Selfishness

Every now and then I pinch myself. I have the best wife in the world. Ironman is a very selfish sport. It can inspire people, change lives in fact. It can also ruin relationships, and has. This is a constant concern for me. In order to compete at the level I want, I have to put in an enormous amount of time and energy. Considering I don't get to do this sport for a living, this time and energy has to be done around work. And family. And friends, etc. When I met my current wife, we lived in separate cities. Training early in the morning and late at night during the week (before and/or after work) was no problem as we didn't see each other anyway. Well, then you fall in love. And you want to spend as much time as you can with that individual. Especially once you move in together and get married! Again, I'm a lucky man...my wife is awesome.

So, I'm in my build right now for IMCDA. The training is and will be intense for the next 2 months. Currently I'm in a solid block and am amazed that I'm still awake (it just turned 9pm). As soon as I'm done typing, it's lights out. So what does all of this have to do about my wife? Well, when you are in a big build like this and you don't want to get up at 5am to put in another session, it sure helps to have your wife there helping you get up in the morning! Yes, Meg gets up early throughout the week, which included this morning. So, I have my own personal alarm. Without her, I honestly don't know if I'm getting in my session this morning. I really don't. But that's what life is about. Sacrifice, and love.

Like I said earlier, ultimately this is a very selfish sport. I work more than most, and I train more than some people work. Not much time left for my wife, or anyone else in my life. And don't kid yourself...when I'm out there suffering in an Ironman...I think about those close in my life, but ultimately...you race for yourself. You race to test yourself. How fit did I get? How tough am I? Because of my wife, and other loved ones in my life, I'm stronger than I would be without you. Thanks for taking the time to read.

-T

So what's new?

The past few weeks have been pretty interesting for me. I am finally starting to feel healthy which is great considering we are entering the bulk of my CDA build. I'm finally starting to get this sinus situation under control which is great. Unfortunately it involves a fair amount of medication to start and potentially surgery post race, but it's great to be feeling better again!! On the health front, the asthma is getting better as well and I'm seeing one of the more skilled specialists in the west coast in a few weeks to make sure we are dialing everything in properly for the big day in June. My number one goal over the next 10 days is to stay healthy. My docs are helping me with this, but I have to do my part. I have to continue to stay hydrated, eat properly and ensure that I'm sleeping and recovering properly! As you start to enter these heavy training periods when you are riding over 250-300 miles a week and/or running 40-60 miles per week, your body is on the edge constantly. Pros and some elite age groupers can sustain even more volume than this, but Pros don't work 50-65 hours a week. This is the time when I have to become one with my body. I need to listen to it. I need to fuel it properly. I must take care of it, and ensure I'm allowing it enough time to recover. My dad likes to tell a story about a former National cycling coach that said the toughest thing to teach a pro was not how to train, but how to rest and recover. So, although I will be putting in some pretty heavy weeks over the next two months, I will be listening to my body...and so will my coach. Speaking of coach, I can't tell you what a difference having a coach makes. I'm more fit than I have been in a while and we are just entering into our build for CDA. Speaking of balance, this week and the next few weeks will be tough. My career requires a lot of my attention normally, but especially lately. Right now for instance, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Florida as we are winding up an annual trip before heading back to Portland tomorrow. Travel can be tough for an Ironman athlete, but that's where my coach comes in. He knew exactly how to have me attack this week so I could still make some good deposits, but without having to spend all my time in the gym while out here. Lastly, I hope to be posting some pictures when I get home of my new ride for this season!! Not only have I upgraded to a faster machine, but I will be uber comfortable for the bike leg of Ironman which I have never experienced. Can't wait to get this new beauty out on the road and get some miles in on it!! That's all for now. Thanks for taking the time to read, -T

King's Valley

Although I have been competing in triathlon for some time, I've never ventured into bike racing. I've always wanted to try, but have always had something else going on or didn't commit early enough, etc. As we have looked to what I need to work on going into IMCDA to have a legitimate shot at qualifying, my bike was the blinking red light. Although I normally in the top 10% of the field for my bike split, in order to get to that next level, I need to be in the top 1-2% of the field. So now that I was starting to feel a little better and starting our proper build into CDA, a challenging bike race made perfect sense. It was a 56 mile race that involved rollers, a hill or two and combined Cat 4 and 5. Here is how it went:

