Thankful

So many things to be thankful for. I had the privilege this year to spend some time with my wife's brother and his family. Of course this meant that we got to take some time off from work, travel across the country and allowed us the opportunity to spend some time just the two of us in Charleston before we made our way to their house for the holiday. I'm a lucky guy. And lately I have noticed that I've been frustrated with my fitness, or lack thereof, to date. Some quality time with family quickly reminded me that life is about so much more than fitness, races, etc. Of course this stuff makes me very happy and I want it in my life, but it is not everything in life.

So, I had a relaxing vacation that allowed me to get some quality r&r as well as some good run workouts in. I'm feeling more excited about this upcoming season now and looking forward to another VO2 max test next month. That gives me a few weeks to get ready. This VO2 max will not give me an accurate depiction of where I am from a fitness standpoint, but it will clue me into how out of shape I am :) It will also help to show how the new asthma medicine I'm on is working. It will also allow coach and I to set some goals for another test two months later.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

T

Recovery

It has been a while. Things have been slow moving. After dealing with MRSA and then sinus surgery, I am finally starting to feel better. After recovery from my surgery I fought a cold for a week or two. Towards the end of last month I finally started feeling like myself again and was able to get back to some limited training. The first two weeks of November have been crazy with a lot of work, birthdays, celebrations, etc. My goal for this month was to get back into my routine so December I could start to lay some ground work. So far this mission has somewhat failed, but I will get there! The most important thing for me this fall was to recover from the previous seasons of triathlon and my health issues. I feel like this is happening, but now need to concentrate on fitness and weight. I had a tough time keeping my weight down with really very limited exercise for 8 weeks.

Usually I set goals throughout the season to keep me focused. If not goals, just fun little races to do. Because of my competitiveness, whatever the race is, I want to perform. This helps keep the firing burning throughout the season for me. Some may wonder why the fire isn't burning all the time. I live in Oregon. It rains, seriously, 8-9 months out of the year. It can be depressing. The thought of 3-4 hours every Saturday either riding in the rain or on the trainer can drive you crazy. I literally train the majority fall, winter, and spring in the dark. Early morning in a dark pool and late night on a trainer or treadmill. In a normal week the only light I will see while exercising during this time of the year is on the weekends. It can eat at you. That is why I try and keep little, fun races to keep me motivated. I had one such race a few weekends ago but couldn't go due to poor fitness and health. I'm looking for some more fun races around the first of the year as my first big race is end of March in Oceanside.

I promise to check in more often as I do enjoy sharing the day to day struggles of an age group triathlete. Thanks for checking in,

T

Kona Prediction Time

It's back! Kona prediction time here. Every year I like to put together my Kona predictions. Check out last year's predictions (below in the link). I would say I was pretty spot on with the men! I didn't hear anyone predicting Macca was going to contend. So, what does this mean? I'm a tri nerd. I know way too much. But, that makes tomorrow's World Championship so much fun for me!! I love watching Kona. As I said last year, despite getting some of the predictions pretty close to accurate, it is such a difficult race to predict. Last year, who knew Chrissie would be pulling out?

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1201535145390423776#editor/target=post;postID=5412085016247947272

Well here are my guesses at this year's race...

Women:
Miranda Carfrae - She owns the Kona run course marathon record. She is defending champ. I watched her run down an elite ITU (short course professionals) field in an Olympic Distance event (Hyvee) in convincing fashion. Her speed was remarkable. She has worked on her bike this year with Julie Dibens. She is my pick. I am willing to bet she will out run Chrissie tomorrow. The challenge will be not allowing Chrissie to get to far ahead of her on the bike.

Chrissie - Freak of nature. However, she recently had a bad accident on her bike. She seems fragile in her posts and communication. She had to pull out last year at last minute due to illness. I think she is kind of a mental case right now and believe unless he can get 5-10 minutes clear of Carfrae on bike she will be beat.

Dibens - She needs 15 minutes on the bike. I don't think she will get it. I figure she will come in 3rd-5th.

Notables - Caroline Steffan, Mary Beth Ellis (but might be burned out after so many Ironman races this year).


