An Interview with Kona Qualifier - Emily Rollins

Emily thanks for doing this interview!  You have been on fire the past few years so I thought you would be a great first interview for this site.  First off, tell me where you are from.

I am an original Nashvillian.  Graduated from Brentwood High School then ran away to college at UT Martin for a few years. 

How did you get into the sport?

I ran my first 5K back in 2001 and built my race distance through the years.  I ran my first marathon in 2004.  After checking off a few Boston marathons, I set a goal to run all 50 states.  My core group of running friends got in to triathlons and started running so much faster…so I changed my plans and traded in an old diamond (yep, the wedding ring) for a road bike and signed up for my first triathlon.  Fall Creek Falls triathlon was just enough torture that I had to keep at it!  Olympic, to 70.3, to IM Wisconsin in 2011 and I was hooked.  I’ll never forget showing up to my first group ride with Vicki Updike and crew.  I was in tears, scared to death to ride with the big dogs.  Now my favorite Saturday mornings are filled with the girls (vicki and me) trying to keep up with the boys (Bruce, Marshall, and Brad). 

So this is where you met your husband, Brad?

I actually met Brad in Panama City at the Gulf Coast triathlon after party.  We were introduced to each other by mutual friends.  In January of 2013, I started the “Coach Brad” vs. “Boyfriend Brad” relationship.  We learned pretty quick that it was good to define those two-especially during IM training meltdowns (which were few and far between, but actually quite funny stories).  Many coaching moments out on the road with me “I can’t keep up” and Coach Brad “Quit whining and suck a wheel!”  And so “Bramily” decided Chattanooga would be the first IM we would race together.  If you can make it through that as a couple and a coach…then you are golden for marriage! =) Since we met, we’ve raced a combined 11 Ironman races… with 2 more right around the corner.  Many hours of sweating on the trainer together, swimming in the same lap lane, and chasing each other down the road…Brad is much faster with the swimming and biking but he will always loop back during a rest interval to check on me and I’ve learned to hang on to his wheel when I can.  I try to hold my own running with him.  He is the push that made the Kona dream come true.  I did the work, but he is the mastermind behind it all physically, mentally, and emotionally! 

What a great relationship!  So what does a typical training week look like?

A typical workout week for me is a swim or run in the morning and bike workouts or some runs in the evening.  I’m a morning person-Brad’s an evening person so we try to make the most of it.  I sleep in occasionally…and I drag him out of the bed as much as I can!  We do our long run mid week, and ride longer both weekend days.  Rest day = an easy swim.  Brad started a new job back in May and is traveling a lot, so workouts are lonely these days.  We also got a new puppy…and I just hate leaving her at home all day.  It’s made training a little more difficult too.  (Brad would say very difficult!)

Emily and 2 of her Timex teammates, Bruce Gennari and Bo Parrish, after the Music City Triathlon

Sounds like you have a pretty full schedule!  Tell me a little about your races the past year or two...

Last year was a huge year for me with placing first in my age group at IM CDA, Kona, and getting on Team Timex.  My favorite triathlon memories are from CDA and Kona- Brad had been sick leading up to CDA.  I knew on the run when I didn’t see him on the out and back that something was wrong.  Our good friend Daniel kept telling me Brad was fine.  When I got to the turn-around…I called him out on it.  Brad had gotten sick on the bike and dropped out at the half way point.  As I ran back in to town, Brad was with our family at the 12/13 mile turn around.  On the way in to the turn, they told me I was gaining on the 1^st place girl….on the way out of the turn, Brad was the one who got to tell me I had just passed her for first.  I was sad to see he was not able to complete the race, but it was so special for “Coach/Husband” to be able to share that moment-in the moment.  I just had to hang on and the dream would come true.  The sweat heart that I made on his shirt from hugging him after the race says it all.  Oh…did I mention it was 106 degrees race day and the TN heat and humidity helped me run down all those northwestern girls??

I knew this Tennessee heat was good for something.  How was Kona?

Kona was every bit of what you would think and more.  Training was hard because the goal had been for the Rollins to race together.  It felt like it should be his race.  The week leading up to the race was filled with race activities and training.  Morning swims to the coffee boat, rides on the Queen K, and runs up and down Alli’i Drive.  The whole town is full of race energy.  The pros are out everywhere.  Every company that has anything to do with triathlon is out and about handing out freebies and selling new products.  Favorite pre-race moment-watching Brad meet Bob Babbitt and spending the morning with him at Breakfast with Bob.  Bike check in was high security with a paparazzi type feel.  No one could get on the pier without a personal escort through all of transition.  To get to the escort, you had to roll your bike in a single file line.  Have you seen the Kona count on slow twitch?  This is where it happens.  About 50 men and women line the gates with clipboards in hand, staring down every racer.  What wheels, what power, what bike, all of it…VERY overwhelming!!  Race day was just as crazy.  Favorite moments-mile 38 of the bike when the pro men started coming towards me on their way back in, and coming out on the run to follow Tim O’Donnell for a few steps as he was racing in for a 3^rd place finish.  The race brought it all…waves, wind, rain, burning sun, an upset stomach…the challenge was real!  The course is much harder than it looks on TV and the road to the energy lab goes on and on and on and on.

Tell me a little bit about Team Timex.

Team Timex was a surprise!  I honestly filled out the application for fun while doing persuasive writing with my 3^rd graders.  I really didn’t think I was good enough to stand a chance!  I met everyone on the team back in March at Timex Team Camp in Arizona.  Timex is more than just a race team, it really is a family.  Family style meals from Allen Lim’s Skratch food truck- that will do it for the team bonding! Food and triathletes-what more do you need? From motivation at races, to long rides in the Colorado mountains, to chatting about life, job changes, and bringing out the best in each other, in just a few months, I’ve made friends I know I will have for a lifetime.

