Kansas City 5150 Race Report

Writing this blog from my spot on the couch wearing the NormaTec Space Boots for some serious recovery today. Woke up and felt like my body had been run over by an 18-wheeler! I guess racing for 2 hours and then driving 10hours isn't the best for recovery ehh?  But here comes the lengthy race report of my first Olympic distance triathlon that took place in Kansas City this last weekend.

Loaded up and left after a quick swim Friday with Rebecca Much and Kristen Peterson. We pointed Kristen's boyfriend Nick Legan's white Subaru to I-70 and the 8+ hour drive to Kansas City. We became very good friends with I-70 and Kansas!!! A total of 17 hours of driving and probably 20hours or so in 3 days! I can say everyone's description of Kansas were correct! None-the-less, we arrive in Kansas City on Friday evening and got ready for a fun weekend! We located the Super8 hotel in Lee's Summit, and were impressed to see it was fairly new and in decent shape. The race wasn't til Sunday, and so it was great having a whole day to relax, do some pre-race shakedown workouts and then head to packet pick-up.

Saturday, we slept in a bit, and then got ready for the race with a little shakedown run/ride and then went to Panera for a good breakfast. After that, it was back to the hotel for some rest/napping, followed by a trip to Longview Lake for packet pickup, course recon and Kristen's pro race meeting. The nerves were settling in fast, and I was getting both anxious and scared for the race! After the meeting we found a great Thai place in Lee's Summit, with some amazing Massamun curry! Then it was to the hotel to put on numbers, and get everything locked and loaded for race! We were in bed pretty early, all dreaming of glory on Sunday!

Alarm went off at 5am on Sunday, and we were soon up scrounging around and eating breakfast. Had some oatmeal with a banana, mango and a Breeze Bar. Loaded up and headed for Longview Lake by 5:45, we were in plenty of time to get parked, everything put away and set up in transition, timing chips picked up and off to the beach for the start at 7:30.

Kristen was off in the pro women's field at 7:30, and Rebecca and I  didn't go off til 8:04 and 8:07.

Overall result from the weekend:
23:33 Swim (1:35yd/min)
2:04 T1
1:04:30 Bike (23.1mph)
1:20 T2
42:12 Run (6:49min/mile)

2:13:36.56

Swim: started and I got in behind Lincoln Eppard (Z3 Triathlon) out of Des Moines, who I have known. We quickly were able to distance ourselves from the pack! I had a bit of trouble sighting in the early morning, with some fog, but the BlueSeventy Element goggles did a great job, more of a personal error. We caught the prior waves fairly fast, and were rolling through them. I was able to come out of the water first. Got into T1 but this is where my lack of experience starts!

T1: Wetsuit off and leaving transition, took me a while to get into my shoes, which actually involved stopping for 30-45sec to put on my right shoe, that I couldn't get on ***More baby powder***. Got clipped in finally and was out

Bike: Settled into a nice rhythm and started picking off people left and right. Made me wonder if I was going that fast, or they were going that slow. A bit of both. I had lost Lincoln and another guy from CU with my shoe debacle. Tried to catch them, but only did catch the CU Boulder guy in my age group towards the end. Overall a solid bike, Cannondale Slice felt amazingly smooth and fast and the Carrol 85mm wheels did great! Thanks Grant for the help.

T2: Another rough transition, got feet out of the shoes and dismounted, but a shoe caught the ground and decided to come out of the pedals. So I had to stop and go back to pick up my shoe, losing another 10sec or so. Got the Pearl Izumi Isotransitions on and headed out for the run, 2/3 done!

Run: Started out on the 2 lap 3.1mile loop. First mile went by in 6:50, right where I thought I wanted to be. Was actually going by more people than I was getting passed by. By mile 2 I had hit 6:39 on a slightly downhill mile. Coming back towards transition for the second loop, I was starting to hit the hurt box a bit, probably a bit fast going out. On the second loop, I was really hurting by mile 5, and with this mile as slightly uphill and into a headwind, I was really hurting. Pulled out a decent last 1.2miles and finished with a sub 7min/mile average. Exactly where I wanted to be. Something crazy happened to me right before the finish though.....50yards out, I was trying to catch a few sprint racers, and as I was rounding the last curve a 70year old guy walks right out in front of me. I had no reaction ability and ran over him.....oops. But really, look where you're going and don't cross the course dude! I hope he is alright.....

