Death Valley Camp 2013

http://www.active.com/triathlon-camp/death-valley-ca/death-valley-camp-2013

Brief Description

Camp Overview: This camp is designed to be a season base building and technique camp. Athletes will fly into Vegas and drive to Death Valley (approximately 2 hours). Furnace Creek Ranch is located in the National Park and stands alone in the middle of some of the best ridding in the US and is also located at the base of Dante’s Peak, a Mt. Lemmon type ride and recognized as one of the best climbs in the country.

Day one in Furnace Creek Tentative Schedule

TENTATIVE CAMP SCHEDULE:- Tuesday Feb 5th Arrive, Short ride run and or swim as time allows

Day 2 tentative schedule

- Wednesday Feb 6th Swim: Technique session in am and workout Bike: Dante’s Peak 30 mile climb from -500 ft. to over 5000ft!!!! plus optional additional ridding Afternoon run and drill session 75-90 min or your choice.

Day 3 Tentative Schedule

- Thursday Feb 7th Swim: Workout participant’s choice Bike: Artist Loop 1-2 times for a 3 hour ride Run: 75-90 min

Day 4

- Friday Feb 8th Swim: Workout participant’s choice Bike: Ride to Scottie’s Castle Century with about 2000 ft. of climbing.

Day 5

- Saturday Feb 9th Swim: solid workout Bike: Team TT TRAVEL TO LAS VEGAS OPTIONAL RUN IN VEGAS on Sunday

Day 6

- SUNDAY Feb 10th Swim: Solid workout Run: The Las Vegas 70.3 course

Additional Information

We will spend Tuesday – Friday night in Death Valley and then travel to Las Vegas Saturday night. We can add a night out if campers want but will wake up and run the Las Vegas 70.3 run course and have a swim. The entire camp will be SAG supported and we will have a mechanic on hand every day. There will also be TrainingBible Coaches on had daily to run workouts as well as answer your questions and provide personal instruction, all this plus many more additional benefits listed below. Camp includes:- Adam Zucco and other TBC Coach on hand for all questions- Running drill sessions- Swim Drill sessions- 1 BBQ dinner in the Death Valley - Coached swim workouts and instruction- SAG support on all the rides with water and nutrition provided if needed- Mechanic on hand for the entire camp for (assembling and packing) bikes and issues during camp- Clif Products Accommodations: HOTELS: (All campers will make their own accommodations) In Death Valley you need to make a reservation at FURNACE CREEK RANCH. ALL CAMP ACTIVITIES WILL START AND FINISH HERE. Cost for the Rooms are $135-$219 / night http://usparklodging.com/deathvalley/deathvalley_furnacecreekranch.php?gclid=CP2177DCvrMCFS6CQgodzwMAyw phone - 1-866-315-2980 THERE REALLY IS NO OTHER PLACE TO STAY. SO DO NOT DELAY REGISTRATION. In Las Vegas the group will be staying on Saturday night at: GREEN VALLEY RANCH RESORT | 2300 PASEO VERDE PARKWAY HENDERSON, NV 89052 | HOTEL RESERVATIONS: 702-617-7777 | BOOK ONLINE Room rates from $320-360 or book a surrounding hotel. There are a few there to choose from. Green Valley is located on the Vegas run course and next a nice community pool. TENITIVE CAMP SCHEDULE:- Tuesday Feb 5th Arrive, Short ride run and or swim as time allows- Wednesday Feb 6th Swim: Technique session in am and workout Bike: Dante’s Peak 30 mile climb from -500 ft. to over 5000ft!!!! plus optional additional riding Afternoon run and drill session 75-90 min or your choice.- Thursday Feb 7th Swim: Workout participant’s choice Bike: Artist Loop 1-2 times for a 3 hour ride Run: 75-90 min - Friday Feb 8th Swim: Workout participant’s choice ike: Ride to Scottie’s Castle Century with about 2000 ft. of climbing. - Saturday Feb 9th Swim: solid workout Bike: Team TT TRAVEL TO LAS VEGAS OPTIONAL RUN IN VEGAS on Sunday- SUNDAY Feb 10th Swim: Solid workout Run: The Las Vegas 70.3 course

Pic from Tririg.com of Kona 2012

This is the kind of stuff I am talking about. It is so hard to compete against people willing to do this. If you are coming up on a group like this, which I did, the effort to pass them is huge as you have to pass them all, but then to stay in front for long enough to get away can kill your race.

