QC Triathlon Race Report and Results

Saturday was the 15th annual QC Triathlon.  This is an event I have done many times dating all the way back to 2000 when it was my 2nd triathlon ever.  I have come a long ways in the past 14 years...especially with my swimming and biking.  This is the hometown race and one that I was fortunate enough to win in 2012.  Last year I missed the race because I was competing in a duathlon that made up part of the Scheel's Duathlon Series.  I knew this year would be a big challenge.  I was excited for it and believed it was a race I could win but knew it would take my best ever on this course.  I thought I needed to go 1:02:30 to have a chance and it was a time I thought I was capable of.

It was great sleeping in my own bed the night before a race and traveling only 30 minutes to the race site with Super Mom.  Jen was attempting to defend her win here from last year.  We arrived at 5:15 and warmed up the run together.  I was quite relaxed.  After a nice run I got in 5 miles on the bike starting very easy and gradually ramping things up to goal race wattage of around 300.  I expected this race to be tight with locals Cole Bunn and Corey Towle.  Corey and I have trained quite a lot together over the past year.  I knew he would be much improved since his win here last year.  He's gained a lot of strength on the bike over the past year and was already a great swimmer/runner.  Cole Bunn was one that many in the area didn't know about.  I was not one of those.  I had seen results and knew this recent high school graduate was the real deal and had a solid chance of winning.

SWIM: I started in the elite wave with 4 others.  It would be nice to see this wave grow but I still like having all the contenders starting together rather than a time trial start.  It is nice to know where you are in the race and guarantee that the first person across the finish line is the winner.  My plan for the race was to swim relaxed and breath every 3.  This ended up being a terrible mistake.  I did swim relaxed and was on a set of feet for only about 100 yards.  I think it was Corey's.  Corey, Cole, and Sam Lundry swam away from Seth Cunningham and myself.  We swam almost side by side the entire way.  Just before the half way point I could see the other 3 coming back and I counted in my head 10 seconds to the buoy.  I thought I wasn't in bad shape.  That meant I was down 20 seconds.  Not sure if I realized that would mean 40 seconds which is too much over a sprint distance.  I should have increased the effort but I thought staying relaxed I may cut into the deficit.  This was the wrong move.  I ended up coming out of the water and I was getting time checks from others anywhere from 1 minute to 2 minutes.  My spirit was pretty crushed when I heard 2 minutes as I mounted my bike.  I knew Corey and Cole were both too good to spot 2 minutes.  My best chance was now 3rd.  Psychologically it was difficult.  I really believed I had a chance to win and now only 9 minutes into the race the best I could do was 3rd.  I knew I needed to get that out of my head and continue on racing hard in hopes of making the podium.  I've always known that "you cannot win the race in the swim...but you can definitely lose it in the swim."  This was very true for me.  Looking back I wish I had swam as tough as I could to hold onto feet.  I still would have finished 3rd in the race but it may have led to a faster time because I would have had some glimmer of hope getting on the bike not so far behind.  Last week I swam really hard and I was 20 seconds behind Sam Lundry in a 548 yard race (500 meters).  This week I was just over a minute behind in a 600 yard race.  No more swimming relaxed in a sprint.  Lesson learned.  My swim rank was 15th after ranking 5th 2 years ago.  Work to do but still worth the trade off of spending more time at home by not swimming from October to April.

BIKE: Out on the bike I was passed by Seth Cunningham.  I dropped back 7 meters and waited a bit and passed him back.  As I passed him I said it would be to our advantage trading the lead every minute to 90 seconds and riding 7 meters legal distance behind one another.  He was a big help.  We didn't quite alternate every 90 seconds mostly because I did not have the power to match him.  He probably led us 70% of the time.  When I had my turns the pace slowed.  For some reason I couldn't get my power near what it was last Sunday.  I only averaged 256 watts after averaging 277 last Sunday.  It was frustrating.  I had taken the week pretty easy following 2 weekend races last week so I expected my power to be quite high.  At the turnaround I nearly crashed when my back wheel slid trying to taking the 180 turn too fast.  I was lucky to stay up on the bike and continue on despite the scare.  At around mile 10 Seth got away from me for the next 2 miles.  It wasn't until one of the last big hills when I was able to catch back up and take the lead back from him.  I felt bad about not being strong enough to share more of the work with him.  Overall my bike average was 25 mph which was the 2nd fastest split to Cole's blazing 26.1 mph average.  Cole swam and ran about what I expected but I thought the one area I had an advantage was the bike and I could not have been more wrong.  He told me he averaged over 300 watts.  Very impressive.  It was cool to see at the end that the top 3 bike splits were all ridden on Specialized Shivs.

