Ironman Wisconsin

Last weekend I traveled out to Madison to race Ironman Wisconsin for the second time in my career. I raced there in 2009 and it definitely earned my respect as one of the more challenging races I have ever done. This year proved to be no different. On race morning we had favorable weather conditions following a recent cold front. We were going to have some pretty good wind to navigate throughout the day, but the highs were only supposed to be around 70 with low humidity and clear skies.

The race changed their swim course this year, moving from two lops to one. I thought this was a great change, even if the back stretch (1700 meters) seemed to last a long, long time.

At 6:50, the pros started and the swim went along fairly uneventfully for me. I exited 5th out of the water with a large group and proceeded to take on the more difficult challenge of the day: running up the exit ramps of the Terrace to T1. At any race, I usually see the highest heart rates of the day running to T1 without the additional challenge of running uphill for a minute-plus.

The bike course in Wisconsin is the most challenging bike course on the IM circuit in North America (now that STG is gone) in my opinion. You never have any extended climbing, but it is constantly full of hills, turns and can be quite windy in some of the more exposed areas of the course. Having said that, I find it to be a course that keeps your mind engaged and rarely lets you fall into a state of indifference. For that reason, I really enjoy the dynamic nature it provides.

Exiting the water in a large swim group usually leads to a group forming on the bike and this race was no different. During the first half of the ride, I think 6-7 riders stayed together and it wasn't until the 2/3 mark where things eventually started to split up. I felt good for the majority of the ride, but even with that in mind, Ben Hoffman (eventual winner) continued to put time into everyone. In the closing miles, Thomas Gerlach and I eventually caught the 2nd place rider and made our way back to T2 in the 2nd and 3rd positions.

Coming out of T2, I just tried to settle into my own rhythm and hoped to try and see if I could close any portion of the 10:00 gap Ben had on me to start the run. My legs felt pretty good, but I was a bit concerned about how my stomach was feeling. During the ride, my stomach had been feeling a bit off so I ended up taking in less calories than I normally would. That wasn't such a big deal, but I knew I had to be diligent about getting them in on the run.

Unfortunately, my stomach proved to be my biggest challenge for the next few hours. I managed to keep it somewhat together over the first half of the run, but I was having to stop repeatedly and couldn't keep any calories down either. Eventually it proved to be too much. I'll spare the details, but it wasn't pleasant for awhile.

I eventually dropped into 4th place with 6-7 miles to go and I knew I had to try and get some calories in me or I would concede even more positions. Over the next few aid stations I was able to get some coke in me and with about 4 miles to go I finally seemed to come back to life and started to run more steadily again. Fortunately I was able to keep it rolling to the finish line and just barely held onto 4th place.

Tough race, but a good experience.

I really enjoy Madison and the race atmosphere there is fantastic. I heard it sold out in record time for 2013 and I can understand why. Hopefully I can make it back there again some day.

Until the next one,

justin

Endurance Corner Boulder Camp

A few weeks ago we wrapped up the annual Endurance Corner Boulder Camp. We try and include some variations from year to year in order to keep things fresh and interesting. Our schedule this year included the following:

Day One: Ride up the East side of Lee Hill, down to Lefthand, then up Lefthand to Peak-to-Peak Highway, followed with a final summit to Brainard Lake (10,000 feet). We returned the same way which is mostly downhill except for a summit of the West side of Lee hill. Total ride included nearly 5000 feet in climbing. That evening we ran for just under an hour along the Boulder Creek Path finishing with Dinner and Presentations at Gordo's House.

Day Two: We started the day with an Open Water swim at the Boulder Reservoir. Boulder Aquatic Masters sets up a 1-kilometer swim course with buoys and athletes swam anywhere from 2-5 loops in total. A number of us did a mass-start Time Trial race in the middle of the session. Following the swim, we all did a fartlek run session around a 5-mile or 10K Loop. Finally, we all did a shorter ride with a summit of Sunshine Canyon: a short, steep climb that starts on the edge of the Boulder city limits.