So what has 2016 looked like so far?

In regards to training and racing this year, we should have known the spring break “raincation” not “traincation” was a sign of things of things to come.   We were definitely prepared for the Texas rain.  New Orleans 70.3 was a rough swim and windy bike/run.  Not by best, but good enough for 2^nd in my age group.  I did Ironman Texas about a month later.  Next up was Chattanooga Oly with a 2^nd place finish.  I was thrilled!  I’m lucky to have a cousin who lives in Denver so I spent the first 2 ½ weeks of July living the dream in CO.  Training morning and evenings around babysitting the little cousins, I did every open water swim and crazy week day or weekend event I could find.  I came home and had a great Music City race-3^rd overall.  I’m currently in the car heading to Steelhead as I type.  Hoping to ride some more of the altitude training benefits!  And of course, Kona is right around the corner!

update: Emily finished 8th overall and 4th in her AG at Steelhead 70.3 on August 14th and qualified for the 70.3 World Championship 2017 in Chattanooga.  

Emily with her 2017 70.3 World Champs invitation letter.

So tell me a little bit more about your Ironman in Texas.  I know that was a crazy race.

Texas.  A bit of a nightmare leading up to the race with the shortened bike and then a complete swim change.  (and Brad’s new job and a new puppy the month before the race!!).  Swim went great.  The bike course was MUCH better than expected from our pre race drive.  Lots of turns, but overall not bad and 18 miles short!  Then there was the run.  It started out pretty normal-me trying to keep my pace, but find a friend to also keep my pace so that I could talk the whole time and forget the hurt.  I dropped my BASE salt tube just after passing the BASE tent (by the way-they did tell me the day before the race to ALWAYS carry 2 tubes.  Oops).  3 loop course.  Family on one side keeping up with splits, friends on the other side of the course for encouragement.  Mile 21ish…we see the clouds coming.  Mile 22ish.  I see the lightning streaking for 2 different storms coming from 2 directions.  Mile 23ish…pouring rain, wind that could knock you down, thunder, lightning, puddles covering your shoes…and now hail.  It was honestly pretty funny.  What else could you do but laugh.  Mile 24.5ish…policemen in the middle of the path stopping everyone and putting us in a parking garage.  For 12 minutes I watched everyone behind me catch up with me.  I knew I had run down several girls in my age group and now they were standing with me in a parking garage.  I also knew what was going to happen.  IF they let us start again they didn’t know what order we were stopped in.  It was going to be mass chaos down the small path…and I was going to have to run 5k pace for the last 1.5 miles of an Ironman.  I found Daniel Kirby, we formed a plan, and the race started back.  Look out for Daniels elbows people.  He was clearing the path for me.  Once I got through the crowd, I ran for my life.  The finish line had been torn down from the storm so it was very uneventful-and then we waited for results.  They originally kept the extra time in everyone’s finish time.  I don’t know how they figured it out, but once the adjusted my time, I was pretty spot on without the stopped time.  Others weren’t so lucky.  Ironman did tell us at the awards ceremony that they would look at individual times if you were in question of a Kona slot (you were running someone down and you could prove your pace was faster if we hadn’t been stopped).  I finished 5^th in my age group and took the one roll down spot to Kona.  (Only to find out the next day that 4^th was disqualified after awards so I was a legit qualifier!)  

Wow!  that is crazy.  I couldn't imagine trying to figure out a mess like that but it sounds like it worked out just fine.  Congrats on qualifying for your 2nd Kona and the 70.3 World Champs in Chattanooga for 2017.  Good luck with the rest of the season.  Thank you for the interview!!

Faking your bike fitness part 2 - Zwift and my indoor training regime

One KEY part that I left out of my previous "Faking the bike leg" was how hard I was working in the short amount of time that I had after deciding to race the Music City Tri.

One method of training that I swore against as a beginner triathlete was anything that was indoors.  I hated the treadmill and hated the trainer.  I even found an outdoor lap pool after 2 years in the sport and that made me not like my regular swimming pool for a while.  But I soon realized that most outdoor pool's water temperature is much warmer and increase my suffering during a hard swim.

Sometimes, I still feel like I am being "weak" when I resort to the treadmill during the summer on a hot day but have been able to accept it more than I could 10 years ago.  I realized earlier this summer that my easy days were no longer easy.  I would jog for 30-45 minutes @ 9 min/mile pace and my HR was North of 150.  For an easier run, I like my HR to stay in the low 130's or lower if possible.   On a treadmill, I was able to run a little closer to my "regular" pace and maintain a lower HR.  On my workout days, I could run hard in a cool 72-75 degree gym as opposed to the 90+ degree heat with 98% humidity that was waiting for me outside.  My water bottle and phone could sit on the treadmill in front of me and I could actually hydrate a little better compared to my running outside.

On the bike, the trainer is my main tool.  I ride outside every once in a while just to make sure I remember how to, but 9 out of 10 rides is on the trainer.  I own a computrainer and use Zwift with my computrainer.  This allows me to virtually compete against anyone else that is online at the time on a virtual course.  My "smart" trainer will make it harder on uphills and easier on downhills.  It is still a trainer in the sense that I cannot coast, but it does get easy on some of those downhills.

Here are a few of the key workouts that I did leading into the MCT.  Keep in mind these are not my only bike rides, these are just a few of the key workouts.  I was doing at least 2x ez rides and a few other workouts that weren't as crucial.

