What does it take?

The title of this here blog post is pretty vague; you might be asking yourself in what context is he asking this question?  What does it take to know what women want? While I'd love to hear the answer to that - and many other life-altering questions - my word vomit today will focus on what it takes to reach your potential in triathuhloning.

By no means do I consider myself an expert on this subject matter; I can only offer what little experience I've had in the just-under-3 years I've been training for multi-sport events.  Therefore, everything I say should be taken with a salt mine...

My first experience with wanting to better myself in sport came with my discovery of golf back when I was twelve or thirteen (ish).  A friend down the street had some golf clubs and a big front yard and one of the many ways we entertained ourselves was chipping golf balls back and forth on the front lawn (yes, it IS good to be easily amused!).  What started as a little spark quickly became a full blown obsession by my freshman year of high school.

Being a total, complete badass

 If I wasn't playing golf, I was thinking about it.  I'd come home from school and go play 18-27 holes in the afternoons and evenings on the local "executive" course, walking miles and miles by myself (foreshadowing!).  For the next 3.5 years, I played golf like a madman, eventually reaching a very-close-to scratch handicap on a difficult course.  Golf, like other sports, is incredibly time-intensive.  To become very good at it requires a lot of hard work and dedication.  You have to practice constantly and on a regular basis. Missing a week of playing time means that the next two weeks are going to feel very weird and strange until you "get your swing back."  Sound familiar?

Fast forward a couple of years and I've discovered a new sport: bike racing.  Much to the consternation of my parents, I'm sure, I've managed to pick some of the most expensive sports to devote myself...

Winning a crit in my first USCF omnium race

Freshman year of college I was in love; I trained (relatively) consistently and did well that year and upgraded and did pretty well my sophomore year and then I stopped being consistent and stopped doing well.  I wanted to be fast, but just wasn't willing to put in the time required to get there; unlike in golf where I LOVED putting in the work to be good.

Fast forward again a couple of years; at this point I've graduated from college and moved to Charlotte in August of 2007.  I haven't ridden my bike in 4+ months (and won't again for another 6 months) and decide that I want to start running so I sign up for a 5k.  I run 30 miles a week for 4 weeks and get my a** handed to me by, among others, an 11 year old girl (Alana Hadley, who has since become one of the fastest young runners in the country, but rule #76 is in effect).  I get frustrated as I expected more from my 4 weeks of training (why? I'll never know) and just work instead.

Habitat was hard work...

When the new year comes around I decide to get back in shape so I start running again, this time with groups.  I manage to be pretty consistent (although I don't know anything about running) for the next four or five months before someone convinces me to show up for the Tuesday night Inside-Out Sports no-holds-barred group ride.  This was quite an eye opener.  I got dropped like a bad habit.  I'm not going to say that re-kindled the flame, but it definitely made me realize that I had a LONG way to go to really get back in the ol' groove.  A little while later I was convinced to sign up for my first triathlon (which ended up being a duathlon) and got in the pool!  Voila, a triathlete was born.

On the run at Patriots International Duathlon

On the run in my 1st triathlon: NOLA 70.3 2009!

So this long and boring preamble was designed to set you - the reader - up to see that I've experienced both sides of the coin.  I've been consistent and done well and been inconsistent and done poorly.  What does that tell us?

The thing that a lot of people look for in triathlon (and endurance sports in general, but for the sake of this argument lets stick to triathlons) is a short-cut to better performances.  In most cases they have good reasons: full-time job, significant other, significant children, etc etc.  So for them, it's all about maximizing performance with the available time.  So they come up with a specific amount of time each week that they deem available for training purposes and try to make the best use of that time.

In many ways, this type of person is no different than the person with (virtually) unlimited available training hours; they both have to determine how best to use that time to maximize their potential.  As with my earlier diatribe about me ol' athletic history, consistency is the most important thing for endurance athletes.

Whether you have 10 hours available or 20 hours available, make sure you use them up week after week.  Stringing together weeks of consistent volume will make anyone faster.  I don't think this is a big secret or anything, it's just surprising how often people underestimate it's importance and/or take it for granted.

