Boiler Sprint Race Review

                                                    Boiler Sprint Race Review

Well, the season has begun… Not exactly how I wanted it to or envisioned it. But I’m off and running, and will go from there. I opened my season up in West Lafayette this past Saturday.  I was born and raised in West Lafayette, but by the grace of God, I became a die-hard IU fan after attending there for college =).  I can’t say that I like the boilers too much, but it’s always nice to be able to go up and spend time with my family and friends before and after the race.

Anyway, I had a few goals for myself in this race. The big one, and the one most competitive athletes chase, is to win the race overall.  But, with that being said, this wasn’t really a key race of any kind. It was just a way to see where my training is at, and pretty much to have a hard, fast training day. I have much bigger races this season I’m keying on, which I will actually taper and train especially for.

My other goal was to race with a plan, and stick to the plan no matter what. I think having a race plan is key to a successful race, especially a race you have done in the past. I had a plan of attack mapped, based upon the course layout and my own personal fitness. The main point to my plan was to be progressive in all 3 sports. In the swim, don’t shoot out of the gate too fast, gradually speed up each lap, and let the heart rate slowly increase. The same for the bike; relax out of transition and gradually speed up. I also wanted my first half of the bike to be about 3-5% slower than the second half. This is a big problem for most athletes; they ride too hard at first and then limp their way back to T2, which almost always results in a poor run. This tactic was even more important given the fact that there is a category 5 climb in the first part of the ride. I made it a point to spin up it, and to not let my heart rate blow up. The swim and the ride went well; I was pretty pleased with my times, nothing great, but good for this time of year. For the run, I had the same plan: ease out of T2 and take my time speeding up. With the first mile of the run being entirely uphill, this was again a crucial tactic. My run ended up being a bit slower than I would have hoped, even with running each mile faster then the last. But this was to be expected, as I hadn’t even begun to do any speed work running. (A side note, if you look at the results, the run portion was quite a bit longer than 5k, so pay no attention to the run pace per mile. It is not accurate at all.)

All in all, it was a solid race. I finished 4^th overall and 1^st in my age group. Probably one of the best things I can take away from the race was how the race itself played out for me. I started 8^th into the pool; this raced featured a time trial start with athletes jumping in every 5 seconds to start their swim. This always makes for an interesting race because you never really know where you are time-wise in relation to other athletes, if they start behind you. Anyway, I ended up passing three swimmers in the pool, and then the other four that started in front of me as I ran quickly through T1 and out on the bike course. This is where the race experience really started for me. I was the first one on the bike course and lead the whole way. All I had in front of me was the pace car. (Pretty cool; it kind of felt like the pros look on TV.) This continued as I went out onto the run. I followed a pacer on a mountain bike that lead the way. I even ended up crossing the line first. As much as I was disappointed to finish fourth, it was very good practice in racing from the front of the pack with no one to chase, but only trying not to let the guys charging from behind catch you.

Thanks most of all to God, my Lord and Savior, and for all the support from my awesome family, (Mom, Dad, Grandma, wife, and daughter), and to a very good, long time friend Jacob. To my great sponsors: Profile Design, & Velocite, and my very helpful partners Bloomington Sports and Wellness, Indiana Health Bloomington Gear Up Bike Fitting program, and Massage on the Square. And of course to all of you that are actually reading this, your support truly does mean a lot.

My next race is actually going to be tomorrow morning! I have decided to enter the YMCA Spring 10k and used it as a hard training workout. I’ll be racing my way into fitness! Come out and race if you’re in town!

Here's some pictures from last year's 38 degree race. Ready to attack the Boiler Sprint Triathlon tomorrow.

The stage is set!

It's finally time! The first race of the 2012 season is only a day away. I'll be kicking things off at the Boiler Sprint Triathlon. I look 4th overall at this race last season, so I'm looking to improve on that.

In the mean time I decided to take a stab at my craft skills and save some money. I bought some iron-on paper and went to work. I felt that my sponsors and partners needed a little more promotion for all they do in the pursuit of my dream.

Season Preview

                                                          Season Preview

It is hard to believe my first race is only a week away! (April 7th Purdue Sprint Triathlon) It seems like I have been training all winter long, but at the same time we have only just started adding intensity in the swim, some longer tempos on the bike, and haven’t even begun speed work per se in the run. Some tempo work but not speed work in the sense that most people think, like 400, or 800 repeats.

I am really excited about this season. I know my fitness in all three sports is the best it has ever been at this point. I have worked really hard to build a solid base of endurance with a specific focus on technique rather than speed. This can be very hard for competitive athletes to do; holding yourself back when all you want to do is go hard! But that is where most athletes really hurt their performance potential. Sure, they will build some great fitness, and might even have a few great races early in the season, but more often than not, if they sold their base training short, their peak will be lower than it could have been, and won’t last as long.

That’s one reason why I can’t believe it is time to race next week. I do feel I will be faster in all three sports from last year, but nowhere near how fast I will get this year. I have many key races this year and they last all the way until October. That means being super fit in April, or even May, would mean I probably wouldn’t have a chance to peak in August/October as well. All that said, I’m confident that with the technique improvements I have made in all three sports (mainly in the swim) along with a solid fitness base, I will still be able to race to new PRs, even before I incorporate my speed work.

Looking forward, as my page says, I am pursuing a professional career. To do that I have to meet criteria laid out by the USAT (triathlon’s governing body). One way I can do that is by finishing as one of the top 3 amateurs at a qualifying race.  If you look at my race schedule you will see I have pretty much planned my whole season around those races. I have a few tune-up races here and there. But the whole focus is to get in the races that I have a chance to qualify at, and give it my best shot. It’s going to be hard, and I mean really hard. This sport is evolving very fast, and is very competitive. But this is my dream, and I’m all in until I get there or until the good Lord leads me in a different direction.

Thanks for all the support! Please be sure to check out the “My Dream” tab and see how you can help.

The sky’s the limit; dream big!