RUN: Immediately out on the run I had company with Seth Cunningham.  I knew 1st and 2nd were locked up.  We would have to fight out the last podium spot on the run after riding the entire way together.  My legs felt great but almost immediately I had a bad pain on my gut when I inhaled.  It has been awhile since I've had this.  The deeper I breathed in the more painful it was.  I did not want to show any signs of distress so I tried to hide it.  It hurt quite a bit until about the half way point in the run.  Then the gut pain subsided and it was also about when I started to realize I was going to get 3rd.  I tried to run for a PR on this course which was 1:04:07 but I missed by 20 seconds.  It was not a very impressive run in 18:12.  It was the 4th fastest of the race.  Last week I came off the bike for 2 miles and comfortably ran 5:28 pace so this was disappointing.  Overall I was not terribly disappointed.  Even a great race probably wouldn't have changed my finish place.  The only thing I would have done differently is swim harder if I could do it over again.  I learned my body was not able to handle the 3rd race in 8 days like I hoped.  For that reason I decided to take next weekend off racing before going out to Atlantic City for an Ironman distance event on June 29th.  I'm very excited for this race.  There are 26 guys entered into the pro field.  I have no pressure for it and have not devoted my training to the Ironman distance.  I will go there to have fun, be competitive, and enjoy the day hoping to gain valuable information from racing Ironman distance with power being my guide on the bike.  The course is as flat as they come for an Ironman.  It was a great sign that I had no soreness the day after the QC Triathlon and was able to put in 3 hours of training.  This is a good sign for the Ironman distance event.  I hope to get a few really quality workouts in with a little more volume than I have been doing over the next 5-6 days and then get rested up for a good effort on the 29th.

Congrats to all who finished the QC Triathlon!  There were a lot of people out there doing their first triathlon and I hope you loved the experience and continue on training for more.  When I think back to where I was in 2008 I've come so far.  That year I was 1 hr. 11 minutes.  I weighed 191 lbs at the time.  This sport has changed my life in so many ways.  Now 6 years later I'm 32 lbs. less than I was when I was in my late 20's.  Many people do the opposite.  I hope the healthy lifestyle that I have gained through training for these events continues for many years to come.  I was really proud of Jen for coming back on the run to win her 2nd QC Triathlon in as many years.  She had been a little frustrated with her swimming and biking lately and both of them really impress me given the little time she spends on either of them.  Complete results from the race with splits can be found by clicking here.  It was awesome seeing so many friends and locals out at the race.  This event is very well run.  I was really excited for one athlete I'm coaching this year, Daniel Westbay who had an outstanding race.  I was felt really sad when I found out another athlete I'm coaching, Jason Rangel broke his foot on his bike dismount.  Jason is preparing for Ironman Wisconsin in September.  I have no doubts he'll persevere and still get to the start line in Madison in 3 months.  HUGE thanks to Phil Pancrazio and Jeremy Ginneberg for sending some great photos from the race.  Below you can see a picture that had a lot of hilarious comments when Jeremy posted it to my facebook page.  You may be able to see why when you look at Seth Cunningham who got off the bike right behind me...That picture and the comments definitely made my day!
I was pleased to earn $100.00 for the iHope Foundation by placing 3rd.  It was quite possibly the toughest earned $100.00 I have made for the foundation.  So far this year my races have earned $900.00 to help provide iPads and scholarships for low-income students in our community who display outstanding character and work traits.  If you'd like to help contribute to the iHope Foundation you can do so by clicking the links on the right side of the page near the top.  One link goes to the iPad fund and the other goes to the scholarship fund of iHope.  I have a lot of pride racing with a jersey that has logos of businesses that contributed $500.00 or more to the iHope Foundation.  I'm still stuck on 13 business sponsorships and am holding out hope of reaching my goal of 15.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!

The Madness Begins...2 race wins!

Saturday morning I began a stretch of 5 races over 23 days.  The first one up was the Holiday Lake sprint triathlon in Brooklyn, Iowa.  This is a really well run event and I did it last year earning $250.00 for the iHope Foundation.  Unfortunately and unbeknownst to me the prize money was cut down to $100.00 for the winner this year.

I arrived in Brooklyn early enough to get in a nice long relaxing warm up.  I ran 2 miles, biked 8 miles with 8x 30 second accelerations within the ride, and then swam about 600 yards.  I swam the out and back course in 7:30 very relaxed and knew the course was more accurate than last year's short swim.  The first wave of the swim was the guys and on the gun it was a little bit chaotic.  I enjoy the longer swims with a more relaxed pace on the start and haven't done a lot of high end work swimming.  I was out near the front the first couple hundred yards and at the turn things started to separate a bit.  I was hoping to get on a good set of feet for the return trip but ended up swimming solo on the way in and I was about 20 seconds back of the leaders.  My swim time was 7:15 when I hit the timing mat out of the water and it was the 6th fastest of the race.  After a race best first transition I was in 3rd out on the road.