Here was my initial ride to get a feel for my HR vs Power and see what I was capable of. This was just a 1 hour ride on Zwift pushing some of the hills but otherwise just riding in high zone 2.  Test ride

-Here I did a Mountain climb on Zwift averaging roughly 250 watts for 35 ish minutes Climb

-This was a 1 lap @ HR around 147-150 then another mountain climb.  Hot lap + Mountain

-Here is my 2x25@RP that I do every once in a while.  1 lap on this Zwift course was right around a 25 min effort for me so I just did that twice.  I did both hard @ about my current "race pace" with only 5 minutes easy between.  This ride made it difficult to walk the rest of the day.  I was barely able to turn the pedals over at 140 watts for a cooldown.

-This was my final Race Week Prep workout where I rode above race pace effort/wattage just to make race pace feel easier.  I didn't go too long or try to push too hard.  I could have gone harder, but that would have only taken away from Race day only 6 days later.

Some days I'll make sure to stay off of Zwift if I'm riding easy.  I find myself racing other athletes when I'm supposed to be going easy.  So I just use the "erg" mode on the computrainer and put in on a low zone 2 power and spin at 85-95 cadence as that helps flush out my legs.  This kind of ride was great on an afternoon where I had performed a hard run that morning.  Really helped me with recovery.  I would typically feel much better the next morning.

Hope this helps give you an idea of the kind of stuff that needs to be done when you are strapped for time.  I wasn't riding 10+ hours a week like I know a lot of people do.  I was riding at least 3 times a week and making sure that 2x a week had some HARD efforts included.

T

Local Race Spotlight - Splashville Open Water Challenge

Splashville Open Water Challenge - Sunday August 28th - 8 am

This is a first year event that will be hosted at the Hamilton Creek Park @ Percy Priest Reservoir.  There are 3 different race day distances.  The 5k swim is a 2 loop swim that will start at 8am.  There is a 2.5K swim that starts at 8:30am and will complete 1 loop of the course.  At 10am there will be a shorter loop for the 800 meter swim.

This is a great way for any local athlete that is preparing for Ironman Chattanooga, Maryland, Louisville, Kona, Florida, or Arizona.  Or if you are competing in the "Swim the Suck" in Chattanooga. This will be a great opportunity to practice sighting.  Everyone knows that is what is forgot about when you swim most of your yards in the pool.  This will be a great way to practice swimming straight without a black line under you.  Also, in a pool, you might have 3-4 people sharing a lane with you.  In this race, you will be able to simulate what race day will feel like.  Swimming with a bunch of other athletes at the same time, you can practice drafting, swimming between people, and making turns at buoys while avoiding getting dunked by a competitor.

This will be a well supported event that has plenty of lifeguards on duty if you were to need it.

Just click here to register for this race.  The 800 is $30 before August 14th and $40 after. The 2.5K is $50 before August 14th and only $60 after.  And the 5k swim is only $60 before August 14th and $70 after.

If you have any questions about this event. Please reach out to the race director, Allison Ware
AWare@splashvilleswim.com


T

Faking your Bike Fitness - Using Aerodynamics as your Friend

Tip #1: Bike Geek data and aerodynamics in Triathlon

*Cycling is one thing that I picked up with relative ease.  I hate to say it but some people pick up certain things very easily and cycling happened to be that thing for me.  Some people can go to the gym and squat 200+ pounds with zero training.  Not me.  I would have to work my butt off for months/years to be able to squat 200 pounds.  But, with cycling, I can take off 2-3 months, and lose very little fitness as long as I have stayed active with running/swimming.  So take that into account as you read this post.  I am in no way advocating someone to do minimal cycling and then expecting to be able to go out and crush an Ironman bike ride.

For the data geeks, here is my bike file from the MCT bike  last weekend.  I did not race on "race" wheels but did buy new tires/tubes that have a better rolling resistance.  About 2 weeks before the race I did my research.  I know that Pro's like Cody Beals and Lionel Sanders are very particular about what tires they use on race day.  This is something that I have never looked closely into.  I train almost exclusively on the Gatorskin tires as they appear to be bulletproof.  But I have also found out that they are one of the worst tires to race on because of their weight and "rolling resistance."  So after a little research, I found that the Continental Grand Prix 4000s tires are a great choice.  Yes, there are faster/lighter tires out there, but they were also more expensive and more susceptible to flat tires.  I did not want to get a flat during my race.  Several web sites rates these Grand prix's as one of the best overall choices for a tire.  Red Kite Bikes here in Nashville has plenty of tires to choose from including the Grand Prix.  I picked up two of these tires along with two "racing" tubes for the Triathlon.  I did NOT use the latex tubes as these are twice the price of regular tubes and also much more susceptible to flats.   Do you ever wonder why the top pro triathletes are always getting flat tires?  It's because they race with the fastest tires/tubes possible, but just way riskier.  These tires/tubes have the potential to save up to 5-10 minutes for these guys over a 56 mile bike course that they typically cover in just over 2 hours.  Never knew that tires were such a big deal, did you?

My next step was to make sure that I was as aerodynamic as possible.  You want your set up on your bike to be aerodynamic, but also comfortable enough to stay there as long as you can during a race.  So it should feel comfortable on the uphills and downhills.  I would rather stay in the aero position and only push 85% of my "race" power than to sit up and produce 105+% of my "race" power.  Yes it's easier to produce more power when sitting up, but is that the fastest?  Will that burn a match that I'll need 30-45 minutes later on the run?  I like to keep my power as steady as possible so that those matches don't get burned too early in the race.  I made a few small adjustments 3-4 weeks before the race to make sure that I could produce the kind of power that I needed to, but also was not overly aggressive.

