Greenville Duathlon Race Report

My stoke level increased by a factor of at least 10 this past weekend, as the 2012 race season is officially here!  I’ve been following the early season pro race reports on Slowtwich.com for a couple of weeks, but the upcoming triathlon season became much more tangible for me on Saturday when I hopped in the FS Series Greenville Duathlon.  The different races put on by the FS Series crew are ALWAYS well thought out events.  I was excited to be there, and I’ve been ready to mix it up with local competition to see just where my fitness stands.

The weather in central North Carolina on Saturday morning looked to be a little more than questionable, but we lucked out on race morning.  The duathlon was largely unaffected by the storm clouds that hung thick and dark just above our heads.  The first leg of the race was a two loop, three mile off road run covering the high school cross country course at Boyd Lee Park.  Dirt path, soccer field, cinder trail, and even a few feet of sidewalk; we covered it all as rain threatened overhead. 

With the relatively short nature of the race, my plan was get out with the lead pack, and press on hard without much concern for pacing.  Off the gun I got out front quickly with two other dudes I wasn’t familiar with.  It wasn’t  long at all before one of these two put :15 seconds into me and Dude #2, and he ran comfortably up ahead while Dude 2 and I pressed on behind.  Dude 2 turned out to be Richard Bailey, a Triangle Multisport-Inside Out Sports Triangle Tri Team member I hadn’t met yet.  I immediately learned that Richard is a) FIT, and b) a competitor.  We jockeyed hard and banged elbows for position on the trail for two miles before RB made a move and pulled away in the last 1k.

When I hit T1 Dude 1 was already through, but with a quick transition I still had contact with Richard as we got out on the bike course.  I tend to be a ‘second half’ rider, usually getting a little stronger the longer the bike leg lasts, as it takes me a few miles to find a rhythm.  This is certainly not something I consider a strength, and working on bike strength will continue to be a priority.  I wasn’t particularly concerned with RB pulling slowly away from me early in the bike leg- although it turns out I definitely should have been!  I’ve always thought the FS Series guys put a lot into course design, and the Greenville Du was no exception.  The 14 mile bike course was on smooth country roads, and was set up to be fast.  I pressed on pretty hard, feeling good about my bike legs that morning.  I rolled into T2 having averaged just a touch under 24 mph for the 14 mile bike split, but RB and Dude 1 had each put 2 minutes into me- which was not at all insignificant in a short course race.

I blasted out of T2 with another pretty good transition (usually not a strong area for me) and resigned myself to running at absolutely max effort for the 1.5 mile run leg to see if I could get back in the mix with the two ahead of me.  I was pleased with my run, I felt strong and poised from a full winter’s worth of interval running that Coach Dave and Triangle Multisport have pushed me through.  In the end, it wasn’t in the cards, and I never had contact with 1^st or 2^nd place, who were much stronger on the day.  I crossed the line in 3^rd with a time of 1:03:07, a full three minutes behind Glen Thompson and Richard Bailey.

I headed back to Carrboro Saturday afternoon pretty happy with the experience- great event, great competition, and a great race pace effort banked for future battles.  Congratulations to all finishers, and a big thanks to FS Series, the race volunteers, Triangle Multisport, and Inside-Out Sports for sponsoring the event.  Race results can be found here.     

Quick Training & Racin' Update

I'm really stoked to say that this year I am joining the Triangle Multisport-InSide Out Sports Triangle Triathlon Team.  Yes, that is a mouthful.  Most of us just refer to it as TMS-IOS.  Hefty name or not, I'm super excited to be mixing it up with this great group of age group and professional triathletes in 2012.  I can't say enough how thankful I am to both Triangle Multisport and Inside-Out Sports for the support they providing this team as co-title sponsors.  As part of my commitment to TMS-IOS this year, I will be a big part of the local race scene, hopping in local events early and often this spring, before settling in to focus on some larger races later this summer.  My 2012 race calendar can be found here.  

As we wait for the water to warm up a little here in the Mid Atlantic, I'll be racing at the next two stops in the Inside-Out Sports Duathlon Series in April.  A few more local events in April/May, before heading up to Connecticut for Rev3 Quassy on June 3rd.  The second half of the year is still up somewhat for discussion, but I am without a doubt focusing on ending my season with strong efforts at both Rev3 Anderson and Rev3 Florida in October.  

Thanks for reading,

jw

It's in the Details....Part II

My last post highlighted some of the ancillary details outside of actual training sessions that can have a huge impact on long term fitness-  in a positive or negative way, depending on the actions of the athlete.  I’d like to expand on that topic further.  Training and competing at a high level demands that no compromises are made with respect to training.  High level endurance performance truly IS found in the detailed decisions one makes with regard to training.  The previous post focused on the athlete’s emphasis on recovery, this post explores the approach to individual daily sessions. 

Whether you’re an recreational triathlete or an elite post collegiate runner- I’d like to assume that all athletes are dedicated to their craft, and would like to see the maximum benefits from their sweat equity.  First and foremost; every day of training logged is important to advancing your fitness level- there are no ‘throw away’ training days.  The last statement isn’t going to be earth shattering new to many, but have you ever thought about how slight variations in an individual's approach to training sessions can drastically alter their effectiveness?

