EK Endurance Coaching

Are sprint triathlons good training races for IM?

2012-01-15T19:51:00.007+03:30

Racing is some of the best preparation one can do. Sometimes there is no better way to test yourself than to simply get in there and do it! In a previous article, I talked about how to maximize your time in races “Training in Training Races”. You can find this article on Active.com, Here at Amateur Endurance, X-tri and a few other sites.
Many times IM athletes lean towards the longer ½ ironman races as their preferred events. However there are lots of reasons that the shorter sprint distance races can be just what you needed.

1. They are Cheap:
Triathlon entry fees cost a bit more than dinner at the local pub, but sprint triathlons are some of the least expensive triathlons you can enter. Register early and you can shave a few dollars off the price tag. This is good for the wallet and might allow you to rent those sweet pair of race wheels!

~The scene at a local sprint tri in Boulder. You're always running into lots of friends and they are just plain fun!

2. Local events:
Traveling can take a lot out of you. Assuming you are already going to take a few rest days before the event and maybe after, adding in a long car drive, some less than ideal road food, a hotel bed and you have the makings of a week or more of stress and not the good kind. Not to mention, all of this stuff costs money, see number 1. Usually you can find many local sprint tri’s to compete in. That can leave you the afternoon to spend with the family, catch a movie, or even get in some more training…

3. Shorter rest/recovery period:
Even if you are looking to set the course on fire, two days of easier training can be enough to put down a solid effort. Also with the shorter distance, particularly in the run, your recovery time will be pretty low. You can get back to training after only one day for some athletes.

4. More opportunity for training after the race:
With the normal early tri starts and a race that only lasts an hour to 1.5 hours, there is plenty of time to get in some more training after the race. If it’s close enough, maybe you can ride home or even ride there and back. If not a quick cool down after the race, maybe a ride on the bike or swim might be in order. You can still make it home for lunch and still have a few hours for some more training of your choice. For example, last fall I did a sprint tri in Denver. The day basically boiled down to the following: 1+ hour drive, 1 hour race, 30’ cool down on bike before the awards ceremony, 1+ hour drive home and I still had time for 3 hour ride with time enough to make dinner for the wife. That’s over 4 hours of training and brownie points with the family. It doesn’t get any better!.

5. Training vs. Racing a 70.3:
Many think that racing a half IM distance is the best way to “prep”. “get my pacing and nutrition down for the full” A half IM is NOTHING like a full. At the same time they are long enough to go far into the breakdown category for most of us. Ie. Lots of recovery time. These races are less than half the duration of a full. You will NOT get a “feel” for a full IM here. You will get a much better sense of bike pacing, nutrition, the fatigue levels you will have on race day with your long training sessions.

6. Great threshold workout and test of % loss.
Many triathletes, even IM athletes, are realizing the benefits of training their threshold. These races provide a great environment for this type of training. Sprint tri’s can vary in length, but generally you’re looking at some thing like: 750meter swim, 12-16 mile bike, and a 5k run. Depending on the course and conditions, it takes one hour for the speedy folks to1.5 hours or so.

I like to pace these efforts as a long hard threshold effort. Every training “zone” you have should have a range. Your threshold on the bike may be 250 watts, however you threshold zone may be 235- 265, so you have some room to work with here. Go for your threshold-pace on the swim (1000m TT effort), a solid, normalized, threshold effort on the bike and then see what you’ve got for the run. If you can knock off a threshold pace for the run at the end of an hour+ race effort, you’re looking pretty good in my book! Not to mention, you just did a killer threshold training session. If you didn’t hit your threshold run pace you should start looking into why? Did you go to hard on the bike or swim? Too many spikes in power on the bike? Just got fatigued? If so, how far off your pace were you? This can be valuable information and data for future training and give you some clues to where your weaknesses may be.

7. Sprint tri’s will make your IM feel like slow motion
Sprint triathlons are hard. Don’t let short distance and larger numbers of beginners fool you. Coming out of the water and getting right into a threshold effort on the bike is tough to execute. With the high intensity it is very easy to go to hard and blow up. On the other hand if you take too long to find your rhythm and “warm up” into any part of the race, you’ll lose a huge amount of time. That leg could be over by the time you get into the groove! Becoming efficient and comfortable at this will pay you back! Being able to blast through transition and find your pace and rhythm at these speeds and high intensities will make your IM feel like Sunday brunch. You will be far more “in control” minimizing the chance of making an error and maximizing your ability to execute your race to perfection.

You may not find that a training race is on the schedule and that’s fine. You may have spent the last 3 years doing short tri’s and now its time to try a longer one. It always depends on the individual. We are all different. We have different strengths and weaknesses, different backgrounds and resources. But next time you’re looking for some racing to do before the big one, give a local sprint triathlon a go, you’ll learn more about your self than you think.

Train hard, train safe!

Ironman Hawaii - in hind site

2011-10-27T22:44:00.009+03:30

This is a pic of a list I made in the mid 90's of stuff I wanted to do before I die. A life list. part 2 is of IM Hawaii is now checked off.

"just have fun, its your first time in Hawaii, don't expect much..."
you hear this a lot. and still, after having an inadequate race in my mind I call a huge bull shit!
IM Hawaii is 140.6 miles. the same as all the other full distance triathlons. Evey race has its own unique aspects that make the race challenging in different ways. That race is very hilly, it's always windy there. The salt water help you float better, but the water is rougher but no wet suit also... hmmm....

here's the deal. Hawaii is hot, humid and windy. done.
The bike course, despite the wind, is faster than most other races. IMC, lake placid, st. George, IMLO. and teh run a very flat. the hill going up palani is tough but thats it. As some one that doesn't do well in the heat this was a concern. I took care of this in 3 ways.
1. Arm coolers on the bike
2. Extra water bottle on my bike down tube. (2 bottles for straight water and 1 fuel bottle w/ Infinit. 3 total)
3. Simply being mentally prepared. Ever get stuck in traffic that wasn't expected. infuriating! but when your ready for it, plan for it, expect it. not so bad... same thing. get ready to be F'n hot. all in all, the heat wasn't bad. Ice down the shirt at ever aid station and I was fine.

Ok so why does it seem like so many people crack there? 2 main reasons.
1. They train to hard/ don't rest enough for the race. It's the world championships and athletes get supper amped! Rightfully so, but recovering from an IM takes time. lots of time, longer than most realize and many rush back into training from there qualifying race. "I got to train for KONA!" yeah you do but you have to recover first. Not recovering enough first is like getting new tires for your car before you take it to get junk yard. It's just dumb. everyone knows this yet very few actually do it.

2. They get over excited and execute the race poorly. This is easy to do. Its the world championships and as you hopefully read in my race report things don't play out like they do in your qualifying race. There are people all around you the ENTIRE time! my 10:10 race time was good for the to 500 something... yeah top 25%. i am normally in the top 5%. This issue can be exacerbated by the fact that almost everyone here is a qualifier. They are used to going fast. If people feel just a bit off and there going slow, lots of folks passing them, they get what I call the IM death gaze. you lave T2 feeling worse than ever before and you think 26 miles!?? no way thats impossible! and they implode.
Here's a little fact. You can't run 26.2 miles after riding 112 and swimming 2.4. its impossible. but you can run 1 mile. and then another, then maybe 2 and so on. I can't tell you how many people I saw on a sun 10hr pace (ahead of me) just stop and quit. 99% of these people's minds quit. not their body... when i left T2 i could see this place in my mind. I felt like death. one at a time, one mile at a time, one moment, one steep, one feeling one thought at a time. my first tip of race execution. focus on what yoru doing right "now". mistakes get made in the now. If your not in the now on race day where the F*** are you?!!?? can I run "right now" for just 1 minute? "yes", then do it.

So which one happened to you then? neither. of course, right...

Here is the other thing. Hawaii is a long way away. really long. Even from CO. A 2 hr. flight to AZ. then 6.5 hr's to kona makes for a long day. add 4 hr time change and 7 for you east coasters and you have a potentially serious jet lag issue headed your way.
What did happen to me was this.
Our planned 14 hour travel day turned out to be around 24 hours. A very simple delay in Denver had us in LAA instead of AZ. 5 hr lay over, before the over seas flight and kona arrival time was 7 pm local time instead of 2. not a big deal right? Thats what I thought, I wasn't feeling bad. That was wed. thur. I was fine again. Didn't do anything dumb, stayed out of the sun, hydrated and fueled well, etc. But Friday things caught up with me. I was just exhausted. And that the was I felt on race day. Just tired. muscles fine, but even a slow pace just had me pinned.
pretty lame excuse I know. but that's all I got.
my training was good. I felt great coming into the race. expectations were right on. My bike felt like it was right on with pre IMLP. Swimming felt great in training and if anything I had improved tech. The run, not as much but I adjusted and was prepared. I was going to "see how I felt" running no faster than 8'/miles and aim for a 8-8:30/mile pace. if I slowed a bit, fine. a 3:45 run would be fine.
As you read in the race report I handled it as best I could. I kept moving and avoided a huge disaster.
I have said before that people don't realize the best moments of their lives because they are so caught up in the moment. Which I think is pretty cool. But what happens when your somewhere that is supposed to be sooo great and its... not so great. Its important during these times you keep some perspective. I had two rules going into this race. don't stop, take it in.
I did both, success.

So what now? I seem to very content with my day, and fulfilling a life long dream...
I have gotta get back there and race at 100%. I can be "satisfied" but never "content".

IM Hawaii must Do's:
for racers and non-racers.

1. swim. its awesome! hit the coffee float the day or 2 before the race.
2. racers you have to have a iron Sherpa. for this race more than most.
3. take it in!! volcano nation park, snorkeling, local food, watch or participate in teh underwear run, do it all.
4. as long as possible after the race!
5. Get out there at least 4 days before the race. and sleep!
6. DO NOT stress about the heat. there isn't much you can do. if you want to move there, go ahead. 5 or 6 days is not gona help you acclimate.
7. Lu Lu's Sunday morning for football.
8. get as many friends and family as you can to go out. Watching this event and doing it are both very inspiring.
9. take it all in. don't forget where you are and what your doing.

Ironman World Championships, Kona, Hi. race report

2011-10-15T20:42:00.011+03:30

Kona Race Report. the nitty gritty.
here is the down and dirty race report. some power files, etc. more thoughts and details on the race will follow.

Race morning: was pretty standard. food, drink, get to the race, bathroom, etc...
the difference here was this is the world championship. The spectator volume simply crushes that of any other race out there. Media, helicopters, the whole 9. It was just fookin crazy.

I felt good 2 days earlier on my opener ride. and while I had this nagging tiredness and fatigue I told my self it would pass. I was confident it wouldn't bother me on race day.
The swim was pretty wild. The Ford car float, the sound of the helicopters, I took it all in. I lined up front and center. moment number one of "Oh my god I can't believe I am here!" Contact was pretty standard. but I found some clear water and got a rhythm. the water was rolly at times but I plowed through. at the turn I saw a guy under water 10 feet or so in full scuba gear filming. Moment number 2. "holy Sh** I can't believe I am HERE!"

The second half of the swim I pushed a bit more. The pack thinned out and went single file. A large group looked to be a bit ahead of me but I was still on some feet and connected to the group. I didn't have to sight any more, I felt strong and the separation was starting to happen... like normal... right? nope. This is the world championships. Everyone here qualified, you can't simply hold your pace and wait for the other to "fade away". About 10' from the finish of the swim it felt like the entire world came up behind me and it was the start all over again. "you gotta be kidding me!" I thought. but I made it. up to T1, in and out. Most crowded T1 I've ever been in. I had no idea what my swim time was at that point, didn't care. time to ride.

The bike was crowded. again its the W.C.! and I was getting passed, a lot. its rare for me to get passed. but I wasn't worried. Its kona there are just as many people here who will get over pumped up and blow there race as people who will crush it.
However, about 10 miles into the bike I could tell. I had the feeling... That feeling of struggle. There are different kinds of pain. good pain,bad pain, etc. at 25 miles I had been riding for 52 minutes or so. and I felt like i had done 250-260 watts. I had done 220. uhh. not a good sign. this feeling of strugeling would stay with me the rest of the race.
The fatigue of our 20 hour travel day (more on all this later) crawled into me and wasn't gona go away. I have felt this before and it has simply faded away. I had a great race, other times its been the worst day of my life.
I could tell the tail wind was raging as well. I knew it would only get harder. Onto the climb to hawi and I was still strugeling. I adjusted a bit. almost 100% going by feel and using my watts to stay real. Also my HR was jacked. This confirmed to me that this just wasn't gona be my best day. ohh well, I made it hear I wasn't that disappointed.
On the climb to Hawi I started to get pretty annoyed with guys passing me then just stopping 1 bike length in front of me. I tried to stay cool but I am sure there is a pic of me somewhere waving my arms and yelling at someone. Big head wind on the climb which was nice because unlike the common head wind we got a tail wind on the way down.
mile 80 to the finish was a big steady head wind. what I expected. I pushed. I tried to tell my self that I was riding well, just ride EK, come on push! This ain't supposed to be easy. I seemed to drop some of the people I was with for most of the ride but this is where I lost lots of time on the guys that were just in front of me. My watts dropped here a bit even if I was steady. I have seen a few power files of guys the bested me in the bike and this was the biggest area of lost time for me.
In T2 I was quick but scared. As I finished up a volunteer asked "sunscreen?" "yeah, please." he lathered up my shoulders and neck, I stood up and paused. "whole crap... I feel wrecked, I can't believe I have to run a marathon." not the feeling we are looking for coming off the bike in an IM.
Bike file:
if this jams up on you sorry, I am going to download it again when i get my stuff back with my bike.

in the Run I was at first holding back to stay around 8' miles but it was taking some much energy. Normally, "energy" is not my limiting factor. I've got energy to spare. Its more about how much can my muscles take. oh far and how hard can I push them until they fail. This time it was different. I was in a place I had not been before. i hadn't prepared for this. I don't prepare to do poorly.

OK reality check and adjustment time. Chris and I did a damage assment and made a new plan.
I was in rough shape all ready. If one more thing goes wrong, one tiny thing gets messed or stops working at 100% I am screwed. I'll be walking the rest of the way, at best.
~OK. run on 100% feel.
~walk at every aid station. get everything i need.
If I fall behind on fueling, get hot or .5% dehydrated things would crumble fast!
~I decided I would walk every aid station, get everything I need, stay cool.
~ My stomach was good so I started hitting coke on top of my other nutrition, Infinit.

This worked well. I walked most of palini but my rhythm, while slow, was steady. I never thought I would have to walk the rest of the way or not finish. I just kept on keeping on...
I had 3 or 4 more "oh my god i'm can't beleieve this" moments. when people say "just enjoy your day", this is what they are talking about. Often at the best times of our lives we don't realize it because we are so caught up in it. And... that's the way it should be. But every now and then it's worth taking a moment and just being aware of whats going on. of what your doing. Alii Dr., the Queen K, going down into the energy lab, The finish line. The finishing straight is INSANE. it's long, real long. the crowd is huge, and if you miss this opportunity to "take it all in" you are missing out.
Run file:

Lindsay meet me at the finish I drank several cups of chicken broth and saw lots of racers and friends I knew. The stories begin. "did you hear about so and so? 3 flats!" did you see Drew Scott? his running shoes were red with blood."
Even during the bike I saw guys just pull off the rd and stop. guys on the run 3 miles in, that were ahead of me! (I finished in 10:10) just stop and called it game over. while seeing this stuff during the race doesn't make me happy at all, it did, make me realize, "hey, that's NOT happening to me..." things could be way worse.

so Chris and I learned a few things at this race. It is possible for me to keep moving and finish what I think is fairly respectable time, with out feeling 100%. not even 90%. pretty cool.

Next post will be Soon! more on what Ironman Hawaii is like, do's and don'ts and what happened to me? training, prep, heat?

The Ruben Sandwich and blending of ingredients

2011-10-04T19:38:00.005+03:30

The Ruben is my favorite sandwich. I get it every where I go. Yes its good. I like the grilled bread, hot sandwiches and the gooyness of the meal but I also love it because the Ruben should NOT be so great. every ingredient I dislike. every one.
~Rye bread, Pass
~Swiss cheese, its ok but not my first choice.
~Russian dressing, no way.
~Corned beef, ok that's pretty good... but still not a first choice.
~Sauerkraut. barf

Yet for some reason when you put these together, the right way, in the right proportions it F**** rocks!
This is a delicate balance. To much beef, no good. it's to dry. To much kraut, awfully, if you toast the bread (the number one mistake) major fail. But when the ingredients are good quality, in the right portions and grilled perfectly you have the makings of the best meal ever!

2 days ago, 6 days before the Ironman world championships, I went for a run. Since IM LP I have not felt... my best. slowing getting my strength and feel back. The swim came first, bike next, almost now to the point where I was preLake Placid but the run has been an up and down battle. Struggling to balance the right ingredients in the time I have to simply get to the best place possible. No need t0 better or even at the same level, but I still gotta finish! I need to have that "feel" back. This has been further hampered but another nagging issue which I'll discuss post race regardless of the result, how I get it, or if this issue becomes an issue or not.

Yet on Sunday days before I am to leave, my run felt... like my running legs just woke up from a 2 month nap! I felt at ease with my 45' run at race pace. "ahh thank god!" I said aloud to my self when I got home.

Training will sometimes feel odd "why am I doing 30 sec. sprints on the bike for a 5-6 hr ride?"
"why am I doing 100 yd efforts in the pool? the swim is 2.4 MILES?"

some times the ingredients don't look right when viewed alone. The road to your goals is never a straight line.

But when you take the nasty sauerkraut and Russian dressing (does anyone even put that on salad anymore?) the cheese and corned beef, slap it on the grill between the right bread you get something totally different.

Some times you have to be patient, trust your self, trust your training and resting, put your head down on race day and never stop.

The Road to Kona part 2

2011-09-27T02:41:00.004+03:30

“So Eric, how’s training for Kona going?” ahh training? Well not much “training” to be had really. But I feel ready...

Sounds weird but it's true. I have got this question a lot lately. And others like it. At the awards ceremony for IM lake placid a guy from my AG asked us others in the top 5 as we waited to head up to the stage “you guys raced kona before? And then , “what do you do to train between now and then?”
It’s a very valid question. So, what am I doing? What should you do if you find yourself in this or another similar situation?

~Find your Perceived exertion chi.
~Leave the ego at home.
~Take a reality check. Every day!
~find your form, don’t work for the sake of working hard.

You will not find anything in here on “heat training” nothing on changing your body clock to Hawaiian time or riding a course that mimics the kona one. You won’t find one anyhow so Don’t bother looking.

Steep one.
RECOVER!
This is the most important thing. From the finish line at lake Placid to the start line of the IM World Championships one has 11 weeks to prepare. And your preparation can not begin until you are FULLY recovered, plain and simple. Depending on the person this recovery can vary more than my wife’s work travel sch. !
This year my friend Steve Johnson finished 2nd overall amateur at IM CDL. 2 weeks after this race is the Boulder peak. Oly dis triathlon. Last year it took Steve until the last mile to catch and pass me on the run at the peak. My running had improved… a lot. And while he had made improvements as well I thought I had it in the bag! “2 weeks after IM CDl. I’ll put over 5 minutes on him by T2, he doesn’t have a chance” I said to a friend. yet at mile 3.5 he did catch and pass me without even looking tired. He said he felt great. WOW! he is a freak of nature. We train together freaquently so while on one hand I was suprised by this performance, on the other I wasn't really.

After IM Canada last year it was over 6 weeks until I felt somewhat normal. 2 months after the race I was 15 lbs heavier than on race day and while I was feeling “better” and could train, my ability was gone. My threshold power on the bike was some 60+ watts lower at threshold than pre Canada. Recovering from an IM is complex. The race breaks you down badly. On top of that recovering may take so long that you also de-train slightly as well. What this comes down to for your recovery is you have to listen to your body and leave the ego at home!
On the flip side, if you wait until you can do a field test of some sort and match your previous bests you’ll be waiting a long time. You will also be constantly testing yourself and getting worn out as well as frustrated and discouraged.
You will need to find a balance of complete rest and recovery and then after and appropriate time have to put you nose to the grind stone and do some hard work, slow and pathetic as it may seem. Then slowly start working with what you have not with what you want to have.

Recovery that worked for me, so far:
With Kona all ready in my mind I hit some good nutrition and recovery as soon as I got back to the hotel a few hours after IM lake placid.. Some vitamins, ibuprofen and dinner that included 2 beers and some johny walker red label!

Week 1: totally off!
A massage this week, LOTS of sleep, 10 hr’s a night, one 15’ spin around the block to move some blood around and a trip to the local recovery lab for 30’ in those pants that squeeze your legs.
Compression socks worn for at least 1 hr. every day and a good diet. Go ahead induldge but lets not go Supper Size Me, on yourself.

Week 2: 2 EASY swims
1 easy ride 1 hr. long
another massage. Lots of stretching, GREAT nutrition and some ab work.
This is a great time to analyze your race. What worked, what went well, what was bad, what was bad luck and what did you get lucky with? For me this big thing that stuck out was my tight hip flexors for the entire bike. My PT helped me address this with some activation movements and core strength work. 2 times a week. Easy, straight forward, 5’ done.
After this 2 weeks of very focused recovery I was feeling good but still far from normal.

Week 3: involved 2 easy swims again and 2 rides which I incoperated some strength work. High intensity,30” (second) efforts in a big gear/low rpm.
This was to get my neurological system working again and build back as much strength as possible. 6 weeks after IM LP I was going to a stage race (bike race) in steamboat springs. My goal was to recovery 100% and then get myself to a point where I could “handle the race”, 4 days of hard racing. If I could get myself to a point where I could get some good training out of this race without digging myself a huge fatigue hole I would be in a great position.

The strength efforts got better. I felt better, pushed more watts and added more reps.
Swimming felt good pretty quickly and running I slowly added to this. Week 3 I did 2, 30-40’ runs. One felt great the other horrible. Many folks experience this when coming back from an IM or any BIG endurance event. One day they feel like they’re old self. The next like it was the day after the big race.

When this happens you stop, head home and take the next day off. Remember we are still “training to train”. Just getting to point where we can train again. And sometimes it takes awhile. It always takes longer than you think it will. As we start to add in more training here we must think about training and its core. Training is a give and take, a scale if you will. How much adaptation can I get (the training/ the workout) and how much fatigue will it cost me (having to rest later). The later also has a risk element to it. What if you get injured from overuse, or sick? So this HARD training that we all want to do has sand traps everywhere! Injury, extreme fatigue, decreased performance, sickness and for what? What are you getting from your training? This is where I recommend a few protocols.
1. more off days than normal. (I did 2-3 instead of 1)
2. NO excessively “long” workouts. I do a seminar that talks a lot about what is “long”. The deal is, Mr. or Mrs. IRONMAN are you really worried about your endurance? Really? You just did an IM?
Long endurance workouts (4+ hour bike rides, 2 hr runs) have lots of fatigued associated with them. And, alone, they don’t offer a big adaptation. So you either have to do a lot of them or you might as well find a new approach. And you don’t have the time to do a lot of them. 3 weeks recovery, 1 week restarting the engine, 3 week peaking phase(tapper) , that’s 4 weeks, 3 if one is a recovery week.
3. when intensity returns to your training use shorter intervals and/or longer rest than normal.
4. listen to your body. No time to be a tough guy. If you’re not feeling it today, even though you think you should be, go home, tomorrow will come.

