Hard to believe I'm sitting here a month out from Ironman Muskoka. Having to sign up a year in advance for these races it always feels like an eternity until you get to toe the line. I find myself in a good position 4.5 weeks out from the race. Every race I've done this summer I have set personal bests. Why? That's exactly what I'm going to talk about after a brief race recap from Mark Mellon this past weekend.
The Mark Mellon is very special for my family and I. My dad grew up with Mark (Mark died in a motorcycle accident in high school), we helped out at the race most years during our upbringing at a run aid station, and now my family has put the race on the last 5 years. Leading into this race each year is a bit tricky with having to take care of all of the prerace planning/setup with my dad. I never know how my body will feel until the race starts. Normally, things go just fine and I do well on this course. It helps to be my hometown event from a motivation standpoint and I know the course like the back of my hand.
This year I felt great pretty much the entire race. I convinced my friend, Ben McMurray, to come over and race again. Ben is one of the best triathletes in the state and always is tough to beat. For the swim this year we did two 500 meter loops. I led the first loop and Ben led the second. Transition went smooth and I was first onto the bike. Ben hung back a bit, probably only 15-20 sec., until about halfway. At the second turnaround I noticed the gap had grown. I knew the power was coming nicely and I was in control. I decided to push things a bit for the next 10k. Once we made the right onto Lake Manuka Rd. I just held steady watts and tried to relax. I figured even if I had a decent gap off the bike I'd have to be prepared to run very well as that is Ben's ace...running well off the bike.
T2 went well and I was off. My mindset the entire way to the turnaround was simple...push! I was pleasantly surprised my gap of about a minute had held at the turnaround. At that point I knew I had to just keep turning things over. For Ben to take a minute out of me in 3 miles was going to take a huge effort so I just relaxed and ran solid. I still am a bit shocked at my run split. Sub 35 min. after a tough bike and I was never at my absolute limit. I thought maybe the run was a bit short, but it's the same course that we've used multiple years and it gets remeasured every year. I guess the training I've been doing this summer is working. Now I just have to keep it rolling until Muskoka...really just 3 more weeks or so before the taper.
I haven't done anything real special, other than consistently train and train hard. I have cut out almost any easy training. That doesn't mean it's all super high end work, but 90% of it is done at steady state or above. 4 hour bike ride, 18 mile run, 4k swim set...whatever it may be I am doing above Ironman pace. Part of the reasoning behind this is I simply don't have the time to screw around. I have a family and busy job (athletic director role no longer leaves summer as a time where I don't have to think about school). I wouldn't have it any other way though.
Triathlon and endurance sports as a whole are such an individual thing when it comes to getting in one's best shape. You can arrive at a certain fitness level in many different ways. For me, something I have really dialed in this year is picking sessions that I think I will do well at and have fun while doing them. That doesn't mean it's not hard because a lot of it is, but I've been more flexible than ever and have adjusted the plan several times since I initially wrote out my long term training plan for this Ironman. For example, after the Bayshore Marathon, I knew my fitness was good but I needed more "strength" running. I had done some faster intervals on the track once a week leading up to the marathon in May, but I felt something was a bit off. I then started incorporating a weekly 3 mile tempo run followed by some faster stuff on the track. The tempo work has certainly given me a boost and then when I start the track work I am already quite tired...name of the game in triathlon- running well off the bike on tired legs. The cycling sessions I've done are pretty much one easy to moderate mtn. bike session, a 2-2.5 hour ride with intervals either at steady state or threshold...also some very short intervals way above threshold- way to get in some higher power work to prepare for very hilly Muskoka course. I usually run a little off the bike after this session. Nothing fancy but not easy either. My other ride is longer, but mostly in the 3-4 hour range. I am not one to go soft pedal for 5-6 hours like many people training for Ironman. I'd rather do 4 hours with all of it above race pace. I guess we will see if it works out, but I have a pretty good sense that it will with how good I have felt this summer. These next 2-3 weeks will be about lengthening out some runs in the 16-20 range and keeping everything else rolling. I haven't done a ton of long running, but with the marathon build this Spring I know that fitness is still in the bank.
One of the most fun things about this sport is that you can continue to improve almost forever until probably the age of 40 or so if you train hard and smart. Heck, some guys are improving all the way until 45+. I had been pretty much at a similar level the last 3 years or so. I raced pretty well, but I was starting to think any further progress was next to impossible. I guess I was wrong and I'm as motivated as ever to kick some butt at this sport.
Will post again after Muskoka and hopefully will be sharing the news of a Kona slot. Thanks for all of the support!
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Coaching
I know I've said this before, but I plan to get this blog rolling again. I want to start by sharing the fact that I'll be looking to pick things up a bit more on the running and triathlon coaching side of things. I have downscaled my operation the last couple of years as my career in education has changed now that I'm an athletic director. I finally feel as though that is dialed in and I can devote a little more time to coaching again. In order to make some room for this, I have decided to stop coaching basketball and track at the high school level...at least for the time being. Not that I didn't enjoy doing that, but I really enjoy working with individuals who have goals of improving their running and/or at triathlon. I think this type of coaching is a lot of fun and it's where my passion is.
That being said, I have decided to make the coaching that I do very affordable. I am blown away by how much people charge as running and triathlon coaches. I want to help as many people as I can so please contact me if interested and I'll share the new prices for coaching. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how affordable it can be. I have space for a couple more people for 2015. Email me at dave@jrmtraining.com if interested about how I might be able to help you.
From a personal training perspective, things are off to a good start. Originally, I planned on holding off until January to begin my 2015 training, but my body and mind were ready as December rolled around so I've been hitting it for 4 weeks now. Nothing crazy of course, but there is some focus and I'm getting in some work. Some examples of sessions have been a 7 mile run at steady state, followed by 20 minutes worth of hill work. Another session on the bike is 30 minutes at half ironman pace broken up by different positions (upright or in aero position) and cadences. All of my trainer sessions progress through a good warm up that includes drills and efforts that prep me for the main set of the day. No swimming for me until March. I did this last year and swam as good or better than I have. I'm at the point where my swimming is never holding me back in a race. At the age group level even at world championships my swim puts me where I need to be. It's the bike/run combination that I still need to keep chipping away at. I'm not saying swimming isn't important. It's just where I'm at in the sport. If I swim consistently for 6-7 months out of the year I'm good to go. I'd have to swim a ton more and that's just not going to happen with no groups around to swim with nor do I have the time. Guys continue to win high level age group races with swim times basically identical to mine. I think I have a plan laid out to to get my bike and run in order for a very solid race as Ironman Muskoka the end of August. I'll hit some local races along the way, but this season is really about one race and qualifying for Kona.
I plan to write at least once a week about a topic related to running or triathlon. Today, I'm going to talk about what some call reverse periodization. I just call it normal training as this is the way I've always trained and the way I've coached the dozens of athletes I've coached along the way. This term comes up every year around winter and I always find it interesting that people use the word reverse. Some believe and it's an older school way of doing things that the optimal way to success in endurance sports is to log a ton of slow miles before doing anything fast. This can work for some, but only if you're really able to log a bunch of miles and as age groupers with jobs and families that just isn't possible. Even with that, there are more and more people realizing the importance of keeping some faster work in the mix throughout the entire season. Periodization really boils down to doing general type training first and then getting more and more specific the closer you get to your key events. This is the case for all sports/aspects of fitness. You must go from general to specific. It's my argument for how crazy weight lifting goes for football in 90% of high schools. Kids lift all summer and then barely at all during their seasons. Go figure you start the season better than you finish it. This is something Boyne City had figured out before I got there and I've just kept it rolling and hopefully enhanced it a bit. The athletes train all aspects of their fitness year round. I think the results are speaking for themselves. A high level of conditioning can trump many situations in athletics.
Back to triathlon and running...think about it, why in the world would you log all kinds of miles over the winter (especially if you live in a cold environment) if your endurance event isn't until late summer of fall? First off, good luck with keeping the motivation high. Second, distance running and triathlon are endurance events and therefore you should be doing longer sessions the closer and closer you get to race day so your body gets used to what type of effort it needs to put forth on race day. You'll still mix in some intensity, but the majority of what you're doing is at race pace or slightly above that last 4-8 weeks. This of course varies greatly depending on the certain distance you are primarily prepping for, but the concept still remains the same.
So what does that mean you should be doing right now? I just call it raising the ceiling. Get your 1 hour best possible power/pace/effort as high as you possibly can. Then, once you get outside (hopefully sooner than last spring!) you chase those numbers all season and extend out your sessions. You still need to log some time over the winter. A couple of hours a week won't cut it. I truly believe gains can be made over the winter on an hour a day if you do the right stuff. You'll need to log more time come spring and summer, but you'd be surprised how little my athletes train this time of year and still improve because they do the right things. It has to be every single week though and there is very little screwing around.
Easier said then done, but I've seen it work for many. It still boils down to flat out hard work consistently done over time. I've had some success in triathlon, and people who are new to the sport ask how I got to be at a decent level. I think they are taken back when I tell them I've been at it for 9 years with many of those years at 10-15+ hours a week of training. And that's what is setting those above me apart...they have a lifestyle that allows them to put in 20+ hour weeks for years on end. I did it for a few years when I had no kids and we lived in Virginia. Let me tell you it works! Anyone can do it if you're willing to put in the time. The problem is that most people who try to do that get burned out of the sport. I have many friends who did that too and no longer race.
Hopefully I gave you something to think about as you plan your 2015.
My girls will probably wake up soon from their naps so I better go. Thanks for reading.
That being said, I have decided to make the coaching that I do very affordable. I am blown away by how much people charge as running and triathlon coaches. I want to help as many people as I can so please contact me if interested and I'll share the new prices for coaching. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how affordable it can be. I have space for a couple more people for 2015. Email me at dave@jrmtraining.com if interested about how I might be able to help you.
