A day on the path

Of the trends in triathlon, one of the best in my opinion is the opportunity for triathletes to train on the grounds of an event site and under the instruction of coaches and event staff. Large triathlons such as the Jamba Juice Wildflower Triathlon plan on hosting several training camps for interested athletes (training camps).

The opportunity for newcomers and experienced athletes alike is tremendous. If you're planning on attending a long course event, for the first time especially, I'd recommend attending a training camp if such a thing is offered by the event organizers.

For Team in Training athletes for whom Wildflower is an opportunity, a training weekend is often one of the options included in the benefits for fundraising athletes.

How does one practice for a swim start?

I was wondering what I'd write about today and then out of no where comes an email from my teammate Trish. A triathlon swim start is a harrowing experience. An ironman one is probably more so. All that energy and anxiety on the shore...

Needless to say, if only I'd had this kind of training prior to my first ironman I would have been set. Thanks Trish!

And to everyone else, TRAIN ON!

Amazing Finish

A week ago at Ironman California the winner, Andy Potts, finished the 70.3 mile course in 3:59:59 unofficial time. Even though there were wave starts that started me over an hour behind him, let's face some facts. The very idea that professional athletes can finish the course in this amount of time merely cements the idea that I, yes, me, will never go pro. As a matter of perspective, I was still on my way out on the bike as this man was finishing the RACE!!! A serious congratulations are in order.

The fifth professional male finisher was just five minutes behind. I stand in awe.
Ironman California 70.3

Volunteerism

After having completed two major races in my life now, and several smaller ones I feel the pressing need to come back to a subject that has always been very personal to me. Volunteers. A volunteer is one who gives to the event for the sake of being there. Sure some are there for the t-shirt and others are there to support a loved one. In supporting friends one is bound to help others and that is noble, and besides you get a free t-shirt.

I volunteered my first race in March of 2006 at the Ironman California in Oceanside, CA, the same race that I did this past weekend. It was a different place to be. You get up just as early as an athlete, some earlier than others, and go out on to the course. But your mission is different. The lines are in the same places, but your job is to keep the machine of the event on track. Keep it moving so that others, your brethren or not, can do what they came out to do, whether that be hammering the course in to submission or surviving the day with a finish.

Hand to hand volunteers pass out water, Gatorade, bananas, cold sponges, and ice to competitors facing down the day. Hands of volunteers point the way down blocked off city streets and around dirt trails. Hands of volunteers catch finishers who have crossed the finish line and who have left everything, sometimes more than they should have, out on the course and direct them to medical to assist in their recovery. There are times when volunteers are the only voices we hear cheering us on, offering the little encouragement we need to keep moving. Volunteers are everywhere on the course, their hands, their voices are invaluable.

No event in this sport can exist without the work of volunteers. Endurance sports are endeavors of a personal nature. For most, the journey is long, and victory is in the finishing. There’s no money in it, even for professionals really. It’s not like basketball or golf where there’s television time or huge sponsors beyond those that fuel us (Gatorade, Powerbar, etc.), and they already have us.

Events have staff some paid, but most not. Volunteers are the cogs in the machine. A race director or sponsorship director might arrange to have eight thousand gallons of Gatorade delivered to the race site but volunteers are the ones who are passing it out to the athletes. The course may be laid out on paper, but a volunteer will walk the road, rechalking where the lines get fuzzy.

When you cover the course on your day, take a moment on your way to your PR and thank a volunteer. They made your day possible.

Just a few of my thoughts, take ‘em or leave ‘em. -dean

The 2007 Ironman California - 70.3

A tremendous season opener. The Ford Ironman California 70.3, a mouthful of syllables and no shortage of meaning. Ironman 70.3 races are distances formally known as "half ironman" races. Don't let the "half" fool you it's a race not to be taken lightly. For many present this was not only their first race of the season, but also their first at this distance.

In previous years this race was two weeks earlier and more often than not race day brought cold water, rainy weather, and slick asphalt. This year on March 31st the race was held to bright blue sunny skies, and a swim nearly five full degrees warmer than last year. For Southern Californians this is the closest race at any ironman distance.

Ahh the swim, a 1.2 mile loop through the boat bay. I'm usually pretty anxious to get in the water. Not so much because I like swimming, though I do, but more because I can't wait for it to be over. In most places I'm perfectly comfortable in the water, but in the open with that may people around me, the irrational part of my brain takes over and starts to freak me out. I say irrational because this year and last year I've trained at double this distance and am fine when I get out of the water. For the next race I need to know how hard and/or how fast I can go and still go out and have a good day. I was in the 18th wave, starting over an hour after the first group of professionals. Basically I watched the first pro, Andy Potts, finish his swim in 22:35 (according to the preliminary results), before I had gotten in to my wetsuit and staged in the starting chute.

Getting out of the water the charming water scenes of Oceanside, CA give way to Camp Pendleton and the hills that lay ahead. I've been on base once, and that was a much shorter ride. This ride had us riding on roads that had markings pointing out artillery ranges and signs that notified you not to proceed ahead of a particular point due to falling ordinance... The most striking notice was a crossing for, yes, tanks. A freakin' tank crossing sign. How was I NOT going to notice a 50-60 ton piece of fighting machine crossing the road?

A scant three hours and twenty minutes later it's on to the run. The run for me has always, and I mean always, been the hardest part of the day. There's nothing but road in front of you and only your legs to cover it. We ran on the strand in Oceanside from the Marina past the pier. If I haven't said it before I'll say it now, it was a beautiful day.

Final for me on the day was a 6:32. I dropped an equivalent six minutes on my swim from Ironman last year, and hopefully something equally significant on my bike and run. For me, keeping that pace for Ironman would be phenomenal. I know today that I benefit from a great training program, a year's worth of base training, the support of a fantastic team (Go Team), and the luck of having such a beautiful day on the course.

Special thanks go out to my Ironteammates, Matt (who had the fastest time on the course for our team at 5:50, go and donate to his team in training campaign if you can), Jen (who beat me by two minutes), Christy (whose persistence on the run continues to inspire and drive me), Karen (whose experience on the bike and run mirrored in many ways my '06 Ironman Coeur d'Alene experience), and to Kevin (whose experience in racing helped us all, and who went back on to the course after finishing the race himself, to find and run with Karen as she finished her race).

I was powered by Lemon-lime Motortabs, Vanilla Crisp Powerbars, Enduralytes by Hammer Nutrition, and despite a little cramping in my calves due to an overall lack of flexibility, had a fantastic day. Success is due in no small part to training, but equally to nutrition. I can't thank the fine people at Motortabs, Hammer Nutrition and Powerbar enough for bringing fine products to market and continuing to improve as endurance sports progressively evolve.