Bretscher Multisport Racing and Coaching

2012 Race Schedule with Commentary

2012-01-16T18:57:00.000-05:00

My number one goal in this sport for 2012 is the same as it has been for the past few years: Make a living in the sport. I've been doing so for a couple years now but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen in 2012 or beyond, I have to make it happen. Whenever I'm helping the athletes I coach to form a race schedule I always try to push them towards the races that will give them the best chance of accomplishing their goals for the year. With making a living being the number one goal for me, this is what I take into consideration the most when planning my race schedule. Prize purses, race distance, course type, travel distance, race enjoyment, these are all variables I take into consideration. In the end, what it comes down to is a balance between which races give me the best opportunity to get good results and make money while minimizing travel time and costs as much as possible.

For 2012, I've currently decided that it is the Rev 3 series which gives me the best opportunity to make a living. The series has expanded to 10 races with prize money in each and a pretty substantial additional payout to the top-5 athletes in the series at the end of the year. The Rev 3 series is a good choice for an Indiana based pro as 7 of the 10 races are within driving distance whereas those based further west would have to fly to nearly every race. I'm very much considering going "all in" with the series, doing every race, and skipping the Ironman circuit entirely for 2012. It's a bit risky to do so though, as I'd be skipping the "local" Ironman races in favor of traveling for Rev 3. For the time being though, Rev 3 is the mindset I'll take into the 2012 season and this is the race schedule I'll pursue until I have reason to stray from this plan. I very much like the idea of supporting Rev 3 over Ironman as they are two different series I see heading in opposite directions with how they value and treat the professionals in the sport. Here is my race preliminary schedule.

3/18 Rev 3 Costa Rica?
I want to race Rev 3 Costa Rica, but probably won't make the trip solo. Thus I'll probably only go if I can find someone to travel with. Anyone want to travel to Rev 3 Costa Rica with me?

3/25 Powerman Alabama Du AL
Regardless of whether or not I race the weekend before, I plan to be at Powerman Alabama. This will make for the earliest I've ever kicked off the multisport season.

4/15 Carmel Sprint Tri IN
My traditional local season kickoff. Won overall past 5 consecutive years, going for 6 in a row this year. Only age group race I have on the schedule right now

5/6 Rev 3 Knoxville TN
Very fun, challenging course, with a tough pro field. I plan to actually be in shape for this race this year.

6/2 Rev 3 Quassy CT
Probably the toughest course I'll race all year, toughest field I'll race all year, biggest prize purse of the season. What more could I ask for? Got my butt kicked here last year by both the course and competition, can't wait for this year.

6/8-10 Triathlon Camp Muncie
Looking forward to working with Muncie Multisport at this camp. For $155 campers will get the 3-day camp plus entry into the MuncieMan Tri (3k/60k/15k). The camp is open to anyone, the main focus will be on preparing for a half distance tri. Perfect opportunity for those racing the Muncie 70.3 to train and race on the course, learn the ins and outs of the race, and work with a coach to develop a race plan.

7/8 Rev 3 Portland OR
Tough call here. My "hometown" pro race, the Muncie 70.3 is the same weekend. But the Rev 3 series is my main focus for the year. So do I give up a short drive and inexpensive trip for a long expensive trip across the country to do a race with the same purse? Right now that's the direction I'm leaning.

7/22 Ironman Lake Placid NY
Another tough call I'm still not sure about. LP is my favorite race and favorite venue I've ever raced, the emotional side of me wants to be there in great shape. But I'm not sure if the race makes logical sense. With the prize purse being cut this year, a long trip, and my focus being the Rev 3 series this year I don't know if this race will remain on the schedule.

8/12 Rev 3 Wisconsin Dells WI
First year race, don't know anything about the course, but the venue looks to be another Rev 3 hit. Bretscher Multisport will have a large contingent at this race

8/26 Rev 3 Maine ME
Another first year race for the Rev 3 series, and I've always wanted to visit Maine. What a great reason to visit.

9/9 Rev 3 Cedar Point OH
For the third consecutive year, my biggest race of the season. The race itself has big points towards the overall series, hopefully I can stay on course this year.

10/7 Rev 3 Maryland MD
Race just announced a few days ago, don't know many details on it except it uses the same venue as Columbia which is a pretty fun, honest course

10/14 Rev 3 South Carolina SC
Second to last race in the series, I was unable to race in 2011 due to injury, but it sounds like the course is not short on challenging, just the way I like it.

10/28 Rev 3 Florida FL
Rev 3 series finale, big points on the line, and a big season long series prize purse gets awarded at this race. Hopefully I can have the season I strive for and take a slice of that pie.

My New Friend

2012-01-01T20:47:00.000-05:00

I've made a new friend this winter, a borrowed Trek 4300 mountain bike complete with badly worn platform pedals, kickstand, and wheel reflectors. Brand new this is a $400 bike. I acquired this one far from brand new. In addition to the worn pedals the front suspension is completely frozen and not functional. The back of the saddle also appears to have been the choice snack of some household pet at some point. But even given all of these annoyances the temporary acquisition of this bike has been great and has energized my winter training. Never have I ever put in anywhere close to the outdoor riding hours in a December that I logged last month. I've really enjoyed the change of pace, offroad riding, and general change in routine. I've found offroad riding to be very challenging, there's no way to coast or ride easy through loose gravel. I'm sure my heart rate stays far higher on a mountain bike ride than an easy spin on the road bike. Having never spent any real time on a mountain bike before this winter I have no idea how this training will translate to my tri racing next summer, but I'm excited to find out.

2011 Bretscher Multisport Wrapup

2011-11-16T16:05:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again when I brag, not about myself, but about those I have the privilege of coaching. Coming off of an overwhelmingly successful 2010 season I am happy to report a crew of established Bretscher Multisport veterans, and newbies, of all abilities were able to put up equally successful results in 2011. Here are the highlights of the year.

Muncie 70.3 2011-all about the team

Andrew, St. Louis: Coming off a successful 2010 campaign as BMS athlete in which Andrew was awarded USAT All American honors, 2011 was Andrew's best season yet. He kicked off the racing season early in February with a 3:02 in the Austin TX marathon, went to the New Orleans 70.3 for his first tri of the year (although there was no swim) and came away with his highest placing ever in an Ironman event, 6th in the 25-29 AG. Followed that up with a new PR and 2nd AG at the Memphis in May Triathlon. Unfortunately Ironman Couer d'Alene did not go how Andrew envisioned, getting sick midway through the run while on pace to break 10 hours, but credit to Andrew he did not allow his Ironman fitness to go to waste and capped off his season with his first ever triathlon overall win in the Big Shark Triathlon. Andrew will return for his fourth consecutive season as BMS athlete in 2012, race schedule TBA.

Billie, Plainfield IN: Billie joined the team in 2011 looking to take his tri game to new heights. He raced a shortened season as he had twins arrive in August. Billie put up quality results in local early season races Terre Haute and an age group victory, 2:14 PR in the Muncie Olympic Tri. He capped his season off in July with his best performance of the year, the Muncie 70.3 with a 50 minute PR of 4:51. Billie will be back on the squad in 2012.

Dana, Chicago: Like Andrew, Dana returned to Team BMS in 2011 for his third consecutive year on the squad coming off a 2010 season which saw him named USAT Age Group All American. Dana had a solid season with an early season age group victory in the Kansas 70.3, and then later in the year bettered his 70.3 PR twice at the Muncie 70.3 and then again in the Pigman half with a 4:14. He went under 2 hours in an olympic distance for the first time ever in the Pleasant Prairie Tri with a 1:59. Finally Dana finished his year off with his first Iron distance in many years at Rev 3 Cedar Point. Dana's 9:20 finish landed him 4th place overall and narrowly bettered his previous PR of 13 hours.

Greg, St. Louis: Greg joined the BMS squad in 2011 after signing up for Ironman Florida. He raced many local early season races consistently finishing 20 minutes faster than previous years and towards the top of his age group. He managed an olympic PR of 2:23 and a 5:18 finish at the Racine 70.3, a 30-minute PR. Greg finished the year on the highest note at Ironman Florida with an 11:03 debut at the distance, good enough for 407th overall on the day. Greg will return to the squad in 2012, Ironman Arizona will be his focus.

Jen, Zionsville IN: Like Greg, Jen joined in 2011 with Ironman Florida as the major goal. She won her AG with a 2:36 olympic distance performance at Tri Indy. She had what was likely her best performance of the year at the Steelhead 70.3 and did something she didn't plan on: qualified for the 70.3 World Champs. Catching the flu 7 days before Ironman Florida made things difficult as Jen couldn't workout 6 out of the last 7 days leading into the race but a gutsy performance still yielded a 12:53 finish, within minutes of her PR.

Julie, Chicago: After many years in the sport and 2 previous years on team BMS, Julie entered 2011 with her much anticipated Iron distance debut on the radar. In the leadup to that race Julie couldn't help but set PRs in every other distance she competed. This included a 2:22 olympic distance PR, and a 5:12 70.3 PR. Julie also finished 2nd place overall at the Green Bay Triathlon, her highest overall finish ever. And then at her much anticipated Rev 3 Cedar Point she put together what was likely her greatest athletic performance ever going 11:26 in her first Iron distance, good enough for 7th place overall on the day. Julie was pretty excited.

Mike, Brownsburg IN: "Racing machine" Mike was back on the squad in 2011 with more race results than I can mention. Highlights for Mike include his highest overall finish ever with a 2nd at the June Muncie Sprint Triathlon, along with another overall podium, 3rd place overall at the Hoosierman Triathlon. Add to that a 1:33 half marathon PR and a 21st place age group finish at the Steelhead 70.3, Mike's highest age group placing ever in an Ironman 70.3. Unfortunately Mike's Ironman Wisconsin got a little ugly as he fought issues on the run which prevented him from being able to run but credit to him he didn't pull out and walked it in to finish the race. I know Mike and the race will only fuel his fire when he goes to Ironman Louisville and Florida in 2012.

Moira, Decatur IL: New to the squad in 2011, Moira raced a series of successful local sprints followed by her peak for the season, and half distance debut, the Racine 70.3. In Racine she had her best race of the year finishing in 5:21, good enough for 14th place in her age group. Moira will return in 2012 with Ironman Wisconsin on the radar.

Paul, Terre Haute IN: Paul joined team BMS in 2011 with Muncie 70.3 as the focus. At Muncie Paul recorded a 5:18 finish, a lifetime PR at the age of 53, and 21st out of 127 in the 50-54 age group. Paul will return in 2012 with another Muncie PR planned along with select races in the Rev 3 series.

Ron, Cedar Rapids IA: Ron returned for his second year on the squad in 2011 coming off a 2010 season which saw him named age group All American after finishing the season ranked 2nd in the 50-54 age group. Ron started 2011 hot with an age group victory at Memphis in May, finished 2nd place overall at the Door County Sprint, and went a lifetime PR for the half distance at the Pigman Tri with a 4:30 finish. Ron's major focus for the year was the highly competitive HyVee Triathlon where he finished in 2:11 on a tough course and yet another age group victory. Ron capped off the season earlier this month in Las Vegas at the ITU Long Course World Champs. His first appearance in a World Championship and significantly further than he had ever raced, Ron brought home the age group bronze medal in the 50-54 age group.

Suzanne, St. Louis: Coming off a successful 2010 season with team BMS and the "gutsy performance of the year" at Ironman Wisconsin, Suzanne was back for more in 2011. She put together successful results in the Austin Marathon, New Orleans 70.3, and a 4min PR with a 2:44 olympic distance finish in tough conditions at Memphis in May. But the focus all year for Suzanne was the Vineman full-Iron in California where she recorded a massive 57 minute PR with a 12:26 finish.

Thanks everyone for another fantastic season. Look for more of the same in 2012 with a team as strong as ever and a growing team presence at the races. Who wants to be apart of this?

2011 Wrap

2011-11-06T12:22:00.000-05:00

My 2011 season is complete. After dealing with a pretty significant calf pull suffered during the run of the Westchester Triathlon and, consequently, having to withdrawal from the start list of the Pocono 70.3 and Rev 3 South Carolina, my focus races for the end of the season, I ended up deciding to call it a year and not chase a late season race. I had the desire to race more, but couldn't really find another race option to warrant traveling to. I tossed around the idea of a November Ironman for a while, but that would make 3 Ironmans in a 5-month span and having only raced one Ironman prior to 2011 I thought it might be just a bit much. Mainly though I just wasn't fully committed to racing another Ironman this year and probably the biggest lesson I've learned in my short stint of Ironman racing is the importance of being completely committed to the task at hand heading in. I am heading into the offseason hungry and excited for next year, something I haven't felt heading into the winter months in a few years.

My 2011 season didn't start or end well, but all in all I feel pretty good about what I was able to accomplish this season. I started this race season embarrassingly out of shape and it took a lot of mental strength to stick to the training plan through those initial race results. But I stuck to the plan and by the time July came around I was rolling and gaining momentum with every race. Looking back and comparing my May-June race results with my July-September results it's hard to believe that these results all came in the same season. Highlights for the year were my three separate 5th place finishes at the Muncie 70.3, Ironman Lake Placid, and Rev 3 Cedar Point. Cedar Point was without question the best shape I was in all season and my best performance of the year, unfortunately riding 6 miles off course on the bike cost me what most likely would have been a finish time in the 8:30s and a potential podium finish (and not to mention the money).

Looking ahead to next year I think my first priority has to not be so much getting faster, but being fit for a much longer stretch. My main goal in this sport right now is simply to make a comfortable living. Getting faster will only help my cause but mostly I need to be in shape for longer than just 3 months. If I can replicate the same fitness I had in the late season this year and maintain that fitness for 6-7 months instead of 3 then I'm in for a really great year. I don't have to be faster, just race fit for longer.

All in all I feel really good about where I'm at in life right now. A year ago I was coming off of my second consecutive rough year of under performing, my team had just announced it would no longer exist at the end of the year (all my sponsors gone), my job as triathlete was feeling more and more like a burden, I wasn't having fun, the 9-5 and steady paycheck was looking very appealing, and I had begun applying to some real world jobs (gasp) with the intention that I would take a year sabbatical at the very least or quit the sport entirely if I landed a job I wanted. It was during that stretch last winter that I quit exercising for several months, got way out of shape and I think it was the best thing for me. Absence makes the heart grow fonder as they say, my mind rebooted during the down time, I got excited about training, racing, and triathlon again, signed on with a new team, and approached the season with a brand new, healthier mindset. I learned to embrace the setbacks and disappointments along the way as simply an unavoidable and sometimes necessary part of the process towards being great. All the time off certainly put me way behind the game at the start of the season, but I think I was also better towards the end, and will be a better athlete and person in the future, because of it. Today I'm really enjoying my career as pro triathlete and coach.

I look forward to getting just mildly out of shape this offseason and coming in hot to 2012!

Injury Bugs Bite

2011-10-10T23:38:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately the calf pull I suffered at mile 4.5 of the run in the Westchester Triathlon ended up being worse than I had initially suspected. Well, not so much worse, but much slower to heal than any muscle pull I've ever experienced. Coming off of the Rev 3 Cedar Point 140.6 my muscles likely shortened as a result of the fatigue from the race and not training much the following week. Then, two weeks after the race, I jumped in a sprint tri where the pace was much faster than I had been training for, add in my low profile racing flats which place more stress on the calves, and bam, muscle pull. Lesson learned, be careful when racing on short rest following an Ironman, and don't forget to stretch when you can't train the week following an Ironman.
After about a week where things did not seem to be improving at all, the calf seems to have healed in just the last few days and I've been able to get in some short runs pain free. Today I managed 3 x mile completely pain free. Long way to go yet, but it's 3 miles more than I could run a week ago.
Unfortunately, as a result of the injury, I was unable to compete in either the Pocono 70.3 or Rev 3 South Carolina the past two weekends, my two biggest races for the end of the year. I'm now trying to decide what to do with the rest of my season. I had planned to finish off the year with Ironman Florida but having not run for 2 weeks and only being able to run 3 miles right now it's hard to believe that I can be ready for an Ironman in less than 4 weeks. Ironman Arizona is another race I am considering, and would give me two additional weeks to prepare, but Arizona would also be a significantly more expensive trip and with the level of pro talent which traditionally assembles in Arizona it would probably take my best race of the year to come out ahead on the business side. The other option is to call it a season which might be the most reasonable choice of all, but the emotional side of me just hates the idea of a good season ending on an injury. I will continue to train as I can, see how things progress, and will likely decide in the next week or two where to go with the end of the season.

Westchester Triathlon

2011-09-27T10:06:00.000-04:00

Coming off of Rev 3 Cedar Point I had by far my best Ironman recovery to date. Consequently I made the decision to race on just two weeks recovery. I know I am fit and wanted to take full advantage as one of the lessons I've learned the past few years is you cannot take great fitness for granted, it doesn't happen by accident. The Westchester Triathlon was the race I chose to tackle, an olympic distance race with a smaller pro prize purse taking place about 20 miles north of New York City. After driving the course on Saturday and making note of the seemingly endless number of multi-million dollar mansions and exotic cars along the route I did a little internet research and learned that Westchester County NY is the 7th wealthiest in the entire country. That explains it.

