Making the Jump. A beginners tale of preparation, panic and accomplishment

No parachute! Sometimes that is how it feels to jump out the comfort of our predictable planes into the newness of the expansive sky. A change of course, a big adventure, a challenging commitment can disarm the most protected individuals. And so it goes with Chris Odekirk, one of SLRC's fine employees. Last year was his first dive into a whole new sport. Thankfully, he landed on his feet and really did live to tell about it.

Making the Jump. A Beginners tale of preparation, panic and accomplishment.

By Chris Odekirk

It was a balmy 120 degrees outside and I was getting ready to go for a run, when I received an email from my brother-in-law. I knew that he was big into triathlons, and the thought had crossed my mind, that I would like to do them as well. The only problem was that he was emailing me to convince me to do the new Ironman in St George. Not only was I not willing to commit to something of that scale, I was also half way through a deployment to the Middle East. Needless to say there were no places for me to swim or bike. The only thing that I did have going for me was that I had been a distance runner my whole life. After reading my brother-in-laws email, I decided that I was going to sign up for a triathlon that would take place several months after I returned home. My first race would be an Olympic distance at the Stansburry Triathlon…or so I thought. Six months had passed, and I was on my way home. Luckily, I was able to get my legs in decent cycling shape by finding some spin bikes on our post and I was able to log plenty of miles on the road (or treadmill, when the sandstorms would hit.) Now all I had to do was work on the swim.

As soon as I got home I went to the local pool, bought a membership and recruited a friend, who had been a competitive swimmer, to give me some swim lessons. Everything was coming together perfectly. I remember my first swim lesson like it was yesterday. My swim coaches first set of instructions was to swim an easy 200 yards to warm up. 200 yards? How hard could that be? I run 50 plus miles a week, I can swim 200 yards. With this unfounded confidence, I jumped in the water and set off to swim my “easy” 200 yard warm-up. I made it 50 yards (down and back in a 25 yard pool) before I started to flail in the water and grabbed the side of the pool. My friend laughed at me and said “You have a lot of work to do if you want to swim 1500 meters.” Later that night I emailed the race director and asked if I could change from the Olympic distance to the Sprint. My pride was shot and so was my goal of someday competing in an Ironman with my brother-in-law.

Thanks to the race director, I was able to switch distances and with a little help from my triathlon instructor at the University of Utah, I was feeling more confident in the water. Although I was feeling more confident, I had yet to swim the 750 meter distance without stopping. My coach assured me and told me that I would be just fine. I didn’t believe her.

Race day finally came, I had my wet suit, which I had yet to swim in (just one of many mistakes in my triathlon prep), and I was as ready as I was ever going to be. With all of the male competitors for the Sprint in the water, my nerves were on edge and the only thing I could think about was getting out of this water. The gun went off and it was “do or die” time, and hopefully there would be non of the latter. I was feeling great! For the first 100 meters, after that it all went downhill and a few minutes later I completely stopped swimming looked around for something to grab on to and was ready to call the whole thing off. I had been kicked, slapped and I am fairly certain that I swallowed half of the water in that lake. Nothing was going right, my form went out the window and my breathing pattern was all over the place. In that moment of doubt I saw a fellow competitor swim past me doing the breast stroke with a smile on his face. At that moment, nothing could have infuriated me more, and that was what I needed. I dropped my head back in the water, focused on my form and drug myself to the water exit. With a strong bike and run I actually did a lot better than I anticipated, but I still was not where I wanted to be. I knew that I wanted to compete on the Olympic level and someday the Ironman.

With my first triathlon under my belt I was ready to set a date for my first Olympic distance. I knew where I had gone wrong with my prep (or lack thereof) for the Sprint, and I was not going to let that happen with the Olympic. I focused on my swim, logged some serious rides on my bike and pounded myself into oblivion on the road and track. I had received some great advice from BJ and Guy, and Debbie helped me forge my legs for the run while I was in high school, so in my opinion I was ready to go.