My strength workouts on the bike turned into a 2.5 hr hilly ride and one threshold workout. this was my "nose to teh grind stone day" the first one (hilly ride) was horrible. i could barley pedal that day. i went home rest 2 days and tock another shot.

For the threshold workout I did 4x10’ and went more on feel. The zone 4 workout gave me some clues that my threshold was around 285-290. Down from the 320-330 it was before IMLP. Reality check time! Time to lower the training zones and train with what I had, not what I wanted to have.

The bike race came, I did 320 watts for 20’ in the TT on day one and almost dropped a lung. OK maybe the threshold is up towards 300 watts all ready. Progress! The next 3 days I worked hard for the team, we had the leader’s jersey for a few days, and while there was no impressive power files to talk about I “felt good” I was able to push my body each day. there it s again, “Felt” back to PE. Perceived exertion. The most important aspect of intensity and the one that ruins most athletes because they don’t use it correctly.
More rest and back at it the next weekend. Another short threshold set. 10’ intervals again only 3 this time. Power was up. all 3 intervals in the 310-320 range. confirming my 20’ TT effort at the race. Always get more than one data point. Even in ice skating they take out the highest and lowest score! You should too.

Swimming was going well. This is a relative strength for me so I did not push myself here. I was consistent, 2 times a week. I was never worried about how many yards I did and I error’d on the easier side. Again bang for your buck. Hard long swim workout can crush me. I’ll do some in time, but first I had to find my riding and running legs.

Running is coming back the slowest. This is common for many people. Running is also my weakest area so it further exacerbates the issue. I focused on short runs, making them more frequent as the weeks went on and I felt stronger. The 2 weeks before the Labor Day weekend race I ran 1:50 total each week. Then 0 the week of the race and about 1hr total the week after.
In the recent weeks I have felt stronger and stronger. My focus on the bike has stayed with shorter threshold intervals and more rest than normal. Working my muscles to push the higher watts without added fatigue and muscle damage of longer intervals and shorter (more normal) rest time. I was am taking 3-8 minutes rest instead of 2-4 minutes. Sometimes longer if the terrain called for it. (long down hills etc)

With running the focus has stayed with frequency over the long run and I have added short intervals. 30” (seconds) intervals at Z4-Z5 pace. “well what are your pace zones now EK you haven’t tested have you? No. I haven’t. Based on a relative PE on my steady runs I put my threshold at 6:45. Back from 6:15 I had going into IMLP. This is a bit of an educated guess and far from ideal. In the next week or so I will likely do a tough run workout or maybe a 5k test. Something maximal to give me another data point to figure out what is reasonable on race day in Hawaii. I have an idea, again from my PE in training on my “easy” runs but you need more than that. Again People’s sense of what is what when they ONLY there PE is wrong 99% of the time. this gets folks into trouble all the time! that said ideal threshold test data or not I am going to get more info for my race day pacing goals!

Next post will be looking at a few of the big training sessions I did. What they’re worth on race day and performing instead of just getting it done…

Sacrific, and the road to IM world championchips.

2011-09-20T03:58:00.005+04:30

Sacrifice.
This word gets used a llot in sports. “It takes sacrifice to get to the top, to obtain your goals”, etc.
Often in endurance sports it has a definition I disagree with. You need to sacrifice a lot for that goal. Sacrifice sleeping in, eating the foods you like, having a social life, fun in general, the list goes on. If you have read more than one or two of the training entries on this blog you know that I do things a bit differently.
However, there is truth between those lines. The higher your goal, the more you MAY have to sacrifice to achieve it.
There is a saying in the mountaineering world when traveling on a glacier, “You don’t worry about the crevasses you can see, you worry about the ones you can’t.”
In sport the toughest times you will often face are the ones you never saw coming. I often wonder if that is because there’re so difficult you never imagined having to deal with it? Or is it simply because you were not prepared as you should have been?

As I prepare for the Ironman world championships in Kailua- Kona, Hawaii things have gone well. Recovery far better than last year after IMC, I slowly started training, getting myself to a point where I could “handle” the Steamboat Springs stage race and get some good training out of it, without digging myself back into a hole. I did that pretty well. A few days of recovery and I was feeling great, ready to go for my 1 week of focused training in all 3 sports. The only full week of real training I would have between IM lake Placid and IM Hawaii. Then, bamb a cold struck. Time is NOT on my side here. One HAS to be healthy and rested for an IM, or any big endurance event. yet I am still a shadow of my former self from June and July when I did IM lake placid. The classic catch 22 “I want to be more fit/prepared but I must be rested, healthy, motivated and fresh for race day.”

I say this in every training seminar I do:
“The biggest limiter every athlete faces is TIME”

Now as I finish up this post with completely backwards writing we need to take another steep back. Before I was even at the starting line in Lake Placid in which was able to use my body that cast the shadow I which I speak of, I avioded a potentially catastrophic disaster. Getting sick 3 weeks out from my biggest race of the year. I did this with a very large amount of sacrifice. The twist here is that the sacrifice was not on my part but my wife’s.
Lindsay had been very busy with work, traveling a lot. In the middle of a 2 week work trip on the phone one night I could hear it in her voice. “are you sick?” I asked. A long pause. “… I’m sorry baby, I tried, I've done everything…” she felt horrible. She knew the place I was at. Just finishing up a huge 2 week training block, ready to rest, perform well at one last Oly distance race and then drain a tank I had been filling for the last 2 years in less than 10 hours.
It’s likely she could have come home and all would have been fine. But when you prepare all year for one day the risk was kinda high. Lindsay decided, and yes this was her idea, she would return from her long work trip and spend two additional days at a friend’s house in town not comeing home to get more clothes and not seeing me. This was to ensure she was not contagious anymore. I thought this was a bit ridiculous but she tock words that I have used before “if we are gona do this, let’s do it 100% or not as all”. Motivation to come up with the goods on race day at Ironman Lake Placid? You could say that.
The biggest sacrifice that was made to achieve a lifelong goal of making it to the ironman world championships was not made by me… crazy. Life still amazes me, every day. my wife amazes me, everyday.

Next post I’ll talk a bit about IM recovery, starting training up again and what it was like for me. I will also be posting, daily in the last few days leading up to the IM Hawaii. Stay tuned!

The Anatomy of a PR

2011-08-10T20:54:00.004+04:30

This past weekend we had 4 athletes race at the Boulder 70.3 half ironman. All the pr’d is some way.
new best performances can come in many ways. Here is a quick recap of what they did and more importantly, how.
The biggest part of every story here is RACE EXECUTION everyone of these athletes used to train hard and then on race day, just go… some had a touchy, feely plan, go hard here, not so hard there. It should feel like this or that. But no hard data. “First 5 miles of the bike you do X watts no more”. “First lap of the run you run this pace. no faster, no slower”. This hard data was determined through field testing and backed, tweaked and changed completely with training analysis. When you combine this accurate, hard data to the experience of one’s PE (perceived exertion) you have 99% of the tools to perform at your best ever.

Results page here: http://ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=boulder70.3&year=2011

Megan Flanagan:
A relatively new athlete to us, but not new to triathlon. Megan is a great swimmer. A swimming back ground is always nice to have coming into triathlon but we all know you can’t win in the water. Megan’s focus has been improving her riding. Her bike is the weakest leg of her race. There has been a focus on threshold intervals. Not simply doing them but doing them right. We have employed some techniques that enable her to pace herself very well even without a power meter. The result. Faster AND more efficient riding. Which, as is the case most of the time, a better run as well!! Megan paced her bike better as well as rode faster. Back that up with a solid run right at her Zone 3 pace and you’ve a got a PR.

Gavin Anderson. First year Pro.
Gavin is in his first year as a pro. A wife, 2 kids, full time job and then gets up early on Sunday to face off against the best pro’s in the country on a monthly basis. Yes, I feel lazy just writing this. Gavin also has a swimming back ground. His run and bike both need improvements to race at the pro level. Gavin has a huge capacity for workload, the amount of work he can absorb is astounding. Even after a few months of working together I still become amazed every now and then. Through some training and testing I discovered that Gavin has a great Endurance. For example his fatigue rate is very low. He runs very close to what he would stand alone for 13.1 miles after coming off the bike. So, despite his focus on the 70.3 series his training has revolved around getting “faster”. Threshold intervals, VO2 int. and more run volume. His run volume was simply to low before. When we first started we eliminated high cost, low return training, like lifting weights. Put in more recovery time, so that the hard workouts could be done HARD, at the correct wattages and pace prescribed. The results. Gavin has made steady progress, improving in every race, beating athletes that had better him earlier in the year. Felling stronger and getting closer to the money!

Joel Byersdorfer:
An Athlete at heart but new to triathlon. Joel’s best asset is his common sense. A runner and ultimate Frisbee player in the past, he knows when to really push and when the set training sch. just won’t work. Joel’s communication with me has made for a strong coach athlete team and the results show it. Joel is another case of when we improve the bike the run improves as well. Go figure! We identified Joel’s weak area and got to work. Joel, like everyone we had race, negative split the bike and pushed through the wind in the second half of the run not slowing down to much and earning a great result.

Brent Schoeb:
The definition of toughness.
To do well in any sport, to “PR”, to go beyond what you have done before you must, at some point, push your body beyond what it is capable of. At that moment the “what you are capable of” turns into “ what you were capable of”. However, sometimes, this happens is a different manner than we imagine. Brent was cruising through the bike leg when a rapid series of events caused a fall. Small bump in the road, throwing an empty water bottle, hitting his own arm, a gust of wind and he was inspecting the chip seal on the bike course roads. After Brent got back under way he knew something was wrong with his hand. As he started the run he had a decision to make. Med tent now or in 1:54 minutes when I finish. He chose the latter and ran through 90+ degree heat with one operational hand to a PR. A great story of adaptation and not giving up. Sometimes you don’t have to be at your best to achieve your best.

Ironman Lake Placid race report

2011-07-28T05:42:00.027+04:30

Eric Kenney's IM Lake placid race report

“You're not gona make it.”
3 miles of the 140.6 to go and I could barely hear Chris any more. At only 6 miles into the run there were about 10 guys in my age group within 2 miles. Say 14’ max. For a guy with his 2 strongest sports behind him and a spot to the world championships in Kona, Hi falling away with every one that pasted me I knew the next 2:30+ hours would be the hardest of my life. Physically and mentally. And I was slowing down.
“DO NOT WALK! RUN ERIC RUUUUUN!!”, Chris said. And then there was that hand with the lightest push at my lower back.

That last miles of an ironman can be… well, a mind game. Just keep moving. It’s so easy to stop, so easy to start walking. And when you do the response is immediate. Relief.
Leading up to lake placid was your standard peaking affair. Nerves. Am I feeling horrible or just peaked and ready? But it was all there. The training, the mental readiness, experience, knowledge, tools. It was all in place. I just had to wait 2 more weeks for the gun to go off! Ahhhhh!

Race morning. “you guys know the drill right? No wetsuits.” the water was 77 degrees. Right at the, to warm for wetsuits rule. So it was wear one if you want. You’re not counted in prizes or Kona spots. If you want to go to The Big Dance on Oct. 8th, no wet suits. No worries I didn’t care. No use in caring at that point. I had about 3 minutes of “should wear my race top or not? What about the guys with speed suits, how will I know who wore one and who didn’t? oh my god, OH MY. OHH MY GOD!!! ITS ALL GOING TO CRAP! WHAT THE F- “YO! Eric!” Chris chimed in. Most of you know him, if not see the Canada race report from 2010
“Dude I can’t believe you got me up this early, You’re pathetic.”
"2 people said wearing your race top would be fine. But your gona freak. Everything loosens up when it gets wet. Get help with it in transition. Put it in your T1 bag, stop whining call me when you’re at mile 30 on the bike”

Ok done. Telling myself I’m not cold. Trying to tread water with people packed in like a Metallica concert, 5 minutes to go. Wow that’s a long time… “30 seconds everyone” blared over the loudspeaker.
wow that went fast. Gun goes off and the next 400 meters of the swim were the roughest I have ever experienced. Lake placid is tight at the start. Add in no wet suits and your sinking. I was a bit surprised but head down, nothing fazes you, just go. It thinned out and more so on the second lap. I had some feet for a while but not right on them. I swam right next to a guy for ¾ths of the entire swim. I mean stroke for stroke. For 45 minutes, there he is, not there now. There he is, not there now… get me to my bike! PLEASE! I swam hard. I didn’t feel great but I got a grove that I was maintaining and just pushed.
My swim was all right. 58:50ish… slow, but 12th in my AG no wet suits so… remember my article on how to analyze race results? “Never use time! Ever!” I had no idea during the race about my time and I’m glad.

I was surprised at how long T1 is at IM LP. You have to run like 2 blocks around to get your bag , into the tent, out the other side around the far end of a football field, get your bike and out the other side again. I got help with my race top (impossible to get one when you’re wet) my bike was handed to me, no need to go to the end of my row, and I was off. 4:30 ish, not bad.
Off on my bike.
I settled in nicely. Still riding a bit to hard on the hills but grabbing every chance to coast or noodle as possible. Which wasn’t much. It was all ready windy. And we had a head cross wind for the first section of the loop. Then the hills started, so… no recovery spots on the bike today.

My execution plan:
with a threshold of 320, (weight 156ish) goal was to do 230 norm power give or take for the bike leg. 70% of thresh. I would love to do 72% but I don’t have that crushingly huge endurance engine that some have. I know from training that 70, maybe 71% is tops. Especially with a hilly run course.
~nothing over 250 for an extended period of time.
~get over the first set of rollers as easy as possible. Relax.
~200-210 on the flats until Jay Rd where the hills start.
~again, easy up this the first set of hills on Jay Rd. Grab coasting time every where I can.
~from rt 86 (mi. 45 or so) it was 240 watts all the way to mi 65 or so. (to the big decent past transition) 75’- 90’ effort I figured
~2nd time through same thing except start the steady effort on the hills at Jay rd and start to back off a bit as I get closer to T2 on what few down hills and flats there where.

Nutrition, water, pedaling, don’t draft. The standard. The thing I noticed was I wasn’t picking up any big packs, even down on rt. 9 when you can see far ahead there weren’t big lines of riders down the rd. Was I farther off the back than last year in Canada? Did the first 25 minutes of hills break it up more? Was I farther up in the field? What the hell is going on? I wanted to know. I’m racing. My goal a spot to the ironman world championships. Yes I have to race MY race. But I can still work some tactics into the race plan.
time went. First turn around is mile 25ish I started to count riders coming the other way. 1-2, pro’s, some pro women, he looks like an amateur, bamb turn around. Nice! I’m up. Close to top ten over all amateur now.
Chris is in my head. “OK chill. This is perfect. Better than we planed take it easy over the Jay rd hills, then steady, NOT HARD, up the long climb to mile 65. And we need to stretch out the legs. Your hip flexors and hams are really tight”
I was gona just ignore the tightness in my legs but it had to be addressed. It was far less than ideal. I mean the race just started.
Chris treated our body like it was detached, something else. Like a car or a machine that one could just fix or tune a different way. If it didn’t work well one day or the way we wanted it to we just tried to fix it and went for it again another time. I talk about this to all our clients. Depersonalize your ego, your brain, your goals, and your physical being. If your legs suck one day, you’re not a bad person, it’s ok, life goes on. Be mad, sure, but only for so long. Then, it’s over let it go. Fix the weakness and move on. Be grateful you’re here doing this to begin with.

Up the long climb I pushed, much to the dismay of my hip flexors and hamstrings. Steady, “250 tops! Ek.”, 220 felt good. The flatter sections with the now tail wind had me moving well. Easy for a few minutes on the down hills through the finish area, and back up the starting hills. Windy now, keep on the gas. Push, push. A little recovery and food at 50 miles per hour on the big decent to Keene and back to the not so easy flat rd. with a head wind.
Ok , system check: one of the keys of race execution is staying on track. “think where are you now in the race, what are you doing and why? Then think about what is coming up and what you will do when you get there. As this may affect what you do now”
If you do this you are in control. I see people grabbing for food and water on hills, being surprised and un sure what to do at feed zones, etc. if you eat when your hungry, drink when your thirsty, ride hard when you feel good easy when you don’t you’re a victim of the course. The course is dictating your race not you.
~How’s fuel? good, on track.
~Water? Seems ok I missed a few stations early but was keeping bottles I got in my jersey that were not empty from filling my aero bottle.
~Legs? well they are not getting worse. That’s good. My heart rate was (this is the only time you will hear me talk about HR) very responsive. Which is good. Despite the tight legs, as soon as I would let up or coast, it would drop.
~Race strategy check. Over all I’m good, not fatiguing too much, and no one has really caught back up to me that I dropped on the long climb up 86. Another count of riders on the out and back. OK I have to be like at the Front of the race. I mean like THE front, I thought.
Chris. “eric”, he doesn’t capitalize my name as he feels I have not earned it, “lets ease up earlier than we planned, your legs are still really tight. We need to fix this now or we are totally fuc***.” he was right. My position was great. And while I didn’t feel bad, It felt harder than a good peaked effort should feel.
I went eaiser on the Jay rd. hills than planned, stretching at every oportunity I could find. I pulled ahead of the last rider to stay with me at 8 miles to go or so. “hey lookin good, number 2 amateur!” I had heard this 3 times now, it was just registering. Whole crap! I was 10th of the bike in Canada last year.
Every flat section and short downhill (yes there are a few on the climb up 86) I would ease up. Finished off nutrition, stretched, stood up a lot, easy, but out of the saddle a lot in the last 2 miles.
Coming into town was just epic. Huge crowds. I mean F’n HUGE! Up and around into the outdoor oval athletic center that is transition and the finish of the bike leg. I was the 2nd amateur off the bike overall there was 2700+ racers behind me. This felt amazing. I love being at the front. Racing, not just going. Thousands of eyes on me, cheering, yells, screaming. Just amazing in every way.
In the 1:30 I spent in T2 I handed my bike off, shoes, got rid of the bike gear, trash, arm warmers, running shoes on, switched HR straps, got my watch, asked what the temp was “79” ehh hot for me, and was out. I ran out with a focused but calm look on my face, fixed my hair, checked my run form an…
“YO!” ,chris, “pat yourself on the back later pretty boy, last year you were ranked 260-somthing on the run”

Power File:

225 norm power. 156 lb's you can see i did not negitive split the ride. but as I said above i was in a beter possition than i thought, and the tight legs... i ease up eariler than planned.
This is a great example of adapting your race plan. Adapting to the conditions and the way I felt and getting an end result very, VERY close to the original plan. Gotta be dynamic on race day! ohh I did just over 300calories an hour on the bike. the bike was windy. winder than i thought it would be and more so than the last few years I heard. the bitch about the wind was it was a head wind on every downhill and fast section of the course. you could never relax. if you look at the run time this year you'll see some slower times than normal. why? I feel its because folks rode to hard/ the ride just tock to much out of them and the cracked. Hello? racing dynamically! if you even think about MPH and doing xyz MPH for this section and that section, your F'd. it just doesn't work.

Ok time ro run.
System check.
~ legs tight
~running fast 7:30’s,
~feeling good energy wise.
~stomach was tight. Not cramping but a bit tight.
all right, so where am I now, what am I gona do in 3-6 16 miles…”
Stomach is tight, hum, I am gona push nutrition. Normally for me I need more electrolytes with a bad tummy which is rare so if it doesn’t get better I’ll get some pretzels so something. Within 3 miles the stomach was back to 100% and legs loosened up a bit. Back on track.
Run Plan:
~8’ miles, anything better was gravy. Hills, go by PE 100% don’t worry about pace. Imagine Steve Johnson in front of me running with his 400 cadence shuffle that I can barley match.
that’s it.
Most of you know my run training philosophy. Frequency, Quality, Varied/ different types of intensity, and long runs aren’t really “long”. 90’ is a long run. Longest runs I did were 1:50 at 14 miles. This 2:30-3 hour running this is BS. Recovery is to long and you’re just teaching your body to run slow. Now, there is this “train to get tough” and “train to get fast/ for quality” seesaw, ying-yang thing. My feeling is that one should focus on quality most of the time, but like everything in life, you can’t over do it. If you train when everything is ideal ALL the time, I’m not betting on you on race day. One HAS to be dynamic. so go ahead and mix in those crazy long brick workouts… once in a while! Not every freaking weekend! Mix it up! What happens when you try and do some threshold intervals after 2+ hours of riding? It’s a bit different huh… it’s so hard in the sport of triathlon to be complete and dynamic in every sport. Impossible really, but there are a few places that you can be. Biking, start here. It’s the most dynamic sport of them all. Last think you want to be is a one trick pony on the bike. Especially on a course like LP.

