5/5/12

How do I get into this race report without sounding like a complete jerk, yet get the point across that I am not happy with my performance last Saturday at Wildflower?  This was my fifth attempt at the epic Wildflower long course and I have yet to figure this thing out.  Let me put it this way:

Swim: 23:22 Bike: 2:17 Run: 1:14 Overall: 3:58

Those were not my times.  Those were the times of the Overall Wildflower Champion Jesse “#1” Thomas.  My times were:

Swim: 28:46 Bike: 2:34 Run: 1:28 Overall: 4:35

I know I shouldn’t be upset because I raced Wildflower and finished 29th out of thousands of AWESOME finishers, but I know I am better than my performance on Saturday.  The fact that Wildflower has beaten me five times now eats me up inside.  There were a few bright spots to take away from the race, as well as plenty of not so bright spots to learn from.

Like I said I do not want to come across as a major “DB” by saying I am not happy with a 4:35 at Wildflower.  4:35 is over 8 minutes better than last year.  My swim time improved by over 1 minute 30 seconds.  My bike time improved by over 9 minutes, and my run time was 1 minute slower.  So year over year there was improvement, but I did not have a solid race.

The swim was fun.  I got off to a decent start and settled into a pack of swimmers with similar speed to myself.  I drafted on the toes of another swimmer for the entire swim which made for a HUGE energy saver and allowed me to cut back on my sighting and focus on an efficient stroke.  I came out of the water feeling fairly fresh and ready to settle in for 56 miles on the bike.

  It’s funny.  The more half ironmans you do, the quicker the race seems to go by.  Although this is the case, I always seem to underestimate the bike portion of the race.  I eased into this course, knowing that there was a long day ahead of me.  I wanted to hit the run course feeling fresh and ready to reel in my competition.  The only way I would be able to do this would be if I hung back a bit on the bike.  You know the term, “Nothing new on race day?”  Well, toss that one out for this race.  As of Wednesday afternoon(prior to the race), I was bike-less(A story for another time).  I thought I was going to have to use my road bike for Wildflower which would have been a disaster.  On Thursday, the day I was set to head out for Wildflower, Cynergy Cycles, the BEST shop in L.A., came through in a big way.  They set me up with a Shiv.  The top SUPER BIKE on the market.  They got it all together and race ready by noon so I could get on the road before Thursday traffic hit.  The guys at Cynergy worked their tails off for me and I really appreciate all they did to get me going.  That being said, I did not have anyone look at my fit.  I was rushed for time, and I am a bike fitter, so I figured I would do it myself once I got to the lake.  Bad idea.  I played with it a bit and rode for 40 minutes on Friday, but come race day I was not in the ideal position.  I felt cramped, my hips were tightening up, and my knees were starting to ache around mile 46.  The bike was FAST.  It wanted to go.  I pushed through mile 40, up Nasty Grade, and hit the quick, steep, descent that took me through mile 45.  At the bottom of the descent I started pedaling again and my legs said “NO WAY!”  I felt as if I had cement in my quads.  I couldn’t turn over my legs.  I was cashed.  I thought to myself, “How am I going to get through these last 10 miles?”  With the bike turn around so quick, I didn’t have time to get my Quark set up so I was going off of Perceived Rate of Exertion instead of power.  I guess I perceived wrong because I was in trouble over the last 10 miles.  I struggled through and hit T2 with no idea what my bike split had been.  I jumped off and ran to my rack.  Surprisingly my legs were moving pretty well.  I tossed on my new Skechers GoRuns and headed out to tackle the toughest run course on the triathlon circuit.

Once again, as with the bike, my GoRuns wanted to move.  They bounced me from stride to stride, but 1 mile into the run I knew it was going to be a long day on the course.  I didn’t have “it.”  Last month, at Oceanside, I hit the run fresh and raring to tear up the course.  At Wildflower, the drive and the freshness was not there.  With the hills, wind, heat, trail, etc. you MUST be fresh and ready to rock or the course will eat you up.  I got chewed up an spit out on that run.  I took it stride by stride and mile by mile, eventually crossing the finish line.

