start. I got to the swim start about 3o minutes before my wave. So I dropped my clothes off and jumped in the porta potty line. Now that I had taken care of that it was time to head to the start, which was now 10 minutes away. No time to stretch. I got my wetsuit on and into my wave about 5 minutes before they ushered us onto the dock.
Swim - 1.2 miles 24:28
This was a pretty fun swim for two reasons. It was all down river and it was wetsuit legal. So it was like floating on a small raft while going down a water slide. The current was strong enough that we kept having to swim backwards to get behind the line while we waited for the countdown. They counted us down and I was off. The first 200-300 feet were pretty rough. It was like a cross between a water polo match and a Slipnot concert. Actually since we were all in wetsuits, it probably looked like a bunch of seals trying to make it to land without getting hit by a great white shark. Anyway, once the chaos cleared and we all found our way it was a pretty smooth swim. Apart from the constant sea weed getting wrapped around my head and arms it was a blast. I kept feeling like I wasn't swimming hard enough then I would look over and see the bank just flying by as the current propelled us. I'm pretty sure I barely kicked the whole time.
Tranistion 1 - 3:17
This was a pretty long transition distance wise, which for me worked out for the best. usually i'm still huffing and puffing when I hit the bike. But this was long enough that I had settled down by the time I jumped on my bike.
Bike - 56miles 2:36:46
The bike was a little more calculated this time compared to Steelhead. Since I didn't count Steelhead, I ended up just going all out to see what I could do. I rode a 2:30 that day and had 0 legs. I mean they were fried. So for Augusta I knew I wanted to back off about 1 - 1.5 mph on my avg for the day. Which I did. Unfortunately with my lack of training it didn't really do me much good on the run, but we'll get to that. So the Augusta course is one rolling hill after the next. Which I'm used to. The night before I had dinner with the Central Flordia Tri team and I listened as their coach explained how to pace and to watch out for these "hills". I think I heard the word steep at one point. I knew coming from Flordia that the hills he had seen would not look nearly as big to me, but I still listened. It was a fun course aside from a few rodes that were in bad shape. I felt good until about mile 50 and that's when I knew the day was going to get a lot harder. The lack of training had finally hit me. I began to struggle to maintain my speed. In hindsight I probably should have just let myself slow so that I could have taken some juice with me on the run. But I didn't. I held my speed until the end of the bike. I had wanted to hit the run at the 3 hour mark because "Surely I can run a 13.1 in under 2 hours". More famous last words. I ended up hitting the run at the 3:07 mark. Now I needed a 1:53 13.1.
Transition 2- 1:58
Pretty simple as always. Run in and put your bike up then put your running shoes on and leave.
"Run"- 13.1 miles 2:08:19
As I left for the run I knew I was going to struggle. I didn't know I was going to suffer, although I should have expected it. The temps were rising and the humidty was kicking in. I barely made it to mile 1 when the wheels began to come off. Yes you read that right, M I L E 1. That is a bad feeling when you know you have 12.1 to go on a two loop course. I ended up having to run walk the rest of the way. My 6.5 mile split was 57:59 and my second loop was a whopping 1:10:20. That's painful to even admit but it is also the fuel for the offseason. As the run drug on I continued having to walk and run, walk and run. I knew I wouldn't break 5 hours, I knew I would be under 5:30. I just had nothing in my legs. If I tried to run a long stretch, the heat and humidity would get me and I'd have to walk to get my heart rate back down. At two stations they had sprinklers. I stood in them. Yes stood, as in stopped moving and just stood in them.
Knowing that my A race was over and I would not be putting in some phenom level time, as I had dreamed nearly a year before, I had to distract myself and stay positive. So I watched the other athletes, some struggling and some excelling. I read the signs of people watching. I thought about my season and all the things I thought I would accomplish and how I had fallen short on all but 1 of them. I thought about next season and how I wanted to do it different. I was happy for the older men who seemed in such amazing shape. The oldest I saw pass me was 58. It encouraged me and reminded me that I have time and success doesn't happen overnight. It was during the run that I decided I was not going to remove my athlete bracelet until next season. I decided I would wear it as a constant reminder that if you don't put in the work, you will not reach the result that you aim for. I also decided on the run that I would not attempt a 140.6 until I had properly prepared and competed in another 70.3.
When I crossed the line, which happened to be with a twitter friend of mine that I had met the day before at the CFL team dinner, I stopped my watch and looked down. 5:14:48. I knew most of my friends would say how great that was. I knew I would be told I should be proud. I also knew I had started slacking off in my training and my diet since July. I knew I had shown up at a race, injured or not, under trained. I had merely survived a 70.3. Then I was encouraged. If 5:14 is what I get for being un prepared and just merely getting by, then look out when I show up ready. Look out when I train hungry. Look out in 2012 when I come back with a vengence.
Today I start my off season training and the images from Augusta will be in my mind every single day until I toe the next line at a 70.3 next season. The memory of being embarrassed on the run and being cheered on by bystanders to try and keep running and to not walk, will give me the fuel I need to put in the time and training needed to not survive a 70.3 but to burn up a 70.3.
With that I would like to say thank you to all my friends and family who cheer for me and encourage me everyday. I know you don't like to see me be hard on myself, but that's just how I am. I will never be satisfied with a performance until I feel that I fired on all cyclinders. But I know I couldn't do any of this without the support that I get.
Thank you to my beautiful girlfriend Kayla. You will never know how much you inspire me to be better at everything in life. I love you so much.
Thank you to Base Performance Nutrition. You truely are an amazing company with an amazing product. The friendly service and great products make it easy for me to be a continued customer. Whether I'm sponsored or not, I will use BASE.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Memorial Day Weekend WIN!!