The run is an out and back you do twice. More down hill on the way out, more uphill on the way back. I was running fast. too fast. 7:09 first mile. Then settled into a 7:30-7:40ish pace. I went through waves of emotions here. From you’re going to catch the guy in front and win the amateur race, to my legs are tight and I’m gona loose everything, to maybe I can do it, no I can’t, on and on. Just noise. You have to focus on… what? “Where you are now, what you’re doing and what you’re going to do next.”
Turnaround 1, 6 miles. The leader was like 2 miles ahead of me. This guy had 11’ on me coming off the bike. You’re my hero! No one has pasted me yet. This is good. I started looking at race numbers to see what kind of buffer I had. Not much after a mile I had seen 10 or so guys in my field. So, here I am, 7 miles into the 26.2 mile run or 800 mile run as it feels in and Ironman, running to fast with the whole field right on my heals. Back to the, this just isn’t going to happen today, feeling
Sponges.
who ever thought of sponges in ice water for running is a genius. I grabbed them every aid station (every mile) over the head and arms. Water every time. And Infinit Nutrition. My custom mix is 200mg sodium/ 100 calories. (they have a great blend of all 5 electrolytes) I did about 200 cals/ hour on the run.
Up the hills to mile 13 doing good. Pace still strong. On the way back I thought let the legs go a bit, issue here was on this “fast” easy section of rd I was having trouble staying under 8’/ miles. Crap. Still I was 3rd in my AG at this point. It was getting harder to see who was behind me at turn arounds. It seemed like the pack of chasers was… thinning out? I didn’t believe it. 8 miles to go, 7. I thought it doesn’t matter if I don’t qualify, my friends and family will still love me, my grandfather would still be proud. (he died last year 3 days before I did IM Canada) it’s ok just keep moving. 6 miles to go. Aid station I walked. What the F… why am I walking? It was totally involuntary. Water, ice down the pants, shorts, sponges. And I was passed, again by a guy in my AG. I started to run right away and re-passed him immediately. I can’t do this I thought. I’m not a good, dynamic enough runner to get into a shoulder to shoulder battle in the last miles on an IM.
Chris, “OK ek here we are, this is an IM, this whole day is just to get to here. We hold 8’/miles here. On the 2 short steep hills, keep running, if you hit 12’ miles walk and pick up the run as SOON as it flattens out, 2 miles flat from mile 22-24 crush it, as hard as you can. Last steep hill same thing, last mile 1.5 miles run, just run!”
Sounded good to me? I didn’t want anyone to see me and gain hope. First hill I shuffled. Like an old man barely moving. Never went slower than 10’ miles for the short steep climb. Ok crush EK, run, RUN! I saw a few folks I knew, they were screaming my name. I don’t’ respond. Couldn’t, at all. My face felt like those Lemmon headed aliens in the movie critters. Just blank. Nothing there, last hill into town, still in 4th in my AG I figured. (I was really 3rd) Half way up my legs just stopped. “I’m not gona make it”, I thought. “ I can’t do it. I just can’t run anymore.” The crowd erupted, as if they felt like it was their fault for not being loud enough or encouraging enough. It was so load I couldn’t hear my own thoughts. Now I would love to tell you that I could hear my grandfather talk to me and push me along but I’m not. What I did do is imagine that he was next to me with his hand on my lower back, and I did feel lighter.
I started to run. The steep climb turns and false flats. I stopped again, run eric, I said to myself, Run… RUN! I started to run again. 1.5 miles, last aid station. I stopped again, COME ON RUN!!! Water, sponges (yes I was still drinking) nutrition, yes still taking calories, turn around, my legs stopped. FU** eric RUUUUNNN I saw Patrick McCrann, he was a little ways back, he won’t’ catch me? If I can beat him I have to be in a kona spot. Patrick is what comes up when you search for “rock solid” his nick name should be ice man. I was 3rd in my AG and the 8th over all amateur. Coming into the finish is amazing. Huge crowds.
finish line, I couldn’t believe I pulled it off. The last 6 miles were harder than I imagined.

A few mistakes here, first 6 miles were way to fast. But everyone did the same. It looks like everyone slowed down, I just slowed down a small fraction less. Not the best run execution but it got the job done. Down hill or not. You HAVE to be carful with the run. NEVE back time. It never pays you back. The lake Placid run will crush the best runners if you go out to fast. I ended with a 7:51/ mile pace.
Run file: http://tpks.ws/tphDu5fQ
Kona here we come.

Results, Goals and the Real World.

2011-06-24T19:27:00.012+04:30

With racing season under way many folks are now starting to look at results and assessing their performance. This can be a tricky process. Whether it's simply a training race or a more important event, there are many things to take into account. And some things that should simply be left out on the course.
With times, rank in each event, your over all placing, wattage, run pace, and more, how does one analyze their results and performance correctly?

The hard data:
One of the best ways is to measure you and just you. Forget about everyone else what did you do? In the end you can only do what you can do. Sounds silly but many forget this simple fact. Measuring your wattage and running pace are very definitive ways of measuring your performance. "last yr. i did 250 watts at the Boulder sprint, this year 275!" that is progress. Your running pace is also something to look at. I would recommend going by your GPS watch however. Running courses can be off more than you think. Even at the most recent WTC, 5430 sprint tri the run course was short. This can skew times quite a bit. Swim times, be careful here as well. I have never heard of an open water swim course that was perfect. wind, choppy water, etc. can all led to very different swim times. This is why we never, NEVER, ever use time to measure our performance on the bike. MPH mean nothing. A breath of wind, new pavement, and 100 other things will affect your average speed. you must use wattage!
Even with all the correct data it is some times used wrong. I have heard athletes be angry with there run time because "it was slow." Yet they have no idea what they should be running (what they can run) coming off the bike. "well in 2001 I ran a 5k with some friends and I did 19 minutes flat! Today i'm better shape and I raced 19:50. i sucked!"
Heard this before? where do we start! First of all its not 2001. You just did a sprint triathlon not a stand alone 5k, if you PR on the run of a triathlon your not swimming or riding hard enough, or, you are much faster than you were before.
The courses could have been short, long. wind, surface, motivation, or maybe you just had a good/bad day.
find out what is a reasonable goal for YOU. not some obligatory time.

Results:
Because of issues like the ones above comparing results can be a great way to measure your performance. "but Ek I don't' race the people that win my AG, I race for my own goals, to be as fast as I can be i'm not on that level." That's great! This method is still very usable for someone in that mind set, stay with me for a bit.
This year an athlete I am working with has been working a lot on his run. However, his bike and swim have been improving as well. In the first few races this year his bike wattage has been exactly the same as last year. Effort level also the same yet his bike rank (and his over all placings) are higher. If this happened once I would think nothing of it but so far (4 races) all with the same scenario. he is going faster. A new bike and better position is proving to be gaining him more time than we thought. we'll take it!
Another client of ours just this last weekend said, "my run was awful, a horrible placing for me." really? are you sure? they placed inside the top 8 in their AG and last yr. they were 18th. also their run pace was faster and at the fast end of where I like to see athletes run in a sprint tri... so.... what was bad? it hurt? it's a race it's not supposed to be easy!

Also if your goals are competitive ones than this is realy what your aiming for right? Top 50%, Top 5% etc. At the end of the day a race is just who was best on that day, at that moment. You can work towards having a faster run, better power on the bike but,
"on race day you must race with what you have, not what you want to have"

Again I would urge caution here as well. things don't always match up 100%.
At the last race I did my swim placing was worse than last yr. but when you compare my time with the fastest swim time I lost less time than last year. ie. I was closer to the leader. My "time" (last thing we care about) was faster and the water rougher. Which is strange because a rough, slower swim would suggest bigger time gaps?? hummm...

This is why we prefer to use well executed races and more than one when ever possible. the more reference points you have the better.

Goals:
In the end you need to ask your self, what are your goals? what are they specifically for this race? And what are your bigger goals for the season or year?
Your goals for this training race should be:
1. a stair steeper to build on towards the bigger goal
2. everyone should have the goal to execute the race to the best of there ability on that day! maybe you have a goal to focus on the bike portion or the run portion, maybe its simply to finish your first triathlon strong. what ever it is race execution is KEY!
~see: your first triathlon. even if it's your 101 race!!
~and the race execution seminar HERE

Most importantly realize that this event you have just done is one thing. One day, one race. you might have just had a bad day, or for that matter a good one. Maybe you got lucky? But when you have your threshold set for all 3 sports, they are better than last year, your data says you executed the race well and within the proper parameters and you're doing better against the competition at more than one event,
you are looking at the products of progress.

Going pro

2011-06-13T23:32:00.010+04:30

"How do you go from being ranked number 1, to number 101 over night?
Turn Pro." ~Nike.

One of my favorite television ads. However, Going Pro is not about me. As with most of the blog posts here this is about someone else.

We have recently started working with Gavin Anderson, first year pro. This is very exciting for me. Being asked to work with a professional is something that has been a dream for a while. Am I ready? We'll let Gavin's competition decide as the year goes on.
"I really wanted someone I could work with, as a team. I've been an athlete for a while but at this level you just can 't do it alone." Gavin.

On the June 11, 2011 Gavin cracked the top 14 at IM 70.3 in KS. A very competitive race. He raced while leading the entire pro field out of the water and running a very aggressive first 1/2 of the 13.1 mile run until living on a edge became to much. We are excited about this result and are looking to build!
"I just couldn't hold on to my run pace. I knew it was aggressive but I'd rather go down with a fight!"

The challenges we face are a many.
1. We did not get to work over the winter together. trying to train weak areas in the middle of race season can be tough!
2. being a pro triathlete doesn't mean he gets a pay check! you gotta earn it with BIG wins. Gavin has a full time job, a wife and 2 great kids! All of which are priority number one. and you thought you sch. was busy...
3. Gavin's race schedule is jammed! later in Aug. he will have back to back 70.3 race weekends. recover much!

Whats in our favor? lots really.
1. Gavin and I are both here for the long haul. We know this takes time and are willing to do what it takes!
2. Teamwork. we are both open minded and work as a team. This is not crab fishing boat. This is two smart, experienced people working to make 2 minds far better than one.
3. Gavin has an enormous ability to handle and absorb workload. Gavin's normal training week would have many injured or sleeping through more than one meet at work.
4. Work ethic. when a workout say's ride 4 hrs in Zone 2 that's what happens. not 3:30 or a 3:45 hr ride.

Gavin plans and executes a training block in a smart, planned, thought out way. Now some of you are thinking "I have heard this before." you have, HERE and its not surprising. I did not make Gavin who he is. HE DID. He turned pro all by himself. Can we make him even better? yes, we can.

"All my sponsors I use, I love them all, I don't have any sponsors attached to me because they pay well. I really use their product or service."
Follow Gavin's blog to find out more about his sponsors and the Erin Baker's Elite Triathlon team. As well as stories from the front end of the race are all ways amazing!

First True Test

2011-06-06T20:32:00.007+04:30

This past Sat. was the first true test of my training for the 2011 season. seems late I know!
and yes, I have done threshold testing for this and that and yes my "feelings" and pace at a given PE is different than last year and I do feel I am running faster swimming faster and even riding a bit better too. But,
until you lay it on the line, put it all together, in a race, with everyone else doing the same, you don't truly know how or where you have improved.

now, for some this is a bit much. One of our athletes did her first duathlon this weekend. was she concerned about the others racers? no. her placing in here A/G or over all? no. but showing up on race day is different than going hard in training and PR'ing when ever you happen to feel good one day. even for the newbies performing "their" best on race day is still important.

Michelle, did great by the way. running a bit faster than planned in the first run. her bike felt strong and steady, and even on the 2nd run dealing with a hot day and some calf cramping due to her lack of riding (big run focus for the Boulder Boulder) she finished strong not slowing down to much on the sec. 5k run.
For me this "training race" became much more important that originally planned. the summer open sprint had to cancel the swim last min. and we raced a duathlon. while I did better there than I thought I might, I was a bit disappointed with my running pace. The distance was a format I have never done but still I felt I should have run faster.

This past Sat. was an Oly. distance race. having a strong swim/bike combination its a good distance for me. The Boulder Sunrise tri is a smaller race and doesn't draw a huge fast guy field but I wanted to see what my body could do when I put all 3 sports together and realy emptied the tank.

The swim was lack luster. After having to back stroke a bit to get my breathing under control I started sighting off the wrong buoy. In the end not to much time was lost and I was able to get on the feet of the first group coming out on the water. I think I was 4-5th out of the water. so, not bad. makes me wonder what a GOOD swim would have produced.

lessons learned: if everyone else going left, then EVERYONE is likely correct.
I am never wearing a long sleeve wet suit, ever. regardless of how cold the water is.

The bike felt good. I waited a bit long to get up to my wattage range, but, then again maybe that's why I felt so good? Norm power was only 281 but for many of the steady riding sections I was sitting on 300 pretty well.
This felt much beter than last year and the summer open sprint a few weeks ago. Not forced at all. tiring in the last 5-10 miles? yes, for sure, but in control.

Things Learned: same one as always, being patient and not rushing to your goal power always pays off. Always.

Now the run. At this point I was told one guy was still in front of me with about 3 minutes. "OK so racing for second it is." who ever Drew Scott is he only 20 and crushed me by 5 minutes!! national team coaches, someone call this kid! I had a chance to chat with him a bit. very nice humble guy.
I found a rhythm faster than normal and was running sub 6:30's. perfect. what I wanted. The first 3 miles went well. my gap on 3rd looked good. I posted 1 or 2 6:40+ miles but got back to a 6:20 pace or so for the last of the 6.2 mile course and ended up with a 2nd place over all, running a 6:31 avg. pace per mile.

Lessons learned: be nice to your wife/significant other in the few days leading up to race! (see last comment of this post)
no mater how good the first few miles feel be carful. it always gets harder.

I was pretty pleased with this. having botched my last threshold running test I didn't have any hard data as to what I could really run. In my race execution planning I thought "if i can run 6:30/mile that will be great." so task achieved I guess! the run training has worked pretty well so far. with a 6:31 pace off the bike in an Oly dis. race that is going to put my threshold around 6:20 or better. training objectives for the run are all very close to being achieved.
"But Ek what about the longer running distances?"
good Q. can you correlate my run threshold pace to IM pace 100%.
No. but the race does tell us 2 things for certain about my running

1. My Threshold is faster than 6:30/mile.
2. I am running well off the bike. as I am pretty sure running a 6:10 pace would be unattainable. which means I am losing less than 4% or so off the bike. This is great.

Congrats to all the first timers who got out there and the race organizers for doing a great job. The race was much bigger than last year and I feel it has a great place in the CO race calendar.
Also, a big thanks to my wife who after getting up at 5am to come watch turned around half way there per my phone call on me forgetting my garmin running watch. despite getting there after the race started she found my stuff in transition, and got the watch placed in my running shoes. no clue how she did this as transition is closed to non racers.... humm....

Your First triathlon

2011-05-21T19:30:00.002+04:30

As mid summer approaches there are many of you about to take on your first triathlon. You might be apprehensive or simply downright nervous and there is no shame in that, it can be overwhelming at times. Swimming is fairly intimidating for many folks, especially when you add a few hundred other people getting in your way! Here we’ll discuss a few ways to keep your day in perspective and ways to avoid the mistakes that are so common and could ruin your day.

Over all strategy and pacing for your race day.

Even for the Elite athletes you will find that in triathlon there are far more things to do wrong then right. What I mean is whether you’re finishing your first triathlon or winning Kona its more about not messing up, not making a mistake rather than being supper tough or “pushing through the pain” or mustering up some magical effort on that day. So, let’s talk about the big picture.

Don’t do something you haven’t done before. You’ve probably seen a few people come off the bike into T-2 leave their shoes on the pedals, swing one leg back over the seat and hit the ground running right as they arrive at the dismount line all in, what looks like, a very easy, fluid motion. Stay away from this! Unless you’ve done this 100 times in your every day rides stay away! Some other things to avoid include:

1) don’t ride up a hill harder than you have in training
2) don’t take a turn faster than you have before or are comfortable with.
3) don’t grab your water bottle with a different hand.
4) don’t eat or drink something you haven’t previously consumed during or before training.
Race day is about executing the skills you have on that day as well as possible, not thinking of something else at the spur of the moment. You will also notice that all of the things listed will not gain you much time. And if its your first time, don’t try to set any records.

Lets Break the race down.

Transitions/pre race: “You can’t win the race here but can certainly lose.”
You’re not racing to win today but the same ideas apply here. Take your time, relax, catch your breath, try to recover a bit from the swim or the bike, and focus on not making mistakes. And most important of all, breath… before you leave do a double check. Is your helmet on and buckled? Got all your water, anything else you need? OK… you sure? Ok, now go.
Keep things simple. Organize your gear by your bike in a small area. Less is more here. The less “stuff” you have to deal with, put on, take off, buckle, strap, flip over, the better.

I put the transitions section first because I see more errors and mistakes here than anywhere else. At every single race I hear about or see someone bolting out of transition to the run at mach 3 with their cycling helmet still on. Don’t be that person! And if you are its OK just laugh because it’s pretty funny.

Visualize: When you’re done with set up, walk down to the beach or wherever the swim start is, walk over to the swim exit, then walk up to the transition area (like you will in the race) take note of everything. How far is it? Look around, do some visualization. I am going to come out of the water, WALK up the beach, take the top of my wet suit off, into transition here and my bike is… ummm where’s my bike? See why we do this! Finding your bike is easy when there is no one else there and you’re right next to it. Finding it when you come into this huge transition area from another direction with hundreds of bikes around and water in your ears is a completely different animal.

Our 4 key tips for each section of the race:

Swim:

1) If you’re a bit worried about everyone crawling over you start at the back.

2) Go easy! The swim is designed to blow your race. Swiming is a hard full body sport. Relax, find a rhythm and go. You’re pumped up, you’re excited it’s the beginning of the race, you will likely go to hard. Try and relax. Swimming too hard will have you hyperventilating in 3 minutes or less. Focus on form and breathing.

3) Keep moving. You’re going to contact other racers, they are going to contact you, and it’s ok, this is what happens when 100’s of people all need to get around the same buoy in the same few square feet. Just keep swimming.

4) Look where you’re going every 3-5 strokes. If you get a good feel for going straight go longer (5-10 strokes) before looking.
Bike:

1) Make sure it works and is safe. Are the tires in good shape and pumped up? Do the brakes work and is everything is tight and in order?

2) Pay attention!! If another rider does something dumb and you crash down its still your fault and it’s your road rash. Take responsibility! Watch for Dirt on turns, other riders, glass in the road, cars, pot holes, rocks, and more. Just like you do every other ride. Take responsibility for yourself!

3) Stay steady! YOU dictate your pace, not the road. Don’t ride too hard on hills and in head winds. These elements will be harder than the flats but stay steady. Conversely go easier on fast sections; down hills, tail winds, etc. and recover a bit. Keep your cadence up, use all the gear on that bike. Don’t sprint out of turns and up short hills.
4) Fuel up! Remember, you still have to run. It’s easier to eat and drink on the bike and fluids are most important here. Just keep a steady, consistent flow in regards to fueling.
Run:

1) Relax! The first few minutes will be the hardest. Your legs will take a few minutes to adjust. Go slow and stay positive. Find a sustainable rhythm. Find a pace you know you can finish. If the fastest 5k you have ever run is an 8 min/mile pace don’t start at 7:30’s. In fact don’t start at 8 min/ miles. You will likely lose 7%, maybe more on your run from a standalone running race.

2) Focus on form. Keep your head up, smile, keep a short stride and quick cadence. Stay light on your feet. If you start plodding along and hammering the road you’ll just make it harder on yourself. Run forward, not up and down.

3) Keep cool with water over your head, on the legs and in the system! You may be only a few miles from the finish but it’s going to take much longer than the last few miles on the bike, way longer! Stay hydrated and cool. Water in the system and over your head will help keep your core temperature down.

4) Walk for 30 sec. -1 min. before you blow up completely. Don’t push yourself to the brink before you compromise your pace. Walking through feed zones is a common practice. Relax, get your water and/or calories with ease and less stress, catch your breath and then get back to work. You’re almost there!

So remember this is YOUR race, your day. Don’t get sucked into trying to catch the dude with the disk wheel on his/her bike. Don’t let a few people bumping into you on the swim ruin your whole day. Be ready for it. Stay relaxed but ready. Be in the Now. Look and think about where you are and where you’re heading in the next 30 seconds to a minute or so. If you’re on the bike, don’t worry about the run… yet.

Training in Training races

2011-04-22T16:10:00.000+04:30

It’s that time of year when we all start to race or think about it. For many of us some of these first races are non- priority races or “training races”. There are a few different ideas as to what a training race is and how it should be done. Some people think that it just means you don’t taper and “train through it” giving us a nice excuse for not doing well. In fact a training race is a prime opportunity to get great training, important experience and test our self’s in the exact environment that we are trying to excel in the first place. Here are a few key points to consider and plan out when doing your early season race’s and race simulation workouts.

1. Its still a Race: A training race is NOT a time to waist 100$ (or what ever) to swim, ride and run around in a circle with a bunch of other spandex clad freaks for the heck of it! It is an opportunity to really test your self, in the field and against your pears instead of your self. With this, aim for a specific, measurable goal. While this training race will not require a 3 week peeking phase you should take the few days before to make sure you are well rested and ready for a good effort, physically, mentally and with all your equipment working 100%! You have committed the money, time, energy, the sacrifice of getting up at, still dark out- thirty to meet at some random state park. Make it worth while!

2. Make a goal: If you have been working hard on your cycling all winter and spring, your first non-priority Tri of the year might be a good event to focus on the bike leg 100%. See how fast you can really go. How hard you can push your self, and how does that compare to your competition? If you know the course and/or the condition are very similar to last years race. See if you can beat that bike split of yours. Stay within 2’ of crazy Phil, the ex-Belgian pro road racer. Yes, the Bike leg is only 1 part of the whole triathlon conundrum but one step at a time, it’s a “training race” remember… On the other hand you and your coach, might be working on your cycling but aren’t to the point where you want to throw down yet. So focusing on a solid effort in the swim and/or run will be better suited, while your bike leg will be time to focus on being efficient and not extending your self too far as opposed to trying to break the sound barrier on the fast decent coming into T2. instead how fast/well can you run after riding steady smart and keeping your HR and/or wattage under a certain level?

3. Gain experience. Learn. A training race is a prim opportunity to learn. About your self, about your competition, your preparation, your fueling plan, your equipment, your warm up (or there lack of) if you run well in the wind, on the hills or down hills? How did you feel afterwards? Like you just parted the seas? Or do you feel recovered after 15’ of hanging out by the kiddy pool of Powerade and table of bananas, thinking “man I could have gone way harder?” The list goes on. Come the big race day you can’t afford to be caught off guard by something silly. A cross wind hitting your fancy new disc wheel, your cool new tri team tank top and tri shorts fitting right in your aero position, and how big are those pockets? Do they fit 1 or 2 cliff bars? Gaining as much experience about your self, and how your body works in a race situation will have you better prepared come the big day. This may not have you breaking any records but when the going gets tough the prepared shine trough. Anyone can post a personal best in there ideal conditions on there ideal terrain. You want a personal best in any conditions, on any terrain, on any decided day.

new Tech T's coming!

2011-04-13T20:29:00.005+04:30

Medals not included

These run BIG. order one size SMALLER than you normally wear!

train your lactate threshold without doing threshold...

2011-03-29T03:58:00.007+04:30

Break that FTP plateau! Some athletes thrive on these workouts and can perform them better than steady efforts at 100% of threshold. Other suffer like never before. There is a reason weight lifters do many different types of chest exercises, all chest workouts are not created equal. Your threshold power or pace is the same way. I will frequently prescribe a 2-3 week block of threshold training for an athlete and not one of the threshold (Zone 4) workouts are the same. Why? Lots of reasons. To keep things fresh, to keep the body working and adapting as much as possible, to be specific, to “force the issue” as I sometimes say. 3x20 minutes at 90% of threshold and doing 3 min. on, 1’ off times 6 at 110% of your threshold are both “threshold” workouts, yet they can fell worlds apart.

The Over under or Crisscross interval is one you may have heard of or even done before. If you’re a cyclist you have defiantly done this maybe without even realizing it. There are many differ ways and variations to this workout. They are an interval with a given amount of time under your threshold, power or pace, and a given amount of time over it..

