Kansas

Just got home from Kansas 70.3, I FINALLY had a run I knew I was capable of. I held back on the bike slightly, but really not too much. I averaged about 15 watts less then California but still pushed pretty well. The biggest difference was a tactic to focus on specific things in my run and it worked quite well. 1:22 was my run split and that is about 3 min faster for me on a course that has a lot of turns and a couple good hills.

I rode down on Friday with Danny and Lindsay. The drive is just far enough that by the time we got there at midnight we were pretty darn happy to be there. With a good night sleep under us, despite several wake ups, I felt quite refreshed. My ribs were hurting me to the point I went to an Urgent Care center 2 days before that and was finally able to get some topical pain meds to help reduce the pain significantly. This was the first time I hadn’t been in a lot of side pain in 2 weeks. That was a welcome surprise.

Kansas is great course, but the added logistics of 2 transition areas and not being allowed to park at either sucks. It makes for a 2-3 hour pre race brick and athlete check in process. If you do this race, just realize this is something you will have to deal with. We got there, got checked in, did our brick and then it was time for the REAL reason I drove to Kansas City, Planet Sub sandwiches. We definitely got a good pre race fill there this year and decided it also needed to be our first stop on the way home after the race.

The night before the weather looked like we were going to be racing in a massive rain storm. I was not at all looking forward to that but at this point just wanted to race enough to justify the calories I had been eating all day. I went to bed with wishful thinking and thank goodness the prayers were answered. Race day seemed to dodge a bullet.

It was so much fun to get some redemption on a race I really struggled with last year. I also love continuing to work on ways to try to gain more speed. I am working on faster running off the bike with some techniques I have used in training before but finally took the leap of faith and tried it in a race. It was amazing how hard it can be to get yourself out of your comfort zone and how you “normally” do things. I was very pleased with the result however with 1:22 being my fastest half marathon off the bike to date. One of the guys I respect the most in my AG – Tim Hola out ran me by less then 1 min. I use him as a bench march as he is probably the single most consistent top performer I face. He is an amazing guy, and talent.

Now just have to figure out what is next. I have Courtney Ogden staying with me this summer. So I hope to do some training with him and learn from one of the most experienced pros I know.

I have to brag….

I am having a good season for myself, but I don’t want to talk about me. I want to brag on my athletes. Since January:

I have coached:

(Sally M)
- First Place Rock n’ Roll Marathon in Phoenix
- First Place at the Skirt Chasers 5k and PR
- First Place at Rev3 Olympic race in Costa Rica
- First Place at Rev3 Half Ironman in Costa Rica

(Trevor G)
- First Place in a local Xterra race
- Several top 10 finishes at Regional Xterra Championships
- 9:35 at Ironman St. George (FIRST EVER IRONMAN)

(Sue H)
- 8th Overall Female at Disney 70.3

(Melanie S)
- First ever half Ironman win
- 3rd place in AG at Ironman St. George (FIRST EVER IRONMAN)

(Sue D.)
- Hasn’t raced yet but was a mid 6 hour Ironman biker. Last weekend she did a 100 mile organized ride, no drafting in 4:56!

(Ben K)
- First Overall Leon’s triathlon (FIRST OLYMPIC EVER)

(Joe L)
- Qualified for Las Vegas 70.3 World Championships
- PR for Half Marathon sub 1:30!
- 3rd place in AG at Leon’s Olympic

And the Season is just started! 

TTT

I just finished racing Triple T last weekend in Southern Ohio. I love this race because it is hard to replicate the intensity and experience of a race, like a race can do. Well, this event offers you 4 chances to race in a single weekend totaling an Iron distance. Not only are the total miles a bit tough, but the terrain in the foothills is super hard as well. Makes for a fun time though.

Friday – this was a sprint race which I simply do not do well. Hardly any of my training is done over threshold for long periods of time, so I knew going in this would be one of the hardest races for me. That proved to be correct, and I ended up in 7th overall place about 90 seconds off the leader.

Saturday – starts with an Olympic distance race, finally some real distances. I had a solid swim. What the main problem was however was I was swimming against John Kenny who seems to be one of the best swimmers in the US for open water. He put over 2 min on me in just the swim. I was able to make up about 20 seconds on him on the bike, and a little on the run but he held on for the win and beat me by about 50 seconds.

