Great Clermont Race Report

    I have never pushed myself so hard in my entire life. I know, this sentence probably belongs somewhere at the end of the blog, after I've went into excruciating detail about how much my quads burned, lungs ached, and how hard oxygen was to come by. But I couldn't help it. I mean, look at this face.

 Yeah, that's how it felt.

So, to back track, we arrived to transition at just about 6:30. The air was a thick but pleasant 68 degrees. As I walked to transition, was having trouble shaking the memory of last years' race here in Clermont. I had a fever 2 days prior and then subsequently caught an upper respiratory infection. I decided to race anyway, and almost quit after the first lap of the swim. I was exhausted, and spent the time after the race wallowing in self pity and coughing forcefully.

        I was also battling some confidence issues. I had anticipated having a much higher level of fitness for our FCTC championship race. I didn't feel ready, and the hills we drove over to get to the race site was an omen of things to come on the bike course.

     I got a good warm up in because I forgot my timing chip in my car...and then when I got back into transition, realized I also forgot my water bottle. So that was a solid 1.5 mile run all together. After taking care of race priority #1 (it rhymes with smorta-plotty), I saw my parents walking down the trail. I ran over to give them a big hug. It meant so much to me that they woke up at 4:30 am race morning to watch me race.

    After a short swim warm up (the water was perfect-no wetsuit required), my Trigator teammates and I did our cheer and got ready to race. I gave a strange motivational speech involving Shamu,"mountains", and strong legs. Then, the gun went off, and we were swimming through Lake Minneola. The swim course got everyone messed up, and I heard that the lead pack of girls got off course. I'm hoping I didn't cut the course in any way, because it was my best olympic swim yet. The water was choppy from the cold front that went through, and I swallowed a lot of water. It was delicious.

      I sprinted to transition, strapped on my shoes, and started my one hour and seventeen minute sufferfest. The course is a beast, with 3 out and back loops and more hills than flats. The out and back nature of the course made it so that every hill that you zoomed down you also had to climb. Great. It's the triathlon equivalent of a double edged sword. As hard as it was, I have never felt so capable on the bike, instead of telling myself (for motivation) that my legs were pistons, they actually were. I kept telling myself that "this is my race", and before I knew it, I was believing it. As painful as it was, I enjoyed the bike a lot. I pushed every ounce of power out of my legs, and didn't stop until I saw the dismount sign. I began to worry about the run. Boy, and for good reason.

      My parents saw me pull my Pegasus into transition and I could hear the surprise in their cheers. "Awesome job Kace, you're doing great!!" Later my mom told me she didn't even have her camera out because she wasn't expecting to see me that soon. I realized that I forgot to take my GU on the bike, so I pulled it out of my container on my bike and clenched it in my teeth. I ran out of transition, grasping my race belt and with my eye on the lead girl, running 15 seconds ahead.

         My worries were confirmed. I used all of my oomph on the bike. My form felt decent, but the speed that I usually have wasn't there. I could see the FSU uniform fading away, especially after the 3 mile mark. I was fighting hard, and my lungs were screaming for me to stop. There was a nice breeze and some shade, so luckily the conditions didn't exacerbate things. My body oscillated between feeling miserable and totally miserable the whole run. I tried to push as hard as I could after the second turnaround point, when I had just about 1.5 miles to go. I met the 6 mile mark with a sense of bliss; I was so glad it was almost over. Then I heard some bounding and breathing from behind. By the time I turned around, I saw a blur of orange and blue blow past me. I had  about 4 steps of acceleration, and then my legs told me not-so-politely that they had had enough. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to pass me at that point. So proud.

             So, there you have it. Now I have that wonderful finishing picture.

I am so proud of all of my teammates, who inspire me SO much. For many, it was their first olympic triathlon, and for one it was their first! Everyone overcame difficulty at some point, whether it was the swim, bike, run, transition, or another one of the multitude of variables that come with triathlon. The college triathlon community is awesome too. Everyone encourages each other before, during, and after the race, and we took a group picture as a memento of the last race of the 2011-2012 season. What a great sport, what a great team, what a great race.

"Never doubt yourself in the face of uncertainty; be certain that you have no doubts."

Race Morning

Here's a quirky little poem I essentially wrote in my head while riding my bike the other day. Enjoy!

