More Courteous Driving

New signage on the TFI support vehicle means I'll have to be driving more courteous.  The tagline about achieving YOUR goals - shares TFI's emphasis on taking each athlete as they come and helping them get to where they want to be.  Want some help achieving YOUR goals?  Start here - TriForIt.com

Watch for new TFI cycling jersey design - coming soon!

IM Texas 70.3 Brushes with Greatness (or at least fastness)

One of the great things about triathlon is that often it's possible to share the course with the best athletes in the sport.  The pros are often accessible in the days leading up to the race.  Here's TFI athlete OB chatting with Tim O'Donnell two days before the race.  We're not sure which of Coach Rich's coaching pearls OB shared with Tim, but it worked - Tim won on Sunday.

Tim chats with one of the other pros during the prerace press conference.  The other pro came in 7th after getting nipped at the line.  (You may recognize him)  Chris Lieto didn't race, but was hanging around at the tent for his charity More than Sport, visiting with age groupers, raising awareness and funds to fight poverty.  Here he is checking out the press conference.

Tim O'Donnell coming in off the bike trailing Lance.

 Lance came in first off the bike.  They were headed back in on the out and back course as Coach Rich and OB were headed out.

O'Donnell preparing for one of the run courses many hairpin turns.

 Despite trailing the other top pros the camera stayed on Lance for the entire race.

If nothing else, having top pros there gave our "sherpas" something to do while we were riding 56 miles.

Partnership with Xterra Wetsuits

Tri For It! Coaching is stoked (we are talking wetsuits here so stoked seems appropriate) to announce its partnership with Xterra Wetsuits.  As a TFI athlete, friend of TFI (or frankly casual reader of this blog) you can get up to 60% off Xterra Wetsuits.  This includes, my personal favorite, the Vector Pro X2.

I've used this suit for 4 seasons and was blown away by the upper body flexibility.

Follow this link and enter CO-TRIFORIT during checkout. Xterra Wetsuis Coaches Discount

Here I am in my Vector Pro:

On the shores of Lake Couer d'Alene prior to Ironman CDA 2009
(ignore the small guy in the 2xu)

Race Selection Criteria

So how does your 2012 season look?  Most of us are base building,  working on limiters, eyeing the calendar and trying to put together our race schedule.  Early bird registration discounts are expiring soon (those that haven’t already) – now is the time to act.

New races are added to the local triathlon calendar every year.  Good thing too, since so many of the races fill quickly.  It's practically possible to race every weekend in June, July and August (often both days) without leaving the Twin Cities.  Sounds expensive and exhausting.    How to narrow down the choices?

Proximity

The easiest starting point is proximity to your home.  If you live in Minnetonka, Liberty Triathlon  is more convenient than the Manitou Triatlon held in White Bear Lake the same weekend. The reverse is true if you live in Lake Elmo.

Many triathlons have fostered close relationships with the communities in which they are held.  Let's face it; disrupting traffic (even early on a Sunday) doesn't always make us popular.  Donating over $32,000 like the Turtleman did to community charities in 2010 is one way to keep races going.  It’s nice to know that your race helps others in your own community.

Racing close to home also makes it easier for friends and family to come out and watch you sweat.  They might even get caught up in the energy of the event and give this whole multisport thing a try.  Sweet – more training partners.

Distances

Not all sprints are created equally.  The distance of each discipline (swim and bike) can vary greatly from race to race.  The run distance in a sprint is pretty consistent –  around 3 miles.

Not a big fan of swimming in cool water?  The New Bri Tri with its ½ mile swim in early June probably isn’t the sprint for you.  Maybe Minneman’s 1/3 mile swim/walk (the water is shallow for a long way) in late June is a better fit.

Bike distances vary as well – Chisago Lakes Tri has a 22 mile bike for the Sprint. That’s almost twice as far as your typical 13 mile bike in a sprint.

Course Characteristics

One of the great things about Triathlon is that each course has its own unique characteristics.  Lake size varies.  A big lake can lend itself to rough water.  Water quality varies as well – the swim in the Square Lake races in early September is in some of the cleanest, clearest water you can find.  The Twin Cities Triathlon is held in the Mississippi River in St. Paul.  It’s downstream and fast, but not so clear.

Lots of races advertise themselves as “flat and fast” – some are flatter and faster than others.  Other races tout the difficulty of the course profile.  Trinona’s tagline is Battle for the Bluff.