This past weekend I raced my 6th triathlon, 3rd one of 2011, and I WON. It was not the experience that I expected though. I see people win races all the time and there are a wide variety of celebrations. Mine was some subtle fist pumps and a smile. Nothing crazy. When I signed up for the race it was just to get another race in. This was a sprint triathlon, 200 meter pool swim, 8.65 mile bike, and 2 mile run, and I'm more focused on my upcoming half Ironman races than the sprint distance. As the event got closer and I looked at past results I started thinking that I could pull out a win if I hit on all cylinders. So when I did just that I wasn't really surprised by the result. Don't get me wrong, this is the first time I've ever won anything individually and I was happy about it. But I knew I could do it. If I played football I wouldn't go nuts if I scored a touchdown. That's what you are supposed to do, no need acting like you just won the lottery. My dad used to always yell at the TV during end zone celebrations, "act like you've been there before". That's kind of how I think of it. A win is good but it's just that, there are still areas to improve on and harder competition ahead of me. I still have to work to get better. So it's onto the next one.
The day started like any oth
er race day. I got up and had breakfast and watched some sports center. There was one difference. I took my have fun mentality to a new level. Not only did I have the easy button in transition but I also shaved a
"foo-manchu" out of my beard and a mohawk. Check the pic. I know I look retarded. That's the point, to not take it too serious.
So I got to transition an hour before the start of the race like I always do. I set up my transition area then stood around and chatted with some of the other guys racing. One guy said to me "You've got to be the favorite". That was kind of cool but I had to dismiss it as soon as I heard it. Didn't want to start over thinking or get an ego boost. Let me go on record now. If and when I make it to the pro ranks and start to make a name for myself. DO NOT LET ME BE A DOUCHE!! Triathlon is full of humble kind athletes that are helpful and encouraging to fans and amateurs. That's what I want for myself. To be the same goofball I am now no matter what level I reach. So you have permission to call me out if you see me being the opposite.
Anyway, With 30 minutes until the start I drank the rest of my BASE sports drink. TRY THEIR STUFF IT'S AMAZING (www.baseperformance.com) With about 15 minutes until the start I headed to the pool. I was number 14 to enter the water. The RD would not let us go out of order either. After me and the others had talked and realized some were slower than others we adjusted our positions to avoid anyone getting run over. But as I said the RD put an end to that real quick. No worries it was only 200 meters. The odds of passing or getting passed were very slim.
Swim: 200 Meters
This was a time trial start so one swimmer every 10 seconds. By the time I started I think the first few had already made it half way through. The pool was 50 meters and I remember swimmers going by me while I waited to start. They called my number and boom I was gone. Not much had changed since Knoxville. I have let me swim completely fall apart. I just have not put in the time in the last month. I wanted to swim around 2:30 and I ended up with a 3:08. I knew after the first 50 meters that it just wasn't going to be as fast as I wanted. I still managed to pass two swimmers and get ridiculously out of breath like I always do in a sprint swim. I felt good, just didn't have the speed that I wanted.
T1 went well. Much better than any of my previous races. One thing I picked up from Knoxville was the speed that the pros came out of the water. They were flying to their bikes. I usually am not moving that fast out of the water. So my goal was to fly through transitions. I ended up with a 1:01. Which is awesome for the distance I had to cover from the pool, to the bike, and out onto the street.
Bike: 8.65 miles
My friend yelled that I was in 10th coming into transition. Not sure how because I only counted 2 people passed in the pool, and one going down the steps leaving transition. And I'm not sure how many I passed during transition but I'd guess another 2 or 3. The bike course was extremely fast out of transition before we hit the rollers and 3 big climbs. It was actually a tough course for the distance. I felt good on the bike and managed to pass the remaining athletes except for two. One was a relay so I wasn't really worried about him. They played leap frog about 200-300 meters ahead of me the whole time. I knew I wouldn't be able to catch them in the short distance so I was content to keep them in my sight. I also knew that the one guy wasn't a great runner or at least not faster than me. It was on the bike that I knew I had this in the bag as long as nothing crazy happened. I ended up with a 24:10.
T2 was a blazing blur. I knocked this one out in 40 seconds. The relay team was already on the run since they just had to tag but the last guy was fiddling with his shoes when I came flying in. I threw my shoes on and took off.
Run: 2 miles (13:18)
The run was an out and back inside of a neighborhood. It was downhill out and up hill all the way back. I wanted to run 6 min pace before the race. However, when it came time to actually run I didn't have it in me. The hills from the bike had left me a little zapped. I was running sub 6 for the first quarter mile trying to run down the last guy when I was like "duh idiot that's the relay team, you don't have to catch him". So I dialed it back a little. I kept him within 50-75 meters though. Nearing the end of the race I was quite out of breath and was starting to get closer and closer to throwing up. I looked behind me with a quarter of a mile to go and didn't see anybody so I pulled on the reins some more. Once I was about 100 meters away and could see people cheering I started smiling and pumping the victory fist and pulled on the reins some more. It's actually the first time I haven't run all the way through the line. I high fived a few and crossed the line. I had done it!! It was another minute or so before the next guy finished and about another minute before the 3rd guy finished. I congratulated them and waited on the first woman before I headed off.
The day ended with the award ceremony where I stood on the top of the podium for the first time. I ended up only winning by 6 seconds. Note to self finish the race strong if it's a time trial.
As always I would like to thank my Sponsors Base Performance Nutrition and K-Swiss. They both have amazing products.
Thank you to my friends and family who support me day in and day out.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
The day started like any oth
er race day. I got up and had breakfast and watched some sports center. There was one difference. I took my have fun mentality to a new level. Not only did I have the easy button in transition but I also shaved a"foo-manchu" out of my beard and a mohawk. Check the pic. I know I look retarded. That's the point, to not take it too serious.