Race day had finally arrived and I was ready this time, really ready. The gun went off and the good swimmers flew by me, but that was okay. I was going to swim my own race. I kept referring to something that I had heard from TJ Tollakson, “99 percent of life boils down to this one principal, DON’T PANIC!” With those wise words, and taking it one stroke at a time I was able to feel comfortable in the water and maintain a pace that I was fairly happy with. Aside from losing sight of the buoys on several occasions in the sun, I was happy with my performance. The bike went amazingly well, I was on schedule with my nutrition and hydration and I was just about to start my favorite event, the run. The heat had continued to climb throughout the day and by the time we got to the run; it was much hotter than I had anticipated. Thankfully, I was feeling fine and taking water as needed. Not wanting to get behind on my water intake, I forced myself to stop, yes stop, at all the water stops to take in water. I don’t care who you are, it is not easy to drink a cup of water while you are running. Even with those water stops, I posted a time in the 10K that I was very happy with. All-in-all, it was a great race. Thanks to proper preparation, advice and a lack of water in my lungs I was able to cross the finish line with a smile on my face.

Even though, I just briefly touched on the fact that I sought advice from experienced triathletes, I cannot stress the positive impact their advice had on my race enough. Simply asking someone what I should expect in the swim would have saved me a lot of strife during my first triathlon. Ask questions about anything and everything. If there is one thing that triathletes like more than the triathlon its self (and that includes their beloved bikes) it is talking about triathlon. Asking questions about what to expect, proper nutrition, hydration, equipment, etc will only help fill in any gaps you may have in your training regiment and not to mention the peace of mind that comes after picking an experienced triathletes brain for a few minutes.

Making the jump from Sprint to Olympic was not easy, it required a lot more time and a lot more focus, but it was totally worth it. Tune in next time to read about either my successful jump from the Olympic distance to the ½ Ironman or my obituary. Either way, it will be good reading.

Off Season Training Stage 1- R&R

It has been quite a long year by September for most folks. You may or may not have done a lot of races or events, but usually most people have dedicatedly stuck to some sort of structured program since last Nov, Dec or Jan. Time for a break! Back away from the Garmin, put up your feet and don’t even think about working out hard…or long…or tomorrow…or often. Seriously, there has to be a time every year where you give your body, mind and spirit a vacation.

It would be nice if we could all lie on a Hawaiian beach for a month, but most of us have to find a way to put our bodies through a staycation of sorts. Yes, life goes on, work still happens and the kids are always hungry, but allowing your body to recover, repair and restore is not just important, but VITAL to a life long pursuit of sport.

What needs to happen in this phase of training? And yes IT IS TRAINING! You can’t make a tired and broken body go very fast. So putting fuel back in the mental and physical tank is the priority. And this process is a little different for everyone. But here are some things to consider:

• Let go of structured workouts and schedules

• Do only what you feel like and NEVER force a workout at this point

• Slow down—go for a hike instead of a run. Preferably alone, with friends or family you don’t normally “workout” with because you are “in training.” This applies to biking too.

• Stretch--do yoga or stretch for 30 minutes as a days workout and then take a hot shower

• Do only light core work if you INSIST on strength training.

• Add an extra rest day or two. Stretching is not a rest day. Doing nothing is.

• Don’t get into a pool to swim laps if it brings tears or the thought of “I would rather pour acid into my eyes”

• Never train hard enough to need Endurox or any other recovery product……Okay, maybe just once a week for those of you who just have to do SOMETHING.

• Do something around the house you don’t normally have time for because it just feels good to finally git’ er done without being worried about how it effects tomorrows workout.

How do you mentally recover? Mentally “let it go.” Just let your mind take the vacation too. Stop thinking about workouts, schedules, races, goals and whatever else clutters it up at this point. Turn it off and think about something more important like how the morning light trickles down through the trees during your hike or how fresh the early fall wind feels on your skin as you run and ride easy. Yoga is really good too at training your mind to feel the subtleties that most people want to ignore. And don’t ignore the unstructured silence you may encounter. It is said that in the silence you discover your own shallowness, but it is there you discover your own strengths too. And if you are uncomfortable admitting to such transcendental thoughts, then just don’t tell anyone! But think them…no.matter.what!