From a personal training perspective, things are off to a good start. Originally, I planned on holding off until January to begin my 2015 training, but my body and mind were ready as December rolled around so I've been hitting it for 4 weeks now. Nothing crazy of course, but there is some focus and I'm getting in some work. Some examples of sessions have been a 7 mile run at steady state, followed by 20 minutes worth of hill work. Another session on the bike is 30 minutes at half ironman pace broken up by different positions (upright or in aero position) and cadences. All of my trainer sessions progress through a good warm up that includes drills and efforts that prep me for the main set of the day. No swimming for me until March. I did this last year and swam as good or better than I have. I'm at the point where my swimming is never holding me back in a race. At the age group level even at world championships my swim puts me where I need to be. It's the bike/run combination that I still need to keep chipping away at. I'm not saying swimming isn't important. It's just where I'm at in the sport. If I swim consistently for 6-7 months out of the year I'm good to go. I'd have to swim a ton more and that's just not going to happen with no groups around to swim with nor do I have the time. Guys continue to win high level age group races with swim times basically identical to mine. I think I have a plan laid out to to get my bike and run in order for a very solid race as Ironman Muskoka the end of August. I'll hit some local races along the way, but this season is really about one race and qualifying for Kona.
I plan to write at least once a week about a topic related to running or triathlon. Today, I'm going to talk about what some call reverse periodization. I just call it normal training as this is the way I've always trained and the way I've coached the dozens of athletes I've coached along the way. This term comes up every year around winter and I always find it interesting that people use the word reverse. Some believe and it's an older school way of doing things that the optimal way to success in endurance sports is to log a ton of slow miles before doing anything fast. This can work for some, but only if you're really able to log a bunch of miles and as age groupers with jobs and families that just isn't possible. Even with that, there are more and more people realizing the importance of keeping some faster work in the mix throughout the entire season. Periodization really boils down to doing general type training first and then getting more and more specific the closer you get to your key events. This is the case for all sports/aspects of fitness. You must go from general to specific. It's my argument for how crazy weight lifting goes for football in 90% of high schools. Kids lift all summer and then barely at all during their seasons. Go figure you start the season better than you finish it. This is something Boyne City had figured out before I got there and I've just kept it rolling and hopefully enhanced it a bit. The athletes train all aspects of their fitness year round. I think the results are speaking for themselves. A high level of conditioning can trump many situations in athletics.
Back to triathlon and running...think about it, why in the world would you log all kinds of miles over the winter (especially if you live in a cold environment) if your endurance event isn't until late summer of fall? First off, good luck with keeping the motivation high. Second, distance running and triathlon are endurance events and therefore you should be doing longer sessions the closer and closer you get to race day so your body gets used to what type of effort it needs to put forth on race day. You'll still mix in some intensity, but the majority of what you're doing is at race pace or slightly above that last 4-8 weeks. This of course varies greatly depending on the certain distance you are primarily prepping for, but the concept still remains the same.
So what does that mean you should be doing right now? I just call it raising the ceiling. Get your 1 hour best possible power/pace/effort as high as you possibly can. Then, once you get outside (hopefully sooner than last spring!) you chase those numbers all season and extend out your sessions. You still need to log some time over the winter. A couple of hours a week won't cut it. I truly believe gains can be made over the winter on an hour a day if you do the right stuff. You'll need to log more time come spring and summer, but you'd be surprised how little my athletes train this time of year and still improve because they do the right things. It has to be every single week though and there is very little screwing around.
Easier said then done, but I've seen it work for many. It still boils down to flat out hard work consistently done over time. I've had some success in triathlon, and people who are new to the sport ask how I got to be at a decent level. I think they are taken back when I tell them I've been at it for 9 years with many of those years at 10-15+ hours a week of training. And that's what is setting those above me apart...they have a lifestyle that allows them to put in 20+ hour weeks for years on end. I did it for a few years when I had no kids and we lived in Virginia. Let me tell you it works! Anyone can do it if you're willing to put in the time. The problem is that most people who try to do that get burned out of the sport. I have many friends who did that too and no longer race.
Hopefully I gave you something to think about as you plan your 2015.
My girls will probably wake up soon from their naps so I better go. Thanks for reading.
Monday, December 23, 2013
2013
I wish I had more time to add to this blog, but it's just not possible with all that I have going on these days. Between teaching, coaching, being athletic director, training, and still trying to be a good father and husband it just doesn't leave time for much else. I am going to try to do a better job in 2013.
Above are some pictures. Rachel always does a nice job with our Christmas card and those pictures really highlight the past year. Looking back on 2013 I couldn't have scripted it any better. I feel blessed more and more.
Some highlights for me this past year in somewhat chronological order were: being inducted into the Otsego County Sports Hall of Fame (the youngest member to have been inducted), finishing my masters degree in Educational Leadership, coaching our boys basketball team to a 2nd place league finish-will be first place this year, coaching our boys track and field team to a 2nd straight conference title, the birth of our second daughter Zoe, a PR at the half marathon distance 2 days later, a PR at the Mark Mellon Triathlon, our 7th wedding anniversary, completing my first Ironman in a respectable 10:06 and 5th place age group finish, starting my new position as the athletic director for Mancelona Public Schools, shooting a nice looking buck on opening day, and going to a Lions, Pistons, U of M football, and U of M basketball game all within 2 months of each other. It's going to be tough topping that every year!
I don't tell you that stuff to boast, I tell you that because it shows what can be accomplished through hard work and dedication. It's not all about accomplishing things, but it sure is fun to succeed and the best way I know how to honor the big man upstairs is to use the talents that he has given me.
Obviously, life is lived at 100 mph in the Smith family. I wouldn't have it any other way. Rachel continues to amaze me. She becomes a better wife and mother every day. She tells me I hold things together, when in reality it's her that acts as the glue. Nothing that we do would be possible if it weren't for her. Our daughters resembke her so much already in that they are both so happy and pleasant to be around. The older they get the more fun it is!
On the triathlon front I have been back to work for 3 weeks now. I took a nice 3 month "break" this fall where I did something about every day, but it was all very unstructured. I don't normally take more than about a month to do that each year, but with all of the above going on this past year I needed some reprieve.
I haven't swam since September, and I won't be until March. Without having a pool closer than 30 min. away it is not the best use of my time. That being said, I think March 1 is the latest I can afford to start swimming and be ready to roll come early June for USAT Long Course Nationals in Grand Rapids. Last year I didn't swim until January and swam 59 minutes for Ironman off less than 10k of swimming a week. In the elite age group race even at all the big races I'm not behind because of my swim...it tends to always be from the run. Therefore, a big focus for the winter is to improve my bike (because in triathlon your bike fitness has everything to do with how well one runs off the bike) and to lay down a very solid run base. I'll also be doing a xc ski session or two each week as that really helps get your entire body in shape while probably being some of the best "core" exercise out there.
I decided to work with my old coach Janda Ricci-Munn again this year. I just don't have the same time to plan as I used to and being able to just put my trust in Janda and get the work done has been nice. I enjoyed going at it myself the past couple of years, but in order to make any more improvement I needed to go at things a bit differently. Janda gives me a lot of variety in training where I tend to repeat a lot of sessions when planning my own schedules. I was also getting a bit stale and by simply doing some different things I think that will have me seeing some nice improvement again. There's also that sense of accountability and I see myself working a bit harder knowing I have to check in and be honest with how the fitness is coming. That, and it's always nice learning new things from Janda as he is a wealth of knowledge and continues to learn about the sport. It doesn't hurt that Janda has some big names professionals on his roster now and to see them benefitting from his coaching is very reassuring.
I'll be representing the Zoot team again this year. You can see the updated sponsors on the right hand side of the blog. I wouldn't want to represent any other company and I really do believe it is the best triathlon specific company in the world. They have gone out of their way several times to help me out with gear and a ton of my family and friends have gotten to experience the generosity of such an awesome company and Zoot is definitely well known now in northern and central Michigan.
So far, my race schedule is looking like an early season duathlon, Bayshore half marathon, USAT Long Course Nationals in GR, Mark Mellon, East Jordan Tri, a 70.3 in July and/or early August, a couple other local tris, and hopefully ending the year crushing 70.3 Worlds in Mt. Tremblant. Maybe I'll end the year with a marathon and/or Iceman.
I'll end with a link to this speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTFnmsCnr6g . It's worth the 15 minutes! If I'm ever second guessing myself, I watch this video and instantly the passion comes back.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Friday, August 9, 2013
Ironman Lake Placid
I really intended to do a better job of keeping up with this blog this year, but I guess when you have 2 children 2 or under, a new job of sorts in that I'm our schools athletic director now, coaching 2 varsity sports, and trying to be a good husband it doesn't leave a whole lot of time when the free time I do have is mostly spent training. I don't mean to use any of those things as excuses for anything because those are all things I have chosen in my life and am very blessed to love what I do and to have an awesome family to share it with. I wouldn't have it any other way.
There is no sense in retracing the season before Lake Placid really. I did a few other events with highlights being a new PR for the half marathon distance going 1:17 and a very good showing at the Mark Mellon Triathlon coming 2nd to training partner/friend Ben McMurray from Petoskey (1st in our age group and 14th overall at Placid) who is arguably the best triathlete in the state and recording my highest power output for the 40k distance in a tri and also my fastest 10k off the bike (on a legit course as I've run faster on short courses).
Everything leading up to Lake Placid couldn't have gone much better. The unknown of course was the distance and having no experience being out there pushing the limit for 10 hours. It's impossible to do anything near the distance of an Ironman in training so you're trying to prepare yourself by doing some long sessions and then supporting them with lots of other work...mostly faster. I suppose if you had 20+ hours to train for most of the year like some you could get away with not doing as much intensity, but for me that's not possible. I knew I could come very close to 10 hours and the perfect day goal was 9:45. Almost every year the race has been held if you went 10 hours or very close to it you earned a slot for Ironman Hawaii. It just happened to be that this year my age group crushed it and 10:06 only got me 5th place in the age group (top 3 earned Kona slots). Last year 10:15 went to Kona.
