Time for a break?

Last week I was excited about my coach and I starting to put our foot on the gas. Excited about increasing volume and intensity in my training. And then it happened. I contracted this upper respiratory cold that everyone around me seems to have had lately. Despite getting plenty of sleep, eating well, taking my vitamins and drinking plenty of water (with emergen-C twice daily!) I still got the cold. Now, I've been doing this sport long enough to know that complaining about missing training for a cold or other illness does to necessitate a blog post. I know and have seen many athletes that compete with illnesses and disabilities that they would gladly trade for a simple common cold. As usual though, I don't just get a cold and get over it in a few days like everyone else. Any type of infection or virus irritates my airway and negatively affects my asthma. So, after getting in some decent trainer rides over the weekend, I was forced to rest all week.

I felt OK on Monday, but decided to take it off to be safe. By Tuesday I was all congested and already coughing. Wednesday wasn't much better, but by Thursday I was done with the congestion and just dealing with the asthma. I'm going to try and ride indoors today (it's cold and rainy outside in Oregon right now) and see how my lungs react. If they try and fight me, I will not fight them back. I have 12 weeks until it's go time at CDA. The last thing I intend to do is press my asthma too much now and then be forced to take more time off in a few weeks. Better to get healthy now so we can make the final 3 months of preparation really count. Thanks for all the support I get out there from friends and family. It's tough to be sidelined when you are trying to ramp up for an event like Ironman, but you guys are always great about helping me keep everything in perspective. Thanks for taking the time to read,

-T

Time to apply a little gas...

Man, the words I wanted to hear from my coach were finally said the other night "Well, I'm going to start putting my foot on the gas a little bit Trevor." Perfect! I'm so sick of base training. I'm cravy intervals. As an Ironman athlete, my intervals are a little different that you might think. We are talking sustained 5-30 minute intervals on the bike and run. Every now and then I get to do a shorter interval like 2 min or so on the run, but often times these are longer sustained efforts at higher intensity than aerobic. We are 13 weeks out from the race at this point and I'm feeling strong. As Muddy said the other night, he will be adding some "intensity and a little more volume" to my plan starting next week.



So...250-300 mile bike weeks...here I come. Fartlek runs, I love you! Well, not really, but they are better than just running at the same pace all the time. Speaking of bikes, I have some news coming in that department soon. The bike is going to be the most important part of my day in Couer d'Alene. I need to be able to ride with the boys so I'm in contention for that Kona slot entering the run. In order to get there I will be racing in a few bike races over the next month leading into two big bike volume blocks. So basically my build to CDA is going to be very bike centric will working on some strength on the run. With only swimming twice per week I'm already confident that I will again be sub 55 on the swim and exit with the lead boys. The key will be to race smart on the bike and come off in solid position without killing myself. The goal over the next 13 weeks is to prepare me for that.



If we can get off that bike in contention, than the marathon becomes exactly what I want; a slug fest with some very elite athletes all looking to accomplish the same thing...punch their ticket for the World Championships. Just thinking about it gets me pumped. Hope everyone is happy and healthy.



-T

Shamrock Run 2011

Could that kid really be running faster than me? We were a mile or two into the 8k at the 2011 Shamrock run and a kid, all of maybe 12, was running just in front of me. Is this really happening? Yates, you want to be an elite level Ironman competitor and some 12 year old is going to kick your butt in the Shamrock run? That got me going a bit. With endurance sports you have so much time to yourself and your thoughts. This event was short, just over 30 minutes, but typically in a large volume training week prepping for Ironman I'm logging over 20 hours of training. And in the Ironman race itself, you are constantly talking to yourself. Helps pass the time, and hell, who is going to listen to you besides yourself anyway! So I talked and joked myself through another Shamrock Run. I must say this one was pretty uneventful. This will be the last year I do the 8k. It's just too short of a race for me. Although I really don't yearn to do the 15k, I'm training for marathons and so I don't have any speed. Which can make it hard to out kick a 12 year old in a race as short as the 8k :)

The morning started poorly. I had no desire to get out from under the sheets and venture out into the rain. My coach had me scheduled to run 30 minutes prior to the race, do the race, and then do another hour on the treadmill later in the day. Barf. I did the warm up at our place on the treadmill to help stay warm. Put on some sweats and 30 minutes later I was lining up to start my first race of 2011. Overall I'm neither pleased or displeased with the race today. I haven't seen official times yet, but my watch had me within 10 seconds of last years time. I was displeased that I wasn't faster and struggled to run to my full potential, but I haven't done any speed work yet this year so I struggled to find those extra gears today. I'm pleased with how I was able to attack the hills and really mow some people down. That was a great feeling. I'm also pleased with my fitness level. I felt like I could have run right through that finish line and continued on for another 8 miles and set a pr for my half marathon. I hope to do that next month at the Corvallis Half Marathon. In the meantime, I grabbed a table at the bar for the wife and friends and waited for everyone to get finished. We had a nice lunch and then headed back home so I could get the hour on the treadmill finished.