After a quick massage and a light lunch I went back to the hotel and rested up for the afternoon race. This was another Olympic distance but the order was bike – swim – run. I knew to have any chance of making up some serious time on John; I would have to try to separate myself on the bike. I was able to do that by out biking him by 2 min but it came at the cost of massive leg cramps in the water and he was able to not only make that up on me, but then put 2 more min on me! WOW! I am a solid swimmer, so I am not totally used to getting whooped this bad on the swim. I collected myself and tried to run him down or at least the best I could. By the run turn around I had made up about 90 seconds. I caught him finally with just under a mile to go and was able to win by 18 seconds overall.

Sunday – We started the half Ironman just over 2 min apart. Again, in the swim he was able to put 4 min on me and that pretty much sealed the deal. The efforts from the day before were catching up to me and while I had one of the top bike splits even to include the teams, it wasn’t enough to bridge the gap on John. I knew then it was time to protect 2nd place. My feet were killing me so for the last 5 miles each step was agony, but was able to hold off a hard charging Jared Milam.

All in all I ended up 2nd overall with a combined time of 9:28. All in all I was very pleased.

2 camps

2 weekend camps for athletes looking to take a step forward.

I am offering 2 weekend opportunities for you to train with people who know how to make you better. It will be an opportunity for you to ask questions, get looked at on the swim, bike and run, and more importantly see how we train! It is going to be somewhat informal, down and dirty, but you will get REAL SCOOP on tricks, techniques, and ideas to help you get faster – period.

It has been my experience that every time I or another coach gets to actually see you workout, or vice versa we find ways to help. So my intentions are to do a short TRAINING weekend. It will consist of:

Friday – swim, run (This will give myself and other coaches a chance to take a look at your while you workout. This isn’t an instructional format. It’s a workout. That being said all weekend we will be pulling athletes aside making tweaks, and adjusting what you are doing if needed.

Sat – Masters swim session, and Bike focused Brick workout. (OPTIONAL GROUP DINNER – Not included in price)

Sunday – Run session and the coaches will stick around to answer any questions you would still have.
***We will have the run at a store so you can take advantage of exclusive discounts for campers***

We want to see how you hydrate, carry food and bottles, pace yourself, use your power meter if you have one, and speed distance watches. We will be available all weekend for questions, chats, whatever you need.

Because of the informal atmosphere we will be trying to keep the costs low.

I am offering 2 camps. Both based primarily out of Geneva, IL.

THE FIRST CAMP WILL BE MORE EXCLUSIVE - ONLY 2-3 ATHLETES PER COACH. The athletes will be selected by the coaches who will be working with them. We want this one to be a little more in depth and want to make sure there is more personal interaction.

The dates: July 1-3rd.
Cost: 350.00
INCLUDES:

All health club fees
SAG SUPPORT for ride
ANALYSIS of each workout on WKO
This camp will include a dinner out
Optional VO2 Max testing at a discount (will be scheduled prior to camp)
Optional Gait analysis (will be scheduled prior to camp)
Optional Bike fit (will be scheduled prior to camp)


The Second camp will be same format but allow more campers

The dates: July 22nd- 24th.
Cost: 270.00
INCLUDES:

All health club fees
SAG SUPPORT for ride
Optional VO2 Max testing at a discount (will be scheduled prior to camp)

Please email me directly if you have interest in either camp: azucco@trainingbible.com

Economy

The weather seems as if it is finally turning… maybe. Everyone is excited to start running in a single layer of clothing, and running faster! To run fast one of the things you want to address is economy. So often I hear about athletes who are doing “hard training” on the track, tempo runs, with faster training partners, etc. What most never think to address is economy.

Improving economy while running can improve performances up to 20%! Why then wouldn’t every athlete do this? Easy, it is not always viewed as “hard”. Having a proper gait analysis, or structural analysis, or learning how to improve your mechanics, or even fueling strategy are all great ways to improve economy. If you do not buy into the theory of economy, try running with your shoes on backwards. Obviously, this would be close to impossible. However it is a gross example of how having someone show you to put your shoes on right would be far more effecting then trying to run “harder” with them on backwards.

If you have questions on how to improve your economy feel free to ask any of us here at Training Bible Coaching.

Adam

Leland 150k bike race 2011

The race is 150K with about 50% on gravel roads. This helps me if I can stay in front because it strings out eh peleton and allows my TT skills to kick in a bit. What I have to do is survive the first few attacks and make sure I don’t get left behind by a good group that can win it. I also try to help out the better cyclists on my team like Patrick.

Last year I learned 2 lessons:
1. I missed the first massive attack and the 2 guys stayed away and won.
2. I showed my strength too early for TT’ng and ended up pulling the last like 90 min.

