Me sprinting it in just to make sure Nick Waninger didn't catch me. Thanks for the scare buddy.
Coming out of T2.
Taking off on the bike.
Coming out of the water.
Nice little pre race photo with Casey.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Some Pics
And of course, I posted these in the opposite order. AAAHHHH!!!
Me sprinting it in just to make sure Nick Waninger didn't catch me. Thanks for the scare buddy.
Coming out of T2.
Taking off on the bike.
Coming out of the water.
Nice little pre race photo with Casey.
Me sprinting it in just to make sure Nick Waninger didn't catch me. Thanks for the scare buddy. Coming out of T2. Taking off on the bike.Coming out of the water.
Nice little pre race photo with Casey.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Clearwater 70.3 RR
Well, my 2010 season is over and it is nice not having to worry about my workouts for once. I woke up this morning not sure how I was going to fill the day. I have mostly been doing some things around the house before I head to work this evening. Doing a little laundry, grocery shopping, and a few little chores that I had put off last week just because I didn't have time to do them. Now I'm catching up on my favorite TV shows on Hulu.
Our trip to Clearwater began last Tuesday night when I departed Lexington and drove a whole hour to my hometown of Corbin to spend the night and meet up with my bro before we left for Florida. Wednesday morning we hit the road and spent most of the day in the car. We had a nice dinner on the beach that evening and I enjoyed some fish tacos for the first time in my life. Thursday came around and I went for a little jog before my brother and I hit up IHOP for breakfast. This wouldn't be my normal breakfast, but our hotel didn't offer breakfast and IHOP was less than a 1/4 mile from the hotel with no other options (not that I'm complaining, I love a good IHOP breakfast, just not usually this close to a big race). Ben and I went for a little swim later, then picked up my roommate Kevin, my sister, and my mom from the airport followed by a little lunch at Firehouse. We hung out for a little, went for a little spin, then met up with my grandparents for dinner. Friday was about the same. Some easy morning workouts, a little IHOP for breakfast, the pro meeting, Subway for lunch, meeting up the family to discuss the race day parking situation, checking in my gear to the transition area, dinner with my dad, and bedtime.
Saturday rolled around and the weather was perfect. High 50's, not much of a wind, and clear skies. After my usual breakfast, I headed down to the transition area to finish my pre race prep. At about 6:15, I had my wetsuit on, got a good luck kiss from Casey, then headed down to the water for my warmup. At 6:40, I was standing on the beach with some of the best triathletes in the world waiting for the gun to go off. There is nothing more nerve racking than the "waiting" period just before a big race. At 6:45, the cannon went off.
I didn't have a great starting position, but actually had a decent run into the water. I shot through a little gap, did the dolphin dive a few times, then was in water deep enough to swim. I put my head down and tried to get into a good position. I fought with a few guys for the first 200 - 300 meters, and swallowed a few mouth fulls of water in the process. I got right on the buoy line and felt like I was decent position. I lost the feet in front of me about 600 meters in but kept that group close until the first turn buoy. Once we rounded that turn, we swam 100 meters directly into the wind/waves. That is where I lost the group in front of me. I thought for a second I was in no man's land, but after the next turn buoy, I had another group catch me, so I just sat in and swam with then the rest of the way into the beach. I was the last one in that group out of the water, but I was out with some fast cyclists such as Maxim Kriat, Chris Legh, and Leon Griffin so I knew that I had a chance to pace off of some really fast guys to help me get back into the action. Well, apparently my T1 was terrible and I never once saw those guys. I felt that I had a decent transition, put my head down for the first 5 miles on the bike, and I caught 4 -5 guys that were just up the road. None of these guys were the names that I previously mentioned and I found out that the guys that I caught were not the strongest of cyclists. They were strong enough to sit behind me and pace, but not enough to be in the wind themselves. When I would back off, they would pass me, but our pace would drop a couple of mph. So I basically pulled this group for the majority of the race. We did have 2 MUCH stronger cyclists pass us, but they were out of my league. I tried to pace off of both of them when they passed, but I felt like I was going sprint tri speed and not 70.3 speed, and I did want to have something left for the run. I came into T2 well behind the leaders and not in a great position overall. I took off on the run and realized that the flat and windy course had done some work to my legs. I felt like I had no gas in the tank what-so-ever. I just decided right then that I was going to finish the race, no matter what, and give it my best effort. I fought off cramps and just an overall terrible feeling in my whole body for the first 3 miles of the run. After I got a little fluids and Power Gels into my system, I felt a little better. The rest of the run, I paced off of the guys who were just up the road. I did eventually catch them around mile 10 - 11. My fastest splits on the run were actually my last 3 miles which was a little surprising. I guess that is what happens when you are trying to pass competitors. After a little scare from my buddy Nick Waninger at mile 13.05 of the run, I managed to cross the finish line just in front of him in 28th position among the pro's.