Here are a few of my favorite types of over under intervals

1. Bike: for time trialest or triathlete. 2x25 min. (4 min rest) done as, 4 min. zone 3/ 1min. in zone 5. Repeat for the length of the interval.

2. Bike: For the roadie, 2x25’ (4’rest) maybe done on a climb. Ride in zone 3-upper zone 3, every 3’ do a 20” kick spiking power to 10 watts per kilo of body weight then push Zone 5. Repeat for the 25’

3. Running. 30”on, 30” 0ff. on time is 5k pace or faster, off time is zone 2/ endurance pace. Repeat 20-30 times.

How they work:

What this does is it forces the body to recover from the harder effort while still working at a non recovery pace. By doing a short effort above your lactate threshold you start to build up lactate on your muscles. If it’s not too much you can recover from this by working very easy for some time. But with these intervals you keep the effort going at a hard but sub threshold, aerobic, pace (zone 3/ tempo). Now your body is trying to filter the waist, while keeping energy production fairly high! Also the repeated nature of these hard efforts will soon have you thinking efficiency. How can you hit that wattage or pace with as little wasted energy as possible? Believe me you will figure it out or pay dearly!

All of our training zones are related. Some more than others yes. “If your foundation is to small you can’t build a big, tall house.” Right. Well, if your roof is too small you can’t build a big main floor without it filling up with water, same thing. I have seen many athletes come to me and others pounding away at their threshold getting little results because their abilities above threshold are inadequate. Yes , you ironman triathletes still need to have some kind of minimum ability above threshold. These intervals are a great way to work that upper end a little bit while having an overall endurance flavor to your training session.

There place in the real world.

Train your weakness! This is The foundation of the ETG. If you’re looking at this thinking I don’t have to do that in a race why should I train that way? If you have been thinking this way for a few years chances are this type of thing is a weak area for you. We all have our strong points and weak ones, however, If a weakness is weak enough it will hold EVERYTHING back.

At bike race or a mtb race much of the time it feels like the winner still blows up just not as badly as everyone else. Or they are the ones that simply blow up last. When attacks are going in a road race it’s not the base pace that gets people dropped it’s the accelerations. The same can often can be said on climbs for the leaders. Mt bikers. This is your playground! Long hard steady efforts are what mt. bike racing is all about but you are constantly forced to deal with the terrain. That hill is steep! Any slower and you will have to put a foot down. Those little efforts to get over a rock or a log. So you Find yourself keeping up with every one for the first lap but then every one of those little tiny efforts you seem to lose more and more ground? These intervals can be your secret weapon to preparing for the final finishing climb. Or to simply get ready for the first races of the season.

For the TT guru or triathlete these can be a great threshold workout to add to your arsenal. Accelerating out of corners and not paying for it can mean an extra few seconds at the state TT championships and the difference between 1^st and 4^th place. In triathlons we try our best to be steady eddie on the bike. But its tough some times. This can provide not only some great training at your VO2 power but give you a little insurance for the mistakes we all make when were in the heat of battle.

Replace your next few boring threshold workouts with some of these interval sessions. See what happens.

Live webinar

2011-03-03T04:19:00.007+03:30

Coach Ek talks Endurance training, periodization and the ETG.
this is a recording of teh 3/2/11 webinar. some of the slides are cut off yes but you wont miss anything.
this will be up until 3/9/11. after that date you can see the full version of the webinar and much more by joining the ETG
check it out here: http://app.madsync.net/forum/showforums?domain=madsync.ekendurancecoaching.com

special start up rates until March 31st. get the best training and support for less than 150$ this year!

Get tough part 2.

2010-12-09T03:20:00.005+03:30

Last night at the end of a little bit of our usual ribbing with a training partner I got thinking. We joke with each other about our weak areas and even our strong sport is because we do them to much and should focus on the weak ones, and so it goes. He said the other day he couldn't ride with me because “us real triathletes train the swim and run in winter.” Now he was half if not mostly joking as he trains very consistently on the bike and is subsequently very fast on the bike.
yet he’s right in that many triathletes do stay away from the bike in winter.
Why?

The reason most do is that with daylight short, cold weather and the simple lack of knowledge of what to do with less time its hard to get it in. Or worse, the misconception that if your focus is a long event like a ½ or full Ironman you need to train “long” all the time. Now, don’t get me wrong there is less time to ride. Riding in winter can be chilly business and trainers suck. I almost never ride mine.

There are folks out there that ride a lot in winter and do little to no swimming! I talked about this a bit HERE. On how to maximize your swim time. Some good points there on both sides of that discussion.

The Real reason that triathletes don’t ride as much in the winter is a bigger issue. Many athletes (across the board) train what is easy or convent to train not what they should train. There is a balance here, we have to play with the deck we are dealt but playing that hand aggressively to win and playing it to simply not get eliminated are 2 very different things.

I won’t get into specifics on time management. If you haven’t read our off season series or been to the “training your weakness” seminar then get caught up! Less time means opportunity not more obstacles. And by the way, its winter your A race is months away why do you need to be supper specific now anyway?

Get tough!

If you want to get better, faster, more efficient then guess what… you can’t do whatever is convenient you have to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN! I know it’s cold and dark but your competition doesn’t care. Neither does the race course and the clock doesn’t slow down just for you on the last climb because you didn’t “get as many miles in as last year” how many times you heard that sob story!

“ OK Eric, fine Mr. tough guy. I leave for work in the dark. I come home and its dark what do I do”

Here are a few ways to make riding in winter very doable.

1. Realize 99% of your competition is in the same situation. Don’t’ get discouraged because you can’t do what you normally do for a bike training session. If you can use your time 1% better than them, you win come July. My fuzzy math here. 1%, times 2 rides a week for 4 months is 32%. Percent of what I’m not sure but you see what I am getting at.

2. Get some warm cycling clothes. There is no reason you can’t ride in winter cold. Lobster mitt gloves, good bottles, thermal jackets, etc. will have you warm without looking like a the kid from A Christmas story.

3. Maximize the time you DO have. Ride for workload. TSS or Kj’s. Not miles. Don’t have a power meter, Fine, ride for time and never coast. EVER! If you stay aerobic you get “endurance” adaptations. Going easy doesn’t get you better “endurance”. workload does. Yeah its easier to get lots of workload with more time, so do your best. And read these 3 articles again.

4. Plan ahead! I’m so sick of saying this but really look at your training/ training goals for that week. What is the weather like? What’s your work sch, like? What’s the gym sch. Like? Now put it all together. Nice days/when you have time (weekends) ride. Make those days ride days. Its never to cold to run and swimming is in a controlled environment.

5. Always be prepared. Get out of work early, got extra time at lunch. It was supposed to snowing on Sunday but now it sunny and nice… be ready to improvise, over come and adapt!

6. The trainer. It sucks but it works. Here are a few tips for that. And winter in general.

7. Spin classes: here’s a whole article on spinning. Here’s the deal. it’s your workout, do what you want. It’s inside and better than the trainer, I think anyway. If your swimming it’s probably at a gym find a spin class that works. Get there a bit early and/or stay a few minutes late it will be easy to get past that key 70 min. mark. Brick run on the tread mill anyone. The possibilities and combinations are endless. And they all maximize your time.

The Bottom line:

If you do what’s convenient, don’t plan ahead and let mother nature dictate your training sch. You’re not gona get any better. You’ll be having the same “yeah man I don’t have the time that guy has to train” Conversation as you did last year. Weak! He doesn’t have more time than you he MADE more time. Being a good athlete isn’t about who’s “talented”, who has more time or a better bike. Its about who takes the time (a very small about of time) to plan ahead and MAKE things happen. To get what they need to get done, and to meet there goals.

Getting the most out of a coach is your responsibility

2010-11-06T03:11:00.003+03:30

I have seen many articles and blog posts in my day about what makes a good coach. What he, she should be doing, not doing, etc. And, for the most part, they are all pretty valid. The topic is also one sure to attract lots of attention. Picking a coach is tough. I know, I have done it myself!

But what about being a suitable and good client? In my many years coaching I have seen such promise in athletes that simply was never tapped into. why?
So, you have done your diligent searching, interviewed your possible coach and asked them the big 10 questions and now you’re under way. Now what. How do you get the most out of your coach? Guess what it’s your responsibility!

Do the work And do it right.

We’ll of course. Its your fitness, its your big race, your goals, your body. You have to work hard, get up in the morning and follow the plan you and your coach set out to do.

“wait wait, what did you say EK? Me and my coach?” yeah. The grand plan, the here we are now, we want to go there, this is the path I think we should take. You need to have a common understanding of where you’re going. You don’t say to your buddies “hey lets go to the movies! Sweet see you there.” What movie? what time, what day, what theater!!?! For those of you that hired a coach, said, I wana do IM lake placid and off you went… its likely you and your coach are on a different bus there. Have a long talk with your coach about the BIG PICTURE.

This conversation should boil down to training phase’s, month to month, week to week and then, the day to day. “Ok cool we are taking this path. And this month it means this” your training plan.

On to executing the workouts. Before my clients do any workout they need to know 3 things. If you (the athlete) don’t know these, you need to ask!

3 Keys to knowing your workout:
~How to do it. 3x15’ in zone 4 with 4’ rest can be done a few ways. Uphill, flats, rd bike or TT bike. After a warm up or after 2 hr’s riding? What cadence. The workout is 3 hr’s what do I do the rest of the time? Etc. I have prescribed all these variations before, anyone can write down 3x15’. You have to know all the details

~Why you’re doing it. You have to know why. What’s the purpose? What is the physiological adaptation I am looking for here? This will help you focus on that. Doing workouts blind is a waste! And it’s your fault! There is no magic workout! “why is Joe a becoming a better runner than me? We do the same workouts?” He does it better, harder and smarter than you, that’s why.

~How it pertains to you and you’re a race: Ok, you got the above down. But why are you doing run intervals on a hill in Z4 while training for an ironman? When we get down to specific workouts, you should be taking apart certain aspect of the race or discipline and training each separate part. We talk about this in the off season training articles and the fall training seminar. When you do this you can get pretty non-specific. Know where you’re going with everything you do. Your car runs on gas but there’s a reason you have a big battery in there.

Communicate!
You, the athlete, has to take action. Coaches don’t read minds. No coach is going to wake you up in the morning, ask you how you slept, etc. If you’re tired you have to communicate that. If you don’t have time to do 3 hr’s next Sunday, if you don’t know the 3 keys to knowing your work out you have to ask! I once heard at a stage race “my coach sucks! I haven’t talked to him in 2 weeks!” I said “that sucks, does he just not answer his phone?” “ohh I don’t know I haven’t called him.” Are you serious!! I quickly told Mr., I need more attention, that before you go telling people your coach sucks maybe you should make a call first. You have to communicate with your coach. You have to ask questions. If you don’t want to, are going to wait for them to call or don’t care, don’t get a coach and save yourself and them some time.

Take control!
If you read nothing else I write read this.

Things don’t happen to you, you gotta MAKE IT HAPPEN. We have all heard it’s not the cards you’re dealt its how you play them. Life’s gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then get some vodka, get some more lemons and tequila, get all your friends together make sure the unleaded lemonade is clearly labeled, collected all the car keys and have a party! “The glass is half full or half empty?” I say neither, he glass is too big. Seems like a pretty fixable issue, get a smaller glass and move on!

Things don’t just happen to you. Take control of your life. Take control of your training! Own your training it’s your body.
Its cold, it’s windy, I was at work late, lunch didn’t sit right, I have an early flight, it’s too dark. Yeah these things happen, but when they “happen” all the time there excuses. Fix it.

“adapted, improvise, overcome!” ~Clint Eastword in heartbreak ridge.

Your race won’t be easy. No one is going to hand you your goal on a platter you have to go get it.
Stop saying whoa as me, and start saying whoa, I feel sorry for my competition.

You have to do this and you alone. Your coach can’t teach this, and many will be unlikely to tell you get tough so I’ll say for them. Suck it up and get tough!

I have an infinity symbol tattoo. Its broken however, it doesn’t connect. Every now and then someone takes a close look at it and asks “why is your infinity symbol not complete?”
I say “I am the completion of it. I have to go out and make life happen.” If I sit in the house all day and wait for my business to grow and my legs to stronger and meet new friends guess what, none of that will happen. In fact it won’t be long until the opposite happens.

The best way to do this, Plan ahead.

Chris (left and Peter (right) both won the cat 1 and cat 4 TT respectively in Golden last spring. Peter went to a race the foil lowing day and won yet again! while we adjusted there training quite often over the winter both completed 95-100% of there planned training.

there is no substitute for work!

Plan ahead:

Ever said this to your coach? “Oh yeah, I didn’t do any of the workouts last weekend, I was away.”
really? REALLY? Did you wake up sat at 3am and decide you needed to fly to Canada that morning? Training properly takes planning. And your coach still can’t read your mind. Your month should go like this: Communicate (getting tired of saying this but so few do it enough)

~Communicate your (athlete) sch. For the next month. I need these days off. Away for work here, group ride I would like to do here, etc.
~Look over your training when it’s all set. Make sure it works with your sch. again. Double check.
~Make sure you know the 3 keys to a good workout for every single workout!
~Plan ahead. You may have to get up early for that workout, pack clothes for that, eat pasta for breakfast that day ask to move that workout as the weather looks bad. All this leads to better quality training and better performance on race day.
~Prepare!! Remember things don’t happen to you. Make them happen! stretch, eat and hydrate well before those tough workouts, get pumped up, whatever it takes to get it done.

Listen to others, don’t react.
Its ok to read training articles, listen to others and what they do. But before taking action ask your coach.
Its only a matter of time before people start telling you what workouts you should do, how many hr’s you need to train, how fast you have to go to reach a goal. Go ahead listen, take it in. Realize that everyone has an opinion. And for many of us our local sporting team is the only place we can express those feelings in a place where people will have a clue what we are talking about.

If something sparks a question in your head, ask your coach! See communication again. You need to have trust and faith in your training. You can’t be second guessing yourself all the time. If you hopscotch around form training method to training method you’ll fall very sort of your goal not to mention waist your money if you’re doing what you think is best instead of what your coach has taken the time to lay out for you.

“hey coach, what do you think about this?” Seems like a pretty easy question to me. I get it from my clients all the time. I encourage it. It makes for smarter, better athletes and it pushes me to be a better coach.

Know thyself.

Communication again!! Is it sinking in yet?? Listen to your body. Your coach doesn’t know what “I felt horrible” really means. Horrible to him and you may be two different planets. Horrible how? Tight, empty, weak, tired, good at first then bad. What? If you know you just can’t do it today you have to communicate that. Figure out why and move forward. The answer is probably right there. It’s hard to see the forest through the trees some times. One reason for having a coach is this objective point of view but you have to tell them what’s going on. Every athlete is different. “hey coach I think I can go faster. The Z4 int. are feeling almost easy and I am in the upper end of the zone” that’s a pretty quick e-mail. If you’re too busy to e-mail, too busy to take control and own your training, your too busy to train, organize your life.

Here’s the deal gang. Whether you have a coach or not you have to own your training. Plan ahead. The best results I have seen form athletes all have a common thread. They missed very few if any workouts. Why? Because they don’t have jobs? No because they communicated and planned ahead. Tock steeps to ensure there training was at the highest quality possible. Everyone has set backs. Everyone has tough times and bad workouts. The more you take control, the more take responsibility the better you will be on race day.

Train smart, train safe.

Weight training over the winter, results and the real world

2010-10-05T01:20:00.005+03:30

My last post on Strength training, lifting weights, performance and training in the real world fell short of Nobel prize writing and was more of a rant. The topic has come up again in my training seminars, amongst friends and I have been pointed to some recent studies as well.

Here is a recent study of conversation: http://www.rappstar.com/pdf/StrengthTrainingEnduranceAthletes.pdf

Too long and technical for you. Here are the basic conclusions and findings.

strength training with weights increased “endurance” and power at VO2 by 7%. This study was done with trained cyclist which is nice.

This will be short and to the point. First off there is more than one way to skin a cat. And even more ways to train for an endurance event.

~“But ek you said weights would only increase your max power by 2%.” No, I said the people I worked with only had an avg. increase in max power of 2%. I have always been a proponent of “strength training” just not with weights. This study was done as one group doing x amount of “endurance” work which was a specific intensity based on there Vo2. (first of all they should have used threshold here) The strength training group had the strength work ADDED to their endurance work.
So, more work and high intensity work at that made this group “stronger”. No surprise there. The 7% is surprising to me. A very significant gain for sure. I would like to see their workout and progression for sure!

The more athletes I work with the more benefit I see with strength work. With my athletes its done on the bike. With specific intervals, done a specific way. This work has resulted in big gains in max power. And while I have never tested the endurance gains from it the improvement seems to be across the board not just in max power. Is this seemingly increase in endurance from the strength work? Or other training done? I don’t know.

The biggest advantage I see to my “on the bike” strength work is that it saves time. Lots of time.
It can be done without additional hours in the gym. And the gains I have seen have been in 6 weeks or less instead of 3 months. That’s half the time. So now the athlete may do another 6 weeks of some other training depending on their strengths, weaknesses, resources, time to train, etc…

"Time. Time is your worst enemy, your best ally and is the biggest issue EVERY athlete deals with."

Time in the day. Amount of time per week to train, and how much time one has from now (the day they start training) until race day. Further more. What did you do last year? The year before that? How about the last 10 years? This is a bigger discussion on periodization…

The real world.

“So ek what if I do your on the bike strength work and lift weights?” good Q. what will happen to your quality of training? On the bike strength work 3 time week. Plus weights 2 times a week. Not sure you can get a maximal effort every workout on that sch. I could do squats every day but they would suck after 2 if not 1 day.

~from Coach Nick. “On your point of real world practicality, that is exactly WHY I weight train in the winter. For a 9-6 working stiff, there are very few hours available to me to train on the bike. Core and weight training gives me extra training time that frankly probably wouldn't happen at all if I was sticking to just the bike.”

very good point. Nick is a roadie. All riding all the time. One can only sit on a trainer for so long. but if time is THAT short why is one still getting "burned out" or board?
I would rather go to a spin class sit in back and do my strength work (my own workout) on the bike with some pumping tunes, good looking ladies and some other hard working peeps to motivate me. brings up another point on motivation. what motivated you?? This is an important issue.

~Triathletes please don’t tell me you need more to do than the 3 sports you all ready have! If you’re getting burned out or board trying to be an expert at swimming, biking and running you need help.

~“But Lance lifts weights?” good for Lance. If you want to be like Lance, go ahead and lift. Let me know when you win the tour 7 times. Or even get to race in the tour of that matter.

~I was at a team meeting in Boulder , CO and Tim O’donnell was there. (pro triathlete) He was asked “do you lift in the winter?” “yes I do”, he said “but only core and some stability stuff” this is a guy who is a pro. 24-7 he trains and thinks about training…

~doing core work and lifting in the gym are 2 very different things. core, always important do it!

~There are no magic bullets. I hear this every year. “I’m gona xyz this year” its gona make me soooo strong. This is my year!" You’re on the right track. By all means CHANG IT UP!! Take a chance, do something different!! But there are no secrets here. You wana get faster at something. Then get out there and do THAT something!!

Lifting weights is NOT bad for you. In fact it’s quite the opposite. I feel that for reaching your best as a cyclist, triathlete, mtb’er, etc. there are better ways to use your time.

There’s that word again. Time.

This is a very argued topic and I am not saying there is one perfect way to do anything. but this is where the art of training and coaching come into view. there are only 24 hours in a day and so many days from now to race day?

Leave some more Questions and real world situations in the comments! Leave muscle fiber this and hypertrophy that at the door. I want real world. Something we can use in training, out there in the rd. or some results you have had.

Ironman Augusta 70.3

2010-10-01T18:39:00.003+03:30

Jared Brown's race report from Augusta 70.3.
His first 1/2 IM and on his way to IM Lake Placid.

August 70.3 - Half Ironman
Date of Race: 9/26/2010
Total Race Time: 5h 12m 30s - Swim: 29:51(169/336), Bike: 2:45:56 (? /336), Run: 1:50:03 (115/336)
Overall Place: 699 / 3121
Age Group: Male 30- 34
Age Group Place: 115 /336

Advice I raced by on this day “Don’t create pain to yourself because the race will bring pain to you soon enough.”

Race Day: Woke up at 4:50am and had some oatmeal, got dressed, took a few minutes to visualize my swim and race overall. You can laugh at my visualization but for me it brings a calming feeling and I relax. I see so many people on the verge of tears and busting before races b/c they are so nervous and I never feel this way so I am sticking with my visualization. Grabbed my bags and headed down to the hotel lobby to meet Kim & Casey and walk over to the shuttle to transition. Once there got body marked, borrowed a pump and pumped up my tires, set my transition up, and headed over to see Casey and Kim’s transition area. The only thing I did different for this race in transition was packed my running stuff in a plastic bag so it would stay somewhat dry while it rained.
There was a long line for buses so Patti and her friend let me walk with them to the swim start. I don’t like the feeling of being herded like cattle so the walk actually was nice. Once there I separated from them, checked in my gear bag, said hello to ATCer’s I saw, got my chip (almost forgot this though, thanks LeAnn & Heath), put on my wetsuit, and got in my wave group. Watched the pro’s go and then started heading to the start.

The Swim:
I was in wave 4 just behind the pro’s and the first person down the ramp and onto the dock. I knew I wouldn’t be the fastest but I wanted to get to the far side of the dock (advice from Sir Lappi) so that I could have most of the people on my right which is the side I breathe to during races. I sat down on the dock with my feet in the water and splashed water on myself like the Olympic swimmers do. It allowed me to get the cooler water on my body and face without a shock. I then slid in the water; warmed up my wetsuit, put on my goggles, and headed to the yellow start buoy. I found a rope off the buoy that I literally sat on for a minute. Then I heard 1 and a ½ minutes to start…….fastest 1.5 minutes ever….Go!
I swam and sighted very little for the first 500 meters as I could see people and the shore. Then WHACK! I look up and I apparently was heading to far left b/c I hit a kayak. I had to smile and laugh at myself here. I then pointed more right and back to the course and inside the first yellow buoy. I could see people all around me once I returned to the course but there was little hitting or contact. Weeds were coming and going with some paddles off my hands but I got use to that pretty fast. I tried drafting a few times but it just wasn’t that easy for me. THEN IT HAPPENED! I was swimming along feeling really relaxed and good and then I saw what looked like fish food in the water. The little orange flakes people feed their fish. I thought to myself “NO” then felt myself start to feel real sick and my cheeks puff out. I then forced myself to keep my head in the water, hold my breath, closed my eyes, and keep swimming. After about ten strokes I couldn’t breathe so my thoughts and stomach relaxed and I didn’t see any more fish food. I sighted about every 10 – 15 strokes unless I was right next to someone then I stayed around them. This swim I actually passed a few people so I had to steer around them but it didn’t hinder my pace. I then looked up and saw the houseboats up ahead not too far. I got this overwhelming feeling of happiness and all my brain was saying was you are going to finish this race today and I was at peace with the day right there and then. Never had that feeling before in a race but it was a really nice surprise. I then picked up my arm turnover a little more and slowly started to inch my way forward and to the right side. Soon enough I saw the finishing buoy and I saw the bottom and stood up. Swim completed! Looked at my watch, time – NO STARTED! Oh well.