Men:
Wow, too hard to predict, but here are my guesses...

Craig Alexander - Easy pick, but did you see his run at 70.3 champs? 1:11 on a hilly course after a great bike? Dude is in good form. Only thing that might mess him up is he is swapping to another new bike right before Ironman. Hard to adjust and be comfortable so close to a 112 mile race, but he is a professional so I'm sure he will be fine.

Marino Vanhoenacker - I know he is the sexy pick, but how do you argue against him? He went 7:45 in Austria. If he can really out ride Crowie like last year I don't think he will be caught.

Timo Bracht - He won Lanzorate in record time. Great biker, but don't think he quite has the run to contend. I like him in 5-7th position.

Pete Jacobs - Amazing runner. If hadn't had a penalty last year would have been in contention for top 3. I feel he can run sub 2:40 tomorrow if in the hunt. Yes, sub 2:40. He will be in top 3 if he can hang on bike.

Andreas Raelert - Holds the record with 7:41 in Roth. Took Macca down to the wire last year and ultimately didn't have enough. Was injured earlier this year. I think he is going to have to push too hard on the bike and be forced to exert more energy than desired earlier in the run and falter to 4-7th spot.

Dirk Boekel - I had Dirk in my contention last year and I will do it again this year. If memory serves me right Dirk had a penalty last year too and still made top 7 or 8. He hasn't proved he can run 2:45 and he will have to tomorrow to make to 3. I feel like he has put in the work and will hang tough for most of the marathon. 3-5th place

Luke Bell - Love this guy. Saw him race in person in Lake Stevens. He has regained some old form. He will be in top 10.

Tim O'Donnel - First year in Kona. Great debut in Texas this year. Can run and put himself in the red zone for some time. I like him for top 10 in debut.

Eneko Llanos - Pulled away in Texas. Always a contender. Top 5 guy tomorrow is my guess.

Rasmus Henning - Seems like a mess to me. Could be wrong, but I think he still needs a year or two until he has the mental fortitude to go toe to toe late in the day at Kona.

So...if I had to pick an order

1) Crowie (won't make same mistakes as last year and allow field to ride away from him)
2) Vanhoenacker - Duels Craig to the end, but comes up short
3) Jacobs - Makes it to energy lab with Crowie and MV, but doesn't have final gear to pull away
4) Llanos - Steady and consistent get him back on podium
5) Boekel - Makes his first podium with awesome bike and solid run

So there you have it! Enjoy tomorrow. I know I will!!!

-T

Sinus surgery

16 years ago or so I had sinus surgery to address a deviated septum and some other work to clean up some drainage problems with the ethmoidal and frontal sinuses. The surgery was extremely painful and I vowed I would never have a similar operation again. Well, fast forward to the present. After starting to get serious about triathlon a few years back, I became plagued with sinus infections. This, in addition to my asthma, added to my difficulty to perform at the levels I was training for. The past 9 months alone I think I have been on antibiotics 6 times, could be 7...stopped counting a long time ago.

About 6 months ago I found my guy though. Dr. Justin Pavlovich at the Portland Clinic is my hero. After multiple visits and a couple pictures of the sinuses, it was clear I had some major issues. In order to control this problem he needed to go back in and address the concerns. So we agreed. The plan was to get through the triathlon and busy work season (spring/summer) and do the surgery in Fall. Yesterday was the day. Everything went well and so far I must say that these procedures have advanced so much versus a decade or two ago. Better equipment, better drugs, etc. Doc told me that my Maxillary sinuses (check bones) were basically closed. Yes closed. He was amazed anything was draining out of there. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. If we would have gotten out of that surgery and I heard it went well and should be better moving forward that would be fine. But to hear, you had major drainage issues, on a scale that truly prevented two major sinuses to drain...so we fixed them. Well hot damn. The hope is this will not only dramatically reduce sinus infections, but will also help with my asthma and allergies. Despite being a little banged up still, I'm one happy guy.