Ive seen some say they were happy to take the penalty for the added benefit, I personally dont get it. If this is how you want to race, there is something called ITU, or Bike racing - Enjoy. As a profesional coach I feel we have an added responsibility to try to race as clean as possible, and encourage our athletes to do the same.

In 2009 Scott Iott was 8th in the AG with 9:30. that would put you in about 25-40th place now. Cyclists willing to dope, people willing to draft, its all cheating. It really is too bad.

Hawaii Recap 2012

The last year few years at Kona have been a lot more mild than normal, I think this year made the score a bit more even. This was one of the hardest years I have seen in Kona having been there 8 years in a row (6 to race). I know the temp according to my Garmin was 96 degrees, I am not sure about the wind speed, but I remember laughing in the car the day before when they were warning drivers about high winds on the highways. It was windy.

Pre-race stuff was pretty awesome this year thanks to Mark and Sue D. They provided us with a place to stay less than a mile away from the King Kam Hotel in a gated community, right on the ocean, yet out of the craziness that is ground zero on Alii Drive.  I will always be grateful for them providing us that opportunity.

 The swim this year was by far the worst start I have ever had in Kona. I should have realized I was in a bad spot when a jelly fish the size of a volleyball was floating in front of us. The guards on the surfboards were trying to lasso it with their safety vest safely out of the way before we started. The actual start of the race was chaotic in that the cannon never went off, and at some point we heard Mike Rilely yelling GO! GO! GO! Half of us were looking around like WTF, half were swimming, and combined with my inability to sprint, next thing I knew I was underwater struggling to get to the surface. It was actually pretty scary. It felt as if I was swimming in air, meaning  my arms felt as if they were simply not grabbing anything but air, even underwater. Before I knew it, I was spit out the right side, on the buoy line which pissed me off as I knew that meant I had to have just swam 100-125 meters to the side. Once in clear water I started to move up which did for the rest of the swim. Sounds great but it meant I was faster than the people I was with and I totally missed a group. I still have yet to figure out the trick to Kona swim starts I have to say. I ended up swimming 59 min which is a few min off my best there. I told myself, not to panic, it is what it is and not try to over compensate for the loss on the bike.

 The bike this year was a bit unusual as well. Because of the bad swim, I had a lot more people than normal out in front of me and it was very hard to not panic and try to move up quickly. 2011 I wanted to bike aggressively and I paid for it on the last 40 miles in to town, as well as the marathon. I wanted to move back to a more conservative approach like I executed in 2010 when I went 9:16. That plan was to ride steadier throughout and make a move on the climb to Hawi, as well as be strong in the last 40 miles. I averaged 238 watts for the first 2:35 with a 270 watt climb up to Hawi. That was not as strong as I rode the last two years but because the conditions were so much harder than previous recent years and I didn’t want to limp in again, I thought I would be smart by staying even on a tough day. The packs out there were large and very hard to deal with. Trying to pass 15 people just to have them 1 at a time re pass every time you would go to the front left you with only two choices:

1.       You could go way beyond your plan to pass then make it super hard from them to cling on

or

2.       Drop all the way back and off the back or risk being a drafter, which is something I never want to intentionally do.

It became very frustrating. Many people had no problem just drafting and continuously looking over their shoulder to see if draft marshals were coming. To me, it isn’t the intent of the race, that’s my choice and I am OK with the results of my decision. My power the last two hours was just under 225. Part of this was strategic; some was because I had to go to the bathroom several times which required me to stop pedaling to complete the task.

Additionally I had a slow leak on my front tire so it became harder to maintain speed on the bike, but was still better than stopping to change the tire I think.