Here is a great pic of my Trisuit from Kiwami

I wore a very form fitting 1 piece Trisuit.  As you learn from the Tour de France, or watching any Ironman race, a skin tight suit with sleeves is fast.  Hence the change over the last few years from a "normal" tri suit to the ones with sleeves.  Apparently your skin is the slowest surface that is in the wind.  The TdF guys were wearing long sleeves and high "aero" socks during the TT stage because of this.  But you have to find a happy medium between aerodynamics and allowing your skin to breath, especially on a hot day.  You might have saved 30 seconds on your bike ride at a triathlon by wearing a form fitting long sleeve cycling top, but you also might have over heated and had to walk the entire run portion.  So you do what is going to work best for you.  I wore a 1 piece trisuit (no sleeves) that is very form fitting from Kiwami for 2 reasons.  They have been proven to be very aerodynamic in the wind tunnel.  Also because they work great in the water and I have no need to wear a swim skin over it.  It almost works as a swim skin itself.  (And I always get over heated in swim skins so only have 1 trisuit on in warm water helps keep my core temperature down on a hot day).

I shave my legs which has been proven to help with aerodynamics.  Just watch the video above.
I kept my excess nutrition on my top tube of my bike and then stuffed the garbage into my trikit.
I wore an Aero helmet from Rudy Project.  I know there are faster helmets out there, but this happens to be my sponsor ;)

Don't try anything crazy, just stay aero and hydrate.  I know tons of people that pushed too much on a course like that and then could barely run.  You have to know your limits and stay below them.  If you look closely at my power file, I rode the first 5 miles very conservatively.  Then was able to go a little harder as I got a feel for how I was feeling.

Hope this helps!!

T

Local Race Spotlight - BGST

Bowling Green Sprint Triathlon - Sunday August 21, 2016 @ 8am

Great venue for a first time triathlete.

The swim is only 400 meters in a pool.  Plenty of room to pass slower swimmers as you have a full lane per 50 meters before moving to the next lane to snake your way to the end of the swim.

The bike leg is 23 kilometers or roughly 14.2 miles.  It winds through some of the back roads of Bowling Green with some challenging climbs and some screaming fast downhills.  I had the lead vehicle driver tell me "I was running 50+ mph to stay in front of you" last year on one of the descents.  That particular descent is straight on a freshly paved road so I was never uncomfortable going those speeds.

The run circles the park that hosts the transition area and then winds it's way up a hill into a neighborhood before making your way onto the Greenway that runs parallel with the final 1/2 mile of the bike course.

It is only $60-65 for USAT members depending on when you sign up this month and even has a kids triathlon on Saturday for your kids to enjoy if you want to make a weekend trip to Bowling Green.

Just click here to register for the race.

If you do, make sure to stop by Jackson's Orchard and get some fresh peaches and apples.  Some of the best in this region of the country.  And definitely worth the trip to go back in October for their fall festival for some apple pies, pumpkins, corn mazes, and then of course the apples.  For more info, just click the logo on the right side of this page!

T

A New Chapter

So I am currently playing the waiting game with my wife.  Yesterday was our due date but still no baby.  I know plenty of people go through this everyday but this is my first experience with it.  I was secretly hoping that she would go into labor a few weeks early and just surprise us.  But here we are, 1 day past due, just waiting.

My wife is a trooper.  She has worked everyday like she is not pregnant at all.  She went in this morning just like it's another day.  Fortunately, this week she does have some additional help at work. So if she does go into labor, then she can just leave when she needs to and not leave the rest of her day's patients onto her other full time PT at the clinic.

But I have stepped back from racing as a "professional" (if you can say that I ever did that).  I never raced for the money and that is what it takes to consider yourself a "pro."  I always just raced to the best of my ability and got to a point in my career that to be my best, I needed to race against some of the best.  Sure I got my doors blown off numerous times, but I also had some fantastic performances.  At the time I didn't view them as such since I "only" finished 4th or 7th or whatever place overall, but looking back, I went FAST.  Oh to be young and naive.  I just would race and welcome the pain that came with going fast.  Now a days, I am a little older, don't have the 5-7 years of uninterrupted training, and am a little more injury prone.  I have to be super careful with what I do and need a rest day every once in a while.  And since I'm not lining up against Frodeno or Keinle, I don't need to be in my peak physical form at every race.  I don't mind jumping in a local 5k to test my fitness and end up 7th place.  Or jumping in a Masters swim meet and swim the 100 or 200 freestyle and getting destroyed by some ex-collegiate swimmers.  Sometimes these are fun and a great way to learn something new.

In fact, 1 week ago, I raced in my 5th Music City Triathlon.  This is a race that I have won 3 times in the past and got 2nd in 2013.  I will argue that 2013 was one of my better races in this race because I was coming back from a major injury and hadn't been training seriously for very long.  But I will now say that the 2016 race is my best.  Chris Douglas from Atlanta came up to race and was only a 1/2 mile from winning the race.  Unfortunately for him, the heat caught up with him late in the race and he pushed himself past his limit and never made it to the finish line.  I commend Chris on racing so fast and hard for that long and pushing me close to my limit that day.  We ran side by side for 5 miles before he wavered.  I was able to win this race for the 4th time and do so in front of hundreds of friends and family that I now have here in Nashville.  My wife and I are truly grateful for the relationships that we have developed here in Nashville and look forward to starting our family here.  I will continue to race and have fun with the sport.  I may continue racing as a "pro" or I may step back race as an amateur in 2017.  I may focus on qualifying for the Boston marathon and only jump in a triathlon every few months.  The only thing that I know for sure is that this blog will now be a resource for coaching.   Having been a runner for 14+ years and competing in triathlons since 2005, I have a lot of experience and knowledge about the sport.  Hopefully, you can use this website as a source of knowledge about nutrition, racing tactics, training methods, etc.  I will do my best to keep it updated and make sure that each post doesn't take 2 hours to read.

I'll post my first blog in the next few days about how I "faked" my cycling fitness at the Music City triathlon and what I did to help my bike split.

T

Taking Risks

Since I have raced twice in the past 2 weeks, it is probably time for an update and not just a few pictures.