Swim: 19:20 8th fastest split
The race venue was beautiful and the swim one of the more enjoyable I've done, in the ocean water of the Long Island sound. With only 9 pro men competing I expected the race to be pretty spread out. I didn't expect 8 of us (plus two women) to all be the same swimming ability and have a large pack the whole way. I exited the water in 8th place but just 20 seconds down on second place.

Bike: 59:12 25.4mph 2nd fastest split
The bike course was very urban, lots of intersections and turns, lots of bad pavement and obstacles, several significant climbs, and a bit of traffic to contend with. After driving the course and seeing it for the first time Saturday I had pretty much written off the possibility of breaking an hour. So I was really happy with the way I rode, I wasn't quite as strong as I was two weeks ago in Cedar Point but I'm still riding very well right now. Out of T1 I was sitting 8th and made my way into 3rd within the first 5 miles. My plan for the bike was just to push as hard as possible and never fall into a comfort zone. I knew coming off of Ironman racing that endurance wouldn't be an issue and I just needed to have the guts to really hurt the whole way. I gave up a little time on a few descents and in a few corners being conservative since I didn't know the course very well but overall still a quality ride, second fastest on the day and by far the hardest 40k course that I've ever broken an hour on. Into T2 in 3rd, two min back of the lead and one minute down on second.

Run: 36:42 6th fastest split
Starting the run I knew that the win was probably out of reach but I believed I could catch second and that's what I set out to do. However I realized in checking my splits through the first few miles that I was not running my typical 10k pace despite my efforts. There's only so much you can ask your body to do two weeks post-Ironman and for me a sub-34 10k might not be one of them. Although I was running 10-15 seconds per mile slower than the effort felt I was visibly pulling back second place, slowly but surely. I focused really hard on bringing him back and with two miles to go I timed the gap at 23 seconds, it was going to be really close. But then, out of the blue and with no warning or prior discomfort, I was suddenly overcome with a sharp, intense, and debilitating pain in my lower left calf. In the span of 10 seconds I went from charging after second to stopped on the side of the road barely able to walk and unsure if I could finish. After being unable to move for a few seconds I started to get things under control and assessed the situation. I had just over a mile to the finish and knew I had a good 3 minutes over 4th. Not enough time that I could walk the whole thing like what probably would have been smart, but enough of a lead that I could afford to limp home. I realized I couldn't really run at all because I couldn't put any pressure on the ball of my left foot but I managed to find a way to limp/gallop at around 8min pace while pushing off the ground with only my heel on my left foot. It was pretty awkward but it got me to the finish in 3rd place with 40 seconds to spare over 4th.

Overall: 1:56:42 3rd place
A decent result which is good but now I'm hurt which isn't good. Post race I could barely walk and it was straight to the med tent for treatment. The pain was so general at the time that I was really worried it was my achilles as I've observed through others how nasty achilles problems can be. But now that things have settled down a bit more I'm pretty certain it is my lower calf, I'm hoping nothing more than a severe calf strain. Monday was a scheduled off day and today (Tuesday) I won't be running, likely not Wednesday either. I really want to race the Pocono 70.3 this weekend and Rev 3 South Carolina on October 9 but won't race either if I'm not 100%. So we'll just have to wait and see how the healing comes along, it seems to slowly be getting better. I'm very fit right now and think I can get on the podium this weekend if I am able to race so am doing everything possible to speed the healing. Below are top-5 results.

1     Jordan Jones             7 19:08    8    0:51 9     57:18 1    0:47 5     34:25 1   1:52:26
2     John Kenny               6 17:43    1    0:50 7     59:41 3    0:52 7     35:21 3   1:54:26
3     Daniel Bretscher         8 19:20    10   0:50 8     59:12 2    0:39 1     36:42 6   1:56:42
4     Patrice Hamelin          4 18:54    3    0:49 6   1:02:06 4    0:43 4     34:52 2   1:57:22
5     Matt Mangen              1 19:00    6    0:56 10 1:02:36 5    0:53 8     36:46 7   2:00:09

Rev 3 Cedar Point-Triumph in the Face of Adversity

2011-09-13T16:32:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the race results don't tell the full story. That was the case at my biggest race of the year this past weekend, the Rev 3 Cedar Point full-Iron distance. On paper it's another solid 5th place, but nothing ground breaking compared to what I've already done this summer. However, with the adversity and total mental breakdown I had to endure for several hours mid-race, and the fact that I went through what I did and still came out with a top-5 finish and new PR, this was by far my best performance of the year, one of my best races ever, and I'd have to say my most proud race result ever. As they say, this is one of those races where you really learn something about yourself.

I went into this race very confident, the most confident I've been heading into a race since my 2008 season. I knew from training I was very fit, I felt I was peaking perfect, in fact everything seemed and felt perfect heading in which is quite rare in my experience. I've never been one to talk a big game so I surprised myself Saturday evening when I made the comment to someone, "this will be my last race flying under the radar". Slept great Saturday night, another rarity for Ironman, most of my typical Ironman nerves were transformed into confidence.

Swim: 51:56 7th fastest split
Not much to report in the swim, it was both good and bad. Good in the fact that my swim training had gone well in the lead up to the race and I am my most swim-fit of year right now. Bad in the fact that I swam alone the entire way, no feet to draft. With only about 16 pro men in this race I knew the race would likely be very spread out as the day wore on so I was mentally prepared to do long solo efforts. All in all it was fine and I was onto the bike in 7th and very much within striking distance of the race.

Bike: 4:51:52 24.3mph
I went in with the attitude that this race was about taking risks and dealing with the results of those risks. I took that attitude onto the bike and set out to make this race mine right from mile 1. I steadily passed, and dropped, riders through the first hour (thank you stagger rule for keeping any packs from forming in the men's pro race) and went through 40k in a hair over an hour. Through the first checkpoint on the bike I had ridden within a minute of the fastest cyclist and was only around 4 minutes off the lead. Things were going exactly as I would have scripted up. Then, while riding solo in 5th place at mile 45, I came to the corner which, unfortunately, played a big role in the men's pro race. Long story short, there had to be a last second course change in the final days leading up to the race, the course was rerouted after being marked, and all arrows were accounted for......except one. The corner didn't feel right to me when I got to it, the entire course was staffed very well and this corner had nobody, just an arrow on the road. I thought about stopping but didn't know if 6th place was 1 or 8 minutes behind, plus the next racer wouldn't know any better than I what to do. I went with my instinct and followed the arrow. The two race leaders went through with a moto escort thus ignored the arrow. Of the next 14 pro men to hit the corner without an escort, about half went off course anywhere from 4-6 miles. One of the unfortunate things that sometimes happens in triathlon is that when there's a problem on the course nobody is aware of, it's the first riders through who "discover" it and it is quickly fixed. This errant arrow was discovered and removed by the time the pro women hit the corner, but of course by then the damage was done. An extra 6 mile loop I rode without even realizing I was off course. To throw salt in the wound, the one and only big climb I encountered all day was during the 6 miles extra I rode. Eventually the loop put me back on the course, I started seeing volunteers again, and I was pretty sure I had ridden correctly. Then I went past the 50 mile marker with my computer reading 56 miles. Not long after I started passing athletes who I knew were well behind me all along. I became extremely angry and enraged, I didn't know what I was angry at, but I could not believe this was really happening. There were so many thoughts going through my head I didn't know what I should do, didn't know what place I was in. I put serious thought into pulling the plug and dropping out. I had entered the Syracuse 70.3 next weekend as a backup plan in case something went awry in Sandusky and I certainly thought this qualified. I decided I should continue on until I found out what place I was in. The last 2.5 hours of the bike were a complete mental collapse, I could not move on from what had happened, I just kept focusing on and asking how this could happen in my biggest race of the year, feeling so sorry for myself-why me, why this race? If this happened in a sprint or a half I could just make up for it in the next race, but Ironman is different, you can't just jump in one the next week, you have to make the races you do count, you can only do so many. I kept telling myself that losing 15 minutes in an Ironman does not mean a lost race, but try as hard as I could, I could not get my mind back into the moment of the race. And then as the pain of Ironman set in around mile 80, my mental state made the difficulty of Ironman so much harder. There was so much negativity going on in my head and I could not get any information about what place I was in or if others went off course too. I just soldiered on. Physically I was starting to feel the hard early pace I set and I wasn't in the mental state to battle, I completely surrendered to the suffering, and faded badly the last hour. Every time I passed a mile marker I was reminded of what happened and that I had 6 additional miles to ride, it was absolutely mind crushing. I checked my computer as it clicked 112 miles and I had ridden it in 4:37, almost exactly what I had targeted for myself the day before. And I had ridden that split in the mental state I was in and while knowing I had to go 118, not 112. I thought about how I should be in T2, how energized and motivated I would have been to come off the bike in that split. Instead I had 6 more miles on the bike. In the end I rode 118 miles in 4:51, 24.3mph. Looking back through the results, and taking away the miscue, I was probably the 4th best cyclist on the day.

Run: 3:01:11 3rd fastest split
In the T2 changing tent I was told 6th place which I didn't believe at first. Then starting the marathon I had several spectators tell me 6th place. Suddenly I became elated and excited that through everything I had the opportunity to salvage a sizable paycheck. The legs were not there initially and it took a while to become a runner. Once I got going I was able to click off 6:30ish pace all the while keeping in mind that my big focus for this marathon was the second half which has been my downfall in my first two Ironmans. Following Lake Placid I did a complete nutrition overhaul (posted in full below) solely geared towards the last 13 miles of the marathon. I missed my official half split but it was 1:27/28. The last 13 miles I relied a lot on coke and caffeinated gels, and I've become a fan of both. I moved up one spot and at mile 21 was just a minute down, and gaining, on 4th place. I ran miles 21-23 really hard but then the wheels came off and I had only pulled back a few additional seconds. One of my big goals for this race was to run my first ever sub-3 marathon and with two miles to go I think I only had run 7:30ish pace to do so. But having gone through everything I had gone through, persevered, and salvaged a good result and payday when I thought there would be none, I decided that I just wanted to take the last 2 miles to myself, smell the roses, and take everything in. There will be more chances to run sub-3 marathons when I'm racing for position. I was really happy, totally relieved, and especially proud of what I had done as I approached the finish. Turning into the finish chute I saw 8:48 on the clock and just laughed that through everything here I am setting my PR and going 4 minutes faster than this same race last year. I ended up running the second half in 1:33/34 which is by far my best split marathon ever, still room for improvement though.

Overall: 8:48:29 5th place
Of those who went off course, 'I think' just 3 finished and those 3 were rewarded with 2-4-5 place overall finishes. All of us were really happy, and not one negative word was spoken from anyone, even Chris McDonald who rode the same 6 mile loop as I and ended up just 5 minutes away from winning the whole thing. From looking at splits and comparing what I saw on my computer I'm pretty certain that I added about 14 minutes to my bike which is funny because I wrote down 8:34 as my finish time the day before the race. I won't waste time and energy trying to figure out where I 'would' have finished or in what time, but who knows what effect being mentally removed from the race for 2.5 hours had or what effect riding 6 additional miles had on my marathon in addition to the 14 minutes. I'm just very proud that I weathered the storm, persevered, and stuck it out. Even with the miscue I finished just 20 minutes off the win. My ultimate goal was a top-3 podium and I do believe that the way I performed was good enough for that. I'm proud that I have my own story of not giving up and the next time someone says to me, "I dropped my nutrition on the bike and my race was ruined" I can tell my story of Cedar Point 2011.
Looking forward, I am very fit right now. I knew that heading in and this race only confirmed it. 48 hours after finishing the early indications are that I've recovered very well from this one, much better than Lake Placid. My soreness is probably just half as bad as Placid and I even rode an hour Monday morning. I give credit to an easier course and being much more fit as the reason I am feeling as good as I am. I'll take this week very easy and then next week get to work on the "4th quarter" of my season. I'm very fit and the focus of the 4th quarter will be entirely racing. Excited to see what I can do. I'm finalizing my race schedule this week but this is what it is looking like:
9/25 Westchester Tri NY
10/2 Pocono 70.3 PA
10/9 Rev 3 South Carolina
then see how I feel and either call it a season or do some combination of the following Florida races
10/30 Miami 70.3
11/5 Ironman Florida
11/12 Clearwater 5150

I want to say a big thanks to all the volunteers and Rev 3 staff for a great race. Congrats to all the participants, especially Bretscher Multisport athletes Dana and Julie. Dana had a fantastic day and went 9:20 which ranked him as the 4th overall age grouper on the day and a PR by over 4 hours! Julie, in her Iron distance debut, put together her greatest performance ever and crushed everyone's expectations with a 11:26, ranking her the 7th overall age grouper on the day! Wow!
Finally I would just like to offer another endorsement for the Rev 3 series. As I've been saying for over a year, unless you have a legit shot and are trying to qualify for Las Vegas or Kona, there are far more reasons to do a race in the Rev 3 series. The Rev 3 experience is unique and fantastic, the venues are very logical (at Quassy and Cedar Point parking is within 200 meters of the start, transition, and finish), courses are fun and challenging, entry fees are lower, and you don't have to commit a full year in advance. Imagine being able to train, assess if you are ready, and then entering without having to risk an injury forcing a DNS after you've paid $600. But what I like most about Revolution 3 is they are in the sport for the right reasons, to promote and further the sport, and give the triathlete the best experience possible. Making money is important with any business, but it is far from the 'only' thing with Rev 3.

Daniel Bretscher Rev 3 Cedar Point Nutrition Report
Breakfast:
     4 Powerbars (960 cal)
     1 piece dark chocolate 88% cocoa (20 cal)
     16oz Powerbar Perform (140 cal)
Prerace:
     Perform drink all morning ~16oz (140 cal)
     Powergel Double Latte caffeinated gel 20min before start (110 cal)
Total Race AM: 1370 calories
Bike 118 miles:
     1 Powergel every 8 miles. 9 Vanilla/5 Double Latte Caffeine. 14 total @ 110 cal each (1540 cal)
     100oz Powerbar Perform (875 cal)
     ~40oz Gatorade (80 cal)
Total Bike: 2500 calories
Run:
      One gel every 3 miles. 4 Vanilla/4 DL caffeine. 8 total @ 110 cal each (880 cal)
      One cup water/one cup gatorade every mile-first 16 miles (~600 cal very rough estimate)
      One cup water/one cup coke every mile-last 10 miles (~400 cal estimate)
Total Run: ~1900 calories
Total Race Calories: ~4400
Total Calories Wakeup-Race Finish: ~5800

Rev 3 Cedar Point-Ready to Race

2011-09-05T22:20:00.000-04:00

I am now less than one week away from my biggest race of the year, Rev 3 Cedar Point. I feel really good about where my fitness is at heading into this race, in fact this will be the first race of the entire 2011 season where I am genuinely pleased with my fitness heading in. There is no doubt that I am in my best fitness of the year, and I think I may be in the best shape of my life although I’ll wait until I see the results from this next block of races before I make that judgment. Within about ten days of racing Lake Placid I could feel that my cycling had reached another level and things have continued to progress from there.

Although this will be my third crack at the Ironman distance, this will be the first time I am giving myself permission to really get in and “race”. My Ironman debut, a year ago, was all about experiencing the distance and learning. In Lake Placid I went in knowing that I was not ideally fit and instead focused on executing a perfect race. Although I didn’t execute a perfect race I did execute a good race and the plan worked as I finished 5th on the day when I’m confident there were more than five people more fit than I was at the time. Those first two races, I raced very conservative and against myself. Come Sunday I plan to race the competition and will not be afraid to make some moves and make the race happen. Heading into Lake Placid I completed just two training rides of 100+ miles. Now I’ve completed five. I don’t have a specific race plan for this Sunday, but I know at some point the race will open up and there’ll be an opportunity to make something happen. I plan to take that opportunity.

My goals for this race are as follows:

1. Improve upon my 5th place finish in Lake Placid
1a. Put myself in a position where I have an opportunity to podium (top-3)

2. Run a sub-3 hour marathon

3. Set a new PR (8:52)

The one big thing I haven’t done well in either of my first two Ironmans has been marathon execution. In both my first two races I ran significantly slower than I know I was capable. This was due to both poor execution (running the first half too hard), as well as lack of mental toughness the second half. This will be one of my major focal points for Sunday, barring extreme weather there is no excuse for me not to run a sub-3 marathon. The one major change I’ve made from Lake Placid to now is a complete overhaul of my race nutrition. I’ve seen benefits from this in training and I’m excited to put it to the ultimate test on Sunday. Hopefully implementing caffeine into my nutritional plan will give me the extra boost I need to stay strong the last half of the marathon. That, plus being mentally stronger and making myself suffer like I’ve never suffered before, something I’m mentally preparing myself to do.

Follow me online Sunday www.rev3tri.com. Race begins at 6:50am, hopefully I’ll be finishing around 3:30pm. Wishing everyone racing this weekend a good, safe day.

Steelhead 70.3

2011-08-15T18:01:00.000-04:00

Three weeks removed from Ironman Lake Placid was my first real race back, the Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor Michigan. With 38 pro men on the list and a flat course I went in expecting a pretty similar race to what we had in Muncie, lots of packs on the bike and ultimately a runner's race. I was looking forward to this race because, although Lake Placid was just three weeks ago, I feel I've made real gains in my swim and bike fitness since then. Running, however, has been a struggle. I've found Ironman recovery to be as challenging and as much a test of patience as actual Ironman racing. I've felt terrible and cut more runs short in the past two weeks than I have this entire year. When I made my Ironman debut last year it was essentially the end of my season. Thus this is my first real experience racing an Ironman with several more months of racing planned. Anyway I went into Steelhead excited to test my swim and bike fitness but with pretty much no confidence in my run.