 Transitions- Looking back, I gave up about 5 min in transitions I think, but the severity the day brought combined with my pre planned strategy to take T2 easier would pay dividends on the run. I still think it did.

 I wanted to control my run. This was how I was defining success internally going in. This is also the reason I biked conservatively. I wanted to prove to myself I could be a solid consistent runner at Ironman. My thoughts were if I could continue to put 3:20 runs in or better I could then continue to stretch bikes. I ran 3:26 on a day everyone seemed to run 10-15 min slower so I was very happy with the run. I went 1:41 for the first half, and 1:45 for the second half. I almost even split the marathon which I believe is very hard to do, especially in Hawaii.

 I ran steady for the first 2:30 picking up the pace actually from the top of Palani to the energy lab. Once in the lab I tried to regroup and come out stronger. Fact is, I didn’t. I stayed steady until about 23 miles then really started to fade but was able to hang on till the end. I was able to run Palani as well as then hill out of the Energy Lab fully (less the aide stations) which is a sign to me that I paced the day well.

 Looking back, I think I was a bit conservative, especially on the bike. It was a conscious choice however and one I will have to revisit it to decide if I want to do that again or not. I have nothing to complain about because I was able to execute my plan, right or wrong, and how fit I was in order to execute. If you are able to do those things then what is there to be upset with? I had not cramping, nausea, diarrhea,  etc. I was able to go for it however I decided to that day and to me that is what it is all about.

Vegas Baby!

Vegas 70.3 this year was one of the toughest races I think I have ever done, and all in the last 60 min of the race. Wow, that was tough.

I have been trying to take some next steps this season, which is always tough. The plan was to try to see if I could improve my running, which ironically is the thing that I seem to be struggling with the most, even more than in years past. It is a tough situation because when you want to try to improve something you my definition are going to have to do things differently then you have before.

As I said in my last post, I think Mat and I am changing some good things, but like swimming, just takes time to see adjustments.  The obvious fear is the stuff we are changing isn’t the right stuff and that I am actually not getting better. This is actually OK too, as you simply make another adjustment and move on. The tough part is waiting to find out which the answer is. I am seeing enough stuff in training however to think we are making mainly good changes.

Last year I was too run down all the time. Tired, probably close to over training and by the end of the season was not having my best performances. This year, we wanted to try to hold fitness off a bit until later, and then be fresher for bigger races like Vegas, Kona, and IMCOZ. Then you throw into it things like 105+ degrees with humidity at Vegas, and it’s very hard to tell where you stand. This is the frustrating part to me.

On to the race.

I wanted to swim pretty conservatively. As I said in my last post I think Steelhead I just went too hard in the swim, and it cost me the rest of the race. I didn’t want this to happen in Vegas and I just trusted I was going to have a good split even if just cruising. I started even let some guy lead, but decided after about 400-500 it was too slow, and I went around pretty easily. 27 min swim, looking back very good in the AG, nothing to really report here except I could have gone harder, but decided not too and think it was overall the right call.  

On the Bike the plan this time was to hold back slightly and like the swim know that I was probably going to have a competitive bike, even if not trying to do so. This was a HUGE leap of faith, and a plan I agreed to try. I waited until about an hour in before I turned it up a little bit, boy was that tough to hold back. I actually had a couple guys pass me in the first hour which is not something I am used too and had to hold my ego in check, and let it happen. I got them all back by the end, but still decided to chill every time I was over 30mph and remind myself they measure times and velocity not power numbers.

To be honest I knew 2:20 was a going to be a top ag bike split, and I was about right on with that. Watching myself drop off that was tough but I stuck to the agreed plan. At the very end of the bike I caught Tim Hola, which was shocking. I have so much respect for Tim. By far one of the best people in the sport as a person, but also one of the most consistent competitors. I knew I had 10 min on him as he started 2 waves in front of me. So I felt pretty good with how I was feeling that he would out run me, but he wouldn’t out run me by 10 min with how I was feeling coming off. SoI chilled in T2 (the difference here actually cost me about 4-5 spots at the end of the day, but at the time, it was part of the plan. We knew it was going  to be hot, the redbull I wanted was like 150 degrees and I got a cup with ice and drank it before taking off.