How long will it take? Usually at least 3 weeks, but sometimes up to 6 or 8 if you have put your body through a tremendously high volume or intensity over the last 10-12 months. This could be the result of training for multiple ironmans, half ironmans and marathons (which I don’t recommend.) OR maybe you are very competitive in the shorter events and have invested A LOT of time to train hard and race even harder. Whatever the case, if you have put your body and mind through the ringer, have regularly trained over 12 hours a week, trained very hard, raced hard more than 6 times, or done too many long events, then you may need more than 3 weeks. Even if you have just done your first marathon or first year of structured training, but it challenged you more than anything ever has, then take it one week at a time!

When is your body, mind and spirit ready to go again? Physically, you are ache free, loose, flexible, feeling light in the legs and rested overall. Mentally, you have your excitement back! You definitely can wrap your brain around your next adventure and are more than ready to get back into a routine of some kind. Spiritually, you feel renewed, more calm and directed.

This is one of the most fun points in the year when you do it right. When you have properly rested and recovered for long enough, this is when you find the love in what you do again. This is when you can breathe deep and feel no weight on your shoulders. This is also when you are ready to look ahead with eyes wide open ready to chase and catch the next, even higher state of becoming at true athlete. What is a “true athlete?” Well, that is something that is available to anyone at any level. It is worth you pondering about and a discussion we will have another time!

TJ Tollakson--It all comes down to the run

Last month, we were lucky enough to have TJ Tollakson come and give some great information during the Jordanelle Triathlon packet pickup. TJ is a pro triathlete (here is his blog about SLC) who worked his way up from an engineer racing the age group scene up to Ironman 70.3 pro champion and a full Ironman force to be reckoned with. It was fun and interesting to hear his story. And I think that TJ’s background is a good example of how important it is to know your limitations and then commit to making that limitation a strength. He rose to the top ranks of age group elite using, oftentimes, the fastest bike split of the day. But, when considering taking the next step into the pro ranks, it became obvious that TJ would indeed have to focus on improving his run leg.

After being swept up into the USA Triathlon Olympic training center in 2005, TJ started learning from the best coaches and athletes in the world how to train effectively for the run (and everything else!) That trend continues today as he has moved into the world of the longer races and is always training with and learning from other world class professional triathletes and coaches.

It was great to hear what TJ had to say on not only run training, but several training topics. Here is the 30 minute podcast from that evening where he gave easily applicable ideas for all in attendance. His talk was followed by some fabulous Q and A. The presentation generated information on the following topics :

• Run training tips-which workouts are important
• Run workout examples
• The difference between an open marathon and ironman marathon
• Bike/run (BRICK) workouts for olympic distance, 70.3 ironman and full ironman tri’s
• Practical beginner triathlete tips
• Long race nutrition tips

Oh and one last thing. We want to give a big thanks to not only TJ and his equally talented, although more beautiful, girlfriend Ashley for coming, but to Ryan Dolan from TYR swim company for arranging TJ’s special trip.

PODCAST-- download or stream

BJ's Ironman-A new PR at Ironman Couer D'Alene

So here is BJ Christenson's Ironman Couer D'Alene race report. At Salt Lake Running Co we are very happy for our Draper Sales Floor manager in not only running a fantastic race, but grabbing another slot for Ironman Hawaii. Like other elite athletes, BJ has endured many dedicated hours over many years to run races like this one. Yes, he has earned his way to Kona before, but we look forward to BJ's next attempt this coming October to put together more pieces of his personal pursuit puzzle. And Ironman Couer D'Alene has definitely given him yet one more experience and hopefully a few more key pieces to slide gracefully into place.

I guess using the term PR in an Ironman or any triathlon for that matter is not exactly the correct term. Every course is different and some are prone to helping you get to the finish line faster. Ironman CDA, as most people call it, is not exactly a course designed for going super fast. Racing an Ironman however isn’t really about speed. First and foremost it is about getting to the finish line and celebrating that achievement with those who helped you get there. That being said, it is especially special when you get to that line with a good race in your hand and a Kona Slot in your pocket.