Race morning Lake Michigan was very angry and the swim was, rightfully so, cancelled. I was happy the event was made into a bike-run and not a run-bike-run since, with my run still not 100% from Lake Placid, the last thing I wanted to do was a long course du. I was excited for the race since, with a time trial start, I was pretty certain it would be a true test of where my bike fitness is right now. Unfortunately the dynamics of the race played out such that it wasn't a true test by any means.

Bike: 2:06:33 26.6mph 9th fastest
The pros started the time trial highest race numbers, down to lowest, in other words slower athletes starting first, fastest athletes starting last. In hindsight I think it would have been a much more fair race had they started us in reverse order, fastest to slowest. I started about two-thirds of the way through, and felt awesome right from the get go. Was riding smooth and strong into a pretty brisk headwind. First 10 miles were solo and then I made my first pass, but wasn't so much stronger that I was able to pull away. Not long after, we were caught from behind by some athletes, but they weren't so much stronger that they were able to pull away even with 10 meters of separation. Continue this trend for the next 30 miles, we continue to roll up slower riders and the draft becomes so strong that nobody falls off the back. 45 miles in I think we had a line of 13 athletes, all of us riding a far faster pace, with minimal effort than we'd ever be able to ride on our own. My experience is that almost all flat 70.3s end up with large packs, but this got to be pretty silly. Anyway nearly half the men's pro field dismounted within 20 seconds of each other, having put out minimal effort on the bike, and having not done a swim I knew the run was going to be insanely fast. Officially it's my fastest ride ever at 26.6mph but only the first 20 miles required any real effort.

Run: 1:14:37 7th fastest
The massive pack was moving out of T2. Just keeping up with everyone I split the first mile (net uphill) in 5:33. The pace stayed hot from there. I went through some periods feeling really good, and others feeling pretty bad. But throughout it all I never ran slower than 6min pace. Officially it's my fastest run split ever by 90 seconds but with no swim, and hardly any real riding I think it hardly counts as a pr. Normally I'd be pretty skeptical about the validity of the course with a split like I had, but it was the exact same course I ran 1:20 and 1:22 on the past two years so I know it's legit. Mainly I was just pleased that having had really inconsistent training runs in the past two weeks I was able to run well when it came time to race, felt pretty good the whole way, and never really fell apart at the end. The fact that the run splits were as fast as they were (12 people ran under 1:16) just goes to show how little effort was required on the bike.

Overall: 3:22:34 9th place
When I crossed the line and saw my run split I was positive I would be top-8 and likely top-5. But I kept seeing more and more cross with similar run splits. Then when the waiting was done for the results I ended up 9th, a mere 22 seconds off the last money spot. Tough to take but that's racing. In all nearly half the pro field finished within 4 minutes of the win which further shows the dynamics of this race. In future time trial starts they need to start the predicted fastest athletes first, slowest last, so that there will be far less passing, and less chance of packs forming than what there was. That and actually put officials out on the course. This is a race I'll put behind me really quick, there's really nothing I can take away from it other than a decent workout, knowing I rode really strong the first 15 miles, and I put together a good run despite feeling terrible most of the week leading in. The only good news is the race didn't take the toll on me it normally would and I should be able to get back to hard training quickly. I've got 4 weeks until my biggest race of the year, the Revolution 3 Cedar Point Iron distance in Sandusky Ohio September 11. I feel really good about where I'm at right now heading into this race, far better than I felt about myself heading into Lake Placid. I'm confident my swimming and cycling will be better than Placid, and my run should be back to 100% by then. Now I really want to crush these next two weeks of hard training to give myself the best possible chance of having my best race on September 11.

Ironman Lake Placid

2011-07-27T20:31:00.002-04:00

It has now been 3 days since I raced Ironman Lake Placid in New York this past weekend. Much like my first go at the Ironman distance this past September I find myself still overwhelmed and trying to process everything that took place this past Sunday. Overall I am satisfied and proud of the race I was able to put together and execute to bring home the result I wanted heading in. Although I can still see plenty of flaws in my race preparation and execution, mainly a combination of my lack of experience and a steep learning curve in Ironman racing, this was a big step forward from my first take at the distance. My perception of my race is still changing every day, and my race report would be different any of the last three days and will probably continue to change, but overall it was a great day and another amazing experience in the sport.

Unlike my first go at the distance this past September where I went in with no real plan and just wanted to experience the distance I went into this race with a pretty specific plan and time checks. Having looked through the past 10 years of Lake Placid race results I was amazed to find that almost like clockwork, a 9 hour finish time places 4th overall just about every single year. The race field assembled didn't strike me as overly impressive despite this being a major Ironman with a big prize purse. There were about five "big names" (one of whom dropped out) and after that things seemed to drop off substantially. With all this in mind plus the knowledge of the course having trained on it two months prior I decided on what I thought would be a pretty conservative race plan that would net a 9:00-9:05 finish time which, based on the history of the race, should put me right in the thick of racing for a good top-5 result. I have been running great all year and I knew heading in my bike fitness has improved over the season but is still lacking. I was only able to put in two rides of 100+ miles in prep for this race where ideally I would like to have gotten in 4-5 100+ milers. So I knew I had to really chill on the bike as going too hard would only hurt my weapon, the run. I planned to try to ride a 5:00-5:05 conservative bike split and hopefully be able to follow that up with a 3 hour marathon. Combined with the swim I knew that should put me right around 9 hours which should have me racing for a good result.

Race weekend I tried to avoid the Ironman zoo as much as possible as being around the thousands of people and race madness only makes me nervous and stresses me out. I didn't arrive in Lake Placid until 2pm Saturday, an hour before gear check in ended, and just 17 hours before the start. I want to say a big thanks to the Jacobs and Allen families of Plymouth Indiana for hosting me in their rental home, it was a great homestay that kept me relaxed all day Saturday and having never met me they were very brave to host me!

Swim: 55:21 8th fastest split
Race morning was busy and went by quickly which was nice because I didn't have much time to think about what I was about to undertake. The swim was very uneventful which I think is always a good thing in an Ironman swim. Got off to a great start and right into the thick of things. Swam towards the front of the chase pack the whole way out. Got to the first turns 1000 yards out and got shuffled to the back as I was on the outside around the turns. Swam back in on the back of the group. The swim in Lake Placid is fantastic, it is clear and there's a visible underwater guide cable the entire way. It was super easy to draft and I only had to sight about every 5 minutes. Started the second loop at the back of our group and the pace slowed considerably. I looked up and the guy I was swimming on lost the group in front of him. I made a move to go after them but quickly realized they were gone and decided my best bet would be to just sacrifice a little time and cruise the second half on the feet in front of me. Out of the water in 8th place, couldn't believe how big the crowd was, the entire quarter mile run to T1 must have been 5 people deep. Made it a point to really cruise through transition as it was a long day and I wanted to keep my heart rate down.

Bike: 5:02:37 22.2mph 7th fastest split
A quick transition put me onto the bike within sight of 5th place. I planned to go out really conservative as it was but didn't plan to be in such high position starting the bike. So I decided to go out even easier since I was in good position. Two guys went by in the first 10 miles. Was riding well within myself at the effort I planned but not seeing the speed I expected for the effort I was giving. At the first turnaround 30 miles in I became concerned. The leader was way further up than I expected, and the lead woman was only 4 minutes behind me. I had dropped from 6th to 8th position and could see I was about to drop to 9th. I felt I was in control of the race after the swim but could feel it getting away. The only good news was that every single pro was riding a solo effort and there was nobody working together so I didn't feel as bad about getting dropped and being alone. At mile 35 Jason Shortis came by to put me into 9th and I decided that I had to forgo my conservative race plan and go with him to get back into the race. We started the long climbs leading back into town and the pace felt super hard. I stuck with it and started feeling better and better. By 45 miles I felt the best I had all race and began taking turns setting the pace. Through the half in 2:27 which was right about where I wanted for a 5 hour split. Kept working with Jason until I got dropped on the Keene descent at mile 70. Rode the entire rest of the way solo. Was concerned about the last 20 miles since that's where I fell apart in my first Iron distance race and the last 20 are all uphill, but I think my ultra conservative pace the first 30 miles paid off because I stayed strong relative to everyone else. Caught and passed two guys who were falling apart on the final climbs in the last 5 miles heading back into town. Hit T2 in 6th position with a 5:02 split, pretty much exactly the position and time I had written down I wanted to be before the race. Best news of all is that I didn't feel fried finishing the bike like I felt in my first 140.6, I felt ready to run a sub-3 hour marathon.

Run: 3:04:42 5th fastest split
I always tell the athletes I coach that in any race over 4 hours in length you have to be ready for things to go wrong and the unexpected because unexpected things always happen and troubleshooting is part of the game. I was lucky that I only had one big curveball thrown at me during the race and as it turns out I did it to myself. I hurried through T2 to try to gap the two athletes I came off the bike with. I started the marathon and knew something wasn't right but couldn't figure out what. A minute in I realized I had left my gel flask in my transition bag which was the nutrition I was relying on for the marathon. Oops. I quickly had to improvise and utilize the aid station nutrition which is a bit of a gamble because you never know what flavor the gel will be and some flavors I can't tolerate. Thankfully I made it work although I had to force some of the gels down. Felt great running out of T2, no real lingering fatigue and floated through the first 6 mostly downhill miles at 6:15 pace, passed an athlete to move into 5th position and was putting time into everyone behind me and gaining on 4th. Through 10 miles in 64 minutes feeling great and through 13.1 in 1:26. It's amazing how quickly things can change in a marathon because I went from feeling on top of the world at the half marathon, on cruise control enjoying the massive crowd in town, positive I was going to smash 3 hours, and run down 4th place to feeling on the verge of walking, completely depleted, legs so sore I could barely lift them, hoping I could just finish top-8 in a two mile stretch. My pace went from 6:30 on cruise control to 7:30 and struggling in that two miles. The last 11 miles were just pure raw suffering. Probably the biggest thing I took away from my first 140.6 race was the knowledge of how painful and intense the suffering is in Ironman racing, there's no workout or other race that can replicate the pure intensity of the suffering. I think having that knowledge really helped me to keep it together and manage the last 11 miles despite the discomfort. I made a 1 minute port-a-john stop at mile 18 and then went through a real bad patch from 19-20 miles. Started doubling my nutrition intake the rest of the way and that seemed to help. Through 20 miles in 2:15. Was very concerned about getting run down from behind but thankfully all of my closest pursuers seemed to be going through the same thing and all of the time gaps seemed to hold steady despite significant slowing. My mind went to some bad places those last 11 miles but through it all I kept pushing. The last 10k all I could manage was 8min pace, I've never run with such sore quads in my life, lifting my legs took all the energy I had. Finally made it to the speed skating oval where Eric Heiden won 5 gold medals in the 1980 olympics. Can't say I remember much from the lap around the track to the finish but I made it to finish 5th-the exact position and almost the time I had written down for myself a few days before the race.

Overall: 9:07:05 5th place
Very happy to come home in the exact finish position I had written down for myself a week ago. Not so pleased with my half marathon run splits of 1:26-1:38. Although I did cut 7 minutes off my marathon from last September which was run on a much easier course. Ironman marathons just have a steep learning curve I suppose and I did take a big step forward although I know I had sub-3 in me. Probably needed to go out 1-2 mins slower and then be more mentally tough the last half. I was very fortunate to not lose any positions with the way I ran. Had the field been deeper this mistake likely would have cost me several positions in the final 10k. Got away with it this time and didn't lose any positions. Had a great time at this race, Lake Placid is an incredible and inspiring place to race. I still remain amazed by the undertaking to put on such an event. 4000 volunteers worked from 5am through midnight to make the race go without a noticeable glitch. Ironman racing is a pretty neat thing with an incredible positive vibe surrounding the events and I hope to be back at this one next year. I look forward to the second half of my season now. This first half got off to a very slow start following a long offseason but I have come into good form in the last month. I look forward to starting the second half of the season in race shape and continuing to build the momentum I've found in July. I feel more motivated than I've ever been entering August and if things continue the way they're going I think I can produce career best results the second half of this season. But for now it's time to recover. See you at the races, and congrats to all the participants, Daniel

Muncie 70.3

2011-07-17T20:54:00.000-04:00

A week ago I competed in the Ironman Muncie 70.3 in my home state of Indiana. With this being the first professional triathlon race Indiana has hosted in nearly a decade it was a race I had highlighted and had on my mind since the day it was announced. All season long I had planned to be on my A game for this race. Race week we had 30 pro men confirmed and typical July hot weather coming raceday. With hot weather, a flat bike course, and a deep talented pro field assembled I predicted we would see large packs on the bike and ultimately those who could keep it together on the run would have the successful results. The race played out pretty much exactly as I anticipated and my prerace strategy of using the swim and bike just to setup my run seemed to be the optimal plan on this day.

Swim: 27:17 13th fastest split
There's really not too much to write about from the swim, it went pretty much as the swim always does for me. Once everything calmed down and sorted out I was in the second pack, where I always seem to swim. Out of the water we had 8 guys in our group and got word that the lead group was just a minute up.

Bike: 2:08:22 11th fastest split 25.9mph
From the get go the pace was pretty hard on the bike and I did a good amount of pace setting in the early going as I hoped we could catch the lead group. We dropped a couple guys off the back with the hard pace in the first 5k and we ended up with a group of four; myself, two of my teammates, and one other. At the first turnaround 9 miles in we were still a minute down on the lead group of 8. I spent a decent amount of time at the front setting the pace the next 20 miles hoping to catch a glimpse of the lead group. Problem was we were a group of 4 chasing a group of 8. To our credit though our group ended up only riding about a minute slower than the larger group up the road and despite the lack of officials on course I thought everyone was doing their best to ride legal and keep the race fair. At the 30 mile turnaround I was pretty certain that we were not going to catch the lead group, I was a little tired from the hard effort the first half, and I began to remember my prerace prediction that in the end it would be a runner's race. I've been running well all year and didn't want to screw that up by riding too hard with a hot run coming. So I spent nearly the entire last 25 miles sitting at the back of the group and conserving as best I could. 45 miles in I could tell the entire group was tired so I decided to make an effort to breakaway. Went to the front at 50 miles, tried to make a break but the legs were totally shot.

Run: 1:17:36 2nd fastest
Started the run 12th and felt terrible. Two athletes ran away and I couldn't match their pace. Just tried to relax and hoped the body would come around. I took a lot of aid through the first two aid stations and that seemed to really help as the legs started coming around and finally things started clicking. Moved into 10th at mile 4 and set my sights on 8th, the final payout. Just seemed to get stronger and stronger as the run went and everyone else seemed to slow down. Caught 8th at the turnaround and not long after moved into 7th then 6th. Ran several miles in 6th place and was pretty sure that was where I would finish as I could see 5th about 30 seconds in front but he was maintaining his gap on me the entire way. Then, at mile 10 where I typically start to fade I just felt really strong, pulled in 5th place and ran as hard as I could, never faded, to a 5th place finish.

Overall: 3:55:36 5th place
Pleased with my performance and my race execution on this day was near flawless. Been awhile since I've had a good race result and all my results so far this year have been garbage so feels extra good in that respect and helps to validate that despite the slow start, yes indeed I am getting into good shape.

Another one of the big highlights of this race for me was that Bretscher Multisport had its first ever "team race" in Muncie. We had 7 athletes make the trip to Muncie and I think all of us enjoyed the experience a little more because of each other. Triathlon isn't exactly a team sport but with the camaraderie we shared all weekend it certainly felt like one. We started things off with a nice dinner Friday night and then finished off the weekend with a nice team photo and claiming our fair share of hardware at the awards ceremony. Highlights of the Bretscher Multisport athletes include....
Julie: 7 minute PR of 5:12 and 45th overall out of 455 women
Mike: 61st out of 242 in the 40-44 age group and a new "hot weather pr" of 5:23
Ron: Runner-up in the 50-54 age group and 1 minute short of a lifetime PR with a 4:33
Dana: New PR of 4:15, 7th place overall age grouper on the day
Billie: 50 minute PR of 4:51 and 21st of 176 in in the 30-34 age group
Paul: New PR of 5:18, 21st of 127 in the 50-54 age group
Congrats all!

Julie, Daniel, Mike, Ron, Dana, Billie, Paul unveil the team banner

Daniel, Ron, Dana bringing home hardware

Now I turn my attention to Ironman Lake Placid in one week. I'm running phenomenal right now, swimming good enough, cycling I'm still not convinced. Despite Lake Placid being a mountainous course compared to dead flat Muncie I think my race plan is going to be almost identical. I've got to swim and cycle in a way that sets up my weapon: the run. In my one and only go at the Ironman distance I over-rode the bike and ended up running about 15 minutes slower than I thought I would heading in. I did that on a flat course. With Lake Placid having six climbs that are miles in length I expect the bike to be one of my greatest ever tests in patience. For five hours I'm going to have to stay patient and keep my competitive instincts in check. If I have my legs starting the marathon I believe I have the fitness to run sub-3 hours. Today I spent some time looking through the history of Ironman Lake Placid. What I learned is that 9 hours has never finished lower than 6th overall. I plan to aim for around a 5-hour bike split and hopefully that will lead to a 3-hour run split which should put me around 9 hours overall and a rock solid result. I'll be happy to finish top-8 on the day but coming off of Muncie, secretly, I want to match or better my 5th place result from last week. It'll be an adventure no doubt and right now I'm just trying to drill it in my head that yes, I am about to race another Ironman.