Day Three: Today's ride included the "St Vrain Loop"; a very popular route with Boulder locals. It begins by traveling north along highway 36 to the town of Lyons. From there you head west, climbing into the mountains along the St Vrain River. This year we climbed all the way to the junction of Highway 7 and 72 instead of cutting the tangent through the town of Raymond. From there we preceded along the Peak-to-Peak highway to the town of Ward where we began our descent into Boulder. Like Monday, we finished with a short climb up the backside of Lee Hill (included in the U.S. Pro Tour this year) before finishing in Boulder. That evening we did another 50-60 minute run along the base of the foothills finishing with Dinner and Presentations at Gordo's House.

Thursday: This morning began with another Open Water swim at the Boulder Reservoir. Xterra Wetsuits put on a wetsuit demo for interested athletes and a group of us did another mass start TT in the middle of the session. Following the swim, we all proceeded to do a longer run around the Boulder Reservoir. Athletes chose routes of 10-13 miles and many included a main set of 4-6 x 8 minutes @ IM effort. We took the afternoon off the bike, but we included afternoons presentations with Alan Couzens and a Q+A session with World Champion Julie Dibens. We had dinner that evening in Boulder at a restaurant called The Sink; a famous Boulder staple.

Friday: The day started with a ride up "Super'' Flagstaff: a 5.3 mile climb with an average grade over 10% over the last 1.5 miles (also featured on the U.S. Pro Tour this year). We finished our ride at the Flatiron Athletic Club where athletes took part in a longer swim session with a focus on technique and drills led by Coach Jane Scott. We all took the afternoon off in order to get ready for an early morning race.

Saturday: The camp concluded with an Olympic distance race in Loveland, Colorado. The race took place in Loveland, Colorado, located to the North of Boulder. The race features a bike course that goes west into the foothills outside Fort Collins and finishes with a flat, fast run course through the neighborhoods of Loveland. That evening we concluded the camp with dinner (and lots of dessert) at Foolish Craig's.

I know I can speak for everyone at Endurance Corner when I say it was a pleasure to host another camp here in Boulder. We have always been fortunate to meet and train with some fantastic people from all over the world and this year was no different.

We already have new ideas for the 2013 edition and we are excited to bring about new and exciting routes. Check back on www.endurancecorner.com this fall to see details about plans for 2013.

Until then,

justin

Ironman Texas

This past weekend I made my way back to The Woodlands, Texas for the second annual Ironman Texas. Having grown up in Houston, this race is the closest I'll ever get to having a home town race. As such, my motivation to put together a successful race had been in full force ever since I crossed the line of the first race, one year ago. Race Day:

We had a non-wetsuit swim like last year and the morning water temperature was reported to be around 81 degrees. Fairly warm, but not bath water material. After a short warm up and a national anthem, we sorted ourselves out on the start line. After the race, Brandon Marsh pointed out the fact that while we have about 50 meters of start line, we all line up in about 5 of them. Quite true.

The start of the race was a little hectic, but it actually sorted out quite quickly. It might just be a coincidence, but I find this to be the case more often in non-wetsuit swims. As we made our way to the far turn buoys I was sitting with a few other swimmers and we had settled into our pace. I was glad to have some others around me at the time because my goggle seal broke and they were flooded with water. I could still see things up close pretty easily, but sighting far buoys was difficult. Our group of three stayed together to the end of the swim and we exited in 55 minutes and change.

I hustled through T1 and got out on the bike. Generally speaking, the first half of the bike went really smoothly and was uneventful. We had a slight tailwind for the most part and the shade from the tree-lined course kept things much cooler than it would have been in the sun. I had one other athlete riding with me for the first couple hours and for a short while there were actually four of us that came together. However, somewhere around the halfway point of the bike I went off the front and from there it was a solo effort to T2.

I have done plenty of rides completely on my own in Ironman races, but for whatever reason the second half of this bike leg proved to be one of the toughest I've had to deal with mentally. I don't really know why; it might have been the lonely country roads or the headwind we had on the back half, but whatever the reason, I was fighting to keep my head in the game.