It is a long season and I can’t let one race get me down.  I am just frustrated at Wildflower.  It is a great early season race to gauge fitness, strengths/weaknesses, and, if nothing else, gain fitness/race experience.  I am in awe of Men’s Champ Jesse Thomas and Women’s Champ Heather Jackson, both of whom dominated the race.  Wildflower is a test of strength, will, determination, knowledge, and maturity.  If you lack any of these traits, Wildflower will beat you.  I got beat, but once again, I am smarter for it.  Thanks to my nutrition from Powerbar, my Vector Pro wetsuit from Xterra, all of the support from the L.A. Tri Club, my weight/pool sessions from Tri Fit Club, my multivitamins from SportMulti, and my transition bag from Gyst.  RACE HARD!

View from the cabin

5/1/12

Running

4 x 400m on 20 sec rest

2 x 800m on 20 sec rest

2 x 400m on 20 sec rest

1 mile steady tempo

Here we go…

1000 yards as:

• 200 all out/300hard/200 all out/300 hard

8 x 125 HARD, 7 sec rest after each

1000 yards w/ paddles as:

• 200 ALL OUT/300 HARD/200 ALL OUT/200 HARD/100 ALL OUT

600 swim/stroke by 100s

6 x 50 ALL OUT

RACE HARD!

15 min warm up

MAIN SET:

3 x 12 minutes as:(5 min easy b/t each)

• #1. 2 minutes VO2 Max/4 minutes LT/2 min VO2 Max/4 min LT
• #2. 2 minutes VO2 Max/4 minutes LT/2 min VO2 Max/4 min LT
• #3. 4 minutes LT/2 min VO2 Max/4 min LT/2 min VO2 Max

5 min easy

16 x 20 seconds ALL OUT/10 Seconds easy

10 minutes easy

15 minutes @ 90% of LT HR

Oh yeah, run 30 min HARD post ride!

RACE HARD!

We, as endurance sport atheltes, seem to get caught up in zones, power, rest, recovery, intervals, etc. and I believe a lot of us forget how to just “Go HARD!”   Yes, we MUST be smart, but we need to occassionally learn to let go.  This leads to my new daily series.  Each day I will post one workout that I have done that day called the “I DON’T GIVE A F#&!, Workout of the day.”  This will be an insane workout, swimming/biking/running/strength, that leaves the data behind and trains the body/mind to go hard.  Please adjust to your abiltiy if you choose to perform any of these workouts.  Also, please feel free to leave your own I DON’T GIVE A F#&! workout in the reply box daily.  I would like to get some ideas of workouts others are doing.  So here it goes…..

Friday 4/27/12- Running

15 minute warm up

12 x 200m ALL OUT on 60 seconds- ex: I finish in 30 seconds and wait for the minute to go again

3 minutes easy

12 x 30 seconds ALL OUT hill repeats- I use the down hills as a recovery

3 minutes easy

1.5 miles at tempo race pace- 5:30-5:40 for me

5minute cool down

NOTE: I have access to a track that is close to a hill, I know not every one can do this so, if you can’t, add 12 more 200s on the track

RACE HARD!

So why as an athlete do I bring up faith and religion?  I know this is a little off topic from what I usually write about, but Unbroken really struck a chord.  I have been an athlete my entire life.  I was never the best, but I believed I would succeed.  While playing hockey I faced plenty of rejection.  I knew I was better than I was being given credit for.  Countless coaches/teams rejected me, but I drove on, believing that I would successfully end up somewhere.  Time and time again I overcame that rejection and ended up in a city on a team that welcomed me and allowed me to succeed.  I always subconsciously had faith that I would successfully end up somewhere.  Sure, I could have given up like so many other athletes did, but I pursued and accomplished my dream of playing professional ice hockey.