Sacrificing effectiveness for convenience-  I have a couple of very talented training partners who I see compromising the effectiveness of what they are trying to accomplish by opting for convenience more often than they should.  There’s no denying that a treadmill can be a useful tool, but how much of your total weekly mileage are you logging indoors?  Used too often, I see treadmills as sort of a security blankets.  A treadmill insulates the user from any training variables they might encounter out on the roads.  Given two athletes of equal talent, who is going to end up the better runner over time: the one who logs all of his/her miles in a controlled climate on a plush treadmill, or the one who charges up hills as they come, mixes it up with other talented runners, and learns to adapt to adverse weather conditions in training?  I’ll take runner #2 every time.  If you think that logging the mileage is the only variable that matters, you may be cheating yourself.    

Timing matters-  Sometimes the timing or placement of training sessions within the day can have a huge impact on the effectiveness.  Ultimately, putting in the effort is most important- but if you make a habit of stacking sessions close together to save time you are compromising the effectiveness of the training!  Each session is key, and should be treated as such.  Immediately following up a hard group swim with an interval session on the bike because you hope to take the evening off may diminish the benefits of either session.  In this case, respect what you accomplished in the pool.  Rehydrate, take in a quality meal, allow your sympathetic nervous system to take a deep breath, and for your muscles to enjoy a few hours of less rigorous demands before getting after it again.

My aim here is not attack anyone’s training habits, but rather to provoke some thought as you plan your training.  The above is nothing more than a few thoughts I chose to share, and I respect individual methods and ideas.  Maybe after reading this someone out there will reflect on what they are doing, and find a way to maximize the effectiveness of the hard work they are surely doing day in and day out.

Thanks for reading, and be safe out there on the roads.

jw

It's in the Details...Part I

Let me start by saying this is not a post inspired by New Years Day 2012.  I feel as if the last few days I’ve been inundated by headlines touting that predictable annual January topic of self improvement.  There are a few popular triathlon and/or running publications out there inquiring about what you're going to do to be faster/stronger/better in 2012.  I’d like to take it a step farther and ask; what steps are you taking DAILY, in order to be better EVERY DAY?  This is not about hitting all of your planned sessions.  If you are- that’s great.  Not very many people can say that too often, and consistency is the foundation on which great endurance athletes are built upon.  I'm asking you to take a deeper look at your body of work- what are you doing to ensure that you are recovering properly, and getting all the benefits of these workouts you are putting yourself through?

If you’re an athlete (of any kind) who is truly reaching the limits of your physical potential, then this is a question that you're probably familiar with.  It’s a simple notion you revisit frequently, and the answers are often varied, but seldom complex.  Every athlete is unique;  with different performance goals, and we are all trying to thrive under wildly different circumstances.  That being said, let the following serve as loose guidelines for some common needs of all endurance athletes.

Are you getting enough sleep?  I’m not saying anything earth shattering here, but this is by far the most overlooked aspect of training for many endurance athletes.  Contrary to popular belief, being tired is not a triathlete status symbol.  It's great that you have the drive and self discipline to hone your craft at an early AM Masters swim or a long midweek run, but at what point does fatigue start to hand you diminished returns on your sweat equity?  

Adequate sleep ensures proper recovery from workout to workout, allowing you to progress as an athlete.  Under-rested athletes risk experiencing a decreased time to exhaustion during exercise exertion, impaired hormonal response to exercise, or even developing over training syndrome.  Without sleep, the ceiling of your athletic potential is much closer than you think.

Are you taking advantage of ‘restful opportunities’?  Rest is often a much different concept than sleep.  Regardless of your profession, there are several small yet significant points in an endurance geek's day that can either contribute to physical stress on an overworked body, or provide small bouts of recovery.  Get off your feet when possible, avoid hours of uninterrupted screen time, if you can- take a few minutes each workday to just be still. 

Here's a scenario that helps to illustrate my point: So it’s Sunday evening, and you absolutely smashed your long run this morning.  Maybe you even got in a recovery spin this afternoon.  Now your favorite football team is on TV, and you never miss a game.  That’s fine, but for the sake of your recovering body; did you catch that game on your couch with your feet up, or bouncing around at a sports bar?  If you truly want to see the maximum gains from your sessions, and you have a choice in the matter- opt for the more mellow situation, every time.

Thanks for reading,

jw

 

Staying True to Yourself in Times of Distraction

At times it can be challenging to maintain training momentum when travel and/or family obligations find their way into your training block.  This seems to be where a lot of athletes succumb to to 'life', and let sporadic training influence what could have been an otherwise great run of fitness changing workouts.  Consistency is, and always will be key.  It has to be year round, and I've had this reinforced for me by having the good fortune of being around some REALLY dedicated athletes.  

A mentor of mine is Blake Boldon, the head Mens/Womens distance coach at the University of Pennsylvania.  Blake isn't too far removed from his days of running professionally for Saucony, and with a little prodding from me, he would often tell me about the repeated daily sacrifices he would have to make in order to make sure he was maximizing his potential.  Often these talks were precluded by me taking some shortcut, or compromising a training session for the sake of convenience.  One thing that really hit home for me was Blake recounting how for several years he would have a 2x run day on Thanksgiving.  Often this was an actual workout in the morning, followed up by 50-60 minute recovery run in the evening.  Blake would tell me how much he hated judiciously picking and choosing what he ate for Thanksgiving dinner, while everyone around them stuffed themselves silly, in order to have a functional stomach for a 60 minute run effort while the rest his family settled in to watch football or nap.  The part of Blake's turkey day strife that is seared into my memory is how empowered Blake said he always felt while finishing that second Thanksgiving day run.  On a day synonymous with over indulgence, Blake could have reasonably taken a rare day off- knowing that just about everyone else would be doing the same.  Instead, Blake would chose to put in effort to make himself a better athlete.

Stay the course, and be inspired by your own will to improve.

Thanks for reading,

jw