I couldn't have been happier to see T2 as I rolled back into town. I really did not want to be on my bike any more that day. After a quick change I headed out onto the three loop run course sitting in 7th place.

Initially, I was not really thinking about where I was in the race. I knew I just needed to get through the first half of the run without getting too dehydrated or overheating. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and I knew that it would just continue to get warmer as the day went along.

Not too much had happened by the end of the first loop. I did manage to move into 6th place, but Jozsef (4th) and Brandon (5th) were holding steady with their gaps of 3-4 minutes.

I rolled through the next five miles of loop two and as I made my way back onto the canal I heard a split of one minute to 4th. A couple miles later I managed to bridge to Brandon, who had just bridged to Jozsef and all of sudden the three of us were running side by side. I respect both these athletes immensely and having this moment where the three of us were all racing side by side was very cool to me. Its just something that stuck with me afterwards.

At the start of the third loop, I was running alone in 4th and I was told Rasmus (3rd) was about 3 minutes ahead of me. When I made my way out onto Lake Woodlands Drive I could see him up the road and somewhere between miles 20 and 21 I had moved into 3rd place.

At this point in the race, I assumed that any other position was not an option. I just wanted to stay hydrated and fueled so that I finished the race in one piece (and didn't concede the position I was in).

Then as I made my way back into town along the canal I was told around the mile 23 marker that 2nd place was less than 90 seconds up the road. With three miles to go, this still seemed like a pretty big gap to close so late in the race. As I hit mile 24 someone said the gap was now down to less than a minute. However, I still couldn't see anyone up the road so I wasn't sure that was even accurate. Then as I made my way to the far end of the south side of the canal I could finally see the 2nd place bike leading Mathias. It honestly still seemed too far to make up.

I made my way across the bridge and down the hill to head out to the final turnaround. Someone yelled 20 seconds just before I saw the mile 25 marker. I continued down the canal, through the turnaround and somewhere in the middle of the 26th mile I had finally made my way up to Mathias. A couple hundred meters later we had to run up a slight hill that led to the new finish line area. I know better than to underestimate Mathias so when I came up to this hill I just went as hard as I could go. I actually thought the finish was right around the corner, but when I got there I saw another turnaround in front of me instead. I started to think I might have just blown myself up in this last little bit, but fortunately I didn't and I finished up the race in 2nd Overall.

It was a crazy way to finish the day; certainly not anything I would have predicted. It was good reminder to always race every step of every race. You never know what lies ahead of you.

Congratulations to Jordan Rapp for closing it out and taking home the victory on Saturday.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I want to say thank you to the Deppe Family for being such great hosts for us over the weekend. They treated us like family and took us in like one of their own.

Until next time,

justin

Galveston 70.3

I made the trip back down to Galveston again this year for the 70.3 US Pro Championship. Last year was a bit of a bust so I was looking forward to redeeming myself at this year's race. My lead into the race was less than ideal. The week prior to the race I came down with a bad cough and fever and had to take several days off from training. However, I seemed to be making a comeback by the weekend and I felt like I would be fine in 7 days time when I had to race. Unfortunately, I went through somewhat of a relapse during race week and I had to continue to shut down my training. All my sessions were pretty much done at a recovery intensity and even then I was pretty fatigued all the time.

I was hesitant as to whether racing would even be a good idea, but I packed the bike up and headed to the airport. The thought of a bad race was one thing, but the thought of good training at home while a race was going on was even worse. I just wanted to try.

The race itself, went like this:

Swim: I made the decision to wear a sleeveless wetsuit for this year's race. The water temperature was in the mid 70s and I really struggle with overheating in these warmer wetsuit races. I felt very alone in my decision as I saw 1-2 other athletes, out of 60 or so, with the same idea. Even if there was a risk of being slightly "slower", I still thought it was worth it if I didn't overheat.

