2009 October | Swim Bike Run Live

Archive for October, 2009

First Endurance Joins The Trakkers Family

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

With the offseason in full swing, lots of 2010 planning is still in motion. A major part of that is making plans for my involvement with Rev3 and Trakkers for 2010. There is more news in the works that I will share when the time is ready, but I just got the green light being able to make our first big announcement.

First Endurance signed on to Team Trakkers as our official nutrition nutrition sponsor!

I’m brand new to the company, but I’m digging their philosophy: “Our goal is to have 100% of our members finish Ironman with no cramps, no bonk and no gastric distress.”AKA: Get to the finish line happy.

The last two years, I’ve primarily been using a mix of a custom Infinit blend and GU and Clif products. Except for a few bumps in the road, I’ve gotten it down pretty well, but still recognize that I still have a ton to learn.

Going through a lot of the resources they have online tonight has already learned a ton. (I had the idea that caffeine is a diuretic drilled in to my head a million times during cross country practice way back in high school, that that idea will be a tough one to kick.) They have a whole mini social network that is completely focused on athletes educating each other on nutrition. Sweet, right?

Part of that is a whole series of programs, tests and surveys to help you better understand what works for you. That was one of the reasons why I came to love my Infinit blend so much. It was made just how I wanted it and I proved its worth on the course. It is also one of the biggest principles that I learned from Holistic Guru. Bio-individuality. We are all built pretty much the same, but our bodies can react to nutrition plans very differently.

I’m especially psyched to do the caffeine test once I get back into training. Except for some herbal tea one or twice a day and a regular diet of chocolate in any form that I can consume it, I don’t take in much compared to the average American. I’ve always been wary of using it in training/racing since I have such a low tolerance, but am amped to see what their test says.

If you want to check ‘em out, here are some places to start.

main: www.firstendurance.com
social/research: www.team.firstendurance.com
Blog: www.blog.firstendurance.com

Once I get my hands on the goods and put them to a test, expect an honest review coming your way.

Tags: endurance nutrition, first endurance, team trakkers, trakkers gps, triathlon nutrition | Posted in Ironman, Triathlon | No Comments »

Purposeful Nothingness

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the offseason.

The fun part is that I’m taking it just as seriously as my mid-season peak training. After Timberman and then cramming in lots of run training for Ragnar, I was pretty beat up and worn out. During August and September, I was itching to race every single weekend. It is all I wanted to do: beat up my body and challenge the clock.

Now, things couldn’t be any more opposite. I barely have any motivation to work out, and I love it. I’m milking every single day of it. Normally my schedule outside of work is filled with lots of swimbikerun. Now it is filled with lots of yoga, napping, cooking (I’m testing out some new pie, cookie and soup recipes) pumpkin carving and spending some quality time around the house with Sam.

I was planning on doing some cyclocross racing this fall, but decided to save up my training mojo to hit the ground hard training for next year’s tri season. That will start back up again next month. Without ‘cross, the last time I was actually on my bike was to ride to the bar last Thursday night to hang out with my triathlon team. It was perfect and I had a blast cruising through Cambridge on my cyclocross bike at night and catching up with some great company.

Here are the pumkins that Sam and I carved last night.

So these are my goals for the offseason before I get back in to base training next month.

Work out when I want to, never when I don’t
Stretch, sleep and do yoga to stay rested, relaxed and loose
Fully replenish my training mojo tank for 2010
Maybe gain a few pounds (Sam has been complaining that I got too lean this season and I’m not as good to cuddle with.)
Have fun playing outside doing things other than swimbikerun

What are your offseason plans? I wanna hear ‘em!

Tags: offseason training | Posted in Life, Training Log, Triathlon | 4 Comments »

Gifts From The Big Island

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Today I’ve decided that Hawaii might be the nicest state.

First Bree Wee helped me out with my career as a spinning instructor before we even met and now Jason Lester sent me some sweet swag from this year’s Ironman World Championship.

I came home from work today to see a package with a with a Kona return address.

Ta-Da!

It may be decades before I’m ever able to claw my way into racing Kona, but at least I have a sweet water bottle to motivate me to keep going until that day comes.

I know, only a major geek would get all psyched about a water bottle. Right? Lame.