The same is true for triathlon.  I see the same types of people in the sport of triathlon that I did in ice hockey.  The people who do not have the belief that I can succeed.  I will admit, I lost my faith back in 2007.  I had attempted triathlon for 2 years and given up because my results were mediocre.  I did not have faith that I could succeed.  Wildflower came and passed in 2007 and I remember thinking to myself, “Wildflower is this weekend.  I can’t believe that I used to do triathlons/Wildflower .  I could never do that now.”  I did not believe that I had the ability to succeed again until late in 2008.  It took Ironman Arizona to get me believing again.  It was not Billy Graham, but it was a sermon of a different nature.  While out on the IM AZ course I was hit with a euphoria that I had never experienced before.  It was something that told me to stop messing around, get my head straight, and take this triathlon thing seriously.  My faith was renewed and I spent the entire off-season dedicating myself to becoming the best I could possible be.  I believed that there was more that I could do in the sport and I was determined to show it.

The reason I write about this now is because, just as I did in ice hockey, I see so many athletes losing the faith that they can succeed.  It is easy to give up and move to something “easier” than the committment triathlon takes.  Let’s move away from triathlon and speak on a grander scale. Louis Zamperini was at the edge of death and he overcame to live a long(still living) life.  We, as athletes, just have to have faith that we can conquer a sport.  When put in those terms, I think triathlon doesn’t seem like a challenge.

Many athletes ask me, “Where do you get the faith that you can succeed?”  As I have said earlier I have learned from countless life experiences that faith will get you through the tough times and bring you out on top.  But before that, how did I find this faith?  I have given this question a lot of thought.  Is it just my stupidity?  Could I be doing something else, but I chose to stick with ice hockey/triathlon?  I don’t think so.  Life is full of rejection.  No matter who you are or what you do, you will face adversity.  Unbroken has helped me realize that by being brought up in a house that was always positive and encouraging I have been instilled with the faith that I can succeed no matter what I set my sights on.  I use my failures as learning experiences to build off of and keep moving forward.  Sure, there are days that I doubt myself, but I always try to change my tune and look at the bright side of things.

As I wrote earlier I was bought up in a church going household.  Billy Graham’s sermon in Unbroken helped me also realize that seeing all of these people dedicating their time and energy to something as intangible as religion instilled a subconscience faith in me that no matter what I do I can succeed.  Plenty of people throughout history were told that they could not succeed, but their faith drove them through and led them to success no one could have ever imagined.  Have faith in yourself, your talents, and your endevours and you will come out stronger and more successful than if you would have just given up.  Believe that you WILL succeed.  RACE HARD!

Skechers is a well known brand based in Manhattan Beach, California.  Elite runner Meb Keflezighi recently wore the GoRun while qualifying to represent the U.S.A. by winning the U.S. Marathon Olympic Trials. Skechers is committed to getting athletes a shoe that will improve one’s running without compromising performance.  I couldn’t be happier to be part of the Skechers team and I look forward to flying through run courses in the GoRun.  For more info on Skechers, check them out here.  RACE HARD!

GoRun

I rode my bike to the race start which was about a mile from the hotel.  As soon as I stepped outside I felt the mist.  An annoying rain that consisted of tiny droplets that pelted my face similar to someone spraying you with tiny pieces of ice chips.  I knew this wasn’t enough to cancel the race, but I also knew this annoying rain could cause for some readjusting of the race strategy.

Like I said earlier, my swim has been really coming around in the pool.  I have been hitting times I have never hit before, my volume is growing consistently week over week, and I have been getting really comfortable wearing my wetsuit.  When the gun went off on Saturday morning I surprised myself a bit.  I am usually off the back of the pack pretty quickly, but, finally I felt as if I was in the mix.  I had feet to draft off of and I felt as though I could turn up my effort when needed and make passes fairly easily.  This stayed consistent throughout the first half of the swim.  When the harbor opened up to the mouth of the ocean, the tide turned (Like what I did there?).  I lost my pacing/feel which, in turn, caused my focus to fade.  The swells that were coming in were really big.  They weren’t breaking, but it took a lot to swim through them.  I lost the feet I was hanging onto and found myself alone.  Eventually a pack of women pros swam by and I managed to get back on it and hang with them for the remainder of the swim.  I can out of the water in 30 minutes.  8 minutes behind Andy Potts who swam 22 minutes.  I have major work to do in the water.