Rev 3 Quassy

2011-06-07T21:58:00.000-04:00

Rev 3 Quassy-Middlebury, CT

Well this will be a different race report from Daniel because it will not be from his perspective. It will be from mine-his girlfriend! (I better do a great job because this may be my last blog entry!)

Swim 26:38 18th Fastest Split
When we got to the race site the outside temperature was around 50degrees so I was crossing my fingers that the water temperature would be 68 degrees. It was 69 so no wet suits today. I hoped that Daniel could stay warm enough though to swim well. Not being able to see much of the actual swim, I can judge how well Daniel competed by his place out of the water. It was about how I had expected it to go, although I had hoped that he would be in a higher position going into the bike section. I have watched enough races to know that the swim portion typically isn’t detrimental to your overall place. For instance, the overall winner of the race swam just 12 seconds faster than Daniel and only had the 16th fastest swim split. I knew that the bike portion would be crucial!

Bike 2:30:58 22.5mph 19th Fastest Split
On Friday, Daniel and I drove the bike course, which was the first time that I have ever done that with him. This is the section of the race that I never see but this course seemed difficult to me-I got car sick from all the hills and turns. As Daniel said, “It is an honest course.” There were some big climbs, technical turns and very few easy portions. I knew the course was challenging when the professionals ride about 15 minutes slower than a typical course. Just like the swim, I can judge his performance on his place. I started to get nervous when more than 10 minutes had passed since the leaders had left transition. Once Daniel arrived in transition, I knew that he did not have a great bike leg and did not put himself in a position to win some money. I did not think it would be possible to pass 9 people on the run. It would have been easy for Daniel to mentally give up at this point.

Run 1:16:04 8th Fastest Split
During the bike portion of the race on Sunday, I ran miles 5-13 of the half marathon course skipping the most challenging part Mile 4-5, which was all up hill. I would not consider this an easy course and I can’t imagine running it after swimming and biking although the conditions were ideal for a runner since almost the entire run course was shaded and the temperature was about 70 degrees at this time. Daniel had a fantastic run and a PR by 55 second! His previous best was 1:16:59 from 2008 at the 70.3 World Championships.

Overall 4:15:47 16th Place
After this race, I believe Daniel should have a lot of momentum going into his training and next race. His bike fitness is lacking compared to the other 2 disciplines right now but I do not think he is too far off. Finally, this was a stacked race full of professionals so if you are looking to travel to the East Coast for a challenging course and to compete on the same venue as World Class Athletes, you may want to consider this race. From my perspective as a spectator, Rev 3 puts on a great race atmosphere!

Daniel vs. The Wall

2011-05-22T21:27:00.000-04:00

This past week I've been out training with my old roomate, Jun, in Frostburg Maryland. The riding out here is hard, very hard. During our five rides this past week it rained during four, and we averaged over 15mph once. I realized midway through the week that we were just 15 miles from the town of Westernport which I recognized for one thing: The famed Westernport Wall of the Savageman Triathlon. This climb, and its 31% gradient has quickly become one of the most famous climbs in all of triathlon for its steepness and Tour-like atmosphere on raceday. The race itself is said to be the hardest half-iron tri in the world by all who race it. Having trained on the course this past week I can report that no half-iron I've ever done even compares with this course, and I've done some pretty challenging races. Having seen the videos from the Westernport Wall on raceday I had to go check it out and below is Jun and I attempting to conquer "The Wall". The Savageman Triathlon is on my triathlon bucket list. If you're ever passing through Western Maryland check out the Savageman course, you will quickly realize that all of the courses which you thought were challenging, were not!

Raceday chaos on the Wall

Daniel and Jun Versus The Wall

Rev 3 Knoxville

2011-05-17T23:28:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, for the second year in a row, I kicked off my season at the Revolution 3 Knoxville triathlon down in Tennessee.

Swim: 19:41 20th fastest split
I went into the swim prepared for the worst. The swim and I just have not been clicking this year. Furthermore with the cold and wet spring in the Midwest I wasn't able to get outside for my typical weekly May open water swims. This would be the first open water swim since September. And I was wearing a new wetsuit for the first time as well. Anyway the swim ended up better than I anticipated. Not good, but not too far off. Got out well and right into the second group where I typically swim. Stayed in the group through the first turns but then halfway through a funny thing happened. I just lost contact. Wasn't struggling too much, the group simply swam away from me. Usually once I get through the first 5 minutes I'm good for staying on in the group but not today. I don't know if it was a momentary lapse in focus or what but it was a helpless feeling watching the group of 10 just pull away. Ended up losing only about 20 seconds to the group but 20 seconds was just enough to allow the 10 or so guys to team up on the bike and work together. All of the 5th-13th place overall finishers swam in that group so that was my one chance at a top-10 finish.

Bike: 1:00:50 23.8mph 16th fastest split
Moved up several positions in the first 5k of the bike but there would be no catching the second group of 8 guys. Rode decent on the day, not great, but not bad. The bike course is what makes this race. It is just a lot of fun to race the fast sweeping turns mixed with two separate 2 miles climbs and a 40+ mph descent.

Run: 35:24 14th fastest split
I had big hopes for the run but the legs were not there which I believe is mostly a result of the challenging bike course. And also probably the 80 miles of running I logged the previous week in training.

Overall: 1:57:48 14th place
I feel alright with my race. Certainly not any kind of breakthrough but the thing I told myself before the race is that barring injury or some unforeseen event, this will be the most out of shape I am for any race this year. And if finishing in the top half of the pro field is my most out of shape, then I should be able to pull off a good year. I just need to keep working. Swim was a little better than I expected and run was a little worse. But overall I was consistently faster than last year all around. It felt great to put on the jersey of my new team, US Pro Tri, for the first time. Next week I'll do it again and try to build off of this out in Maryland at the Columbia Triathlon. Finally I'd like to say that Revolution 3 puts on amazing races on very well thought out venues. I encourage all to check out this series which is doing all it can to support the sport of triathlon. In fact I just booked my ticket out to Connecticut to race Rev 3 Quassy on June 5!

2011 Ready to Roll

2011-04-12T23:25:00.004-04:00

The 2011 race season is here and come Sunday morning I'll rollin' into Carmel Indiana hot with my 2011 steed all ready to go for the first hitout of the year! Special thanks to Larry at Covered Bridge Cyclery for all his hard work on these beautiful rigs. I'm excited to be riding Planet X in 2011! See you at the races

2011 Race Schedule-First Attempt

2011-02-22T22:40:00.000-05:00

Here is my first attempt at putting together my race schedule for the upcoming 2011 season. I say first attempt because what I end up racing this season will almost certainly be different than what I'm thinking right now. But here is the rough sketch of what the season will look like. Races in bold are what I plan to peak for.

4/17 Carmel Sprint Triathlon IN
This race has unintentionally become my traditional kick off to the season. I've opened with it the past 4 years. Good low key age-group race, a chance to blow out the rust from the offseason, and fun to compare times year to year. I'll be going for 5 straight wins this year.

5/15 Rev 3 Knoxville TN
Had one of my worst races ever here last year, look forward to returning, taking on the challenging course, and love supporting the Rev 3 series!

5/22 Memphis in May 5150 TN or Columbia MD
Going to be a long drive this weekend, haven't decided if it will be to Memphis or Maryland. I've had great success at Memphis the three years I've raced it but Columbia has potential as well.

6/5 Pigman Sprint IA or Rev 3 Quassy CT or Mooseman 70.3 NH
Another long trip, either to Iowa, Connecticut, or New Hampshire. If I show great form in my May races then I'll head out East to take on the tough pro fields, otherwise will play it a little more conservative with Pigman. I've won Pigman before, Quassy is a course that sounds like it would really be challenging, and Mooseman is a place where I have unfinished business after last year's DNF

6/12 Kansas 70.3 or Eagleman 70.3 MD
Ironman 70.3 this weekend, just have to decide if I want to make the long trip East or West

6/26 Pleasant Prairie Triathlon WI
Very fast olympic distance race I'll be looking to make it 3 straight wins

7/9 Muncie 70.3 IN
Really excited for this one, have it highlighted since the day it was announced. First pro triathlon in Indiana in 8+ years, better believe I'm there and hopefully in peak form. Additionally excited as this will be the first ever Bretscher Multisport team event, we have 8 athletes scheduled to race right now!

7/17 Racine 70.3 WI or 7/24 Ironman Lake Placid NY
Will combine my Muncie peak with another race. If I'm prepared to go the distance it'll be Lake Placid, otherwise will stick to the more local 70.3 race.

8/14 Steelhead 70.3 MI
Have had good races here the past two years

9/11 Rev 3 Cedar Point OH
Made the big Iron distance debut here last year and excited to return a second year. Great race, great series, big prize purse all in a relatively short trip. Count me in!

9/24 Peregrine Triathlon IA
One of my favorite races, great venue, super fast course, wonderful event management. Have had great races all three years I've raced, going to 4 wins in a row this year.

10/1 Powerman Muncie Duathlon IN or Pocono 70.3 PA
Long course duathlons certainly take their toll on the body but it's not everyday you find a pro duathlon close to home. Also considering a 70.3

10/9 Rev 3 South Carolina
Love to give back support to the series that supports pros so well and has the best interests of the sport of triathlon in mind!

Assessing the Damage

2011-01-31T07:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I assessed the damage of the offseason: I stepped on a scale for the first time since September. The last time I weighed myself was the week leading up to Rev3 Cedar Point when I was at peak fitness. The number I saw then: 146.4 pounds. The offseason damage report: 159.6 pounds yesterday morning. No wonder 6min pace was so difficult to hold during my tempo run! The weight is about what I was expecting. What's more is that I'm up to 60 miles per week running and can tell that I've already lost an estimated 5-6 pounds. I still have yet to start swimming or cycling, this week will mark four months away from the bike and the pool. I plan to start swimming this week but it could be another three weeks before I get back on the bike. Three weeks are left in the collegiate swim season and once it wraps up I'll instantly have an extra 3-5 hours each day to train, the time I am currently spending coaching. I'm really not too worried. My experience tells me that the aerobic base I have from running will bring my swim and bike fitness along much quicker than if I wasn't exercising at all right now. Running is by far the most time efficient way to build the aerobic engine (not to mention lose weight) and in past years I've questioned how much I am really gaining by doing 2-3 hour aerobic rides on the trainer. What I'm doing certainly isn't the ideal way to be training right now but I'm confident I'll be in at least respectable shape come May and no reason I can't be coming into peak form in mid-July when I plan my first block of peak races.

A couple pics I snapped of my legs last September, the week of Rev 3

Pic of the same leg today, pitiful

Tri Gear Sale

2011-01-15T18:49:00.000-05:00

Making room for new sponsors in 2011, in fact I'll have 100% new sponsors for this upcoming season as my team of the past two years no longer exists. Will be on a new team for the upcoming season, that will be the subject of a future post. The subject of this post is some used equipment that I have to get rid of to make room for the new gear. If you are in need of a road or TT bike, or speedskin, there are some smokin' deals below. If interested, contact me through the link below, I'll be happy to provide anyone with more information or pictures.
http://www.bretschermultisport.com/contact.html

1. Valdora XRD full build carbon road bike w/full Dura Ace components, training wheels (comes ready to ride minus pedals). Size 56. A few months of use and less than 500 miles, perfect condition. Price-$1700 (MSRP $3425) http://www.valdoracycles.com/valdora_XRD_carbon_compact_road_bike.asp

2. Ceepo Singer Carbon TT bike frame, fork, & seatpost. Size 54. Used for 9 months. Price-??? Have had this frame sitting around unused for two years. If you want it I'll work out a price with you, just want to get it sold at this point. Could possibly transfer components from one of the other frames onto this one to make it a full build. Great bike, rode a 2:07 56 mile bike split on this frame http://ceepo.com/2011/products/cp-stinger

3. BlueSeventy Point Zero 3+ Swim skin. Have one used and one that's never been taken out of the box. Used-$50 New-$150 (MSRP $400)
http://www.blueseventy.com/products/detail/pointzero3

Offseason Training Recap

2010-12-20T15:33:00.000-05:00

A lot of Pro triathletes will talk about their training volume during big weeks. We're typically proud of the hours we've put in following these weeks and like to brag and make it seem as though we train such high volume year-round. I posted the details of my Ironman training block in my buildup to Rev 3 in my August post here.

However, what a given athlete does for one given week or even one month out of the year is far from a summation of how they train for the entire year. You have to look at the whole body of work and what they do during those down months which they typically won't write much about. In this post I will compliment my Ironman training summary by posting the opposite end of the spectrum, my offseason training summary.

First off, for a proper comparison let's recap the training totals that I logged for the month of August in preparation for my first 140.6

31 days of August training totals
Swim-91k (3k/day average)
Bike-1617 miles (52/day average)
Run-312 miles (10/day average)
Hours-165 (5.3/day average)

Now fast forward to the 55 day span of October 17-December 11, here are the training totals I logged.
October 17-December 11
Swim-0
Bike-0
Run-6 miles (.11 miles/day average)
Hours- <1 (<1 minute/day average)

That's right, in 55 days I wasn't in the pool once, didn't sit on a bike once, just did three runs totaling six miles. Now I will admit that my numbers are a little misleading, but just a little. I was doing about 5 hours/week of cross training (non swim-bike-run workouts) during this time. But still, it was very minimal and probably the longest break I've taken from training in a long time.

So the next time a pro triathlete tells you that they train 40+ hours/week, that doesn't necessarily mean that they train beyond normal human levels for the entire year, or even most of the year. It could be that you are not being told the full story.

Bretscher Multisport 2010 Athlete Success

2010-11-20T20:24:00.000-05:00

When I first started this blog, I intended to make it mostly about the athletes I coach as opposed to my own racing. For no particular reason, that didn't happen. Now that the 2010 multisport season is finished for all of my athletes I will take this opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of my full time athletes from this past year. I had a big mixture of athletes in 2010, ranging in age from 27 to 53, and ability from training for first ever triathlon to some of the top age groupers in the country. Below they are listed in alphabetical order.

Andrew
Coming off his 10:28 performance as a Bretscher Multisport athlete at Ironman Wisconsin in 2009, Andrew used 2010 as a transition year, between Ironmans, to work on his speed. He put in a quality, consistent year of training with some solid race results along the way. Next year Andrew will return to the Ironman focus as a Bretscher Multisport athlete for the third straight year. Look out for this guy in Coeur D'Alene where he’ll attempt to smash 10 hours.

Dana
Coming off a breakthrough 2009 as a Bretscher Multisport athlete, Dana returned in 2010 set on improving upon results such as a top-3 overall finish in an Ironman 70.3. Dana's early season highlight was a 3 minute olympic distance PR with a 2:00:08 finish in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin. He added a couple local wins along the way to his peak race, the Muskoka 70.3 in Canada. At Muskoka in September, Dana had likely the best race of his life. A year after being the third place overall age grouper, Dana took the overall age group title by a full 6 minutes over second place. His time nearly placed him top-10 amongst the professional field. I could point out that Mirinda Carefree still chicked him by 20 seconds but that would just be cruel! Dana finished off his season two weeks ago at the 70.3 World Championships. Coming off his best training block of the year and more fit than he was in Muskoka, Dana was having a great race with a 90 second swim PR, moving up well on the bike, when a flat tire ruined what would have been a major PR for the distance. Still, a great year overall.

Julie
Julie had a fantastic season in her second year as a Bretscher Multisport athlete. Her early season highlights included a 14 minute olympic distance PR of 2:27 which netted her an age group victory. Add to that a new 70.3 PR of 5:19 turned in at the Racine 70.3. In that race Julie averaged 20mph for the 56 mile bike, just three weeks after riding 20mph for the first time ever in a 40k. She finished off her season with one of her most fulfilling race finishes conquering one of the most difficult 70.3 course in the world at the Muskoka 70.3 in her backyard of Canada. Julie set PRs in every distance she raced in 2010.

Luke
I still remember getting the email this past spring which read something to the effect of “I’ve never done a triathlon of any distance and I just entered Ironman Louisville, can you help me?” I can’t say I know too many people who enter an Ironman before completing even a sprint triathlon but this was the case with Luke. Luke completed his first sprint triathlon in April of 2010 and then as a Bretscher Multisport athlete made a successful Half Iron debut in July. Six weeks later and just four months after finishing his first ever triathlon Luke was standing on the start line in Louisville for his first Ironman. Despite 90+ degree weather Luke made it to the finish line and is an official Ironman finisher.

Mike #1
This was Mike's first year as a Bretscher Multisport athlete and a big step in his road towards being as healthy as possible. Mike took up the sport of triathlon in 2007 after seeing the Ironman on TV. At the time he weighed in at 220 pounds and was wearing size 38, unhappy about the road he was headed down. He made a pact to himself to become life fit and finish an Ironman triathlon before the age of 40. 2010 would be his last year before 40. Mike started his season by running the Boston Marathon in 3:42, a 32 minute PR. In July he raced a half Ironman to a 33 minute PR of 5:03. That left only his full-Iron debut which he would attempt at Rev-3 Cedar Point. He didn't just attempt it, he went under his ultimate goal of 12 hours with a 11:43, finishing before the sunset. That race marked the end of his three year journey from size 38, 220#, barely able to complete a 1-hour sprint triathlon to size 30, 183# and an Ironman finisher (not to mention sub-12 hours) before the age of 40. In all Mike set PRs in every distance he raced in 2010. Mike will return as a Bretscher Multisport athlete in 2011 with Ironman #2 already on the calendar!