Wake up at 5, look at the clock.
Why am I up this early? I forgot.
That's right, I've got a race to do;
gotta find my body glide and my GU
Eat a bagel, drink some Gatorade
Feeling nervous and hoping I won't be late
Set up transition, hang up my bike
strap on my timing chip good and tight
Warm up? Maybe not.
The water's much colder than I had thought.
Gun goes off, leave it all behind,
keep an open heart and a positive mind
Swim-try to breathe, not heave
Bike- hammer, don't stammer
Run- always a fight; did I leave my legs on my bike?
See the finish, hear the crowd,
cross the finish line smiling and proud.
Now time to eat and pass out.

Wildman Triathlon Race Report

        Let me start out this race report with a thought. Which is better: running a personal best, or returning to running pain-free? I would say the latter, because it just makes you feel so grateful just to be able to put one foot in front of the other. As I stood in the murky water of the lake before the gun went off, I took a moment to think about how lucky I am to be able to compete and how happy I was to be wearing the orange and blue in an FCTC race.

         The weather wasn't spectacular, but it was a balmy 68 degrees or so at the start. Clouds coated the sky in a patchy layer, and there was a slight breeze whisking the race day excitement through the air. As we were setting up transition, the announcer proclaimed that the water temperature was 66 or 67 degrees. Luckily this was false, but it definitely scared me for a moment. After jogging around for a while, I left my shoes and nerves in transition. It's race time!

     I chatted with teammates by the lake before taking my cautious first steps into the water. It felt like the Florida Pool on the day after a good rain. I submerged my whole body so as to avoid that shocking feeling as everybody sprints into the water. As the start grew nearer, the other college teams started doing their cheers, so all of us TriGators gathered together, and after a moment of deciding which cheer to do, we began our normal cheer (which sounds best when you have at least 10 people; we had 6). Just when we were about to say "get up and go", I look to my left to see all of the college athletes sprinting into the water. All of us yelled some sort of expletive as we galloped after them. I heard Daniel (our president and main cheerleader for the race) laughing hysterically as I dove into the lake. I was really funny, and it actually made it so I didn't feel any pre-race butterflies. We'll try not to do that again, though.

       I felt strong in the water. The course was two loops in the counterclockwise direction. There a was a long diagonal straight into the sun before turning left across the lake and then back to the start buoy. The diagonal was the hardest part for me, and when I sighted, I was sighting other swimmers instead of the buoy itself. I was hoping everybody else knew where they were going. I also felt a strong current pushing me away from the finish, and it seemed that every time I looked up on my second lap I was getting sucked into the middle of the lake. I emerged from the water breathing hard, but not as taxed as normal. Thank you, Master's swim!

     The run to transition was long, so long in fact, that on the results it is reported as T0. It took me 1:40 to get to my bike, which was patiently waiting for me to come and drop the hammer. I have been working so hard on the bike, so this is my first test. In my mind, I almost made this race into a duathlon of sorts, because I knew my run was going to be much less than stellar. So I took off on the wings of my Pegasus, and sped out of Moss Park. The first lap went great; I felt smooth and comfortable as I rode (illegally) in a pack of 4. But then we ran into a poorly marked turn around, and I rode about 20 feet too far. I lost contact with the group. I pounded my pedals to try to catch them again, but it was no use. Fatigue really set in after mile 16 or so. My pace was still pretty good, but it had dropped off significantly from where I started. I kept telling myself that my race was over after the bike. I hoped that this would help me push as hard as possible; the bike was what I cared about most in this race. But of course, the reality was after I cruised into transition I had to put my running shoes on.

    I started the run conservatively, both because I wanted to be careful and because I was quite tired. I was probably pretty dehydrated as well: I dropped my water bottle at the beginning of the second lap and had no water in 35 mins or so. The run course winded around the park, with tents and campers dotting lining the road. I think I saw a big group of boyscouts, and smelled some bacon cooking somewhere towards the end of the run loop (the run was also two loops, and when I smelled the bacon for a second time, I knew I was almost done!). There was a group of little kids cheering us on; they would shout "Go UCF!" or  "Go Gators!" and then say "Keep going!" as we ran past."Yeah," I thought, "just keep going." I got passed twice on the run, which was a bit disheartening. That never happens. More motivation to get back to form. Despite the slight misery of the run, it ended rather quickly. Before I knew it, I was sprinting toward the finish line. My legs didn't feel like lead, but rather springs, and I flew across the field and through the finishing shoot. I gave my teammates high fives as I gasped for air and grimaced with exhaustion. I forgot how hard Olympic races are.