Pre Surgery - All smiles

 

I would like to thank the exceptional staff at Providence St. Vincent surgical center as well as my newest best friend and one heck of a surgeon, Dr. Pav. And of course, my lovely wife for taking such good care of me and encouraging me to go down the surgery road. I'm truly excited about how this procedure will change my life. As we all know, being sick is simply not fun. The thought of not getting a sinus infection every 1-2 months? OMG. And from a selfish standpoint, the thought of being able to put in serious training efforts and not develop these infections as a result. Can't  wait for next years Ironman races. 

That's all for now. Thanks for taking the time to check in. 

-T

Healing

The body is an amazing machine. If you read my previous post, you know that I had some medical concerns that I had to address. Mostly, I needed to give my body a break. I am now almost back to normal. And just as this happens, I have to go into surgery on Friday! Argh. Well, Friday is sinus surgery and it is needed...so I'm not entirely upset about this. Actually, I've been looking forward (in a sense) to having this surgery for the past 6 months. I need to put an end to constant sinus infections, and the specialists are convinced that this will help. The reality of the situation is that you must be in great health to train for, and execute, elite Ironman performances. This is my goal and so therefore I need to do everything required to stay healthy. 

The past few weeks has been really about resting, recovering and concentrating on work. My body has responded well to the rest. I'm looking forward to putting this surgery behind me and getting prepared for what is going to be an amazing 2012 season. As of now, I have two primary goals for this next season. 1) Get on a swim team and be ready to swim controlled 50-52 minute Ironman swim  2) Bike. I have to get this back thing figured out and become dominant on the bike again. Ironman is won or lost on the run, but if you don't have a solid bike, well the run doesn't matter. The bike was a strength of mine two years ago. I need to make it one again. My team, Ironheads, will help as we have a very large contingent racing CDA this year. And many of those racing are solid on the bike so I will have plenty of solid guys to train with. 

Thanks to all for taking the time to read. 

-T

Nothing

Well, it's been weeks since I have posted. Unfortunately I had to end my season prematurely. After Lake Stevens I was riding a high. I was still very frustrated and confused by my back problems, but happy with where my run was heading. I knew that once I joined a swim team in our new area that we lived in that my swim would return to top pack and so all I needed to figure out was the back issues on the bike. My plan was to do one final race a few weeks ago. Was going to be a flat half Ironman and the goal was to set a huge pr. I was amped! At the same time I was very tired. Actually, I was exhausted. I took a few days off post Lake Stevens and slowly got back into the training mode. I should have taken more time in retrospect.

A week post race I did a 60 mile ride with a friend. It was hot out. I was tired. We did a big climb during the ride. The next day I was destroyed. Totally worn down. Later that night I discovered a lump/cyst down by the...well...jewels. I instantly thought it was just irritation from riding. It was hot, I was sweating, etc. After two days, the cyst had increased in size and pain. I was now starting to get very concerned. By Wednesday I called the doc who put me on the antibiotic bactrim. By Thursday it had started to really become an issue with mobility. It was extremely painful and made it difficult to walk/move, etc. By Friday afternoon, I had my Dad look at it (a physician). Within 10 minutes we were in route with my wife to the ER in the small town of Florence on the Oregon Coast. Of course, 45 minutes later my Dad and Mom were expecting 40 people at their house for my sister's wedding rehearsal dinner!!!

Luckily Florence is a very small town and my Dad was able to talk with the physician on duty directly. We were pretty certain it was MRSA which is a form of a staph infection. If you have ever watched "What it takes" it is what Peter Reid had in the summer of 05. So, the doc quickly cut it open, packed it up in a way that it could continue to drain for the next few days and I was off. I felt instantly better, but I was still spooked. You never want to see anything happen down there. Ever. This was Friday night. By Monday am I was in to see the Urologist. I was immediately ordered off all activity for 2-3 weeks and no bike or swim for a month. I have an ultra sound next week and at that point I can resume aforementioned bike and swim.