Mike #2
Mike began as a Bretscher Multisport athlete this past summer not with a goal so much of going a certain time or speed, but wanting motivation to become life fit, guidance on how to live a healthy lifestyle, train effectively, become involved in the multisport community, and just wanting to feel good in general. Going fast is just the icing on the cake. Mike completed his first ever sprint triathlon in June and capped off his tri season by making a successful olympic distance debut in September. In just three months Mike dropped his threshold run pace by a full minute per mile, increased his threshold bike power by over 30 watts, and saw similar results in the pool. This past month he ran a 30 minute PR with a 2:07 half marathon. Mike will return as a Bretscher Multisport athlete in 2011 and I don't see any way he doesn't continue improving.

Ron
Coming off a mediocre, uninspired year of training and racing in 2009, Ron became a Bretscher Multisport coached athlete in 2010 with the hope of breaking out of his rut and realizing his potential. Did he ever. Ron started the year by winning the 50-54 age group by 15 minutes at Memphis in May. He went out west for the Boise 70.3, won his age group by 30 minutes and was the 9th overall fastest age grouper on the day. As impressive as that performance was he outdid it in July at the Door County Half in Wisconsin. At the age of 53, Ron raced to a LIFETIME half iron PR of 4:30, won his age group by 20 minutes, and his time was bettered by just one person over the age of 40. Ron's focus for the second half of the season was Age Group Nationals, the most competitive age group race in the country. Ron impressed once again, finishing runner-up in the 50-54 age group with a 2:10, it was his only age group finish other than first of the entire year. Coming off the tri season in possibly the best shape of his life, Ron decided to "jump in" the Des Moines marathon just to see what he could do. Just three weeks after the end of the tri season, and with no real marathon specific training, Ron ran a negative split, 2:58 marathon, a lifetime PR and his first marathon in over 20 years! Ron will return as a Bretscher Multisport athlete in 2011 and has his sights set on bigger things including a possible world championship appearance!

Suzanne
Suzanne turned to Bretscher Multisport coaching in 2010 to help her with her preparations for her Ironman debut in Wisconsin. But first she would need to complete her first half iron. She did so successfully in June and then raced to a very impressive 5:27 finish at the Steelhead 70.3 in July. Add to that an olympic distance PR and Suzanne set PRs in every distance she raced in 2010. In September it was Ironman Wisconsin and likely the most gutsy performance I can think of all year. With a great race in the making, Suzanne had a bike accident in the final miles of the ride and severely bruised her ribs. Looking for treatment in T2 she was told she could not be wrapped or she would have to withdrawal. Undeterred Suzanne left T2 without any pain treatment and ran the entire marathon clutching her side. Not only did she finish, but she still managed to do so a few minutes under her ultimate goal time with a 13:24. Her post race email to me describing her race was one line "It was fun, I can't wait to do it again". Wish I could have had the same reaction after my first 140.6! Suzanne will be running the Austin marathon this February and utilizing Bretscher Multisport coaching to get her to the finish line!

Overall it was a very good year. From a coaching standpoint I was pretty satisfied, I didn't feel as though I "missed" with anyone. There were certainly some off races and struggles, but that happens to everyone, even in our very best years it's all apart of the process. I know it’s unrealistic to expect a 100% success rate, but I think these past two years have been as close to that as I could possibly hope for. Looking forward to working with a new crew of athletes and returnees with plenty more success in 2011!

Calling it a season-Thinking long term-The economics of making a living as a pro triathlete

2010-11-03T20:02:00.000-04:00

I made the decision to call my 2010 triathlon campaign complete a few weeks ago and not go forth with Ironman Florida. Basically I was tired, more so mentally than physically, and just didn't feel that I was ready to put forth the dedication to properly prepare for another Ironman. I thought about just "faking" my way through it and going through the motions with my preparations but one of the things I learned from my first experience with the 140.6 distance is the importance of being completely and totally dedicated to the task at hand when training and racing that distance. So out of respect for the distance and my body I decided not to force myself to prepare when the signs were clearly there I wasn't into it. I think that less than two months of separation between Ironmans was asking a lot, especially for the first two. The first one took so much out of me mentally and I had not quite bounced back all the way when it came time to prepare for the second. Furthermore I hadn't quite recovered physically as well as I had initially thought. After the standard week of downtime following the race I felt quite sharp actually, managed good workouts and a very solid 1:53 olympic distance performance in Iowa. Then three weeks after Rev 3 was the Powerman Muncie long course duathlon. It was during and after that race where I learned that I had some very deep rooted soreness and fatigue still in the body. I had planned to start training for Florida the day after Powerman but instead I was so sore I couldn't walk normal for two days. And with that I called it a season.

My 2010 season was rather mixed; some highs and many lows. Pretty inconsistent. It was a step forward from the disaster that was 2009 but not up to the level that I was at in 2007-08. The one big positive that I take away from this year is the way I finished the season from August onward. I took a big risk with the training I did for Rev 3, wasn't sure if I was physically capable of completing it, but surprisingly, it wasn't even the hardest training block I had ever completed despite it being by far the most volume.

I think the biggest challenge for me still remains trying to figure out where exactly triathlon fits into my life. Is triathlon something that I really want to do as a profession and try to make into a career? Or would I be happier if I lived the life of a 'normal' working person, trained 15 hours a week to keep fit, and raced triathlon as an age grouper purely for the fun of it? This is something I've been trying to figure out for multiple years now and still don't have an answer for. It's funny because I remember racing as an age-grouper back in 2007 which was probably the most motivated I've ever been towards anything in my entire life. And my motivation that year was how badly I wanted to make it as a professional triathlete. So what has happened since then to make me question what was my strongest motivation ever? Well, I became a professional triathlete. And along with becoming a professional triathlete I have lived the lifestyle of a pro triathlete for three years now and I've learned that the lifestyle isn't quite as glamorous as I envisioned as a motivated age grouper back in 2007. Don't get me wrong, being a pro triathlete is great and I love the lifestyle, but it is also hard, very hard. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. And while there are some highs which we all strive for and envision in training, there are also many lows, probably more lows than highs, and some of those lows are rock bottom low. It's those lows that you never consider when you set goals or choose to chase the dream, but they are always there and apart of the whole process. Now age group racing certainly has it's lows too, but not nearly to the extent of professional racing. The moment you decide to have this sport as your profession and way of making a living you introduce a whole new pressure into the equation, the pressure that this is where your income has to come from, this is how you will make a living. How well you race is how well you get paid. For the majority of pro triathletes there's no such thing as a stable income like a 'normal' job or even other pro sports. In most pro sports the way you perform on any given day does not impact how you are paid, you are paid based on your entire body of work. This is not the case in triathlon, you are paid almost entirely off of what you do on the day. This pressure and uncertainty is no way to make a living and can sap a lot of the fun and purity out of the sport.

I would equate making a living as a pro triathlete to the 'average' person who works 5 days/40 hours per week like this. Imagine that starting next week your current job is going to have all its employees come in to work just one day per week with the opportunity to make two weeks worth of pay. Sounds great, right? But here's the catch. At the end of the work day all the employees are going to be measured for their productivity on that day. Those whose productivity is in the top 20% of everyone will be paid an entire two week's salary, everyone else, nothing. So what will happen under this scenario? Well, those who are consistently in the top-20% of productivity every week will likely be very happy, they are getting paid quite well for one day a week of work. A select few, who can be in the top 20% more than half the time, will even be making more than one year's salary in a year. However, the number of workers who fall into this category will be very small. The vast majority of employees will be lucky to place in the top 20% once per month, many will go into the work day knowing that they have practically no chance of getting paid. As a result it won't take long for people to quit this job for something more stable or find a second job to make ends meet. This is my best analogy for what it is like trying to make a living as a pro triathlete. And I forgot to mention, also add into the above scenario the variables that there will no longer be employee insurance or health benefits, no paid time off, no sick days, no paid vacations, no retirement package, no excuses. And to make it even more in line with pro triathlon, every week your job location changes to a different city in the US, sometimes even a different country. All employees are responsible for funding their travel to the job location. What do think the chances are of any given worker making a stable, long term living at this job?

I'm not trying to complain about making a living as a pro triathlete, too many pros already do that. I feel fortunate for my time as a pro and for the opportunity of being able to experience this lifestyle. The reason I didn't pursure a career upon graduating college was because I knew I would always look back and wonder what could have been with triathlon. Well, I've now gone down that road and I know what it is to make a living in this sport. All I'm trying to say is that having lived the lifestyle as a pro for three years now I'm not sure how much longer I can see myself going like this, unless things suddenly improve drastically. I, like all pros, would love to see much more money suddenly appear in the sport but I don't see things changing anytime soon. Reality is pro triathletes are not sought after the same way as the pros in other sports. Imagine if I were to show up at an average, hometown, local triathlon with three athletes who are at the top of their games in their respective sports. Peyton Manning, Lebron James, Chris McCormack. At this local triathlon I would estimate that close to 100% of all participants are going to immediately recognize Peyton and Lebron. Yet I would also predict somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% of all participants are going to recognize Chris McCormack. And this is a triathlon we're talking about, the very sport in which Macca has reached the pinnacle. Professionals just do not carry much weight in this sport right now, and until this changes you won't see more people making a living as pro triathletes. Chrissie Wellington might be the only pro triathlete to make it as a mainstream athlete, and even that is debateable. But I still don't see even Chrissie having more than a 50% recognition rate at a given hometown triathlon. The star pros in other sports transcend the sport. Star pro triathletes are barely recognizable in their own sport.

With age group racing it's all about fun, enjoyment of the sport, healthy competition, and the lifestyle first and foremost. The moment the lows outweigh the highs you're going to stop or take a break and find a new hobby. When you commit to race as a professional it's a little different; you have to stick to the plan through all the ups and downs, even when the lows outweigh the highs. Sometimes you have to race even when you don't really want to for the purpose of making money and supporting your sponsors. The travel can be fun, visiting new places for the purpose of racing, but the travel can also become monotonous, expensive, and be more draining than the racing. Racing because you 'need' to as a professional can sap a lot of the fun away compared to an age grouper who will only race because they 'want' to. And finally, professionals live with the realization that they are working twice as hard and getting paid a fraction of what they would make if they used that college degree to get a 'real' job. All of this for the purpose of "living the dream". But what happens when 'the dream' turns out to be not nearly as appealing as you once thought? Well now I'm just getting philosophical. All I'm trying to say is I'm still questioning where triathlon fits into my life and what I hope to take away from it. I'm far from saying I'm throwing in the towel on professional racing. The good news is I do feel rejuvenated and excited again by the challenge of Ironman racing and I'm excited to head into 2011 with an Ironman focus.

A lot has happened since the season ended. My roomate, Jun, landed a great job as head coach of the Frostburg State University Men's and Women's swimming and diving teams. He has moved out to Maryland for that position. He left his previous job as Assistant coach to the women's swim team at DePauw University. With it being mid-season and nobody available to fill his position the DPU head coach offered me Jun's old position and I accepted it, as a volunteer. So it's a very interesting experience as this is my first time coaching at the collegiate level as well as my first time coaching just a women's team. And to make things even more interesting the head coach is my mom. I figure the worst that can happen out of all of this is I learn a whole lot. And with my own personal questions about my future in triathlon I've started thinking more and more about heading back to grad school and won't rule out the possibility of pursuing a coaching career. I really think that 2011 is going to be a deciding year for me. If I can put together a stellar, consistent triathlon season and have fun while doing it then I'll stick with my current profession. If I see more inconsistency, lackluster performances, and don't enjoy myself more then I think it'll be time to reconfigure my priorities and place triathlon racing on the back burner for a while. It won't be a failure if that happens, success or failure to me is based upon figuring out exactly what I want to do with my life long term and then doing it to the best of my ability! Here's to figuring things out in 2011!

Thanks for reading,
Daniel

Having just read through all I wrote I declare this my favorite blog post yet. It's funny what happens when you get going, when I sat down I planned a short update about ending my season. Oops, guess I had a lot to say I didn't know about.

Bretscher Multisport Free November Coaching

2010-10-09T14:29:00.000-04:00

Have you ever thought about working with a coach but been deterred by the cost, long term commitment, and not knowing if you'd improve?

For the month of November all Bretscher Multisport coaching will be FREE and offered for anyone and everyone. I'm doing this to give all of the multisport athletes who are curious about what it is like to have a coach an avenue to do so without having to invest any money. So if you've ever thought about hiring a coach but were not sure if the gains would be worth the money, this is your chance to 'test out the waters' without any $$ investment. There will be no pressure placed on anyone to continue beyond November, and it is perfectly acceptable to sign up without any intentions of continuing past November. All new November athletes will be coached the same as the full time Bretscher Multisport athletes so you will get a true sense of what it is like to work one-on-one with a coach. I will have plenty of free time since November is my off season so am prepared to take on a lot of November athletes.

To sign up just send me a note via my contact link below and I will get in touch with you shortly.
http://www.bretschermultisport.com/contact.html

Powerman Muncie-Pro Duathlon Debut

2010-10-02T20:26:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday I took part in the inaugural Powerman Muncie Duathlon. Although I've officially been a pro duathlete for three years now this was my first pro duathlon and just my second duathlon ever. In all we had eight pro duathletes make it out to Muncie Indiana for the race including two of the top ranked duathletes in the world who made the trip over from Europe.

Run 10k: 34:49 7th fastest split
The run went out very hard. I went out hard but being in 7th position and watching everyone run away from me I was having some serious negative thoughts. Most of those thoughts went away when I saw a mile split of 5:10, nearly everyone in front of me was under 5. Now the first mile is a net downhill but that's still very fast when we have 20k of running on tap for the day. I got the pace under control after that and just tried to focus on my race and setting myself up for a good bike and run. Having not done much speedwork with my focus on Ironman training, the fast early pace caused me to get some severe soreness in my calves as well as blisters on my feet from being up on my toes for the first time in months. Those weren't a major issue in the first run but they caused a lot of trouble in the second.

Bike 61k: 1:30:33 25.4mph 2nd fastest split
Onto the bike in 7th with only one other person in sight. From the very first pedal stroke I felt very good. Took no time to get into a groove and I was moving. About 5 miles in a cold rain arrived and it wouldn't stop until well after the race was over and everyone had left. Caught 6th place after 5 miles and by 10 miles I was all the way into third and feeling good. Through 20k in under 29 minutes. Now all that remained in front were two European Du stars. After 25k I made the pass into second and then wanted to put as much time as possible into everyone for the second run. I couldn't shake third place off my rear wheel. I won't say he was riding illegal but he finished the first run 2 minutes in front of me. I made those two minutes up in the first 25k of the bike. In the final 36k of the bike I put zero seconds into him, you can surmise what that means. Good ride for me, ended up with a 25.4mph average for 38 miles on a somewhat hilly, somewhat windy, wet course. I'll take that.

Run 10k: 40:12 7th fastest split
On the second run my very sore calves and blisters immediately started causing me a lot of discomfort. The French athlete I came off the bike with ran away no problem. The same first mile which I ran 5:10 on the first run was 6:00 on the second. Was having to alter my stride due to the discomfort. Got passed by another and then another. Had gotten myself under control and was able to stay with the final athlete who passed me to the turnaround. We were holding 6:00 pace, racing for 4th place. At that final turnaround I saw that we were a good 7 minutes up on 6th place. Then the option was with fight it out for fourth place or jog to the finish 5th. With all the discomfort I was in from my blisters and sore calves and only $140 difference in payout between 4th and 5th position I decided pretty quickly to call it a day and was content to run 8 minute pace to the finish and 5th place on the day.

Overall: 2:47:03 5th place
Was a little disappointed that my body let me down since I think I had the fitness on the day to get on the podium, but that's part of racing. At the finish I thought maybe I was just being a wuss and could have just pushed through it but then I saw the red stain coming through my shoe. I've had enough blisters in my day to know that when you see the red stain all the way through the shoe it's going to be pretty bad and it was. I can't complain though because my friend Nick W. started passing a kidney stone on the bike and still finished the race. Really pleased with my bike, only a multiple time Du world champ out split me. But the highlight on the day was competing in a Pro race in the state of Indiana. I've been saying for years that we need a major race since every surrounding state has one and it felt great to have multiple athletes traveling over from Europe to compete in Indiana. Likewise it felt great to compete in a major race just two hours from home. So want to thank the crew at Muncie Multisport for making this race happen. And it's only going to get better because next summer we'll have an Ironman 70.3 coming to town. I've got July 9 2011 circled on the calendar! Now the entire season is down to just one more race, Ironman Florida on November 6. Time to train again.

Rev 3 Race Report

2010-09-15T14:48:00.000-04:00

Completed my first Ironman and marathon this past Sunday, race report is below.