According to my watch, my overall pace was 6:43. To be able to mix it up with the big boys in Coeur d'Alene in 3 months our plan is to have me running right about 7:35 - 7:40 pace for the marathon, or about a minute per mile slower than today. This, of course, will be after swimming 2.4 miles and cycling 112 miles. So, I'd say although I'm by no means a fast runner at the shorter distances, I'm feeling good about our progress this year. The fact that I was able to do 15 miles today with 5 at a hard effort shows me I'm fit. And it's March. As Muddy would say, right now is not about making withdrawals, it's about making deposits. We will make a large withdrawal on June 26th. So, another year of the wet and soggy Shamrock Run is in the books! Despite the rain, I'm about to hit the bbq as I have some Salmon that wants to be grilled! Thanks for all the support,

-T

Race Season is upon us!

My first race of the season will be tomorrow. I will be racing the 8k at the Shamrock Run. Although this is not a triathlon, it will represent my first time racing in an organized fashion in 2011! Of course, that is very exciting. What is not too exciting is the thought of racing when my legs feel as heavy as they do today! Oh well, tomorrow is not about best times, simply about pushing myself against others. I will provide a race update tomorrow. Until then, I'm going to elevate this legs and get my hydration on!

-T

Bike Rage

Yesterday a few friends and I went out for our weekly Saturday long ride. As of right now, my coach doesn't have me going too long. The ride ended up being 3.5 hours. Which I only mention because during a typical *long* ride of 5-6 hours, I seldom have many (if any) altercations with motorists. Yesterday however was a different story. I believe we were yelled or cursed at 4 times. One time while simply regrouping in a deserted parking lot of a country store by a passerby. So what gives? Well, there are plenty of reasons. For instance, last year I was outraged to discover a facebook page that was dedicated to encourage so called bike rage. Pictures and comments about hitting cyclists were common.

Why the hatred? Well, part of the blame rests on the cyclists. There are plenty on two wheels that ruin our image. You know the guy. Hell if you are a cyclists, you probably have ridden with him from time to time. Cocky, disrespectful, and aggressive on his bike. This is the dude that never stops at signs, rides as if he has special privileges as compared to motorists, and exudes his displeasure for the common motorist any chance he gets. However, this is only part of the problem. I am not that guy. Neither are either of the friends I was riding with. So, what is the other half of the equation?

In my opinion it has to do with resentment. I work my ass off. I got through high school with a decent gpa and then grabbed a college degree. After working too many 60-70 hour weeks to count as a dedicated employee for a well established company, I earn a nice living. So do my friends. For instance, each of our bikes were probably worth more than half of the cars that occupied the dirt bags that yelled or cursed at us. Throw on top that we are genuinely happy people with nice families, nice homes, and body fat percentages that are measured in single digits...well I'm assuming this all adds to the problem. If I'm one of the dirt bags that yelled at my friends and I yesterday (let's call him "Joe"), maybe he resents the fact that he was once a high school bully (probably making fun of people like myself or my friends) and now he's overweight, has a drinking problem and works at a dead end job that barely pays the bills. Joe sees a couple of fit looking dudes riding around on $5,000 - $10,000 bikes? Well, that not only pisses Joe off, but maybe it reverts him back to his high school bully days? Joe drives a big truck and can slam the accelerator as he passes us to try and scare us. He can yell down at us as he passes, or simply come up from behind and honk to try and frighten those ass holes on the bikes.

Well, you know what Joe? Honk all you want. Yell at me all you want. Does it piss me off? Sure. But really, I just feel very sorry for you. If you have nothing better to do than try and bully someone riding a bike, then you obviously are a pathetic version of a man and for that, well I'm sorry for you. Do you intimidate me? Hell yeah, you have a few thousands pounds on me and there is a decent chance you have been drinking. Maybe I'm totally off base. But after having enough of these encounters over the years, you start to see it in their eyes.

Deep breath Yates. I'm feeling better already. Sorry for the rant, but after years of sharing the road with idiots like Joe...sometimes I just need to get it out. Despite the bike rage incidents, we had a very nice ride and I feel my fitness continuing to improve each week. My buddy and I pounded out 13 miles this morning at solid pace despite climbing 1,000 ft. I'm feeling that I'm right where I need to be this time of year. Next week's Shamrock run will be interesting, but it will be fun to test the legs a little bit. Hope everyone is well. Thanks for taking the time to read.

-T

I got...

nothing to say. Training is going along pretty well. I feel like I'm finally healthy which is nice. I've been working real closer with M. Slyvester on getting my bike dialed. We aren't finished yet unfortunately. There is still a chance that we might not be able to make the current bike work, which would not be ideal...but there are worse things than buying a new bike. I hope we get the position dialed soon so I can mark this off the list!

I haven't posted my schedule for the year, just been too busy!! If you notice, I've been having a tough time posting let alone updating my race schedule. I'll try and get to that this weekend. I can say I'll be racing the 8k Shamrock run next weekend and have the Corvallis half marathon in a month's time. Beyond that, there is a cycling race or two that I will probably take part in if it's cool with coach. Then most of April and all of May will be about getting my dialed for CDA. Crazy to think it's already March. I'll be interested to see how I perform at the Shamrock Run. I have yet to do any speed work. Any special work has all been strength (hills, etc). I also still feel like I'm carrying a few extra pounds. We'll see how it goes though. Those 8-10ks are so darn hard. Basically red line for 30 minutes or so. BRUTAL.

OK, like I said earlier...nothing to really say, so I won't continue to bore those reading. Thanks for taking the time to check in!

-T