The Mix1 Protein Shake I had post-race was probably the most tasty thing ever!! Awesome to have them onboard!

Anyway, so that is my first race!!! I ended up 2nd overall in my age group to the CU Boulder dude, who flew on the run and took 20th/1000 overall!!! Very happy with that, have a lot I can work on to shave some time, but it was an amazing experience, and I am glad to have started this quest. With my 2nd place finish and sub-2:15 time, I am now eligible to compete in the Elite Amateur waves in future races, and my 2nd place finish got me free entry into the 2012 HyVee US. Championship in Des Moines!!! Going to be coming on on Sept 2 to celebrate my birthday and hopefully with the M20-24 Age Group Championship. That is going to be the big goal for the rest of the year!



Rebecca, Kristen and I got back to the hotel, showered quickly, went back to Panera for some food and then pointed due west on I-70 back to Boulder, arriving around 11pm. A long day, a long trip, but so much fun! Going to hopefully sit down with Grant here and find out whats going to occur before Boulder 5150, to make me faster!!!

Next race I believe is the Boulder Sprint on June 8th!! Until the next post!!

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination." Tommy Lasorda

Tis the Week!

Has been a little while since I last posted, but training really picked up in the last couple weeks as I have been getting ready for the Kansas City 5150 this weekend!! Can't believe it has finally come, and I am ready to rock and roll!

As for training itself, a lot of speed work and quality stuff has been the key to the previous couple weeks, but the mileage was still up there as well. My body was really feeling it this past weekend. I had reached my limit for training (coming from Jan 1), and it was time to take a taper block and rest. Overall my body has handled everything extremely well, and other than a homeless guy causing me to crash and getting some serious road rash, no injuries!!!! Thank you coach Grant Holicky for being spot on with workouts/rest/recovery!

Below is a picture of my PMC (Performance Manager Chart) showing my progress during the huge building period before this week.  Never had my CTL this high in my life. A recent TrainingPeaks Webinar suggests you have to be at a CTL of 120 in order to complete an Ironman. Maybe I should just sign up and finish one of those??


But now onto taper week, the CTL will fall, meaning that I actually will lose "fitness? but my TSB(Form) will increase and I'll be ready to rock on Sunday! Tapering is a special training period immediately preceding the major competition during which the training stimulus is reduced in a systematic non-linear fashion to achieve a peak in performance. Volume is reduced, while keeping some intensity in order to maintain an edge. 

Helping me get onto the top step of the podium this weekend include some seriously fast stuff from some great companies:  Thanks BlueSeventy, Pearl Izumi, Breeze Bars, and Cannondale!  Below is a picture of my BlueSeventy Reaction Wetsuit, Pearl Izumi TriFly Carbon and IsoTransition Shoes! Excited to fly in these aboard my Cannondale Slice TT rig!



Heading out to Kansas City with Rebecca Much and Kristen Peterson on Friday morning, and hope to really enjoy my first triathlon. Not really going in with any expectations other than sticking to my zones and putting out the best effort I can. The ultimate goal of the weekend is to produce a sub 2:15 Olympic which seems very do-able in order to qualify for HyVee later in the season. Have to trust my training and go out and make it happen!

First Race of the Season

Had the first race of the season this past weekend. The Koppenberg road race, headed back to my roots of road racing. The course was a 5.5mile loop with half on gravel/dirt, 300ft of climbing per lap, with most on a 17% 45sec climb where the race gets it's name. Here is a video from 2010. I broke my trusty Madone 5.2 frame while reconing earlier in the week, and was able to borrow fellow Luther alum Karl "Moose" Larson's ride for the race. On to the race...... Right away, I was glad I had downgraded to a Cat 3 since moving out to Boulder. The Cat 3 race I did was harder than any race I had done back in Iowa. The fields are deeper and the competition greater. Didn't feel to bad as the race was going on, but can tell since training for triathlon, I have no top end as I would have had if solely focusing on road cycling. This came into affect the last time up the climb when I was cross-eyed on my stem, and fell off the pace about 1.5miles from the finish on a 3-tier climb towards the finish. Overall, a great training day and it was fun to get back on the road bike for a race. Will do a few more here and there, and then some cross in the fall.  Finished the day off with a good brick run and tried to recover the best I could for Sunday.