The Gulf Coast Triathlon has been around for 33 years and I have never competed there.  I have always heard great things and figured it was about time to try out some new races.  This race did not have a Pro field but I figured it would give me a great opportunity to sweep away the cobwebs from the winter of training and work out anything that needs to be adjusted going into Challenge Knoxville.  Gulf Coast treated me like an age grouper and it reminded me of the "pressure free" racing that I experienced all the way back in 2008.  I was in the fifth wave along with every other male aged 30-39.  The gun went off, and I swam through a lot of the field during the 1.2 mile swim.  I had to sight a lot, but that still didn't prevent me from swimming like a snake.  My first few open water swims of the year are always anything but a straight line.  I came out of the water, ripped my wetsuit trying to take it off, and jumped on my bike.






Here is where the big difference comes in pro racing.  With this race not having a pro field, I was able to take a few extra seconds to hop on my bike, put my feet in my bike shoes, and settle into 70.3 bike pace.  I started a little on the low side then built from there.  I passed all but two people during the bike leg.  Here is my Training Peaks file from  GCT Bike   It was very even paced and very few spikes.  With it being a flat course there were very few power surges as well.

I came off the bike in third overall (other two guys were in earlier waves), passed Bruce Gennari in T2, and went running after the next guy.  I didn't catch him until about the 4 mile mark but he did have a 10 minutes head start.  The amazing thing was he was 57 years old!!!! Crazy fast.
The rest of the run I spent trying not to let my quads cramp up and not get over heated.  I walked quite a few times during the second half of the run and kept looking back thinking that I had someone running me down.  I did, but he ran out of real estate.  (pun intended).  I crossed the line in 4:08 something.  My fastest 70.3 since 2011.  The bike was 1 mile short but I was happy with the result, and happy to win a race with such history.  Slowtwitch even had a little write up on the race which was unexpected.

Casey and I were able to spend the rest of the day on the beach and have a relaxing weekend.   PCB wouldn't be my top beach to visit, but it was nice being at the beach for an extended weekend.

The very next weekend, I traveled to Challenge Knoxville to compete against 60+ other Pro's.  Big difference from the previous weekend when I only recognized names on the start list that were from Middle Tennessee.  With Knoxville only being a few hours away, we drove over Saturday morning, attended the pro meeting, caught up with some buddies that I haven't raced/seen in a long time, and relaxed the rest of the afternoon.  Casey and I were lucky enough to have an awesome homestay (Thanks Muna!!) that was close to town and took the pressure off of us trying to find a hotel on such a busy weekend.

One thing that I'm very strict about is my pre race breakfast.  For the past 2 years, I find something that settles easily and has about 400-600 calories depending on the race.  And something that has some caffeine.  Eboost gives me my caffeine fix with one of their 4 oz shots, and the new Generation UCAN bar settles super fast and keep me full.  I also had a Picky bar for the first time and it was amazing.  And of course I took my 2 pills of Vector450.  Also sponsors Matt Hanson, winner if IM Texas.  Must be something to this stuff ;)

Race morning was cool, but nothing like last year.  I got everything ready and walked to the start.  At 6:50, we were off.  I started right next to my boy Kevin Ryan, and drafted off of him for all of 20 yards. But I did have clear water for the first 200-400 yards which is how I like it, then I came over a little, found some feet, and stayed there for the rest of the swim.  It's nice to swim in a pack and recognize the guys next to you in the water.  I was right where I needed to be for the swim.  About 6 of us came out of the water in just over 27 minutes and transitioned quickly to the bike.  We ended up on the wrong side of the cones for the first mile of the bike, which led us to being on the wrong side of a barrier so we had to turn around and get back on course.  We ended up behind about 5-8 guys that we had out swam by at least 1 minute, and also the top 2-3 girls.  Ugh!!!!  I worked hard for the next 4-5 miles to get past them and just stayed focused on not crashing in the rain soaked, pot hole filled roads of close-to-downtown Knoxville.

Finisher's Medal!!

Here is where my power on the bike was jumping from 500+ to 0 because of the surges of the guys around me, the steep uphills, and the steep down hills.  The first 15 miles my NP was 310.  I was not prepared to do this, but I did not come to this race just to sit on my bike and watch my power meter to make sure I was "pacing" myself.  I came to race, and if I had to walk the 13.1 miles, then I was going to do it as long as I kept these guys close on the bike.  The pace stayed hot from 15-30 miles as my NP was still in the upper 290's.  We settled down a little from 30-40 miles, but then the last 14-16 miles were hairy because we got back onto the Olympic distance bike course where there were hundreds of triathletes still competing.  Imagine trying to pass 10-15 age groupers every minute, while keeping your competitors close, and avoiding the bad sections of the road.  Our pace dropped significantly here as we were just trying to get back to T2 safely.  Here is the power file. We witnessed several crashes and several others almost crash.  A group of about 8 of us all came into T2 together.  I had a great transition and ran out to have my brother tell me I was in 5th position.  I was third out of our group meaning there were only 2 up the road.  I knew something must have happened to one of the guys up the road because at the last 180 degree turn on the bike, there were 3 guys leading the way.

Ryan and I sporting the Tri4Him uni's.

Old Roomies taking 2 of the top 10 spots

I settled into pace and passed Thomas Gerlach early.  AJ Baucco ran past me about about the 1 mile mark and I picked up the pace to run with him.  We ran together for a few miles before he slowed a little.  I passed Kevin Ryan around mile 5 or so and he told me I was in 3rd.  I couldn't believe it but didn't want to think about it right then.  I held my pace but then Thomas and Justin Metzler ran past me about mile 6 like I was standing still.  I kept them close until about mile 9, but managed to hold my 5th position all the way to the finish.  I finished in 4:07 something which was amazing considering the run course was much harder than last weekend, and I rode 2 miles longer than last weekend.