Considering this was my first Ironman I can't be anything but happy. I will try another one at some point and now that I have some experience I know I can improve. I think I'd change just a few small pieces of my training, but really it boils down to confidence/mental strength on the run. I am sure I could have run quicker and this is obvious by how I ran the last 6 miles...my fastest 6 of the day and a lot of that was on the toughest part of the course. I admit I was scared of blowing up and having to walk...a reason I also held back on the bike quite a bit. I know the last thing I wanted to do was go too hard too soon and end up walking and going 10:30+. Once you start walking, which is an urge quite frequently in an Ironman run, the time just piles on. You're not speed walking...it's more like a 20 min. per mile type walk and it can end up being a very long day.
One thing I will say is that if you want to know how deep you can dig and how much guts you have...do an Ironman and you'll find out very quickly. So many doubts creep in all day long and you just have to keep answering the call to keep on rolling and not stop. You have to do the training, but assuming that you did...on race day it is much more of mental task than physical. I have played almost every sport imagineable and there is no possible single day event that is harder than Ironman.
I can't thank my family, friends, and sponsors enough for all of their support. It would be impossible to compete at any sort of high level without so much help from all kinds of people. Rachel deserves the most credit as she has to deal with our crazy lifestyle every day, but she just smiles and makes the best of it all. I don't know where I'd be without her.
We had a lot of fun on our trip and most of that can be seen through some pictures on facebook if you're interested.
Not sure what's next in store for me. I will likely do one more training cycle to prep for the Boyne City Tri on Labor Day weekend and then it will be deciding which route to go from there. I will definitely do another Ironman at some point. If Wisconsin registration makes it online I may go for it. If that doesn't pan out I will likely focus on getting faster for the sprint and olympic distances with maybe throwing a half ironman in there at some point each year. The frustarting thing about Ironman is the races sell out so quickly and most of them you have to go to the site in order to ensure yourself an entry. Some make it online the next day, but it's rare. I just can't justify traveling so far just to sign up...craziness!
All I know is I'm as motivated as ever to keep pushing the envelope with this sport and kicking butt. I have lots more to achieve before I move on to something else.
Thanks for reading.
There is no sense in retracing the season before Lake Placid really. I did a few other events with highlights being a new PR for the half marathon distance going 1:17 and a very good showing at the Mark Mellon Triathlon coming 2nd to training partner/friend Ben McMurray from Petoskey (1st in our age group and 14th overall at Placid) who is arguably the best triathlete in the state and recording my highest power output for the 40k distance in a tri and also my fastest 10k off the bike (on a legit course as I've run faster on short courses).
Everything leading up to Lake Placid couldn't have gone much better. The unknown of course was the distance and having no experience being out there pushing the limit for 10 hours. It's impossible to do anything near the distance of an Ironman in training so you're trying to prepare yourself by doing some long sessions and then supporting them with lots of other work...mostly faster. I suppose if you had 20+ hours to train for most of the year like some you could get away with not doing as much intensity, but for me that's not possible. I knew I could come very close to 10 hours and the perfect day goal was 9:45. Almost every year the race has been held if you went 10 hours or very close to it you earned a slot for Ironman Hawaii. It just happened to be that this year my age group crushed it and 10:06 only got me 5th place in the age group (top 3 earned Kona slots). Last year 10:15 went to Kona.
Considering this was my first Ironman I can't be anything but happy. I will try another one at some point and now that I have some experience I know I can improve. I think I'd change just a few small pieces of my training, but really it boils down to confidence/mental strength on the run. I am sure I could have run quicker and this is obvious by how I ran the last 6 miles...my fastest 6 of the day and a lot of that was on the toughest part of the course. I admit I was scared of blowing up and having to walk...a reason I also held back on the bike quite a bit. I know the last thing I wanted to do was go too hard too soon and end up walking and going 10:30+. Once you start walking, which is an urge quite frequently in an Ironman run, the time just piles on. You're not speed walking...it's more like a 20 min. per mile type walk and it can end up being a very long day.
One thing I will say is that if you want to know how deep you can dig and how much guts you have...do an Ironman and you'll find out very quickly. So many doubts creep in all day long and you just have to keep answering the call to keep on rolling and not stop. You have to do the training, but assuming that you did...on race day it is much more of mental task than physical. I have played almost every sport imagineable and there is no possible single day event that is harder than Ironman.
I can't thank my family, friends, and sponsors enough for all of their support. It would be impossible to compete at any sort of high level without so much help from all kinds of people. Rachel deserves the most credit as she has to deal with our crazy lifestyle every day, but she just smiles and makes the best of it all. I don't know where I'd be without her.
We had a lot of fun on our trip and most of that can be seen through some pictures on facebook if you're interested.
Not sure what's next in store for me. I will likely do one more training cycle to prep for the Boyne City Tri on Labor Day weekend and then it will be deciding which route to go from there. I will definitely do another Ironman at some point. If Wisconsin registration makes it online I may go for it. If that doesn't pan out I will likely focus on getting faster for the sprint and olympic distances with maybe throwing a half ironman in there at some point each year. The frustarting thing about Ironman is the races sell out so quickly and most of them you have to go to the site in order to ensure yourself an entry. Some make it online the next day, but it's rare. I just can't justify traveling so far just to sign up...craziness!
All I know is I'm as motivated as ever to keep pushing the envelope with this sport and kicking butt. I have lots more to achieve before I move on to something else.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Whitepine Stampede
I did my 2nd ski race of the year on Saturday and man was it fun. The best thing about the skiing for me is I don't ski a whole lot and have zero expectations of a result. I just go out and try to give a good effort and stay with the pack. Well, I did just that and came 5th overall (1st in age group) in the 20k skate race. I was right behind places 2-4, but with there not being a lot of room to pass toward the end and me not having a lot of ski racing experience the guys turned on the jets and flew by the last 200 meters or so. I did finish with the group, though, and these guys do well at every race they go to in the midwest so I'll take it.
Here are the results: http://www.whitepinestampede.org/2013_results_20Km
Otherwise, I'm just clipping along getting in the training each day. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to some warmer temps so I can get outside on the bike, but it is what it is and overall I'm feeling pretty good. I have to keep in mind that the goal for the year is Kona in October so that is a long ways a way. Yes, I am putting a lot of eggs in the Lake Placid basket, but I am also going to Kona to try to compete not just participate. I keep reminding myself that once I start training like a true elite come summer time because of not having to teach, it only take me a few weeks to really get into top shape. All the work until then is getting my body hardened if you will so I can handle that training well.
Thanks for reading.
Here are the results: http://www.whitepinestampede.org/2013_results_20Km
Otherwise, I'm just clipping along getting in the training each day. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to some warmer temps so I can get outside on the bike, but it is what it is and overall I'm feeling pretty good. I have to keep in mind that the goal for the year is Kona in October so that is a long ways a way. Yes, I am putting a lot of eggs in the Lake Placid basket, but I am also going to Kona to try to compete not just participate. I keep reminding myself that once I start training like a true elite come summer time because of not having to teach, it only take me a few weeks to really get into top shape. All the work until then is getting my body hardened if you will so I can handle that training well.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Frozen Foot 5 Miler
Yesterday I raced the Frozen Foot 5 Mile road race in Traverse City. I normally don't race much besides a few xc ski races during the winter, but I always find a nice little fitness jump after a race and there really is no better test to see where your fitness is at. I wanted to see where I was truly at with my running right now. I really had no specific goal, but was pretty sure I could run 5:45 pace with the course being fairly hilly with a decent amount of wind. The temps were awesome though for this time of the year being almost 50 degrees. Rare for sure in N. Michigan, but I'll take it as I'm sure the snow will be returning soon.
I felt great and ran 28:05 for the 5 miles, which equates to more like 5:38 pace. I was 2nd place on the day. For this time of the year I am very pleased with this. I have only been training for 6 weeks and the first 4 of those weeks were really just getting my body rolling again. I've been doing some solid training the last 2 weeks, but did not expect that pace to feel so controlled. I think the bit of run block I did this fall is paying off and then just the consistent training. Each year I do this sport I sweat it gets easier and easier to get back up to a good fitness level after taking a break.
I felt great and ran 28:05 for the 5 miles, which equates to more like 5:38 pace. I was 2nd place on the day. For this time of the year I am very pleased with this. I have only been training for 6 weeks and the first 4 of those weeks were really just getting my body rolling again. I've been doing some solid training the last 2 weeks, but did not expect that pace to feel so controlled. I think the bit of run block I did this fall is paying off and then just the consistent training. Each year I do this sport I sweat it gets easier and easier to get back up to a good fitness level after taking a break.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Happy New Year
2012 was awesome wasn't it?! I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store. It's shaping up to be our best year yet with another baby on the way and me training for my first Ironman. This week I have upped the ante so to speak with the training. It has been tough on the body, but already by Friday the body is starting to remember what it feels like to go fast. Because of the tough winters here, the best option is to do fairly high intensity work in all 3 disciplines. I plan to get in anywhere from 10-15 hours consistently throughout the winter before bumping the volume up once it gets nicer outside. I have always felt that the best approach to training is to disperse the training pretty evenly between swim, bike, and run. There are lots of things to consider here, but at least this time of year I try to do that. When it warms up the bike volume picks up and the run volume also. I tend to swim a bit more during the winter, back it down a little in the Spring and then once school is out I up the swimming again with an additonal open water swim or two.