 Waiting for a few team kits to come in, so still rocking the Midwest kit.

Sunday was the longest training run prescribed yet since I have started. I remember when 60min was hard, but when I saw 2 hours on the schedule, I was ready for the challenge, even though a bit nervous. It ended up being great and can't believe how good it felt! 2 hours and 14.5miles later, I had accomplished something I never thought would occur. Strava file above.

So overall, the training is going awesome. And got a new frame this weekend Cannondale CAAD10, and also just received my Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit!

Kansas City is a little over 3 weeks away and I am anxious to test out the 4months of training I have put in to triathlon since moving to Boulder.

Training for previous week:

18 hours
Bike: 120miles
Run: 32 miles
Swim:  12.33 (20,345yds)

Full Steam Ahead

HERE YOU ARE MOM :)

Update from the wonderful world of the Boulder bubble. Such an amazing place, with some ADD weather to boot. The last few days it has threatened to rain, but always seems to roll right around and leave it dry. Not too bad in my eyes for training, as it has been full training mode. But I am hearing from everyone that the fire risk is going to be so great this summer, so if it rains every night I won't complain in order to reduce that risk.

5 weeks out from the Kansas City 5150 race. Training is going awesome, and put in the biggest week of the season last week. Finished it off with a good Saturday and Sunday of training, a group ride Saturday and my longest run to date on Sunday.

Highlights include:

1. First Thursday long swim with the RACE team. Short story short, LONG SWIMS and LITTLE REST = extremely tired.
2. First track(Brick) workout: Set up bike on trainer at track, suffer on that, then run fast on the track.
3. First long run where I made it over 13.1miles (half-Ironman). Was awesome, felt great, and had that ADD weather. One minute it was 80 degrees and sun, the next probably 50 and was getting sleeted on, then some rain, then sunny and hot again!

Weekly total include:

20.5 hours, 1115TSS, 14,000kj's

Swim: 9.83 (16,200yds)
Bike: 145miles
Run: 29.5

Work has really been picking up, with coaching, but most of all, with the motopacing. I am now Boulder's finest motopacer :) It has been great, many members of the Optum Pro Cycling Team have been in town for a training camp and have often called upon FasCat for some fast paced thrash fests behind the scooter. Awesome to get to meet and chat with the guys racing in the big races!

News From the 303

Hey everyone, been quite busy and haven't been able to do much blogging lately.

Busy = awesome news to hear in the coaching/physiology industry! Many clients are placing their cycling abilities and performances in the hands of FasCat this spring, and it seems to be paying off well! Many of the FasCat athletes are having good success with their early races, especially the CU Collegiate Men and Woman's teams! With many athletes having their physiological parameters set for the early part of the season, the exercise physiology lab has been a bit quite as of late. Time is made up for by continuing to work and provide the best customer service to my athletes! Some other cool things may be stirring out of the company, but I won't touch on those yet! Hope to have some cool scientific news in a few weeks!

But enough for work right? Play time update!!!

Still training quite a bit, actually more than I ever could while in school. Last week I touched on 20hours!!! It was awesome, and I can feel the fitness coming as I am about 6 weeks out from my first race of the year in Kansas City May 19th. Been getting similar sensations in the water that I had when swimming at Luther, so that is a good thing. The stroke and power are coming around and starting to see some good splits in the pool. Had the biggest week of the year on the bike last week, and capped it off with my first experience up to Peak to Peak Highway. This highway runs North/South from Estes Park to BlackHawk, and is considered one of the best picture spots on the front range. Sitting around 9000ft, it is very close to the tree-line and you can see snow-capped mountains all around. Go figure, I forgot to take pictures as I was struggling to keep with pros Allen Gardner and Kyle Leto that day. Running is one thing I never thought would feel good, but it is starting to feel easier and easier every day!!! Put in some good speed work at the track this past week and also a great long run this morning.