I think that, beyond the shadow of a doubt, almost anyone can get to be very, very good at triathlon (and endurance sports in general).  There is no "genetic" requirement that can limit you at a certain point.  Sure, there are anomalies; most of the ITU-level athletes have VO2 Max levels in the 75+ range would be my guess, but a better predictor of performance than VO2 max would be your lactate threshold.  Not necessarily your "genetic" traits but the ones induced by your training.

It just takes time.  A pretty long time.  To be successful you need three things:

1) Long/Short term plan (yes I sound like Nick Frank)
2) Consistency
3) PATIENCE

Rome wasn't built in a day, neither is your V8 engine.

Miles of trials

S - 18,000 yards
B - 247.3 miles
R - 44.2 miles

Time - 23.04 miles

Monday - PM Swim
Had mixed feelings about my swim this evening; was definitely still tired from the ridiculously hot ride that Scott and I did the day before.  I probably lost 3-4% of my body weight in sweat, which is awesome.  Not a very exciting workout today, we were really just doing it to do it...

Tuesday - AM Ride PM Run
I was scheduled for a good bit of VO2 intervals on the bike this morning but when I woke up and rolled out I could tell that my mind was not ready for these today.  In hindsight, I certainly should've given it a shot but I was feeling a little mentally weak this AM and so copped out of the workout.  That attitude is not going to get me a sub 4 hour 70.3 (just want to make sure everyone is paying attention, ha!).

The afternoon run actually felt quite good, but it was the last run with my beloved Garmin 310xt.  I'm not sure where or when, but the watch decided that it had finally had just about enough of me and left me for another wrist.  I've never been handed rejection quite so blatantly before and was hoping that the 18 months we shared together meant something but apparently, it did not.  The sting has not left.

Wednesday - AM Swim PM Run
I decided to switch up my normal Wednesday and do the run in the afternoon on the treadmill, so after laying down a rather impressive swim set (If I do say so myself... admittedly the first one in what feels like months) I headed in to work for the afternoon before going to the Y and hopping on the treadmill for what turned out to be a great "long" run with some 1000m intervals thrown in for good measure.  The last one was under 5 minute pace, which - for me - is much faster than I've done before.  Being in a 70 degree, breezy environment helps though!

Thursday - PM Run, PM Swim, PM Bike
I had a lazy morning today so had to fit in all three workouts in the afternoon.  Neither the run or bike were going to be hard though so I felt confident this plan would prove effective.  I had another great swim today; I definitely feel like the more attention I pay to the water, the more she loves me in return.  I feel like this might be analogous to other aspects of life...

Friday - AM Run, PM Bike
Another treadmill run "workout" today in the morning.  I only call it a "workout" because I ran fast for a little bit (all of 5 minutes!) in a little bit of fartlicking.  Wait, I spelled that wrong. Ha. Ha.  I'm running out of humor.  The bike ride was uneventful, except for it was another VO2 interval ride that I DID try and failed miserably to hit the prescribed power zones.  Oh well. Trying not to get too frustrated at this point...

Saturday - AM Bike, AM Swim, PM Run
I rolled out of the house at 6:15am this morning to get in my ride and swim before driving to Saluda, SC to hang out with the family for my grandmother's 80th birthday bash.  It was a mini-family reunion of sorts so it was worth it to get the ride and swim out of the way before heading to eat and sit most of the afternoon.  I was scheduled for a pretty intense and long swim set today but I had to break it into two shorter (and mostly useless) swims over the course of Sat/Sun so I lost that bit of super-sweet swimming.  Scott and I didn't run until 7:30pm but it was a nice recovery paced trot that was very needed after a long day for the both of us.

Sunday - AM Bike, PM Run, PM Swim
Today I finally managed to hit my intervals on the bike, albeit this time they were threshold intervals so not quite as "difficult."  The PM run and swim were slow and nothing special, but I was just happy to hit some solid bike intervals.

