May17-23

S: 23,400 yds
B: 5h 30min
R: 4h 19min

Total: 15h 58min

Welcome to summer! Summer has officially arrived here in Huntsville which meant a nice warm weekend of training. In addition to a warm, humid weekend, it has been nice to have some light at the start of swim practice, as opposed to finishing in the dark which happens during the summer.

It took a few days to recover from Florida but by the end of the week I was back in the swing of things. Saturday featured a nice solid ride with a few cyclists and then Sunday I got out for a two loops of the Cotton Row 10k course.

Speaking of Cotton Row... The Cotton Row Run 10k is held every Memorial Day in downtown Huntsville and is one of the largest road races in the southeast. Anyway, David likes to complain about how "it is always the first hot weekend of the year." That may have been the case last year but certainty wont be this year! On that note, while the heat acclimatization might improve performances a bit, it sure wont make the hill any shorter!

Florida 70.3

So that happened. First the recap, then the analysis.

Recap: Pre-race went pretty smoothly with an on-time arrival at Disney and uneventful morning. This race always starts early, 6:20AM this year, and its always a bit weird heading to the swim start before the sun has come up. Regardless, there we were on the beach with Tom Z singing the National Anthem, the sun inching up over the trees, and the calm lake in front of us. Shortly thereafter, the cannon fired, and we were off!

I got a pretty good start and after maneuvering around a few people I found some feet at the back end of the pack and "settled in." By settled in I mean, of course, that I continued pushing it hard in order to stay in the race. Approaching the first turn, it looked like most everyone was strung out more or less single file so I just wanted to make sure to keep up. All of the sudden, though, I noticed a gap in front of the guy ahead of me so I gathered some momentum and moved outside to pass. I pushed hard for a couple more minutes but soon realized I wasnt making any water on the guys ahead of us which left me having to swim the last 800m or so alone.

Coming out of the water, I was a bit further back than I wouldve preferred which was naturally a bit disappointing. Out on the bike, I was feeling pretty good, the power was there, but I just wasnt going very fast. Its always hard to make real-time power/speed comparisons but something felt a bit off. After 10 miles or so I was caught by a couple of riders and ended up riding with them for around 35 miles. The last 10 or so miles were especially tough as I had a slight headwind and, well, I was nearing the end of a 56 mile TT. It took much longer than I would've liked but I finally got to the finish and was off to run.

The run was its usual suffer-fest. I passed a few guys in the first couple of miles and then just went on damage control mode. Pushing myself in the heat and humidity was hard, especially because I was totally out of the race. The saving grace was that I had my friends and family there to cheer me on. If it wasnt for them, it wouldve been much worse. I finally crossed the finish line in 14th place in 4:13.

Analysis: So all in all, a pretty awful race. The swim was marginally disappointing while the bike and run were both pretty terrible and immediately after the race I was pretty upset. Thankfully though, my family was there and they helped me get over it while we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at pool.

Talking with Paulo, though, I realized the training the last couple of months has been anything but optimal. Illness, travel, injury, and bike position changes have all combined to cut into quality training sessions. Looking back, I probably discounted the combined effects of these set-backs as I tend to be pretty optimistic. In this case, though, this naivety came back to bite me in the ass in the resulting less than stellar performance. Blissful ignorance can only last so long and last weekend the brutal reality came crashing down.

Going forward I'm going to drop Kansas and add Buffalo Lake Springs in order to give myself a couple of extra weeks of training because there really isnt any point to going to a race if I'm not going to be remotely competitive. Meantime, its time to get in some consistent, effective training.

Finally, I think a quote from TJ is appropriate, "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it."

Pro triathlete and Orlando native Andrew Hodges returns for Disney 70.3

If you’ve ever dreamed of being a professional triathlete, here’s a little advice: Don’t quite your day job.

But don’t give up, either.

Andrew Hodges hasn’t done either one. And the Central Florida native is already a pro triathlete.

Hodges was one of the top 25 cross-country runners in the state when he competed for Edgewater High School nearly a decade ago. Yet he still didn’t make the University of Florida squad when he went there in 2001 — so he joined the triathlon team instead. At first, he said, he “just started splashing around in the pool.”

Turns out, he was pretty good at splashing. He wasn’t bad on the bike, either. In fact, he wound up helping to lead the UF tri team to a top 10 finish at the Collegiate National Championships his senior year. He then knocked out a 4-hour, 15-minute half-ironman in hilly Lake County and qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, when he did a 9:45.

After graduating, Hodges turned pro — which means he gets a lot of very pricey equipment, including an Orbea time-trial bike — for free. He also gets a “small salary” from Timex, which sponsors the team on which Hodges competes.

But at 26, he still works full time for a NASA contractor in Huntsville, Ala., where he is a materials scientist. His boss, he says, is nice enough to let him take off for races.