This first week has seen me doing a very high end session in each discipline. These are fiarly short and sweet, but are probably the toughest sessions of the week. This week the main sets were for the swim: 4 x 25, 4 x 50, and 4 x 100 basically all out. For the bike it was 4 x 20 sec., 4 x 40 sec., and 4 x 60 sec. with about 20 - 40 sec. rest depending on which small set I was on. These were done at 500+ watts, 450+ watts, and 400+ watts respectively. That was followed by some big gear work. Run wise it was 4 x 100m, 4 x 200m, and 4 x 400m basically at best effort as well. This was followed by some aerobic hill repeats. I haven't done much work this fast in a long time, but I am looking for another breakthrough and I am confident this faster work will be the key.
I am also doing one more race specific workout in each discipline. This week was 3 x 12 min. on the bike at threshold with only a min. or two recovery between. The run was 3 x 2k with a 1/4 mile jog in between or so. These were done at threshold as well. The swim set was 3 x 300 at the same effort. These efforts are also done at close to olympic distance effort.
The last 3 sessions of the week are more half ironman or steady state type effort. 25 min. at that followed by some big gear work for the bike session (I sub in 60-90 min. of xc skiing as well on that day). Run workout is 11-12 miles with 5 or so at steady state. Swim workout is more endurance based with a 1000+ straight along with a longer paddle set where I use a buoy for some of it and also some band work.
On top of that I hit 3 strength workouts that last about 30 minutes each and that pretty much sums up the first real week of the 2013 season.
Bring on next week!
This first week has seen me doing a very high end session in each discipline. These are fiarly short and sweet, but are probably the toughest sessions of the week. This week the main sets were for the swim: 4 x 25, 4 x 50, and 4 x 100 basically all out. For the bike it was 4 x 20 sec., 4 x 40 sec., and 4 x 60 sec. with about 20 - 40 sec. rest depending on which small set I was on. These were done at 500+ watts, 450+ watts, and 400+ watts respectively. That was followed by some big gear work. Run wise it was 4 x 100m, 4 x 200m, and 4 x 400m basically at best effort as well. This was followed by some aerobic hill repeats. I haven't done much work this fast in a long time, but I am looking for another breakthrough and I am confident this faster work will be the key.
I am also doing one more race specific workout in each discipline. This week was 3 x 12 min. on the bike at threshold with only a min. or two recovery between. The run was 3 x 2k with a 1/4 mile jog in between or so. These were done at threshold as well. The swim set was 3 x 300 at the same effort. These efforts are also done at close to olympic distance effort.
The last 3 sessions of the week are more half ironman or steady state type effort. 25 min. at that followed by some big gear work for the bike session (I sub in 60-90 min. of xc skiing as well on that day). Run workout is 11-12 miles with 5 or so at steady state. Swim workout is more endurance based with a 1000+ straight along with a longer paddle set where I use a buoy for some of it and also some band work.
On top of that I hit 3 strength workouts that last about 30 minutes each and that pretty much sums up the first real week of the 2013 season.
Bring on next week!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Lakes of the North and Christmas
This past Saturday I did a xc ski race at Lakes of the North. It was a shorter race...10k, but considering how little most people have been on snow so far this year it was just the right distance. My skiing technique isn't the best, but somehow I'm able to keep up with the top guys. I guess all the training I do for triathlon carries over nicely. I came 8th and was only a minute or so down from the podium. I'll take it though considering how little ski time I put in...usually once a week for 1-2 hours.
I never know what to wear for these ski races. You warm up quick so you don't want to be over dressed. I wore the Zoot Ultra long sleeve cycling jersey and then the wind vest over top. I also wore the Zoot winter beenie. That, with some cycling tights and I was dressed just about perfectly for a 30 degree morning in N. Michigan.
Training has been going well. I am taking an easier week this week before ramping things back up. I am itching to start in with a little more serious training, but it was important I be patient these past 4 weeks as my body just wasn't ready to start getting after it quite yet. I guess you could call it a transition month or just getting the body moving every day. It seems to have worked because I feel completely back to normal and ready to start making gains for 2013.
On another note, I've been inducted into the Otsego County Sports Hall of Fame. The article in the paper can be found here . It really is an honor and I feel very blessed to have received the award. I had a ton of support, mainly through my folks and siblings during my youth and really that support continues today. Rachel has been there for every step too since starting triathlon and it wouldn't be possible without her encouragement.
Christmas has come and gone for another year. As always my parents (really my Mom:) went overboard and got all of the grandkids way too much. Kennedy was awesome opening presents. She had a blast playing with some new toys and showing off her new clothes. The best thing about Christmas is being to spend time with my siblings as we don't get to do that a whole lot any more. It's also nice to catch up with extended family.
Back to reality a bit now (minus teaching so really I'm on vacation!). 3 workouts already today and I'm considering a short ski later if I feel good. It's amazing how much you can get in with not having to work. I wouldn't trade my life for anything though.
Thanks for reading.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
And so it begins
And we're off! The first two weeks of training for the 2013 season have gone pretty well. The body is coming around ever so slowly, but I think by the end of the 3rd week or so I will feel right as rain. There is a fair amount of debate over incorporating recovery weeks into one's training program. I have done it both ways...3 weeks up and then one week down/recovery. Last year I didn't take recovery weeks, but incorporated a little more active recovery each week. This year I'll be reverting back to about 3 weeks on and one week off. This gets trickier once racing starts, but during my base and race prep phases I will be following that basic 4 week cycle. Lots of research backs the 21 days on and then needing some more rest than usual to fully utilize the concept of overcompensation. The key in my opinion is keeping some intensity just like you might in a taper during a recovery week. Otherwise, you tend to feel pretty rotten. You drop the volume to about half of whatever you did in the 3rd week of the cycle. I also make sure I take one day completely off during the rest week.
So far here are some examples of some swim, bike, run sessions. This morning I swam 2200 yds. I did a 500 IM order at an easy pace, 200k w/ fins at a moderate effort, 100 pull at steady state, 5 x 50 band only ON 1:00, hitting about 40-45 sec., 5 x 50 drill/swim, 700 paddles w/ the 2nd half using a pull buoy, 200 cd working on sighting and dolphin diving. Swim volume is pretty low right now, but that will gradually increase as we go to where most sessions will be in the 4k range with one longer swim each week since an IM swim is 4k itself. If you don't ever swim longer than that you will have no prayer of finishing the swim feeling fresh and ready for the bike. Yesterday's bike session was a 35 min. warm up as 10 min. EZ, 10 min. as 30 sec. big gear/30 sec. regular cadence, 10 min. of 20 sec. single leg/40 sec. regular cadence w/ both legs, 5 min. of spin ups, 40 min. of BIG gear work at IM effort+ (230w+) spending as much time in the aero bars as possible, and then a short cool down. Run sessions have been about 8-9 miles including in about 10 min. worth of hills. As you can see it's pretty basic base phase prep of lower end work, but very strength oriented. This is the most strength stuff I have probably ever done, but Ironman is all about strength and who slows down the least...you must be strong! There is a big difference between aerobic strength and true muscular strength, but they do tie together. I am a big believer and weight training. It seems a lot of people steer away from it, but the results don't lie. The stronger you get the more froce you can generate in all 3 disciplines and this raises your ceiling of how fast you are capable of going. If it's good enough for Alberto Salazar's Olympic medalists, Mark Allen, and Dave Scott not to mention several others it is good enough for me. So many athletes lose power after a long season and the quickest way to get that back is to hit the weights. If you don't know what you're doing in the weight room, this is the best article I've found on triathletes doing traditional weight training: http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Mark_Allen_s_12_Best_Strength_Exercises
Other things I've been focusing on is cleaning up the nutrition. I take a more relaxed approach in the off-season, but try to be pretty good about what I'm eating when training hard...lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats, and limit the amount of processed foods. I don't get too crazy about things, but it's just about being conscious about what is going in. The 80/20 rule is good to go by...80% good stuff going in, 20% whatever else. Far too many people try to be super strict about diet and they can't sustain that for very long. The 80/20 rule is something you can sustain forever.
Lastly, chiropractic care and massage have played a big role for me in the past and they will continue to do so this year. I have been seeing my people once a week since starting back up training and it sure does make a difference.
Thanks for reading!
So far here are some examples of some swim, bike, run sessions. This morning I swam 2200 yds. I did a 500 IM order at an easy pace, 200k w/ fins at a moderate effort, 100 pull at steady state, 5 x 50 band only ON 1:00, hitting about 40-45 sec., 5 x 50 drill/swim, 700 paddles w/ the 2nd half using a pull buoy, 200 cd working on sighting and dolphin diving. Swim volume is pretty low right now, but that will gradually increase as we go to where most sessions will be in the 4k range with one longer swim each week since an IM swim is 4k itself. If you don't ever swim longer than that you will have no prayer of finishing the swim feeling fresh and ready for the bike. Yesterday's bike session was a 35 min. warm up as 10 min. EZ, 10 min. as 30 sec. big gear/30 sec. regular cadence, 10 min. of 20 sec. single leg/40 sec. regular cadence w/ both legs, 5 min. of spin ups, 40 min. of BIG gear work at IM effort+ (230w+) spending as much time in the aero bars as possible, and then a short cool down. Run sessions have been about 8-9 miles including in about 10 min. worth of hills. As you can see it's pretty basic base phase prep of lower end work, but very strength oriented. This is the most strength stuff I have probably ever done, but Ironman is all about strength and who slows down the least...you must be strong! There is a big difference between aerobic strength and true muscular strength, but they do tie together. I am a big believer and weight training. It seems a lot of people steer away from it, but the results don't lie. The stronger you get the more froce you can generate in all 3 disciplines and this raises your ceiling of how fast you are capable of going. If it's good enough for Alberto Salazar's Olympic medalists, Mark Allen, and Dave Scott not to mention several others it is good enough for me. So many athletes lose power after a long season and the quickest way to get that back is to hit the weights. If you don't know what you're doing in the weight room, this is the best article I've found on triathletes doing traditional weight training: http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Mark_Allen_s_12_Best_Strength_Exercises
Other things I've been focusing on is cleaning up the nutrition. I take a more relaxed approach in the off-season, but try to be pretty good about what I'm eating when training hard...lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats, and limit the amount of processed foods. I don't get too crazy about things, but it's just about being conscious about what is going in. The 80/20 rule is good to go by...80% good stuff going in, 20% whatever else. Far too many people try to be super strict about diet and they can't sustain that for very long. The 80/20 rule is something you can sustain forever.