This has been a very scary and educational experience for me. When I met with the urologist, I asked him how I could have developed MRSA, especially down there. His thoughts were that normally he saw those infections in the chronically ill, think elderly, disease, etc. This is due to their immune systems being so deficient that these infections are able to take hold. His hypothesis is that my immune system was so below normal that I was ripe for an infection. So, I post this to all that do our sport, for fun, competition or otherwise. Listen to your body. This, luckily, ended up being nothing, but a forced break from training (pending ultra sound), but you never know. It is important that we realize that when training for Ironman, we must take care of ourselves as most of us are balancing so many other stresses in our life.

So for now...I'm out. I'm doing nothing. Went for my first run this past weekend. It felt...hard. Hard to imagine I was competing just a few weeks ago. Next year is going to be epic. But clearly my body needed to tell me something. After 4 years of non stop training, battling through a recession at a stressful job, getting married, and moving to a different town...I needed a break. So said break has occurred. I have done nothing, but gain weight.

Stay healthy out there. Lots of sleep. Keep a balance. And treasure what you have. Thanks for checking in,

-T

Time to think

It has been a while since I have posted. After Lake Stevens I was really focused on continuing to work on my hamstrings and back and get back out racing for one last half Ironman before late September. Unfortunately I developed an infection that has resulted in me being sidelined for some time and I have decided to use this time to recharge the battery before entering into the off season. It comes at a good time as the weather in Oregon is absolutely beautiful and Oregon Football starts today so I will have plenty to keep myself occupied with. 

The primary focus over the next 30 days is to continue to work on my hamstrings and back. I'm confident that we are moving in the right direction with this and am excited to see what these improvements do for my bike splits this next year. The immediate future includes a half marathon in early November and then nothing until Spring. However, next season is already figured out. I have Oceanside 70.3 in March, Ironman Coeur d' Alene in June, and Ironman Canada in August. Giddy up. Once I can get this back figured out, Coach and I are confident that I will be racing for podiums next year. And that's the goal. Well, the primary goal is to have fun. The secondary goal is to get out on the course and race. And race fast. This is the first year I have really had to deal with an "injury" that has impacted my performance. I'm trying to learn all I can from it and become a stronger athlete next year as a result.

Thanks for taking the time to check in everyone. And Go Ducks!

-T

Lake Stevens 70.3 race report

Well, another race is in the bag. I have to admit, this race was a TON of fun!! I went into this having two goals:

1) To race all out - leave nothing out there

2) To have fun

Well, I was successful in accomplishing both goals!!

I tried an entirely new concept going into the race; I did no homework. I mean none. I didn't want to think or stress about the race. Actually, I went too far :) After finding the race site (had no idea where it was when we left Portland except that it was North of Seattle), I asked the dude I parked next to where I was supposed to get my packet from. He looked at me like I was an idiot and told me I had to go to the high school to get it. OK, whatever dude, where is the high school? haha So after some time I got my packet picked up, racked my bike, and Meg and I met up with my coach. At this point I actually confirmed the swim course, bike course, and run course...LOL!!

Race day: wake up way too early...4am. Race starts at 6:30. Pull into the small town of Lake Stevens and there are parking lots everywhere marked with letters. What the hell? Pulled into one and asked the dude parked next to me what the story was. "You have to pay $20 to park here. See the guy down at the bottom of the hill." WHAT? Guess I should have researched that as well!! haha, it was the same dude as yesterday as well! This guy must think I'm a total moron. haha!! So anyway, got transition set up, hit the porta and made my way down to the lake.

Our wave went off at 6:41am. Hugged Meg, and then walked to the lake with coach. He looked me right in the eye and said, "Go like hell son. This is your redemption from Ironman Coeur d'Alene." I was so pumped at this point. Gun went off and I was off. Quickly in second place and catching some draft off the guy leading. After about 500 meters and passing people from waves in front of me I struggled to keep him in sight and eventually lost his feet. I came out of the water in 4th. Not exactly what I wanted, but I felt good about it. Quickly into transition and I was off onto the hilly bike course.

