Not quite a Runner... Yet!

So this past weekend I got a chance to run the Race for the Cure 5K with fellow Roanoke Valley Elite teammate Andrew Parkins. He has historically been much faster than me but my running has been coming along pretty good over the last two years so I was excited to try to finally hold pace with him. It was a great day for a race and we were joined at the front of the starting line by Colin Munsey and Andrew Holbrook, two more super fast guys! My strategy was to hold on to Parkins for as long as could with the hope of finally breaking into a sub-17 5K.

So the gun goes off and we are rolling! I immediately fall in behind Parkins with Holbrook behind me and Colin watching it all play out in fourth. My thought was to attempt to hang tight early on, knowing that the first mile and a half are the toughest part of the course and if I could just stay close then maybe I could make my goal. During the first mile the two slight up hills didn't seem too awfully bad and I was going well but as we hit the mile marker Parkins looked down at his watch and later told me he thought we were moving a little slow so he picked up the tempo and I worked as hard as I could to stay in tow. Truth be told... I think he was trying to drop me and as we went over the last rise at the mile and half mark I was starting to get a little bit gapped and I knew that my ticket was about to get punched.

So we make it to the two mile marker and by this time Parkins has about 15 seconds on me and now Holbrook rolls by me right after the Fleet Feet water station. I see him moving by but my efforts had left me gassed so I did my best to minimize the damage over the course of the last mile. I did appreciate seeing Mark and Mike on their morning run and their cheering me on helped keep me motivated to finish strong.

As we all hit the line, needless to say I was a little bummed at not making my goal time but still pleased that I was in such great company! My teammate, Andrew Parkins, hit the line in 16:55 for the win then Andrew Holbrook, who is training for Boston and going to tear up, came second and I tailed in for third. This race showed me I still have a lot to learn about how to pace and compete effectively but I am still very honored to be able to rub shoulders with some of the Roanoke Valleys finest runners.

Turn Your Training Up

Top 3 Overall
 

So this past weekend I was supposed to do my first Triathlon of the season but because of a nagging shoulder injury I had to bail and instead opted for the last race in the Triad Duathlon Series on Saturday. This was just fine by me seeing as how the level of competition was guaranteed to be good and I needed to compete in order to defend my Third Place Overall position in the series. I had a good first run, felt good on the bike, and struggled through the second run to end up in 3rd place on the day and thus holding on to my position in the series. So despite a rather mediocre performance I had to be happy on the day.



 

 



Me and Matt
 

 While at the race, I was talking to Glenn Thompson and Matt Sommer about training. Matt mentioned that he needed to develop more power on the bike, but felt that it was difficult at times to gauge because he didn't have a power meter. I then had a very similar conversation with Peter Walton on my training ride on Sunday. This has been a question that seems to come up a lot... "What can you do to work on your power output when you don't have a power meter?" What if I told you that the answer to this question is outside your front door and it wouldn't cost you any extra money to implement?

 

 



During the Winter months and off-season, power development is down in the Weight Room. As you may recall from my previous Weight Training Series, by lifting weights like a weight lifter you force your body to adapt and gain power. During the season, you can do the same thing by Climbing. Just as you can't hide from the squat rack, you can't hide from a mountain. Either you can lift the weight or you can't... Either you can push that gear up the mountain or you can't. It's the same concept but now it is sport specific in order to prepare you for your season of racing.

 



Me and Darren during our Tuesday Mill Mt. repeats.



How much climbing is based on your goals for the season. Most of the time I recommend a long road climbing session (2-4 hours)  on one of your weekend rides and a short (1-2 hours) climbing session during the week. I do this on Tuesdays in order to allow for enough recovery prior to the weekend. These sessions are not easy. I do them at or above Tempo pace with the goal being to spin a gear as much as possible. Just like pushing a heavy weight on the squat rack or leg press, these climbs are all about turning over that gear and keeping it going at a constant rate the whole way up the climb. When you first start, keep your Heart Rate down in order to keep lactate acid from building up too quickly and as you progress you can push harder. These types of climbing workouts are not are not about how fast you can get up the mountain, they are about building power quickly! If you can find someone just as crazy as you to partner up with then you've added another challenge that will push you that much harder. Add this into your weekly routine and after a month I promise you will be amazed at how much stronger you feel on the bike. This added power will help you be faster during the bike leg of your race and be less fatigued during your run section and the only cost is your level of commitment to the workout.

Highs and Lows

Over the last two weeks I have had some good races that have really helped get my season off to a great start. Two weekends ago I placed Fourth Overall and First in my Age Group at Duathlon Regionals in Greensboro, NC behind Glenn Thompson and two Pro Triathletes- Albert Harrison and Mike Starkey. Mike blew by all three of us on the bike section and we were like "who the heck was that?!?" We later found out- it's the same Mike Starkey that won the Beach 2 Battleship Half Iron.