I was extremely happy to be finished with the race. This was my slowest 70.3 of the year and I was not overly happy with my performance, but I know that there are days that you just have to grind it out, and today was one of those days. Overall, I felt flat the whole race. I felt that I couldn't keep up the strong pace on the bike and that I didn't have any turn over on the run.
I know that I am better on the harder bike courses that have more hills because that is where I tend to be a little better than the average triathlete but these flatter courses are not the best for me considering the terrain of central Kentucky.
But, my season is now over and I have 2011 to look forward to. I would love to see how I can match up against these guys in Las Vegas. I know I need to keep up my work in the water, actually train on the bike in the off season, and then keep up my mileage over the winter. I'll bet that having a decent base phase will make a world of difference going into a new season.
I want to thank everyone who travelled down to Florida to watch me. It was a blast having everyone there and supporting me. My roommate Kevin had an amazing race and finished 2nd in his AG and 8th overall among the amateurs. My brother fought his way through the race battling his injured IT band and finished the race. We were all happy to be done for the season.
Tony
Our trip to Clearwater began last Tuesday night when I departed Lexington and drove a whole hour to my hometown of Corbin to spend the night and meet up with my bro before we left for Florida. Wednesday morning we hit the road and spent most of the day in the car. We had a nice dinner on the beach that evening and I enjoyed some fish tacos for the first time in my life. Thursday came around and I went for a little jog before my brother and I hit up IHOP for breakfast. This wouldn't be my normal breakfast, but our hotel didn't offer breakfast and IHOP was less than a 1/4 mile from the hotel with no other options (not that I'm complaining, I love a good IHOP breakfast, just not usually this close to a big race). Ben and I went for a little swim later, then picked up my roommate Kevin, my sister, and my mom from the airport followed by a little lunch at Firehouse. We hung out for a little, went for a little spin, then met up with my grandparents for dinner. Friday was about the same. Some easy morning workouts, a little IHOP for breakfast, the pro meeting, Subway for lunch, meeting up the family to discuss the race day parking situation, checking in my gear to the transition area, dinner with my dad, and bedtime.
Saturday rolled around and the weather was perfect. High 50's, not much of a wind, and clear skies. After my usual breakfast, I headed down to the transition area to finish my pre race prep. At about 6:15, I had my wetsuit on, got a good luck kiss from Casey, then headed down to the water for my warmup. At 6:40, I was standing on the beach with some of the best triathletes in the world waiting for the gun to go off. There is nothing more nerve racking than the "waiting" period just before a big race. At 6:45, the cannon went off.