The front pack broke away very quickly at the start and I eventually settled into the smaller second pack of swimmers. We came out a little less than 3 minutes down from the front group, but I felt pretty decent and did not overheat  at all.

Bike:

The course is a straight out and back along the Gulf Coast barrier island of Galveston. You essentially have a cross headwind the whole way out and a cross tailwind the whole way back. There is also zero elevation change from start to finish. Its about as flat as a course is ever going to get.

I rode to the turnaround feeling pretty good, but I hadn't moved up more than a position or two from the end of the swim. On the way back I caught up to a few athletes, but I was definitely starting to tire out. I was feeling the affects of racing and my cadence was dropping off (clear sign of fatigue to me). Fortunately I was still moving at an ok clip because of the favorable winds.

The Run: I came into T2 a bit worn out, but its rare that I finish the bike at any race feeling chipper. At the start of the run I was feeling pretty clunky, but the first couple mile splits were ok despite how I felt. Unfortunately that was short lived. I never really detonated or anything like that, but each mile was just a touch slower than the last one all the way to the finish. I ended up finishing in 4:01:00 and 15th overall.

I was happy to be able to start this race as I really wanted to get this season going. In the end, its hard to know whether the last couple weeks affected me all that much. The first race of the season always has its ups and downs and what I'm usually left with is a desire to get back out there and try it again. This race was no different. I'm looking forward to the next one.

-justin

Back from the desert

The past three weeks were spent down in Tucson, Arizona. The first two weeks of the trip consisted of a training camp run by my coach, Cliff English, and the last week was spent hosting the fifth annual Endurance Corner Tucson Camp. The pro camp (Cliff's) was a nice change of pace from training at home in Boulder. I was pleased with how training was rolling at home, but getting into a training camp environment is a great way to get that extra few percent out yourself and your training. The combination of good weather, good training partners and good coaching led to a very effective two weeks. Some of the workouts were similar to what we did during the 2011 camp and it was nice to see the progress from a years worth of work with Cliff.

Immediately following Cliff's camp I went to work putting things together for the EC Camp. I made some changes to this year's camp including a new hotel location and a new weekly schedule with more formal sessions and coaching. The athletes attending our camp had the following schedule:

Monday:

8:00 a.m. Swim with 1k TT + aerobic main set, followed by an easy 10K (50 min) run

3:00 p.m. Long warm u; then a 9K false flat Time Trial into a blasting headwind (headwind unintended!)

Tuesday:

7:00 a.m. 10K run with a summit of A Mtn (long climb)

10:00 a.m. 100 mile ride with 13 mile climb in the middle to Madera Canyon

Wednesday:

8:00 a.m. Long swim; 4-6K depending on speed with strength focus

10: a.m. Run Drills and dynamic warm up instructions followed by short fartlek run

3:00 p.m. 40K easy ride

Thursday:

9:00 a.m. Mount Lemmon (21 mile climb)

Friday:

8:00 a.m. Pace change swim; aerobic maintenance; 2.5-4.5K depending on speed

11:00 a.m. 90 minute run with one hour main set including IM pace+ work.

Saturday: 105 Mile ride to Kitt Peak with 12 mile climb in the middle.

The camp was a lot of fun and the changes seemed to all yield positive feedback. We will continue to make improvements going into 2013 so that we can ensure a great environment for athletes to train and learn.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm settling back into Boulder and looking forward to another 2 week block before my first triathlon of the season: US Pro Champs 70.3 (Galveston) on April 1. In the weeks leading up, I'll be racing a 5K and a 1650 swim in a Masters competition. I was hoping to have a triathlon race under my belt before Galveston, but its just not going to happen. Hopefully these two events will serve up a nice shock to the system before the season begins.