This coming Sunday (May 16), he’ll be competing at the Rohto Ironman 70.3 Florida, a half-ironman, at Disney. He says he’s aiming for a top-10 finish but would love to crack the top five. The way registration works for pros these days, it’s hard to know who the competition will be until race day. He’s not intimidated — just practical.

“Usually it’s one of the most competitive races [on the pro circuit],” he says. “I could have a great race and still finish 12th. But my family is going to be there, so that’s extra incentive.”

As for what it takes to be a pro, Hodges says there’s no secret formula.

“Ultimately, its staying consistent and hard work over time that is going to get you to the next level,” he says.

If you’re near Disney this weekend, give a shout out for the home boy.

Full story here.

Weekend Report

This should be a race report. After all, I did drive to Knoxville on Saturday for the Rev3 Triathlon Sunday morning. However, there wasnt really much racing at all on my part, so there is no race report! Rather, I'll just give a brief synopsis of the morning.

Riding over to the start, it was cold. Not "cool summer morning" cold but more like late fall "I dont want to get out of bed" cold. This unexpected dip in temperature was brought on by "a cold front, honey" as explained to LT at dinner on Saturday night by our lovely, intelligent waitress. Making matters worse, the water temperature was measured to be 69F, which meant we (the pros) would not be allowed to wear wetsuits.

Going through my usual pre race routine, I kept warm with 2 shirts, 2 jackets, pants, and my HTFU hat. This worked well and I was pretty comfortable after a little jog. Upon changing into my swimming apparel, though, heat began to dissipate rapidly.

Down at the river, I jumped in the when I thought we only had a few minutes before the start to try to move my arms a bit before the gun went off. After about 10 minutes, I was pretty cold and ready to get started. This being the South, though, the race director brought in a pastor to lead us in prayer before starting. With that out of the way, we were all more than ready when the race director announced it was time to start. But then, wait, we still needed to listen to the National Anthem. I listened, shivered uncontrollably, and finally we were given 1 minute to start.

I took off, felt like I was swimming fast, and found some people to swim with. Coming out of the water, though, I realized that I had actually been swimming very, very slow. As I started the bike ride, the downhill spiral only accelerated and it was everything I could do to just keep my legs moving and my body from shivering uncontrollably. I kept thinking that I'd warm up but it never happened. After finally making it back to transition, I racked my bike, and threw on my two jackets and pants.

I'm sure I could've finished the race but at that point my only thought was to get warm. Luckily the air temperature had warmed up a bit by this time but I still didnt get comfortable until I got back to the hotel for a warm shower.

So yeah.... all in all, a pretty awful race. But without the bad races, the good races wouldnt be any good!

Bike Posish

After a few modifications, there you have it. Me on the new ride in my dungeon. I may still lower the stem a bit but this should be pretty close. Enjoy!

Pic:


Vid:

Apr26-May2

S: 24,700 yds
B: 10h 33min
R: 4h 5min

Total: 21h 8min

All in all, a productive week. After receiving a new stem on Friday, the bike fit came together quite nicely this weekend. Additionally, all running was performed on the actual ground, without pain, which allowed me to finish PT on Friday. Julia over at Johnson & Hayes did a great job and its great to be back running pain free again. Just in time, too, as the first race of the season, Rev3 Knoxville is this weekend!

QOTD

"The rebuttal to this actually takes an entire book to convey, but it first involves helping people understand that everything about talent is a process. There’s the genetic piece, and then there’s the ability piece... From a distance, it looks like they [high achievers] have got something almost super-human about them. But when you look up close, at the moment-to-moment lives they lead, the sacrifices they make, the extraordinary resources they have around them, their abilities actually do make logical sense. If it’s documented closely enough, you can actually see how they went from mediocre to good, from good to great, from great to extraordinary...

In consumer culture, we are constantly conditioned to gratify our impulses immediately: buy, eat, watch, click— now. High achievers transcend these impulses... Small accomplishments along the way provide more than enough satisfaction to continue." -David Shenk, author of The Genious in All of Us




The NY Times Freakonomics Blog had an interview with David Shenk about his book, The Genious in All of Us. In the book, Mr. Shank explains that "intelligence" and "talent" are much less genetically determined than most of us would like to believe. Rather, thousands of hours of practice are behind most geniuses' greatness.

I thought some of his points were particularly applicable to triathletes as too often new entrants into the sport look for the "quick fix" when in reality improvement comes over time. There is no way to instantly drop 30sec off your 100yd times in the pool or 1min off your mile pace in a 10km. However, long term, focused, consistent training will ultimately lead to substantial improvements. The key is to stay focused to the long term goal and not expect instant gratification.

Apr19-25

S: 27,200 yds
B: 10h 9min
R: 4h 43min

Total: 22h 1min

Things are looking up. The leg is feeling better and the bike position is almost where it needs to be. I'm still going to physical therapy but hopefully it will just be a precautionary measure from here on out.