Transition setup, ready to go

Ready to go, trying to stay warm

Swim: 54:02 6th fastest split
Had a great swim. Didn't get off to the best start, Lake Erie has a very gradual slope and the first minute or so was spent navigating through less than waist deep water which I'm not real good at. Once the actual swimming started I had a lot of ground to make up but swam past a lot of people and got into one of the front groups. Once I was in my group I just relaxed and felt real good, had a lot of energy and positive spirits. The swim went by quick, pretty effortless, and I was out of the water in 6th position, a great start to a long day. Looked around coming out of the water and was right with all the strong cyclists, it was exactly where I needed to be. Then had some major bad luck going through T1. Went to grab my changing bag and it was missing. Spent about 30 seconds looking for it as it contained some of my nutrition for the bike but eventually lost patience and decided I had to try my luck with the nutrition they had on the course. After the race when I went back to retrieve my gear I figured out what had happened. My T1 bag was hanging right where it should have been but had someone else's wetsuit in it. Turns out one of the athletes who came out of the water in front of me grabbed my bag by mistake, didn't correct his mistake, and it cost me. I looked at the wetsuit to see whose it was and ironically, that morning there was a foreign pro who showed up to race with an illegal helmet. Officials wouldn't let him race with the helmet so I loaned him my road helmet so he could race. That same athlete was the one who took my bag. It only cost me about 30 seconds, but that 30 seconds was the difference between me starting the bike with a group who rode 4:36 and starting the bike all alone which is what happened.

Out of water in 6th position, great start to the day

Bike: 4:43:23 23.8mph 7th fastest split
On the bike and briefly entertained thoughts of time trialing my way up to the group I missed but decided not to and chill out. Having done my research on the course and weather I knew we were looking at a pretty significant headwind the entire last 30 miles of the ride and my entire strategy on the bike was to be strong those last 30 miles no matter what. So I just relaxed and tried to put the T1 snafu out of my mind, in fact I convinced myself that it was better that I missed the group so that I would ride my own pace and not be suckered into over-riding the first half. Checked the flags we passed by on the way out and confirmed that the winds were out of the west as predicted. The first 45 miles were quite enjoyable actually. I was pretty much alone the whole way, the pace was pretty easy and physically I felt great, could tell I was really clicking. Was getting anxious to pick the pace up but kept telling myself I had to hold back. Moved up one position and didn't know it at the time, but was riding in 5th for a good while. 45 miles is when the race really started for me, a big group of six guys rolled me up and, although my plan was to race my own race all day, when I dropped six positions within a minute I decided that I needed to go with this group because this is where the race was. The pace and effort definitely went up a notch but it didn't feel too hard. 65 miles in is when the pain of the day started and the first time I went through a bad phase. The pace felt too fast so I backed off and let my group go and relaxed until I felt better. The rest of the ride was pretty much spent alone for me although I would catch a few stragglers from the group in front. At 80 miles we made the turn to head back west towards Sandusky and pretty much the entire rest of the ride was into a steady 15mph headwind. I started pressing the pace a little at this point per my plan, wasn't quite as strong as I would have liked but was holding together pretty well. At 90 miles I was really feeling bad, lonely, and the wind was just crushing my spirit. I couldn't see any of my competitors and felt like I was losing so much time. I wasn't bonking, but could tell I definitely wasn't producing as much power as earlier. Rode the last 20 miles in sheer agony, not able to enjoy the experience at all, and couldn't stop questioning why so many people pay so much money to do this. I thought experiencing Ironman pain would be a fun, new experience and I was really looking forward to seeing what it was all about. But the pain wasn't fun at all, I was absolutely demoralized, never wanted to do this again. In all the types of endurance racing I've done this is the first time I've ever experienced pain that has gone beyond physical. Ironman pain is just as physically painful as anything else but what takes it to a different level is that it also reaches your spirit and soul. I felt like my soul had just been sucked out of me and I had no emotions or life left in me. There was no silver lining to this pain or light at the end of the tunnel, it was just sheer agony. As I got past 105 miles I couldn't even think of running a marathon, or even running at all. I remember passing through 110 miles and feeling so depressed that I still had a whole two miles left to ride. Hardly the mindset to take into a marathon. Finally reached T2 and didn't even do a flying dismount as I wasn't sure my legs would support me when I hit the pavement. Ran very slowly into the changing tent and saw a two pros who were in front of me sitting down, they quit after the bike. In fact turns out everyone was pretty much in the same boat those last 20 miles and a lot of people decided to call it a day. Getting my runners on in T2 the volunteers told me I was in sixth position which shocked me as I didn't think I was in the top 10. That was an instant boost to the confidence and really helped jump start me for my first marathon.

Starting my first marathon

Marathon: 3:11:54 12th fastest split
After the last 20 miles of the bike I had pretty much thrown away my goals for the marathon and just started running easy. I refused to look at my watch because I knew the pace was slow and just spent the first few miles recovering physically and mentally. Loosened up and was actually feeling pretty good, checked my watch at mile 4 and I had been holding 6:45 pace. Stopped for a 30s bathroom stop on the side of the road at mile 5 as the course was too crowded with people right in downtown Sandusky that I couldn't do my usual bathroom on the go trick. Then really felt good after that and got rolling, even clicking off miles 6-8 in 6:30 pace. Lost two positions in the first half but just focused on going my own pace and taking care of myself for the second half. At mile 11 I started having some slight GI discomfort and made a 90s port-a-john stop. Went through the half in 1:31 and within the first 3 miles of the second half my pace slowed by nearly a minute per mile despite no change in perceived effort. At first I thought the miles were off but they weren't. My mentality started slowly creeping south again and at mile 16 the thought of going 10 more miles was almost unbearable. Lost another position and then at mile 18 had to make another bathroom stop, for a full 2 minutes. In all I spent 4 minutes of my marathon in the port-a-john, normally not a big deal in an Ironman but in this case it would be. Started trying to project my finish time with 10k to go and knew I could be under 9 hours with 8min miles. Wasn't sure if I'd be able to manage that, 7:30 pace was becoming really difficult and in addition I was getting a really bad headache. Took some electrolyte pills and those seemed to help. Miles 20-23 seemed endless and the legs were so heavy, I couldn't believe I was only going 7:30 pace for how hard I was pushing. I thought about how bad I wanted to break 9, how long I had been going for and how little I had left but 4 miles still seemed so far. Through 23 miles, could see the Cedar Point roller coasters in the distance and knew that was the finish line, got a boost of confidence and clicked off 7min pace the last 5k. With one mile to go I could see another pro up the road and a while later I could see a second, but they were too far ahead. Crossed the line in 8:52, 9th place. 7th place was less than 2 minutes up so I can only wonder what could have been if it weren't for those bathroom stops. But that's racing.

Overall: 8:52:36 9th place
Had mixed feelings at the finish. Really happy to get under 9 hours in my first attempt and get through the whole thing with only small mistakes but dropping 3 places on the run really left a sour taste in my mouth about the whole day. Having had a few days to reflect on it I feel better about it now with each passing day. It feels great that when someone asks me my Ironman PR the first number out of my mouth will be "eight". On the whole I executed a pretty solid race, I slowed a bit at the end of the bike and the run but never had a complete bonk, never let my run slip below 7:30 pace. Nutrition wise I think I got it about right, held together the entire way and was in pretty good shape afterwards, avoided a visit to the med tent. If I could go back and reconstruct how I raced I think I would have gone 2-3 minutes slower the last 15 miles of the bike and hope that would make my marathon 8-10 minutes faster. I was really hurting at the end of the bike but kept pushing because I thought I needed to be strong riding into the wind but in hindsight I was not setting up to have a good marathon in doing so. I think I should have given in to the pain a little more and backed off the end of the bike. My run training probably went the best out of all my training and I'm sure I had a sub-3 marathon in me, but didn't quite execute correctly. As they say with Ironman racing, there's no such thing as a good bike followed by a bad run. If you run poorly then you did not execute the bike correctly. I also wonder if I may have been a little mentally weak the second half of the run because I went from 7:30 pace to 7:00 pace instantly with 5k to go and nothing changed other than realizing I had just 5k to the finish. It pains me to say that because I was already suffering so much, but maybe I need to learn to suffer more the second half. All in all a pretty good first outing, small adjustments can always be made but I avoided all the major pitfalls of the Ironman. Moving forward I think knowing exactly what to expect as far as the pain and suffering of Ironman racing will be the biggest asset that I take away from this into the next one. I've always thought that mental training was a bunch of garbage but I think you have to have a very sound mind to be a good Ironman racer because Ironman pain goes beyond physical and into your mind. I was pretty certain after the race that I was not doing another Ironman this year but now, four days later, I'm already entered in Ironman Florida on November 6. I find myself very intrigued by Ironman racing and the challenge of trying to put everything together/find the right balance. There's definitely a formula to success with 70.3 and olympic racing and once you figure out the formula it's pretty easy to replicate over and over. With Ironman racing, unless your name is Chrissy, I don't know if you can ever have it figured out.

I would also like to endorse the Rev 3 series and encourage everyone who reads this to consider including one or more of the races on your schedule for next year. I did two out of three Rev 3 races this year and can say that the organizers of this series have the best intentions of the sport at the forefront of their minds. I can't say that about the other major long course racing series. These races are organized and run as well as the other series, the venues are much more carefully chosen, and the series is centered around being family oriented. Did you know that on Saturday the entire Cedar Point Amusement Park was shut down and open to just the athletes and families? Every entered athlete was given two park passes and on Sunday the finish line was inside of the actual park just feet from some of the rides. If you're not trying to qualify Kona or Clearwater then why not save a lot of money and give yourself a better race experience at Rev 3? And don't tell me that the words "you are an Ironman" is worth the extra $200 in entry. Rev 3 is working with the intentions of bettering the sport of triathlon, that can't be said for certain other race series.

I would also like to give a shout out to the BretscherMultisport athletes who went 5 for 5 on the weekend with career races. Two conquered one of the most difficult 70.3courses on the series up in Muskoka Canada and one of those even managed to win his first overall age group 70.3 title claiming his first World Championship slot! He was 11th overall on the day including pros, a full 6 minutes ahead of the second place age grouper, and ahead of some of the pros! Another athlete raced his first olympic distance to cap off his first year as a triathlete. It's not too often that you put your best s-b-r performances together in the same race but he did just that. Another athlete made his full-Iron debut with me at Cedar Point as the culmination of a life altering decision to get in shape 3 years ago when he was 40 pounds heavier. The goal he made at the time was to finish an Ironman before the age of 40 and he didn't just finish, he finished under has top goal of 12 hours with an 11:44 and his sunglasses still on (before the sun set). Finally the gutsy performance on the day went to my athlete out at Ironman Wisconsin who was making her Ironman debut. Despite crashing her bike at mile 103 and a severely bruised rib she managed to negative split her ride. She brushed off getting medical attention in T2 in favor of her race, ran the entire marathon clutching her side with one arm and even negative split it as well. Finished in under her "A" goal of 13:30, in the top third of her age group, and claims she "can't wait to do it again". Great job to all!

8:52 9th place

2010-09-12T22:16:00.000-04:00

Made the full iron debut today with a 8:52 finish good enough for 9th place. Happy to break 9 hours and nice to get a paycheck. Right now I have so many different emotions about the race and I think it's going to take a few days to fully process what happened today, check back for the official race report. Thanks to Ryan Bates for shooting some video.

Go Time!

2010-09-11T15:52:00.000-04:00

Just 10 hours from now I will be on my way in my first ever Ironman competition, also my first ever marathon. Throughout my training block for this race the goal I had in mind was a top-5 placing in this race. This past week as the training has diminished and the idea that I'm actually about to race an Ironman has hit me full force I've sort of had one thought I keep coming back to; you only get one first Ironman. Now I've sort of forgotten about trying to place well, race others, break 9 hours. I'm heading into tomorrow's race just wanting to take in the experience, enjoy myself, and savor every minute no matter how painful. This will be my only first Ironman and marathon, and most likely my last time to move up in distance. I'm absolutely still going to race hard, but I'm not putting any thought into other people or my placing, the focus is solely on myself and taking in this whole experience. I'm confident that I have the fitness to place top-5. But I also realize that Ironman racing has a very steep learning curve and I'm going to be experiencing something I've never experienced and making decisions I've never made before. While reading literature and talking with others can give you guidance towards what decisions you should make in certain situations, my experience is that things are best learnt through trial and error. I hope to execute a good race tomorrow, but almost certainly I'm going to make some mistakes along the way without the experience of a veteran Ironman racer. I just hope those mistakes don't result in me walking 14 minute miles. So while I hope to do well tomorrow and believe I can, really I'm in it for the experience of a first timer. Finishing fast and placing well would be an awesome experience. But you know what, even if I'm walking 5 miles into the run and finish in 11+ hours, finishing an Ironman and a marathon is still a pretty cool thing. Live race coverage tomorrow at www.rev3tri.com, race starts at 6:50am EST. I hope to post a short update Sunday evening about my experience. Very excited for tomorrow, Thanks for reading!

Would also like to mention that tomorrow is also the biggest day of the year for the BretscherMultisport athletes. I have five athletes who are all racing their peak races tomorrow. Two are up north in Canada for the Muskoka 70.3, one is making his Ironman debut with me at Rev 3, another making her IM debut over at IM Wisconsin, and finally another racing his first olympic at the Nation's triathlon in Washington DC. Excited to see how everyone does!

Bike all set to tackle its first 112 mile race

Personalized transition stalls at all Rev 3 events, the crease through my face is a representation of what I'll likely look like at the finish

Began growing the beard on August 1, the day I started Ironman training

All shaved down and ready to take this on!

Rev 3 Cedar Point 140.6-All in!

2010-08-30T17:18:00.000-04:00

On September 12 I will be making my full-Iron debut at the Rev 3 Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio. After performing below my ability and expectation for most of the summer I decided it was a good time to try something new for a change, I had nothing to lose. I put together a very aggressive training plan which I did not know if I was physically capable of completing and launched full force into Iron distance training with the mentality that if the training didn't break me first then there's no way I wouldn't be ready to go 140.6. It was full commitment and focus, all the eggs into the Rev 3 basket. I did not race once during the month of August, everything was focused on completing the training necessary to get me into peak shape for Rev 3. Now, just 13 days out from race day and transitioning into taper mode I am happy to report that the training did not break me and I believe that I have put together the fitness necessary for a successful 140.6 miles of swimming, cycling, and running. Below is a recap of my August training, the most extensive training block I have ever put in.

Week 1 August 1-7: This was a cycling-focused week which started the day after my last race, the Steelhead 70.3. Highlight workouts for the week include a 22 mile long run and a 120 mile long ride. In total I logged 45 hours of training for the week-broken down that's 13k swimming, 500 miles on the bike, 75 miles running, and 90minutes of strength/lifting in 7 days. Four of my seven rides this week were in excess of 70 miles.

Week 2 August 8-14: Run focused week which was made difficult by the fact that we went 7 straight days this week where the heat index broke 100. Highlight workouts include a 24 mile long run and a track workout of 12 x 1600. 34 hours of training this week broken down as 20k swimming, 260 miles cycling, 90 miles running, 90 minutes lifting. These numbers would have likely been a little higher without the heat.

Week 3 August 15-21: Cycling focus. Highlights include a 7.5 hour 140 mile ride and a track workout of 40 x 400. 45 hours of training broken down as 17k swimming, 500 miles cycling, 75 miles running, 90 minutes lifting.

Week 4 August 22-28: Swimming focus. Highlights include a 10k straight open water swim, my first day off of the entire month, and a race day simulation where I rode 75miles in just over 3 hours and then proceeded to blowup hard running afterwards-that part wasn't really a highlight. 32 hours training this week broken down as 38k swimming, 280 miles cycling, 60 running, 90 minutes lifting.

That brings us to this week and I am now resting up, allowing my body to absorb all the training of this past month. Hence, I actually have some free time to update my blog. So after tomorrow, for the 31 days of August my training totals will be:
91k swimming: 3k/day average
1617 miles cycling: 52/day average
312 miles running: 10/day average
165 hours: 5.3/day average

A result of all of the training from this month is that I've lost about 5 pounds of body weight and have leaned out significantly. I've been pleasantly surprised by how well the training has gone and how I've handled the volume. I think the key to the success of this training block was a combination of the change in routine, focus on one race, and the pure fun of taking on a brand new challenge. I think my training and my mentality had gotten a little stale over the past year without a single, clear-cut focus, and the same sort of training routine week in and out, a lot of the fun was gone. This training block has been a very refreshing, welcomed change. Even though it is significantly more training than I have ever done I have actually felt less tired this month than in the past and have been a much more motivated, positive, and having more fun than I have in a long time. After all, it was Ironman that first got me excited about triathlon way back at the age of 12. Excited to see what September 12 brings.

Steelhead 70.3

2010-08-02T21:04:00.000-04:00

Steelhead 70.3 Benton Harbor, Michigan

Swim: 25:47 10th fastest split

I arrived at the race in the dark as a steady, cold rain fell. Sat in the car for about 10 minutes watching everyone getting soaking wet. Thought about how much I didn't want to mess with it and almost convinced myself to just drive the four hours home instead of racing. 6 of my 11 races this year have involved rain or wet roads. Got everything set up and then nearly missed the race start, made the mile run down the beach and got to the start as the National Anthem was finishing with just about 90 seconds to spare. It was actually kind of nice because I didn't have a chance to think about what I was about to undertake and get nervous. Never thought I'd race in Lake Michigan without a wetsuit but this year the water is like a pool. Seemed to pick a good spot on the start line because I got right into a good group off the start. The pace seemed easy and I stayed on the same set of feet the entire way. Exited the water at the back of a group of six.