These results wouldn't have been possible without Casey there by my side at the race and throughout the winter during my "rough" patches. My family and also my Tri4Him team and their continued support.  I love representing our team every where I go.  It's a great conversation starter before/after the race (kind of hard during the race) and I've had several people contact me after the race to give them a little more info about our team.  The Lord has blessed me with the ability to go fast and to suffer and I try to put those to use in His name.  Without Him, none of this is possible!

Podium

Second half of January

One of my many trainer workouts this winter. this one was 3x10 min @ 315-320 watts.

Drake enjoying one of our favorite shows with us.

Ben's cake for his visit to Nash during his bday

discovering that he does enjoy some wind in his face.

and some more...

he's a little tired after covering about 12-13 miles of hiking in Gatlinburg.

About 1.5 hours up the mountain.

first snowfall in Nash for 2015.

One amazing steakhouse. 

Just a little snow on the mountain.

About 2.5 hours up the mountain. 

My usual outfit for the bike.

View from the top.

Drake and his 2 yr old twin.

Gatlinburg in January.

Something New

Let's try something new for 2015.  Apparently I'm terrible at keeping up with blogs.  An update on the past few months: got injured, took month off, slowly getting back into shape.  Fitness is ok right now.

Here is a pic blog for the first 2 weeks of 2015.

New Year's use of the Selfie Stick.  Unfortunately it fell from my pocket that night so I no longer own it :(

Lady Antebellum concert for New Year's 2015 on Broadway.

Drake chasing a moth makes for hilarious pictures.

Still chasing that moth.

Just something that made me laugh before a swim one day.

Eric Church concert on the last night in my twenties 

And running into an old college buddy at that concert.

And here's the proof.

Drake right after his first 5 mile run. 

Steelhead 70.3

What do you do on a Saturday morning when you wake up WAY too early and can't go back to sleep? Why catch up on you overdue blogging of course  ;)

This past weekend was the annual Steelhead 70.3 and the last year of this race having prize money.  It is a great race and one of my favorite little towns to visit.  The Benton Harbor / St. Joseph, MI area is beautiful this time of year and the weather is almost always great.  This year was probably the warmest it has ever been for this race and it was still 59 degrees race morning.  Now it  did get up in the high 70's to low 80's, but living in TN, that didn't seem that bad, especially with the humidity being low.

Shot of the swim start. 

I was flying solo this weekend as Casey had to work.  I drove up on Friday and it took me roughly 7.5 hours to get there.  I only had to pass through about 12 different construction zones.  When I drive that far alone, I make sure to be prepared and prepared I was.  I listened to my favorite Podcast right now which is ESPN's Fantasy Focus with Matthew Berry and Nate Ravitz.  Each show is about an hour and I had 4 episodes to catch up on.  I mean, it is my favorite time of the year with my fantasy football draft coming up soon and the NFL starting in less than a month.  Also listened to some Spanish along with a few church services that I've missed this summer when traveling to races.  By the time I got bored, I was in South Bend, IN and only had about 30-40 minutes to go.

How I feel without my better half. 

The weekend was uneventful leading up to the race.  I had a wonderful family host me for the weekend and they were truly bummed out they didn't get to meet my better half.  Saturday was a lot of relaxing, a few short workouts, the pro meeting, more relaxing, and eating some great home cooked food.  Thank you so much to the Page-Wood family for such a wonderful stay.

Sunday morning was like all race mornings.  Up crazy early to eat a light breakfast, pack the car and head towards transition.  The weather was great and I was feeling good.

I can't say enough good things about how much I love my Xterra Vendetta wetsuit.  I had a terrible start to the swim and didn't get in a great position.  I was probably 20th to the first turn buoy (maybe not but it felt that way) and felt like I was already out of the game.  After a few hundred yards I ended up in a group of guys which ended up being the main pack.  There were 3 guys that went off the front but there were about 6-8 guys all right in that pack where I was.  After not feeling great, I still ended up 4th out of the water.  The comfort of my wetsuit helped me stayed relaxed and warm in that brisk 66-67 degree water.  This was the roughest swim I've had in a long time.  We swam against the current/waves the whole time which made for a slow swim.  Being 4th out of the water, you would think it would be faster than 27:25.  

I ran up the beach, into T1, and stayed calm as I jumped on my bike this time.  I was right where I needed to be.  Sitting in a group of guys that was going to be the main pack.  About a mile into the bike I heard a "rock" hit my bike frame.  I don't think twice about it and kept on rolling.  One minute later, my bottle cage, with my bottle that has most of my calories for the bike, falls over and I hit it as I'm pedaling.  The force of hitting this unclips my right foot and I lose my balance.  Fortunately, I kept my balance this time and managed to save my water bottle at the same time.  That "rock" that I heard was one of the two screws holding my cage onto my bike frame.  I immediately got clipped back in and hammered to keep the guys close.  On the next downhill, I made sure to put my water bottle in my tri top since I didn't want to get a 4 minute littering penalty and the bottle with my nutrition in it in my other cage.  I rode like this for about 10 miles until I hit the first aid station and then dropped my bottle that was in my jersey.  We had hammered that first 10 miles but I didn't feel too bad.  That's about when the eventual winner Lionel Sanders came FLYING by us.  He broke up the pack and I was the first gone.  I had ridden way too close to my Olympic distance effort/pace for the first little bit and was now popped from the group.  The rest of the 40ish miles was very lonesome.  I rode strong for about 10-15 miles but towards the last 1/3 of the bike, my legs felt very heavy from going too hard, too early into the bike.