Although my time was poor I did come out feeling fairly fresh.  In the past few triathlons I have done, the swim has worn me out.  This was not the case.  In T1 I did have a little diffuculty getting my wetsuit over my timimg chip, so I was a bit slower out of transition.

Filthy!

I got on the bike and eased into my ideal Half IM wattage (310 watts).  I am not a huge fan of the first 15 miles of the Oceanside course because of all of the turns and rough road, but I managed to power through this section keeping my effort consistently around 310w.  In the first 10 miles is also when the rain picked up.  It was that same annoying rain, but now it was falling in buckets.  It didn’t let up for the remainder of the bike.  The plan was to go moderate/hard for the first 45 miles then give it a good push for the last 10 miles.  I executed this to the T.  I felt great.  The only problem was that I dropped my chain around mile 40.  This took a couple of minutes to deal with and caused me a bit of unnecessary stress.  Once I got the chain back on I quickly found my tempo again.  I averaged 311 watts and 23 m.ph. for the 56 mile bike portion.  I loved the power my new Felt DA gave me.  When I put it in, the bike responded.  It was awesome!

I got off of the bike and went to put on my run shoes.  The only problem was  my feet were completely frozen.  It was like trying to shove a brick of cement into a matchbox.  My foot would not go into my shoe.  I shoved and jammed and eventually it went.  The same went for the other foot.  I burst out of transition with no feeling in my feet, but my legs were raring to go.

I got onto the new California 70.3 run course which was much more technical than the previous course.  They had added a bunch of new turns as well as plenty of new, steep inclines and declines.  I had not had that fresh leg feeling coming off of the bike in some time.  Saturday, I had that feeling.  I pushed from the start.  I didn’t pay too much attention to my pace/distance.  I just pushed.  When I felt I was falling off I picked up my turnover and got back on it.  The miles seemed to fly by.  I was passing other male professionals pretty consistently.  I didn’t have a good swim, and my bike time was no where near many of the other pros, so I had some ground to make up.  There was a pretty good headwind every time I headed south, so I just took the pain, put my head down, and tried to drive through it as quick as possible.  I was hurting but I had fuel in the tank.  Within the last mile I believe I passed four more pros.  I really finished it off strong which helped me with my confidence for the day.  My run time was 1:15:22.  I would have liked to go faster, but this is a good testament to my early season form.

Overall I came in 26th place in a time of 4:16:41.    I am no where close to where I need to be in order to compete for the podium, but California 70.3 was a good measuring stick of where I am and where I need to go.  I like to learn from every race and give myself constructive criticsm that I can build on.  A few things I will take from this race are:

#1. SWIM- Longer tempo efforts with surges within the sets to mimic race like conditions

#2. Lose a few LBs- I am not a huge fan of losing weight, but I believe I can take a few pounds off to improve my bike and run.  311 watts is a pretty good number for 56 miles, but the speed is still lacking.  I think by taking off a few pounds my wattage will not suffer and my speed will increase.

#3. Longer tempo sets on the bike at a slightly higher wattage- Like anything, your body adapts.  If I can get my body use to pushing a few watts higher for a longer period of time I will benefit with faster speeds and stronger legs.

#4. Focus on strength- I have been consistently in the gym the past few months, but now that the season is upon us I think I can add a few more core based workouts per week and really benefit through greater muscular endurance.

This season is long.  It is not a sprint.  It takes time and periodization.  Many athletes come out of the gate strong, but falter in the fall when the real racing starts.  I know where I have to go.  It will be tough and it will take dedication, but as long as I remain consistent, positive, and driven I know things will come together.  RACE HARD!