So this year I tried to follow the first couple attacks and keep Patrick in the front, but didn’t want to always be the guy to chase down each attack. So after like 3, I sat up for the 4th and let someone else do it. Problem was, nobody did, then Patrick did and I am supposed to be looking out for him. So half way through the first lap I saw a gap, I chased it so Patrick wouldn’t have to, when I looked back we had gapped the field, but Patrick didn’t come…. Damn, now what??

I decided to sit at the back of the 4 man group, and do as little work as possible. Problem was we just entered the first gravel road, which the rain turned into a mud pit. Ugh. Because there was only like 9 inches of semi packed dirt mud, and I was sitting 4th I was having to do 425 watts to BARELY hold on, and I couldn’t hold a wheel!!! Damn it! I was told first rule is to never get dropped from a break and I was about to break that rule…

I decided to drop back to the 2 CAT 1 riders chasing me about 15 seconds back, and did. I was taking turns for like 5 min, and the guy I was following let the lead guy go. Great, now I went around him, but it was too late, by the time I found a place in the mud to pass, the guy had like 20 seconds on us. The guy with me said sorry, and then dropped off. NOTHING was going as planned.
So this was supposed to be a 6 lap course, each lap about 15 miles. At the end of lap 1 I was isolated about 50 seconds behind the lead 4 and about 90 seconds ahead of the group. We were about to go into the wind for about 20 min, and last time it was all I could do to go 14mph with a pack! All I could think was there was NO WAY I can out TT a group of 4 (3 x Cat1, 1 x CAT3) solo into that kind of wind. Decision time, the idea of dropping back that far too maybe get dropped from some more sprints was not appealing so I decided to chase.

At about half way through the wind section I was encouraged to be catching one guy who dropped off, and not lose any time to main group, but I wasn’t gaining. When I picked up the guy, he worked with me for about 10 min, and then dropped off. The ref said I was 38 seconds back, then 33, then 28… After 53 min I finally caught!

As soon as I did, one guy said, “Pull through”. I told him no way, I need to rest a min, just chased for close to an hour. He then said, “OK, let’s drop the dead weight, and stood up and sprinted. We were going into the wind on lap 2, and he did the sprint during like a 90 second stretch where it was a cross wind. I told myself no matter how bad it hurt, fighting wind for 15 min solo again, would be worse. I made the group, another guy dropped, now we are 3.

What was surprising to me was it was a CAT 1 guy, and a CAT 3. I thought if I made the front, I would definitely with the 3 race… Not the case. At the end of 3rd lap CAT 3 guy dropped. Now it was me and the CAT 1.

We decided to work together, into the wind. 15 second pulls. My glasses were COVERED in mud. I couldn’t see a thing. I took them off but on the mud roads, his wheel spray went into my eyes, and I almost crashed. In the cross wind he told me to not pull so hard, and I didn’t think I was, so I felt like maybe in another lap I could dial it up, but I didn’t want to do 2.5 laps solo with the wind. 5 min later, he dropped off and waved me on! WHAT!? Holly crap, I was winning the race!? Problem was I had 2 complete laps left. I told myself to not panic, be steady and TT it.

Finishing up lap 4 O couldn’t see anyone behind me, and the lead vehicle told me they were going to take 1 lap off. (Between us, I was thanking God! ) So I told myself I basically had to survive a 20 min solo effort into the worst wind imaginable. Positive was I could take my glasses off as I wasn’t getting wheel spray in my face. 

After the wind section I looked back and didn’t see anyone. The motorcycle came up and told me I had 4.5 min lead! Wow, now, no flats!

I couldn’t believe it. I did 5 laps, just about 75 miles; I was freezing the entire time, and could not believe I won. I’m not sure what happened behind me, I guess most of the field was told to turn for home, and most only did 4 laps? I don’t know. But wow, I was so excited.

I want to thank Rich for the awesome new Focus bike and Bicycle Heaven Team for helping me get ready and telling me what to do.

California in the spring time.

Wow, what an awesome trip I just had to SoCal. I left about 10 days ago taking advantage of the opportunity of the extra spring break time. I wanted to put the effort in at SuperSeal the weekend before Oceanside 70.3. I have found what works best for me would not work for most of my athletes, but I usually need some type of significant effort a week out from a race. SuperSeal went very solid. The swim and the bike were just average for me, but the run was one of my best at 5:48 pace with a mile or so off the main path on sand trails.