All in all, I definitely felt some cumulative fatigue this week but I'm in the middle of training more than I ever have before, both short-term and long-term.  I have good days and bad days; ups and downs and sometimes it can be tough to manage the valleys but it's important to remember that no one single day makes a huge difference.  It's stringing together day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year consistent training that makes champions.  I'm still only in the month after month part of that!  I'm getting pretty excited for AG Nats, which is less than 3 weeks away at this point, something I didn't expect.  It'll be a super fun awesome weekend.  I can't think of any more superlatives.

Hot hot heat

S - 7000 yards
B - 237.2 miles
R - 30 miles

Time - 17.39 hours

As the second half of my triathlon season rolls around I can't help but get excited for some upcoming races.  I've never created a separate "schedule" page on the ol' blog so I thought I'd take this opportunity to lay out August to November!

August 20th - Age Group Nationals in Burlington, VT (1.5k/40k/10k)
September 10th - White Lake International in White Lake, NC (1.5k/45k/10k) OR Best of the US in Gulf Shores, AL (1.5k/40k/10k)
September 25th - Augusta 70.3 in... Augusta, GA (1.2/56/13.1)
October 8th - Myrtle Beach Triathlon in.....surprise, Myrtle Beach, SC (1k/45k/11k)
October 29th - Beach to Battleship Half in Wilmington, NC (1.2/56/13.1)

This looks like a lot of racing (and I suppose it is) but Coach Desert Dude has assured me that I'll be more than ready for the "A" races.  I'm not sure if I've ever really mentioned it here on this blog but I'm guessing that most people know my ultimate goal in triathlon is to race as a professional...  I'd really like to qualify for my pro card eligibility at Augusta 70.3; I think that race and my hopeful fitness levels give me the best chance to do so this year.  Top 3 OA at AG Nationals also qualify, but I'm not sure I'm quite fast enough at that distance to compete with some of the people that will be racing there for a top 3 spot.  I think it's certainly in my reach to be top 10 OA in Burlington, but top 3 would be a tough nut to crack :/

I have to look at these things as objectively as possible because while I put pretty high expectations on myself (and others do too, seeing how much I train) I have to keep a cool ahead when it comes to assessing actual ability.  I've only been swimming for three years and while I've made a lot of progress, I still give up some not insignificant chunks of time to the top swimmers.  My cycling is definitely good, but I gave up ~8 minutes to the top amateur on the bike in New Orleans (luckily, I out ran him! But not by 8 minutes...) so I've got some FTP to increase.  I think, as surprising as it may be, my run has become my "most improved" this year.  I've been running now for about 3.5 or 4 years and this is the first year where I've really been able to run at or above my supposed potential in triathlons.  A 1:21:xx run in a half is enough to make up ground on almost everybody except for some pros and very fast amateurs.  While I didn't swim in NOLA and WL I hope to better those run times at Augusta and B2B.

I've been training "correctly" now for about 26 weeks so there's been some definite improvement but 26 weeks really isn't that long of a time in this sport!  As Coach always reminds me, it takes a LONG time to get really good at this; and even if I never become a "competitive" pro I'd still like to be able to say that I competed at the highest level in something!  Dare to dream, right!

Twice as Stumpy

S - 10,000 yards
B - 122 miles
R - 35.8 miles

Time - 13.25 hours

So there are two main themes this week: the first was returning from Santa Barbara after an AMAZING 2+ week trip there with MOOSE and it was very saddening to return but return I did; the second theme was a double race weekend at Stumpy Creek (International Saturday and Sprint Sunday!) in Mooresville.  I felt pretty sluggish across all three most of this week so was a bit apprehensive going into the race on Saturday, especially considering the ridiculously stacked field.  Due to Stumpy being a double points race in the NCTS, every fast person in NC showed up it seemed.  Perusing the participant list made me think top 10 was going to be a good day for me, although in the back of my head I felt I could manage top 5 on a good day.