Wet shoes+No Socks= OUCH!

Diet:

I am now a Vegan.  O.K., let me rephrase that.  I am now a Vegan with the exception of fish.  No red meat, no chicken, no eggs, no dairy; and I am feeling and performing better than I ever have.  I was at a place where I was not happy with my diet.  I did not know what I was not happy with, I just knew I was not eating the way I should be eating.  Cortney and I went to hear Vegan Ultra Distance Athlete Rich Roll speak at Franco Bikes in Westlake Village, CA a few months back and this got the idea of Vegan eating stirring in our heads.  Rich suggested that we watch a movie named, “Forks Over Knives.”  Long story short, we watched the movie and we decided to go Vegan(except for fish).  This change seemed a lot harder than it has been.  There are so many recipes out there that are tailored to Vegan eating.  You can find a Vegan friendly option at most restaurants.  I can honestly say, I am experienceing much more flavor in my food now that I have turned Vegan.  Not only that, I have much more energy, my workouts are better than ever, I recover much quicker, and my performances have been the strongest they have ever been.

Cortney's Delicious Vegan Taco Salad

Competition #1:

Two weeks ago Liz Hamm of the L.A. Tri Club contacted me and asked if I wanted to compete at the Free Motion Fit Games at the IRSHA Conference at the L.A. Convention Center.  Being a HUGE fan of the Free Motion Fit Games(I had no idea what they were), I said yes.  There was a big prize purse, which, if won, we would donate a good amount to our charity; The Coast to Coast Swim Challenge.  I showed up to the L.A. Convention center not knowing what to expect.  I knew we had a team of three athletes; myself, Tyler Olson, and Carly Johann and our coach Stella Tong; but that was all I  knew.  Free Motion is a company that makes gym equipment.  The competition consisted of three rounds.  Each round consisted of a treadmill run, a cycle(on a spin bike with power, cadence, speed, and distance), and a strength exercise on a cable row machine.  Each team member could only compete on each apparatus once throughout the day.  For example, if I competed on the treadmill in the first round I could not run in rounds two or three.  Each round consisted of different challenges that we would not learn about until it was time for that round.  Make sense?  The first round I ran on the treadmill.  This was the most accurate treadmill I have ever run on.  The challenge was to complete 5 miles at a 5% grade.  There were 5 different teams.  The first team would get 5 points, second 4 points, etc.  There were a few teams consisting of pro runners, firefighters, triathletes, and crossfit athletes.  I got on the treadmill in my sweet on piece L.A. Tri singlet.  It was funny how all of the other teams were underestimating me.  I heard a few of them say, “No way this guy can run fast the entire 5 miles.” We started the challenge.  It was tough.  5 miles at 5 % on a legit treadmill is a tough task even when you’re not pushing sub-6 min/mile pace.  I ran the 5 miles in 29 minutes and beat the next finisher by a couple of minutes.  The next round I did the strength challenge.  It was a rotational exercise.  I finished tied for second.  The crossfit guy beat me.  The third round my challenge was a 5 mile time trial on the spin bike.  I loved it.  I had forgotten what it felt like to push to that limit and beyond.  I completed the 5 miles in just over 10 minutes for another round victory.  It came down to the wire overall.  Tyler had to pull out a solid strength task on the final exercise in order for us to win the competition.  He dug deep and pulled it out.  We won the day!

WINNERS!

Competition #2:

The day after the Free Motion Fit Games Cortney and I headed to Coronado, CA to compete in the Super Seal Olympic Distance Triathlon.  This was a last minute add to my schedule due to my bout with food poisoning at the Palm Desert Triathlon which kept me from racing.  It was downpouring the entire drive to Coronado.  Sunday was to be no different.  We woke up Sunday morning to sheets of rain and 50m.p.h. winds.  We headed to the race site where the wind was more intense.  They had made a decision to cancel the triathlon and hold a soft sand 5K.  I thought a regular 5K was tough.  Imagine running on in soft sand with a 50m.p.h. head wind.  BRUTAL!  I pushed hard from the start.  The hurt I was inflicting on my body was intense, but I knew it would be over fast.  I ended up wining in a time of 16:01.  The best part of the win was that I won the coveted Super Seal Oar.  This is one of the best trophies in triathlon and I now have one in my possesion.

