Monday

I know it's been over a week since my last post but I have been at the beach having a great time. I went to Destin, Fl for my annual family vacation. My brother and I got in some great training in Florida. I know that vacation is usually a rest week, but we both have a big race this coming weekend in Alabama. We are both competing at Nationals, which will be Ben's first National Championship race. Almost everyday, we would wake up and get a workout over with early, then later in the day head to the pool to swim. It was so hot there, so we had to run or bike in the morning when it wasn't as hot. We always swam in the afternoon. We got to hang out on the beach in between workouts, eat some really good seafood every evening, and hang out with the entire family which doesn't happen that often.

Some of the workouts we did while in Florida felt epic, even though they were not that hard (in normal conditions). The first full day I did my second longest run of the year, and in the heat there, it was an epic run. I managed to hold under 7:10 pace (which is about my normal long run pace), but I just felt like I melted on the run. I laid out 4 bottles of Gatorade endurance to make sure that I stayed hydrated, which did help. We did a harder bike ride on Tuesday, and then a harder run on Wednesday which was equally as hard as that long run.

With my second ITU race in my life coming up this weekend, I have been on my new Mercury road bike more than ever, and I have missed having a road bike. I have had so much fun on it. Sure, I have loved my tri bike, but this road bike is just a little different and it is fantastic.

And this week is great for tv viewing. The Track and Field World Championships started on Saturday and will continue until this coming Sunday. Versus and NBC has live and replay coverage everyday. It is really exciting to watch the best in the World, do what it is that they are good at. For example, the 100 m dash was last night, and Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt went head-to-head for the first time in a while. Bolt ran a WR by over a tenth of a second and Gay ran a new AR of 9.71. It was crazy to watch. www.letsrun.com has complete coverage and tv viewing schedules for the Championships.

That's about it for now.

T-Bird

Confidence

So I usually will pass some extra time by watching tv, reading a book, or surfing the world wide web (which I do most of the time). Well I love the website www.flotrack.org. I am a track nerd (not as bad as I used to be) and they have some great videos and blogs on this site. I came across an article about Lindsay Allen and a blogpost that she wrote back in April. She discusses how she used to battle with self confidence going into races and how it always hurt her performance. Here is her complete blog post:

"I've always lacked a certain confidence when I toe the line of a race. But it wasn’t until this year that I fully understand how this negative thinking hurt my performance.While in college, I failed to live up to my own expectations which propelled me to pursue post-collegiate running. I knew my body was capable of much more. While I'm often found to be my own worst enemy, those insecurities stemmed from many factors- doubts about my training, incompatible coaching styles, and the craziness of college life, just to name a few. And until now, I never had anyone telling me I could be great.Reflecting on my recent personal bests since joining McMillan, I think the most significant contributing factor has been my new outlook on the sport. This positive outlook has been driven by the mindset of my teammates, the unparalleled coaching support, knowing adidas has taken a chance on me, and most importantly, the fact that I have removed any limitations I once set on myself.

In pursuing post-collegiate running I vowed that I'd stop making excuses, doubting myself, or accepting mediocrity. I am a professional runner and I will act like it. I will keep my expectations high and put healthy pressure on myself to perform. I enter each race with this refreshing mentality and enjoy the rewards.I have since toed the line of a race knowing anything less than a win would be a disappointment. I have also stuck with a rabbit running a pace equivalent to a 30 second PR in the 5k…why not? It all paid off.

For all of you out there who find themselves in similar states of doubt, just know that if you love something, remove any self-set limitations. Do it whole-heartedly. There's no time like the present."

Here is a link to her blog: http://www.mcmillanelite.com/lindsayallen.htm

I love what she says about acting like a professional. I need to keep my expectations high when I enter races because I am a professional triathlete and I need to act like it. I need to remove the self-set limitations that I have put upon myself this year because there is no time like the present. Why wait to get better next year when I can do it now.

Just a thought.

Tony

Vacation Time

After returning from Michigan on Sunday, I went straight to Corbin to enjoy a birthday dinner for my dad. I returned to Lexington on Monday and have had a great week of training. We had some nasty storms on Tuesday which flooded Louisville, so I was stuck on the trainer for an easy ride. I was fortunate enough to head out the door for an easy run that evening after the storms passed. I woke up yesterday morning to swim with a couple of friends at an outdoor pool. It was 62 degrees outside and raining. It had rained for several hours so the water temperature was really cold. I was freezing. This is probably the coldest I've ever been during a swim workout. I came home, took a hot shower, put on sweatpants and a sweatshirt, then made a big cup of coffee. Yesterday evening, me and 7 others, yes I said 7 others, took off for a bike ride. It was nice to ride with a bigger group. We rode to the hill up from the Ferry on Tates Creek hill and did three repeats, one of which was insanely hard. And by some miracle, I woke up this morning to run with the early morning run group at 5:30 am. We did 8 miles this morning at a nice little clip.