Bike: 2:11:40 25.6mph 10th fastest split

Was last onto the bike of our group of six and I rode the first 5k nearly all out to keep contact with the group as I know the importance be being in a group on a flat course. Positioned myself legal distance back and then just rode comfortably taking advantage of what draft there is. Our group caught a person or two in front and had another group catch us from behind. For a while I was sitting 8th in line holding 28mph at about a 22mph effort, at legal distance. The pack eventually broke up but I had company the entire way. Fastest average speed of the year although it wasn't entirely my own effort. That's racing.

Run: 1:20:03 8th fastest split

Took the run out pretty conservative coming off a terrible blowup in Racine. Conditions were very favorable for fast running, coolest temps I've felt in about two months. Just picked up the effort steadily the entire way, produced very consistent splits holding 6:10 every time I checked. Passed a few and got passed by a few. At the end we managed to have a showdown of Indiana pros, the three of us all finished within a minute. I held off Nick but couldn't run down Zach.

Overall: 4:00:38 8th place

Felt like I executed a very good race and fixed the nutrition and pacing errors I made in Racine. This was a BIG step forward from what I did two weeks ago. I think I got the most out of myself on this day, I'm just not as fit as I've been in the past or should be right now. Not sure what is up next for me, it could be my Iron distance debut at Rev 3 Cedar Point on the September 12. I should have a definite decision made in about a week, check back.

Racine 70.3

2010-07-18T22:53:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I raced the Racine 70.3 in Racine Wisconsin. It was my second attempted and first completed 70.3 of the season and possibly the most I've ever suffered in a 70.3.

Swim: 28:51 15th fastest split
Bike: 2:17:14 24.6mph 11th fastest split
Run: 1:32:01 11th fastest split
Overall: 4:21:16 10th place

My swim was pretty bad. Lost the big group early on and swam alone the entire way. Had some navigating issues along the way, a combination of swimming alone, the Lake Michigan waves, and very foggy goggles. Had to flip over three times along the way to clear my goggles. The bike was satisfactory. Rode alone most of the way which isn't usually good on a flat course. Held together pretty well until mile 50. Completely fell apart and crawled the last 6 miles into T2. Was out of fluids for the last 6 miles too which isn't a good thing heading into a hot run. As I got onto the run the overcast skies cleared and the temperature really shot up. I underestimated the heat and was too conservative with how much fluid I was taking at the aid stations. In addition I learned on the run that the gel in my flask which I carried along was too thick to squeeze out so I wasn't getting those calories down which I counted on. Started the second loop and things went downhill real quick. Had a complete bonk at mile 7, was walking, dizzy and thought I might have to drop out. Grabbed everything I could at the aid station and threw down as many calories as possible. That made it enough to carry on but I was still way behind on calories and running very slowly. Just soldiered through the second half as a steady flow of age-groupers went by me on their first lap. It was just suffering like I never have before. Could only manage to hold 7:30 pace the second half compared to 6:30 pace the first half. Finished, but that's about all I can say I accomplished on this day. Officially it goes down as a top-10 which I can't really complain about. And when you factor in that 18 pro men started 10th isn't so bad...except 6 dropped out along the way so really I was 10th out of 12, not so good. Been really struggling in training the last six weeks and I knew going in that a good race was a long shot. I can feel how fit I am and am pretty realistic with myself about where the fitness level is at. It's definitely not there right now, this result is not a surprise to me. I'm much more disappointed with the way I've been training than the result. At Rev3 Knoxville way back in May I got my butt handed to me in similar fashion to today. That really lit a fire under me and got me training great, I really hope that this result will do the same. There's still a lot of season left and it's not too late to brew up some great fitness. And I'm only going to make the 140.6 debut at Rev 3 Cedar Point if I'm ready for it, I'm not going to go there in anything less than top form. The day wasn't without its highlights, I got to chat up Craig Alexander briefly, I don't think triathlon could ask for a better champion to represent the sport. Had a few athletes race as well. The highlight was Julie with a 5:19 to finish 10th out of 82 in her age group. That's back to back PRs for Julie who is on a roll!

Decatur Triathlon

2010-07-11T22:19:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I raced in the Decatur Triathlon. This is one of my favorite races of the year as the race sponsors me and the city of Decatur more or less adopts me as their 'hometown pro'. I really wanted to win this race after a disappointing fourth place finish last year. It wasn't to be as I was humbled for the second year in a row with a fifth place finish. I didn't race particularly poorly, the competition was just top notch. Five pros and one of the best AGers in the country toed the start line, pretty quality field for a hometown age group race. Funny what a little prize money will do. I was disappointed but after talking with roomate Jun, who raced in the Muncie Endurathon, I realized things could always be worse. Jun got very sick on the bike in his race and to add insult to injury he accidentally vomited into his aero drink, something only Jun would do. Things didn't improve much and eventually he had to DNF. I want to say thanks to the city of Decatur for all of the support and congratulations to all of the participants, especially the first timers and all of the finishers in the kids race Saturday. Sign me up for next year!

Indy Sprint Tri

2010-06-19T14:11:00.000-04:00

This morning Jun and I traveled to a local classic, the Indy Sprint Triathlon. We both raced well, I got the win and Jun was pleased with his race as well, taking his age group title. Bringing the camera along always makes for a fun time.

New Tri Series-Muncie Multisport

2010-06-13T12:12:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I had the chance to race for the first time in the brand new Muncie Multisport Series at Prairie Creek Reservoir in Muncie Indiana. This new and exciting multisport series utilizes one of the best race venues in the entire country, a venue which was previously only being used once per season. Ever since racing at this venue three years ago I've been vocal in expressing that Indiana is not living up to its potential to host a major triathlon with an international race field. All of our surrounding states host major races which attract national media and up to now Indiana has lagged behind.

Enter Steve and Tammy Tomboni. These two started up Muncie Multisport Inc. this year and have major aspirations for turning Muncie back into the multisport destination which it has been at times in the past. In just their first year they have already secured a stop on the Powerman Duathlon Series this October and with a significant purse they have already received commitments from the number one and two ranked duathletes in the world. I will be racing as well. This race will be a big step towards bringing athletes and media to Muncie and spreading the word about this race series. Hopefully it will be a big stepping stone to bringing a major triathlon back to Indiana. After traveling all over the country to race I get a little giddy thinking about the possibility of having world renowned triathletes travel to Indiana to race. Numbers have been a little on the low end for the first two races this year, but the atmosphere, and race quality have been very high. I know a lot of the Indiana multisport crew reads this and I'm encouraging everyone to head to Muncie to check out one of these races. I suspect that after one race you'll head back for more.

In yesterday's race I participated in the olympic triathlon, there was also the option of a sprint tri, duathlon, aqua bike, as well as 5 and 10k road races. I was coming off of a very busy week and far from top form but was still able to put a solid race together and get the win. My favorite part of this race in particular was the bike course. We had newly paved roads and the course was such that even in the wet I only had to hit the brakes a few times. I was pleasantly surprised to ride 58 minutes on the bike. I also really enjoy the fact that the awards were finished by noon and the race takes place on Saturday, hence it doesn't takeaway the entire weekend.

If you are looking for a break from the norm then head to Muncie for a race this year, the next one will be August 7, I hope to be there!
http://www.munciemultisport.com/

Mooseman 70.3-DNF

2010-06-07T05:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I raced the inaugural Mooseman 70.3 in Newfound Lake New Hampshire. I went in with hopes for a top-5 finish and left with a DNF, the first time I've ever willingly dropped out of a race.

Saturday was a busy day. Rather than do the usual travel on Friday routine I opted to try out a shorter trip by flying out early Saturday morning. Between the rental car and hotel I saved around $200 flying out Saturday rather than Friday. Flew into Boston and made the two hour drive north, my first ever trip to New Hampshire. Arrived at the race site, put the bike together, did a short workout, attended the pro meeting, and then drove the bike course. I knew this was going to be a pretty challenging bike course in terms of terrain. When I drove the course I was taken a little off guard by how technical the bike course was. Typically driving the bike course calms my nerves a bit but on this occasion it made me more nervous. In fact after driving the course once I opted to drive a 20 mile portion a second time. The terrain of the course was nearly identical to the Muskoka 70.3, my favorite race course. However Mooseman gets my nod as the harder bike course as it is significantly more technical than Muskoka. Mooseman has a much easier run course with just a few moderate climbs and great scenery along the lake, Muskoka's run is just as difficult as its bike.

Swim: 25:58 10th fastest split

About 10 minutes before the start of the race the rain arrived, it was constant throughout the entire day and just got heavier as the day wore on. My swim was pretty mediocre, I've had better, I've had worse. Ended up in my usual position in the chase pack, had a good group to pull me along. After the final turn with around 800 to go I lost my pair of feet and was unable to get back despite my attempts. Gave up about 30 second to the group I was with but wasn't too worried; given the nature of the bike course we were about to undertake I knew it wouldn't be necessary to start the bike with a group.

Bike:

Onto the two loop bike course with the rain falling and plenty of puddles to dodge. My plan was to hold back some the first loop and to be strong the second. The legs were a bit slow to get going initially and I tried not to force anything, just let the legs come around on their own. After a 6 mile "warmup" the fun began with a 3.5 mile, 1000 ft climb. I played it pretty conservative up this climb, keeping my breathing and heart rate in check knowing that I would have to make the climb a second time. The grade got quite steep towards the top and I did not bring a wide enough cassette to be ideal for this climb. Once to the top we went into 7 miles of fast, very technical descending on very wet roads. This is where my trouble began. I just didn't have the bravery of some of my fellow male pros on those descents. It takes formidable technique to descend S-curves at 30-40mph in dry conditions, but to do so in the wet is a whole different ballgame. Even riding conservative I was still way out of my comfort zone, did not feel safe on the course and scared myself a few times. Nothing like squeezing your brakes at with all your strength and feeling them not grab while traveling 40mph and trying to prepare for a sharp turn. After around 16 miles the road opened up onto highway and I felt like I had the legs to hammer but I had given up so much time descending, there was no way to get back into the race in just 8 miles of open road before starting the whole process over again. I debated dropping out for quite a while which is not the mentality to have during a big race. It didn't even feel like a race to me, I was focused entirely on staying upright as opposed to racing. In the end I knew that I would lose even more time going through the whole process again on the second loop, was probably looking at finishing 8th-10th place, and furthermore there were going to be 1100 age groupers spread out over 20 miles on the second loop. The course was dicey enough to do alone, I didn't want to think what it would be like going through age groupers of all different abilities. It just felt to me like an unnecessary risk for very little reward and for the first time in my life I chose to drop out of a race. I'm still debating with myself if it was the right decision, I think there is something to be said for sticking it out in tough conditions and on an off day, but I really was uncomfortable out on the course in those conditions. If I could do it over again I don't think I would do it any different or be able to ride any faster, I'm just not a great technical rider or a risk taker on the bike. I went back to T2, gathered up my gear, realized how cold I was, threw everything up in the car and sat for 20 minutes with the heat on full blast. Then decided to make the most of my training day and headed out for an 18 mile long run on the course, watching the pro races play out and cheering everyone on. It was definitely a contest of who could survive the best as opposed to a race.

In the end it wasn't what I wanted or what I traveled across the country for. If there's anything positive to take from the experience I got to see a beautiful part of the country that I never knew existed. Newfound Lake is a fantastic venue for a race, the water is as clear as Lake Michigan and the Appalachians make for a fantastic backdrop. I want to say congrats to everyone who finished, especially all the 6+ hour finishers who were out when the skies opened up and the rain really started to come down, that race is no small feat. Mooseman is a great race, just a bit too sketchy in the rain for my liking. I hope to return to make things right. Unfortunately I will probably have to wait until July 18 to show my stuff at the Racine 70.3, my next pro race. Three pro races down in 2010 and the three races have each been my coldest, hottest, and wettest races of my life. What's next, windiest? Stay tuned, thanks for reading.

Memphis in May

2010-05-25T18:56:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago Rev 3 Knoxville was the coldest I have ever been during a race. This past Sunday was the complete opposite at Memphis in May, hottest race I have ever done, no other race I've done even comes close to the heat I raced in on Sunday. In the days leading up to the race I knew it would be hot as highs were forecast to be in the mid-90s with high humidity. However I was not prepared for the wave of heat and humidity that hit me as I walked out of the hotel at 8:30am, it was worse than I anticipated. Had our race start been near sunrise like most races it would have been hot, but this year at Memphis the pros didn't go off until 10:30am when normally we have already crossed the finish line. This made it almost unbearable at times. I cut my warmup way short as I was already sweating bad just setting up my gear. After just a 15min ride I was pouring sweat. Filled my bottles with ice and headed for the lake. Usually jumping in the lake to cool off is what you do after the race but on this day I was doing it before. This was my third time racing Memphis and my previous two times were both very solid results. Having not had a good race result in some time I thought it would be smart to pick a pro race with a less talented pro field. Memphis, with a smaller than normal prize purse, tends to mostly attract newer, lesser known pros. That, plus the fact that I know the course pretty well and have raced well in the past made this a good opportunity to bring home a good race result to build some confidence and momentum heading forward.

Swim: 17:54 4th fastest split

Started about midway through the 15 male pros with the time trial start, one person every 10 seconds. Immediately felt great, had a good turnover and strong kick, things were clicking. Passed one person pretty early on and then midway through had someone come by me. Latched onto his feet and he wasn't quite strong enough to pull away so I was able take advantage and stayed with him for the next several hundred meters. We caught two more up ahead towards the end of the swim and I think someone caught us from behind. Came out of the water in a group of about six or seven. Funny how you do a time trial start but still end up in a big pack by the end of the swim. This was a great swim for me, fourth fastest out of 15 is the highest my swim has ever ranked in a pro race. In my previous two races in Memphis I swam right around 17-flat, but this was my first time without a wetsuit. Have no idea what to say about my swim, two weeks ago it was atrocious, today it was great.

Bike: 55:06 25.6mph 5th fastest split

Got onto the bike in a large group. Made my way up to the front in the first few miles and soon our group was down to just three people. I lead nearly all of the first half into the wind with the other two taking turns at the lead the second half of the ride with a tail wind. Super clean riding by all of us. The heat wasn't an issue in the first half of the ride with the wind in our face but I really started to overheat towards the end when the breeze went away and we had a tailwind. The other two rode away from me in the final miles as I was really struggling with the heat and all I could do was limit the damage. Having nothing but 90 degree fluids to drink the whole way didn't help either, so much for the ice I added before the start. I'm pretty happy with the effort I gave on the bike although I could tell my legs weren't clicking the way they have at times in the past.

Run: 39:18 3rd fastest split

Started the run already overheated, I don't think I've ever overheated on a bike before. I knew I was running slow but didn't really care. Turns out everyone felt the same or even worse as I got a confidence boost when I saw the person up in front of me walking within the first 5 minutes. Went through the first mile in slower than expected 6:30 and decided I shouldn't look at my watch anymore. I've done some hot races in the past where I've slowed considerably at the end of the race but I've never done a race where I've been so slow right from the very first step. My plan was to take it easy the first half and then try to be tough the second half when I knew everyone else would crumble. The second aid station on the run was the only one that had cold drinks and ice I took full advantage drinking and covering myself with plenty of cold fluids and putting ice down the jersey. That must have dropped my body temperature considerably because within a minute I started feeling so much better and my stride started clicking. Was surprised to see just one competitor out in front of me at the turnaround and he looked to have a sizable lead. Behind me there were about five others all pretty close and I knew it was likely a tossup for second through sixth place. Really wanted to finish second as opposed to sixth. Pushed as hard as my body would allow the second half and I think starting so slow may have helped me finish relatively strong. With less than a mile to go a spectator told me the leader was just 30 seconds up the road and for a moment I thought I might be able to win but it was false information. Crossed the line in second and ended up second overall for the second time in this race. I think second through sixth place ended up being decided by who slowed the least the second half of the run. I ran a full five minutes faster here two years ago and was just two seconds off the fastest run split on this day. That says a lot about the heat.

Overall: 1:54:01 Second place Top American

Really happy with this race result. Was just talking at dinner Saturday night about how it's been over a year now since I've had a race result that I'm really happy with and the confidence has been pretty low. I've had great training this past month but without any race results the confidence has been absent. So this one feels extra good in that respect. Got out of this race exactly what I wanted. Felt very good about how I handled the heat as well which is encouraging, after pouring water on myself for five minutes at the finish line I was feeling pretty good. Heat index was 101 at the finish. Had four athletes race here, it was a big race for all of them. None raced as fast as they wanted but that was just a product of the day and I thought they all did well. Ron won his age group by 15 minutes! From here it is two weeks of rest and recovery as I peak for the Mooseman 70.3 in New Hampshire. Excited to take the momentum and confidence from this race and see what I can do rested in a 70.3. Also good to know that just four races in I likely already have my hottest and coldest races out of the way for the year. And finally it's good that I brought home a check that will easily cover the speeding ticket I got on the way to Memphis! Below is another video documentary masterpiece by the ever popular Jun. Enjoy!