So I got to transition an hour before the start of the race like I always do. I set up my transition area then stood around and chatted with some of the other guys racing. One guy said to me "You've got to be the favorite". That was kind of cool but I had to dismiss it as soon as I heard it. Didn't want to start over thinking or get an ego boost. Let me go on record now. If and when I make it to the pro ranks and start to make a name for myself. DO NOT LET ME BE A DOUCHE!! Triathlon is full of humble kind athletes that are helpful and encouraging to fans and amateurs. That's what I want for myself. To be the same goofball I am now no matter what level I reach. So you have permission to call me out if you see me being the opposite.
Anyway, With 30 minutes until the start I drank the rest of my BASE sports drink. TRY THEIR STUFF IT'S AMAZING (www.baseperformance.com) With about 15 minutes until the start I headed to the pool. I was number 14 to enter the water. The RD would not let us go out of order either. After me and the others had talked and realized some were slower than others we adjusted our positions to avoid anyone getting run over. But as I said the RD put an end to that real quick. No worries it was only 200 meters. The odds of passing or getting passed were very slim.
Swim: 200 Meters
This was a time trial start so one swimmer every 10 seconds. By the time I started I think the first few had already made it half way through. The pool was 50 meters and I remember swimmers going by me while I waited to start. They called my number and boom I was gone. Not much had changed since Knoxville. I have let me swim completely fall apart. I just have not put in the time in the last month. I wanted to swim around 2:30 and I ended up with a 3:08. I knew after the first 50 meters that it just wasn't going to be as fast as I wanted. I still managed to pass two swimmers and get ridiculously out of breath like I always do in a sprint swim. I felt good, just didn't have the speed that I wanted.
T1 went well. Much better than any of my previous races. One thing I picked up from Knoxville was the speed that the pros came out of the water. They were flying to their bikes. I usually am not moving that fast out of the water. So my goal was to fly through transitions. I ended up with a 1:01. Which is awesome for the distance I had to cover from the pool, to the bike, and out onto the street.
Bike: 8.65 miles
My friend yelled that I was in 10th coming into transition. Not sure how because I only counted 2 people passed in the pool, and one going down the steps leaving transition. And I'm not sure how many I passed during transition but I'd guess another 2 or 3. The bike course was extremely fast out of transition before we hit the rollers and 3 big climbs. It was actually a tough course for the distance. I felt good on the bike and managed to pass the remaining athletes except for two. One was a relay so I wasn't really worried about him. They played leap frog about 200-300 meters ahead of me the whole time. I knew I wouldn't be able to catch them in the short distance so I was content to keep them in my sight. I also knew that the one guy wasn't a great runner or at least not faster than me. It was on the bike that I knew I had this in the bag as long as nothing crazy happened. I ended up with a 24:10.
T2 was a blazing blur. I knocked this one out in 40 seconds. The relay team was already on the run since they just had to tag but the last guy was fiddling with his shoes when I came flying in. I threw my shoes on and took off.
Run: 2 miles (13:18)
The run was an out and back inside of a neighborhood. It was downhill out and up hill all the way back. I wanted to run 6 min pace before the race. However, when it came time to actually run I didn't have it in me. The hills from the bike had left me a little zapped. I was running sub 6 for the first quarter mile trying to run down the last guy when I was like "duh idiot that's the relay team, you don't have to catch him". So I dialed it back a little. I kept him within 50-75 meters though. Nearing the end of the race I was quite out of breath and was starting to get closer and closer to throwing up. I looked behind me with a quarter of a mile to go and didn't see anybody so I pulled on the reins some more. Once I was about 100 meters away and could see people cheering I started smiling and pumping the victory fist and pulled on the reins some more. It's actually the first time I haven't run all the way through the line. I high fived a few and crossed the line. I had done it!! It was another minute or so before the next guy finished and about another minute before the 3rd guy finished. I congratulated them and waited on the first woman before I headed off.
The day ended with the award ceremony where I stood on the top of the podium for the first time. I ended up only winning by 6 seconds. Note to self finish the race strong if it's a time trial.As always I would like to thank my Sponsors Base Performance Nutrition and K-Swiss. They both have amazing products.
Thank you to my friends and family who support me day in and day out.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
New Look
Big thanks to my buddy Robby for the new header that he put together. Pretty freaking slick!! If you want to see more of his work check him out on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/RCM-Photography/259641549578
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Knoxville Rev3, a humbling eye opening experience
This past weekend I raced my first A race of the season. It was the first race where I could be around the Pros and hopefully have a shot at moving closer to earning my Pro card. haha what a humbling weekend. You must crawl before you walk young Hanson. I had visions of placing top 3 or maybe winning. haha I'm laughing at myself for typing that. Last year was the first time the Rev was held in Knoxville. The age group winner put down a time of 2:08 and some change. I figured with my training and with the paces that I've been able to hit that I could throw down somewhere just under 2:10. One thing I didn't take into account was the fact that a well put on race will typically draw much better talent in their second year. This years age group winner put down a 1:57!
It was a fun weekend and I felt good. I hung out with some friends at the Expo the day before the race and with my cousins family the rest of the time. I was never nervous. I knew the bike would be hilly and the run somewhat hilly. However what I was not ready for was the severity of the hills. I had trained on my hills here and was prepared, just not aware of what I was going to see.
Race Day:
I got up at 4:15 and made some breakfast and watched sports center. I left the house around 5 and headed to downtown Knoxville. I randomly found a parking garage pretty close to transition around 5:45. Transition opened at 6. I got to transition and set everything up then walked around to chat with some friends. Something new I did this race was place my "Easy" button in transition. It was just a reminder to have fun and not be so serious. Julie Dibens blogged about controlling the controllables and not worrying about the rest a week or so ago. That was my mind frame the entire race day. Which helped me stay calm, because I forgot to turn my running watch on before I went to swim and I forgot to reset my bike computer so it still had my last workout on it. Both things would have stressed me out had I not already decided to not let that type of stuff affect me. After watching the Pros swim and transition onto the bike. I found a volunteer that went and turned my watch on for me. I didn't find out about the bike computer until I got on it in the race haha.