So, training is going really well and I feel pretty good considering I did a 70.3 just last Saturday. I guess I didn't go hard enough, ha. But I'm excited about Saturday because it is time for our annual family vacation. This year we are headed to Destin, Fl. We will be there for a week and it will be nice to hang out on the beach and have nothing to worry about (not that I really have much to worry about here in Lexington). Next on the schedule is Elite Nationals ITU in Tuscaloosa, AL on the 22nd.

I have just been so blessed with my friends and family that have given me the opportunities that I have and I'm looking forward to everything in the near future. Whether it is my training partners who help get me out the door, my family who always give me encouraging words no matter what the situation, or somebody who has never met me but keeps up with me through my blog/twitter; I thank you all for this and giving me this opportunity. I love doing what I'm doing.

Tony

Steelhead 70.3 RR

So I raced in Benton Harbor, MI yesterday and it was one of my most disappointing races this year. It was just one of those days that I didn't have anything in the tank. I got on the wrong feet in the swim and didn't make the first swim pack. I came into T1 a little behind, and took off on the bike really not feeling well. It took me about 20 miles to loosen the legs up, and to get going. I hammered the bike from 20 to about 40 miles and then we made the turn home into the head wind. That really took a lot of energy fighting that wind for the last 16 miles. I backed off a little, hoping to save some energy for the run, but that didn't work out well. I ran 6 min. miles for the first 4 miles, 6:25 min. miles for the next 4 miles, and then about 6:50 pace for the last 5 miles. I just didn't have anything for the run. I started the run in 7th place. I passed 2 people in the first 2 miles, putting me into 5th place. I stayed there for about 5 seconds before one guy passed me. I ended up getting passed by 3 guys on the run and finishing 8th. This race was my slowest 70.3 ever, but it was a tough day. Nobody in the field really had a super fast run split (excluding Potts who raced really strong), and the wind made the bike splits a little slow as well. I expected to be several minutes faster than Kansas 70.3 and it was actually several minutes slower.

But I finished in the top 10 and am glad to have the race behind me. Thank you so much to my homestay Ann and her father for opening up their home for me. It was a beautiful home that was really close to the race sight. And thanks to my fans who drove up to support me; my coach Beth, Gram, and Gramps.

More details to follow soon...

And I want to wish my Dad a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Tony

Motto

I saw this commercial during the Tour de France coverage on Versus which really got me going. It is an amazing commercial which is really inspiring and I believe everyone should see this commercial. It is my new motto when I race, and I believe it should be everyone's. No one should go into a race expecting nothing but the best.

Here is the speech:

Here is the thing that makes life so interesting. The theory of evolution claims that “Only strong shall survive.” Maybe so, maybe so. But the theory of competition says, “Just because they are the strong, doesn’t mean they can’t get their asses kicked.” That’s right! See, what every long shot, come-from-behind, underdog will tell you is this; the other guy may in fact be the favorite, the odds may be stacked against you. Fair enough. But what the odds don’t know, this isn’t a math test. This is a completely different kind of test, one where passion has a funny way of trumping logic. So before you step up to the starting line, before the whistle blows and the clock starts ticking. Just remember, out here, the results don’t always add up. No matter what the stats may say and the experts may think, and the commentators may have predicted. When the race is on, all bets are off. Don’t be surprised if somebody decides to flip the script and take a pass on yelling uncle.

And then suddenly, as the old saying goes, “We got ourselves a game!”


Here is a link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LMEa0TVY_4&feature=related

Peace,

T-Bird

Short and Sweet

So everything is still amazing here in Lexington. I have had an amazing summer. Training this past week was hard as usual. I did both my longest run of the year and the longest bike of the year in the same week. The run was almost 16 miles which was on Tuesday, and the bike was almost 85 miles on Saturday. Both of those workouts really beat me up for the next day's workouts, but I managed. I hit about 20.5 hours for the week last week and will be around 18 - 19 hours this week. Next week should be a little lighter thanks to Steelhead on Saturday, Aug. 1st.

I have had a great time keeping up with the Tour de France and every other sporting event over the past week. I love to watch Golf on tv, especially a major. The British Open was exciting to watch and I know I speak for everyone when I say that I feel sorry for Tom Watson. Stewart Cink is a great guy, and it was awesome to see him win his first major, but it was just heart wrenching to watch Tom Watson during the 4 hole playoff.