I came into T2 way back from everyone else.  I put on my run shoes and hit the course.  My legs actually felt better than expected but not great.  I ran the first loop right around 6:05-6:10 pace which is ok for where I'm at right now in my fitness.  But then the wheels fell off and I really struggled the last 6 miles.  I did get a boost at around 11.5 miles as my home stay, Melanie, was doing the run leg on a relay team and she passed going the other way just yelling and screaming my name.  It was great to hear and really helped me bring it home.  I once again finished with a finishing time of....

4:13:43 and somewhere around 18th overall with a few amateurs beating me.  Still not used to this as this almost never happened a few years ago.  I was almost always top 10-15 with only Pro's being in front of me and the top amateur being kind of close but not really.
My time from Muncie 70.3...  4:13:54.   My time from NOLA 70.3....    4:13:10.    hhmmmm....
Think I'm setting some kind of trend.    

One of the positives to this is the fact that I have His name on my chest while I'm competing.  The longer I'm out there, the more people will see me and at least wonder what "Tri4Him" is.  Maybe even enough so that they go home and do a little research about our team, and eventually develop a personal relationship with Jesus.  Which is the whole goal of our team.  Now, my goal isn't to be out there for a long amount of time, otherwise I would really make sure to go easy, haha.

One thing I have noticed this year is that it isn't about how high up I finish, but the fact that I'm always in the top 1-2% of the finishers and I have His name on my chest.  I am blessed with the talent and ability that even when I have a poor race, I'm still going to finish in the top 1-2%.  It also helped to have my Tri4Him teammate Ryan Rau there this year as well.  With both of us finishing in that top 1%, people notice that, and that is why we race.  It isn't about us, it is all for Him.  If neither of us have a great race, but we can bring someone closer to have a relationship with Christ, then it was a successful trip for us.



Tony

Music City Tri RR

This past weekend was the local Music City Tri.  I won this race WAY back in 2006 when it was somewhere outside of town.  Last year I did it and it was the longest race I competed in all year as I was still recovering from an injury and just wanted to do a few local races.  This year, I was out for the win.

Race morning was just like any other, except I got to sleep in my own bed.  It was almost a normal morning for me.  Waking up around 5 am, making some coffee, eating a light breakfast, then heading downtown to the race site.  Casey made the decision to race this year, it being her first Olympic distance triathlon.  She did amazing and won her AG.

One thing that was different was how hot it was going to be.  It was one of the hottest days of the summer, and made for a sufferfest.  The sprint distance athletes started first around 7:30 am and then it was a time trial start from there.  Being number 506, I knew it would be a while before I started.  Somewhere shortly after 8am, I was off.  There was one other pro who races mainly sprint distance ITU events.  He started right in front of me so it gave me an advantage to sprint the first bit of the swim, get on this feet and sit right in.  I was there for about 1200 of the 1500 meters of the swim.  We came out of the water together, we both had a good t1, and was off on the bike.  I made it a goal to really push the first few miles on the bike just to get a feel for doing that since that is how most Pro races pan out.  Come out of the water in a pack, hammer the first few miles on the bike, and then settle in.  I passed the other pro a few miles into the bike and never looked back.  We had a nice tail wind on the way out, but a brutal head wind on the return trip.  This made for a slower day as the way out is slightly uphill and the return trip is downhill.  The bike course was an unusual 27.5 miles even though it's advertised as an Olympic distance tri (and one small section on the website says it is 43k, which is still shorter than 27.5 miles).  I pushed a good effort on the bike, but didn't over do it considering the heat and came off the bike with a nice little lead.

I started the run controlled and took a :15 walk break every 2 miles to help deal with the heat.  After the first loop, I saw I had a big gap on 2nd place so I backed it off even more to make sure I got in enough fluids and didn't trash my body.  The bad part was the lack of aid stations.  They had 5 on the run course (technically 6 but the last one was 100 yards from finish) and two of them were only about a 1/2 mile away from each other.  So you had to run 1.5 miles from aid station 2 to 3 and even then, there were only 2-3 volunteers passing out tiny cups of water or powerade.

The finish line couldn't have come soon enough but I'm sure everyone felt that way.  I went straight to the cooler and grabbed 2 bottles of water.  One went over my head and the other I drank.  I couldn't drink enough fluids for the rest of the day to recuperate from the fluid loss I had during the race.  After the race, I checked my phone and it said it was 94 degrees with a "feels like" temp of 103.

The local paper got a few nice photos of me at the finish and wrote up a good article. You can find it here  the Tennessean  It is always nice to get a win, but that fire still burns to be competitive in a "Pro" race.  With the inaugural Challenge Half distance tri in New Albany on the same weekend, it made me wish I had gone up there and maybe fought it out for a little prize money.    I'm headed up to Steelhead 70.3 on August 10th to race some of the big boys.

God gives me strength and endurance every day.  Without Him, none of this is possible.  Just getting in the workouts that I do, while working almost 40 hours a week and having free time to enjoy with Casey is a blessing in itself.  Casey is a true blessing that the Lord has given me.  When I'm feeling down or overwhelmed, she is always there to listen, or tell me the harsh truth that needs to be said.  We knew this was a rebuilding year, and I just continue to chop wood and carry water.  Reading posts from other pros is truly inspiring to keep at it.  Watching what guys like Jordan Rapp do is amazing.  I couldn't imagine racing five 70.3 races in a span of six weeks but he did it and did well.  In his blog, he talks about why he did it and it's a really good post. Rappstar blog

Me after drinking 14 bottles of water.

Muncie 70.3 RR

This weekend was the annual Muncie Endurathlon.  It has been around for years and has a great history to this race.  It was a World Championship race back in 1995 and it used to be a Kona qualifying race until about the mid 1990's.  This was going to be my 2nd attempt at this race.  The last time I was here, I remember the swim being warm and a little slow, the bike is pancake flat, and the run is challenging with some rolling hills that is completely exposed to the sun.  