-j

Empowered Athlete Training Camp

For the last eight days I took part in a Denver-based training camp held by Melissa Mantak (Coach and Owner/Operator of Empowered Athlete). The camp consisted of daily swim, bike and run sessions as well as evening presentations and discussions on various topics related to sport, performance, nutrition, altitude, etc. The camp included nine triathletes (self included) with a mix of ability and experience. Most of the athletes have turned professional, but a couple are on the verge of earning their pro cards and moving on to the next level. We also varied in distance-discipline; most were focused on Olympic to HIM racing, but a few of us were long course athletes. Regardless of race duration, the training load of the camp would have progressed any athlete and I'm sure everyone walked away with better fitness (and new friends).

In almost every camp I've ever been to, someone falls ill. Unfortunately, this time, it was me. I came across some sort of stomach bug; I have no idea if it was from something I ate or something I caught, but it hampered the second half of the camp for me. Below, you'll see the layout of the camp with my missed sessions in ().

Day One: 30 minute easy run, 4 hour moderate ride with two tempo climbs of ~20-25 minutes of duration up Lookout Mountain. ~5K swim, short course yards, with a mixture of intensities.

Day Two: 13 mile run with the final 4K uphill (steep) towards the top of Red Rocks. 5K swim, Long Course, with some pulling. One hour recovery spin on the trainer.

Day Three: 5K swim, Long Course, challenging main set. 30 minute skills session with dynamic warm up and run drills followed by a 10K run on trails. Afternoon ride of nearly 2 hours at moderate, aerobic effort.

Day Four: 5K swim, Long Course, pulling and fast 50s. 10K run with a main set of 3x: 10 x 30on/30off. Afternoon trainer ride with threshold and vo2 main set (2 hours) with 7K tempo run off the bike (my choice, others ran broken tempo or aerobic).

Day Five: 5K swim, Short Course Yards, technique focused (skipped). 2 hour ride, aerobic (skipped). 45 minute aerobic run (skipped).

Day Six: 5K swim, Long Course, Aerobic/strength with fast 50s. Afternoon brick workout: bike/run/bike/run/bike/run. Lasted nearly 4 hours with a lot of intensity (skipped).

Day Seven: Morning run, aerobic/longer, 90 minutes (about 12 miles). 4K swim, Short Course meters, aerobic with skills.

Day Eight: 3.5 hour ride with 50-60 minute tempo climb (my choice, others rode moderate). 7K easy run in the afternoon.

++++++++++++++++

I find training camps with this structure to be highly effective. The camp is bookended with aerobic overdistance sessions, while the middle of the camp sees the highest intensity. When a camp follows this layout, I believe its easier for athletes to come in and out of them with little disruption to their personal training schedule they execute at home. Training camps need to push, not break, athletes and this camp will most likely do just that for everyone.

As with most camps, I walked away learning a lot. Each athlete and coach has their own story, own style and own way of doing things. Listening and absorbing all their perspectives goes a long way in helping progress all of us as athletes. Each evening we formalized various topic discussions, but we also exchanged lots of ideas and stories during the downtime between sessions. Sometimes, its those moments that really generate some of the most valuable insight for all of us.

One the athletes, Jackie Arendt, blogged about each day's training. If you want to read more details about the sessions, you can find them here.

I'll be spending the next couple weeks here in Boulder before heading to a two week training camp in Tucson with my coach, Cliff English. That will be followed by Endurance Corner's first camp of 2012 in Tucson beginning on February 26th.

cheers,

justin

Offseason

This year I made a goal of racing every month from February to November and I managed to do just that. As a result, I learned a lot of lessons and gained a lot of experience, but I was also in need of a good break once this season came to a close. Next year, and season, will be here soon and I've just started to look at the upcoming race calendar. The following is set in stone for the first six months of the year:

February 10-24th; Training Camp (for me) with Cliff English Squad

February 26th-March 4th Fifth Annual Endurance Corner Tucson Training Camp

May 19th; Ironman Texas

June 17th-23rd; Endurance Corner Boulder Training Camp

As you can see, I don't have a lot of race plans at the moment; other than Ironman Texas which is the only race I've committed to for the first half of the year. I will do my best to try and incorporate 2-3 races leading into IMTX, but my choices are limited based on some personal commitments. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it all happen.