Liberty’s run is on rolling paths with lots of shade (and one climb on woodchips).  Chisago is mostly on roads with less shade (especially the half iron distance).  One Last Tri in Big Marine Park in mid September is run on a mix of paved and unpaved trails.

If you like challenging hills on your ride and run – there’s a course for that.  Hills make you . . . uh, run for the hills?  There’s a course for that.

Look at the race websites, talk to your coach, talk to the staff at your local tri shop, check out race reports at beginnertriathlete.com.  Course information is out there, you just have to look.

Timing

Sometimes you want to build your fitness over the season and finish with your “A” race.  Maybe it’s the first time you’ve tackled an Olympic, a half iron, a full iron.  Having that race cap off your season makes sense.  Although with the Olympic and half distances it is sometimes nice to have 2 of them in case the first one doesn’t go as planned.

Need some late winter/early spring motivation to get in shape?  Schedule a half as early in the season as you can.  Liberty’s ½ in early June fits the bill if you don’t want to travel.  Yes, you’re asking for a lot of quality time in your basement on the trainer, but we should all be there anyhow.

Price

Not all races are priced the same.  Generally as your race gets longer, the price goes up.  Ironman Wisconsin will cost you $625 (normal registration) – that’s assuming you were there the day after the race last year and have already registered.  If not you can purchase a Foundation Registration for $1,250.  Mineapolis Lifetime Tri is probably the next most costly at $149 for either the Sprint or Olympic distance.

This won’t help for 2012, but FrontRunner USA (which puts on New Bri, Square Lake, St. Paul Tri among others) often has a ½ price sale towards the end of the calendar year.

A lot of race organizers offer free registration to one race if you volunteer at one of their other races.  Definitely worth an email.  Volunteering is a fun way to give back to the sport.

Whichever factors are most important to you, now is the time to act. 

Solutions for Snowy and Icy Running Paths

This is a reprise of a post from last December.  The slippery weather up here in Minneapolis has made it just as relevant today.  I've probably gotten more comments about the screws in the shoes than anything else I've written.  Here it is:

Couple cold weather, slippery paths, darkness and no race looming and you may just decide to skip that run.  I'm here to say don't do it!

This article will help you prepare for those snowy/icy slippery paths or roads.

I offer suggestions for 3 different levels of slipperyness and snow cover.  If the paths are generally clear  or have a thin layer of snow but you may encounter an occasional visible slick spot I suggest running in a pair of shoes designed for trail running.  These shoes often have a deeper tread and some measure of water resistance which helps keep toes dry and warm.  The deeper tread provides better grip in loose snow than your typical road shoes.The solution for the next level is a little screwy (sorry but sometimes I can't resist a pun, good or otherwise)

A few 1/4" or 3/8" provide great traction on hardpack or the spots that have melted and frozen again.  I find those refrozen areas to be the most treacherous.  I thought this solution was a bit out there but have used it with success.  It seems to have gone mainstream as there's an article in the January 2011 issue of Triathlete magazine - "Snow Chains for Your Running Shoes" by Aaron Hersh which suggests it.

The 3rd level is for complete ice with or without some snow cover.  It's a commercial solution and will cost you about $30.

I use the Yaktrax Pro and have been pretty happy with them.  I've found that they grip ice really well (even if it's hidden by a thin layer of snow).  They don't help much if there's 4 or more inches of snow on the ground (although they're still better in that situation than the screws or nothing).  When there's that much snow skis or snowshoes may be your best bet.  They won't hold up to a lot of running on bare pavement so some people complain about their durability.  I'm on my 2nd or 3rd winter with mine.  No, I'm not a paid shill for Yaktrax either, just a customer.

One caution with the Yaktrax - they do change the pressure points on your feet so you may experience some foot fatigue or blisters.  Get your feet used to them on shorter runs will help prevent blisters/foot issues.

Miamiman Race Report

Here's TFI athlete Katie proudly showing off her Miamiman bling after completing her first 70.3.

In addition to being a TFI athlete she's part of a far flung social group of athletes known as LTD - for "Livin' the Dream"

She put together this race report from Miami for the LTD blog http://teamltd.wordpress.com/

With her permission I've reproduced it here.  She has some nice things to say about her coach (I swear I didn't pay her to say any of it).