As for the bike, it would be nice to take a whole day to try various options in order to find the best fit but unfortunately I just dont have that kind of time. That and I'm kind of limited to the updates I can make (ie I can change out stems but not aerobar extensions) so any "big" changes have to be made at the shop which introduces even more time into the process. If all goes well, though, I should have everything finalized by the weekend, just in time for a couple of long rides.

Happy Friday

It's a busy Friday with TWSOTA and the QOTD rolled into one. Thanks LaShawn!

This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse: 6'3" tall Olympic 400m Gold Medalist LaShawn Merritt tests positive for an anabolic steroid and claims he unknowingly consumed it in an "over-the-counter male enhancement product", the Washington Post reports.

"To know that I've tested positive as a result of product that I used for personal reasons is extremely difficult to wrap my hands around," Merritt said in a statement released by his lawyer. "I hope my sponsors, family, friends and the sport itself will forgive me for making such a foolish, immature and egotistical mistake. Any penalty that I may receive for my action will not overshadow the embarrassment and humiliation that I feel inside."

That last sentence is golden. But the real question here is, why does a tall, black guy need "natural male enhancement"??? My advice to Mr. Merritt: Pick a different excuse!!!

Apr12-18

S: 26,200 yds
B: 11h 26min
R: 4h 7min

Total: 22h 27min

Well after a week of running in the pool, the leg is feeling better. I ran 20 minutes this morning and felt "fine" (as fine as you can feel for a Monday morning...) so I'll plan on slowly increasing the distance the rest of the week in hopes that the pain will have vanished for good. As for the cause, I'm leaning towards the Bontrager cycling shoes I started using last winter. They are a bit on the wide side and while that was fine during the winter when I wore wool socks for a majority of my rides, it caused extra strain on my tendon once I switched to more normal thin socks. This, coupled with increase in duration and intensity of riding, was most likely the main culprit of the strain.

In other news, I finally took my new Orbea Ordu out on the road last weekend. It was, of course, tons of fun but I still need to make a couple of adjustments so I'm holding off posting pics until then. In the meantime here is a generic Ordu with the correct color scheme but wrong wheels, aerobars, and seat.

QOTD

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the Income Tax.” -Albert Einstein

"The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that still carries any reward." -John Maynard Keynes

“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket trying to lift himself up by its handle.” -Winston Churchill

Apr5-11

S: 31,300 yds
B: 8h 50min
R: 3h 28min

Total: 20h 32min

Sadly, the huge caveat there is although there is 3h 28min listed under the "run" column, I actually only ran 1h10. The rest was in the form of the eye stabbing procedure also known as aqua jogging. Coincidentally, I also didn't actually do any quality running.

The problem, it appears, is tibialis anterior tendonitis although I'm still unaware of the precipitating factor. Regardless, hopefully a couple of weeks off running and on PT will allow it to heal.

As a result, it looks like New Orleans 70.3 isnt going to happen. While I probably could finish the race, 13 miles in my racing flats over less than optimal New Orleans roads would not be good for the injury. If this were Clearwater, I'd be there. However because this is the first race of the season I thought it'd be a good idea not to totally destroy the tendon and instead hope for a quicker recovery.

QOTD

I wouldnt call myself a huge golf fan but I do enjoy watching the last round of the Masters. So after getting home from the pool, I turned it on around 5:15 at which time the last group of Lee Westwood and Phil Michelson were finishing up the 15th hole. Phil had been playing brilliantly and was up by three strokes while some guy named Tiger Woods was in the penultimate group but had fallen to five strokes back, all but out of it. The last few holes proceeded without much drama and Mr. Michelson won a well deserved third Green Jacket.

What struck me most, though, were the post round interviews. Messrs. Woods and Westwood were both asked a similar question, essentially, "You didnt win but other than that were you pleased with your performance?"

Although Mr. Woods has had a "busy" last few months during which he probably hadnt practiced much whereas Mr. Westwood has been playing very well lately, their answers seemed a bit backwards:

"I entered this event. And I only enter events to win." -Tiger Woods

"I finished third, third, second in the last few major championships. I can't be too disappointed. I'm getting closer." -Lee Westwood

But then again, maybe thats why Tiger is Tiger and why Lee Westwood hasn't won a major?

Happy Friday!

So according to the date on the form, this is actually ancient in internet terms but nevertheless, it is quite simply hilarious. I'm not sure what DETENTION entails at Redmond Junior High School but I'm sure it was not enough of a disincentive to prevent Mr. Duncan performing a flawless Michael Scott imitation. Enjoy!

*H/T RR for the pic.

QOTD

"His program is very, very hard, if not harder than I’ve ever done before. He certainly keeps me very accountable and he takes no crap." -Olympic Gold Medalist Simon Whitfield on Coach Paulo.

Paulo certainly doesn't need the adoration but it was nonetheless a nice article in The Star.