Swim: (.9 miles 23:54)
We swam in the river that runs along Neyland Dr. I would guess the water temp was about 65 degrees. I was in my Xterra Vortex 4 wetsuit so to me the water felt great. Many others were complaining about it being cold. We waded and waited for the gun to go off, horn actually. BANG! We were off and evidently all thirty of us guys on the front row had the same thing in mind...get out in front. We gunned it and didn't start to space out for probably the first 2 minutes. My pace felt good and I was calm. My breathing was a tad heavy but that was because of the pace so I wasn't concerned. At the half way point we turned around to head back and this is when we met up with the swimmers from the 70.3 race who had started ahead of us. It was pretty crowded and the line I wanted to take was not what the other few hundred swimmers were on. I wanted to go straight and the pack was swimming in a arch. So I simply cut across the entire field. I managed to do so without to many collisions and elbows to the head. However, during all this I had settled into more of a cruise type of pace and not my race pace. Somehow I didn't notice though. When I finally got to the dock I pulled myself out stopped my watch and took off running. I got my goggles off and looked down expecting to see 20ish minutes. 23:54!! Crap. "Ok no worries we can work with that"
T1: (Swim to Bike 2:09)
I was breathing pretty heavy after the swim and it was a long run from the dock to my bike. I got my wetsuit off pretty easily and was off onto the bike.
Bike: (24.8 miles 1:09:11)
The first few miles of the bike felt great. I was rocking along at a good pace and passing tons of the 70.3 riders. I knew the first climb at mile 8 was going to slow things down though. Before the race I had noticed on the bike profile that the climb at mile 8 was ranked a Category 5 climb. That is the lowest a hill can be ranked. Anything less doesn't even get ranked. I now have a lot of respect for tour riders who climb cat 2 and even cat 1 hills, because my cat 5 about killed me. I felt that if I were to quit pedaling that I would go crashing all the way back to the bottom. Even in the easiest gear it was still super difficult to climb. Going into the hill I averaging 22+, when I reached the top of the hill I was averaging 19+. From there until around mile 14 it was a typical Tennessee ride, lots of rollers and a few fun descents. Then there was one more long long climb. It was during this climb that I knew I would not hit my goal time. The bike course was just too slow to pull it off. I reminded myself to have fun and keep pushing. After another awesome descent and some more rollers I was back to transition. At the time I didn't know how long it had taken me because I had forgot to reset my bike computer before the race. I noticed it and reset it somewhere after the first mile. I knew from my mph avg that I hadn't made up anytime on the slow swim though.
T2: (run to bike :55)
T2 is pretty simple as always. Put your bike up put your shoes on and go. Only thing difficult was running on a numb foot over pebbles and uneven concrete after getting off of my bike. I racked my bike, took my helmet off, and put my shoes on. I glanced at the "Easy" button and reminded myself again to have fun.
Run: (6.2 miles 46:12)
The run never feels good in triathlon. Your legs are heavy and it's hard to feel your pace. It took me the first two miles to work though a spiking heart rate and side stitch. I walked twice for about 10 seconds to try to calm my breathing. After that I found my stride and settled in. With four miles to go I figured I was in the top 30 and that was my new target. "Don't give up any more position". I started having guys fading in front of me and I was able to pass a few. The course had a few hills on it that I handled pretty well because of all the hill training for the Country Music Marathon a few weeks ago. But the guys in front of me were struggling on the hills. Had I been able to get into the run a little earlier I could have picked off a few more guys. The run is where I flat out sucked last season. I was not training nearly enough and never had anything left in my legs when I got to the run. However, on this day I pr'd my run by 4 minutes.
At the end of the day I ended up swimming 4 mins slower than my pr, biked 1 min slower than my pr, and ran 4 mins faster than my pr. Although my total time was not a new best, my performance was. It was hard at first to be happy about this race since I had missed my time goal. But then as I processed and took into account the difficulty of this course compared to the two I did last season, I was a little more ok with it. A friend asked if there was anything that I could have done differently. I said no. I took what the course threw at me and did my best with it. I stayed in the game mentally despite a few minor details that could have thrown me off. I had fun even though I knew my dreams and visions of the race would not be a reality. So now it's back to work. I have a mini sprint in two weeks, but it's the Music City Olympic race in late July that I have my focus on. I'm determined to make more improvements. I am happy with what I did in Knoxville but not satisfied. There is always something to improve on.
Thank you to all that supported me and continue to support me. Thank you to my sponsors K-Swiss and Base Performance Nutrition for top of the line gear and amazing nutrition.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
It was a fun weekend and I felt good. I hung out with some friends at the Expo the day before the race and with my cousins family the rest of the time. I was never nervous. I knew the bike would be hilly and the run somewhat hilly. However what I was not ready for was the severity of the hills. I had trained on my hills here and was prepared, just not aware of what I was going to see.
Race Day:
I got up at 4:15 and made some breakfast and watched sports center. I left the house around 5 and headed to downtown Knoxville. I randomly found a parking garage pretty close to transition around 5:45. Transition opened at 6. I got to transition and set everything up then walked around to chat with some friends. Something new I did this race was place my "Easy" button in transition. It was just a reminder to have fun and not be so serious. Julie Dibens blogged about controlling the controllables and not worrying about the rest a week or so ago. That was my mind frame the entire race day. Which helped me stay calm, because I forgot to turn my running watch on before I went to swim and I forgot to reset my bike computer so it still had my last workout on it. Both things would have stressed me out had I not already decided to not let that type of stuff affect me. After watching the Pros swim and transition onto the bike. I found a volunteer that went and turned my watch on for me. I didn't find out about the bike computer until I got on it in the race haha.