Lastly, chiropractic care and massage have played a big role for me in the past and they will continue to do so this year. I have been seeing my people once a week since starting back up training and it sure does make a difference.
Thanks for reading!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Off season break
One of the most challenging, yet enjoyable times of the year for me are the 4 or so weeks after my last race of the season. It's not easy for an endurance athlete to take time off, but it's very important if you're hoping to progress a bit further each year. Now, by taking time off I am not talking about 4 weeks or so of no training at all. Sure I'll take probably a total of 7-10 days completely off during that time, but I have found for me it's better if I don't take those days all at once. Doing it this way allows me to get back into things quicker and not feel so horrible those first 2-3 weeks of real training. This year it worked out nicely because I took 3 full days off at the start of deer season and then over Thanksgiving break. After the 2nd 3 days I finally feel completely ready both mentally and physically to get back to work. The mental component is huge so you avoid burnout. Triathlon has a bad burnout rate where people get into the sport for 2-3 years and then get burned out so they quit. The guys who are crushing it year after year typcially say it takes a good 10+ years in the sport to come even close to potential. Most say they hit their endurance peak in their mid 30s. I am very hopefuly this is the case because if it is I can plan on seeing more improvement for another 10 years or so.
From a physical standpoint it's important to take a good break each season. Even if you feel 100% there are always a couple of small niggling injuries that have been hidden throughout the year. If you train hard during the year, something is not 100% with your body. I very rarely get injured and have never actually had an overuse injury (touch wood) that has sidelined me. I firmly believe the break at the end of each year keeps my body happy. A smart thing to do during your break is to keep up on some recovery methods...chiro, massage, cold/hot baths, compression, foam rolling, eating well, etc.
A lot of people think I'm nuts starting my training for the next season the first week of December. Those are the same people that will be behind myself and any of the athletes I coach. You are not killing yourself in the winter. What you are doing is very gradually laying down a fitness base that will allow you to do the race specific training you need to do once March/April rolls around. These are flat out THE most important months of the year. If not done, you will be playing catch up all year and your race results will suffer. I probably only truly average 10-12 hours of training a week for the first few cycles, but I am consistent and do the correct work to set me up for the specific prep that follows. I typically will swim, bike, and run 3 times each during the winter. That, with 2-3 strength sessions plus 1-2 xc ski sessions a week and come March I'm ready to get after it. Most of the winter is spent indoors. I'll get outside to do most of my runs and every now and again if the roads are not icy I'll head out on the mtn. bike. I utilize a treadmill for my faster run sessions. For the strength work, I've gone back to traditonal weight training the last 2 years. I really find this to be huge as I go through the season. Gains are made until about March and then as the s, b, r training increases I just look to maintain that strength. I do one day of TRX work as well.
The fun part for me is putting the training puzzle together. Taking what has worked in the past and then adding in a couple of new things each year so I don't get stagnate. This year I plan to do a little more volume in all 3 disciplines and then dial back the intensity a bit. I will always do some fast stuff year round, but last year I skimped a bit too much on the run and cycling volume. This had me going very well on the shorter stuff, but I was a little undertrained for the half ironmans. With stepping up to Ironman this year, that volume cannot be missing. I have laid out a very solid program that I am confident will put me in the best shape of my life for Lake Placid. For now, it's all about easing the body back into some consistent work. I am pumped to start back up and I suggest you do the same if you want to have your best season yet!
From a physical standpoint it's important to take a good break each season. Even if you feel 100% there are always a couple of small niggling injuries that have been hidden throughout the year. If you train hard during the year, something is not 100% with your body. I very rarely get injured and have never actually had an overuse injury (touch wood) that has sidelined me. I firmly believe the break at the end of each year keeps my body happy. A smart thing to do during your break is to keep up on some recovery methods...chiro, massage, cold/hot baths, compression, foam rolling, eating well, etc.
A lot of people think I'm nuts starting my training for the next season the first week of December. Those are the same people that will be behind myself and any of the athletes I coach. You are not killing yourself in the winter. What you are doing is very gradually laying down a fitness base that will allow you to do the race specific training you need to do once March/April rolls around. These are flat out THE most important months of the year. If not done, you will be playing catch up all year and your race results will suffer. I probably only truly average 10-12 hours of training a week for the first few cycles, but I am consistent and do the correct work to set me up for the specific prep that follows. I typically will swim, bike, and run 3 times each during the winter. That, with 2-3 strength sessions plus 1-2 xc ski sessions a week and come March I'm ready to get after it. Most of the winter is spent indoors. I'll get outside to do most of my runs and every now and again if the roads are not icy I'll head out on the mtn. bike. I utilize a treadmill for my faster run sessions. For the strength work, I've gone back to traditonal weight training the last 2 years. I really find this to be huge as I go through the season. Gains are made until about March and then as the s, b, r training increases I just look to maintain that strength. I do one day of TRX work as well.
The fun part for me is putting the training puzzle together. Taking what has worked in the past and then adding in a couple of new things each year so I don't get stagnate. This year I plan to do a little more volume in all 3 disciplines and then dial back the intensity a bit. I will always do some fast stuff year round, but last year I skimped a bit too much on the run and cycling volume. This had me going very well on the shorter stuff, but I was a little undertrained for the half ironmans. With stepping up to Ironman this year, that volume cannot be missing. I have laid out a very solid program that I am confident will put me in the best shape of my life for Lake Placid. For now, it's all about easing the body back into some consistent work. I am pumped to start back up and I suggest you do the same if you want to have your best season yet!
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Iceman, #2 on the way, and much more
I can't believe how long it's been since I've written a blog on this site. I am really going to try and be better about it in 2013. Things get busy when you're trying to be a good husband and father as well as teacher, coach, and athlete. Let's just say blogging hassn't been a priority. I have had a few people ask me recently to start it back up so I'm going to take another shot at it.
Where to start...it's been an awesome year watching my daughter Kennedy grow and mature (she's now 16 mo. old). It never ceases to amaze me how much of a personality such a little girl can have. We are also expecting #2 in May 2013 so we are prepping Kennedy to be a big sister. She was asking for a training partner more similar in size so we thought we'd deliver:)
Triathlon wise it really was a good year (All-American for the 4th time). I started off by winning the Starkermann in Gaylord. I got taken off course by the motorcycle while leading the Bayshore 10k, but was on sub 34 min. pace so I was happy with where the body was at. I won the Bass Festival 5k after riding 60 miles beforehand. Syracuse 70.3 went well. I was 6th age grouper overall and at one point in the race was in 1st. The run is still my achilles heel. I need to continue to find ways to drop time and get in that low 1:2x range off the bike if I'm ever going to be 1st amateur. I repeated at East Jordan and took 2nd at Mark Mellon to Aaron Bachman. I gave him a run for his money (literally as we brought some prize money to Mark Mellon this year...going up for next year so join us!) and led off the bike by a little over a minute. I had probably my best race of the year again at Petoskey Tri. I was firing on all cylinders and finally broke 36 min. off the bike for an Olympic distance race running a mid 35. Steelhead was another high age group finish, but ran 1:29 instead of the sub 1:25 I had planned on which would have had me top 3 overall amateurs. From there I pretty much called it a season and started prepping for the GR marathon and Iceman. Both of those races went well considering my lack of preparation, but it just gets to be a long season once school starts back up and now that we have Kennedy and with coaching and all. No complaints here thought as life is great! Rachel continues to be wife/mother of the year (not to mention her job as a funeral director) and I couldn't do anything I do without her support.
Basketball practice starts on Monday so I'm really looking forward to that. We have a very good shot at winning the league so it's going to be a fun year. I am doing some very light training at the moment and have been sprinkling in some roller skiing to get ready for the xc ski season. I'll also be playing a decent amount of basketball once we get rolling. I have decided my first day of 2013 training will be December 17th. That way I can get in some solid work over our 2 weeks of Xmas vacation and that should set me up for the real work to begin after that. The whole goal of 2013 is simple...Kona!!! I will be qualifying at Ironman Lake Placid the end of July and everything I do training and racing will have that race in mind. There is no doubt in my mind I can accomplish this task, but it is going to take a lot of work...work I'm prepared to do.
Lastly, I have a couple more open slots for coaching in 2013 so if interested please email me at dave@jrmtraining.com
Please follow along...it's going to be an exciting year!
Where to start...it's been an awesome year watching my daughter Kennedy grow and mature (she's now 16 mo. old). It never ceases to amaze me how much of a personality such a little girl can have. We are also expecting #2 in May 2013 so we are prepping Kennedy to be a big sister. She was asking for a training partner more similar in size so we thought we'd deliver:)
Triathlon wise it really was a good year (All-American for the 4th time). I started off by winning the Starkermann in Gaylord. I got taken off course by the motorcycle while leading the Bayshore 10k, but was on sub 34 min. pace so I was happy with where the body was at. I won the Bass Festival 5k after riding 60 miles beforehand. Syracuse 70.3 went well. I was 6th age grouper overall and at one point in the race was in 1st. The run is still my achilles heel. I need to continue to find ways to drop time and get in that low 1:2x range off the bike if I'm ever going to be 1st amateur. I repeated at East Jordan and took 2nd at Mark Mellon to Aaron Bachman. I gave him a run for his money (literally as we brought some prize money to Mark Mellon this year...going up for next year so join us!) and led off the bike by a little over a minute. I had probably my best race of the year again at Petoskey Tri. I was firing on all cylinders and finally broke 36 min. off the bike for an Olympic distance race running a mid 35. Steelhead was another high age group finish, but ran 1:29 instead of the sub 1:25 I had planned on which would have had me top 3 overall amateurs. From there I pretty much called it a season and started prepping for the GR marathon and Iceman. Both of those races went well considering my lack of preparation, but it just gets to be a long season once school starts back up and now that we have Kennedy and with coaching and all. No complaints here thought as life is great! Rachel continues to be wife/mother of the year (not to mention her job as a funeral director) and I couldn't do anything I do without her support.