My buddy and I left Wilsonville and made the 1:15 min drive to somewhere between Salem and Corvallis for the start. We registered, changed, etc. Unfortunately we weren't able to get in a proper warm up, more on that later. So, we made our way down to the start of the race and listened to the race director. He discussed the usual stuff and made mention of how tough the finish was, a few times. Going into this race I figured I would be competitive. I mean hell, I race Ironman. Hang with a few roadies for 56 miles, no problem. Race started and instantly I could tell that I was still recovering from my sinus infection. We made it through the first couple rollers and I settled into the peleton and was really enjoying the race. At about 15 or 16 miles we hit the steep hill of the day. I started to drift back a little and then we hit a bench and we started to come together a little bit. As soon as I thought, OK, no problem...the hill picked up again and I couldn't respond to the surges going on ahead. The peleton was now much smaller.

I regrouped and looked around. My buddy Jer was there and we seemed to have a group of 3 or 4. Jer and I started to work together and quickly caught others that had been dropped. Some of them teamed with us and before I knew it we had a chase group of 5 to 6. I could see the peleton just ahead and we were gaining! Unfortunately it was as if none of these dudes had ever formed a pace line before! We just couldn't stay organized and I ended up taking some pulls that lasted WAY too long. But I wanted to catch the peleton. After about 10 miles of chasing, our group started to fragment even more on the second loop (of a 3 loop race). As this happened, the peleton became less visible ahead. As we moved into the 3rd lap we lost my buddy and soon it was just me and a guy that raced for a team out of Portland. We worked together to keep the pace honest, but the winds were absolutely brutal. Every time we hit a hill we both laughed because our legs were just concrete. I had exerted so much energy trying to chase that peleton because we couldn't form a proper pace line...and now I was paying the price.

The race finish was uneventful. Levi (the dude I finished the final lap with) and I rode the 4 miles back to the car. My buddy showed up a little later and we both joked about what a tough day it was out there. So, what did I learn? There appears to be a fairly big difference between Cat 4 and Cat 5. I was surprised by how tough some of these guys were. I also came to the conclusion that it is a very good thing that I have a big bike block coming up because I'm not where I need to be on the bike. I also know that I need more hill work prior to CDA. And finally, I learned - once again - that a proper warm up is a MUST. I was not warmed up and at those races, the pace starts right off the jump. The lactic acid will start very quickly if you aren't warmed up. I believe this is a big reason why I was already mushy legs when the attacks occurred at the end of that first lap.

I will say, I absolutely loved the experience! What a great way to get a solid 60 miles in on the bike. I will do more of these races, just not sure how soon. After racing Saturday, I ran 75 minutes this morning. Jer joined me, and it is fair to say we were both still feeling the race a little. Our run was relatively tough. So, hopefully this weekend I made some good deposits that will help come June! Thanks for reading.

-T

Build time

Well, we are just under 12 weeks away from Ironman Coeur d'Alene. I'm finally starting to smell the race. And speaking of smell, I finally have some of mine back. Seems like I've been sick all winter. Basically I have. I just finished my 3rd course of antibiotics in just under 4 months. The good news is I'm feeling healthy again and am meeting with some great specialists to help control my sinus issues and asthma leading into IMCDA. The biggest obstacle for me when it comes to racing is staying healthy. I am very prone to sinus infections and my asthma is a formidable foe. With the help of some quality doctors, we hope to try and eliminate (or at least reduce) these handicaps over the next 3 months.

Speaking of the next 3 months, Muddy and I have started to increase the volume and intensity of my training. I'm excited to be getting some serious work done and look forward to seeing my body adapt. We put in a lot of maintenance work over the past 4-5 months, now is the time to really get the body, and mind, ready to race 140.6 miles at a high level. I will be heading out to Coeur d'Alene to preview the course prior to the race which will be awesome. Hopefully I will be well acquainted with my new friend, err I mean bike. Yep, I'm going to be riding a new machine soon. We couldn't get my Felt B2 to fit me properly so I pulled the trigger on a new ride. After considering and researching bikes for the past few months, I decided to invest in the Ferrari of bicycles. Pretty soon you will see me riding the 2011 Trek Speed Concept. Mine will look very similar to the one pictured below, but with different wheels. I am still a few weeks out from getting this beauty delivered and built up, but will post pics once it's done. I can not wait.

Well, that about sums it up for me. Time to hit the sack and go at it again in the morning!

-T

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