BIKE: I was hoping to average near 300 watts for the ride but I have my computer set to include zeros now which means when I'm not pedaling the 0 watts is figured into the average and we had a big downhill out of transition with a sharp turn at the bottom.  This meant my first 1/4 mile or so counted 0 watts and I would be fighting an uphill battle the entire way trying to lift the wattage average.  This was my first race on the new Specialized Shiv that I just picked up from Healthy Habits on Tuesday.  Dan Adams did an amazing job getting my fit very close to my old bike.  I learned a good lesson on this bike course.  I was working so hard trying to lift my wattage average that my heart rate was through the roof.  I could not get my breathing under control for at least the first 5 miles.  I also could not get my wattage nearly as high as I hoped.  I got to about 265 and then hovered there for the remainder of the race.  I need to make sure I'm not getting too lost on the wattage and just racing smart instead.  By going out so hard it made for a pretty lousy first half of the bike ride.  I did not catch and pass the leader until about mile 5 and he stayed with me until about mile 11.  At that point I began to pull away and I realized I was finally comfortable with my breathing.  I pulled into transition with the fastest bike split at 24.7 mph.  I had about a minute lead and knew with a race on Sunday I would be able to run easy on the BRUTAL 5k course.

RUN: I ran pretty easy through the 5k and got a time check at the half way point in which I had increased the lead to 2 minutes.  Although I was running easy this course is impossible not to beat the crap out of the legs.  It is one steep uphill followed by a steep downhill after another.  The downhills are what put a lot of strain on the quads even if trying to run easy.  The only way to not beat the quads would be to walk down the hills and I wasn't going to do that.  My 5k time was nearly 20 minutes which was the 3rd best of the race.  My overall time was 1:06:-6 which was about 3 minutes clear of runner-up Barry Breffle.  I got in a 10 minute swim and some protein immediately after the race so I could start the recovery hoping I wouldn't be terribly sore for the race on Sunday.  After my first race of the year a month ago I was sore for 6 days.  I couldn't afford to have that kind of recovery.  This was my first race in my new Kiwami Amphibian Prima race suit that arrived on Friday just in time.  All iHope "Silver" and "Gold" sponsors earned a spot on the jersey by contributing $500.00 or more to the iHope Foundation.  I couldn't be more excited to represent those companies in my races.  The race brought in $100.00 for the iHope Foundation.  Complete results with splits can be found by clicking here.  After the race I analyzed the bike portion a bit.  I was not very excited with how I rode.  I decided I need to pay less attention to the power number especially in a short race and be excited about how fast I'm going...after all this sport is about speed.  I just don't seem to be able to push high power numbers like a lot of other guys can but I also am not a huge guy and I have a very aero bike position due to my flexibility and that allows me to go fast on lower power numbers.  I'll keep working to increase the numbers because more power will translate to more speed but I thought I let it get me discouraged during the race and that is definitely not a good mindset to be racing with.  I also decided that I would start the bike leg with a goal of getting my heart rate down and getting relaxed easing into it rather than hammering from the go which put me in a rough position for the first half of the ride.

Sunday morning I drove with Jen to Iowa City for the 2nd of 3 duathlons put on as part of the Scheel's Duathlon Series.  I finished 2nd place to Daniel Bretscher at the first one but knew Daniel was racing a huge event at Kansas 70.3 on this day.  My legs had recovered pretty well from the Saturday race and I was excited to be on a flat course.  Both runs were a tad over 2 miles with the 2nd one slightly longer than the first due to finish line placement.  Both runs were very flat and the bike was 20 miles consisting of a double out and back on a 5 mile stretch of road which would total 20 miles.  The bike course was pancake flat.

RUN 1: The first run I took it out rather relaxed.  I've gotten used to the guys at these duathlons going out super hard.  I sat back until about the mile mark when I joined Timothy Doyle in the lead.  At the first race of the series he was only 1 minute behind me and had a faster 2nd run split than I did.  We pushed on together through the first run and came into transition together.  My run pace was 5:19/mile which felt pretty comfortable.  My first run split ranked 2nd just behind Doyle.

BIKE: Out on the bike I had a little trouble getting my shoes strapped tight and I was passed in the first mile.  I wanted to be sure I started off relaxed and slowly increased my effort throughout once I felt comfortable.  I decided I would hit the split button at each 5 mile section and had my Garmin 510 set to read average power for each split.  The first and 3rd sections of the double out and back included a tailwind so sections 2 and 4 would be a headwind.  At mile 5 I hit the split and I averaged 277 watts.  We had a 180 turnaround at that point which I learned sucks the wattage down because there is no pedaling for about 10 seconds so the 0 watts factor in at those points.  We would have 3 of those turns on a double out and back course.  My average speed at the first turn was 27.5 mph.  On the way back into the wind I averaged 280 watts and 24.6 mph.  I got a check on my lead and it was about 50 seconds.  For the 3rd stretch I averaged 284 watts and once again 27.5 mph with the tailwind.  My lead was now about 1:30.  On the 4th stretch I was feeling really comfortable sitting on the end of my saddle.  This is my first week on my new Specialized Shiv and I'm still adjusting to the change in feel from thousands of miles on my old bike.  I dropped my seat a centimeter last week so I could sit back on the middle of the saddle.  What I'm finding when I ride there is that the inside of my legs burn really bad and get tired quickly.  When I'm up on the nose of the saddle I don't have that pain and I feel more powerful.  I think I'll tinker with raising the seat back up a bit.  On the 4th stretch I averaged 268 watts but that included the final turnaround and the winding back into transition in the park where there was no pedaling.  At one point on the return I was at 291 average so without the lack of pedaling at the end I think I would have had my highest output in the last stretch.  My overall bike average as 26.1 mph which was the race best again.  It was a great ride for me.  Last year on the same stretch of road I averaged 25.0 mph in similar conditions.  This year I was 1:45 faster over the 20 miles.