Swim: (.9 miles 23:54)
We swam in the river that runs along Neyland Dr. I would guess the water temp was about 65 degrees. I was in my Xterra Vortex 4 wetsuit so to me the water felt great. Many others were complaining about it being cold. We waded and waited for the gun to go off, horn actually. BANG! We were off and evidently all thirty of us guys on the front row had the same thing in mind...get out in front. We gunned it and didn't start to space out for probably the first 2 minutes. My pace felt good and I was calm. My breathing was a tad heavy but that was because of the pace so I wasn't concerned. At the half way point we turned around to head back and this is when we met up with the swimmers from the 70.3 race who had started ahead of us. It was pretty crowded and the line I wanted to take was not what the other few hundred swimmers were on. I wanted to go straight and the pack was swimming in a arch. So I simply cut across the entire field. I managed to do so without to many collisions and elbows to the head. However, during all this I had settled into more of a cruise type of pace and not my race pace. Somehow I didn't notice though. When I finally got to the dock I pulled myself out stopped my watch and took off running. I got my goggles off and looked down expecting to see 20ish minutes. 23:54!! Crap. "Ok no worries we can work with that"
T1: (Swim to Bike 2:09)
I was breathing pretty heavy after the swim and it was a long run from the dock to my bike. I got my wetsuit off pretty easily and was off onto the bike.
Bike: (24.8 miles 1:09:11)
The first few miles of the bike felt great. I was rocking along at a good pace and passing tons of the 70.3 riders. I knew the first climb at mile 8 was going to slow things down though. Before the race I had noticed on the bike profile that the climb at mile 8 was ranked a Category 5 climb. That is the lowest a hill can be ranked. Anything less doesn't even get ranked. I now have a lot of respect for tour riders who climb cat 2 and even cat 1 hills, because my cat 5 about killed me. I felt that if I were to quit pedaling that I would go crashing all the way back to the bottom. Even in the easiest gear it was still super difficult to climb. Going into the hill I averaging 22+, when I reached the top of the hill I was averaging 19+. From there until around mile 14 it was a typical Tennessee ride, lots of rollers and a few fun descents. Then there was one more long long climb. It was during this climb that I knew I would not hit my goal time. The bike course was just too slow to pull it off. I reminded myself to have fun and keep pushing. After another awesome descent and some more rollers I was back to transition. At the time I didn't know how long it had taken me because I had forgot to reset my bike computer before the race. I noticed it and reset it somewhere after the first mile. I knew from my mph avg that I hadn't made up anytime on the slow swim though.
T2: (run to bike :55)
T2 is pretty simple as always. Put your bike up put your shoes on and go. Only thing difficult was running on a numb foot over pebbles and uneven concrete after getting off of my bike. I racked my bike, took my helmet off, and put my shoes on. I glanced at the "Easy" button and reminded myself again to have fun.
Run: (6.2 miles 46:12)
The run never feels good in triathlon. Your legs are heavy and it's hard to feel your pace. It took me the first two miles to work though a spiking heart rate and side stitch. I walked twice for about 10 seconds to try to calm my breathing. After that I found my stride and settled in. With four miles to go I figured I was in the top 30 and that was my new target. "Don't give up any more position". I started having guys fading in front of me and I was able to pass a few. The course had a few hills on it that I handled pretty well because of all the hill training for the Country Music Marathon a few weeks ago. But the guys in front of me were struggling on the hills. Had I been able to get into the run a little earlier I could have picked off a few more guys. The run is where I flat out sucked last season. I was not training nearly enough and never had anything left in my legs when I got to the run. However, on this day I pr'd my run by 4 minutes.
At the end of the day I ended up swimming 4 mins slower than my pr, biked 1 min slower than my pr, and ran 4 mins faster than my pr. Although my total time was not a new best, my performance was. It was hard at first to be happy about this race since I had missed my time goal. But then as I processed and took into account the difficulty of this course compared to the two I did last season, I was a little more ok with it. A friend asked if there was anything that I could have done differently. I said no. I took what the course threw at me and did my best with it. I stayed in the game mentally despite a few minor details that could have thrown me off. I had fun even though I knew my dreams and visions of the race would not be a reality. So now it's back to work. I have a mini sprint in two weeks, but it's the Music City Olympic race in late July that I have my focus on. I'm determined to make more improvements. I am happy with what I did in Knoxville but not satisfied. There is always something to improve on.
Thank you to all that supported me and continue to support me. Thank you to my sponsors K-Swiss and Base Performance Nutrition for top of the line gear and amazing nutrition.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Opened the season with a bang!!
Today I opened my tri season with a little sprint tri at my college alma mater. I had been thinking and planning for this race for nearly a year. It's a race that based on results I knew I had a shot at winning if the conditions were right and if my legs were game for it. In the end Iwas 3rd and did pretty much everything perfect. I swam exactly what I wanted, had a good transition, biked like a crazed man, had another smooth transition, then ran as fast as I could. I was in good shape until 2.85 miles of the 5k distance. I pushed my body to the absolute max and started to throw up. I let out two small upchucks. Then sucked it up for the last .1, then promptly let it all out as soon as I was across. I haven't thrown up after a run since high school track. My goal today was 1st have fun, I did. 2nd stay with the lead pack and try to win, I lead the last 3 miles of the bike. 3rd dig deep and leave it all on the course, as I mentioned I maxed out my body. So I left today feeling great about the performance. Had my body not revolted then possibly I could have won and definitely would have taken 2nd, I finished 4 seconds behind 2nd due to the time trial pool start.