Anyways, off to the pool. I said I would keep it short and sweet.

Tony

Waterfront Chattanooga Tri RR

I traveled down to Chattanooga, TN on Saturday with Ben, Eric, and Beth to race in the Chatty Tri yesterday. Beth booked a room at the Chattanoogan which is an extremely nice hotel in downtown Chattanooga and extremely affordable. We almost didn't want to race Sunday morning so we could sleep in and take advantage of the room service breakfast that we could order. I mean what sounds better? A Tennessee Omelet or 2 hours of pain during a triathlon?

Anyways, we had a great weekend trip. We came on Corbin on Friday to stay with my mom before we headed on down to Chattanooga on Saturday. She fixed an amazing dinner Friday evening for us and I got to enjoy my grandparents peaches for the first time this peach season. Those peaches are better than any other fruit in the world. Saturday, we woke up and got our workouts over with, then went on down to TN. Once we got there, we checked into the hotel, picked up our race packets, then went to dinner at Big River. We had a great dinner then went back to the hotel. Sunday morning, we rode our bikes to the race since it was less than a mile from our hotel. I was racer #4 so I would be the 4th person to start in the time trial layout of the race. Two guys that I knew were better swimmers than I started in front of me, so I wanted to sprint and get on their feet from the start. At 7:30 AM, the first swimmer was off (who was racer #2. Racer #1 wasn't there). I sprinted but wasn't able to get close enough to their feet to hang on. I kept them fairly close considering they both swam in college, and they both only put about 30 - 45 seconds on me in the water. In the past, they both usually will put 1 - 1.5 minutes on me, if I had a good swim. I got out of the water in 17:58 (without a wetsuit) and this is my fastest mile swim ever (even if its a little short). I sprinted through T1 with only racers #2 and #3 in front of me.

Once I was on the bike, I caught racer #3 before the 2 mile mark. I started to climb one of the many hills on this course and looked down to find my water bottle; it wasn't there. So, I had no hydration for the entire bike ride. I thought about this for a second, and figured it wasn't too big of a deal, so I just hammered on. I caught racer #2 around mile 10 and I just flew by him. He stayed close to me for a mile and re passed me before the turnaround. After the turnaround, I went right back by him and I never saw him again. At mile 14, there happened to be a cycling shop van on the side of the road for race support. I asked him if he had any water and he said yes. He drove a mile up the road, got out of his car, and gave me the water bottle. I was so happy to have some hydration. I drank this entire bottle before the end of the bike, and was able to consume my GU also. Without any water, your mouth gets all sticky and it feels like cottonmouth when you eat a GU. So I want to thank River City Cycles for being out on the course for bike support. You guys really helped me a lot.

I came into T2 with no one in sight of me. I had a great transition and took off on the run. I heard them announce that racer #2 was in T2 once I was a few hundred meters into the run. I ran scared the whole run. I knew Eric Bell was behind me, and how fast of a runner he was. I wasn't sure how much time I had on him in T2 (he wasn't racer #2, he started behind me) but I knew I couldn't run slow and still beat him. I started the run slower than normal, but started to pick up the pace once I was out there. Every aid station I came to, had volunteers who were excited to see the first person, but unprepared for me. I didn't get any hydration at two of these aid stations because of this. They just sat there and clapped for me while I was trying to get water or gatorade from them. I got to the turnaround and saw Eric about 1 minute or so back from me. I just put my head down and continued to run scared. I was able to hold him off and win the race. I finished the race almost exactly 4 minutes faster than last year. I swam 2 minutes faster and biked 2 minutes faster, and ran the exact same time. I was really happy with the race and glad to take home my biggest paycheck to date.

However, before the awards and after the official results had been posted, the race officials came and talked to me. Another racer had accused me of taking outside assistance (the water bottle from the cycling shop van) and also of drafting. The official told me this was a 2 minute penalty and it would cost me the victory. No officials saw me break any rules, so therefore no officials recorded that I broke any rules. It is illegal for an official to assess a penalty without any official record of the broken penalty during the race (I didn't know this at the time). I argued that the van was out there for race support and that I didn't do anything wrong. He eventually told me that I need to work on my integrity and gave me a warning for doing something that was borderline illegal. I was unaware of any such rule, and I asked the official why he didn't cover that rule in the pre race meeting. I was more offended by the questioning of my integrity and just the fact that another racer accused me of cheating.

Other than that, I had a great trip to Chatty and enjoyed the weekend.

Next race: Steelhead 70.3

Tony