Swim Time: 29:51 - Goal was 30 – 35 min or less. CHECK!

T1: As I exited the water I immediately got a cramp in my left hamstring (come to find out this would be noticeable all day). I stopped and stretched it out and then walked up the ramp. I forced myself to walk up the ramp to get my heart rate down faster. I always come out of the water with a screaming heart rate. At the top of the ramp was a table so I flung my leg on it and stretched again. Got my wetsuit down to my waist, got to the strippers, and they pulled that thing off in now time, headed to my transition area. I decided to take a short detour to get a high 5 from Casey then to my bike and gear. I saw Ted and John Recker in the transition area. I took my time and got everything on and headed out for the ride.

T1 Time: 3:56

Bike:
Once I mounted the bike I started my watch and headed out with Ted, well for about three pedals and then he was gone. Right out of the transition area I saw Ted’s wife and his sign which made me smile! Just nice seeing and hearing people cheer for you. I took it a little easy at the start of the bike to get a feeling of the wet roads and see what the road conditions were. After about 3 miles I decided to change to my large front ring and the bike wouldn’t change gears. So I stayed in the smaller ring and rode it out. The 808’s I rented were making a little bit of a odd noise with the water and wind on them that I wasn’t use to but I figured keep riding and if something goes wrong fix it then or head home, either way just keep going. Early on I was moving fast and felt real good. At about mile 8 my neck started to bother me a little. This has happened a few times before but not during races. My bike setup is a pretty aggressive position so I knew my neck could have potential to get sore but not this early. I just kept tucking it under and touching my chest a few times each mile to try and stretch it out. Doing this made it manageable but I knew it was going to be a long day. I rode along the course taking the turns slower than normal due to the wet roads and struggled to keep my glasses clear from the rain. At mile 22 I looked at my watch and it said 1:05:00. I thought to myself that people where just starting the swim still. I also knew I was behind on the time I was expecting to be at. So I tried again to get into the large ring and it worked. I pushed a little for about 5 miles and then felt my legs not burning but just weak. I would try to give a little harder push and it just felt like I was trying to move a ton of bricks. I usually don’t have this issue on the bike. This is my strongest discipline in a race but today my legs were wet and didn’t have the muscle to push the large gear so I dropped it back down and picked up the cadence a little and kept going. Mile 34 I finally got passed by David Cater who said hello and went on by. Then shortly after Joseph went by me at a steady pace and said hello as well. I could tell by Joseph’s pace he was going to have a good day. He looked steady and strong. Mile 40 the rain really started to come down so I had to take my glasses off and stash them away. The last 10 miles were really bumpy roads but the rain subsided so it was only drizzling. I looked at my watch and it said 3:05:00, I couldn’t believe what I saw but I didn’t think twice about it I just headed into transition and thought just start running and get to the finish line, at this point I didn’t care about my time.

Bike Time: 2:45:56 (20.25 avg.) – Goal 2:35:00 – 2:45:00 – I say CHECK!

T2: I took my time again and decided to put socks on. My feet were wet but I just put my socks on, grabbed my e – gels, hat on, jog out of transition and onto the race course.

T2 Time: 3:04

Run: Right out of transition I saw Cheryl and stopped and told her it was going to be a little longer day than expect and apologized. She told me I had a sub 30 swim, gave me a kiss, and ran up a little ahead of me to take a few more pictures. I told her I felt pretty good but just had an awful bike time. She said don’t worry and that she would see me at the finish. After she said that I decided I can’t obsess over time so I changed my watch to HR and never took it off. From here on out I would have no idea of my time.
I started out running a pretty easy pace and feeling really good. Miles were clicking off not fast but steady. At about mile 3 I got passed by an ATCer who I didn’t know. His name was Scott. We talked briefly about how I hadn’t met him before and he said he hadn’t trained much with the group this year due to work. Then I told him to go ahead and have a good run. I was about 25 yards behind him for miles 3 – 5. For the first time I was trying to use my HR on the run and it was a steady 153 – 157. I believe my LT is 172 for the run so this was a little to low but I was feeling good so I was staying with it.
At around mile 5 is were I ran through the ATC group (awesome feeling), my HR went to 161and I felt a jolt of energy. I controlled my pace though b/c I knew it wouldn’t last. Right after the ATC group Scott stopped for water and to fix his chip which was digging into his ankle. I kept running and told him he would catch me. Mile 5.5 he did (this is when I took an e – gel) and we ran together to mile 6.5 where we caught Dr. Peter Pate and Scott mentioned he had us as a pace to finish at around 1:50:00 or a little less. We chatted briefly with Peter and he said he was feeling well. I tucked in behind Peter who was running a little faster than we were but I felt I needed to push a little to run the sub 2hr ½ marathon which was a side goal of mine before the race. At mile 8 I started to really feel my left hamstring tighten up and I was just waiting for it to cramp. I just stayed behind Peter and concentrated on his right heel. When I did this it forced me to not think about anything but his foot. My mind would start to wonder and I would bring it right back to his heel. He was still moving along pretty good.
At about mile 9.5 Scott mentioned he was a little to close to his LT than he wanted but he was keeping up fine. Right before mile 10 I believe there was a water stop and Peter and Scott stopped to get water. I grabbed a sponge and a little water and kept running. I didn’t want to stop b/c 1) I would give my hamstring a chance to cramp & 2) I wanted to walk so I wouldn’t give myself the chance. Then mile 11 came and I knew it was that time, the time the advice I was given was going to happen, the race was going to bring the pain to me. My hamstring started to tighten a little more, so I tried to lengthen my stride and then shorten my stride and pick the pace up to see which was less painful. It seemed a middle point was what was best. I had two thoughts in my head, keep running and get to the ATC group again. Those were the only 2 thoughts for what seemed like hours but was only a little over a mile. The pain now was starting to take over my thoughts and I came up on the ATC group. Now I had about .8 miles and I was done. Thought was JUST KEEP RUNNING. All of a sudden this young lady comes by me with a turnover rate close to the road runner and says “Great job! Keep it up, I only had to run.” It was Jessica and she was moving. For about 10 strides I tried to keep up with her but didn’t have a shot. Running alone I saw LeAnn up ahead so I kept pace and caught up with her right before the finish. Said hello to her and that I would see her in a little while (this is the worst feeling in the world in this race b/c I knew she had another lap and I was finished) once I turned and saw the finish I saw the clock said 5:26:14 so I picked up my pace, raised my hands, and finished.

Run Time: 1:50:03 (8:24 avg.) – Goal sub 2:00:00 – CHECK!

IM Canada, I introduce you to Chris

2010-09-06T20:16:00.008+04:30

I understand why people keep going back now. I get it. An ironman is such a big event you can’t really describe it. The energy around the race has no words, having the announcer count down from 10, feeling, yes feeling not hearing, everyone yelling and hollering. All 2850 athletes, 3500 volunteers, and god knows how many spectators. It is for lack of better words simply incredible.

Ok enough of that. Race morning I was wide awake when the alarm went off. Rice, eggs, yogurt, infinit, lets rock! We got dropped off, marked up, added stuff to transition bags, double check tire pressure, PT is working, my bike is row 13… awesome…

A bit of stretching and a little zoning out so I don’t start tearing apart the alloy fence in a need to burn off energy and we are off! Feel good. Lined up in front. I mean ON the front, dead center. "If your faster than me crawl over me or shut the f** up!"

Ohh right, that’s Chris. Many people that I have raced or trained with have meet him briefly but probably didn’t realize it. Chris is my alter racing personality. He is incredibly smart, supper savvy racer, cunning, never loses his cool and is very, very aggressive. The price we pay for all this knowledge, wisdom and fierce competitiveness is Chris is not the most fun to be around. Basically he is a totally A. hole. He doesn’t care about you, anyone else or anything else. For my rowing friends (who were few) Chris over took most of my day to day personality. Not pretty.

Alright, approaching half way in the swim and a gap opened up between me and the group I was with. I pushed hard to close the gap but It was too much, I couldn’t do it. “what should I do?” I thought. Chris chimes in “look behind you moron! There are 2850 people racing, there is likely to be a few right behind you, you can draft! And hurry up! I wana start riding!!” see… kind of a jerk.
Sure enough a guy came around me. I got on his feet and we connected with the group at the turn for home.
I swam hard I won’t lie, and when I heard, “well, we only have 57 minutes on the clock for our top age groupers here”, from the announcer as I jumped onto my bike I thought for a second I may have just blown my whole race. Well whatever time to do some serious cycling execution.

The first 10 miles was supper chill, over McLean rd. short climb but with some steep sections. Use a 27 cog for this race people. I had a very strong bike and I was in mine several times. The first 38 miles or so are pretty fast roads and while it didn’t feel like there was a tail wind, there was and Chris noticed it. “hey! Eric, you see the leaves on the trees? Its windy, doesn’t feel like it now but we are gona have a big head wind second half on the bike. Stay loose” I stayed smooth and got lots of cals down.

Up Richter pass. A tough stair steeped climb. It surprised me that even being at the front end of the amateur field people still climbed horribly! Guys weighing 10-20 pounds more than me would blow by me on the steep part (I was doing 260 watts) then on the flat section I would only do 220 and I would blow right by them! “keep it up morons! I am gona make you pay on yellow lake! Nice job EK stick to the plan” Chris said to me. I don’t let him speak out loud anymore.

Down the decent, more food, some evacuation and onto the rollers. These are tough, and here came the head wind. I starting passing more and more people here. Pushing 220 watts now. The out and back was smooth. A bit harder now, fueling was perfect. I had all my food gone by yellow lake, sands 1-200 cals of infinit for the last 17 miles down hill into town. As yellow lake kicked up I passed more people. The roads were wet from a passing thunder shower. I would later find out a shower passed through later and gave several people hypothermia. Ouch! Glad I missed that. The yellow lake climb was great. I felt amazing, I kept asking to go harder but Chris kept me to the plan. The crowds were awesome. Like riding up a big climb in the tour. People shouting, both sides of the road, barley enough room for 1 bike at a time. It was sick!!!

I got rocked by 30+ mph cross winds on the decent, and some rain. No biggie. Roads were dry in town. And I backed off to 200 watts or so for the last 15 minutes or so coming into town.

My bike data is HERE. I could not have executed a better bike. 230 watts, best 2 hr. was from the bottom of Richter pass to the summit of yellow last. Mile 50-95. Best hour was the second hour of that 2 hr’s. I have never felt better after 5 hr’s on the bike. NEVER.

Quick, smooth T 2 where if not for my helper in the change tent I would have run out with my helmet on. Thank you!

Onto the run. I felt good. Mile one, 8:10, “take it easy EK.” Mile 2, 7:50, “Hey Crowie, if your gona blow this thing right here I’ll go home. GET-IT -TOGETHER!!! Ok, so a backed off and found a nice rhythm at 8:20 or so. I had a few quick pee stops but nothing major.
Tummy was good fueling was going well. Pee on the bike. Peeing on the run sucks. The wind and wet roads kept me from doing so on the last decent. The hills as at the half way point of the run are tough, but seemed almost shorter than I imagined. I grabbed my special need bag. Another flask of Infinit and a can of red bull. Now, I already have a flask of my super double secret go go juice, but I put a red bull in there just in case. I felt pretty good here but before I knew it I drank ¾ of it. Ok well, guess I needed that??
Back over the hills and onto the return leg. When I passed mile 16 something very strange happened. I thought. “ohh yeah, I ONLY have 10 miles left” this thought acutely made me laugh. I had come from being soar after a 30’ jog in November to this. “only 10 miles”. Another 30-34 ager passed me. I had lost count, a number of people were wearing compression gear which covers their age. Should be illegal if you ask me. You look LAME! And while I knew I was close to the front coming off the bike I didn’t know exactly. The thought of not making it to kona washed over my body a swarm of locusts my mental focus slipped away and there was nothing I could do. . .

Chris was gone, he couldn’t do anything anymore. Then I felt something that I was sure I would feel but hadn’t yet. “hey kid, you’re lookin good ya know. Shit I think your gona make it.” It was my grandfather. He died the wed. before the race.

I felt horrible for not being there in Fl. with him and my family. The night before he passed he said to my mom, who was by his side, that he wanted me to go to Canada. To race. He said, “I’ll be there with him”.

And sure enough here he was. I could hear him plan as day. And see he face. That tan leathery skin, worn by the life of raising 3 kids, fight in a world war, and few other story’s I can’t tell here.

“Eric, I don’t care if you qualify for Hawaii. You should be happy with just being able to do this, huh.” There are people that can’t walk you know, can see, can’t do lots of the things that you can do. Look around this place is beautiful, and you’re here doing great! Now get to the finish so you can have a beer for me! I’m thirsty!”

That was him, always keeping me grounded, showing me the appreciation I should have when I lost it.

Mile 20 came and so did the wind. 20-30 mph head wind while running up a long, long false flat.
“6 miles EK lets do this!!” I was feeling good again and thought I could run sub 8:30’s but the wind was crushing.

Climbers have a term for the area above 26,000 feet in altitude. It’s called the death zone. Not because climbers are bad asses, or there crazy. It’s acutely a very good name. Above that altitude you are dying. Rather quickly too. Your body can not recover. No matter how much you sleep, even if you could. No matter how much you eat, even if your digestive system acutely did work. You just keep dyeing.

Mile 20 to 26.2 in an Ironman is like the death zone. There is nothing you can do to stop the pain in your quads. You can’t surge to get behind someone and draft, if you bonk there is no coming back, it’s over, you’re walking. It took every ounce of my being to concentrate to each steep. If you lost that concentration your body would instinctively do the only sensible thing, stop. You have to really force it. If you look at the girl in the bikini, or the 2 guys dressed up as Iron man or smell the burgers from the hotel, you’re walking.

Despite all this I was still running and running 8:30-8:40 pace. I guess THIS worked. My feet began to scuffle quite a bit now. “pick your feet up EK, come up up!!” chris was back noticing things I cannot, making adjustments and combating issues before they happen. It felt like I was high steeping. Like I was marching or something. In reality I was barley clearing the ground with my feet.
With 300 meters to go one more 30-34 ager passed me. “ahh come on EK get on that! WTF!, we are not finished yet, we don’t give up” I tried to accelerate, and did, but not enough. I came down the finishing shoot alone, high fived some kids crossed the line, said a quick thank you to gramps and hobbled over to the finishers coral. Drank about 14 cups of soup, and ate plenty of food.

A bit later I found our souginer of the weekend and another roomy finished, Paul.

You have to watch people finish at midnight once in your life. Some guy finish 4 seconds before the cutoff at midnight. Are you kidding me?!! 17 hours out on the course and it came down to 4 seconds!

Some stats from my race:

9:52. (9^th ag. 71^st over all)

Swim: 54:30 (there was speculation the course was short. I believe it. Maybe by 1-2 minutes)

Bike: see power file. Time 5:07, 3^rd in AG. 230 watts norm. felt great

Run: 8:30 first half. 8:40 second half. 3:45 total. Felt much better than I thought. Cloudy and cool on the run. Good temps, wind was brutal in last 6 miles.

Finding your Peak!

2010-08-20T23:32:00.003+04:30

Ahhhh… the big Taper. You finally get to relax. Skip the hill workout and the mega mileage brick on Saturday… Some people hate this time of training. I am one of them. It’s a scary time. The time when you can do very little to gain anything and do every thing to screw up months or even years of training. However it is necessary to achieve maximum potential. First off I prefer to use the term “Peaking”. Tapering promotes the idea of doing less and less, and this is not the complete story. Tapering makes me think of something getting smaller and smaller, and that’s not what we are trying to do. Peaking is the process in which we achieve maximum physical and mental performance potential. This can be a lot more complex than just cutting back your mileage.We will discuss this in general terms for a race or your big event. Peaking workouts and how much you do and don’t do, can and will vary a lot depending on your event, duration, and skill level.

First off the peaking phase duration will vary depending on the duration of your event. The longer the event the longer your peaking phase. For Iron distance events, stage races, etc. the longer the lead up of peaking. You might see over a month of decreased volume in some cases. In the weeks leading up to you’re A race the amount of aerobic fitness one can gain is minimal if any at all. So don’t kill your self! Skip the long ride and always, ALWAYS error on the side of doing less. As a general rule I like to decrease total volume by 40-60%. Endurance training can be cut back by the greater amounts. For those doing shorter distances where you may have quite a bit of intensity training here are a few key things to note.

~Make sure you are fully rested before a hard workout. We are looking for maximum speed and performance now, not beating our selves up. This will also build confidence. You’ll be amazed at how fast/far you go on your threshold intervals after only a 30’ warm up and taking the day before off instead of the 3 hour ride or tough run.
~Work your strengths. You will be racing your strengths so focus on them. Use them, race them. This will build further confidence and hone your skills for race day.
~Make your workouts simulate race conditions. Use the aero bars more/ race bike (if you haven’t been) wear the clothes shoes, etc... Do a group swim in open water. Do a race sim day. Practice fueling and mental preparation. Make sure every thing works!
Race.
~Use a B race as prep. If your training for a long distance race a shorter race in the weeks leading up to it can really get the kinks out. It will allow you to use some racing strategy you are planning in a consequence free environment. Does the elastic band holding the shoes on the bike trick really work? Or is it not worth it?

Over all:
As we peak, decrease your overall volume. If you have been doing 3 hr rides and 4x 400 meters running on the track do 90 minutes in the saddle, and 2 or 3x300m intervals. You want to stay fresh and sharp but not worn down. Workouts should be short and sweet. They might burn but you should recover fast. By maintaining or even increasing your intensity your body thinks that training is still on full blast and your body will continue to adapt full blast. But… you have decreased the volume and by the time it realizes that you have actually done less your body has over compensated and your flying. Further hone this adaptation with race specific workouts in a race specific environment and you will be more ready on race day than you ever imagined.
While this decreased training time will be nice you should still treat your self well. Treat your self like your still training hard. Get that recovery drink even if you feel you don’t need it. Get plenty of sleep and keep up on stretching, etc…

The other item you will need to keep busy is your brain. Don’t think too much. Go over the race plan, make sure the tires on the bike are in good shape and just go. You have done this in training so you can do it in the race. Remember there is not much you can do to get faster in the week or three before the big race but you can do everything to blow it. So stay the course. Take care. Eat the extra pasta. Skip the morning swim if your feeling tired. And don’t be afraid to light it up a few times. Show your stuff, whether in a race or a short hard work out with the training partners. You have been looking at your heart Rate and power meter all season staying in “your zone”. Time to see how far you can push your self and start looking back the all the people your beating!
Stay safe and have fun!

Training Seminar

2010-08-18T22:31:00.004+04:30

Free Training seminar!!

Be there.

DETAILS:

Time: 7pm till we're done

Location: foxtrot wheel and edge
776-C W. Baseline Rd.
Lafayette, CO

Topics:

~Late season racing and training.
~Avoiding burn out
~Recovery and training in the fall (most adaptation-least amount of fatigue)
~Cyclocross or not??

Run up Longs Peak

2010-07-30T00:17:00.007+04:30

Last weekend I finished a big run focus week
with a hike/run up Longs peak with 2 EK
Endurance Coaching team members.

Kyle, Amanda and myself headed out at about 4am and got our 14er groove on!
They are headed to Pikes Peak soon to race in the Pikes Peak ascent! Both being avid hikers with several 14er’s and even Mt Kilimanjaro under their belt, they decided to take it up a notch. The pikes peak ascent is a running race form the base of the mt. to the summit. 13.1 miles straight up to an altitude of over 14,000 feet. ! yeah… I’ll be watching.

After some easy hiking for 10 minutes we were warmed up and got into a nice jogging rhythm. I made it to the turn of for chasm lake in 50’ or so. And we were up at the high camp/ boulder field in well under 2hr. we were relegated to hiking/ scrambling up the rest of the climb. The sun rise was beautiful. After hiking through the clouds in the dark we were above a thick white blanket of clouds fully exposed to the sun and her best friend, the blue sky.

The weather was great. Chilly in the shade hot in the sun, standard CO mtn weather.

I did a bit more running on the decent which was not comfortable but held my composure.
What a great day in the outdoors and a fantastic day of training.

Mt Evans Hill Climb

2010-07-16T20:12:00.004+04:30

The MT evans Hill climb is coming up soon!!
I have done this race a few times. Here is a report I did about the last time I raced it in the Pro-1-2 field. This report has a full wattage breakdown, watts per/ kilogram analysis, and more.
I wellcome coments and others toughts relatung topics!
Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mt Evans stands over 14,000 feet in altitude and has the highest paved road in the country. So it only makes sense that we as athletes who ride bikes should race up it!!
On sat July 19 2008 I did the Mt Evans Hill climb. High altitude riding is not my specialty but it is the CO climbing championships, it’s a fantastic ride and I know that I am capable of doing well. Top 15 top 10 in the pro-1-2 field. as always it will depends on who shows up.
My preparation:
Nothing really crazy here. No knarly FTP workouts, no altitude tent that I slept in. I did get up to 10,000 feet once a week to do 1 or 2 x25’ intervals at what I perceived to be Threshold. I would normally lose about 15%. These were also not fresh as I had to ride up there!
See attached article at bottom on some past data form high altitude riding.

The Climb:
Ride: 27.3 miles
6,920 feet of climbing
Avg. grade: 4.5%
From 7500 feet elevation – 14,135 feet.
**Mass start race, not an ITT.

My Stats:
FTP 340ish...
Time 2:10 (very slow for me even with the wind we had)
Avg. watts: 275.
2253 kj’s
6’ above threshold
29’ Z4
85’ Z3
10’ Z1 and 2.

I was pretty happy with my numbers but with a dismal placing of 30th I new something was wrong. Something didn’t add up. every thing was perfect. The steady but firm pace as the bottom was a good warm up. I never had to accelerate, my bike supper light, etc… I was alone for much of the ride after it split up so no drafting there…

I did 303 watts for the first half , 250 for the second half and the last 20’ at 235. Between my loss for power from altitude and loss from fatigue I was thinking anything over 245 for the second half would have been good so I was pretty happy to see 250. I never cracked. I felt good the whole way. The few sections where we picked up the wind at our backs I was able to really get the bike moving.
Notes on training:
If you can’t sleep/ live at attitude the training AT altitude seemed to work well. At the very least the brain body connection will be lined up. You get some weird sensation riding all out above 12,000 feet! I can not speak on the cellular level on what adaptation occurs with this type of training but from what we do know about loss of power at increased elevation, this preparation seemed to put me one steep ahead of that curve.
Training at higher altitude tips:
1. Go by P.E. If you try and nail your normal watts you will quickly dig a whole for your self. Doing hard work at a significantly higher elevation takes allot out of you.
2. Take more recovery time than normal.
3. Keep the Iron intake up. Consult your doc. As your body tries to make more red blood cells it will need Iron. some people with handle the low O2 levels better than others but keep a healthy and divers diet coming, as always!!