Stumpy Creek International: 1500m/27mi/10k

Swim 1500m (ish!) in 25:09 (15th)

Well, just like in Latta, my swim had timing chip band issues.  This time it was not due to a crappy band but primarily to a crowded first 200m with the very large open field.  I started off on the left behind Scott and for 3+ minutes it was a maelstrom!  I felt someone's hand hit my leg and slide down; taking with it the chip strap.  It maintained its position for a little while but after a bit the kicking moved it down around my ankle and I had to stop to put it under the leg of my suit.  I stopped swimming the middle of the pack and I'm sure some people got mad but whatever, it wasn't my fault.  I took a relatively short amount of time to replace it under the suit leg and get back going again.  Unfortunately I had lost my position and my rhythm and played catch-up the rest of the swim.  At around 1000m I caught Stacy and Tom and as I passed Stacey got on my feet and swam behind me the rest of the way until at the last turn buoy I forgot to turn left and went a bit past before realizing my mistake and heading in towards the finish.  I saw the clock at swim exit and was pretty peeved at myself for a horrible swim time (although, Wistoff and Soko are 19ish minute 1500m swimmers on real courses so their fastest 22 minute swims today tell the tale) and ran up to my bike thinking my day was off to a bad start.

T1 - 00:50 (17th)

Put my helmet on, took off my speedsuit and put on my shoes before replacing my chip band on my ankle and headed out on the bike.  With no watch, I was unsure how fast my T1 was (I was assuming it was really bad) but it turned out to be right in line with most people's; a welcome change.

Bike - 1:06:45 (3rd)

Passed a couple of people initially on the bike before getting to the first sustained climb and while out of my saddle my right hamstring suddenly locked up and I was forced to stop and get off my bike to stretch it out; at this point I was both upset about my swim mishaps and so was only even angrier as I got back on my bike.  My lower quads felt absolutely horrible and I was curious to how the rest of the bike would play given my cramping issue less than 5 minutes into the ride...  Donny caught me shortly after I got going again and we managed to set a good pace before catching Duncan and Scott, but only Duncan came with us as we went up a hill.  As we went past I could heard something rubbing on Scott's bike as he stood up but I couldn't say anything since I was breathing so hard (Donny rides up hills SO HARD it's unbelievable).  For the nest 30-40 minutes we all rode together and caught sight of Mark Carey up ahead and finally caught him at about 55 minutes and the rest of the way was just surviving the Masters Open slug-fest happening with me as an innocent bystander!  Rolled into T2 behind Mark and Donny...

T2 - 00:54 (14th)

Took off helmet, grabbed number and put on my shoes, not necessarily in that order and headed out on the run course eager to catch Donny and Mark.

Run - 35:52 (2nd)

Once out on the run I put the hammer down for the first 5 minutes to try and pass Mark and Donny to put a nice gap on them initially and hope that out of sight meant out of mind.  For the first time today, I finally felt good but had no watch so could not really tell how fast I was running.  Throughout the bike my quads were yelling at me and while tired on the run I felt smooth and fast (although I was a bit worried about my calves as there were some initial warning signs).  I tried to keep the pace high and the run went relatively smoothly through the first lap and at about mile 4 I looked back for the first time to see Clifford gaining on me; something inevitable that I felt would come eventually... He passed me about a half mile later but soon after I realized I was right behind Soko and passed him just before the long climb, which went much slower on this second lap!  I ran down the hill and around the field to cross the finish line in 3rd place OA, a pretty awesome result for me after a great run (although I had no idea how fast it was until they posted results later in the afternoon...).  Fortunately for me (and Clifford and potentially Wistoff) but unfortunately for him, Kenneth missed the turn-off to finish his second loop (and race) and continued on before realizing his mistake and turning around to finish properly, but pretty dejected.

I was really pleased with the result as despite a sub-par swim and bike I finished very well in the most well-represented NCTS race since I've been doing triathlons with a super awesome run split!  The run course at Stumpy is very difficult so to go under 36 minutes there is a big achievement for me (especially since last year's run split was 40:xx!!!)

Now, for Sunday!