AWESOME OAR!

Competition #3:

Last Wednesday Jacklyn Embry, one of my athletes asked if I were running the Great Race of Agoure Hills.  I said no and she said I should because there was some big prize money available.  I quickly looked at last years results and saw that the winner last year had a time of almost 36 minutes.  I thought, “Sweet!  Easy money.”  I wrote the race director and got into the race.  Friday night my friend had a wine party.  I thought, “Hey, I can run a 10K fast after a few glasses of wine so I can endulge.”  I had no idea what the next day would bring.  I showed up race morining and found out that the elite wave of the 10K was named the L.A.S. & F Elite Invitational.  It was the Los Angeles 10K Championships.  The most talented runners from the state of Californina were toeing the line.  In front of me at the start I saw several All-American/National Champion tattoos, and I think I saw a few sets of Olympic Rings on certain runner’s calves.  These dudes were runners!  I thought, “Maybe I should just go for my long run and forget the race.”  NEVER!  I wanted to see what I could do against these guys.  Granted, I had a late night before the race but I still wanted to see how I matched up.  The gun fired and the pain set in.  From the start, it was all out.  The pack seperated into two groups.  I was in the second group about 30 seconds back.  We went through the first few miles sub-5 min/mile pace.  Around mile 4 the fun started.  Some of the steepest hills I have ever run up were on the second half of this course.  These were the type of hills that make your heart pump through your chest.  I powered up them and tried to recover on the STEEP downhills.  I ended up finishing 9th Overall in 32:01.  It was a good test and I am happy with the result.

Up Next:

I am racing California 70.3 in Oceanside this weekend.  It will be my first triathon since last October.  I am feling great!  Ready to roll.  I have a new ride, a Felt DA thanks to Triathlon Lab.  I can’t wait to hit the course and see what I can do.  RACE HARD!

Tuesday 6:30p.m.-  Group Bike Trainer Workout @ Triathlon Lab- REDONDO BEACH

Come out for the first of our weekly bike trainer workouts.  These will be progressive workout that take the group through the correct stages in order to build a strog, successful athlete.  Bring your bike trainer, a towel, nutrition, and the desire to work HARD.  See you there.

Wednesday 6:30p.m.- Group Core Boot Camp @ Ocean and San Vincente, Santa Monica

The first session of our Core Boot Camp that will work from the inside out.  The core is where all movement is originated and it is an integral part of a successfu endurance sport athelte.  We will work our core in a group setting that makes it fun and challenging.  Bring a yoga mat/towel, nutrition, and plan to work for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Thursday 7:00p.m.-  Speaking on “How to Train for and Race Wildflower”, Sport Performance Institute, Laguna Beach, CA

At SPI I will give a talk on behalf of  Tri California Events on how to approach training for and racing Wildflower.  This will be an informative session where you will learn the ins and outs of this epic race.

Friday ALL DAY- Fitness Competition at the LA Fitness Expo, Downtown Los Angeles

I will represent the LA Tri Club at the LA Fitness Expo in a challenge that will test my limits and gain some publicity for the club.  Stay tuned for more details and come out to cheer us on!

Saturday 10:00a.m.- Brick Workout/Wildflower talk for the OC Tri Club, Irvine Regional Park, Irvine, CA

We will workout together with a swim and bike.  Post workout, I will give a talk on how to prep/race WIldflower.  This will be a fun day of exercise and info,

Sunday 7:00a.m.- Coronado, CA

Superseal in a fun Olympic Distance race that benefits the Naval Special Warfare Charities and has a killer beer garden post race!

For Bike Fitting/Personal Trianing/Endurance sport coach contact me @ jim@jimlubinski.com