Lake Couer D'Alene is one of the most scenic and beautiful lakes in the Northwest. At 7 AM June 21, on the shores of the city beach the lake turned white with mankind’s impression of spawning salmon. Let’s face it with 500+ dollars on the line I would hope you did your homework. I felt ready for the swim but it was one of the more difficult swims I have done. I like to call the swim in an Ironman as the Warm-up, but the lake didn’t seem to like it because the more we swam forward the more it felt like the lake was trying to through us back out. I felt ready for the swim but it was one of the more difficult swims I have done. It was a very rough swim out there and very difficult to find a line and hold it. One thing is for certain, after swimming in that I don’t think they will cancel the swim in St. George next year no matter how hard it gets.

Leaving the swim is a mass of noise. With a rough swim like it was this year, it made for a little bit of disorientation. Once I was free and clear of my wetsuit, I headed to the changing tent and found it a little more crowded than usual. I quickly put my cycling gear on and I was out the door to my surprise before most of the people who beat me there. I grabbed my bike and hit the road. Just like the beauty of the lake, the bike ride in CDA is breathtaking, in more ways than one. I always make a mental note of the people who pass me on the bike and focus on limiting my losses before the run. The bike course is full of hills as you make your way around Hayden Lake and the surrounding area. I had to really stay focused to keep my mind on task. By mile 91, I was starting to wish the bike was over not that I was totally hating it I just didn’t have a lot of miles on my legs and my lack of cycling was starting to show. On the plus side the clouds had moved in and the temperature was staying cool yet comfortable.

In my past Ironman’s cramping has been a big concern. So one thing I tried this time that I like to call the winning combo is the combination of Salt Stick salt tabs with Sports Legs--another supplement I have found to be very beneficial. I had no cramping the entire day so I guess it worked.

Finally I was able to get off my bike and start focusing on the people who passed me. There are many ways of tracking your progress on the bike and on the run and a lot of people are obsessed with pace and speed but for me it is all about the heart rate. It is the one number I look at and in reality the only one that matters. As I left transition I found a comfortable pace and checked my HR as long as I am below 160 bpm I can sustain the pace. I took a look at my competitors at the first turn around and realized I would have to be patient and not get down on myself if I was going to catch them. Little by little they started to come back and I kept my pace consistent. By mile 15 I had almost caught everyone who passed me on the bike. The run was a 2 loop run so by the second loop it started to get more difficult to spot who is in front because we start mixing with other athletes on their first loop. I started to feel myself fade as I reached the final turnaround and started to think to myself why I thought this would be fun. I kept moving in and out of mental focus as I made my way to the finish. My wife Chrystel was on the course at various points always snapping me back into the world of reality and the task at hand. Finally I had reached the juncture in the run course where you start to envision how good it will feel to be done.

Making the turn down Sherman Ave you have one long stretch down hill until you cross the finish line. It is there that you get to hear the most famous words in Ironman escape the lips of Mike Reilly, "You are an Ironman!" I had a great day and was happy to have Chrystel there at the finish line. Completing an Ironman usually takes a team of people to help you get ready. Without the help and encouragement of my wife, I am certain it would not have been possible for me to have the day I did.

My thanks go out to the volunteers who volunteered that day and to the support of my friends and family. My goal going into CDA was to qualify for Kona and that I did. I also learned a little bit more about myself and what it takes to improve in Kona. Congratulations to everyone who made it to the finish line that day and in the words of John Collins, brag for the rest of your life.

4 X 1 mile repeats-bread and butta baby

One of the biggest mistakes most runners and triathletes make is that they don’t do much in the way of speedwork. I admit that it really is fun to go out with a friend for a 60-90min run and chat. And there is even a place in appropriate training for that. However, if you are trying to get faster and/or would like to stimulate your metabolism a little more, then here is a great workout to help mix things up without being too overwhelmed. And this kind of workout is very different from the shorter speed intervals that I have put out there before.

WHAT: 4 X 1 MILE REPEATS WITH 60-90 SECONDS REST--Well, that is pretty straight forward and simple to understand isn’t it?