Race Report:
LTD
Eric asked me to write up my race report for the Miami Man Half Ironman. A disclaimer: unlike the rest of the speed demons on the LTD team, I am middle to back of packer depending the event. My goal for this race was just to finish and avoid the medical tent.
Background:
Back in the spring after a couple years of little racing, I decided to jump back into triathlon by signing up for a half iron distance race. At about the same time, I got a coach. I’ve been racing in triathlons since 2006, but muddling through on my own. I figured it was time to get professional help, particularly if I was tackling a long distance race. Coach Rich Van Sickle http://triforit.com/ agreed to help me, which made a huge difference in both my ability and confidence coming into 70.3. More on that later.
Pre-Race:
I got to Miami late Friday and settled into the hotel. Saturday morning I got up early and spent a few easy minutes on the treadmill shaking out my legs. Then I headed over to the race site, which was in a state/city park in the middle of Miami. I had shipped my bike about a week prior and went over to the expo to pick it up. I discovered that one of the water bottle brackets had come loose and needed to be replaced. The guys from the shop could replace it, but not until after transition closed to the athletes. They promised to rack it in transition for me. I was a little nervous leaving it, but figured it would be better to have access to everything I needed during the race than risk losing something important due to breakage. I picked up the race packet and discovered that the gear for this race was pretty sweet, always a plus. There was a headsweats hat, tech tshirt, mug, water bottle, and a towel. The race directors also chose to give athletes tri tattoos instead of body marking everyone on race morning. I’d never used this method before, but I’m a fan. Anything that saves time on race morning is a win in my opinion.
Ted, my husband and volunteer race Sherpa, flew in later that afternoon. We headed out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Normally, this is not a favorite of mine, but I wanted to have a simple pasta pre-race and Cheesecake Factory is a known quantity. I had about a fourth of a plate of pasta (the servings are enormous!) with a side of steamed veggies. I’d been really diligent about staying hydrated during the day and polished off about 4 glasses of water at dinner.
I went to bed at around 930pm and was up at 430am. I didn’t sleep well, but I never do, pre race. We packed up and headed to the race course. I was pleased to discover that my bike was racked and all set. I set up my transition area and chatted with the other women near me. I made my way over to the start, panicking all the way. I pulled on my skinsuit, which is a thinner alternative to a wetsuit. I picked up the skinsuit on sale at Bonktown and it’s a big improvement over my full-length wetsuit. It doesn’t make me feel claustrophobic, but provides some buoyancy while leaving my arms free.
The Swim:
The swim was in a freshwater lake and the course was two .6 mile laps. I elected to go in the first wave in order to give myself an additional half an hour. The first wave was pro men and men 44-49. The gun went off and it was on. I waited about 10 seconds and then waded in. I figured if everything went well, I’d finish in about 45 minutes. I felt pretty good for the first lap. I’d been going to a masters swim and the coach corrected a few things in my stroke which helped me be more efficient. Also, Coach Rich had me do several 2500 yard continuous swims which made a huge difference mentally, even though there’s nothing more boring than staring at that long black line. According to my watch, the first lap took me 19:30. Honestly, I was surprised. I didn’t expect it to be that fast. However, the second lap was a complete mess. The rest of the waves had started and there were people absolutely everywhere. I saw one guy swimming on his back, kicking gently. It was nuts. Sighting was harder and I didn’t swim as well. I only got kicked a few times so that’s not too bad. Total time according to my watch, 39:40, race time, 40:15. Ave pace, 1:52/100yd or 1:54/100yd depending on whose time you use. My steady state swim pace in the pool is about 1:45/100yd so I only lost about 10 seconds/100yd. That is probably the best swim I’ve ever had in a triathlon.
When I got out of the water a bunch of people were cheering for me, I think because I was one of the first women to finish the swim, a side benefit of being in the first wave.
The Bike:
I hustled through transition and grabbed my bike. The bike was very, very flat. Lots of fields of…something. I’m not sure what. It was extremely tempting to hammer the bike. I felt as though I was spinning really easily and I would look down and see 18, 19, 20 mph. Fortunately, I held off, because at mile 28 the shit hit the fan in the form of vicious headwinds. From mile 28 to 56 there were 3-4 long straightaways with brutal headwinds. It sucked. My speed dropped to 13-14 mph. I saw one guy slow down, put one foot on the ground, and then topple over. He said he was fine, he was just, “taking a break”. Weird. Anyway, by mile 40, I was ready to get off the bike. By mile 50, I was really ready to get off the bike. The wind was picking up and I spent way more time in aero than I did when I was training on rollers in TN. That would come back to bite me in the run. I finished the bike in 3:13 with a 17.3 mph average, about 20 minutes faster than I anticipated.
I hit transition and despite the fact that historically, I’ve hated running, I was super glad to get off my bike. I took a few seconds to change my socks. This is a tip I picked up from Coach Rich and I would recommend it. It saves your feet from blistering quite as much on the run. Ted caught me on the way out of transition and slathered some sunblock on my shoulders, which was really helpful since the sun was beating down at that point.
The Run:
The run course was two 6.5 loops through the Miami Zoo. My plan was to walk the first 10 minutes of the run and then start my 5min on 1 off. Almost immediately when I got out of transition, I had piercing pain in my lower right back. I think it was caused from spending so much more time in the aero position than I was used to after riding the rollers in Western TN. I stopped and tried to stretch it out. No luck. I started running which actually helped, but after a couple of miles, the plantar fasciitis that had been developing in my right foot caught up to me in a big way. So walking equals pain in my back, running, pain in my right foot. Lose, lose. Ted caught up to me at about mile 4 or 5. He walked/jogged with me on and off for awhile. He was super chatty and I kind of wanted to kill him for talking so much, but it was still nice to have company, particularly since my run plan was disintegrating and that was discouraging. The zoo part of the run course wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. Honestly, I thought it would distract me, but at that point, I just wanted the race to be over and could have cared less about seeing elephants. I loaded up on ice at every aid station and ate a GU and salt tablets every hour. I got blisters on my feet from dumping water over my head to keep cool. I didn’t mind the first lap, but by mile 9, I was very ready to be done. Fortunately, I paid attention to Coach Rich’s very good advice which was to stay diligent and focused even when walking. Apparently, a lot of people slow way down when walking. I kept that in mind and walked as fast as I could.
I finished the run in 3:32, slower than my bike time. Sigh. It’s always the damn run that gets me. In this case, I actually think it was the difference in bike terrain that screwed up my run. If I hadn’t had the nasty pain in my lower back, I think I could have run the first lap at least.
Lessons Learned:
-Having a coach made a huge difference. The training plan I used was specific to me and Coach Rich shifted things around to accommodate the normal ups and downs in my training. I’d thought I’d plateaued in my swimming, but by mixing in long swims with my usual yardage, I saw real improvement. Also, I’m lazy by nature and I really appreciated the accountability that having a coach provided.
-I should have made a better effort to find an area to do some flat rides. I think the difference in terrain on the bike hurt me on the run.
What’s Next:
-I’m shifting gears to cold weather endurance racing ie, the Birkebiner , a nordic ski race! I’ll actually be racing the Kortelopet, which is 23K, half the distance of the Birkie. In order to do this, I have to buy skis and then learn how to ski. I should have a month between when I move to Minneapolis and have access to snow and race day. Plenty of time.
-While the half iron distance was a fun challenge and I wouldn’t rule out doing another one, long distance triathlon isn’t my favorite. In 2012, I plan to work towards a PR at the Olympic distance. I’ll also make sure to get one or two open water swim races in. Should be fun!
LTD,
Katie

