March

Learning to Ride with Power March 29, 2013 Thanks to Tim Staton, Saris Cycling and CycleOps, I am learning to cycle on power this year. Until this year, I have been riding on "feel" and resisted others' attempts to persuade me to ride with power. Now that I have started to ride with it, it will be hard to go back to being a minimalist as long as I am a professional triathlete. Here is why…

The graph on the left is what I did on Wednesday. That day, I went for a 50 mile ride and just rode off feel. I rarely looked down to check my heart rate and watts. Today, Friday, I rode the same course, but this time I DID pay close attention. My goal was to keep my watts (yellow) around 230-260W and my heart rate (red) around 130bpm. It is plane to see how much steadier the lines are on the right graph than on the left. So, how did I feel? On both days, the conditions were nearly identical. The weather was only different by about 5 degrees, the course was the same and my body felt tired and sore. During the Wednesday ride, I started to get really tired around the halfway point whereas today's ride just kept getting better. I had better energy throughout the entire ride on Friday and despite riding up the hills slower, I had a faster average pace. So, looking at the data, which way would you like to ride during an Ironman before running a marathon? I agree and that is why I am riding with power this year. Thanks Tim.

Less than 2 weeks to Texas

March 25, 2013 In just 8 days, Flannery and I will be making the 14 hour drive to Texas. On April 7 I will be racing in the Galveston Half Ironman. The race consists of a 1.2 mile swim in the Gulf of Mexico, 56 mile bike ride along the coast, and a 13.1 mile meandering run through the city. The race will be competitive. Last year, Lance Armstrong, even as great of an athlete as he is, still finished 7th place. My goals for this trip are to 1.) enjoy time with Flannery while exploring another part of the country and 2.) gain more experience competiting as a professional triathlete. Another aspect of the trip I am looking forward to is getting to know Nick Smith and his girlfriend Andrea better. Nick, 29, is about my same age, lives just up the street from me and does triathlons. Flannery and I had dinner with them both last week. They are a nice couple with similar interests as our own. Like myself, Nick will be racing at Galveston on April 7. It will be nice to know someone else who is doing the race from Iowa. Nick not only does triathlons, but also writes. He just published his first book on Amazon.com. Read his blog here or his book here. This past Saturday, Flannery participated in the Loop the Lake 8k. She finished 2nd place overall in a time of 30:52 (6:12 pace). She was pleased with the race. As her coach, I do get satisfaction in seeing her improve as a runner. More than anything, as her boyfriend and best friend, it makes me happy to see her running well again and enjoying what she loves to do most. Another event from the weekend was the 2nd Annual iCan Team dinner. The iCan Team is made of 16 people who were selected from among many because of their inspirational stories. Many of these individuals have never run before and are committing themselves to run in the Des Moines Marathon in October 2013. Some of these individuals are cancer survivors while others are parents of many children. Last night I got the chance to meet them all and to hear their fabulous stories. If you would like to learn more about the iCan Program, visit the website here. The program was started by Loran Storts as a way to give his talents and time to help others. The program is entirely free. If you are looking for a fun read that will take running back to the way it was intended, read this article from the New York Times. Kilian Jornet Burgoda is likely the greatest ultra runner of all time. At the age of 25 we all hope he can share his god-like abilities for many years to come. His book, "Run or Die," comes out in July 2013.

Homemade Protein Bars March 18, 2013 I discovered this recipe after listening to Leah Newman (Master's in Exercise Science and Sports Nutrition) talk about nutrition. For a long time, I have consumed 5-6 Cliff Bars a week. I thought these bars were healthy because most of the ingredients are organic. I came to find out that the bars contain a large amount of sugar and even protein isolates, rather than raw protein. Many of the ingredients I found difficult to pronounce. Thanks to Leah, I have been making my own protein bars and enjoying them. I thought I would share it with you too. Ingredients: 2 cups quick rolled oats 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup honey 1 cup ground flax seed 1 cup dried fruit 1 cup protein powder (Hemp or Brown Rice)

Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Press into a baking pan. Refrigerate.

Ready and Determined March 18, 2013 Shortly after my last entry, things got worse. As if battling with knee and shoulder pain wasn't enough, I caught a head cold, the second one in 5 weeks. Just as I began to work myself back into swimming and biking, the cold knocked me down for another two days. It was as if something was forcing me to rest. So for seven days, I remained mostly inactive, tending to my body. During this time, I did very little swimming, biking and running. I went to Compass Chiropractic where I saw Dr. David Krohse every day. During those visits I had my joints X-rayed and muscle imbalances tested. I was also given a lengthy regimen of stretches and strength exercises, which I did religiously. Dr. Krohse spent considerable time attending to my care. He worked on the muscles and tendons in my shoulder, realigned my back, hips and neck, relieved tension in my back muscles, reset my right ankle and stretched my hip flexor and IT band. It was like taking the car to the shop for a routine check up and realizing it needed an overhaul! Now that I am healed up and well on my road to training as usual, it is easier to look back on the experience with clarity. Although I had to spend one week without swimming, biking or running, the time was well invested. With the help of Dr. Krohse I was able to get my body in its prime form to withstand heavy loads of training. Had this not happened, I am sure that something else would have came up down the road. Or perhaps nothing would have happened, but how much would my performance have suffered with muscle imbalances and misplaced joints? As I begin to add more and more volume to my training, I am thrilled with how my body feels and how little fitness I seem to have lost in my time off. I feel like the work I had done on my shoulders and the new routine of stretches and exercises has improved my swimming. My power and efficiency is at a new level. With the work I had done on my ankle, I have noticed an improvement in my running economy and no longer deal with the chronic tightness and stiffness in my Achilles Tendon.