RUN 2: Heading into the 2nd run I knew I had a big enough lead that I could run easy but I wanted to run pretty hard because I know next week at the QC Triathlon I will have to go to the well on the run.  I didn't want that to be the first hard run I've done this year off the bike.  My goal was to average under 5:30 pace.  I came in with the Garmin at 5:28 pace and I even split the 2 miles.  I never felt like I was on the edge but it was a good effort.  The 2nd run was a little longer than the first due to finish line placement so results show 5:37 average mile.  My 2nd run was the fastest of the race by 1 second over Tim Doyle.

Overall I was really excited about this race.  I felt great at the finish.  I definitely rode the bike course smarter than I did not Saturday.  I was excited about the time drop from last year.  I was very pleased with the progress I'm making in running.  I had my body fat % tested this week at Kaminski Pain and Performance Care and over the past 5 weeks I dropped from 26 lbs. of fat to 21.  That is due to avoiding junk food.  It is also helping me run faster.  4 weeks ago I only finished 1 minute ahead of Timothy Doyle.  Yesterday I was 2:15 ahead of him which tells me I made a good month of progress and things are heading in the right direction.  Jen had quite a battle in her race.  She finished 3rd place with the top 3 separated by only 30 seconds.  She was 3 seconds from 2nd place.  She also ran out of her mind on the 2nd run trying to chase them down.  Her run split was the 3rd fastest of the race including the guys and she was only 20 seconds slower than I was!!  I told her it looked like she was flat near the end of the race but I hadn't realized how hard she went out until I saw the splits.  She said she took off on the run like a sprint because she couldn't see the 2 gals ahead of her.  The race brought in $300.00 for the iHope Foundation which made for a great weekend of $400.00 earned going to provide iPads and scholarships for low-income students that display outstanding character and work traits.  If you'd like to made a tax-deductible contribution to the foundation click here.  To date we have provided 7 students with an iPad and a $1,000.00 scholarship.  Thanks!!  Complete race results with splits from the Iowa City Duathlon can be found here.  This next week I will continue the racing craziness with the Quad City Triathlon at West Lake Park on Saturday morning.  The race begins at 7:00.  If you are looking for something to do come on out.  It's an awesome event and it will be a great race!  The guys race should be a VERY close one with 3-4 individuals.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!!

Week 16 Summary...Shift in Training

Week 16 was a great week of training.  It was my last week without a race until July.  Starting Saturday I will race 5 times over a 23 day stretch.  For the week my total training volumes were 150 bike miles, 40 run miles, and 14,000 yards swimming.  I also attended my strength class at Barre563 twice and did jump rope, plyometrics, lunges, and core work.  All of my swims were open water and I feel stronger every time I get in the lake.  3 weeks ago I would have said I was not at all prepared for an Ironman distance swim.  Today I am not only prepared but I think I would swim my fastest split ever minus the one with the current at Beach 2 Battleship.  Thursday I swam 1 hr. 22 minutes straight which included some hard interval swimming during the middle 3,000 yards of the swim.  I was a bit fatigued at the end but nowhere close to running out of gas.

I am 2 weeks into a HUGE training shift for myself.  For most of my first 5 years since getting serious about triathlons I was on a training schedule that included 21 or 22 workouts a week.  I knew if I kept doing this long enough that would have to cut down.  My kids are now 4 and 6 years old and are beginning to get involved in numerous activities including gymnastics, tee ball, basketball, track camp, cheer leading, and wrestling.  I simply don't have the time to work out 22 times a week any longer.  I believe I can get faster even by doing less.  I have begun a plan that has me on 15 workouts a week and so far I really like how I'm feeling.  I am on 4 swims, 4 runs, 5 bike rides, and 2 times strength training each week.  One reason I have not dropped to 15 workouts a week previously is that for me to lose weight and get to a good race weight I needed the extra workouts to offset my caloric intake.  I have gone 22 days in a row without junk and I am still able to drop weight on 15 workouts if I continue eating healthy.  I'm finding that by running and biking less days than I used to my legs are more fresh to hit quality sessions with higher quality.  This week I did hill intervals on the bike Tuesday, did 4x5 minute interval sessions at higher than my lactate threshold (310 watts) on the bike Wednesday, and came back in my long ride Sunday to do 105 minutes of interval work at my goal Ironman wattage (225-230).  In 4 runs I still got 40 miles which is a good rate of miles/day.  I'm recovering better and feeling stronger.  I also have more time.  2 workouts in a day seems much easier and less time consuming than 3 or more that I used to average.  Wednesday night I ran 6 miles at tempo pace and cut down each mile beginning at 6:00 and finishing at 5:35 for my last mile.  Friday I ran a track session of 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 with goal pace of 5:20/mile through all of it.  I ended up averaging 5:17 pace through it all.  I followed it up the next day with a 17 mile run that felt great.