WHERE: This can be done as 4 laps on a track or take out on the road if you have a very accurately measured coarse. At our house, we actually have a meter wheel (yes, we are THAT nerdy) and we have measured this kind of thing. Technically, a mile is 1609 meters, but in order to match the track version we just go with 1600 meters so we can compare times.

WHY: This workout is a great way to do some lactate threshold training. That means that you are teaching your body how to run faster before being overcome by lactic acid. Now, lactic acid is a byproduct of your body burning glycogen for fuel (and this is what you burn as you go FASTER than conversation pace,70% of Max Heart Rate, all the way up to running almost anaerobically which is as short and fast as 800 meters.) The lactic acid produced by the body actually gets constantly reabsorbed and also used as fuel. Cool huh? Well the problem comes when you go fast enough, you create more lactic acid than your body can use and reabsorb, so it starts building up and lowering the alkalinity of your muscle. Your muscle becomes acidic enough that it loses electrical impulses and becomes tough to fire and contract at full strength. Mile repeats help your body begin to adapt to higher lactate levels, become more efficient at reabsorbing lactate and eventually run a faster pace at that higher lactate threshold level before becoming overloaded and shutting down.

WHEN: This mile repeat workout can be done once a week with every 4th week or so either doing only 2 or just resting. Give yourself at least a day of rest before and after before attempting another type of hard day or long run.

HOW: Well, just remember that you have to do 4 of these and you want them AS EVEN AS POSSIBLE! So if you run the first mile in 8:05, then all the other miles should be within 5 seconds one way or another. If you have never done these before then pretend you actually have to do 5 or 6 and that will help you not go to fast on the first one or two. Even when you finish the 4th one, you should be able to run a 5th one IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAD TO! However, if you are totally wiped out, then you did them too hard. You need to save that kind of effort for a race. And you need to be able to wrap your brain around doing this kind of workout each week. So start easy and build confidence by getting faster instead of blowing up.

WHAT YOU LEARN: You learn two big concepts by doing this kind of workout:

• First you start learning how to be mentally focused and tough enough to do this kind of work. That will transfer over beautifully to a race since it will develop the many of the mental skills needed to run faster.


• Second you learn what you can run a 5k or a 10k at! The average pace you run for each mile is pretty much what you should be able to string together for a 5k. So if you run an 8:00min/mile average, then that is the pace you should be able to race a 5K IF YOU ARE MENTALLY FOCUSED. It won’t come easy, but it can be done. Also, if you add about 15 seconds per mile (maybe a hair more or less,) then you have the potential of running a 10K at about 8:15 per mile.

So if you are ready to try something new, then give this a go!

Ice Baths--Recovery on the Rocks

One of the best ways to be able to help your body handle a regular routine of intense and/or high mileage workouts is to plunge feet first into the recovery ritual of ice baths. What does such a bone chilling experience have to offer? The benefits lie mostly in the reduction of post workout inflammation and muscle soreness. Many endurance athletes come back from those harder days feeling much more refreshed the next day if they implement this cheap and easy post workout therapy. In fact this is one of the secrets that elite/pro athletes consider to be a necessary part of training and racing. So, how do you properly bath in ice and survive?

How do draw up an ice bath? Ice baths begin with filling the tub with cool water that you can still handle getting into. While it fills, go grab a bag of ice and your recovery drink! Then, throw on a long sleeve shirt, keep your shorts on and jump into the cool water. It will take a minute or two to get used to the cold water at which point you can dump the bag of ice into the water. You will need to sit in the tub for about 10-15 minutes depending on how cold it actually is. The colder the temperature, the less time you need. So, if you only want to spend 5 minutes in the tub, then drop the temp to the lowest safe temperature of 45 degrees F. Otherwise, keeping it at 50-60 will work just fine if you sit for the longer time. And really, sitting longer is not that big of a deal because once you get numb it is a lot more bearable. Just grab a magazine and read for a little bit.

What do you do if you don’t get home from your workout for a while? Don’t stress, the ice bath will still work. Also, if you finish your long run, trail run, hard bike ride or whatever near a cool body of water or river, then dunk your legs right then and there before going home. The sooner the better… for sure.