Basketball practice starts on Monday so I'm really looking forward to that. We have a very good shot at winning the league so it's going to be a fun year. I am doing some very light training at the moment and have been sprinkling in some roller skiing to get ready for the xc ski season. I'll also be playing a decent amount of basketball once we get rolling. I have decided my first day of 2013 training will be December 17th. That way I can get in some solid work over our 2 weeks of Xmas vacation and that should set me up for the real work to begin after that. The whole goal of 2013 is simple...Kona!!! I will be qualifying at Ironman Lake Placid the end of July and everything I do training and racing will have that race in mind. There is no doubt in my mind I can accomplish this task, but it is going to take a lot of work...work I'm prepared to do.
Lastly, I have a couple more open slots for coaching in 2013 so if interested please email me at dave@jrmtraining.com
Please follow along...it's going to be an exciting year!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Xmas Week
Hard to believe another Christmas is right around the corner. This school year has flown by! We're excited to spend Xmas with my familly and see all the little ones open up gifts. My sister's son, Brody, is especially going to be a riot watching him as he is 1 and a half.
It's always nice to have a break this time of year from school. I am really looking forward to getting in some good training and spending more time with Rachel and Kennedy.
This week I've had some good training sessions. A couple I'll share are I did a trainer session with the main set being 3 x 5 min. at 330+ watts with minimal recovery. I was able to hit some very solid numbers for this one. Next time I do this set I'll add another 5 min. interval or two.
Most of my running has been on the easier side. When I feel good I'll let myself run low to mid 6s, but other than that I just am logging miles on the run front. I'll start in with a more specific run workout each week next week. This time of year those sessions mostly come in the way of a tempo, progression, fartlek, or hill session. I'll start to increase my long run too.
Swim wise I have been just mixing it up doing a variety of sessions. This morning I did a main set with Ryan of 200 swim, 200 kick, 2 x (100s, 100k), and 2 x (50s, 50k). The kicks were done just under 1:00 per 50 and the swims were about 2:35 for the 200, 1:15 for the 100s, and :35 for the 50s. Nothing crazy fast, but just a nice tempo. Rest was pretty much the kicking. We then did 10 x 25 ON 30 sec. hitting each of them about 13-14 sec. I am a big believer on throwing a short set like this after a main set to really work on swimming fast, but not hard...almost stride outs after a run. I think it helps my economy in the water and allows those tempo paces to seem a bit easier. It is also good practice for getting out at the start of races.
That's about all for now.
Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Back At It
Thanksgiving w/ Rachel's family
Kennedy's 1st HalloweenSorry I've been away for so long. I've had a few requests to write again because I'm so interesting...haha, yeah right! I do enjoy writing, though, so I'll try to be more diligent with this. A lot has gone on in the last few months...most of it all being positive. Rachel and Kennedy are doing well. Kennedy is growing every day. She is such a good girl. We have been very fortunate with how easy going she is. She sleeps and eats well, smiles a ton, and brings a ton of joy to us. I can't wait to come home every day after school to see her bright smile.
Teaching and coaching are going well. I did a couple of low key fall events, a half marathon on Mackinac Island where I came 2nd place and the Iceman Mtn. bike race which got me hooked on mtn. biking so I'll continue that once a week or so throughout the year now (when snow isn't here! or maybe even then too:))
I am slowly getting back into training, but still doing a decent amount of work. Swimming pretty much normal volume, cycling is about 3 - 4 hours on trainer work, but all highly structured. Without being able to ride outside and log miles during the winter here, the only way to improve one's cycling is through really getting after it. A power meter is such a valuable tool for me during the winter. I am confident in my winter training plan as I've figured out a system that works and sees me entering Spring each year a little further ahead than the previous year. I'm back doing some resistance training and plan to keep that in the mix all year next year as I really think it helps me out.
I've been out twice on the xc skis. We have had a very mild winter so far so just recently we have had enough snow to get out. I look forward to skiing once or twice a week as it's great cross training and helps build the engine while being pretty easy on the body being a non impact activity. I plan to do 4-5 ski races this winter too. Hopefully I can fair well in a few of them and finish near the pointy end. Last year was a learning experience, but I feel like I have gotten better over last year and then roller skiing some this fall. My technique has a ways to go still, but engine wise I'm right there.
I'm really looking forward to the upcoming holidays. It's always a blast seeing family and friends, not to mention some time off from school for some extra training and extra time with Rachel and Kennedy.
I hope you all are starting to prep your bodies for the real work to come after the New Year. It is the off season, but if you plan on improving from last season the time is NOW to train hard and work on your weaknesses.
Happy Holidays!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Racing, racing, and more racing
Hard to believe school will be starting back up here in about a week and a half. Teachers go back a few days next week to get things situated...although I've been in a bit this summer already just getting things planned for the year. A friend of mine from Gaylord is going to be joining our team...Ben Tarbutton. He's a really nice guy and will be good for our students. With Ben's running experience I'm hoping he's willing to get back rolling with his training as I know he was kind of taking it easy the last year or so after college. He's run low 15s for 5k so is definitely legit.
Well, I wouldn't normally recommend racing 5 weeks in a row, but it was a lot of fun and there's no way to push yourself in training as you do in a race. After Mackinaw, I jumped in the Black Bear 100 mile ride. It follows the historic Ausable canoe race. The ride isn't truly a race, but it's chipped timed and the majority of people race it trying for their best time. I cam 4th, but was only 2 minutes behind a pro mtn. biker from Michigan. I would have beaten him if I hadn't stopped a couple of times for a friend, but hey he would have done it for me and was cramping so it was all good. We rode the 100 miles in 4:04 or so. The heat and humidity were rediciulous that day with temps being in the 90s. That wouldn't me anything special when we were in VA Beach, but here we don't see those temps very often. My friend, Ben McMurray, who I was riding with raced in Kona last year and he said it was at least as hot as Kona if not hotter. Good to know!
The next weekend I went down to Lansing for their Olympic distance race. It was a non wetsuit swim...not my specialty, so I had a little time to make up on the bike. I came into t2 about 4 minutes up and then extended that lead on the run. I knew with racing this many weeks in a row I needed to shut it down on the run to save some for the enxt 2 weekends.
Two weekends ago we had a whirlwind of a weekend. We had a memorial service for Rachel's uncle, and then her family was all up so we were hanging out with them most of the weekend. Saturday night my cousin was getting married so we went to her reception for a couple of hours. Made it home by about 11 for a 5AM wake up call the next morning to head up to Petoskey for their tri. I was very happy with this race...likely my best of the summer so far. I led from the gun and crushed all 3 disciplines, closing with a 36:20 10k off the bike...a PR by 40 sec. or so. This was based on my Garmin too so the course was legit (actually long by .2 so I was 37:20 for 6.4 miles, which equates to the 36:20). Afterwards we had a birthday party for my nephew Brody and Rachel had a baby shower with her sister who is due in September. Let's just say we were exahusted come Sunday night and we slept in Monday (7AM...what we call sleeping in these days with Kennedy).
I wasn't 100% on whether or not I'd race last weekend in Ludington. The racing was starting to catch up with me and I felt flat all week. It's a challenge to stay motivated for all these races sometimes. I committed to winning the series that 3 disciplines puts on...our state's biggest tri company. If you win, you get to do their races in the series every year from then on for free. Well worth it with the cost of races these days! All the racing was worth it as I am first in the series and may not even have to do the last race of the series to win it. I got 2nd at the ludington race. Richard Swor, a pro who used to live in MI, but now live in N. Carolina was there and he waxed me pretty good. To my defense I was racing at more of my 70.3 pace than Olympic as the power was just there. Anyone who has ever raced this much knows what the feeling is like. I gave my best effort on the day, but I really would like to race that guy when I'm fresh as I think I could at least have gotten off the bike with him or even in front of him. He's a very good runner so likely still would have beaten me, but it would have been a lot closer. Oh well...he also only does short course racing so that's his specialty. What can I say...I hate to lose.
So I finally have a few weeks to get back into some solid training before my last big tri of the year...Muskoka 70.3. I think the course is really going to suit me...cool weather and HILLY with a freshwater wetsuit swim.
On a side note, big props to Ryan hamilton who has had a breakout season finishing near the top in all the local tris and a great day at Racine 70.3. Big things to come for this guy if he sticks to it. Also...good luck to Rob Swartz in Chicago this weekend for the Olympic.
I'm excited to get back into the school routine, but sad to see summer about done. I'll enjoy these next couple of weeks the best I can!
Thanks for reading!
Well, I wouldn't normally recommend racing 5 weeks in a row, but it was a lot of fun and there's no way to push yourself in training as you do in a race. After Mackinaw, I jumped in the Black Bear 100 mile ride. It follows the historic Ausable canoe race. The ride isn't truly a race, but it's chipped timed and the majority of people race it trying for their best time. I cam 4th, but was only 2 minutes behind a pro mtn. biker from Michigan. I would have beaten him if I hadn't stopped a couple of times for a friend, but hey he would have done it for me and was cramping so it was all good. We rode the 100 miles in 4:04 or so. The heat and humidity were rediciulous that day with temps being in the 90s. That wouldn't me anything special when we were in VA Beach, but here we don't see those temps very often. My friend, Ben McMurray, who I was riding with raced in Kona last year and he said it was at least as hot as Kona if not hotter. Good to know!