I didn't have a great starting position, but actually had a decent run into the water. I shot through a little gap, did the dolphin dive a few times, then was in water deep enough to swim. I put my head down and tried to get into a good position. I fought with a few guys for the first 200 - 300 meters, and swallowed a few mouth fulls of water in the process. I got right on the buoy line and felt like I was decent position. I lost the feet in front of me about 600 meters in but kept that group close until the first turn buoy. Once we rounded that turn, we swam 100 meters directly into the wind/waves. That is where I lost the group in front of me. I thought for a second I was in no man's land, but after the next turn buoy, I had another group catch me, so I just sat in and swam with then the rest of the way into the beach. I was the last one in that group out of the water, but I was out with some fast cyclists such as Maxim Kriat, Chris Legh, and Leon Griffin so I knew that I had a chance to pace off of some really fast guys to help me get back into the action. Well, apparently my T1 was terrible and I never once saw those guys. I felt that I had a decent transition, put my head down for the first 5 miles on the bike, and I caught 4 -5 guys that were just up the road. None of these guys were the names that I previously mentioned and I found out that the guys that I caught were not the strongest of cyclists. They were strong enough to sit behind me and pace, but not enough to be in the wind themselves. When I would back off, they would pass me, but our pace would drop a couple of mph. So I basically pulled this group for the majority of the race. We did have 2 MUCH stronger cyclists pass us, but they were out of my league. I tried to pace off of both of them when they passed, but I felt like I was going sprint tri speed and not 70.3 speed, and I did want to have something left for the run. I came into T2 well behind the leaders and not in a great position overall. I took off on the run and realized that the flat and windy course had done some work to my legs. I felt like I had no gas in the tank what-so-ever. I just decided right then that I was going to finish the race, no matter what, and give it my best effort. I fought off cramps and just an overall terrible feeling in my whole body for the first 3 miles of the run. After I got a little fluids and Power Gels into my system, I felt a little better. The rest of the run, I paced off of the guys who were just up the road. I did eventually catch them around mile 10 - 11. My fastest splits on the run were actually my last 3 miles which was a little surprising. I guess that is what happens when you are trying to pass competitors. After a little scare from my buddy Nick Waninger at mile 13.05 of the run, I managed to cross the finish line just in front of him in 28th position among the pro's.
I was extremely happy to be finished with the race. This was my slowest 70.3 of the year and I was not overly happy with my performance, but I know that there are days that you just have to grind it out, and today was one of those days. Overall, I felt flat the whole race. I felt that I couldn't keep up the strong pace on the bike and that I didn't have any turn over on the run.
I know that I am better on the harder bike courses that have more hills because that is where I tend to be a little better than the average triathlete but these flatter courses are not the best for me considering the terrain of central Kentucky.
But, my season is now over and I have 2011 to look forward to. I would love to see how I can match up against these guys in Las Vegas. I know I need to keep up my work in the water, actually train on the bike in the off season, and then keep up my mileage over the winter. I'll bet that having a decent base phase will make a world of difference going into a new season.
I want to thank everyone who travelled down to Florida to watch me. It was a blast having everyone there and supporting me. My roommate Kevin had an amazing race and finished 2nd in his AG and 8th overall among the amateurs. My brother fought his way through the race battling his injured IT band and finished the race. We were all happy to be done for the season.
Tony
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Are You Ready?
The week has come and in a few days my season will be over. I have been anxiously waiting for this Saturday and am really looking forward to competing against some of the best 70.3 athletes in the world. I'm headed to Clearwater tomorrow to get checked into the hotel and just going to hang out and rest before Saturday.
As I have heard before, "The hay is in the barn." I am just doing a few maintenance workouts before Saturday and that is just to keep the blood moving. All of the hard stuff is over, I just have to go out and perform this weekend. I watched "Friday Night Lights" this morning while I was on the trainer and I absolutely love that movie. It always gets me pumped up before a big race.
And I know I have posted that video before, but it's one of my favorites. It is the Versus commercial from 2009. I don't know if there is anything better to watch to get you motivated to go out and give 110%.
T-Bird
As I have heard before, "The hay is in the barn." I am just doing a few maintenance workouts before Saturday and that is just to keep the blood moving. All of the hard stuff is over, I just have to go out and perform this weekend. I watched "Friday Night Lights" this morning while I was on the trainer and I absolutely love that movie. It always gets me pumped up before a big race.
And I know I have posted that video before, but it's one of my favorites. It is the Versus commercial from 2009. I don't know if there is anything better to watch to get you motivated to go out and give 110%.
T-Bird
Monday, October 25, 2010
Medical Center 10k Classic RR
Well another 2 weeks have gone by since my last post and all is well. The weather is starting to get a little colder, but nothing too serious. It's nice that the weather has stayed as warm as it has allowing me to train outside more so than I anticipated going into Clearwater. I'm still doing my computrainer workout once a week, but trying to get outside on most of the other days. I have yet to retreat to the treadmill and this up coming week looks to be sunny on most of the days.