How often should you use ice baths? If you have time, then you would jump in after any hard or long day. It is okay to use cold therapy often and regularly. At the very least, take an ice bath after those few key hard and long workouts that you have maybe never done before and are really trashed after.

When should you take a hot shower after the ice bath? Following cold with hot is a very common therapy practice. Right after is okay, but waiting 30 minutes is better. Whenever you get in, you can spend a couple minutes doing some light stretching to help restore flexibility to the muscle tissue.

Hawaii 70.3--a comedy of errors

A Half Ironman is a really long way no matter how you look at it. So why not spend that time wisely and pass the miles along the Kohala Coast of the Big Island? Well, Hawaii 70.3 is most certainly that salt and pepper, sugar and spice kind of course. Hard, but beautiful. A hot and hard run tempered first with a cool and calm swim. And the bike? Thank goodness that whatever goes up must come down! So after two and a half years of hardly no racing, I decided to give it a go. Not just a little, but a lot. My journey towards getting back into race shape started Oct 1st with the ultimate goal of grasping one of those rare Hawaiian Ironman World Championship slots given to only 1 or 2 in each age group. Going into it, I knew that the capability and training I had was enough. I was nervous, but excited to finally race hard. And when that day finally came on Saturday, May 30th, I pulled out all the preparation and laid out a race that went well in many ways. But, in a 1300 person race where there is a high percentage of other competitive athletes, mistakes cannot be made if you are trying to lay claim on the much sought after prize of a ticket to come back for the full Ironman.

THE 97% THAT WENT RIGHT!

So much of what goes right in a race is done well before you get there so most of this list comes from preparing properly. But that is the point! If you do your homework, there are not many surprises come test day.

· Strength—I spent two good 45-60 minute sessions in the weight room each week from Oct 1st until about mid-March. From then on I did maintence core work and let the strength work come mostly from sport specific workouts. I also sought after outside help as I had never had anyone teach me the right way to squat, deadlift and clean. So, thanks to Joel Hatch at BASICS, I learned more than I ever wanted to know and lifted, at times, more than I ever would have wanted to lift. Big thanks to Joel for pushing me to tears when I really needed it and letting me rest when I needed it more. Oh and for all the fun functional exercises too! Me luvs them kettlebells.

· Speed and Power—the anabolic focus of a majority of my workouts paid really big dividends on race day. I felt strong and much more capable of handle a tough course and a tough environment. It was a beautiful feeling to not be intimidated by the hills on the bike and then be able to have the strength and speed to actually run after coming off said hillfest.

· Endurance—I will never forget what Ironman 70.3 world champion Samantha McGlone said about volume for a Half Ironman. Do one longer 4-5 hour swim/bike/run workout a week and then stay shorter and faster on the rest. DONE! I did 4-5 of those longer workout to adapt my body to the full distance. It worked. I felt mentally, physically and emotionally capable of being in the game for that long since that is what I had practiced.

· Massage therapy—I have gone to Nate Graven, the best sports massage guy ever, twice a month for over 5 years now. I consider it required, especially when I decide to combine all the above training elements. Solid training requires an even more solid sports massage therapist. Nate has helped keep me injury free for a really long time as well as gotten my body ready to be worked at full capacity come race day. And believe me, my body tried really hard this year to fall apart, but Nate just wouldn’t let it happen!

· Taper—Resting during the weeks before the race almost killed me. My least favorite part of training for sure, but vital. I felt totally ready to go when the gun went off.

· Nutrition—Perfect! One of the big purposes of those longer workouts, was to dial in my nutritional requirements. I DOUBLED my carb intake to 100 grams of carbs an hour, made sure I had some protein and amino acids(endurox and gu packs,) figured out how much fluid I would really need and went heavy on electrolytes. I was at about 400-500 mg of sodium (and other minerals) an hour. Once I knew, I just made sure to DO IT on race day. I felt as energetic as I probably could have throughout the race, peed in T2(in a porta potty this time…don’t ask me to clarify that) and had NO CRAMPS. Rockin!