I started the day like I do on any race day or long training day. Scrambled eggs and a peanut butter banana sandwich. I watched a little ESPN then headed out. The race started at 8 and I pulled into the parking lot at 6:30. Don't like to be rushed. It was 40 degrees when i first arrived and i'm guessing it was close to 50 when we started. I set my bike and transition area up then mingled with some friends. Come to think of it I never even had nerves. For some reason I don't get nervous at triathlons but I do at a 5k. Go figure.
So here's how it went.
300 Meter Swim: 4:09
I was #18 but they had the seeding all kinds of jacked up so I ended up jumping in around 10th or so. I made one pass in the pool and stayed on some high school kids feet the whole time. The pace was quick and so I knew I would need to catch my breath on the way to the bike.
T1 1:21
Coming out of the pool and out into the 45-50 degree air was quite the wake up but not terrible. I think I passed 2 more folks in the transition and left out in 6th.
10 Mile Bike: 26:14
This was pretty much a 5 mile out and back course with a headwind leaving and a tail wind coming back. I passed the first three guys within two miles. The lead two took me about 5 miles to catch then I sat in third until after the first big hill. Once we topped I dropped the hammer and took the lead. I was riding at 28-32 mph for the last few miles thanks to the tailwind. I rode into transition pretty much neck and neck with 2nd place. His bike was closer to the run exit so he actually got out of transition in front of me just because of location. It was a great ride but I could feel it in my legs. I knew the run would be tough but also that I still had a solid 5k in my legs.
T2
As I said I ran in with 2nd place and ran out with him. He was probably 10 feet in front of me.
3.1 Mile Run 20:02
The run started out well. My legs were heavy as expected after smashing my bike for 10 miles. I stayed in 2nd for the first mile then was passed by a guy running out of his mind. I went in him to make the pass on the previous leader and remained in 2nd place. I knew that this new leader was running faster than I could afford to mess with so my goal was to stay close. With out time trial start in the pool I knew I had 15-20 seconds to give because I started behind him. I kept him within 50 feet til somewhere after mile 2 when he started to inch away. Coming down the final stretch with somewhere around 1/2 a mile to go my stomach began to turn on me. I knew this was coming though because I was giving all I had. At somewhere around a quarter mile to go I was passed. I made every attempt to keep the legs moving. I think with maybe 1000 meters to go my stomach could hold no more. I dry heaved once, then 2 small up chucks, then heard my friend yell "He's sprinting on you" so I gunned it. 50 yards to go and all I could think was hold it in hold it in hold it in. I crossed the line, dodged the sority girl trying to put a medal on my neck and made my to the grass and let it rip haha. One could heave and my stomach was back in gear.
I ended up 18 seconds behind 1st and 4 seconds behind 2nd. As I said earlier if my stomach could have held on longer I could have at least taken 2nd and possibly won. But I never play the what if game. I'm happy with the results and with the major progress I've made. Next step is to get the Country Music Marathon out of the way then I have the Rev3 Olympic Triathlon in Knoxville.
See it. Believe it. Do it!
I started the day like I do on any race day or long training day. Scrambled eggs and a peanut butter banana sandwich. I watched a little ESPN then headed out. The race started at 8 and I pulled into the parking lot at 6:30. Don't like to be rushed. It was 40 degrees when i first arrived and i'm guessing it was close to 50 when we started. I set my bike and transition area up then mingled with some friends. Come to think of it I never even had nerves. For some reason I don't get nervous at triathlons but I do at a 5k. Go figure.
So here's how it went.
300 Meter Swim: 4:09
I was #18 but they had the seeding all kinds of jacked up so I ended up jumping in around 10th or so. I made one pass in the pool and stayed on some high school kids feet the whole time. The pace was quick and so I knew I would need to catch my breath on the way to the bike.
T1 1:21
Coming out of the pool and out into the 45-50 degree air was quite the wake up but not terrible. I think I passed 2 more folks in the transition and left out in 6th.
10 Mile Bike: 26:14
This was pretty much a 5 mile out and back course with a headwind leaving and a tail wind coming back. I passed the first three guys within two miles. The lead two took me about 5 miles to catch then I sat in third until after the first big hill. Once we topped I dropped the hammer and took the lead. I was riding at 28-32 mph for the last few miles thanks to the tailwind. I rode into transition pretty much neck and neck with 2nd place. His bike was closer to the run exit so he actually got out of transition in front of me just because of location. It was a great ride but I could feel it in my legs. I knew the run would be tough but also that I still had a solid 5k in my legs.
T2
As I said I ran in with 2nd place and ran out with him. He was probably 10 feet in front of me.
3.1 Mile Run 20:02
The run started out well. My legs were heavy as expected after smashing my bike for 10 miles. I stayed in 2nd for the first mile then was passed by a guy running out of his mind. I went in him to make the pass on the previous leader and remained in 2nd place. I knew that this new leader was running faster than I could afford to mess with so my goal was to stay close. With out time trial start in the pool I knew I had 15-20 seconds to give because I started behind him. I kept him within 50 feet til somewhere after mile 2 when he started to inch away. Coming down the final stretch with somewhere around 1/2 a mile to go my stomach began to turn on me. I knew this was coming though because I was giving all I had. At somewhere around a quarter mile to go I was passed. I made every attempt to keep the legs moving. I think with maybe 1000 meters to go my stomach could hold no more. I dry heaved once, then 2 small up chucks, then heard my friend yell "He's sprinting on you" so I gunned it. 50 yards to go and all I could think was hold it in hold it in hold it in. I crossed the line, dodged the sority girl trying to put a medal on my neck and made my to the grass and let it rip haha. One could heave and my stomach was back in gear.