Rev 3 Knoxville Race Report

2010-05-12T16:04:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday was the inaugural Rev 3 Knoxville Olympic distance triathlon. This was my first Pro outing in 2010. Although the results were not what I had hoped for this was a great race held at a great venue.

Swim 1500: 18:41

To sum up the swim in a sentence it was the worst triathlon swim I've ever had. Race morning was cool, air temp 50 degrees at race time and 69 degree water. A year ago we would have been wearing wetsuits, but due to the new pro wetsuit cutoff temperature the water was 1 degree above the wetsuit cutoff. So no wetsuits. I got to the swim start in time for about a 5 minute warmup swim. In hindsight I should have just kept the warmups on, done armswings and jumping jacks as warmup, and jumped in the water the last minute before the start. It wasn't long after I got in before my teeth started chattering and I was getting cold fast. I had done a short swim on Saturday and the water didn't feel too bad but then again I swam in a wetsuit on Saturday and the air was 85 degrees not 50. To make matters worse the race started about 10 minutes late. They lined us up for the start but then had an invocation. Then they lined us up for the start again but had the national anthem instead. A lot of people were yelling at the starter to get us going. Finally after about 10 minutes floating around without a wetsuit in 69 degree water the race started and I was off the back from the get-go. The body never came around and I exited the water a full 3 minutes down on the lead swimmers which is about 2 minutes slower than normal for me. The swim alone took me out of the race.

Bike 40k: 23.1mph

I got onto the bike as one of the last pro men and almost immediately regretted not putting on gloves and arm warmers. There was a steady northerly wind and I was cold. The air didn't feel all that cold to me warming up but then again I warmed up with four layers on and being in 69 degree water unprotected for 30min probably had me a little cold to begin with as well. The bike course was on narrow roads and very technical, it gave a huge advantage to two types of racers; those who knew the course and those who rode fearless. I was neither. My one attempt to preview the course in the car on Saturday resulted in me getting lost in downtown Knoxville and not having the patience to figure out the course. Big mistake. The course was far more challenging than I expected. With so many blind curves and not knowing the course I was braking when I didn't need to and riding very hesitant. Call me crazy but I'm just not willing to dive bomb a downhill blind curve at 35+ mph when I can't see all the way around the curve and have never previewed the course. It would have also been nice to have known about the two separate ~2 mile climbs that were on the course, I didn't expect those and was pretty much gassed half way up each. The cold was another big challenge, at one point I thought I might have to pull over because my hands had gotten so cold I was having trouble grabbing my brakes. Was also shivering pretty good on the descents which was causing my entire bike to wobble. I know of at least one other pro who DNF'd due to cold. Was just happy to get into T2 with the rubber side down.

Run 10k: 35:36

After struggling to get my shoes on in T2 due to lack of feeling in the hands I was off on the run. I think I had a decent run in me but by that point my fate had long since been been sealed and I ran pretty uninspired, enjoying watching the Pro men's and women's races play out and cheering all my friends and age groupers on the out-and-back run.

Overall: 2:03:50 21st place

Finished 21st out of 24 male pros and two of the people who I beat walked most of the run with injuries, although there were a decent number of DNFs as well. It was my lowest placing ever in a triathlon, even two spots lower than I placed at the 70.3 World Champs in 2008. Certainly not the race result I wanted or drove 400 miles for but I'm not going to beat myself up over it because I know I'm far better than the results show. From simply previewing the bike course, not freezing myself out of a good swim, and running hard I would have dropped several minutes. It wouldn't have been a top ten finish, but I know I'm much more fit right now than the results show.
This was my first experience in a Rev3 race and it was very positive. I encourage everyone to enter a race in this exciting new series which is gaining momentum fast. The venues are thoroughly researched and the courses are carefully and strategically planned out. Despite not knowing the bike course I thought it was a fantastic and challenging route. I kept thinking how much more fun it would be taking those curves at high speed if I actually knew the course. I was very impressed with the city of Knoxville as well, it seemed like a great place for a multisport athlete to live. I really liked how you literally cross the bridge out of town and are instantly on nice country roads. Race morning also had one of the prettiest sunrises I've ever seen over the Tennessee River (see pic below courtesy of slowtwitch). The rest of the race pics are courtesy of Ryan Bates. From here I'll head to Memphis in May in two weeks which should be a good opportunity to place high and build some confidence in a less talented pro field. I made the tough decision not to rest at all for Memphis (as I did for this race) and save the peak for June 6. It was very tempting to rest and try to match or better my runner-up finish in Memphis from 2008. Now I'll just try to do it without resting! On June 6 is the Kansas 70.3, Mooseman 70.3 in New Hampshire, and Rev 3 half in Connecticut. I'm entered in all three and will decide in the coming weeks which one to go after. Thanks for reading, Daniel

Boiler Sprint Video

2010-04-26T23:24:00.000-04:00

Long time no post. The lack of blog posting is in direct relation to how busy I've been lately. Training, racing, and coaching are all in full swing and leave me with little-to-no time to do things like update my blog. There is so much to update including a 6 week training trip to California and Sport Beans Triathlon Team Camp, I have something like a dozen videos on the camera that I want to get up. I've also started racing and already have two wins on the season, I've done local sprint races the past two weekends. Yesterday it was the Boiler Sprint Triathlon on the campus of Purdue. My roomate Jun came along for support. I gave him my camera and told him to document the race. This is what I got back, Jun likes to talk! I think the ratio of time Jun spends talking versus filming the actual race is something like 6:1. Hopefully I can make time to update this more regularly in the future and get some videos from my California trip up including my favorite mountain climbs! Until then, see you at the races.

Headed Home, boo

2010-01-03T19:34:00.000-05:00

Headed home from Florida, sadly. It was a good week. In the seven full days I was in Florida I logged 228 miles on the bike, 59 miles of running, 12k of swimming, and an hour of lifting. Not bad considering it was my first time on the bike and in the pool in two months and just my fourth week of running. If I can build off of those numbers I'll be in great shape for the spring. It was great to be able to ride and run outside even if the routes are limited and traffic heavy in a beach town. Swimming outdoors in a long course pool was a nice treat as well. The bad news is I'm headed home and as far as the forecast shows the temperature is not going to break 30 degrees. I'm seriously considering another extended training trip out to California. For some reason the idea of training all winter in Indiana isn't as appealing as in previous years.

I had a lot of fun with my new video camera. Shot a good 30 minutes worth of video, managed to edit and upload my own video. Amazing what you can do when you read an instruction manual. Below is the result, hopefully I'll have plenty of video blogs this year. My roomate Jun is the co-star. Enjoy and thanks for reading.

Off to Florida!

2009-12-27T22:24:00.000-05:00

After doing light training most of December I've officially begun preparations for the 2010 season! It was rather snowy for my workout on Sunday but now I'm on my to sunny Florida for the next nine days. I have no idea what the training is like in Bradenton Florida but I do know the forecast for the next nine days

Forecast highs for the next 9 days in Greencastle, Indiana
27, 27, 34, 33, 26, 23, 28, 28, 31

Forecast highs for the next 9 days in Bradenton, Florida
65, 62, 72, 74, 68, 60, 65, 68, 70

In other news I got the waterproof video camera for Christmas that three other triathletes recommended to me. If I can figure it out I should have some video blogs up on here from Florida in the coming week.

In other other news I'm very disappointed with the Colts' decision to pull the starters this week after playing them for 60min last week. Only a Super Bowl win will change my current feelings. And right now, San Diego is the best team in the league in my mind, they scare me.

That's it for now, time to enjoy some quality training and weather!

It's Coming

2009-12-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

This Saturday-annual get excited for next year on NBC. My TiVo is set!

Julie L Memphis Marathon Race Report

2009-12-12T13:01:00.000-05:00

Below is the Memphis Marathon race report of Julie Lukachko. Julie has been a Bretscher Multisport coached athlete for the past year. While competing in triathlons this past summer Julie set PRs at every distance in which she competed and capped off the summer with a 5:18 performance at the Spirit of Racine, a 17 minute PR! Julie spent the fall training for the Memphis Marathon. She entered the race with a PR of 3:50 and a goal of running the Boston qualifying time, 3:40. Needless to say Julie was thrilled with her 3:31 finish time! Another Bretscher Multisport athlete, Dana Riederer, also competed in the same race with a similar result. Dana had a previous PR of 2:52, a goal of 2:45, and a finish time of 2:42! Julie is known for her great race reports so I asked her to submit this one for the blog. Congrats Julie and Dana!

Felt pretty excited/nervous when I woke up. Ate some oatmeal and a banana and drank some gatorade and water. I went back and forth about what to wear and finally decided on shorts, a t-shirt, headband and gloves. They were calling for it to be 28F and sunny at the race start with a high of 38F. We hopped on the trolley to AutoZone park, checked our clothes (I was so cold!) and made our way to the start line. Thank God Lauren was there to hug for warmth. We started in the 3rd corral of runners, pace 7:30-8:10.

I went through the first mile at 8:01 and settled in to a comfortable pace. It was awesome running down Beale Street with all the people in the streets! My shoe came untied at mile 3. It didn't really slow me down, it was just annoying to have to take my gloves off and stop to re-tie it. My fastest mile (7:37) was running through the St. Jude Children's Hospital campus, it was hard not to feel inspired running through there. I was feeling so good running 7:50 pace, I wasn't sure if I should try to slow down more or just go with it. I decided just to go with it. I went through the 10k at 48:14 (7:47/mi). I continued to feel awesome through the half marathon point and was enjoying the day (and the fact that I was not hurting... yet). I clocked through 13.1 in 1:41:58 (7:47/mi). What's funny about this is my half marathon time in Madison, WI back in May was 1:41:12. The course was rolling but no major hills. I felt relaxed and strong running the uphill portions.

After the halfway point, my mile pace started to slow slightly. I still felt great but I was clocking closer to 8 minute miles (miles 14 through 18). I had settled into a nice pack of 5 people who seemed to be running consistent 8 minute miles. Unfortunately, I had to pee pretty much from the start of the race. I bargained with myself to make it through mile 20 before I stopped. Well, I made it to mile 18 before I couldn't take it anymore. After a quick stop, I felt like I lost my rhythm a little and could feel my miles starting to slow. I also lost touch with the pack of people I had been running with. The next three miles slowed down considerably. I went through mile 20 in 2:38:10 (7:55/mi). I remember Daniel telling me that if I went through mile 20 in 2:45 I would still be able to run 8:30 miles and run under 3:40. I was taking water or gatorade every other mile and eating GU every 45-50 minutes.

Miles 22-24 had a downhill trend which I thought I would love but this is right about where my quads started to scream. My lateral quads, particularly the right one, started getting worse by the step. By this point I was just trying to be strong and not walk but I was hurting pretty good. I started passing lots of people walking but decided not to join them. After the mile 25 marker I started getting really excited knowing that I was pretty much guaranteed to run under my goal time. Right before the mile 26 marker, they made us run up this really steep on ramp and I....walked... ugh. It was only for maybe 15 seconds but I walked. That was the only over 9 minute mile I ran (I was hoping to have none). I hit mile 26 and it was downhill into AutoZone Park from there. I think I ran the entire last tenth of a mile with my arms up in the air, I was SO excited!! I crossed the line with an official time of 3:31:50. That's almost a 19 minute PR from my previous marathon and 8 minutes under my goal.

It was a great feeling to run as well as I did. I spent the majority of my last marathon training plan injured but this time was different. Daniel really put together a solid plan for me to follow and gave me constant feedback. He made sure I was training smarter this time around and it certainly paid off! I think if I can just build my endurance a little bit more, I can run sub-3:30 in my next marathon.

Splits:
8:01
7:45
7:41
7:44
7:37
7:43
7:44
7:46
7:51
7:54
7:45
7:49
8:31 (1.1) Half time of 1:41:58
6:57 (0.9)
7:58
8:01
8:02
8:02
8:49 (stopped to pee)
8:21
8:19
8:28
8:42
8:40
8:37
9:07 (walked about 15 seconds up the on ramp)
1:46 (0.1)
TOTAL TIME 3:31:50!!!!!

Another Year

2009-12-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to report that I will be back with Team Sport Beans/National Triathlon Training Camp for the 2010 season! The contract is signed, sealed, and delivered. Looking forward to it. We will have five of our team members back from the 2009 season and three new members.

Sponsorships will remain unchanged except we will have a new apparel sponsor come January 1.

Valdora is set to release a new TT bike, the PHX2, in February. I saw the computer animations of this bike while I was out and Phoenix and I cannot wait to see it in person.

I've begun light training and will ramp things up when I head to Florida for a 10 day training trip at the end of this month. I'm considering taking another trip to Arizona at the end of January and possibly turning my 4 days in California for team camp into a 2 week California trip culminating with the California 70.3 in Oceanside on March 27.

Memphis Marathon Success!

2009-12-05T18:42:00.000-05:00

Bretscher Multisport-coached athletes Julie Lukachko and Dana Riederer competed in the Memphis Marathon this morning. Julie and Dana have both been Bretscher Multisport coached for a year now. Both came away with huge breakthroughs.

Julie came into this race with a marathon PR of 3:50 and a goal of qualifying for Boston, 3:40. Julie executed a great race strategy, and finished in 3:31, over 8 minutes under her goal! What makes Julie's performance even more remarkable is that she came down with a nasty case of the flu less than two weeks from raceday. Thankfully she managed to recover in time to not allow it to affect her race. Check back in a few days for Julie's own race report!

Dana, coming off of a breakthrough triathlon season in 2009 where he improved every single PR, was the 4th overall age-grouper at the Muskoka 70.3, and improved his 70.3PR ten minutes down to 4:10 decided to see how his multisport fitness would translate to a marathon. Dana had a marathon PR of 2:52 and 'claimed' all along that his goal was to run sub-2:50. However after some of the workouts I was seeing I think I managed to convince him that he should aim more towards sub-2:45. Dana too, executed his race plan very well clicking off 6:10-15 splits the first twenty miles. Amazingly Dana did not slow down the last 10k, in fact he sped up. His fastest splits of the entire race came during miles 19-24 where his was clicking off 6:05 miles and even had one at 6:01. He crossed the line in 2:42, a few seconds short of a 10 minute PR and over 7 minutes under his initial goal! I have not heard official splits yet but I think Dana may have negative split his race. And he described himself as feeling "pretty good" at the finish. Based on that I think he has a 2:40 performance in him!

Congrats Julie and Dana, you make your coach look good!
Check results here
http://www.stjudemarathon.org/past_results.htm

More funny

2009-12-03T10:54:00.000-05:00

A friend sent me this video from a make your own movie site. It's pretty funny how stubborn endurance athletes can be.
If you are or know an endurance athlete chances are you can relate to something in this video.

Bicycle Prank

2009-12-01T14:43:00.000-05:00

Had to post this, very funny prank on unsuspecting cyclists

RIP UGA VII

2009-11-20T22:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Georgia Bulldog mascot Uga VII passed away. A wreath will be placed around his doghouse at the Georgia v. Kentucky game tomorrow. UGA VII was known to be less energetic than his predecessors, but especially friendly with people. There has yet to be an announcement on when the new UGA VIII will take the oath.

Whatever your feelings are on the University of Georgia, there's no denying that UGA is the greatest mascot ever. I'm not a Georgia fan myself, but look at that face! Actually I'm mostly just messing around trying to figure out how to get video to my blog and thought this was worthwhile. But UGA is the greatest mascot ever! RIP

2009 Finished

2009-11-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

Wow, amazing race this morning. People can say what they want about having a World Championship on a flat course, and I agree to a certain extent, but you can't deny that having a lead pack of 20 guys off the bike together makes for a very exciting race. Blazing fast out there. 15 guys ride under 2 hours on the bike, a 69 minute run to win the race, winning time of 3:34, and a woman breaks 4 hours for the first time ever. Pretty amazing. And the woman who won today crashed earlier in the year and broke some ribs, just goes to show that you can't call it a season and give up when things don't go the way you plan. Lesson learned. My time which placed me 19th last year would have gotten me 44th this year. 70.3 racing seems to direction the sport of triathlon is headed in right now. Oh yeah, my predictions were way off.

Off to Blackstock Stadium right now to tailgate and then headed to the DePauw/Wabash Monon Bell football game! Already beginning to look forward to 2010.

Up Early for Clearwater

2009-11-14T06:35:00.000-05:00

Up before the sun to watch the World Championship 70.3 online and reminisce about the experience a year ago. Race goes off in 8 minutes, here are my predictions.

1. Matty Reed
2. Greg Bennett
3. Richie Cunningham
4. Joe Gambles
5. Tim O'Donnell
6. Start Hayes
7. Brent McMahon
8. Dirk Bockel
9. Terenzo
10. Brian Fleischmann

Women:
1. Julie Dibens
2. Jodie Swallow
3. Rebeccah Wassner

Last month I correctly named 6 out of the top 10 in Kona, we'll see how it goes in a few hours. Looks like great coverage and should be a very exciting race.

Website Finished!

2009-11-05T08:41:00.000-05:00

BretscherMultisport.com is now complete! A website is something I've been meaning to do for over a year now so it feels great to finally have one online.

I'd like to give a huge thanks to Paul Asay for all his help with this project. And when I say "help" I really mean "doing all the work". Also a big thanks to photographer Christine Wood who snapped the great shot of me on the homepage and was kind enough to donate it for the site.

Up and Running!

2009-10-19T17:43:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the BretscherMultisport.com blog! Check back for the latest updates