 

 

So after that I was happy to get back in the water to start prepping for my upcoming set of Triathlons that are to include the Chasing Chicken Reverse Tri, Angels Tri , and Smith Mt. Lake Tri over the next two months. Well that may be put on hold AGAIN this year. After my swim workouts on Saturday and Tuesday everything seemed fine, but during Thursdays workout I had to stop due to numbness and weakness in my left hand and shoulder. Immediately Thursday evening I was able to see Dr. Henning at Roanoke Orthopedic to get it checked out and I have an appointment at Balance Wellspace this week to check my alignment. At this point it appears to be a nerve impingement causing the issue and I have to just wait it out. I am able to swim all be it... it definitely feels weird and I am sure it looks just as bad as it feels. I am still day by day on competing in Tri's for now.

After the disappointing week in the water, I really needed a moral booster. I had the RV SPCA Tail Chaser 5K this past weekend and after looking at the race times posted last year was hoping it would be a good speed workout. It didn't disappoint! As I lined up I noticed Joe Cotter seemed really excited and ready to go and sure enough... when the gun fired he took off like he was chasing the bullet! Our first mile was a 5:14 pace and I knew that if he kept that up I was going to have to let him go. Luckily for me he did slowdown... a lot, actually too much so at the turnaround I attacked and instantly had 20 yards on him. I held tempo for the rest of the race beating Joe by 22 seconds and finishing in 17:02 which is a new PR for me and just the pick me up I needed!

 

So my running and biking are coming along nicely and that is very good news. I am a bit frustrated with the shoulder, but will do my best to be patient and see what happens. If it doesn't show improvement this month my plan is to scrap the Triathlon's again for this season and after finishing up Long Course Duathlon Nationals in May and Short Course Duathlon Nationals in July I start my training for the Masters 5K Championship in Syracuse NY in October. So... seeing as how swimming is my weakest link and I have a game plan in place I am still super excited about the rest of the season and, God granting, I have a lot to look forward to!

Shamrock Hill 5K Race Report

This past weekend I took part in the Shamrock Hill 5K which I missed last year so I was happy to see how much I could improve over my previous course time in 2012. My running is well ahead of where I started last season so this was a good first test to officially check my progress.

 

The weather this year has been all over the place to say the least but on this particular day we were fortunate enough to have clear skies and a morning temperature at or near 50 degrees which was awesome, but the wind was gusting at 15-20 miles an hour. I knew that Patrick had won this race last year but he was no where to be found, however the last two second place finishers, Lance McDaniel and Andrew Smith, were so I would definitely have some guys to chase.

 

As the gun fired, immediately the three of us rushed to the front and as we took the turn onto Shenandoah Ave. the wind hit us right in the face! I tucked in behind Andrew to shield myself from the wind and we both settled in to our pace as we watched Lance eased away. For the first mile and a half I was content drafting Andrew but knew I would have to make a move soon. I felt pretty good so I jumped and surged on Andrew as we came to the turns leading into the turn around. I was now redlining and eating the headwind on my own just hoping to create enough separation from Andrew to make him willing to allow me to go on without him but to no avail. As we picked up the tailwind on the way back to the finish line he returned the favor and surged on me and I was not able to hold on.

 

In the end, Lance took first, Andrew was second, and I finished third Overall and first place Masters with times that were a little off from last year definitely due to the wind. Even with the wind, my first 5K of this year was sixteen seconds faster than last year so I am well on my way to hopefully finding some more speed as I get closer to Duathlon Nationals in May.

Northeast Park Duathlon Race Report

After much anticipation, the race season has officially started for me and man what a start! This past weekend I took part in the Northeast Park Duathlon in Gibonsville, NC. I was anxious to see where my fitness level was after a long Winter of training, most of which has been indoors this year due to the cold temperatures and snow. I was also excited to be representing TriSports.com as one of my new sponsors for the 2014 season, as well as Headsweats and Feetures!

 

It was a great morning to race even in February and after talking with Richard Swor, the Race Director, earlier in the week and then seeing some familiar fast guys at the start line, I knew this was not just going to be an easy training race. Right away I saw Albert Harrison and Glen Thompson who are both top ten National and World Duathlon guys and Wes Kessenich who I met last year when he caught me in the bike section of the Bermuda Duathlon. I knew these three alone would make for a fast race but that wasn't all!

 

So the horn blows and we are now off and rolling in the first run leg and I felt good running in between Albert and Glen so I knew I was right where I wanted to be... problem was I was still barely in the top ten! So after the first mile I looked down at my watch to see we were hauling at a sub 5:30 pace and that was just a little more than I wanted to do so I fell back behind Glen but still in front of Wes (knowing he was a fast time trialer). I hit T1 still in the top ten and right behind Glen.

 

I had never raced against Glen, but knew he had raced on the US National Team and placed 6th at Worlds last year. I knew Albert was way faster than me right now, so I decided to focus on chasing Glen rather than worrying about Wes who I knew would be chasing hard behind me. As we made our way out of the park I pushed hard and kept Glen and Robert Maughan, who were battling it out in front of me, in sight for the entire ride. At the halfway point I knew I was ahead of last years pace but I just could not get comfortable on my bike. It may have been the fact that this was the first time I had been on my time trial bike outside since last fall, but either way I continued to push to keep my targets in sight. With about two miles to go, Wes came rolling by me and I was a little bummed but not surprised so I tried my best to stay with him into T2.