Saturday morning Healthy Habits allowed me to host a transition clinic at the shop.  We had 23 people attend and it went very well.  I love being able to help others in this sport.  Hopefully those who attended were able to pick up something useful.  4 athletes I am working with competed this weekend with 1 running a 1/2 marathon and 3 of them doing sprint triathlons.  I was really proud of all of them.  They have worked very hard and will continue to improve.  This upcoming weekend I'll race a sprint triathlon in Brooklyn, Iowa on Saturday called Holiday Lake.  It is a really well run event.  It is also still open for registration.  Sunday I'll compete alongside Super Mom in the 2nd race of the Scheels Duathlon series.  It is in Iowa City.  I'm hoping for a good recovery after Saturday so I can come back strong Sunday.  One suggestion I make for people to speed recovery is to swim after a hard workout or race.  By swimming you get new blood flowing to the muscles to flush out the contaminated blood which leaves soreness after a hard workout or race.  Swimming is perfect because it is non weight bearing.  I also feel like the water acts as a gentle massage on the muscles which further speeds the recovery.  Right after I'm done racing Saturday I will get back into the lake to swim for 10-15 minutes easy.  Check back next week to see how the races went.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!!

It's about to get real.

Memorial Day marks the month of May coming to a close.  Next up is June and oh boy is June a busy one for me.  This week was the end of 15 weeks since I began training for 2014 back in February.  It was an awesome one.  My streak of "+" marks continues on and I stepped on the scale today for my weekly weigh in and I was down another 3 lbs. to 160.  In the 2 weeks since my initial race that served as a good wake up call I've gone from 167 down to 160.  I have not eaten any junk and that's really all it takes for me although it is easier said that done.  Nearly every day I'm confronted with junk food and being a sugar addict if I give in a little look out!  For the week I biked 214 miles on 5 rides, ran 40 miles in 3 runs, and swam 4 times for 10,600 yards.  Every swim I did was in the lake and I'm still amazed how quickly I become a better swimmer when I'm out there versus the pool.  I also attended my strength class at Barre563 twice.

It's about to get real.  In the month of June I am racing 5 times and none of those are on the first weekend.  I am racing June 7, 8, 14, 22, and 29th.  The 29th was one I just added this week on a whim...just an Ironman distance race out in Atlantic City, NJ.  I'd considered this at one time but thought better in April when I was not rounding into shape to start a big training block I would have liked to get to make this an "A" race.  Now that I'm starting to feel really strong and am committed to these other races I thought why not just go see where I'm at.  I won't focus my training around the race.  It isn't a peak race...but it is one I'm really excited to test myself in.  I did not do a pro race last year.  This race in Atlantic City is put on by a European company that is bringing 3 races to the United States.  It is called "Challenge".  They are HUGE in Europe.  The world record Ironman distance time happened at "Challenge Roth" where if you don't break 8 hours you stand no chance of the podium.  I already signed up for a 1/2 Ironman distance race they are putting on in Ohio in late July.  That will be a race I taper for.

A few nights ago I started looking at Challenge Atlantic City and I got hooked on the idea.  I was lying in bed and the more I thought about it the more excited I got.  I got out of bed and looked at airfare and that made my decision.  I got great airfare out of Chicago and a good price on a rental car.  The course is smoking fast with only 700 feet total elevation gain on the bike and less than 300 feet on the run.  To put that in perspective if I rode to McCausland and back for 30 miles my elevation gain would be over 1200 feet...and that is only 30 miles.  The swim will be in a wetsuit which is something that is a plus for me.  The flat run course is to my strength as I do well when I can get into a rhythm.  My goal will be to place top 10 which is what they pay to and I badly would like to earn an award in a pro race before I'm done racing professionally.  In 2011 I missed by 1 place at Racine 70.3.  Regardless I'll be thrilled if I can break 9 hours which is another goal I'd like to cross off my list of goals.  I feel I can do it with the base of training I have put in despite not having a lot of really long rides or runs.  This weekend I bumped up my long ride to 102 miles on Saturday and then Sunday bumped my long run from 14 to 20.  I actually felt awesome on the run despite it being warm and sunny.  My last 5 miles were my fastest 5.  I won't get many more chances to ride or run long from now until the race.  I plan to race, recover, and repeat through June.  I hope to continue leaning down so I can be mid 150's at the most for the Ironman distance race.  The first 4 races in June are a great opportunity for me to earn some money for the iHope Foundation and I'm still planning to race Ironman Chattanooga in late September when I won't have so many races under my belt.  I'd like to earn $1,000.00 for the iHope Foundation through racing this month.  If you'd like to help with the iHope Foundation you can click here to make a tax deductible contribution.