The next weekend I went down to Lansing for their Olympic distance race. It was a non wetsuit swim...not my specialty, so I had a little time to make up on the bike. I came into t2 about 4 minutes up and then extended that lead on the run. I knew with racing this many weeks in a row I needed to shut it down on the run to save some for the enxt 2 weekends.
Two weekends ago we had a whirlwind of a weekend. We had a memorial service for Rachel's uncle, and then her family was all up so we were hanging out with them most of the weekend. Saturday night my cousin was getting married so we went to her reception for a couple of hours. Made it home by about 11 for a 5AM wake up call the next morning to head up to Petoskey for their tri. I was very happy with this race...likely my best of the summer so far. I led from the gun and crushed all 3 disciplines, closing with a 36:20 10k off the bike...a PR by 40 sec. or so. This was based on my Garmin too so the course was legit (actually long by .2 so I was 37:20 for 6.4 miles, which equates to the 36:20). Afterwards we had a birthday party for my nephew Brody and Rachel had a baby shower with her sister who is due in September. Let's just say we were exahusted come Sunday night and we slept in Monday (7AM...what we call sleeping in these days with Kennedy).
I wasn't 100% on whether or not I'd race last weekend in Ludington. The racing was starting to catch up with me and I felt flat all week. It's a challenge to stay motivated for all these races sometimes. I committed to winning the series that 3 disciplines puts on...our state's biggest tri company. If you win, you get to do their races in the series every year from then on for free. Well worth it with the cost of races these days! All the racing was worth it as I am first in the series and may not even have to do the last race of the series to win it. I got 2nd at the ludington race. Richard Swor, a pro who used to live in MI, but now live in N. Carolina was there and he waxed me pretty good. To my defense I was racing at more of my 70.3 pace than Olympic as the power was just there. Anyone who has ever raced this much knows what the feeling is like. I gave my best effort on the day, but I really would like to race that guy when I'm fresh as I think I could at least have gotten off the bike with him or even in front of him. He's a very good runner so likely still would have beaten me, but it would have been a lot closer. Oh well...he also only does short course racing so that's his specialty. What can I say...I hate to lose.
So I finally have a few weeks to get back into some solid training before my last big tri of the year...Muskoka 70.3. I think the course is really going to suit me...cool weather and HILLY with a freshwater wetsuit swim.
On a side note, big props to Ryan hamilton who has had a breakout season finishing near the top in all the local tris and a great day at Racine 70.3. Big things to come for this guy if he sticks to it. Also...good luck to Rob Swartz in Chicago this weekend for the Olympic.
I'm excited to get back into the school routine, but sad to see summer about done. I'll enjoy these next couple of weeks the best I can!
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Mackinaw City Triathlon turned Duathlon
Rachel, Kennedy, and I went up to Cheboygan Saturday afternoon to stay with Rachel's grandma. She only lives about 15 minutes from the Mackinaw race start so it was perfect. Plus, it's always nice spending time with "Mema." She had only seen Kennedy briefly at the hospital after she was born so she was excited to spend time with her too.
I was looking forward to this race as it's one of the nicest ones on the Michigan circuit. It usually brings some decent competition as there are a lot of fun things to do in Mackinaw, besides it just being a beautiful area. Mackinaw is right where the two big Michigan peninsulas meet.
Training had been going well, but I crushed myself all the way until Friday so not much rest at all heading into this event. I figured my legs would come right, but even on Saturday I could tell I was underpowered during my shake out ride and run.
I'll admit I had a little extra motivation for this race with Kennedy being there. I want her to always give everything her best effort and even though she doesn't know quite what's going on yet, she'll be able to look back at pictures when she gets older of her at races and see what kind of athlete/person her Dad was and is. Winning in life is sometimes up to uncontrollable things, but effort is something you can always determine and I want that instilled in my children just as my parents instilled that in all my brothers and sisters. It's no mistake the way we've all turned out.
The other thing that has motivated me some as of late is how most people I talk to about triathlon tell me I won't be able to compete at the same level with having children. Sure there will be sacrifices on my end for my family, but that does not mean I can't stay or even elevate the level I'm at right now in triathlon. I won't ever neglect my family to do so, but if I choose to do the sport I will be giving it my best. I think people say those things because that's how it was for them. I don't feel I'm the norm, especially when it comes to pushing my body to the limit in training and racing. I am blessed to have a little talent, but the reason I haven't lost a multisport race since being back in Michigan is because of how hard and smart I train.
Finally, to the race. They cancelled the swim because Lake Huron was quite rough. I guess it depends on where you're from, but it would have been challenging conditions especially for those new to the sport. In VA Beach, most if not all of our ocean front triathlons were in similar conditions if not worse. Most people there grow up living in those waters though so it does make a difference. They decided to replace the swim with a 2 mile run. I would have rather swam, but as soon as they made the announcement I started to come up with a slightly new game plan. When the gun went off, I wanted to test out to see what I was dealing with. From the gun I was off the front, but a couple guys weren't too far behind. First mile was 5:15 and then I toned it back a bit the 2nd mile so I wouldn't be spent and trying to recover the early part of the bike. 2nd mile was 5:25 pace or just under. As soon as I got on the bike the legs felt strong. Getting out of town the first couple of miles was a mess with the race organizers having bikers going out on the same side of the road as runners were coming back from the 2 mile run. There were also a couple of cars to go around. Oh well, there seem to be obstacles at every race so you just deal with them and keep racing. I wanted to have a solid ride, so I kept the pedal down to the halfway point to see where I was at. I was up a minute at that point and b/c of how the first run went I figured that would be enough, but why settle for that? I kept on pushing before letting up the last mile or so to get the legs ready to run. Hopped off and got right into a good pace of about 5:35 for mile one. From there I let the pace slip a bit, but held it under 5:55 pace for the 2nd 2 miles. I was up 2 min. at the turn around and being only a 5k that would have been impossible for anyone to make that up unless they ran a sub 4 min. mile pace the last 1.5 miles and no one in the world can do that off the bike. It was nice being able to cruise it in a bit and say hi to my family who was watching. It has been awesome sharing these races with my parents and siblings, Daniel and Christina. Daniel once again was one of the youngest of not the youngest participant in the 5k run. He loves it and it's a lot of fun seeing him out there.
I was happy with my overall effort yesterday. There was some very solid competitors yesterday as a few guys who normally finish in the top 3 at races around the state were pushed back a few slots with a couple out of state people and then some athletes from the Detroit area...besides a couple of guys from northern Michigan who typically find themselves at the pointy end of the field.
Big shout out to Ryan Hamilton and Matt Stafford, two athletes I coach, for coming up to cheer everyone on. They both rocked Racine 70.3 last weekend so weren't quite ready to jump in another race, but they came up to support friends and that was really nice of them.
That's about it for me as I'm off for an easy run to shake out the gunk in the legs from yesterday. I'll throw up some pictures once Rachel puts them on the computer. Not sure what race is next, but I'll likely do a few more of the Michigan races and then at least one more bigger race this fall. Leaning towards Muskoka 70.3 right now.
Thanks for reading. Train Hard!
I was looking forward to this race as it's one of the nicest ones on the Michigan circuit. It usually brings some decent competition as there are a lot of fun things to do in Mackinaw, besides it just being a beautiful area. Mackinaw is right where the two big Michigan peninsulas meet.
Training had been going well, but I crushed myself all the way until Friday so not much rest at all heading into this event. I figured my legs would come right, but even on Saturday I could tell I was underpowered during my shake out ride and run.
I'll admit I had a little extra motivation for this race with Kennedy being there. I want her to always give everything her best effort and even though she doesn't know quite what's going on yet, she'll be able to look back at pictures when she gets older of her at races and see what kind of athlete/person her Dad was and is. Winning in life is sometimes up to uncontrollable things, but effort is something you can always determine and I want that instilled in my children just as my parents instilled that in all my brothers and sisters. It's no mistake the way we've all turned out.
The other thing that has motivated me some as of late is how most people I talk to about triathlon tell me I won't be able to compete at the same level with having children. Sure there will be sacrifices on my end for my family, but that does not mean I can't stay or even elevate the level I'm at right now in triathlon. I won't ever neglect my family to do so, but if I choose to do the sport I will be giving it my best. I think people say those things because that's how it was for them. I don't feel I'm the norm, especially when it comes to pushing my body to the limit in training and racing. I am blessed to have a little talent, but the reason I haven't lost a multisport race since being back in Michigan is because of how hard and smart I train.
Finally, to the race. They cancelled the swim because Lake Huron was quite rough. I guess it depends on where you're from, but it would have been challenging conditions especially for those new to the sport. In VA Beach, most if not all of our ocean front triathlons were in similar conditions if not worse. Most people there grow up living in those waters though so it does make a difference. They decided to replace the swim with a 2 mile run. I would have rather swam, but as soon as they made the announcement I started to come up with a slightly new game plan. When the gun went off, I wanted to test out to see what I was dealing with. From the gun I was off the front, but a couple guys weren't too far behind. First mile was 5:15 and then I toned it back a bit the 2nd mile so I wouldn't be spent and trying to recover the early part of the bike. 2nd mile was 5:25 pace or just under. As soon as I got on the bike the legs felt strong. Getting out of town the first couple of miles was a mess with the race organizers having bikers going out on the same side of the road as runners were coming back from the 2 mile run. There were also a couple of cars to go around. Oh well, there seem to be obstacles at every race so you just deal with them and keep racing. I wanted to have a solid ride, so I kept the pedal down to the halfway point to see where I was at. I was up a minute at that point and b/c of how the first run went I figured that would be enough, but why settle for that? I kept on pushing before letting up the last mile or so to get the legs ready to run. Hopped off and got right into a good pace of about 5:35 for mile one. From there I let the pace slip a bit, but held it under 5:55 pace for the 2nd 2 miles. I was up 2 min. at the turn around and being only a 5k that would have been impossible for anyone to make that up unless they ran a sub 4 min. mile pace the last 1.5 miles and no one in the world can do that off the bike. It was nice being able to cruise it in a bit and say hi to my family who was watching. It has been awesome sharing these races with my parents and siblings, Daniel and Christina. Daniel once again was one of the youngest of not the youngest participant in the 5k run. He loves it and it's a lot of fun seeing him out there.