Actually tried my luck at racing road bikes here in Colorado yesterday at the famous Boulder Rouabix. It is 50/5o dirt and paved roads. But the dirt roads out here are packed pretty much as hard as any highway. I was feeling great, but go figure, I flatted during the first lap and was done. Went home, swapped wheels and did some climbing instead!

Weekly totals for the past 2 weeks!!!

3/27 - 4/2 4/3-4/9
Hours: 20.5 18.75
Swim: 12.54 (20,700yds) 11.62(19,177yards)
Bike: 150 172.97
Run: 22.07 22.62

Until next time!

It's Finished!

Officially finished all of my work required to graduate from UNI this spring with a Master of Exercise Physiology! Can say that I am extremely grateful to be done! It was so hard not being on campus, and having to do "homework" at night to finish up my thesis.

Traveled back to Iowa last week to defend my thesis and see family and friends. A very successful trip in both aspects. Went to Cedar Falls on Wednesday and presented my paper to the three professors on my committee. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but there were still some "grilling" questions presented to make you feel nervous, on edge, and just to make sure you know your stuff! Turned in my papers, fees for binding and everything else, and I was finished!

Spent the rest of the time in Decorah and Cedar Rapids hanging out with my family. As soon as I got back to Decorah, I relapsed into some great memories I have shared there over the years. It almost made me want to pack up and move right back there. That is how close it is to my heart, and someday when I am ready to settle down, Decorah will be smack dab at the top of my list so far! Had a couple great workouts back at "sea-level" (800ft). It was amazing how much faster I could swim/bike/run compared to up in Boulder (5400ft). It gives me some great confidence for my first race in Kansas City in May. I was also re-accustomed to the humidity that plagues the Midwest. I bet I sweated more in my first 45min run, then I had in 3months out here in Colorado!

Had all my favorite foods and ate at all my favorite restaurants while home, which is always awesome! But unfortunately I had to bid my family adieu and head back to Colorado. I miss you all so much already! My niece Brooklynn, is getting SOO BIG! I can't believe it, unfortunately, I don't have any picutres up yet, in another post. But she is now walking, talking (repeats every word, so be careful Jenny!!) and is just a little cutie! Can't wait to see you again in a few months! But back to work and training to continue that quest of triathlon!

Cheers!

I'm Coming Home!

As that title states, I will be returning to Iowa next week March 20-27th, to officially defend my thesis with the graduate college of Northern Iowa in order to fulfill my educational requirements of my Master of Exercise Physiology degree!!! Very nervous, as I know some pretty rough questions will be headed my way from my committee, but they don't want anyone to fail, and I am confident in my education.

Booking my flight tickets only 1.5weeks out was pretty hectic, both on my travel time and pocketbook!!! I have to fly from Denver-Colorado Springs- Dallas - Cedar Rapids on my way home, and then CR - Chicago -Oklahoma City - Denver on my way back...using two different airlines! But it is needed and will feel good to be home, to see my family.

Going to spend a few days in Cedar Rapids and Decorah. Without any physical work for the week, I hope to put in some big hours of training while at home, and it will be my first experience coming from altitude down to sea level (800ft). Have to be careful not to over extend myself! But will be swimming with the Milky Way Masters in CR and borrowing a bike from local bike dude Rob M! Better than paying $150 each way to ship mine!

Speaking of training, another big week done!!! Most hours, highest TSS, and greatest KJ burn of the year so far.

Training Hours= 18.75
Training Distance = 182.81miles
Running = 25.42
Swimming = 145.47
Biking = 11.84 (19,500yards)

Highlights of the week include my first bout of mile repeats on the track! Check the file here! Ran each mile repeat faster then the previous, and ended with some great 400m sprints! Can't believe how the run is coming along! Not burning any records or anyting, but it's coming!

Had the longest threshold session of the year on the bike, and crushed it!!! 3x15min LT efforts, and although they were hard, had no falling off of power! Have also put a couple days of riding on my new Cannondale Slice TT bike. Haven't ridden it much at all since I got it, but have no problem with back soreness or anything, really excited to race and see how fast I can be!

Can't wait to get home, have some Mabes Pizza, Cho Sun, Broghans Taco Pizza, Pancheros! AHHH I hope I get to put in some massive hours of training otherwise I'll come back 10lbs heavier!