One last reminder, next Saturday morning at 8:30 AM I will be putting on a free triathlon transition clinic hosted by Healthy Habits.  We've got some great samples of GU Energy to give out to those who attend along with some things to give away through a drawing.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!

Week 14 summary...trying to earn a "+"

Week 14 may have been my best week of training yet this year.  I had good volumes and good workouts.  For the week I biked 171 miles, ran 55 miles, and swam a 2014 high of 9,500 yards.  Today was my first open water swim and although the lake was pretty cold (60-62) degrees it felt really nice after about 5 minutes in my Xterra Vendetta full sleeve suit.  I was a bit scared when I arrived at the lake and saw what I thought was a large log floating in the water.  As I watched it moving rather quickly it suddenly disappeared.  I began to worry this wasn't a log.  About 10 seconds later I saw the "large log" reappear and realized it was some kind of creature.  I almost turned around and left but optimistically convinced myself it would be just as afraid of me churning up water as I would be of it...although I'm not sure that would be the case if I came face to face with whatever was out there.  I have to admit I sighted more than I usually do in this 45 minute open water swim.  The wind was blowing 25 mph giving the lake some nice chop.  I enjoy swimming in that.  It's almost like practicing in my own wave pool and I think it helps when I get to a race where the water isn't calm.

I had some good interval workouts on the bike and even running despite some lingering deep tissue soreness from last week's race.  Saturday I ran a 5k for a workout that Jay Whitmore had told me and my wife about.  He thought there was a chance I could earn $200.00 for the iHope Foundation if I could win and I was able to do that without digging to deep.  I was still able to get my longest ride of the year afterwards hitting the roads of Scott County for 72 miles.  Sunday I ran 14 miles which was my 2nd time at that distance this year.  My legs handled it better than the first time which is a good sign.  I have had a lingering infection that has drained me a bit but mostly keeps me up coughing late at night which has hindered my sleep.  I saw the doctor today for some stuff that will hopefully help me put the infection behind me.

The highlight of the week was not in the workouts.  What made this week the best of the year was being able to put 7 "+" marks in my workout log...one next to each day.  You see, I began keeping track of days I eat 100% clean with no junk food a few years ago by adding a "+" or a "-" in my workout log next to the day.  This year has been a struggle.  My weight is higher because of my lack of discipline with eating right.  I am not someone who is blessed with the ability to eat crap without gaining weight.  The old line about drinking a milk shake and having my butt jiggle for a week is true for me.  I'm also pretty addicted to sugar so there is no such thing as having 1 cookie for me.  It's 0 or it's 7 or more.  No joke.  Same thing with about every other kind of junk food.  My longest streak of "+" marks in my workout log through 13 weeks was 3 days.  I am now on a streak of 9 days and it is showing in my weight.  Last Monday morning my weight was 167 which means that was probably my race weight last weekend.  Today I was 163.8.  Looking back through my workout logs I tend to add about 2 seconds/mile per additional pound of body weight regardless of race distance.  When I weighed 150 two years ago I was doing workouts that put me in shape to run a 5k in 15:40.  My 1/2 marathon that year was 1:13:10 and I weighed 150.  Right now I'd be about 1:18 and that formula holds true with my current weight.  That motivates me because I know I'll be disappointed in my results if I allow my weight to hinder my progress this season.  I'm running out of time so the "now or never" for 2014 is in full swing.  It's much easier when I have a streak going.  Yesterday I was at a graduation party with cake, chips, candy...etc.  I didn't even get the shakes when I turned it down.  I'm looking forward to adding 7 more "+" marks this week and seeing if I can knock a couple more pounds off that weight...2 lbs. would be about 12 more seconds off that 5k time...thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!

1st Race of 2014...Lake MacBride Duathlon

Sunday was my first race of the 2014 season after beginning training 13 weeks ago.  I was excited to test my fitness to see where I was at.  Going into the race I felt like my running was lagging a bit mostly due to my increased weight this year.  Weighing in at 166 on race day was the heaviest I have raced in 4 years.  Biking has gone really well over the last couple weeks.  I was expecting a good ride.  I did not do a single interval workout until 4 weeks ago and I have seen quick increases in my bike power since I began interval training.  The race was near Solon, Iowa and featured a 2.5 mile run, 18 mile bike, and an advertised 5k run that turned into just over 3.5 miles.  It was the first of 3 events making up the Scheels Duathlon Series.

I had my new Zipp Super 9 wheel put on the bike Saturday at Healthy Habits.  I am expecting a new Specialized Shiv hopefully later this month.  Dan Adams at the shop was tremendous in getting my 11 speed wheel set up to work on my 10 speed bike.  Jen was also racing and we left the house at 5:45 AM for the drive to Lake MacBride State Park.  We were a little later than we hoped because we drove to the wrong entrance of the park and it turned out we had to drive 10 miles to get to the correct entrance.