I traveled to Bowling Green this past weekend to visit the family and run in a little 10k that has a pretty fast course (and a little prize money). I figured since it was at the end of a recovery week that I might run a PR if I raced well, and maybe even dip under 33 minutes for the first time. After a good warmup with my brother, I headed to the start line just before the start at 8:30. At 8:30 the gun went off, and so did the Kenyans. I have never raced in such a deep field of Kenyans and I felt like I was out of my league even 100 yards into the race. I knew I wasn't there to compete for the overall victory as the last 3 - 4 winners have all broke 30 minutes, but I was simply there to be as competitive as possible and run fast. Well, after about a 1/4 mile, I was in about 25th - 30th position and falling back from the main pack. They were absolutely flying and there was nothing I could do to hang on. I went through the first mile in 5:00 and realized that, yes, they were running fast as I was a good 20 - 30 seconds back from the leaders. The 2nd mile gave me an opportunity to pass a few of the competitors who wanted to be in the lead group, but were not in shape enough to do so for very long. I passed 3 - 4 guys during this second mile and went through the 2 mile in 10:11. The pain set in and I realized that I wasn't far off of my 5k PR pace. I managed to get away from another competitor during the 3rd mile and made my way up the biggest hill on the course. It's about a 1/2 mile long but very gradual. I went to 3 miles at 15:30 and the 5k at 16:05. I knew the 4th mile would be the hardest with the hill, but it is always the hardest mile of a 10k anyways. I tried to keep my rhythm, but fell off pace a little and went through 4 miles in 21 flat. I sped up a little, but was chasing 2 guys who were a good 30 seconds up, and trying to get away from a guy who was about 20 seconds back from me. I was in no man's land and just trying to hold on for dear life. I went through 5 miles in 26:25 (which is a best for me). One thing I love about this race is they have the mile and kilometers marked throughout the course. I went through 9k at 29:43 meaning I had to run the last kilometer in under 3:17. It is mostly downhill and I had just enough in the tank to do so. I crossed the finish line in 32:53ish.
A 10k is extremely painful when compared to a triathlon. You are running at top end speed for a good 30 minutes and this hurts your lungs A LOT. In a triathlon, it is more painful for the body as a whole, but I am never that close to my VO2 max during a triathlon (especially during a 1/2 IM).
I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Jackson's Orchard, my grandparent's orchard in Bowling Green, and watched a little football. Sunday morning came around and my brother and I got in a great ride through the flat country in Warren and Logan Counties. It was a little windy, but was a good prep for Clearwater.
Less than 3 week to go before Clearwater, and then its time for some downtime.
Tony
I traveled to Bowling Green this past weekend to visit the family and run in a little 10k that has a pretty fast course (and a little prize money). I figured since it was at the end of a recovery week that I might run a PR if I raced well, and maybe even dip under 33 minutes for the first time. After a good warmup with my brother, I headed to the start line just before the start at 8:30. At 8:30 the gun went off, and so did the Kenyans. I have never raced in such a deep field of Kenyans and I felt like I was out of my league even 100 yards into the race. I knew I wasn't there to compete for the overall victory as the last 3 - 4 winners have all broke 30 minutes, but I was simply there to be as competitive as possible and run fast. Well, after about a 1/4 mile, I was in about 25th - 30th position and falling back from the main pack. They were absolutely flying and there was nothing I could do to hang on. I went through the first mile in 5:00 and realized that, yes, they were running fast as I was a good 20 - 30 seconds back from the leaders. The 2nd mile gave me an opportunity to pass a few of the competitors who wanted to be in the lead group, but were not in shape enough to do so for very long. I passed 3 - 4 guys during this second mile and went through the 2 mile in 10:11. The pain set in and I realized that I wasn't far off of my 5k PR pace. I managed to get away from another competitor during the 3rd mile and made my way up the biggest hill on the course. It's about a 1/2 mile long but very gradual. I went to 3 miles at 15:30 and the 5k at 16:05. I knew the 4th mile would be the hardest with the hill, but it is always the hardest mile of a 10k anyways. I tried to keep my rhythm, but fell off pace a little and went through 4 miles in 21 flat. I sped up a little, but was chasing 2 guys who were a good 30 seconds up, and trying to get away from a guy who was about 20 seconds back from me. I was in no man's land and just trying to hold on for dear life. I went through 5 miles in 26:25 (which is a best for me). One thing I love about this race is they have the mile and kilometers marked throughout the course. I went through 9k at 29:43 meaning I had to run the last kilometer in under 3:17. It is mostly downhill and I had just enough in the tank to do so. I crossed the finish line in 32:53ish.