We started our trip on Thursday after work when we made the 2.5 hour drive from Nashville to Louisville to visit with my aunts Francie and Carol.  It is always a lot of fun to visit with them and super nice for them to open up their home to us.  We hit the road early Friday morning for Muncie.  Friday was mostly like any other "day before the race" day.  Once in Muncie, I got in a few short workouts, attended the pro meeting, and relaxed at our homestay's  house.  The Gries' were very welcoming to my wife and I and we had a blast staying at their house.  They cooked some amazing food and made sure we were properly fueled for the next day.  

Race morning was just like all the others.  Wake up super early, prep your nutrition stuff, put on your race number tattoos, and head to the race.  I got there with plenty of time and got my transition all set up.  On the way to the race site, of course I hear a song on the radio that gets stuck in my head for the rest of the day.  It was a little unusual for this song to be on the radio, but it is what it is. 

Not everyday you hear a Disney song on the radio.  It definitely made me laugh and I was hoping that this was the one song NOT to get stuck in my head.  But when you think that to yourself, you know it has already happened.

The water temp was 74 degrees so we were going to swim in our wetsuits.  This was a little unusual as Muncie is typically super hot and never a wetsuit swim.  It didn't matter to me since I have my Xterra Vendetta.

Pre Swim shot with some Crazy eyes. 

At 7 am, the gun went off.  I got out pretty good but not quite as hard as I went in Kansas.  I settled on some feet about 400 yards in, and stayed there.  I was swimming comfortably enough to notice a gap open up in front of the guy I was swimming behind.  I put in a hard 100 yards or so and bridged up to the feet up ahead.  I was glad that I did because I believe the other guy got dropped from the pack.  I was comfortable in the pack for the rest of the way and we came out of the water in the mid 26's.  Not fast, but for the effort I was giving, that was to be expected.  I led the group of 7 guys out of the water and ran into T1.  My transition was ok and I ran quickly out of T1.

About 10 seconds for taking my spill.

Right after the mount line, I jumped on my bike and immediately started to hammer.  Four pedal strokes into the bike, I hit a bump while I was pedaling downwards with my right foot.  I was not in my bike shoes yet.  When I hit the bump, my foot slipped off of my shoe and I lost my balance.  I shot over my handlebars and hit the road.  I was fortunate enough to roll and not hit super hard.  I jumped up, did a quick assessment and made sure nothing was broken.  My Rudy Project Wingspan kept my head safe for sure as I have a nice little scuff on the back of my helmet.  Nothing appeared to be broken so I quickly picked up my bike.  Looked it over, fixed the brakes as they had moved and were not mashed against my wheels.  After running back to get my bike shoe that was lost about 10 yards back, and picking up my water bottles, I got on my bike slowly and took off.  I ended up losing about 1 - 1.5 minutes.  The 6 other guys that I came out of the water with were long gone.  The first mile or two I was still assessing the situation.  My bike hit on the gear side and the rear derailleur took most of the damage.  It was jumping every time I shifted, but was manageable to race on.  It wouldn't have been worth it to pull over and wait for a mechanic as I'm sure I would have lost a lot more time doing that just so my gears wouldn't be jumping.  Mike Hermanson and Patrick Evoe both made quick work of me in those first few miles as I was still getting my head back in the game.

I told myself I was going to at least get in a solid training day.  Once we got on the main road, I put my head down and just hammered away while having "Let It Go" running on an endless loop in my brain.  I ended up averaging around 278 watts for the ride.  Not bad considering those first 5 miles was only about 260ish because of crashing.  Here is my Strava file from the bike. This is by far the best I have ridden in a race this year so I'm happy I was able to do that after an accident.

My T2 was slow as I noticed a lot of blood when I pulled my foot out of my cycling shoes.  I didn't notice it right after the crash as I don't think it had started bleeding yet.  However, one toenail got ripped partially off, and another toe had the skin ripped off.  So my foot was covered in blood.  I wasn't sure how bad it was so I sat down to put on my run shoes.  I looked at the bottom of my foot to make sure the bottom was ok (it was) and then slipped on my running shoes carefully.  Then I was off running.

Nice little shot of my rear after the race. 

The run was uneventful as I was so far back I didn't see many people out there. I settled into a comfy pace for the first 6-7 miles and then the fatigue and pain in my foot started to creep up.  I slowed down and jogged it in.  I ran about 6:15 pace for the first half and then about 6:50 pace for the second half.  I crossed the finish line somewhere around 4:13ish.  Still nothing close to what I used to be able to do, but I have never crashed before in a 70.3, so I have nothing to compare it to.





My bike fitness is coming along as I only averaged about 250-255 watts at NOLA 70.3.  I felt very comfortable holding the wattage I did for Muncie and feel that I could have pushed harder had I been in the group that I came out of the water with.  The guys that finished 5th - 7th place on Saturday all came from that group.  Not saying I would have finished that high, but....

I still think back to 2011 when I was racing full time and remember averaging 300 watts for Muncie.  So I'm almost where I used to be, but not quite.  I knew this was going to be a rebuilding/relearning year, but I sure hoped everything to progress faster than it actually has.  All I can do is continue to put in the work and be patient.  I know the Lord has a plan for me and that I just need to have faith and be patient.

I'm not as beat up from the crash as expected so training resumed on Monday as usual.  I did rest up on Sunday.  We stopped back in Louisville Saturday after the race and had a wonderful evening with my aunts and my bro and sis in law, Dana and Ben.  So it is always nice to visit with family and relax after a long and stressful day.

Next up is the Music City Triathlon here in Nashville on the 27th of July and then Steelhead 70.3 on the 10th of August.

Thanks for reading.