So was everyone else just that much stronger? Is my FTP not 335? Was my power meter way off? What gives?
Here’s the deal I am normally about 70 kilograms, 155lbs. if I really get into it for a big stage race, etc. I can be 152 maybe lighter and feel strong, healthy, with energy to spare.
This year things have been very busy I have opted for more higher intensity training instead of the mega long tempo climbing workouts. This combined with a high frequency of dinner beers, I have been a bit heaver. Not so much to make me worry but a few lb’s. On Friday night I weighed myself 160 lbs!! I thought I was just retaining water maybe, a full belly? But, Sat. after the race when I got home I weighed in again, 160. so lets re-crunch the numbers.
Doing 275 watts at 70 kilo’s is 3.92 watts per kilogram, pretty good. talking with some friends after, ones that beat me, I figured they were in this area.
But 275 at 72.7 kilos is 3.78 big difference.
There are a few wattage calc. out there and even on a hill that is not that steep like Mt Evans, that extra weight comes out to 5-8 minutes!! Add in the fact that accelerating will have an exponential negative effect on a heaver person. And by “hanging onto” a group longer one can get more of a draft for more of the climb. That all adds up to a much, much faster ride and a better place.
Note on my % of loss. I lost 19% for the whole climb from my FTP. Realize that this is 2 hours not a threshold effort. In the 2nd half of the race I lost 26%. Which I figured is pretty normal. 20% from the extreme altitude change, 6% from fatigue from the first hour.

Some final thoughts on this. Yes, Threshold watts per kilo of body is important. And for a hill climb or hilly RR or stage race it’s very, very important! However, there were people that beat me that are significantly heaver. What’s there FTP? I don’t know. probably better than 4.6 watts/kilo. But, I know this. To reach your maximum potential nothing beats being healthy, happy and strong. In bike racing or any endurance sport simply being able to crush the power out put will pay off huge!!

~Here is some other data from training at altitude:

Here are some numbers and percentages of loss that I have so far. As you will see my data has not only the altitude but a varying amount of “work” before the high altitude intervals.
My FTP is about 335ish, 155lb’s
I live at 5500 feet
Normally, at my living altitude, I train that “late power” quite a bit. I lose about 8% after 2500-3000 kj’s of Z3-4 riding.

~Intervals at 10,000 feet: I push 290 watts (also after 1500kj’s) A loss of 14%

~My ride up trail ridge road. To 12,000 feet. (after 2500 kj’s, with 6’ above threshold) I did 235 for the last 30’ or so. A loss of 30%!!! Keep in mind there is also general fatigue acting here as well from early part of the ride. But even if we take out my usual 8% of loss thats still 22%!
Again these are all a bit tough to use because of the “work” that is done before the efforts None are “fresh TT efforts at altitude.

The Boulder Peak Triathlon

2010-07-13T03:47:00.002+04:30

This past weekend was the Boulder Peak triathlon.
An Oly. Distance race that features a short yet nasty climb up the 15 % grades of old stage rd. the scenic beauty of the boulder reservoir and rocky mtns. I have always heard this is a race NOT to missed. My thought was always one of, “its an Oly. dis. triathlon. I know the course, relax, its good I am sure but can be any better than another race?” well now I know! It’s simply awesome.
This race is a fairly big deal with a fantastic pro field and some of the best armatures in the country.
Personally I had a great day out. The best part of the race for me was how I felt. Very in control. I had that, I can’t crack myself if I tried, type of feeling. And while I fell short on a few goals I had set I am not going to dwell on it. Over all this was my best performance this year. I have gotten a lot of questions on my power file from the bike. So… here it is. http://tpks.ws/GARW The min. or 2 at the end can be cut off.
Norm power was 291. Felt great. Pretty evenly paced, despite the steep climb in the first half. I am a mear 155 lbs now so my speed up the climb was probably pretty quick compared to most for the wattage. Would love to hear from any others regards to watts and time/ speed. Especially for the later half of the course. Wondering how aero I am??
I was very impressed with all who were out there racing. Scott F. seemed to have a spot of bother on the run but at the turnaround I realized that’s all it was, a spot. He was right behind me still! Steve Johnson ran a 5:51 pace on the 10k trail run. I can’t even fathom that speed. Erin Finnegan, Amber kardosh and Brent Schoeb did great races despite the altitude, heavy training sch. and some long car travel. Evan Macfarlin, killer race, Max Lawler very nice work. Christiana Glenn continues to rock here AG and looked so strong on the climb. Great chat with Heidi smith post race,
The guys/gals at the beer tent, you rock!!
Sorry to the guy I passed on the right on the turn going into lefthand canyon. And to the riders who I squeezed between them and that van on 63rd st. everyone handled them selves well.
The race was run so well. A great event!

Your Next Big Training Block

2010-06-24T20:06:00.002+04:30

Where are you with your training?
For many of you doing a big race this yr. you are getting into some serious training. This can mean simply being structured and more disciplined or, as a pro friend of mine is, hammering 20+ hr’s a week! As you come into a critical phase or block of training there is a lot going through your head. You have probably done a few TRAINING RACES and there for have some results, good or bad, to learn from, make adjustments, etc.
During this time its easy to get distracted and stray from your original game plan. It’s during this time that I see many athletes try to do too much. Its seems wired that someone could not reach their goal by trying to overly prepare… but it happens all the time. Now is the time we are looking for lots of bang for or buck. Ie. We are looking for the most adaptation possible in a given amount time. While one should always be managing their training in this way now we are fit and efficient at are sports. Yesterday was the longest daylight day of the year, race day is drawing close and we are looking to really push the training envelope!

As I rode home form the 5430 sprint tri in boulder Sunday I had several thoughts on how to manage this phase.
· Get back to basics: you should have a list of goals and training objectives that you made at the onset of training. Go back look at them.
~Do some need to be revised? You may have learned that you thought a 1:20/100yd. swimming threshold pace would net you a 1 hr. IM swim (1:25/100yd pace). But are now thinking that its more like 1:17-1:18 threshold pace?

· How many training objectives have you meet?

· How many have you not meet? Do you need to change things up, or do you need to keep plugging away? You may just need more time in a particular area.

· The more you train the more recovery you need. Plan extra time for rest and active recovery.

Realize that while it is important you make progress it will take time. I have an athlete who is not making the progress we hoped for on the bike. While he feels better his threshold watts are somewhat stagnate. However, each race he does he performs better and better in the bike leg. places higher and higher in his age group over all. Some things just can’t be explained. While we are still working as his riding it’s no time to be disappointed or panic!

OK Eric so I am going to train real big this month. What should I do?
· Block Training:
In the triathlon world it is very easy to get caught up in the “routine”. When people ask me “what’s a normal build week look like for you?” I say, “There is no such thing.” It’s so easy to get into that Monday is off. I swim tue. and thur., do the team run wed. long bike sat. long run Sunday, blah blah blah… if you want to improve in something you have to work at it, A LOT!!
We all know that you don’t get faster from one workout yet we get so crazy about doing just this one workout today! “I can’t miss the team run, or I will lose my running legs.”
You really think so? If so, you’re wrong. If you want to maximize your time and get good riding your gona have to cut back the swimming and running. Or quit your job.
I am always doing focus or block training. 1-2 weeks of focusing on one sport or one aspect of that sport. Here are some ideas for a focus week of training and an example of an athlete’s run focus week.

· Think big picture, plan ahead. You want to get as much training in as you can. You will do this by being consistent. Frequency is KEY! While you will want to do some big training days don’t kill yourself! Push your limits, don’t reach miles beyond them.

· Dial back other sports. If you’re doing a focus week on the bike you can still run and swim but dial it WAY back! You’re not going to forget how to run if you stop for 2 weeks. Do just 1-2 runs a week. Make them Z1-2, brick runs, easy. All you’re looking for is the bare minimum here or less. Same with swimming. Dial your other sports back at least 50-75%. and drop any intensity. Use all your physical and mental energy for you focus sport!

A previous run focus week for an athlete of ours looked like this:
Mon: recovery day easy 1 hr. ride.
Tue: masters swim, longer and easier 4k total
Run long, 90 min. 6x 20 sec. pick ups at end of run
Wed: Easy ride, 2hr. (it was nice outside)
Thur: 3 hr. ride at IM race pace,
Run brick, 45’ Zone 3 pace
Fri: Masters swim, longer and easier again.
Run, 45’ tempo run, Zone 3 pace
Sat: Run: long with tempo 30’ Z2, 30’ Z3, 30’ Z2.
Sun: OFF

Interesting to note that while this was the most running this athlete has done in one week, because it was managed well and totally focused on running the last run on Sat. was the best run he has had yet this year. He averaged a low zone 3 pace and having the lowest RPE ever this year for a run!! The following week at a training race, he PR’d, running faster than he has ever in a sprint tri. And yes his swim and bike were fantastic as well!

A bike focus week (for myself coming up soon) will be even more extreme. I will have only 1 swim, 2 short Zone 2-Zone 3 runs. Rides will be every day (sans rest day) hard group ride Tue. Long mountain ride wed. flat IM pace ride thur. recovery Friday and a 2 day stage race (3 stages) on the weekend.

So get back to basics, get the big picture back in focus. While you want your training to be dynamic and flexible don’t “hop scotch”. If you were confident in the grand plan when you made it and progress is being made stick with it! Getting fast doesn’t happen overnight.

As always every one, train hard, train safe and have fun!
See you on the road!
http://EKEnduranceCoaching.com

The Race Across America

2010-06-18T18:47:00.004+04:30

leaving the race

Amy Xu’s RAAm has come to conclusion. After making the time cut at the Mississippi Amy and her crew regrouped, Amy tock a “long” 6 hr. rest but after remounting her bike fell over again in the first 5 minutes of riding. Her race is done. She is sad but still proud of her accomplishment in finishing over 2 thirds of the hardest race in the world on her first attempt. She and her team have raised thousands for Camp Odayin, a center that helps kids with heart defects. You can see Amy’s journey here: http://www.teamstrongheart.com/
Amy’s did extremely well in her first bid at the solo race. In the end saddle pain and an inability of get enough calories in her system is what lead to her demise.

The RAAm quickly becomes a task of dealing with issues you never saw coming, a ride so fatiguing you can’t begin to train for, a task more mental and logically challenging than one can imagine. I am very proud of Amy and the entire crew.

I have asked myself may times in the last 12 hours what could I have done better. Should we have done another big block of endurance training, more neurological work? More on the bike strength work? While I have come up with a few areas I would like to improve on in the training there are more areas in the general preparation for the whole trip that will make a bigger difference. No sooner did I start thinking about these topics was I called about coaching another RAAm racer for 2011. I hope I am up to the task.

from the crew chief:

"Your expertise, encouragement, and example of humbleness was a huge asset to our success. RAAM solo is a unique beast. You can prepare for every possible situation, and still have challenges you could have never imagined. RAAM is not just about bike racing. It's a race that challenges team work. Time management, problem solving, and spirit. Amy... See More is an athlete that has a spirit of life that is infectious to everyone who touches her. Her race, along with you're help, has taught us as individuals how to dream big, and LIVE everyday! Thank you for everything! Michelle Pearl Team Strong Heart Crew Chief"

2010-06-14T21:34:00.004+04:30

Its only June and the EK Endurance Coaching team is racking up results so fast I had to cut this list short!
Congratulations to all the athletes. everyone has been working hard, having fun and growing as an athlete overall. This is by far the best season we have ever had! below are just some of the results so far this season!

RACE DATE Athlete RESULT notes
du-athlon 2/27/10 Brent S. 2nd AG
frostbiteTT 3/6/10 Peter S. 1st!
metro TT 3/7/10 chris carr 1st / P-1-2
metro TT 3/7/10 Perter S. 1st cat 4
99 crit 3/13/10 Peter S. 1st cat 4
cu crit 3/13/10 Josh w. 3rd cat 4
ing marathon 3/21 Jared B. 4:05 first marathon!
cu oval crit 3/21 Beth jordan 5th
Branchbrook Series 3/27 matt doyal 3rd cat 4
mesa TT 2/27 chris carr 2nd
mesa RR 2/28 chris 2nd
mesa RR 3/28 Jennica 1st
crit 4/4/10 chris carr 3rd
cherry creak TT 4/14/10 peter Sch. 1st (cat 3)
Crit 4/5/10 matt doyal 2nd
haystack TT 4/17 peter sch. 4th
turtle pond 4/24 claire L. 4th
Gila TT 4/30 nathan west 9th
falcon ground speed 5/1 coach eric 2nd OA
calvins 12 hr challenge 5/1 claire L. 1st.
Dear trail RR 5/16 Luis R. 1st
independence pass HC 5/22 chris carr 1st
hugo RR 5/23 Luis R. 1st
Sunrise Tri 6/5/10 Coach Eric 2nd OA
prologe rocky mt om. 6/11/10 peter S. 1st

EK vs. IM Canada, The Run

2010-04-14T02:37:00.004+04:30

Training for an Ironman run can be a bit daunting, to say the least. A marathon is a huge accomplishment never mind swimming 2.4 miles and riding 112 right before!
As I mentioned earlier my swim and cycling racing will be more aggressive. That s just the way I race. I will train these 2 areas aggressively as well. The run will be raced and there for trained less dynamically. A goal race pace of 8:30 per mile is the main one objective. Running, while very difficult, has some simplicities that go along with it.
~it’s mostly neurological. Unlike cycling, running does not demand a large “strength ‘ or “power” component.
~pace and rhythm don’t change much. The Ironman Canada course has a few long hills but nothing over whelming steep or repetitive, making it conducive to sounds tech. and rhythm.

By what’s I mention above one would think. “Ok so, just run” no need for fancy intervals, terrain changes, etc. but we all know that would be a risky way of doing things at best. The goal is be able to run 8:30’s with (as I say) “a broken leg and your hair on fire” .

Key points. My training strategy and things to consider:

~Race day execution is key: While I talk a lot about having a strong bike and swim I still cannot swim and ride above my ability run post swim/ bike. Sounds simple yet we still see race day execution as the biggest mistake athletes make. Lynn’s IM USA was a success in large part due to her race day execution. Her run being her weakest sport we decided that it could be overcome by a perfect swim and bike execution. Ie. The right pace/intensity, being steady on the bike, and fueling properly. Read the report to see how that worked.

~Trail running: This will be a large component to my run training. Its more fun. The soft surface will speed up recovery time, increase my frequency capability, and strengthen stabilizer muscles and connective tissue due to the increased lateral movement and erratic rhythm of trail running. And the trails in boulder, CO are awesome!!

~Frequency is key: we all know that we adapt to training load over time. One workout will not make us stronger, better or faster. Rather the accumulation of all our training and preparation does. yet, especially with running, we see this concept disappear. “I’m running a marathon so I need to do a 22 mile run to make sure I can do it”. Why? Because one run will give you the ability? Many running training plans have this mega long run a few week out from race day. What if you couldn’t do it? Would do another one of these runs 1 or 2 weeks out? I hope not.
ALL your training should give you the confidence, not one particular workout. In Lynn’s training, and many, many other athletes we have worked with, running frequency has been the corner stone of triathlon run training.
Imagine you do a 2.5hr run on the weekend. How long will it take you recover from that run to the point of quality training again? Now imagine you do a 90 minute run. Because this “long” run is more manageable yet still past the threshold of what is considered long we get a good training adaptation but can now do another 90 minute run Tue. and maybe another Thur. that’s 4.5 hours of running! And we haven’t even added in short brick runs, etc. This will keep quality up and injury at bay. Come to think of it may be I’ll add in some intensity into a “long” run… 2 workouts in one! Ohh dear, getting complex now! now were taking about some serious weekly run TSS!!

~Get “good”, efficient: Running has a significant tech. and mechanical aspect to it. I will get some coaching here. See frequency above…

~Brick runs: these will take place a lot! Not so much for the training aspect of it (although that will be great) but I prefer to do my training as one workout/day when possible. This has a few specific training aspects to it.
1. Running off the bike is tough. This will make me better at it.
2. Tri. is an “endurance” sport, longer workouts will work more endurance adaptations.
3. I lose focus after a workout. Training in the PM is tough for me. I like having my workout completed before concentrating on work, etc…
4. The riding and running from my door is great. I don’t need to go anywhere to start my training. This makes brick runs high quality as well as convent.
This is not always possible. With masters swim times, work sch, etc. many people cannot do this aside from the weekend. My sch. Is flexible there for I will take advantage of this as much as possible. You should too.

3 main running workouts, in order of usage:
1. Zone 2-3 runs. Less than 1hr. many brick runs will be in this category.
2. Zone 2 “long” runs. 90 minutes will be the staple long run duration. There may be a few runs longer.
3. Threshold work. The team group runs usually has me in tempo to threshold (zone 3-4) for a few miles. Shorter races will have me running hard and we may sprinkle in a few all out 10k’s and threshold interval work.

See you in Canada, 8:30’s or bust!!

See EK vs. IM Canada the bike HERE.
And hwo is Swim training is going HERE

Tucson Training camp Re-cap!

2010-03-18T20:45:00.012+03:30

The official 2011 training camp trailer.

well every one is in. Home and licking there wounds. the good thing is no one really got hurt.
many miles were ridden TSS racked up, new skill learned and friends were made.

Our last 2 tips for you.

From a Male camper:
"Use lots of chamois cream! I can't TAINT it any more!"
I am still laughing from this one!!

And from Faith:
"make sure your equ. is ready to go!"

This is a great one that i did not think off. Particularly if you are doing an early spring or winter training camp with a bike focus (like this one). I just saw a pic of someones broken stem. It was rusted and looking down right nasty. Too many miles on the trainer led to salt corrosion from sweat. Whoever this was they are lucky they didn't get hurt or hurt some one else!
make sure your gear is top notch!
~Training camp is no time to be dealing with equipment!

and on the note here is the Bonus Number 6 tip.

~Rest up!
This goes along the lines of our article on "Training in Training races".
yes its just training. no need for the 3 week peaking phase but make sure you are rested and ready to get the most out of your training camp experience. Normally we sch. a recovery week or phase just before with a 1-2 opener days before the trip.

5 Must know tips for riding and trainig in Tucson , AZ

1. Bring 2 tubes on every ride and a spare tire in the tool box.
the roads are rough and there are shape rocks/ glass everywhere! it pretty much never rains so if something lands on the road it stays there. make sure your tire are in good shape before you leave!

2. Wear sun screen. even if it's not "hot" out., the sun is strong and you will roast your winter skin fast if your not careful.

3. Ride Mt. Lemmon. what ever it takes this is a must do! don't miss it! check the weather! it was 40's on top, almost 80 in town! so bring some warm clothes!

4. Eat local! Pic below of no-name burrito place. in the parking lot of the Safeway on st. Mary's right by the Riverpark inn. this place is GOOD! cheap and they are very nice!

5. Race in the Tucson Bicycle Classic. even if your a Tri guy/gal doing some mass start racing is great for your cycling ability! the race is fun, safe, and challenging yet not to hard for an early season event.

LUNCH!

In the Safeway parking lot on saint Mary's near the Riverpark inn!

Tucson Training camp day 5

2010-03-17T07:41:00.005+03:30

-Gates Pass

Today was gona be a nice "easy" ride but the wind made sure that was not the case. It was rippin!

With different departure times we had a smaller crew but the wind made for a great impromptu to group riding skills session!

more to come!

~Final "training camp tips"

~Camp re-cap, what next year has in store

~And our top insider tips to training in Tucson!

Tucson training camp Day 4

2010-03-16T04:11:00.009+03:30

Mt Lemmon is simply a must do! Maybe one of the best rides you will ever do!
absolutely fantastic!

A great day today. Sunny and 70's in town mid 40's on top. a bit a wind to slow us down on the climb but not bad. I did about 230 watts avg. 240ish normalized for 2:17 of climbing.
pretty great! the climb is much like the mt Evans climb but with more oxygen. the climb never gets very steep but rarely flattens out. pace yourself well kids this climb is here for the duration!

Some pics and our training tip!

The Descent

Almost home

some more clothes... and maybe a break...

Tucson training camp day3

2010-03-15T04:46:00.007+03:30

Coach EK gets some local food for the crew after the tough Stage 3 Circuit race

EK Endurance Coaching press associate here. Some slow Internet and Eric's zero patience has me sending you all an update.

Despite a shorter race the training camp team is supper busy! Seminar tonight and lots of planning for the Mt. Lemmon ride tomorrow.

I was also told someone did 300 TSS today and it wasn't Eric...

No clue what that means but Eric sounded impressed. Which is not an easy thing to do.

Sorry for the short update more to come soon!!

The coaches work is never done. Eric will talk to clients anywhere!

Tucson Training Camp Day 2

2010-03-14T03:00:00.007+03:30

Day 2 started out well. an early breakfast, lots O coffee, etc. the training group got ready for there day and as the racer group pulled out of the parking lot we noticed a flat tire... not the kind on the bike the big kind!

So a 3 man "spirited" wheel change and we were off.

I think we changed it in less than 4 minutes? not to bad.

Nick talks over some strategy with Chris before the race:

And a great training camp tip from boulder velodrome coach and 18 year cycle veteran

Tucson Training camp, Go by feel!

2010-03-13T05:22:00.008+03:30

hey all!

Day one of the EK Endurance Coaching Training camp is ON!

Gona have some cool vids and pics of our days training here in Tucson, as well as daily tips from the coaches and athletes. what to do and what NOT to do for your next training camp.

TT warm up in the AM

and the training camp tip of the day:

Some times in the middle of our threshold intervals, long rides, racing our friends up climbs, "the" group ride, we forget to pay attention how we feel. Like, who cares what your power meter says! How does it feel?
Today I tock a chance and went by feel. the first stage of the race here is Tucson is a 3 mile TT. flat then up hill. its short and it hurts! seeing my watts made me a bit worried as I powered up the first hill but I felt good. i said, "i really have no business doing this power for 8 minutes but i'm gona try, it feels like i can do it?" and woldn't you know it. and yes I think without capital leters.
My old 5' max power out put I held for over 8! a bit more actually!
So learn gang! learn your body, learn how it feels when you do this or that.
remember your power meter, that fancy software, HR monitor, all the cool numbers. there just tools. use them right!

Really! on the bike strength work!?!

2010-03-06T00:25:00.011+03:30

a good article here and me doing a little bit of venting...