Stumpy Creek 19.7: 750m/16mi/5k


A bit of a preface: I was incredibly sore/tight all Saturday afternoon and the feelings only abated slightly by Sunday morning.  Added to that I couldn't fall asleep Saturday night so the double race was leaving me extremely tired!  I should have had a 5hr energy on Sunday morning but forgot to buy one so substituted with a huge coffee.  A warning to all others that do double races: drink tons of water on the afternoon after the first race, not mountain dew!!


Swim 750m in 11:54 (4th)


I figured the main competition in this race would come from Fletch, Donny and Richard Bailey.  I knew that on a good day (and considering Donny and Fletch forgot their speed suits!!) I could gap them a little bit and in a race this short any gap would be beneficial.  So at the gun I sprinted all out for 200 meters before settling in (settling in is putting it a bit mildly, I was still going really hard, I just naturally slowed down!) at the first turn buoy.  At this point, I was sitting 3rd in the wave with a 30-50m gap on the two guys out front (although I had pre-judged them to not be overall competitors...) so I pressed onwards, maintaining a fairly good, smooth rhythm and exited the water still in 3rd place.  I turned around and with a quick glance didn't see anyone close so I ran hard into transition.

T1 in 00:57 (17th)


Put on helmet, took off suit, put on shoes, ran out; not sure why I was slower today than yesterday...

Bike 16 (actually 15) miles in 38:21 (5th)


Headed out on the bike in 3rd but quickly caught and passed the two swimmers.  From that point on I just pushed hard and rode solo, only breaking the monotony at turns and intersections.  I kept the pace high and gradually lost sight of anyone behind even on long straightaways so I knew my gap was growing.  At about mile 11-12 there was an awkward bump that launched my bike computer off the side of the road!  Now, with a normal computer I wouldn't have worried about it but given that this was my precious multi-hundred dollar Garmin I couldn't exactly justify sacrificing my watch for this race!  So after a very brief moment of thought I grabbed the brakes, slowed down enough to make a u-turn and went back to where I thought it went.  After a bit of searching I managed to find it and stuff it in my shirt before getting back on my way.  I hate making excuses (well, sometimes), but I lost a LOT of time here as the watch was off in a ditch and slowing down from 26mph to 0 and making a u turn and looking for a tiny object was a frustratingly time-intensive process.  As I got going again I looked back down the long straightaway and saw a tiny orange kit in the distance and assumed it was Donny.  I got back on the gas and finished strong down the hill into T2, a little annoyed but with a decent gap.

T2 in 00:47 (33rd)


Took off helmet, put on socks (I had developed a couple of chafe spots yesterday with no socks and wanted to make sure they didn't get worse today) and shoes then grabbed my number and sunglasses and headed out of transition.

Run 5k in 18:46 (7th)


As I was getting onto the course I saw Donny coming into the rack so I figured my 1st place was safe.  I'd like to say that I made myself run hard and leave it all out on the course in the quest for a fast run time but in all honesty, I pretty much mailed it in on the run knowing that I had the victory well in hand.  I came around the track and I saw Richard Bailey had made up some good time on me so as I finished he came in relatively soon thereafter.

All in all, a solid performance and good weekend/week!  I was annoyed that I continue to experience these strange mishaps in each race but as time goes on and I get more experienced hopefully they'll slowly disappear 

SB Part 2

S - 9600 yards
B - 239.6 miles
R - 38.7 miles

Time - 22.74 hours

This week started off with me feeling a bit sluggish, but luckily we celebrated July 4th with a trip to 6 Flags in Valencia.  To put it mildly, it was awesome.  One might expect an amusement park to be crowded and miserable on July 4th but after an hour or so the crowds dissipated (many discouraged due to the high temperatures) and we basically had our way with the rides.  We went on almost all of them and the best one twice.  I felt funny once I went to sleep that night as my head was still looping around and spinning as I was laying there... My running and biking legs felt like they took a little nap from Monday through Wednesday but luckily by Thursday they seemed to be back in action.