I was able to get 2nd Overall behind Michael Wies. He beat me pretty soundly, I think 7 min, that guy can really ride a bike…

I spent the following week training with Trevor Glavin, and updating all my SkinFit apparel (www.skinfitusa.com). I never really write about all the products I use, but will tell you the clothes are amazing. He could probably use a better “model” then me, but I am glad I get to race and train in the stuff.

California 70.3 came and I was just feeling really ready for it. I was questioning as I get older if my “Strong” taper would work and I would recover the same, but mentally I really wanted to get the race going. For the first time I think I walked around feeling like 4-6 guys could really win the overall and even my AG but I considered myself one. I have so much respect for the guys I race. 30-45 years old is really no joke. These guys are sub 9 hour IM guys and really can go.

Race morning came and I knew I was in the last wave… again… I hate starting last because it is simply so dangerous. To describe what it is like to ride a bike through that crowd would be like telling someone to go flat out on their local bike path on a weekend. So often you just have to have faith that people are not going to cut you off, or do anything too crazy, not to mention the swim is… well, you can imagine.

The swim started and I saw one of the guys mark me from the start. I got one of the better foot massages I think I have ever gotten and we actually moved through the field quite efficiently I felt. I wanted to get in and out of T1 and feel I did a good job doing so. On the bike I felt like Lance Armstrong as I was passing people in the 50+ AG, and eventually the younger ones, but had to keep telling myself it was just an illusion. I had my first indication at the 40k I was doing OK, when I was under 55 min. We had a good tail wind though for a lot of it and I told myself to just keep going. 28 miles in 1:02…Wow, but here comes the hills and wind.

Lucky for me I had two sources, well, three of motivation. 1- I knew the guys in my AG could really run well, and they did. 2- I went to Infantry school on the bike course. So riding through seeing the Marines was awesome. I tried to remember everything I did there, and “Suck it up”. 3- On one of the last hills I was starting to really feel some cramps in the legs, and chest from breathing too hard. I came up on this guy with “Scottsdale Tri Club” or something with pink compression socks... I asked him “for Sally?” He yelled, SALLY SOCKS! Game back on – get focused I told myself.

Came in off the bike and could not find my garmin run watch anywhere!?? WTF?? I went rifling through my Transition bag telling myself to forget it, but not wanting to let it go. I couldn’t find it anywhere – damn. So I went into the bag and decided to run old school with the Timex wrist watch. I guess my T1 was too good. I knocked my Garmin over a spot or 2. Thank goodness I found it later after the race.

The run went like 6:02 pace for the first mile, then 6:20 (1:22 was my goal) but I knew by mile 3 it wasn’t going to happen. I was cramping in the ribs, and both quads like Charlie horses. I told myself to just keep going and work on cadence and turnover. Problem was when I shortened up the stride a touch it shortened the muscles causing more crams. I really thought I was about to go down in a blaze of glory, I had biked way too hard. Lucky for me I had so many friends and clients racing, and had Jim on the course with some other friends I just ran from person to person.

I ended up walking like 4 aid stations. I usually drink too much and have to pee, so I think I slightly under did the liquids this go around. So I though if I can get some fluid in I can keep going. It worked OK. I ran 1:27, close to 1:26 missed by a few seconds.

I ended up having one of the best bike splits, but the slowest run I think in the top 50. Oh well, I know it is early and that by far the hardest, longest sustained effort I had done on the bike this season. I won the AG, but was super surprised I won the overall Amateur! I was so happy!

I took the Kona and Vegas spots. I know for sure I will do Kona, and to be honest am not sure about the rest of the season. I am supposed to do St. George, and will stay on track to do it but not sure how hard I will go. I used that as a back up for qualifying this year. I also am in Eagleman and Lubbock. I have to decide which I am going to do.

I think right now the plan is to really go to St. George and swim and bike well, and just see how I feel on the run. I want Trevor to qualify and I would love to help him and race some of the race with him. I am not sure though how much of a hole I want to dig for the rest of the season though… TBD.

Thank you to my entire support structure. Lindsay has been pretty patient with letting me do some camps this winter and figure things out. My friend who works at Trek was there to help me tune up the Speed Concept and make sure I had the bike dialed in. Rich at the Bike shop helped tweak my position a few times this winter and fall. Jim, you and I are the best coaching team I could have. To have someone like you help me and talk through things with me is awesome. I know I question and want to change things up sometimes, but we always seem to work the best plan out together. My training partners like Scott Iott, and Trevor Glavin are some of the best friends and athletes anyone could ask for.

Damn… Now I have to get fit for Kona again. GULP!!! :)