· Attitude—Eventhough there were mistakes, I was happy to be there and truly wanted to do the best I could. When the going got rough I would just tune EVERYTHING out and remind myself to race like a warrior. No complaining, just racing. And with that, I made my mind as quiet as possible and let my body do what I had trained it to do.

THE 3% THAT DIDN’T GO SO WELL

The only comfort I have from the following three items is that they are all easily fixable. But, they are things I want to kick myself over because “I know better.” They are a great example of what kind of dumb things a person can do when their race brain is not fully turned on. And even though I still placed in my age group anyway, I was irritated enough after the awards ceremony to want to throw my special Hawaiian wood bowl into THE OCEAN!

· Swim start—simply stated, I did not go out fast enough. With 1300 people going at the same time I put way too much thought into where I thought I was and what effort I was giving the first 500 meters rather than just swimming as hard as I can! I got caught in the log jam next to a couple hundred swimmers that were not as fast as I was. I could not go around them by this point, so I was stuck swimming much slower than I should have by about 2-3 minutes. So, next time, I will do what I normally do in a race. Swim very hard for 400-500 meters, don’t think, you will recover!

· Bike leg—my long rides paid off, but I lost focus after the turn around a Hawi. I didn’t realize either how hard I will still have to work coming back. So it is better, to assume nothing, work everything and trust that the bike legs can take it. I know that they can because I have pushed it before and survived. And staying focused comes more easily after a race or two under the belt as well as the right race attitude.

· T2—So one of the race volunteers told Guy that the race staff would take everyone’s bike so we didn’t have to rack them ourselves. Wrongo! I did have to rack my own bike! The problem was that T2 was different than T1 so I had NO. IDEA. where my bike was supposed to go. I had the distinct priviledge of being misdirected in transition and running the full length of T2 before being directed back to the entrance where LOW AND BEHOLD, my bike rack was located only 4 slots in from said entrance! Yep, ran right by it! Totally my fault too, not the volunteers. I should have looked at T2 the night before like I usually do. I would have figured out more of what was going on on my own and at the very least, seen where my bike number was. So what was I thinking about the night before the race? Apparently, not T2! It cost me a little less than 2 minutes.

So how far was I from a slot to Kona after 5 hours of racing? 3 minutes…Ugh! Fix the swim and T2? In like Flynn. Fix the bike, even better!

Overall, I loved the experience. Great race, great venue and great effort. So much to feel good about and I suppose I am glad I really didn’t throw the bowl into the ocean..sort of. And what did Guy have to say? “So, are we coming back next year?”

What races should you do this year?

Once the month of May comes, the race schedule gets pretty packed with all kinds of road races, triathlons, bike racing and off road events. Already, there has been the Moab Half-Marathon, Salt Lake Marathon, a handful of sprint triathlons and bike races. At this point in the year, the biggest mistake I see people make is doing too many races/events. Not only is this expensive, but it is also very draining mentally and physically, not to mention the stress on the family. Oftentimes, by the time late summer rolls around, I hear many complaints of being tired all the time, a lack of enthusiasm for the next race and/or the most dreaded of all, INJURY! Seriously though, if you want to take all the fun out of training and racing, then racing too often will do the trick. Here are some tips to think about as you decide what you are going to do this year whether it is running, triathlon or both.

• If you have run a marathon or a half marathon longer than 2 hours, wait 3-4 weeks before doing any other event of any kind.


• Putting 2 marathons within 8 weeks of each other is not advisable, more info here.


• 5K’s and 10K’s can be done twice in a month as long as there is good recovery in between.


• After an Ironman, no events for at least 5-6 weeks and then only a short one that lasts less than 2.5 hours as long as the run portion is no longer than a 10K.


• A Half Ironman requires about 3-4 weeks with no event.


• It is okay to do an Olympic distance tri once a month even if you do a sprint during that month as well.


• In general, try not ever line up event that occur 3 out of 4 weeks or 4 out of 6 weeks or 5 out of 7 weeks.