A 10k is extremely painful when compared to a triathlon. You are running at top end speed for a good 30 minutes and this hurts your lungs A LOT. In a triathlon, it is more painful for the body as a whole, but I am never that close to my VO2 max during a triathlon (especially during a 1/2 IM).
I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Jackson's Orchard, my grandparent's orchard in Bowling Green, and watched a little football. Sunday morning came around and my brother and I got in a great ride through the flat country in Warren and Logan Counties. It was a little windy, but was a good prep for Clearwater.
Less than 3 week to go before Clearwater, and then its time for some downtime.
Tony
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Adventures of T-Bird
I had a great week of training this past week but I did make a silly/amateur mistake. The week started off pretty simple with some simple workouts. Thursday came around and that is my usual day I have efforts on the bike. I had a 2 hour threshold set and it is extremely useful to have the computrainer at Swim Bike Run of Ky to use. I definitely put myself in the hole during that workout, but had the strength to finish it which was encouraging. It was definitely the hardest bike workout I have ever done, but having the strength to successfully finish it made it even better. Now I did have trouble walking for the rest of the day, ha. Friday came around and I skipped out on my tempo run in the afternoon since I had a long day at work, so I decided I would just include it into my long run the following morning.
I met up with an old friend, Ali Grace (or maybe its Morgan, she just got married about a month ago), Saturday morning to do my tempo/long run. She runs professionally for ZAP fitness and made for a great running partner this morning. I met up with her about 10 minutes into my run and we headed out to the new "Legacy Trail" to start our workout. I ended up running 5 miles before we even started our workout and then our tempo session started. I helped pace her for her efforts. She had a 3 mile effort at 6 minute pace, and then every effort after that got a 1/2 mile shorter and just a tad faster. After our 2nd effort, I realized that I was 12 miles from home. I never once thought about the total distance of how far I was running until this point. I didn't freak out at first. We turned around right after the 2nd effort and started our recovery jog. I helped pace her for her next effort and then that still put me about 6 - 7 miles from home. So I just ran the most direct route that I could back to Swim Bike Run of KY (since it was 2 miles closer to my current location than my house was). Luckily, Jeff Buhr was about to leave the shop so he gave me a ride home. I ended up running 20.4 miles miles when I was only scheduled to run 13 - 14 miles total. Needless to say, I took the following day off from running, ha. I still got in a solid bike ride with Kevin on Sunday to finish off a great week.
One encouraging thing about that run on Saturday was the fact that I didn't take any kind of nutrition and a lot of the run was at "tempo" pace and I never "bonked." Don't get me wrong, I was extremely tired and hungry but I guess the intense training that I have done of the past few years is helping and making me a stronger/fitter triathlete. And the fact that my "best" distance of a triathlon takes around 4 hours to complete and this run only lasted 2:15. It is still my longest run in almost 3 years.
Today was a nice recovery day and I'm back at the hard stuff tomorrow.