Gale Bernheardt recently had an article on active.com about an injured athlete she was working with. He could not do threshold intervals or tempo intervals for long periods. the collar bone injury was to much.

However, the athlete could do short very intense intervals. 20-40 seconds. so max efforts were prescribed. article here. At the end she notes improvement in not only shorter duration efforts but longer ones as well.
This is a good read. worth the 5 min.read. EK Endurance Coaching athletes will read this and say i did. "yeah! I was doing this 3 years ago!"

It is another case confirming recent studies with strength training (they finally use trained cyclist instead of random couch potato #1-2-3) and my own less scientific study I did over the last 2 years on this topic.

the short of that experiment:

Weights= max power gains of 2%
On the bike strength work= 10% gain in max power (in half the time as with weights)

This article also sounds like...
This and this the presentations I give about weights being a waist of time for cyclist and triathletes and ... OK that's enough of tooting the EK E.C. horn.

But Eric his max power didn't go up in this case? why?
Most likely because of his injury he wasn't ablt to really go ALL OUT on these shorter efforts. but rather at a 1' -5' mean, maximal power out put. still the results are great. also when doing on the bike strength work you get the added benefit of... well, riding! your effort, the strength your building is specific its... here's that word, "functional". AND... while these people are building "strength" they are also getting many endurance adaptations like capillary growth, mitochondrial density and, the big one here, better neurological function.

This is almost like doing one workout with two effects...

lifting weights is great. for lifting weights. I was having a conversation with 2 personal trainers a few weeks ago on a ski vacation about this. someone asked us in the bar

"do you think P-90X really works?"
"hell yeah" i said.
"confusing muscles, making them adapt and grow all the time sure it works, but for what?" I said. "what are you gona do with this new strength? if its pull ups, flinging ropes around, doing shoulder press while standing on one leg, yeah. if its a bike race or 1/2 ironman. no way"

My new friend Mike (a personal trainer for years) chimed in
"yep. he's right. I see people, alot actually, who improve greatly on leg press but when they go to do squats, nothing. no improvement, it doesn't transfer"
I had never heard this example before but it made perfect sense to me. still it sounds hard to believe...
his friend, another personal trainer, looked over and said. "all of my muscle is for show only. if i help a friend move or something, i'm the first one to get tired". We all laughed. funny but true.

A Few things I have heard some highly respected coaches and personal trainers say/ talk about:

~There is no such thing as cross training. (cross working out maybe)
~Functional strength work is the only way to go.
~Weights might help but at what cost? how much time is it gona take to improve 1%?
~If your weakness is week enough it will hold back everything else.
~Even if your weakness is not race specific it can be the cause of you not reaching your goal.
~X-country will make you stronger at x-country skiing, not riding. you'll stay "fit", happy, and it'll keep you from gaining weight. but it won't directly make you ride faster.
~Fitness is in the muscles! your lunges don't get bigger!

So... miracle intervals? not really, just smart training.

Getting a Head Start

2010-02-27T06:20:00.013+03:30

And a little motivation:

Getting a head start is always nice. A head start on your taxes, on your training, a road trip, studying for finals, your drive to work, whatever. We all need head starts in life. In an Ironman getting a head start at the start of the bike is something you hear about allot.
"Getting out of the water early was great! no traffic had time to relax and find my rhythm"
"I got out of the water 5 min. faster than I planned! that was great I would need it later!"
And it is great! whatever your goals on race day exceeding your plans or expectations right off the bat is killer but... it doesn't always happen. The higher your goals the harder and sometimes the not so smart this proposition can be.

So whats your plan EK?
over all its pretty simple.

1. Raise me threshold pace as high as I can
2. Do the work. the long work the tech work necessary.
3. Figure out a appropriate perceived exertion to swim at and execute on race day

So 1500 yd. will be used as my threshold pace. I am aiming for at least a 1:20 threshold pace. From there a 1:25 pace on IM race day (1hr IM swim time) should be doable and efficient.
any input here? do you have the same type of pace diffences?

The reason I have decided to work so hard on my swim is many, some of which I have talked about in earlier posts.
1. I can swim hard and bike hard in training without a major loss of quality in training.
2. I feel I have more potential in my swim than my run.
3. It's F'n HARD!! and if it’s hard for me, it’s hard for others. Even if I don't gain time on the competition in the swim maybe I can save energy. It is the first thing we do. don't wana empty the tank in the first hour of a 10 hour race... do I?

So before we get all up in arms and misunderstand what I am saying here, like some did last time. There is allot to be gained in the swim. We hear this all the time. "you can only gain so much time in the swim., its the shortest event. so don't waste your time training to much"
So #1. Read my last writ up "making the most of your swim".
#2. Swimming is a full body, highly technique sensitive sport. If one can save a bit of energy, stored carbs, mental energy for later you think that will come in handy? ahh yeah! Mark V is not only the first out of the water he sets up his bike very well. many times it takes the best pro's in the US half the run to catch him!! The other day I heard the women's 2 person bobsled driver say "yeah turn 11 sets up 12 and 13" No kidding really!" I thought sarcastically. yet many people miss this concept. The swim is not the place to win an IM but it does set up the bike and run... right? A great Rowing coach said to me once. “you can’t win in the start, but can defiantly loose”

Ok back to IM Canada. how hard will i swim. I don't know? 782 out of 1000, 80%, 1:25 pace if my threshold in 1:20 or faster, as hard as I need to stay with the guy in front of me? Something like that. The plan as of now, make the most of my swim time, a few times a week over the winter and spring. if this are going well. I’m fast and where I want to be in the shorter races I will notch it back, work on the bike and run and maintain my speed while increasing my tech and efficiency.
hit us with some thoughts...What’s your perfect swim?

Ohh and that 2 person womens bobsled won a medal. GO USA!

The Sweet Spot, group rides.

2010-02-18T18:57:00.013+03:30

Many riders and triathletes a like participate in group rides. They have unique place in our training and over all preparation. They can simulate a bike race, add some intensity to your tri training, be great prep for those doing ITU races and lets face it, there just fun!
Matt Reed is seen on the local group rides in Boulder often. Many long distance triathletes add in a fast rodie like group ride to mix things up and get some high intensity. Tony Delonge
winner at IM USA a few years back through down a record bike split on his way to an 8:56! Tony would take part in the Tue. group ride out side of Boston quite often. Regardless of your racing goals these can be great training but all group rides are not the same and, more so, the same group ride can be a very different experience for different people.

So what's your Sweet Spot for a Group Ride?

First off we are talking about the fast rides. Hard, pre-set course, if you get dropped no one is waiting for you rides. Not the "team rides". There is more explanation on this HERE at the 30 days to better cycling site. members only. Join the Karma endurance group Here to get access.
The first thing you should be doing, or not doing really, is trying to make the ride something its not. I have heard before "I'm gona do my threshold (or tempo) work on the group ride tonight", ahh, no your not. With these types of training sessions or any where you are looking for "muscle endurance" and Friel calls it. The type of training where you're on the legs every pedal stroke for your selected interval time a group ride is not the place to do them. Unless you can ride on the front of the group in your zone for that long with out anyone coming around you. I'm guessing you can't.
A group ride gives us a few unique things we simply can't get alone

Higher speeds: turning bigger gears, even at a similar wattage it has a different feel.
Variable power: the up and down stop, go, stop, go nature of a pack ride
A large amount of total anaerobic riding
The repeating nature of these above threshold efforts
Higher cadences, hopefully
The unknown. going hard when you would like to rest, recovery periods when you least expect them.
learning to relax in a pack, cross winds, etc. ie. more efficient riding when the situation is stressful. better bike handling on a efficiency level.

If you are going to do a ride of this nature you should be looking for at least some of these things.

Ok so were are going to do some group rides now what. What's a good ride for you, what's not so good. First off know the rout, maybe ride it solo or with a few friends before so you know where your going, where the big hills are, down hills, turns, etc.

Intensity, the key factor:

This is where I see so many people blow there "group ride" type training.
If going on a group ride involves you hanging on for dear life for 20-30 minutes, accumulating 40% or more of your time above threshold (power time), getting dropped and limping home barely able to push Z2 wattage the ride is to hard and your doing more damage than good. You want your ride to be challenging, not over reaching, you want to be able to repeat your training! ie. get out of bed the next morning for your run, or another ride. You should be able to finish the ride. if not with the front group at least a group of other riders. beyond this look to be able to do a few hard efforts with out getting dropped. (go to the front and do some pulls, a few 1' attacks off the front, etc) and be able to recover in the pack when you need.

A few, more tangible factors to aim for:

No more the 20% of your time above threshold, power. or 30-35% of HR time. even for a road cyclist, who is trained for lots of anaerobic time is going to have a really hard ride with more than this.
Peek avg. power: having only your best 10 min. avg. being at threshold you will find the ride to be over all pretty hard. start doing 20 min. or more. get ready to suffer.
wattage spikes: 10 watts per kilogram of body weight. This is a big benchmark for bike races and mas start rides. The more of these the harder your over all effort is gona be. get up to 12 or more per hour your gona know it! In a tough crit style race we can see up to 40 in 1 hour.

http://tpks.ws/eRsG

Above is a link to a group ride done by coach Eric recently. The ride is less the first 30' and less the last 40.
This ride was tough. One reason is because it was the first one of the year! That first date with significant anaerobic time is always hard. I got a flat with about 30' still to ride. the last 30-40 minutes of the ride was tough. after a quick flat fix I was riding in a smaller group pulling through more frequently and getting less rest time. one of the things to note about any ride is how difficult there are while still having so much time in Z1 and not pedaling!!

Find your sweet spot. make sure you can keep training after the ride. can you finish it? what does your power file and HR file look like? The over all idea here gang. Can you get all of these adaptations in (mentioned above) but minimize the crushing fatigue and muscle damage of a full on race effort?

So before you decide on the group ride workout get some info on what your in for, know your rout and decide what your really looking to get from it. Is this ride going to give you that?

be safe and have fun. tough group rides can be the most fun you can have on 2 wheels.

Making the most of our swim training

2010-02-09T00:01:00.010+03:30

Last week colleague Patrick McCrann wrote an article about why triathletes should NOT swim year round and even further, why its only necessary when we get to race specific training 3-5 months out.

Its a very good article and all points are worth considering. This got me thinking however.
What if we are new to the game? have High goals or have decided to work on swimming, maybe a weak area...

How Can We Make the Most of Our Swim Training Time?

Swimming does cost us allot of time. most of us are swimming at a gym so there is getting there and home, changing, saying hi to overly friendly trainer, etc...

Make the most of your time:

we have seen big gains with minimal time in the pool. why? remember in school when you discovered that when ever you had a ton of work to do it some how got done faster? and you maybe even got better grades? I do. when your working on something as complex and dynamic as swimming and you do it a mere 1 hour a week total focus and concentration are required! For many of us masters or your club swim is at way-to-early:30. if your gona get up that early and swim, put your game face on! Work hard, get tech tips from the coach, work drills for your problem areas and keep swimming!! you will be surprised how much extra an easy 50 every time your waiting for the coach to give you the next set will add up to.

~And what about going to the gym. get your core work in, spinn class after swim, what else can you do to "Get Faster" and make the most of your trip?

~Make it part of your commute to work, miss traffic in the am or pm.

~Ask the coach, "what do i need work on?" my goal is XYZ, what are your thoughts? if i come alone what workout should i do? The coaches are there for a reason use them! most will be happy you asked.

The Magic Workout:

When I lived in the Boston area some friends and I signed up for a 1/2 ironman. some of us were seasoned triathletes, some not and out of shape, some (me) had a whopping 4 weeks to prepare after the cycling season ended? I hadn't run in 3 years. it was my main worry but i had to swim some? right?

while training late in the summer we discovered what was referred to as the magic workout. And still is today by many in the area.

~30' ride to Walden pond

~30' swim. (across the pond and back)

~and a ride home. (sometimes the long way if time allowed or an all out TT home)

my training partners quickly noted, "that is a kick a** workout!". It was but i was more impressed by its functionality and great use of time.

We got a ride in. A 30' swim (similar to the distance and time for our 1/2 ironman swim. they also finished a 1' or so before me allowing them to see my stroke and give a few pointers for the return trip). Swim cap and goggles fit nicely into our pocket and we got a the very key swim bike brick (more on that later)

2 sports, great workout, a brick effect, in 90 minutes!! you can't beat that with a kick board!

bottom line here, look for and explore all your resources, and use them!

Quality Training:

One of the reasons I personally have for swim focus periods is the issue of quality training. particularly when high intensity training is on. Its tough to run and bike hard. however swimming hard and biking (or running) hard seems to work for many without a drop in the quality or performance in there training. this makes swimming more "doable" when the running or cycling intensity increases.

Final thoughts:

Swimming is a large time commitment for little real time gains in the race but realize it's a tough, full body, very tech. sensitive sport which is first in the race. Meaning a "Better" swim might not mean time gained in the swim but later in the race...

Talk to your mentors, training partners, coach and swim coaches. Make a well educated decision regarding your swimming needs and sch. accordingly.

Remember everyone is different. every one's situation, resources, goals, fitness lever, goal race.

"Train YOU before you train the race."

Training for IM Canada. The Bike

2010-02-05T06:00:00.005+03:30

Training The Bke:
My goal with these entries is to discuss my personal training that I am going through to prepare for IM Canada. The idea here is to learn from my personal training and life experiences. While you read these entries you may find yourself saying "hey that sounds familiar..." and even if the exact scenario or method isn't similar to yours the concepts may be. Please feel free to read between the lines and leave some good constructive comments; good or bad.

So, some further explaination of my goals and training objectives listed in the last post:

~I will still be bike racing. I love it. I love being a domestique for my teammates when they can use my help and its a killer workout, plain and simple.
More specifically bike racing has made me the cyclist I am today, obviously. I post very fast, if not the fastest, bike splits in the triathlons that I have done. Furthermore I run pretty well off the bike with little run training. You might ask, why?
It's because I am very efficient on the bike. If one can handle the up and down of a bike race, the unknown, the lack of any control, the 5 day stage races, the rain, wind, avoiding crashes, etc, then riding your own pace in a triathlon becomes a straightforward affair. Yes, there are plenty of mistakes to be made. So far, I and many other cyclists tend to execute the sub-maximal TT effort of a tri very well. So I will hold on to what roadie skills I have.

~TT Focus: I'm good at TT's, but I need to be great. There is more to it than crushing your threshold watts. I have a lot more TT's on the race schedule this year.

~Threshold intervals at 90-95%: Many people have great success with threshold intervals right at their tested threshold power, but not me. Any progress I've had has been small over the last 4 years. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result", right? Maybe changing things up instead of doing the same old routine is the way to go? The concept here is that I will still be in Z4 durining these intervals but i will be able to accumulate more time. The longer the interval, the worse I am at it compared to others and its always been that way. this should strike at my weakness. In summary, longer intervals, more time in Z4 equals more adaptation, or at least that's what I'm hoping.

~Boulder Peak is an Olympic distance tri. It's a very steep 5-10 minute climb in the early miles. Very few amatuers break 1 hour on this course.

~Pace rides: Yes, your IM pace is somewhere in Zone 2. "so that means its your kinda default endurance ride, long ride, wattage right EK?" Well, yes, but again I have never been great at longer efforts, ie. I am a genetic VO2 machine, not a long haul threshold guy. While my goal IM pace IS in zone 2 (the upper end) its tough work for me. My default endurance ride was mid to low zone 2 in past years. I think it's time to notch it up a bit.

EK vs. IM Canada

2010-01-25T03:13:00.013+03:30

The road to an IM finish line is all up hill...

Lots have asked "so... what does a bike racer do to train for an Ironman?"
well its a simple questions that has a long long answer. one that will be played out over the course of the entire summer.
The short answer is the same one I use with most of the athletes I work with.
improve weak areas, maximize time and quality, execute flawlessly!

the basic plan is laid out. many races, both tri and bike races are on tap.
along with an early season training camp in Tucson, AZ. Another camp in April with a sponsored team.
The big picture goals are this:

Goals:

qualify at IMC

Swim 55' -less, EAISLY

Bike sub 5hr, 220+ watts

Run 3:40- less

Training obj.
RUN:

~Improve Run durability/ frequency

~Frequency of long runs (90')
~Run 8:30's any time/ Race Pace
~run thresh. 6:25
Bike:
~ continue cycling training.TT focus.
~Raise thresh power, 350.
~lots of 90-95% Int.

~Boulder peak bike/ sub 1hr.

~220+w long rides/ pace rides /Sim ride
Swim:

~make Swim pace of 1:15-1:20/100 yd TOTALY aerobic/thres. pace

~ 2250+ in 30' test

~10-20x 100yd. On 1:25

~long swims (75'-90')

easier said than done... but either way its gona be fun!

more updates to come.

Run for haiti recap

2010-01-21T04:10:00.003+03:30

A quick Vid from Patrick, the organizer of the Haiti run.
bottom line, in 4 days we raised 23, 750 dollars!
i raised a meger 355 of that but hey, 1 dollar is 1 dollar right!

A huge thanks to everyone that donated.

Fund raiser for Haiti run

2010-01-19T00:26:00.005+03:30

The trails were a bit sloppy but we got it done. A nice warm day, great time
9 miles for this non- runner.

Pre Run:

Half way mark:

conditions were less than ideal...

Haiti run

2010-01-18T18:51:00.001+03:30

RUNNING FOR HAITI

2010-01-15T20:26:00.004+03:30

Ok everyone time to act. I can't do much but lets do what we can.
donate HERE!

Thank you

Ironman Cozumel

2009-12-02T05:19:00.004+03:30

Claire Lunardoni just completed IM Cozumel in Mexico this past weekend. She fought hard, over coming stomach issues on the run to an ironman PR by 25 minutes or so in tougher conditions!
We are all very proud of Claire! she worked very hard and smarter than she has before in her training to complete a long journey to this race.

After a very solid swim, coming out of the water 10th in here age group, she quickly got to work on bike, her strength. Almost to quick! She left T1 with a little extra... gear, from the swim. After sorting that out she stayed steady and by the end of the bike leg had moved to 4th!
At 10k into the run the heat was on. literally and figuratively. The temps soared and although her pace was right on, just over 9 minute/mile pace, her stomach fought back.
Claire stayed calm and did what she does best... gets tough.
while to keep pace she stuck it out finishing 25 minutes or so faster than her best IM ever in much tougher conditions. way to go Claire!

Pic to come!!

Training article

2009-10-27T21:46:00.002+03:30

Its article season for us here at EK Endurance Coaching.
check out article number one of our 3 part fall series in the training articles section
HERE

Train hard, train safe!

Fall EK Endurance Coaching team ride

2009-09-20T01:04:00.007+04:30

The weather was... pretty good.

some recovery time after the ride.

Steamboat Stage Race

2009-09-09T00:02:00.009+04:30

Nathan on his way to a great TT finish:

Coach EK measures his effort in the tough and technical 4.5 mile TT (no TT bikes allowed!)

The first edition of the Steamboat Springs stage race saw many from the EK Endurance Coaching team racing and racing well! 2 riders in the Pro-1-2 field, 1 in the women’s cat 4 field, 1 in the masters 35 field.

Jennica very happy about 3rd over all.

Chris Carr and Nathan West rode hard and consistently in the pro field agents the likes of Ben Day, the Garmin team and many local Colorado heroes. The exception was Nathan’s near total melt down on day 2. After a great TT performance on day one the body was rejecting the effort of the grueling stage 2 which had upwards of 6000+ feet of elevating in only 45 miles! I to was feeling the lack of power in the body. One of the toughest days a rider can have is when there not themselves. Nathan measured his efforts and got to the finish line. In my mind the best ride of the weekend.
He and Chris fought hard on day 3’s road race, a brutal day, to make the first group going into the days last climb.

Jennica Rodriguez continues to make huge strides forward in her first full season of racing. after some major mechanical issues in the TT she rode hard forcing the winning 3 rider move on day 2 taking 3rd place and moving well up on GC. Day 3 saw more of the same on the hilly finish where she moved into 3rd over all and held that position all the way to the final podium! She has come along way from not finishing crits earlier this year to 3rd on the podium at a 4 day stage race!
Brandon Eifrid put his MTB legs to use at the race as well riding hard and finishing off his season Nicely.

Result highlights:
Jennica: 3rd stage 2, 4th stage 3, 3rd overall.
Nathan: 13th stage 1
Chris: 13th over all

Another Win By Chris Carr!

2009-08-13T19:20:00.002+04:30

Chris Carr, left in picture, stacked up another win for the EK Endurance Coaching team. Chris entered a tough, high altitude, race in Aspen Wed. Finally putting good tactics to use he stayed calm and made the winning move. On the steepest section of the last climb Chris accelerated hard and created a small gap between him and the chase group. the chase group looked to have him under control on the now rolling terrain, they were not aware of his superior Time trialing skills. Chris laid down a perfect effort over the last 6 miles to open his lead even more on this 5 chasers and came home for his fist win in a Pro-1-2 field.
A big congratulations to Chris and his team.

My secret weapon

2009-08-06T20:26:00.003+04:30

My secret training weapon has moved!
Michelle Pearl with Releaf Therapy has moved locations and is now even closer to Boulder!
new address:
5412 Idywild Trail
Boulder, CO 80301

stay tuned for clinics this fall at her new office!
http://www.releaftherapy.com/

Ironman USA, a closer look

2009-07-28T20:45:00.003+04:30

While EK Endurance Coaching will have many IM bound athletes this year. I feel this is a great example of training and racing execution for everyone to learn from.

Here is a look at what it tock one of our clients, Elisabeth Ryland, to complete her first Ironman.

Some background:
Lynn, as I call her, is an avid recreational athlete. Enjoying the out doors for many years in Boulder, CO. she has done several triathlons including a few ½ ironman’s.
A year or so ago her and her husband moved to the Philly area for a new job. After getting settled she decided to take on IM lake placid. After getting an entry we got to work on her training. During this time she had several weekend vacations and short work trips. She is a busy engineer working 50+ hours a week for GSK. Her and her husband are slowly making improvements to there new house. The pair had a week long CO ski vacation in Feb, a wedding in Bloomington, IN in May along with some other spur of the moment activities. Sound familiar…

Training and the race:
Lynn started her structured training on Jan 2nd. With winter being full on in the north east, daylight being short and jobs being demanding outside training is difficult at best for many. Lynn’s biggest weak area at this point was her swim with the bike being here strong point.
We set out with a swim focus for the winter months. This “focus” was more on consistency rather than huge volume or intensity. While there were specific workouts that were done most of her swimming was in a master class format. This format works very well as she was able to constantly get feedback and coaching on her tech. At winters end we decided on some one on one sessions with a coach as apposed to a very pricey weekend seminar. It turned out to be money well spent. She did a 1000 yard test early in the winter. Her pace (T-pace) was just shy of 2 minutes/ 100yards.
She improved to 1:50. by the end of the winter and swam (as she put it) a “very controlled” 1:19 at IM USA.
Lynn’s running was again based on consistency. Slowly building up her durability. She came into this raining with some good “base” fitness, as many call it.
This combined with limited time put us in position to develop Lynn’s upper aerobic engine and pacing ability. While she is strong on the bike she had the habit of pushing too hard when the conditions are slow/ tough and going to easy when there not. While this is what we lean towards while racing dynamically on the bike, years of this has lead to Lynn not being in control of her intensity. The road was in control. Not a good way to go into an IM. The winter was full of threshold intervals and occasional group rides with her team when the weather allowed. This combination of different length thresholds intervals, over under intervals and variable paced group rides gave her a much deeper sense of herself, the bike and how to ride “in control”. This was very important for Lynn as she did not train with or race with a power meter.
While only training a max of 10 hours per week she was more than ready when it came time for a big volume block in early march. She did just shy of 20 hr’s this week with class and control. This week was bike focused and included lots of time in Zones 2 and 3.