Run 1: On the first run a couple guys went out really fast.  I figured that would be the case because it was that way in every duathlon of the series last year.  I sat back a bit and worked my way up.  At the mile mark I was running in the lead with one other guy.  At the 1/2 way point I was in the lead and was quite surprised by how I was running considering my weight.  I realized that due to gravity I was having a much more difficult time whenever the course went uphill.  We ended the first run up a long hill and I almost gave up the lead.  I knew the biggest challenge would be from fellow Iowa professional Daniel Bretscher.  Daniel is one of the top triathletes in the United States and is someone I have always looked up to.  He's a great athlete and a great person who was always very helpful and supportive when I earned my pro license back in 2010.  He relocated to Iowa from Indiana last year and went on to finish 2nd in 5 professional races including Ironman Wisconsin last September.  My first run was the fastest of the race in a time of 14:08.  I had a quick transition and was out on the bike in the lead.

Bike: I felt very good on the bike early on.  This was my first race ever with power output being measured.  In past years I have trained with power in the hub of my wheel but never had it for races because I raced with a different rear wheel.  This year I bought a Sram Red Quarq Elsa Powertap crankset from Healthy Habits so it won't matter what wheels I'm using...I will always be able to get power readings.  In a sprint I won't pay too much attention to it but can gain valuable data from it after the race to determine if I'm getting stronger, racing tired...etc.  When people asked me in the past what kind of power I raced with my complete guess for a sprint distance was 290 watts.  I held the lead into Solon for about 5 miles and got a glimpse behind me and Daniel was not far back.  I knew he would probably pass me but hoped to be strong enough to stay behind him at 10 meters.  At the half way point he passed me and I was able to stay at 10 meters until we got to some hills.  With each hill the gap would stretch out and by mile 13 I had lost contact.  I would slowly watch the lead grow bigger and bigger giving up a minute over the last 5 miles.  My overall bike average was 24.6 mph and it was 2nd fastest to Daniel's 25.4 mph average.

Run 2: From the beginning of the run I did not feel my turnover was very good.  In the first 1/2 mile there was a pretty nice hill and I felt like I was going SUPER slow up it.  I was getting hamstring twinges and was hoping to keep the cramps from derailing a so far solid race.  Once we got on the downhills on a park trail I felt back into a good rhythm but anything resembling an uphill was not good.  I knew I was running slower than my tempo pace and the run kept feeling longer and longer.  At the only out and back point I thought I had about 45 seconds on 3rd place which was comforting but the last 1/2 of the race would not come soon enough and it ended up being nearly 1/2 mile long which was not something I enjoyed in my current state.  I finished in 2nd place and my 2nd run was the 3rd fastest.  My overall time was 1:19:55 which was a little disappointing because I was on pace to beat my time from last year throughout until the 5k got long.  Not long after I finished I got to watch Jen win the women's race on Mother's Day which was great.  She's worked very hard over the past year getting stronger at QC Cross-Fit and also has spent more time on the bike trainer than she ever has. Her first outdoor ride was the day before the race for 10 miles and she said the crosswinds made her feel very uncomfortable.  I was also SUPER impressed by fellow PV teacher and 9th grade boys basketball coach Drew Croegaert.  I get to ride the bus to some 9th grade games with Drew and enjoy watching him coach but had no idea he was such a good multi-sport athlete.  Drew finished 11th overall.  I've seen him a a couple Barre563 classes and know he's been training hard.  Looking forward to seeing him at more races.  Congrats to all the finishers of the Lake MacBride Duathlon and thanks to Scheels for supporting this event.  Complete results with splits can be found here.

Overall I was pleased with how the race went.  I thought my first run was better than expected, the first half of my bike ride was solid, and then things started to go downhill.  I thought I tired on the bike sooner than I would have liked.  This was probably due to the increased effort I put out once I was passed by Daniel.  I think when he passed me my average watts was 279 and by the end I was at 292.  I thought my 2nd run was pretty poor.  I definitely have a long way to go but it's only May and I think I'm ahead of where I was a year ago despite weighing 5 lbs. more.  I earned $200.00 for the iHope Foundation through the race which is always exciting for me when I can use my talents to help with this cause.  Last week we awarded 2 students with iPads and each a $1,000.00 scholarship upon graduation in 4 years.  If you'd like to help make the next one happen please click here.  We would never have been able to give 2 more iPads and scholarships this year without the recent support of so many.  THANKS!!

This past week we received iHope business sponsorships from Crawford Company and from Russell Construction.  Crawford Company joins on as a Bronze level sponsor.  I was thrilled to add them to the helmet for the season.  Russell Construction becomes the 2nd Gold Level sponsor and I will be adding their logo to my race jersey.  I am sending those logos this week to Kiwami to have my jersey made for the rest of the season.  We are up to 12 iHope business sponsorships.  My goal was 15 so I'll be working hard to find 3 more businesses that want to support this foundation.