I ended up 18 seconds behind 1st and 4 seconds behind 2nd. As I said earlier if my stomach could have held on longer I could have at least taken 2nd and possibly won. But I never play the what if game. I'm happy with the results and with the major progress I've made. Next step is to get the Country Music Marathon out of the way then I have the Rev3 Olympic Triathlon in Knoxville.
See it. Believe it. Do it!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Starting off 2011 the right way. Zoo Run 5k.
I started off my 2011 season with a 5k race on 1/22. This is the 1st of three 5ks that I have planned for the year. The other two are in Augusta and October. I wasn't sure what to expect since I had only been running for 5 weeks. I took 2 weeks off after my marathon in December. The first two weeks back weren't much more than finding my stride again. Anyway, I knew I wanted to place in my age group but wasn't going to be let down if I didn't. I just wanted to make sure I had fun. This year is all about quality workouts, strong races, and fun! Fun is the most crucial. With the amount of training I'll be doing I can't afford to lose sight of why I do it in the first place. If I quit having fun then it becomes a job.
I wanted to test myself with this first race and go into it a little tired. I typically take 2 days off before every race. I also treat every race as an A race. This year I'm changing that up as well. I have a few races that are A races, that I want to hit perfectly. The others are B races that I'm using for tune ups or gauges to see where I am for particular goals. So I trained hard the week of the race and even trained twice on Friday the day before. The race was at 3pm so I had about 22 hours of recovery.
I felt good on race day, I was sore but my legs didn't feel too terribly tired. After I warmed up I knew I was good to go. I decided that anything under 6:30 pace would be ok with me. It wouldn't be a PR race mainly because of the layout of the course and secondly because I really hadn't trained much. The temp at the start was 40 degrees and a little windy. Of course I got all kinds of looks because of my shorts and tank top. Most had on sweatpants and jackets. Not me, I suck it up and run in the usual lightweight Kswiss gear.
There were 1800 people at the race. I figure you only have to worry about 1-2% of them being competitive. I found my spot at the start line right next to two kids that were probably 10 or 11. They had on jeans. I chuckled knowing they would get run over being up in the front. I'm not a mean person, it's just a fact. If you are in the front you better be on your horse.
The gun went off and I took off. I led the race for the first 50 meters haha. I know it looks stupid to go out fast and not hold the pace but I don't like getting bottled up. After the first 1/2 mile we pretty much settled into how we finished. I was sitting somewhere around 20th. As the faster runners passed me in that first stretch I picked out the ones that would soon be coming back to me. You can kind of tell who isn't going to hold their pace. I was running 5:50 in the opening stretch and getting passed. Not many will keep that up. Once we spaced out I dialed back into a 6:15 pace. I felt good, I felt strong, and I felt sore. That was just what I wanted. This year is about finding out what I'm made of. I knew I would have to dig a little deeper in order to run a strong pace on tired legs. I smiled and said to myself what I always say in a 5k, "anybody can run 3 miles". By the time we hit the 1st mile marker I had picked off the few runners that I figured had gone out way to fast. I didn't pass anyone else or get passed from then on. I was in the 13th position now and figured I was probably in a good spot to place in my age group. There were several older guys and a few high school kids up a front of me. there were about 3 or 4 that I wasn't sure about.
So the race was at the Nashville Zoo. If you've ever been you know this is not really a great place to try and run wide open. The walkways are tight and curvy. There were a few places that had 180 degree turns. On two different turns I had to grab the tree to keep from falling. Towards the end of the race these turns were taking their toll. You would have to slow down then get back up to speed constantly. I did like how distracting it was though. Instead of worrying about pace I had to worry about correct turns, low limbs, patches of ice, and NOT FALLING!!
In the end I finished with a 19:31, which put me in 13th overall. I ended up being the 3rd in my age group to finish, but because the first two guys were 1st and 2nd over all, I bumped up to winning the age group. I was happy with it but not satisfied. Don't get me wrong. I'm happy with age group finishes but I'm ready for over all finishes at the 5k distance. I have a chance to do that at both of the 5ks that I have planned as long as my training continues to be strong and my paces continue to drop. I haven't placed in a 1/2 marathon yet but it is on the to do list for 2011. Most likely I will have a good shot in October at the Murfreesboro 1/2. I know I'll have a new PR in March but it still won't be fast enough for a place in my age group.
So 2011 has started off great and I'm ready to see it continue. As long as I stay healthy and smart I should see several more strong finishes this year. As always if you ever have questions or want to get into running or triathlons feel free to hit me up.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
I wanted to test myself with this first race and go into it a little tired. I typically take 2 days off before every race. I also treat every race as an A race. This year I'm changing that up as well. I have a few races that are A races, that I want to hit perfectly. The others are B races that I'm using for tune ups or gauges to see where I am for particular goals. So I trained hard the week of the race and even trained twice on Friday the day before. The race was at 3pm so I had about 22 hours of recovery.
I felt good on race day, I was sore but my legs didn't feel too terribly tired. After I warmed up I knew I was good to go. I decided that anything under 6:30 pace would be ok with me. It wouldn't be a PR race mainly because of the layout of the course and secondly because I really hadn't trained much. The temp at the start was 40 degrees and a little windy. Of course I got all kinds of looks because of my shorts and tank top. Most had on sweatpants and jackets. Not me, I suck it up and run in the usual lightweight Kswiss gear.
There were 1800 people at the race. I figure you only have to worry about 1-2% of them being competitive. I found my spot at the start line right next to two kids that were probably 10 or 11. They had on jeans. I chuckled knowing they would get run over being up in the front. I'm not a mean person, it's just a fact. If you are in the front you better be on your horse.