       I finished 5th in my age group (my FIRST time racing in the 20-24 :O ) and overall felt really happy with how it turned out. I'm not exactly where I want to be fitness-wise, but I have confidence that I can get there before Nationals. My splits were not as good as I thought they would be, but I discovered that I did this race 5 minutes faster than last year, so I can't complain. I even managed 7:11 miles after barely running at all in 2 months. But you know what? I remembered the most important thing of all: triathlons are fun! Oh, and that I love my triathlon club :)

Upcoming races: Great Clermont  3/25
                            College Nationals 4/21
                            St Anthony's 4/29

Strength Training For Endurance Athletes

Between running, cycling, swimming, who has time for the gym? Endurance athletes get caught on this dogma that says the only way you can get better at something is to do it for hours and hours each day. This is partially true, but I’m here to tell you that a “secret ingredient” to the success of your next racing season may be lifting weights: and not in the manner that you are probably thinking.

       Imagine walking into your local gym. You see red-faced powerlifters benching, squatting and chugging protein shakes. Middle aged women spending an hour on the mats doing the same two glute and abdominal exercises. Then, you see a guy in running shorts doing some exercises that are so subtle you wonder if he is even working out. With so many ways to go about a strength training program, how do you decide where to begin? What if I told you that as an endurance athlete, you should be closer in routine to the powerlifter than the skinny guy in running shorts? Hold on, I’ll explain.

      Think about this for a moment. You spend anywhere from 5-16 hours a week dragging your body weight through miles and miles of training. You’re heart and lungs are strong, and you muscle are slim and slender from building all of those slow twitch muscle fibers. Lifting light weights for high repetitions sounds like your normal training schedule. The stress placed on the muscle is too similar to cause any new adaptations physiologically. Although endurance sports generally don’t resemble power sports, (until that final sprint to the finish) race performance and overall speed can be improved through the recruitment of fast twitch fibers and more motor units within the muscle. Lifting heavy not only can make you a more powerful athlete, but it can also help prevent injury by giving the support system for your bones and tendons—your muscles—an added boost of strength. However, there is a time and place for both heavy lifting and light(er) lifting.

      Think of heavier lifting as an augmentation to your program. Just because you start doing lifts such as bench press and squats doesn’t mean you should stop doing one- legged body weight squats, lunges, or hip flexor exercises. A good rule of thumb is to use traditional lifting to strengthen large muscle groups, and integrated, endurance-based movements as accessory moves for neglected muscle groups (such the gluteus minumus/medius, hip flexor, calf muscles, deltoid/rotator cuff muscles). Also keep in mind that muscle imbalances are the leading cause of running and overuse injuries. Include unilateral exercises with light weight to gauge strength imbalances between sides. Be in tune to which side feels weaker or less balanced. You just may prevent an injury before it starts.

     One last ingredient to strength training for endurance athletes (and certainly not the least) is core training. Since the role of the core during swimming and running is actually to decrease movement, it’s important to do core exercises that mimic this demand. Exercises such as planks (both normal and side, stationary and moving), cable woodchops, and other exercises that involve the deceleration of weight are imperative to include in your program. There is value to crunches, twists, and other crazy ab exercises , but make sure to incorporate the aforementioned stability exercises as well. Also, don’t forget about the lower back! The building is only as strong as it’s weakest pillar. Think of your back and abdominals as the “pillars” that hold your body together. Balance out those crunches with back extensions or some variation.

     So how do you incorporate this into your training program? It’s important to have a recovery day the day after heavy lifting, so your best bet is to add in a strength training workout to an already “hard” day. For instance, add in some lifting on a day when you do bike intervals or a tempo run. The next day should be easy—a single recovery ride or run should do the trick. Start out your strength training program with 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions using moderate weight, so that you can prep your body for harder work later on. After about 3 weeks at this intensity, slowly begin to increase your weight as you decrease your reps by 2 every two weeks. (i.e. Every two weeks you will decrease from 10 to 8, then to 6) Once you get to 6, then just increase the weight from there. There is no need to lift a weight that you can complete less than 6 times. Lift 2-3 times per week, and you will see some pretty awesome results!

Here are some examples of heavy lifting exercises: Bench press, deadlift, squat, shoulder press, rows and power cleans.

Lighter lifting exercises: Straight-legged (or almost so) deadlifts, one-legged calf raises and squats, lateral arm raises, push-ups (including wide grip and narrow grip variations), lateral leg lifts, lunges, etc.

    Remember that form is extremely important when you lift heavy, so if you try a new exercise, be sure to ask someone who has mastered the movement to watch your form. Form is more important in the beginning than the amount of weight you use. If any of you have any questions, just ask me. I’d be happy to help!