Now my back has been giving me serious issues for some time. CDA was a disaster. Unfortunately, we still have not fixed all the issues and this bike was almost as bad. I maintained my position for the first 10-15 miles and then slowly got passed by competitors. I had to take advil to help. But in reality it really didn't. The course is challenging. Reminds me a lot of CDA. Lots of hills. Good descents, but too many turns at the bottom of some of them that slows your momentum. After 40 miles I realized I wasn't going to have a great ride in terms of time, so started to focus on hydration, nutrition and preparing for a strong run.

I bolted out of transition. Despite a locked up back and my asthma starting to act up, my legs felt great! Got my garmin going and tried to control my breathing to keep asthma at bay. The first two miles were tough. After that, my asthma subsided and I picked up the pace. I got into a 7-7:15 pace and it felt pretty good. There is a decent hill you hit twice (two loops). You roll by the finish line half way through each loop and at the end of the first loop. It was awesome seeing Meghan and the Ironhead supporters! I was having a good run and felt like sub 1:40 was going to happen. About 8 miles in I hit a little bit of a rough patch and just concentrated on foot speed and not allowing my pace to show 8, I wanted only 7s. I knew this would past. It did. I got up the final hill, turned around for home and kept running as hard as I could. I can say that I was pretty much red lined for most of the run.

The finish chute was great. I felt really happy with my finish time and my run time (both pr's) despite having the back issues again. Most of all, I was happy to do it as planned...without one :) Thanks to my awesome support team, especially my wife, family and my coach. The rest of the season is up in the air as I will continue to focus on the back, but plan to race at least once more before fall arrives. Thanks for taking the time to check in. Cheers!

-T

Trevor Yates

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
1107	33	Wilsonville OR USA	Management

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
28:20	2:42:21	1:39:22	4:54:04	99	14

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	1.2 mi. (28:20)	1:29/100m	30	5
TOTAL BIKE	56 mi. (2:42:21)	20.70 mph	83	12
RUN SPLIT 1: 6.61 mi	6.61 mi (49:06)	7:25/mi
RUN SPLIT 2: 13.1 mi	6.49 mi (50:16)	7:44/mi
TOTAL RUN	13.1 mi (1:39:22)	7:35/mi	99	14
TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				2:06
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				1:55

Lake Stevens!!

Well, Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3 is just around the corner. I'm getting pretty excited for the race! As I mentioned last post, I've been concentrating on the fun factor of triathlon as of late. So, what is my goal going into the race? Go ahead, ask me. I won't have an answer for you other than to go until there is nothing left. In fact, I guess I do have one goal. Shoot, I really have two. 1) Swim. First pack. I have been afraid to race to my potential in the swim like I used to.

2) Bike. Race. Hard. Again, bike is a strength, but you wouldn't know from recent race results.

Shit, OK...I have 3 goals.

3) Run. As Macca would say...embrace the suck. I plan on going out fast and maintaining. Will the wheels fall off? I hope not. But I'm pushing my chips in. I'm fit and ready.

Time to rock. And have fun. Gonna enjoy every minute of it! Feel free to follow online at Ironman.com if you want. I have no idea what my bib number is...haven't bothered to check. Part of the having fun part. Thanks for taking the time to read!!

-T

Fun

Post Ironman Coeur d'Alene has been about having fun. That race was disappointing, but what I realized after I had time to really reflect on it was that I needed to make sure I was having fun. Lost in focus on qualifying for Kona was the "fun factor." Let's face it, I don't race for any other reason than to get my "fix." Triathlon is my escape from reality. My "happy place." I let myself get too caught up in chasing after numbers and lost sight to some degree of why I get out there and challenge myself.

So this past weekend helped to serve my mission of having fun. My good friend turned 30 and so we headed over to Bend where he lives to celebrate. The celebration included us taking part in Cycle Pub (not us below). Cycle pub is in one word...awesome. You load up the machine with all the beer and wine you want and then pedal your way around town to make stops at local bars. What a blast!

And so...now that my "fun battery" is fully charged...we are off to Lake Stevens 70.3 this weekend to kick some serious ass. As far as having fun for this race? Well, I'm going to attack it from the gun. I guess that could either be "fun" or tragic. I hope for the former :) Thanks for taking the time to read!

-T