 Starting the run I felt very controlled. The new form was clicking great and with all the turnarounds I saw I was like 2:30 behind Tim (so actually 7:30 up on him) and Sami was like 6:30 up. I thought he went in the first wave too so I figured I was leading at that point. It turns out he went in the 2^nd wave, so he was only 5 min, not 10 difference in my start time.

Plan was to chill the first loop then gradually build. I saw with the “Chill first loop I was holding those guys steady, so decided on the 2^nd loop to just stay that pace and hold the same spot. That went pretty well (went through 6.4 in 45 min) until the end of the loop. There was an aid station at the end of it or about mile 7.5 I’d say, but then not another for almost 2 miles. In that period of time I got SO hot I thought I was in serious trouble. I needed water but the water they were handing out was warm, and it didn’t help at all. You had to dig your own ice out of a bucket, which I tried to do but the ice was so large it was pretty worthless. Around mile 9-9.5 my vision started to get blurry and dark and it became hard to breathe, I had to stop and walk, or I literally thought I was going to pass out. I lost several min on that last 1.5 uphill or whatever it was and that was pretty much the end of my race.

So am I happy? Yes and no. I got my butt kicked by the first two guys, they had amazing races and they just were better that day. Well done to those guys! 3-13^th I feel like I could have been in any of those spots, and I was close to all of them. Like less than 4 min off 4^th I think, 90 sec from 8^th. Those guys beat me fair and square on the same course, in the same conditions but I was in the mix and could have gone either way. Those guys are all good and I am happy with that company at the end of a day.

 The tough part is I don’t ever remember feeling bad on my run. I went from “feeling fine, to I think I am going to die” – literally. There wasn’t a time where I had to think about how to pace differently, or anything like that. So it becomes super hard to figure out if the plan was a good one to hold back on the bike, or if I had biked harder would I have ran about the same. I can never tell. I can say my watts were about 30 less than last year so I know I could have biked harder, but could have meant I felt the heat sooner, or not. This is the main frustration. I am OK with having a bad plan, and knowing how to adjust, what’s tough is just not knowing.

Well, I have to get ready for Kona now. I am going to stick with the same game plans Mat and I have been discussing and try it through Hawaii. I think I need to finish the plan through and then make adjustments if needed. I hope it works, I think it will. If not, we will adjust and move on. Eventually getting better and learning as a coach the entire process.

Off to train.

Figuring some stuff out

I was able to get out to Boulder for 10 days of training with Mat Steinmetz, and Craig Alexander. To be honest I didn’t want to go after Steelhead. I had put in some large training going into Steelhead and didn’t expect to have the best race, but did want to feel strong, even if not fast. Well, I didn’t feel that great, and then tried to push hard through it and paid pretty handsomely on the run. Feeling pretty discouraged the last thing I wanted to do was go to Boulder and altitude and get schooled by some of the World’s best triathletes. (Here is a pic of me riding with Crowie, Cam Brown, and Tim Odonell, among others - WOW. All cool guys!)

 

I decided to pull up my skirt though and go. I'm glad I did. It allowed me to have a sit down with Mat and talk to him about some of the stuff we have been trying, what I think has been working, and what I think I needed to get back to. I have had reasonable success in the past, and while everyone wants to get faster, it is tough to find a balance of what changes need to be made, and what needs to be left alone. What is even tougher is sometimes you are making the right changes, just not seeing the effect yet. It is a very tough balance.  

 

 What was awesome about this trip however was Mat’s willingness to work with me 1-1. We went out for some rides and runs together and narrowed it down to a few things.

1 – Most importantly is controlling emotions and not over pacing or getting aggressive too fast. My argument has always been that I race best when I am “on” and just go with it. I still think that is true, but need to harness some of the emotions as well.