Enter the Dark - Why Base Building Doesn't Work

Look quick - you may not see it for quite a while.  Daylight savings time ends this weekend.  Sunset on Sunday is FOUR fifty five (4:55 pm).  Then it gets earlier for 6 weeks finally starting to get later on December 11.

Historically a lot of triathletes try to use the off season to build their base.  This means trying to increase their endurance through a lot of aerobic (low) effort.  Long slow runs, time in the saddle, chasing the black line back and forth in the pool.  Building your base IS a good thing.

But here's what often happens.  It's cold.  It's dark. It's boring.  It's the holidays.  I'll do it tomorrow (or the day after).  The base doesn't get built.  Weight goes up, performance goes down and we spend the first weeks of spring trying to undo the damage.

At Tri For It! the dark months are NOT spent with hours of low level base building.  At the end of the season Coach Rich sits down with each athlete and asks a few questions:

• Who/What have you neglected due to your training?
• What else do you like to do?
• What limited your performance last season?

Triathlon is a demanding pursuit - it can gobble up time.  If we're not careful other areas of our lives can be short changed.  Now is a great time to take stock, check in with those you love (or who put food on your table) and make sure everything is o.k.

Maybe you have (gasp) other hobbies or interests.  Take advantage of the end of the season and pursue them.  Some other hobbies - skiing, cyclocross, mountain biking, snowshoeing, or hockey may actually provide benefits to your triathlon performance.

The last question is the most critical (for your coach).  Take a look at your performances - what worked and what needs work.  We'll focus on improving the things that need work and improving technique and efficiency.  The workouts will be shorter and focused.  You will go into next season faster, stronger, more efficient.