Check back periodically as I'll be staying on top of updates through the winter.

Also, check out www.endurancecorner.com to read some of the 1000 articles in our database (including mine).

-j

Ironman Florida 2011

Following Louisville this year I decided to race Ironman Florida. Around 6-7 weeks out from the race I wrote down my goals for the event: Swim: 51

Bike: 4:31

Run: 2:50

Transitions: 5:00 combined

Gives you 8:17:00

What really happened:

Swim: 54:45

Bike: 4:29:52

Run: 2:48:33

Transitions: 4:50 total (2:50 and 2:00 for T1 and T2)

Total time: 8:18:02; good enough for 3rd overall on the day.

The finishing time was almost exactly where I wanted it to be, but the execution of getting there was a little off. I started the day with a mediocre swim. I made some tactical errors in the first 10 minutes of the day and found myself having to swim in no man's land. This resulted in starting the bike around 3-4:00 down from the group of people I wanted to ride with. I was a little concerned as the IMFL bike course tends to favor strength in numbers, but I felt good from the get go and started to chase.

We had somewhat favorable conditions on the bike because the majority of the wind would be in our face for the the first half of the bike. The second half of the bike has a tailwind about 40% of the time with the last 10K being into a headwind. They made some changes to the course last year and it was my first time riding it, but the bike course still utilizes much of the same course and I'm quite familiar with how things play out since I have raced here 5 times before (03,05,06,07,09).

I made some headway through first 40K of the bike and moved up about 3-4 places. The wind wasn't terrible, but it was noticeable and I tried to keep the pressure on all the way to the turnaround of the first out-and-back (about halfway). This was my first chance to see what was going on: Basically a group of three at the front (with Ronnie S), another group of three (with Eduardo Sturla and Maxim Kriat), then 2-3 more athletes peppered between myself and the second group.

I hit the turnaround and was pretty excited to finally have an extended tailwind. I did my best to keep my head down and kept hammering away. With Ronnie, Eduardo, and Maxim up the road, I knew I had to keep the gap as close as possible.

The course offers a new out-and-back just before the 100-mile mark so I got the chance to see the groups again. It looked as though the first group had gained time on me (they had), but the second group was still within the same range. At this point I also realized I was riding in 7th so I had moved up pretty nicely since finishing the swim.

I came into T2, transitioned as quickly as possible and started the run. The first few miles splits had me right on ~6:20/mile (or even a little quicker), but I wasn't making up much ground on anyone at that point. I kept things rolling along and around mile 9 I saw Brooke and she told me things weren't really changing. The gaps were holding as everyone was running well.

I finally moved up one place around mile 11 and I could see that 2nd-5th weren't totally out of reach at the turnaround (halfway point). It was right at this time that I crossed paths with one my AG buddies on the run. He quickly asked me how things were going. Honestly, I hardly ever respond to anyone when I race (even my buddies), but this time I said: "I'm going pretty well... ...but so is everyone else." I realized that all these guys were racing tough and they were not going to roll over so I could move up.

I caught 5th place around mile 16, then I caught 4th around mile 18 and I could see 3rd place up the road when I entered the park. As I closed in on mile 20 I was within striking distance of 3rd, but I was also hurting. The gap had been coming down pretty rapidly, but the last 50 meters seem to take me nearly a mile to finally close down. With less than 5 miles to go I moved alongside 3rd place and he started to match my pace, but I eventually broke free and started to move onto the home stretch. I had hopes that 2nd place might be somewhere within reach so I did my best to keep the hammer down.

As I went into the final couple miles I knew 2nd place was nowhere near, but I could see I still had a chance of setting a new run PR so I did my best to stay on point and I eventually made my way across finish line in 8:18:02. I was just a few seconds off that 8:17 goal, but I felt totally spent; I had nothing left. It was great to finish the season with an 11 minute PB and a new bike+run split PR. I was also happy to post my second Ironman podium finish of the year.

And that's all she wrote for 2011.

See you next year,

Justin