 

I remembered last year even though Wes had caught me on the bike, I had beat him in the last run leg of Bermuda so I tried not to panic. Well he was having none of it and took off out of T2 with me in hot pursuit. Needless to say, I did not catch him. He ran a faster second leg to hold me off and take 4th and I rolled in right behind him to take 5th Overall. Man what a great first race with awesome competition! This is just a preview of the speed I will need when Duathlon Nationals come to North Carolina in May. It will make for a great couple of months of racing leading up to it for sure!

Almost Time to Get 2014 Started.

After a long block of Winter training it is almost time get things going for the 2014 racing season. I have been working hard over the last four months to build myself up on a strong foundation that has consisted of the following weekly training:

• Weight Training 3days/ week
• Swimming 3days/ week
• Running 5-6 days/ week
• Cycling 5-6 days/ week

As the 2013 season ended, I started focusing on being more consistent with my running and coming off the Richmond Marathon in November I carried that conditioning into the off-season. I also knew I was going to focus more on triathlon's this year so I had to make sure I was getting a lot of quality time in the pool. With the help of my swim coach, Lindsey Jones, I have seen my times come down and I feel much more at home in the water. This Winter I needed to increase my power on the bike so I have worked my tail off in the gym in an attempt to get the watts I need to be more competitive at the national level on the bike.

Last week was my first time trials in the water for 2014 and my times looked good and I felt strong. I know I have a lot of work to do and Lindsey is really pushing me to do more IM work to be a more rounded swimmer. I don't like it but it is working. As part of my running program, I have been doing a tempo run every Thursday and I was very happy that I was able to hold my current 5k pace comfortably for ten minutes as part of the last workout. This past Saturday was my first timed power test on the bike and although I was fairly pleased with my wattage output, I have a lot of work to do on developing my power endurance. I see a lot of time spent in Scott Moir's garage in my future to make this happen.

I am really excited to get my multi-sport season going to begin representing my sponsors:

Trysports.com- for all of my general needs in all three disciplines. They have a great selection of products and sponsor a team as a way to give back to the comunity that made them.

Hammer Nutrition- this is a company that I have been a part of for a few years now and I truly love their products. If you haven't tried them click the banner on the right to save big on your first order!

Headsweats- I have been using thier products for years and now I get to officially represent them. They are the reason that I now prefer to wear a visor of a hat.

Feetures!- These are by far the best socks on the market and the Elite brand is durable and provides great arch support. As a Fleet Feet mentor/coach I was introduced to Feetures! and these are my socks of choice now.

Rudy Project- I have known Paul Craig of Rudy Project since my days as a cyclist at Virginia Tech and this a brand that I proudly represent. I have used their sunglasses for more than ten years and now also wear thier helmets exclusively. Rudy Project also helped sponsor a fall training video that I had the pleasure of being a part of with Endurance Films as well.

So just like last year I will start off my season with the Triad Duathlon Series in February and March put on by Trivium Racing. This is a great series and the last race is a Regional Duathlon Event so the competition should be more challenging. Being a member of the Roanoke Valley Elite Running Team this year is a big motivator to get faster in the run, so I will also sprinkle in a few local 5k's to help sharpen test myself against the local speedsters. Be sure to check out my calendar at the bottom of my blog page to see where I will be racing next and hopefully I will see you on the course!

Winter Training equals Winner Training

So the Arctic blast is dropping temperatures in the U.S. to lows not seen in years but you still have to train. When the temperature drops, there is no reason for your training to drop as well. There is always a way to get your base training in no matter what the weather is like outside... you just have to be mentally prepared and push on in spite of Mother Nature mocking you. Yes, it is hard, painful, and down right unpleasant at times but that's what makes you a winner! Winners do what others are not willing to do... not because they want to do it, but because they want to win!



Michael Schaffer of Runwell



I have had quite a few conversations over the last two weeks about training and preparing and progress. Even though all of these conversations are in regards to only one aspect of the whole picture, the common thread within them all has to do with a certain mentality. A winner looks at the days workout's and knows they must be done with no regard to what the weather is. If you can learn to cope with the weather and train outside no matter what, then you are already one step ahead of your competition. If you can't get outside, but you are willing to do those miles on the treadmill, or bike trainer anyway, no matter how mind-numbing it may be, then you are one step ahead of your competition.

 

If YOU are willing to do what it takes to be a winner no matter how hard it is today, then tomorrow you will be better for it. It is up to you to fight the voices in your head telling you not to get up early for that 4:30AM workout. It is up to you to do the hard part of the workouts when no one else is around to push you. It is up to you to dance with Mother Nature no matter what. It is up to you to hold yourself accountable and be honest with yourself no matter what you tell your coach or training partner or whoever else it is that you talk about training with. Because at the end of the day... Today is what will make you better tomorrow!