The gun went off and I took off. I led the race for the first 50 meters haha. I know it looks stupid to go out fast and not hold the pace but I don't like getting bottled up. After the first 1/2 mile we pretty much settled into how we finished. I was sitting somewhere around 20th. As the faster runners passed me in that first stretch I picked out the ones that would soon be coming back to me. You can kind of tell who isn't going to hold their pace. I was running 5:50 in the opening stretch and getting passed. Not many will keep that up. Once we spaced out I dialed back into a 6:15 pace. I felt good, I felt strong, and I felt sore. That was just what I wanted. This year is about finding out what I'm made of. I knew I would have to dig a little deeper in order to run a strong pace on tired legs. I smiled and said to myself what I always say in a 5k, "anybody can run 3 miles". By the time we hit the 1st mile marker I had picked off the few runners that I figured had gone out way to fast. I didn't pass anyone else or get passed from then on. I was in the 13th position now and figured I was probably in a good spot to place in my age group. There were several older guys and a few high school kids up a front of me. there were about 3 or 4 that I wasn't sure about.
So the race was at the Nashville Zoo. If you've ever been you know this is not really a great place to try and run wide open. The walkways are tight and curvy. There were a few places that had 180 degree turns. On two different turns I had to grab the tree to keep from falling. Towards the end of the race these turns were taking their toll. You would have to slow down then get back up to speed constantly. I did like how distracting it was though. Instead of worrying about pace I had to worry about correct turns, low limbs, patches of ice, and NOT FALLING!!
In the end I finished with a 19:31, which put me in 13th overall. I ended up being the 3rd in my age group to finish, but because the first two guys were 1st and 2nd over all, I bumped up to winning the age group. I was happy with it but not satisfied. Don't get me wrong. I'm happy with age group finishes but I'm ready for over all finishes at the 5k distance. I have a chance to do that at both of the 5ks that I have planned as long as my training continues to be strong and my paces continue to drop. I haven't placed in a 1/2 marathon yet but it is on the to do list for 2011. Most likely I will have a good shot in October at the Murfreesboro 1/2. I know I'll have a new PR in March but it still won't be fast enough for a place in my age group.
So 2011 has started off great and I'm ready to see it continue. As long as I stay healthy and smart I should see several more strong finishes this year. As always if you ever have questions or want to get into running or triathlons feel free to hit me up.
See it. Believe it. Do it.
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
Monday, January 17, 2011
2011 Goals
So I haven't said much lately...still not great at this blog stuff. Anyway I figured I would list my goals for 2011. No better way to go after you goals than to write them down for everyone to see.
I'm two weeks into training full time for triathlon. I'm focusing a little extra on the run right now since I have a marathon in April before I start racing triathlons again. I think this will pay off though because my run is actually what struggled last season. I was under trained which left me with wiped out legs at the end of all three of my triathlon races. However, I noticed during my marathon training last year that my run times improved greatly. I analysed my training from the past year and found that my longest week was a 5 hour training week. This is good if you are just a weekend warrior but for me and my goals that just simply wouldn't work. So I sat down and wrote a new training plan. I experimented with it during Christmas vacation to see how my body would take to it. The first week of January was when I officially started. In my first week I put in 10 hours and almost as much distance as I had done in a single month last year. What does this mean you wonder? Well last season I had some good finishes. I placed in my age group in my first triathlon and won my age group in two of my road races. That was on minimal training. I fully expect with the new plan I will be seeing myself competing for over all places and wins by the end of the year.
The Goals
Long term:
My longterm goal is to get my pro card in triathlon. If that happens this year that will be great but it doesn't have to.
Short term goals:
-place over all in a sprint triathlon
-place over all in an olympic triathlon
-qualify for the age group Regional Championship in Olympic distance
-qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship
-qualify for the Boston Marathon
-break 19 minutes in a 5k
-break 1:30 in a half marathon
So there you have it. Pretty lofty goals honestly but I see no reason why I can't do it. I have 3 races on my schedule that are qualifiers for my pro card. I have one chance to qualify for the Age Group Championship and two chances to qualify for the 70.3 World Championship.
With that said, please send your encouragement and feel free to ask questions if you are interested in starting in triathlon or running. I love to help others even if it is just recreational. Until next time :)
See it. Believe it. Do it.
I'm two weeks into training full time for triathlon. I'm focusing a little extra on the run right now since I have a marathon in April before I start racing triathlons again. I think this will pay off though because my run is actually what struggled last season. I was under trained which left me with wiped out legs at the end of all three of my triathlon races. However, I noticed during my marathon training last year that my run times improved greatly. I analysed my training from the past year and found that my longest week was a 5 hour training week. This is good if you are just a weekend warrior but for me and my goals that just simply wouldn't work. So I sat down and wrote a new training plan. I experimented with it during Christmas vacation to see how my body would take to it. The first week of January was when I officially started. In my first week I put in 10 hours and almost as much distance as I had done in a single month last year. What does this mean you wonder? Well last season I had some good finishes. I placed in my age group in my first triathlon and won my age group in two of my road races. That was on minimal training. I fully expect with the new plan I will be seeing myself competing for over all places and wins by the end of the year.
The Goals
Long term:
My longterm goal is to get my pro card in triathlon. If that happens this year that will be great but it doesn't have to.
Short term goals:
-place over all in a sprint triathlon
-place over all in an olympic triathlon
-qualify for the age group Regional Championship in Olympic distance
-qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship
-qualify for the Boston Marathon
-break 19 minutes in a 5k
-break 1:30 in a half marathon
So there you have it. Pretty lofty goals honestly but I see no reason why I can't do it. I have 3 races on my schedule that are qualifiers for my pro card. I have one chance to qualify for the Age Group Championship and two chances to qualify for the 70.3 World Championship.
With that said, please send your encouragement and feel free to ask questions if you are interested in starting in triathlon or running. I love to help others even if it is just recreational. Until next time :)
See it. Believe it. Do it.
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