Crawford Company specializes in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, laser cutting, specialty welded fabrication, brewing equipment, and custom architectural products. Crawford products and services are found within commercial, industrial, and residential markets. Crawford's foundation was built in the residential heating and cooling market. Over time Crawford moved into the commercial heating and cooling market and into specialty fabrication.  

Russell Construction provides pre-project services including planning and project management services, real-estate development and property management.  As a long term solutions provider, Russell predictably delivers cost effective construction services.  Having completed more than $1 billion in projects in educational, healthcare, manufacturing, and federal government markets across 29 states, Russell remains a market leader in its core construction markets.  The firm has been recognized by Engineering News Record Magazine and Inc. Magazines's INC 500 listing of America's fastest growing companies.  Employees at Russell Construction give back an incredible amount to our community.  Over the past 15 years they have contributed over 1 million dollars to non-profit and community agencies.  Read about those here.  Russell Construction was also influential in creating a non-profit foundation called Live Uncommon that aims to encourage health, fitness, family-values, and giving back to the community.  Live Uncommon supports races that are non-profit making lasting impacts on the organizations behind the races.  My wife Jen and I are proud to be part of Live Uncommon.  

Week 12...what a week!

As I think about the most exciting weeks I've had in the sport of triathlon including earning my pro license in 2009 by winning the Longhorn 70.3 amateur race, a 6th place finish at Racine 70.3 in 2011, Ironman Arizona in 2011, and winning Beach 2 Battleship full Ironman distance last fall...this past week falls right into that category...and I didn't even race.  It had nothing to do with the 47 miles running, 140 miles biking, or 2,400 yards swimming.  I was pretty excited about a 5x3 minute bike interval workout I did this week averaging 340 watts on the hard periods after hitting 298, 305, and 307 earlier in the month.  I was surprised by the big jump in power although I could tell I had really good legs when I began the workout.  The thing that made this week so exciting was the record-setting week of iHope Foundation contributions.  I met this week with the iHope Foundation board and we are going to be able to award 2 more iPads and $1,000.00 scholarships this week!  We are up to 10 iHope business sponsorships thanks to the following businesses helping with the foundation this past week.

Wallaces Garden Center located in Bettendorf and Davenport is a Platinum level supporter

Green Buick GMC located in Davenport, IA is a Platinum level supporter for the 2nd year in a row!

Online Freight Services is a Bronze level supporter and a 2 year supporter of the iHope Foundation

Tri-City Blacktop is a 1st year iHope Foundation supporter with a Silver level support so I'm thrilled to have them on my jersey in 2014!

UnityPoint Clinic surgeon Dr. Andrew Stevenson is a 2nd year iHope supporter and very thankful to have Silver level support!

First Central State Bank located in Eldridge, DeWitt, Le Claire, and Long Grove is a 2 year iHope Bronze level supporter!

Schebler Co. is a 2 year iHope supporter and I am thrilled to add them to my race jersey as a Silver level supporter!

I have included more on these businesses under the iHope business sponsorship page.  I am grateful for their support of this foundation as well as proud and excited to represent them this year while I race!  I will be sending the jersey off to be created in the Kiwami Triathlon lab in 1 week.  Silver and Gold level sponsorship will include business logo on the 2014 jersey.  I have had business sticker logos made for bronze level sponsorships and up.  I hope to fill the helmet up this year and have room on the disc wheel.  Also, outside of businesses we had very generous support from Nick and Jessica Ludwig (2 years in a row!) and Creston Fenn this week.  Thank you all so much for the support of this foundation.  I cannot express how excited I am about the great things we are able to do through this foundation.  With 10 business sponsorships we are not just 5 away from the goal I set out to hit this year for the iHope Foundation regarding business sponsorships.  My own goal is to earn $2,000.00 for the foundation through racing.  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribtuion you can click here 

This upcoming weekend I will begin my season with the first of three races that make up the Scheels Duathlon series.  Jen is also racing the series this year so it excites me that we will be able to race together.  Fitness-wise I'm where I would have hoped going into the first race although I had hoped to be a few pounds lighter.  I'm working hard to reach that goal by June when I will race 4 times in 16 days. I'd also like to announce I'll be putting on a free triathlon transition clinic again this year hosted by Healthy Habits on the morning of May 31st.  I just confirmed this today and we have not set a time yet but I would expect around 8:00 AM with a bike ride to follow for anyone interested.  The clinic will focus on transitions but will also include tips and experiences I can share.  Last year we had 37 brave people in attendance...I say brave because it rained the entire time and we did not have a big enough tent to keep everyone dry.  There will be GU Energy products for all who attend as well as some door prizes to be given away.  I'll have more details and nail down a time in the coming weeks.  Thanks for reading.  Check back next week to see how the 2014 race debut went.  Last year I raced the 2.5 mile run, 18 mile bike, and 5k run in 1:18:26.  My goal is to be 2 minutes faster this year.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!!