Oh well. I love it either way.

If you don’t know Jason’s story, check him out. A lot of people may just know him as that disabled ultraman. Or that guy that just one the ESPY award, but he has a pretty amazing story, and an even more awesome foundation focused on helping kids to think creatively about their lives through athletics. Check out his Never Stop Foundation. http://www.neverstopfoundation.org/

Check him out on Facebook too. That is where I found out about his swag giveaways.

Tags: ironman hawaii, Ironman world championship, jason lester, kona, never stop foundation | Posted in Ironman, Triathlon | 1 Comment »

Amica Half Marathon Relay Race Report

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

One word: Epic.

It all started when Sam’s aunt signed up for the Amica Half Marathon in Newport, RI to celebrate being cancer-free for 10 years. To show our support along the way, a group of us (Sam’s parents, uncle and I) decided to do the marathon relay that went along the same course at the same time.

Looking at the weather forecast, it was supposed to be pretty cold and rainy, so I tested out some race outfit options.

This was one of my favorites (except I obviously be racing in jeans). The tri top/arm sleeve combo is the best combination of ridiculous and bad-ass. Unfortunately I was way too optomistic about the weather forecast and that outfit wasn’t even an option. It was about 40 degrees with 30 mph winds and driving rain. Typical nor’easter. Not exactly tri-top weather. Lame.

Something cool that the relay did was to have all of the relay runners wear a tasuki (think of a Ms. America sash) instead of carrying a baton. There is a pretty cool story behind it too. We made our own yellow tasuki since we were doing it in celebration of Sam’s aunt’s cancer remission (a la LiveSTRONG bracelet).

The marathon relay will be run in an ekiden race style format. An ekiden, a term that originated in Japan and usually referred to as a marathon relay in English, is a long-distance relay, road race. The original concept of the race hearkens back to Japan’s ancient Tokaido (road) communication and transportation system in which stations were posted at intervals along the road. In the race, each runner on a team runs the distance from one “station” to the next, and then hands off a cloth sash, or tasuki, to the next runner. It is considered a great honor to wear the tasuki and, in doing so, represents their team.

I had the second and longest leg. 6.85 miles. My whole section of the course went along the ocean and around all of the mansions that line the Newport coast. It was probably one of the most scenic courses I’ve ever done. It would have be nice if we had better weather to enjoy the views, but you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.

The first transition point (where I started my leg of the marathon) looked almost exactly like this on the morning of the race. (I had to steal this from the internet. Not taken from the actual race site.)

But unfortunately this is the best picture that I could get. But the waves did crash over the road almost like the first one! I promise.

Every time the waves crashed up against the seawall and above the road I threw my hands up in the air and yelled “WOOHOO!” like on a roller coaster or when doing the wave at a baseball game. I’m not sure if the runners around me found it as amusing as I did, but at least I had fun.

Since this was my last planned race of 2009, I decided to leave it all out on the course and see exactly what I was capable of (even though I definitely didn’t train for this race to be on top of my game). I had nothing to save my body for anytime soon, so did a little experimenting.

I started out at about 7:45-8:00 pace, and just held on from there. Just a little bit faster than I would have gone otherwise. I wavered a little (especially when the headwinds practically stopped me dead in my tracks) but was able to hold on and average 7:48/mile to finish in 53:24. WOOT! My goal was to average 7:45′s, but given that this was the worst conditions that I’ve ever run in, I was more than happy with going a few seconds/mile slower.

That is the first time I’ve done sub-8:00/mile pace in a race in a LONG time. Maybe since high school. Granted, the four running races I’ve done this year (including the half ironmans) have all been half marathons or longer, but again, I’ll take it and be very happy. I think I’m slowly leaving the running doldrums and getting faster!

In other news:

Sam’s aunt and cousin finished the half marathon just before the cutoff and I was there to cheer them in. Her determination amazes me.

Sam did the third leg of the relay and rocked it! She was a runner in High School, and that is where she left her athleticism. She is super competitive and made a return to run training during the last few months to run with me in the relay. I’m used to her being on the sidelines while I’m racing and taking most of the awesome pictures that I post here, but I loved being able to pass off the tasuki to her once I finished.

Lots of pics were taken. I’ll post them as they come.