I felt very strong on the bike Friday-Sunday, which was good since on Friday Moose and I did Gibraltar (~7mi climb up to ~4000 ft, one that Lance is said to frequent during Tour prep), on Saturday we did a loop out to Solvang and back of 4+ hours and then Sunday I did Gibraltar again solo but this trip was timed...

My running and swimming volume were definitely a bit low this week, a fact I'll contribute to a bout of laziness and a bout of fatigue.  Maybe those two go hand in hand for me? Unfortunately (very unfortunately), I hop on the plane back to CLT tomorrow afternoon and leave this all behind :(

The consolation is that I get to race twice next weekend, at Stumpy International and Stumpy Sprint!  The doubled points race on Saturday looks like it is going to be one of the more stacked fields in an NCTS race so it will be interesting to see how low down I finish!!

Santa Barbara is awesome, part 1

S - 20,000 yards
B - 300.8 miles
R - 41.9 miles

Time - 27.28 hours

If there is a better place to be in June/July than Santa Barbara, CA I would love to be there, because I cannot possibly imagine it.  It has been a so-called "warm" 75-80 degrees in the afternoons around here and with that temperature plus no humidity it's hard to even put into words how welcome a change from Charlotte that has been this week!  Pools that are outdoors, riding that is on mountainous and exceptionally scenic roads, and running that is along the Pacific Ocean all adds up to one amazing experience.  Well that and staying in a sweet house with some sweet company!  Those are all ingredients that add up to a super sweet week of training and hanging...

Despite missing two swim workouts this week I still managed to log 20k yards, which - while not an all time high - is a lot when factored in with all the other stuff.  About half the swims this week were meters and the other half were yards and one was a double swim day; something I've never done before.  8300 yards in 12 hours is definitely a "career" high.  I was hoping to "compete" in the 3 mile OWS that's part of the Semana Nautica series of races that's going on this week.  To count in the race, you can't wear a wetsuit, and when the water is a stated 65 degrees and the last open water swim I logged was at Tri Latta in 88 degree water well, 65 degrees was a bit too much! I tried, admittedly, but couldn't put my head under water without hyperventilating and having a mild panic attack!  So I got out and got some breakfast and waited for Moose and the others to finish...

The real good time was logged on the bike this week.  My hour totals in the saddle were ~17 hours which, out here in this hilly terrain equaled 300 miles but at home in Charlotte would be closer to 340-350 miles.  But while it's fun to chase a mileage number, the real number that matters is the time.  I had to do a great deal of riding by myself unfortunately since Moose doesn't usually log 15+ hours/week on the bike (yet) so I had a lot of solo time!  Oh well, just makes me mentally tougher!!

I had some good runs this week on some hilly terrain and some flat terrain and saw some amazing sights and ran on an amazing track and amazing and amazing and amazing!  Consistency is the name of my game.

A little over a week left here in SB and that's about as far ahead as I care to think right now... Ready, go! Happy 4th of July!

Off we gooo, into the wild blue yonder!

S - 14,800 yards
B - 211.9 miles
R - 42 miles

Time - 20.25 hours

So, not really much interesting to say this week.  I'm truly becoming a broken record.  I feel as though I've told the same stories over and over again and I use the same tired cliches and phrasings over and over but you know what? I don't care.  This is my blog!  I'll do whatever I want in my blogosphere.

That being said, thanks for reading and don't leave! Please continue to read my boring training and racing stories!!

This week I did a little bit of swimming, a little bit of biking and some good running.  I'm really pleased with how my running is going, at least in terms of my consistency and progression.  I actually had three run "workouts" this week: a long run with threshold intervals on the treadmill, and a sweet long run with threshold and tempo intervals in Santa Barbara.  I definitely felt the best on Sunday in spite of no sleep and little food as the 65 degree weather helps a ton!

So these next two weeks I'll be in sunny Santa Barbara with Moose (she hasn't started blogging yet, but beware it's going to happen soon!) putting on my game face and logging some solid training.  I'm sure these next two weeks will hopefully include a lot of good pictures, good recapping, etc etc.  Just good stuff.  That is all.