The biking has been the slowest of the three to return. I have had to replace my clip pedals with regular push pedals to place less strain on my knee. Even though I have been riding in sneakers, I was still able to sustain 23-28mph for 20 minutes last week. When I first started feeling injured and realized I had to take time off, I was concerned about being able to race in Galveston on April 7. Even if I was able to race, I wondered what level of fitness I would have. The workouts I have had in just one week have renewed my confidence. I am not expecting a remarkable performance at Galveston, as it was always a "C" level race. However, when I finish the race and look back four or five weeks to now, I am sure I will pleased and thankful for what I accomplished. If anything, being humbled by injury and sickness always reminds me to not take health for granted.

Always Learning March 8, 2013 I often wonder, in times like this, how great of an athlete I would be if I never got injured? For the past two weeks I have been struggling to take care of two simultaneous injuries...runner's knee and swimmer's shoulder. Initially, I trained through the pain, hoping that it would gradually work itself out with proper stretching, icing, massage, and ibuprofen. This week, I had to make the tough decision to stop training and focus on dealing with the issue. If you are an athlete, you know how challenging it can be to allow your body to rest. We are great at telling others when it is time to rest, but not ourselves. As I have gotten older, I have gotten better at listening to my body and taking the initial time off in the beginning, rather than waiting until the injury is so bad that I can't help but stop because of the pain. Yet, even after 15 years of running, I still get injured and I always seem to learn something from it. Coming back to my opening statement, my initial tendency is to think that if I never got injured that I would be a phenomenal athlete. Certainly, I have had setbacks that impacted my ability to excel in the short-term; but in the long-term, I think that going through an injury makes the athlete stronger, both mentally and physically. I firmly believe the lows of the past have made me better in the now. In my present situation, I have had to go back and revisit my body's natural weaknesses. I have learned about imbalances in my body that must be addressed now, at the beginning, rather than in the midst of racing season. It has forced me to stop and find resources in my local community, such as Dr. Krohse at Compass Chiropractic and Claire at Massage Heights, who will be essential to my long-term health. With their knowledge and skills, I am confident that they will keep me healthy throughout the rest of the season. Although it is tearing me up inside to take this time to let my body heal, I can already see the potential outcomes from this short-term setback. I will be more knowledgeable about what stretches and exercises I can do to maintain muscular balance and flexibility, thus making me healthier and more efficient in training. I will add a more critical eye to my training and not drastically increase my volume or intensity like I did for Texas. I will make routine appointments to have massage and ART before I feel the onset of injury. And I will not allow sore knees to remind me of when it is time to change shoes. If you want to excel as an athlete, the key to that success does not come from one season of training; many of the best athletes reach their potential after years of consistent training and practice. Thus, all these little things that even professional athletes can forget about, play a big role in our ultimate success on race day. I hope that my forgetfulness will serve as a reminder for you to take care of yourself and be smart so we can all have a happy and healthy spring training season.

Rough Start March 4, 2013 March began my first phase of base training. Everything I have been doing thus far in 2013 has been preparation. My goal for the next 12 weeks is to build my volume and intensity, ultimately reaching 30 hours/week by the end of May. This past week I was able to reach my first week's goal of 19 hours, but it wasn't easy or pain free. Since returning from the trip in Texas, I have found my body to be out of balance. My knee was the first to start bothering me and even now it still isn't 100% there. In addition to that, my right Achilles heel has now gotten sore from running and my left shoulder is sore from swimming. I should be entering the start of my training feeling refreshed, healthy and strong, not battling injury. I have been doing all the things I can think of to promote healing. I have gotten two massages, purchased new running shoes, taken anti-inflammatory medicine for a week, done daily stretching, self-massage and ice every day, and slept well. The one thing I haven't done is given myself a day off. Instead I have been doing all the right things and at best, limped along in my training the last nine days. I am hoping that a full day's rest today will allow my body to "catch up." In five weeks I am traveling to Texas again, this time with Flannery for a "spring break." I will be racing in Galveston, TX located on the Gulf of Mexico. The race is a Half Ironman and has proven to be fast and competitive in the past. We will be leaving earlier in the week to enjoy some of the sites and warm weather that Texas has to offer in early April. We will spend our first two nights in Fredericksburg in the middle of Hill Country. Then we will make the four hour drive to the coast where we will stay at a bungalow in Galveston. My goal for the race in Galveston is not to win or produce any personal records. My goal is to get more experience racing at the professional level with a competitive field. I hope to get a better handle of my pacing in the swim, nutrition and pacing on the bike and ultimately, leading to a fast run. It will be my first race running for US Pro Tri Team and I hope that I can represent the Team well. Before that happens, I need to make sure I get to the starting line healthy. That is my #1 priority now.