Tony
I met up with an old friend, Ali Grace (or maybe its Morgan, she just got married about a month ago), Saturday morning to do my tempo/long run. She runs professionally for ZAP fitness and made for a great running partner this morning. I met up with her about 10 minutes into my run and we headed out to the new "Legacy Trail" to start our workout. I ended up running 5 miles before we even started our workout and then our tempo session started. I helped pace her for her efforts. She had a 3 mile effort at 6 minute pace, and then every effort after that got a 1/2 mile shorter and just a tad faster. After our 2nd effort, I realized that I was 12 miles from home. I never once thought about the total distance of how far I was running until this point. I didn't freak out at first. We turned around right after the 2nd effort and started our recovery jog. I helped pace her for her next effort and then that still put me about 6 - 7 miles from home. So I just ran the most direct route that I could back to Swim Bike Run of KY (since it was 2 miles closer to my current location than my house was). Luckily, Jeff Buhr was about to leave the shop so he gave me a ride home. I ended up running 20.4 miles miles when I was only scheduled to run 13 - 14 miles total. Needless to say, I took the following day off from running, ha. I still got in a solid bike ride with Kevin on Sunday to finish off a great week.
One encouraging thing about that run on Saturday was the fact that I didn't take any kind of nutrition and a lot of the run was at "tempo" pace and I never "bonked." Don't get me wrong, I was extremely tired and hungry but I guess the intense training that I have done of the past few years is helping and making me a stronger/fitter triathlete. And the fact that my "best" distance of a triathlon takes around 4 hours to complete and this run only lasted 2:15. It is still my longest run in almost 3 years.
Today was a nice recovery day and I'm back at the hard stuff tomorrow.
Tony
Saturday, October 2, 2010
RJ Corman Duathlon RR
Yes, those are real.Well, I "officially" competed in my first duathlon today and it turned out to be a GREAT idea considering this was my trophy. I have done several in the past, but only because the swim leg got cancelled from a triathlon. The Chrysallis House and Swim Bike Run of KY teamed up to help RJ Corman put on this high dollar event. They are really looking to make it a big event next year. The owner, Rick Corman, put up $6,000 for prize money but did not necessarily want to make it a professional race. He wanted it to be a "Go Big or Go Home" kind of deal. And it definitely was. You either received $1,000 for 1st, or (originally) nothing for 2nd place (Swim Bike Run of KY stepped in and donated some gift cards for 2nd and 3rd place so they wouldn't go home empty handed). The winners of the Duathlon and 5k would each receive $1,000 and then there would be 8 $250 drawings for random people who competed in the race (either the duathlon or the 5k). As it turns out, that kind of money will get people to stick around for awards. It was one of the biggest award ceremonies I have seen at a smaller race like this.
Anyways, I have been struggling all week trying to recover from last weekend. I did an easy bike ride Wednesday which didn't feel too bad but I still didn't feel normal. Thursday had some easy swimming and running involved in it but both workouts took all of the motivation I had stored up inside of me to get out the door. Friday morning I did a 1.5 hr computrainer ride and then rested for the rest of the day. I wasn't sure what to expect today but I felt pretty decent. It was 43 degrees this morning so it was a little chilly at the start. The first 5k felt A LOT better than expected. We went through the first mile in about 5:12 and I had no idea I was running that fast. We slowed down a little over the next 2 miles but I managed to get a little gap on the next 2 competitors going into T1. I think I ran around 16:40 for that first 5k. I hopped on the bike and was off through RJ Corman's property. He owns A TON of property and the first 3 - 4 miles of the bike course is on his private property and then the last 3 - 4 miles of the bike course is on his property. Two of those last miles are on his Runway for his jet. Crazy, huh? Anyways, the middle section of the bike is pretty technical. We go down a fast decent into a hard right hand turn. They did a great job warning us about the course but the 3rd place finished had a bout of bad luck with his carbon brakes and didn't make it into that turn.
I came into T2 with about 2.5 - 3 minutes on the next guy and I was off onto the 2nd run. It was the same course as the first run so I knew what to expect and I just kept a good tempo across the finish line. It was a 5k / 15 miles / 5k Duathlon and my finishing time was 1:16:something. I was extremely pleased with how I felt and the effort for the day. My legs felt a little heavy on the bike but nothing too terrible. My roomie, Kevin Ryan, finished 2nd overall and then Jeff Buhr came home in 3rd. He ended up with a little road rash, but nothing too serious from his spill. Allison Stewart brought home the W on the ladies side.
Now its time to hit it hard and get in a big block of training for Clearwater. I plan on running a 10k in Bowling Green here in a few weeks but there will be no taper or rest for that race. Then my season will be done.
T-Bird
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