• PLAN AHEAD Write the events you are interested in on a calendar in PENCIL. Pick 2 of them that are your most important races (“A” races) and sign up for those (as long as they don’t conflict with above.) Then pick 2 or 3 more “B” races that won’t interfere with your performance at your “A” races. After that, seriously plan on doing only those unless you know for sure that it is far enough removed, short enough, and/or low key enough to be added. However, most of these kinds of races are more easily and cheaply done at home


• Remember that your racing schedule is your own and not your friend’s, so don’t feel pressured to do something you are not excited about or ready for.


• Even if you are performing well, stick to your guns! Getting overexcited too soon will have you racing too hard and too often at races that are not your “A” race and therefore don’t matter.


• It is okay to change plans midstream if the one you have isn’t working. For example, it is okay to switch to a half marathon from a marathon or to a sprint tri from an Olympic if that is what works better for you.


• Remember that when comparing your schedule to an elite or professional, they are capable of handling a higher workload and quicker recovery times so it is not wise to model your schedule after theirs.


• Some years you may feel like racing more than others and that is normal and advisable.
  

Above all else: Remember that you are doing these things for the fun and/or challenge of it. Too much ruins the experience. One excellent race experience is better than 5 mediocre ones. No matter where you are at fitness wise, getting out and doing what you are ready for is what should make you happy. Other peoples' or society's expectations should be disregarded. They are not in your shoes and don’t know what brings you joy or makes you tick. You are still a runner if you do only 5K’s and 10K’s and you are still a triathlete if you do sprint tri’s and not Ironmans. So, as always, pick race and events that will help you to RUN FOR YOUR LIFE AND KEEP ON TRIING !

Base Mile Blitzkrieg

It might be O'dark thirty in the morning, cold and a bit snowy, but are you getting them in? Goin' the right pace? Grab some warm EmergnC and cuttle up with this tidbit of base mile info.

What are they really? Base miles are done at a low intensity that allows you to talk comfortably with a friend. No matter what event you are training for or your experience level, this kind of run should be an arrow in the quiver of every endurance athlete. It doesn’t have to be long every time you go, but it does have to be slow enough to give your body the memo, “Hey, make some more of those oxygen carrying mitochondria and enzymes so I can run even longer and eventually faster at this easy pace.”

Base miles have many names like:
Zone 2 (according to heart rate training,)
65-70% of Max Heart rate (again a heart rate monitor reference)
RPE (Borg rating of Perceived Exertion) of 9, 10 or 11—This is based on a scale up to 20
Long Slow Distance (LSD-not a drug reference although it can be euphoric)
50-60% max effort

Whatever you call it, it still means the same thing. Run slow enough to talk to your friend at an effort that feels like about 50-60% of your maximum effort (even though your pulse will be higher as mentioned above). Most new runners, and many experienced runners too, make the mistake of going too fast. So make sure to check your effort more carefully. You should actually enjoy this run! There has been more than one person who has said that they DON’T like running or can’t go very far until I take them out and teach them what this pace REALLY is. What do I do with them? Let them run a pace that allows us to chat for about 30 minutes straight. Talk about renewed hope! They all actually confess that they had no idea about how to do this and come back later to say they are happily running an hour or more using this new approach.

For a more experienced runner and/or a triathlete, this type of run is still very important. Way too many athletes are stuck running just a bit too fast on easy days. And when they finally do slow down into the right zone, they feel like running with a paper bag over their head because it is "SOO SLOW!" But, If you don’t slow down on easy days or your weekly long runs of 75-90 minutes (or more if you are doing a marathon,) then you will lose that aerobic capacity you are trying to cultivate and you will also not ever get fully recovered from faster and harder runs. By this point in your progression as a runner, you should have spent at least some time with a heart rate monitor, know your training zone numbers and then make extra sure to run your easy days under the Zone 2 or 70% ceiling. If you do this, you will feel a whole lot better come those harder days. If you still have not nailed down these numbers, then now is probably a good time to find out. Until then, "easy conversation pace" is the order of the day.

The next line of questions most runners ask is, “What kind of run then should I do for a hard day this time of year? Should I be doing anything fast at all? or Am I too new to try any type of hard run?” We will talk more about that next week!

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