As spring came we focused on threshold intervals running. Lynn’s 10k pace improved about 15 sec. per mile. Less than I though but she commented on “feeling” better and better, like she had more control. This became apparent when ran at a crushing 9:10/mile pace in a very hilly ½ IM course in NY state. And later when she ran at a pace only 10sec./mile slower that here threshold pace at an Oly. distance a month out from IM USA. Her “long” runs consisted of many 1.5 hour runs. Our thinking here was that: 90’ is very doable and repeatable. 90’ is also past the critical 70’ mark for endurance adaptation. By doing 90’ runs we could do more running in total rather than suffering through 2+ hour runs and loosing out on training time while recovering. As it was Lynn did not get to complete as many of these 90’ runs as we would have liked. She did do one run of 2:08 three weeks out. she ran just under 10’ miles and felt great.
Lynn ran 9:39 miles in the race. we were aiming/ hoping for 10’ miles.

Over coming adversity:
As with all big goals and great journeys one can expect and must persevere tough times.
6 or 7 weeks out from IM USA Lynn was set to go to lake placid for a 3 day training camp. This training camp would give her irreplaceable knowledge of the bike course, venue, race simulation training and was the front end of another high volume block. The week of this training weekend she became ill. Very ill. Getting out of bed was tough let alone training. She did what most would do. Justified that while she would not be at her best and might have to not do as much training, “it would all be ok.” I let her tell me what she was thinking and then made the hard, brutal call.
“Lynn, your not going anywhere this weekend. I’m sorry but you’re staying home end of story”
This was a huge blow not only to her training but to her mental state. Knowing your course and venue can be the key to not making mistakes. It is huge for confidence and poise on race day. She would miss this opportunity.
We decided that she was fit, ready, being healthy and having a bit more “fire” in the belly would be better than one or two more long rides. She had many 3-4:30 hour rides in her legs. After some rest and being sure she didn’t over do it the next week she went to a planned Oly distance tri. It went very well running exceptionally quick after a steady and controlled bike leg. Her confidence was back.

Race execution:

Racing an IM is not about being a tough guy, it doesn’t matter how many crazy rides you did, how many people you dropped on the B2B ride or how you did at XYZ race 2 weeks ago. Racing an IM is about using the tools you have (your strengths) to over come the absence of tools you may be missing (your weaknesses) to get to the finish line as quickly as possible.
Lynn and I decided that she had 2 weak areas. The nice part about these 2 issues was that if she tock care of number 1 the 2nd weakness would already be halfway over come.
Weakness 1: While she made great progress in learning to pace her self and ride steady on the bike I was still worried she may go to hard to early and pay later. Keeping her first hour easy and her whole ride steady was very key. Lynn rode well. I checked about 20-25 other female riders on the race day tracking site and she was the only one who went faster on the second loop.
Weakness 2: The run: while great gains were made running many of Lynn’s long runs were missed or cut short because of life commitments. Sound familiar? I felt if she paced her bike well she would be half way home. Also, as with the bike, starting out easy and keeping pace would be key. She did this well and ran 9:39 miles

Lynn’s race execution was almost flawless,
Swim: 1:19 and 67th in her AG
Bike: 6:38 and moved up to 37th in AG
Run: 4:13 25th/AG at half way and 16th at the finish.

After the race Lynn said what almost every successful IM racer says. “I passed so any people in the last 15 miles of the bike. I couldn’t believe it.”

30 days to better cycling page

2009-06-28T21:55:00.002+04:30

All material for the 30 days to better cycling project will be HERE

The first two days are out and we have all ready gotten some great feed back!
If there is a topic you would like to see discussed contact let us know with some comments
or contact us over at EK Endurance Coaching

better cycling, day 1

2009-06-28T00:02:00.004+04:30

What’s in your saddle bag?

having the right tools in your saddle bag will keep you riding through think and thin.

a few key things to have.

muti tool with full metal chain tool.
money
co2 air for a quick, max psi fill
tube!
money
presta valve adapter
valve extender

see whats in coach Eric's bag HERE

and for fulldetails sign up for the Newsleter at the EK Endurance Coaching site.

Client Results

2009-06-25T00:57:00.004+04:30

We have simply to many results to post here. well... maybe not, but more that I am willing to look up and write down right now. BUT...

here are just a few highlighted Results. A big congratulation to the EK Endurance Coaching team!

if i missed you drop me a line!!

Chris Carr: stage 3 Tour of the Gila, 4th
Eric Kenney: stage 4 Gila, 1st
Eric Kenney: stage 1 Gila, 7th

Derek loudermilk: Survived Lance Levi, Horner and more in the Pro event at the Gila
Nathan west: Hugo RR, 1st (upgrade to cat2)
Tim Robinson: in his first bike race ever! 4th
Peter Schimpf: stage 1 gateway omnium, 1st
Lynn Ryland: black bear ½ ironman, 4th in age group. best result ever!
Brandon Eifrid: Teva mt. games XC, 20th.
Brandon Eifrid: angle fire XC – 7th (beat last years time by 8 minutes!)
Chris Long: 5430 Sprint tri, 326th (out of 1154 starters)

Coming up.
RAAm team is almost home, and winning!
IM USA
IM Mexico
And more!!

What it takes to survive The tour of the Gila

2009-06-01T23:48:00.003+04:30

Here is a quick analysis of day 1 and a little bit of day 2 of the cat 2 race at the tour of the Gila.
Chris Carr is one of the top racers in CO. despite just upgrading to cat 2 last summer he already shows great skill, mental toughness and some big numbers. lets take a look at Chris and the Gila’s tough first 2 stages.

Chris’s threshold power going into the race was 310-315. we soon discovered on stage 2 that he is now up to 325-230. Stage one offers everything one can ask for in a bike race. 95 hot, windy miles. Attacks that seem to never stop. Long periods of riding slower that slow and a grueling steep climb to the finish.
Chris did not have a great day. I have done this race 3 times now and to be honest I am not sure what a good one feels like??
Chris is 143lb’s his max power is around 1400 watts and is a very well rounded cyclist.

The raw numbers:
~Time 4:30/ 95 miles
~3052 kilojoules
~Avg. power 186
~Norm power 240
~30 spikes at or over 10 watts/ kg of body weight
~peak power
Max-1250
30” 572
1’ 450
5’ 308
30’ 237
60’ 230

Tough stuff for sure. Now, Chris missed the break of 7 or so riders that rode away at about 65 miles in. also his peak 30’ which was much lower than he is capable even fatigued was at the end of the race. You could up these longer mean max power numbers for those in the move. I was one of them but no power data on my bike that day.
Some speculation:
With myself being 155 lbs and in the break. We could say that a rider in my shoes would have to do 3500 kj’s on this day. I to did not have magic legs and was dropped by a 3 of my breakaway companions. I probably did 280’s on the 30 minute finishing climb. Again, at the end on my 3500 kj’s. pretty stout. This was good for 7th place on the day but still many minutes down.
Even without being in the breakaway Chris had 32’ in his Zone 5 and 6. 20’of that in Z6. an hour in Z4, with just over 90’ in Z1 or not pedaling. Judging by the way things played I could safely say our Z5-6 time was probably pretty equal. But my Z4 time would be quite a bit higher. Say 1:20- 1:30 in Z4. that is a beefy ride. I think we can see the cause of that “not so magic feeling”.
The biggest part of the cat 2 stage one at the Gila is both tactical and physical. One knowing what moves to get into, you can’t cover every move. And two being able to get into them with efficiency. Even the smartest rider will have to make several efforts off the front of the pack. And then ride a solid 30’ TT up the last climb. its steep, aside form the flat section after the first 5’ so of the real climb. so figure it’s an ITT effort.
So as you can see trying to mimic this in training can be done in a fairly straight forward manner. Rack up the kj’s preferably with a fast flat/rolling group ride, then straight to a steep 30’ climb and give it all you got!
Lets not be hasty though. Developing ALL of our zones, all of our “engines” and skills is v ital to success. Yes you have to be able to climb fast to do well on stage 1 but you have 90 hard aggressive miles to survive before you get there. Spend time on specific intervals and training!!

Day 2: Chris’s numbers were… off the charts. He was attacking in the first hour. He did a normalized power on 320 in the first hour. With the last 5’ being around 350. my legs hurt just talking about it. This caused a huge reaction from the field and with 2 climbs being involved in the first hour we dropped about a third of the field. This was finished off with the last windy 30’ climb, where, while sitting in our “peloton” of 15 riders by half way up, he was pushing upper Z3, 280’s. like I said, stout riding. This 3:30 hour stage required a 256 norm. power out put.
This stage is capped off with another 10 miles of windy riding to the finish. A long slight up hill sprint to the line.
As you can see to survive the Gila you have to be a very complete rider. You gotta be able to do it all!

Gila re-cap

2009-05-11T22:01:00.001+04:30

A big congratulations to everyone at the Tour of the Gila this year. The EK Endurance Coaching team road very well on the last day. Derek fell victim to a crash that tock out some 45 riders in the pro field and could not finish. He was disappointed but left the race with his head high. He was feeling good on the last day and would have finished strong. Completing this race in the Pro field will change him as a rider. We are exciting to watch Derek this yr. Chris Carr and Brandon Efrid both rode well on the last very tough day to complete the hardest amateur race in the US.
Everyone posted great numbers as well.
Brandon continues to improve, pushing more and more watts at the end of hard road races. Chris Carr’s attacking on day 2 caused almost 30% of the field to get dropped in the first hour! The first 2 climbs we extremely tough. Chris’s normalized power for the first hour of the race was above his Threshold! …Time to raise that number…
More impressive was the last 10’ of that hour were well above his threshold! Very hard and aggressive riding! And to rip apart the TT the very next day with a 4th place. It was just down right impressive!
Congrats to all!

Gila Day 4

2009-05-03T01:39:00.005+04:30

sometimes things just go perfectly. I mean perfect. I will say I got lucky, it just worked out. others will say "you made it happen perfectly" probably a bit of both... either way I pulled of arguably the biggest win off my cycling career.

Big thanks to team mate and friend Max Taam.

The rest of the EK endurance coaching team rode well conserving for the Gila monster RR tomorrow!

Gila TT

2009-05-02T06:31:00.009+04:30

This is what it looks like when one of the best cat 2 TTer's in the country takes off.
cool as ICE!
Chris gets 4ths today, only 22 sec. off the lead!

Can you say Aero!!

And rockets home for 4th place!

I take off for a solid 9th place on the day and bring myself back into the top 8 on GC

Day 3 Gila!! TT day

2009-05-01T20:57:00.004+04:30

Day 1 and 2 Gila!

2009-04-30T05:59:00.005+04:30

some good stuff here. A few interviews and some "this is what happens when you think to much" stuff.

Interview with Derek

D-man Adjusts his TT saddle.

Gila!!!

2009-04-29T01:35:00.004+04:30

were Here!!!

long drive but we made it fun.

Tour of the Gila

2009-04-21T19:55:00.004+04:30

Stay Tuned for next week as the CO, EK Endurance Coaching Team heads to the Tour of the Gila! The hardest stage race in the US.

stay tuned here for race reports, results, rider interviews, and more!

This past weeknd we had 4 riders racing in CO springs. Everyone rode well on a very tough course with stiff competition. One more tune up race to go!

Client results

2009-04-10T18:52:00.005+04:30

They keep coming in.
Long time friend and EK Endurance Coaching client, Savas Gunduz, can't believe he just got 2nd in his age group at a local 5k. his first race of the year!

nice shirt by the way....

EK Endurance Coaching Moab Training Camp.

2009-04-06T18:53:00.004+04:30

Our last day In Moab saw crisp sunny conditions.

the men’s cat 4 team has entered a Team Tim Trial.

w spent a good portion of the day working on the dynamic nature of this skill

and a skill it is.

not long after some "controlled" work it all started to click. we slowly added intensity as the day went on.

I was very pleased with the huge amount of progress we made in sure a small amount of time!

Camp re-cap:

Moab training camp, day 2

2009-04-04T02:34:00.003+04:30

First ride day. despite the reputation of Moab we got wet. a snow flurry on the top of that La Sal mt’s saw us descending in the wet. Cold! I rode with one brave sole from our group up the 40' climb a second time. the 2nd trip down was warmer with sun now peaking out.
A few picks from town at the end of the ride, in the sun no less...
Hopefully more pics and vids tomorrow.

Moab training Camp day 1

2009-04-03T09:18:00.003+04:30

Day 1, Moab. a little "fuel" snafu. but we made it.

client update

2009-03-30T23:34:00.004+04:30

With the deluge of snow we received Thursday the legendary Koppenburg RR was postponed in Boulder, co. sad just but it would have been ugly! So like the 70-80 other people on the group ride myself and a few EK Endurance Coaching athletes hit turned our legs in fury for a few hours!
After the ride we re-filled with water and hit a local climb. steep, 30’ long or so and through down. A huge and fun day of training. This picture of Chris Carr who was putting on his (I feel fine) face despite having 3+ hours and 2500 kj’s in his legs…

Before we hit the climb I gave everyone there goal avg. watts to hit.
And I was very happy to se that everyone nailed it. Nice work everyone
I tock a great pic at the top. Great views and some not so great looking faces, but it didn’t come out. I mistakenly put myself in the picture and think I broke the camera with my ugly mug!
Happy training everyone!

Doing your own training camp...

2009-03-19T00:20:00.002+03:30

A few notes and thoughts on doing your own training camp and or early season races.

1. If your training camp will include a training race or competition of some sort, read the article I have written entitled “Training in Training Races”. There is some valuable insight there.

2. Make it a group event: As they say, “Many hands make light work”. Many hands also make hotels cheaper, gas less expensive, and a more enjoyable time all around. But, be sure to keep this group a manageable size! Everyone one should get along on a personal level as well as have similar goals on what they would like to get out of the “camp” experience.

3. Make connections: Just because you have the best group to hang and train with doesn’t mean that there aren’t others out there doing the same thing, particularly at a race. Make friends and invite people to eat with you. You never know what connections you’ll make. On our recent trip to Tucson, we met some great new friends from Alberta, Canada and I ended up signing up a new client.

4. Get someone else to pay! Even if you don’t run your own business maybe you can set up a meeting with a business partner from your day job or attend a conference on the way home. Even simply trying to set this up can earn you huge brownie points at work despite your untimely long weekend vacation.

5. Get some local info: Get information about the good and bad places to go. This goes for everything; food, training rides, bike shop, grocery store, market, everything!!

4. Bring extras: Never get caught unprepared. Remember to bring extra tubes, tires, pumps, wheels, everything!

Tucson training/ racing camp summary... almost

2009-03-12T08:04:00.003+03:30

The drive home was long.

we found this place. classic!

Nick ate a solid 2000 callorie pizza him self. I followed suit with a chicken parm dish, etc, etc, etc...

full re-cap, more pics and vids will be up by 3/12 pm.

thanks for visiting!

Tucson training/ racing camp, day 4 training

2009-03-10T04:52:00.005+03:30

great training ride today. some nice dirt roads.

A few great climbs. I had a vid of one but my phone doesn't want to send it.

the turn to the last leg buster of the day. great views!

Stopped a supper sketchy burrito place on way home. 2pm. really hungry. people were very nice, hooked me up with some local fare. it rocked! best burrito ever!

Great ride today, only 70 degrees, pretty relaxed, stopped for water. Here are some stats. If you would like to see the file e-mail me. I’ll send it out. If I get a lot of interest I’ll post it. Its nothing special but here are some basic stats for you.
As you will see the shorter powers are pretty low. our rides are now shifted to longer steady riding. Tempo to threshold on the hills, trading steady, zone 2-3 pulls on the flats. This puts training stress on different systems then the racing we did. Further more it emphasizes putting out good (long, 30’+) power after being fatigued, like one experiences at a big stage race like the tour of the Gila. Riding in this manner is also the “easiest” way to rack up the kj’s . keeping zero watts and lactate producing efforts to a minimum.
We had some coasting time and the dirt road decent which lowered our kj’s per hour quite a bit. But it is not uncommon for many athletes to get 700-900 kilojoules per hour with very minimal fatigue!

4.5hr.
2850 kj’s
75 miles
Peak power:
5” ~577
1’ ~402
5’ ~370
30’ ~230

Tucson training/ racing camp day 3.

2009-03-09T04:13:00.003+03:30

The last day of racing...
Ahh what we'll do for 30 bucks...

The circuit race today was… snappy. The 5 mile loop had some fast big ring climbs a sharp 6% section at the top and some long sweeping down hills. The slight head wind on the down hill section made it very hard for a break to make it. But we still tried. Allot!
I followed several moves that looked good, bridged to one and made a big late race effort with 2 other riders. Nothing made it today but the pace was high enough that several riders did get dropped. Nick also made a fine move with 2 laps to go but again it was brought back.
Everyone stayed up right and the top 3 today were all placed close to me. After the respective time bonuses I fell back to 10th on GC. I was a bit disappointed at first but I did everything I could have done. It was simply bad luck that 2 rides directly behind me on GC scored time bonuses. And with the down hill right hander before the finishing straight I was not going to elbow into that in the full pack.
The legs felt better today and I felt good about my tenth place and my activity. A solid TT effort, 50+ miles in the breakaway on day 2 and lots of attacking on the last day.
Now we are trying to figure out how to ride mt lemon and get back before 1pm.
25 mile climb at 260 watts, 4.3 % grade, plus the decent, it’s a 50 minute drive…
I need some more food, my head hurts. More pics and vids to come!!

day 2 re-dux.

2009-03-08T00:27:00.005+03:30

breakfast Belgian style!

VIDEOS:

pre-race tunes:

pre-race:

post-race: the "wheel scuffle"

The road race to day was pretty solid racing I must say. I very smartly attacked in a perfect spot at the perfect time early and we had a nice break going. The issue was that there where only 3 of us and no one from the 2 larger teams. The wind got tough but we gave it out all. after 50 mile or so we were caught. Some counters went. Nick covered, then, after a little sitting in to recover, I went to work trying to keep things together for the sprint. Nick has been racing at the new velodrome in Boulder and while this was our first race I thought he could put it together and nock out a good finishing kick. The attacks were fierce and the speed very high in the last 7 miles or so.
Group after group would get 50 meters and it was devastatingly hard for me to turn the speed necessary to close the gaps. With 3K to go we had it all together again and the sprint was on. Nick got into perfect position coming through the last turn, 3 wheel 150 meters to go. a slight cramp cost him 2 or 3 spots but still had the finish in his sights. Then a touch of wheels brought 3 riders down. As Nick maneuvered around them, wheels locked, he was hit from behind and our stage placings when with him.
He is OK, a few scrapes but pretty minor all in all.
We raced well. Sometimes things don’t go your way. he racing was good. Aggressive, smart, positive, hard racing. And we did what we set out to do, be factors and ride hard.
I moved up to 8th on GC after some crashes and maybe people getting dropped? Not sure.
So we have some work to do. Should be another tough one.

2009-03-06T06:38:00.007+03:30

The drive was a success. We took it easy and did it in two days, having the “hook up” in Albuquerque . After our arrival we had a very nice Tucson style ride. A few climbs, narrow roads and great scenery.

3:12 aand 3:21pm start time tomorrow. http://www.tucsonbicycleclassic.com/ttstarts.htm send us some good vibes! We’ll take a morning spin on the course check thing out, and just give it our best go. while I would be lying if I said we were not looking to perform well, it is our first race and were are just super happy to be here in the warm and hospitable land of Tucson, AZ and looking forward to 3 days of racing and 5 of great training! TT tomorrow… Stay tuned!

Tucson stage race, day 1

2009-03-05T07:32:00.000+03:30

funny sign on our drive...

The TT today was great. Some windy conditions but at 8 minutes it gona hurt no matter what. I posted a 7:52 which was good for 12th place. I felt good and judging from my time, the wind and my pre ride in the morning at an upper threshold wattage I would estimate I did between 370-380 watts for the race effort. not a bad effort for my self.
With this being our first race of the year and being so far from our local scene we realy didn't know what to except. One thing is for sure the So-Cal and local boys came to play!With a short TT the times are close. 2 others riders has the same time as I did! At 12th I am 37 sec. form the leader and Nick is at 1’ mid pack. We imagine that everyone will be racing to win tomorrow. There’s no doubt it will be a tough one!
Pre race Nick was kick’n the NIN and fatboy Slim trying to get some samples up. how do I up load audio files??

Spring Trainning Update

2009-03-03T19:52:00.012+03:30

The winter group ride in Boulder, one of the best in the country.

Spring is coming fast in Boulder this year. We have had several days of 60+ degree weather. This makes for some easy motivation and big group rides. The famous weekend group ride in Boulder is about 2.5 hours long and usually attracts over 60 riders! With lots of cross winds, a steady pace, and a stop to regroup after the Carter Lake climb/smack down, this ride is a lot of fun and makes for some great training.
I participated in this group ride, along with two of my clients, just this past weekend. I am always careful with group rides and urge caution with my clients as well. Too much of a good thing can be bad for the legs and end your season early if approached the wrong way. For me and my two clients this past Saturday, the training was perfect. With all of us preparing for the Tour of the Gila later in the year, this fast, flat, windy ride makes for great stage one preparation. We finished off the day with a steep 30 minute climb. The ride was fairly long, 4.5 hours or so, while still being quite intense.

I ended up producing around 3500 kilojoules and had spent 30 minutes in the red zone.

I had mixed feelings about one of my clients dropping me on the last climb of the day, but I knew it was coming. While I was disappointed that I couldn’t respond to his brutal pace, I couldn’t be happier about his performance. He is responding to his program better than I imagined. He will be a major player this season.

In other news, racing season has started. While I skipped out on the first race of the season, a teammate and I will be headed to Tucson for a three day stage race this weekend. Check back here soon for real time updates from the race.

No one had enough air on the ride

to chat but evening plans

were still made before hand