What gets tough, especially in the AG race, is you never really know where you are. You have to guess that everyone else is probably going a bit faster than you are and keep pushing at all times just beyond what you should. It works at times, but other times, just really doesn’t and causes huge blow ups. In the pro race, with some of the younger guys I coach I am able to tell them to “Sit in” and save energy. If the pace is slow, they know it; they can physically see the competition and see what the minimum amount of effort is they have to do to stay at the front. At Steelhead for example, I assumed my bike split was slow. So I pushed hard to stay in contact with what I thought would be competitive, later I found out I was 2^nd fastest off the bike. Had I been able to see those guys biking, I would have known I was OK. Same goes for the swim. I battled another great swimmer the entire swim. I know the smart move is to draft but I didn’t want to think about if I got behind him, he would slow down once I relinquished and we would be losing time to other AG racers we couldn’t see. In the front pack, you see the swimmers; you know where you are at.

At a lot of races our entire AG isn’t even in the same pack. Combine that with the fact on these hot summer days we start as far back as 70-90 min later then some of the other fast AGs and it is a different race, and hard to compete against others. While I had the chance to go pro, and considered it, it was for these reasons more than thinking I could compete at the highest level.

Getting back to point 1, I cannot race this way successfully. I need to race within myself and do the best I can at the moment given I have one objective – get to the finish line as fast as I can that day for the conditions I am racing in.

2- Form on the run. I have worked with Vance, McGee, and Steinmetz to work out my run form. I have told Iott on several training runs that I am frustrated because it cannot be a lack of fitness and effort for why guys like him can out run me so badly at times. While this also plays heavily into point one, I have finally (I think) had something click on my form.

 

 When I was a kid on swim team I could never do butterfly, until one day I could. I finally felt the rhythm and from there was able to do it. I feel like I have had a similar epiphany with my run.  On one of our repeat sessions, I finally asked Mat, “You mean like this?” and it was YES! My pace dropped for less effort and the pics he took were good feedback. I need a lot of miles to work the endurance with the new form as after 3 the muscles I had never felt while running before (glutes, hips) were fatiguing. However I was excited as I have always heard these are the running muscles and while I was able to explain it, never really felt them engaged. Macca used to tell me the same thing, “You aren’t using your glutes” but I never could feel what he was speaking about. I think I have now! SO I am caught in the in between leading into Vegas and Kona with knowing what is right, but not having the endurance, so that should be interesting, but I am generally excited as to the prospects of continuing to figure this out.

 

3- Taper. I'm simply different then the norm for what it is that works for me. A traditional taper like we tried again for Steelhead is the death of my race. Mat thinks my taper leaves me feeling a little too tired on race day though so we are fudging with that slightly again, erring towards what has worked before. This is getting long, and we are going to podcast tonight about tapers, so if you are more interested in this, tune into Training Bible Coaching Podcast on Itunes.

Some pics from the Wind Tunnel (thanks Jack for letting me borrow your suit :) )

Late summer update

Last week I did Steelhead 70.3 and honestly just had a bad race. What stinks is the race wasn’t supposed to be a focused race for me but I wanted to feel good and get some feedback from a block of training I had been doing. That didn’t happen which leaves me with a choice of continuing what I had thought I needed to do or make modifications. It’s always tricky because sometimes you can be doing the right things, and simply not have a great day.

I had Reeven Nathan do what I had been doing last year in terms of Philosophy and on his 2^nd ever 70.3 the 18 year old went 4:09! This reinforces I had figured out a pretty successful approach previously. T

 Here is the reason I am writing about the experience. It is OK to fail once in a while. Sometimes in order to try to get better, you need to be willing to take risks and try things you hadn’t before. The stuff I figured out to get me to a successful last 2 years are things I had not tried before those times. As a coach I love experimenting with stuff on myself and seeing how I react. It is one of the ways I learn best as a coach how things will work for my athletes. Sometimes, I find things I think will work for some types and not others.

 So if you are trying something new, or you and your coach are trying something new, give  it a chance. I think the one thing you want to do is have an idea of what types of things you want to see before your races, to make sure you are on track. I admittedly got away from that, so have been recently figuring out in races what works and what doesn’t.

 Have a few marker sets you may hit a few times a summer that you can reference.