I was happy with my overall effort yesterday. There was some very solid competitors yesterday as a few guys who normally finish in the top 3 at races around the state were pushed back a few slots with a couple out of state people and then some athletes from the Detroit area...besides a couple of guys from northern Michigan who typically find themselves at the pointy end of the field.
Big shout out to Ryan Hamilton and Matt Stafford, two athletes I coach, for coming up to cheer everyone on. They both rocked Racine 70.3 last weekend so weren't quite ready to jump in another race, but they came up to support friends and that was really nice of them.
That's about it for me as I'm off for an easy run to shake out the gunk in the legs from yesterday. I'll throw up some pictures once Rachel puts them on the computer. Not sure what race is next, but I'll likely do a few more of the Michigan races and then at least one more bigger race this fall. Leaning towards Muskoka 70.3 right now.
Thanks for reading. Train Hard!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Kennedy Elisabeth Smith
Here she is...the little one we've been anxiously waiting for these past 9 months. Kennedy Elisabeth was born Tuesday night at 10:58PM and was a little 5 lbs. and 18 inches. Words cannot express the experience and it's such a miracle. I don't know how in the world someone could have a baby and not believe in God. She has stolen both of our hearts and we are loving every minute. Thanks so much to all our family and friends who have supported us through this and will continue to do so. If you only knew little Kennedy how much you are already loved...Tuesday, July 5, 2011
East Jordan Tri and Mark Mellon
It's been far too long since I've posted a blog, but I'd been busy with all kinds of stuff since school got out (training, basketball camp, master's class, etc.). I will sit down and write a longer blog soon, but will probably wait until our baby arrives which should be any day now with Rachel's due date being the 9th of July.
I had a rough one at Eagleman. Those conditions (90 and humid) are tough to race in when you live in N. Michigan and train in temps that rarely if ever are above 80. I hate having that as an excuse, but it's there and a big reason why I failed to meet my goals for that race. Life goes on though and I've won races the past two weekends by a good margin. I knew my fitness was high after a great spring of training, but when a race like Eagleman happens the best thing you can do is race again to get your mojo back. It worked and I'm looking forward to another nice training block before I hit some races later in the summer.
This past Saturday was the Mark Mellon triathlon and 5k that my family puts on. We did it last year for the first time and we knew we had some improvements to make and I think we did that for this year's event. We received a ton of compliments and people really enjoyed the event. A lot of work goes into these events, even with only a little over 200 participants. We had a ton of help from all kinds of locals and we are very thankful for that. Our timing and race site set up was done by Runner's Edge Race Timing and they did a fantastic job once again. We had no major hiccups to speak of and they played a big role in that. So many races today don't do enough to make the experience awesome for the athletes and spectators. We tried hard to do both and I think the people who were there on Saturday really enjoyed the atmosphere. It didn't hurt we had almost perfect weather! My brother Mike won the sprint tri and then I won the Olympic race so that was a lot of fun...for the 2nd straight year! My two sisters, Mom, and little brother raced too. Chrissy who is 16 did her first tri and did very well for her first race. She loved it too! Jenny, Daniel, and my Mom did the 5k. It's so cool having your whole family involved in an event like this. Literally my entire family helped in some fashion on Saturday. We're so blessed to say the least.
Priority number one is now Rachel and this baby (not that they won't always be #1) so we'll be doing everything we can to make this birth a good experience. I know Rachel will do great...as will our baby. Rachel is tougher and more positive than most any girl I've met and that baby has a stubborn Dad, especially when it comes to pain and endurance...from what everyone tells us that pretty much sums up the birthing process!
Next time I write I'll have lots of pictures of our new arrival:)
Thanks for stopping by.
I had a rough one at Eagleman. Those conditions (90 and humid) are tough to race in when you live in N. Michigan and train in temps that rarely if ever are above 80. I hate having that as an excuse, but it's there and a big reason why I failed to meet my goals for that race. Life goes on though and I've won races the past two weekends by a good margin. I knew my fitness was high after a great spring of training, but when a race like Eagleman happens the best thing you can do is race again to get your mojo back. It worked and I'm looking forward to another nice training block before I hit some races later in the summer.
This past Saturday was the Mark Mellon triathlon and 5k that my family puts on. We did it last year for the first time and we knew we had some improvements to make and I think we did that for this year's event. We received a ton of compliments and people really enjoyed the event. A lot of work goes into these events, even with only a little over 200 participants. We had a ton of help from all kinds of locals and we are very thankful for that. Our timing and race site set up was done by Runner's Edge Race Timing and they did a fantastic job once again. We had no major hiccups to speak of and they played a big role in that. So many races today don't do enough to make the experience awesome for the athletes and spectators. We tried hard to do both and I think the people who were there on Saturday really enjoyed the atmosphere. It didn't hurt we had almost perfect weather! My brother Mike won the sprint tri and then I won the Olympic race so that was a lot of fun...for the 2nd straight year! My two sisters, Mom, and little brother raced too. Chrissy who is 16 did her first tri and did very well for her first race. She loved it too! Jenny, Daniel, and my Mom did the 5k. It's so cool having your whole family involved in an event like this. Literally my entire family helped in some fashion on Saturday. We're so blessed to say the least.
Priority number one is now Rachel and this baby (not that they won't always be #1) so we'll be doing everything we can to make this birth a good experience. I know Rachel will do great...as will our baby. Rachel is tougher and more positive than most any girl I've met and that baby has a stubborn Dad, especially when it comes to pain and endurance...from what everyone tells us that pretty much sums up the birthing process!
Next time I write I'll have lots of pictures of our new arrival:)
Thanks for stopping by.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Starkermann Duathlon
Little brother Daniel did the Jr. Starkermann. Quite the accomplishment for a 6 yr. old
Rachel, baby, and I
End of the bike
Coming into T1
This blog seems to be harder and harder to keep up, but I'm going try my best to get back on board. I should have more time this summer to get at least one out per week.
I raced the Starkermann Duathlon last weekend and was fortunate to come up with another win. I had some more competition than my first race of the year and even had to run a guy down on the 2nd 5k run. All signs pointed towards my training working very well. I am for sure as fit as I've ever been on the bike and run front. Swim wise things have been a bit different b/c I've done a lot of swimming solo, but the sets I've done in the last couple of months have been very specific to triathlon and the distances I focus on. I think this will pay off, especially as I start to freshen up these last couple of weeks before Eagleman. This past weekend I capped off this build with a 16 mile progressive run with the last 5 miles under 6:20 pace. Nothing special really, but after the week of training I laid down it was a solid workout. I also rode 4.5 hours with lots of time very close to half ironman effort and then a short run off the bike at close to HIM goal pace. There is still a bit of work to do, but it's time to start freshening up. This has been a different build than I've ever done for a 70.3, but it seems to be working great and I'm coming into better shape each week. I am really looking forward to June 12th and absolutely laying it all out there. It's been a while since I've gone completely to the well and I'm excited to have an opportunity to do so. I cannot wait to go toe to toe with some of the best triathletes in the country. Eagleman is always one of the most competitive 70.3s on the circuit b/c it's one of only a few races left where you can qualify for Kona without doing a full ironman.
Newspaper clip from race.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Steelcase Duathlon
Starting run #2
Coming into t1
Little brother and I before the start
Rachel, baby, and IWell, Spring is finally here. I am coming off my best training week of the year so far, but still some work to be done before Eagleman. I am getting close, but still need a few more solid sessions/races. I had a solid weekend of an 8 mile tempo run yesterday and then today was a solid 5 hours on the bike followed by a short t run. It was tough, especially after the sessions I did during the week. I think I am going to be hitting peak form just in time for Eagleman.
School is coming to a quick close. Soon enough our baby will be here and I'll have more time to train...well really, more time to recover (if the baby sleeps well? hopefully?). I probably put in 20 hours this week and won't hit much more than that this summer. Not having to go to work in the summer allows me much more flexibility with my training and my ability to recover goes through the roof! Really hoping to make a nice jump in fitness as the summer goes on, but first Eagleman.
Rachel is feeling good and we're getting really close to having our baby's room all done. It's been a little more work than I think we anticipated, but it's all good.
Next up, another solid week of training and then Starkermann Duathlon this coming weekend. Looking forward to laying down another good effort to help me get to a new level.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, April 18, 2011
TGIS 5k
Not a bad start to the running/multi-sport season. I needed to see where I was at with my running and so I jumped in a local 5k. Not a ton of great competition, but a few guys in the low 17s or so. The race funds all went towards the Gaylord running program so you can't go wrong there. Anything to help keep kids running is worth it's while. Ran a 16:42. I think that's actually a PR, but I don't run too many 5ks. I ran about the same at a duathlon last year. I was pleased with my effort and was pretty close to doing what I thought I would. The weather was cruddy...40 and rain with some wind so not really your ideal running conditions. It'd be nice to really get that down closer to 16 flat by the time summer rolls around, but we'll see. It's more important to keep things improving in all 3 disciplines. Next stop...Starkermann Duathlon in a few weeks. My Dad and little brother Daniel (6) ran too. Both ran well and Daniel just loves it. He very well could be the best athlete out of all of us. That's about it for now...gotta go train. Rachel is feeling good. About 12 weeks until our baby arrives. We can't wait to meet him or her.
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