IMCDA preview weekend

The above pic is the view from out room. In preparation for CDA next month, we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and head out to Coeur d' Alene. For me it is a wonderful opportunity to ride and run the course prior to race day. It's also a great excuse to get in a solid long weekend of training. Because training takes up so much of our lives, I thought it would also be nice for us to simply get away and relax (outside of some of the massive training I have scheduled of course). Unfortunately the weather in CDA is not much different than Portland. 50s and rain. Although, despite a gloomy forecast today, the weather ended up being ok. Actually, I didn't even get rained on!

Speaking of today. I had a long day in the saddle, 105 miles, followed by a 45 min run. I rode the course so my mileage should have been 112 but I missed a few turns apparently! That being said my total elevation was within a few hundred feet of what is posted online so I'm not too worried about it. I'm riding one loop (56mi) of the course tomorrow with a local so I'll make sure to see it all this time! The course is challenging. That being said, I really enjoyed it. The elevation changes are great in my opinion. The hills are much different than what I'm used to riding in Oregon however. These hills are steep and short. And there are a fair amount of them. After spending over 5 hours on the course today I feel really good about the course. I know where to push. I know where to hold back. I know where the turns are (haha, well most of them I guess!). All in all, I was very satisfied with today and will enjoy getting back out there tomorrow.

CDA is a great place. I'm very happy that we will be back here in a month for Ironman. It's a very beautiful town and the people seem very welcoming to all the Ironman athletes (I must have seen 200 riders or so out there training today). Thanks for checking in!

-T

Making it work

Well, I don't post nearly as often as I would like. The latest is this: balancing my family and friends, work, and pursuit of a kona slot has been incredibly difficult the past few months. I'll admit, there have definitely been some times during the past few months where I have wondered if it is truly worth it. Not because I don't love it, but because you have to pay so much attention to making sure your balance in life is correct. This means you must be healthy. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and relationship(y?)...k, made that last one up. But seriously, I have to make sure I'm constantly balancing all these areas properly otherwise I will not reach my dreams; in life, marriage, work, or triathlon.

So, making it work. That's my theme for the past few months and as I enter into the last few weeks leading into IMCDA. I feel like I've done a helluva job "making it work" and am proud of this. Is it enough for Kona? We will see. To be honest, I'm anxious, but not nervous. I was ready to throw down last year at Canada, but came up lame on the bike. I will be in the mix next month. I've been told to make it to the elite ranks of the sport requires a special mix of: knowing when to push in training and knowing when to back off in training. Beyond this, you just have to be smarter and stronger mentally. I've really been working on this mental piece. Lots of intervals on the trainer and on the treadmill. Nothing to distract me, but the thoughts that creep into your head when you are pushing that hard. I've learned to deal with them.

So, as the last few days tick away until taper I will continue to focus on my balance. And most importantly, I'll make it work. Thanks for taking the time to read,

-T

Rounding the corner

Well Ironman Coeur d' Alene is just over 6 weeks away. It's funny how the anticipation to this race hasn't truly developed like the previous Ironman and other key races I've done over the years. I really think this goes back to having my coach with me this year. Muddy has really kept me focused on my plan and not allowed me to think too far ahead. He continues to keep me grounded and on track. He also keeps me excited however and does a great job of reminding me to have fun. This guy is the real deal and I couldn't be happier to have found him to help me in my journey.

Speaking of the journey, everything is coming along well. Training is going very well and I'm feeling fitter than I ever have with just less than two months until race day. I'm very pleased to see how my run is developing, but more importantly I'm excited to be putting in some quality miles on the bike. I have another decent week mileage wise in the saddle this week including another century on Saturday which will help tell me where I am from a fitness perspective. In the ride two weeks ago I was pleased to cover 115 miles averaging over 20mph (solo) at a reduced heart rate, but also realize that the terrain was not hilly (only 2800 ft of elevation gain). IMCDA is 5k and from all accounts the course is probably a little more challenging than Canada.

All that being said, I know that we are right where we need to be. In sitting down this past fall I wrote out splits that I wanted to hit in June. These splits represented a substantial drop in time compared to Canada, but they also represent what is required to have a shot at qualifying for the World Championships. As of today I can say I'm confident that these splits are now realistic. And this makes me happy :) So, as the date gets nearer, the next month is about staying healthy, eating properly, avoiding stupid injuries/accidents, and sleeping/recovering. I'm on it! Another month and all the hard work of the past 7 months will be in the body and I'll be ready to line it up and get after it. Thanks for taking the time to read.

-T

Eugene

I have lived all over the great state of Oregon during my life. I left the big city of Portland to move south to Eugene to go to college. I ended up spending about 10 years all together in Eugene, including my 4 years at the University of Oregon. I love Eugene. There are times when I really miss the place. The 50 meter outdoor pool is where I rediscovered swimming. The country roads are where I fell in love with cycling. And with Hayward Field, Pre's trail, etc...how could I not start running! Just so happens that two years ago I proposed to Meghan after completing my first marathon (the Eugene Marathon of course!). Last year I ran the half, but this year I didn't have either on the schedule. However, I had a few friends running in the events so I suggested to Meg that we head down for the weekend.

Of course, head down to Eugene (110 miles south of Portland) might mean something different to some people. To me, it means I have a great opportunity to hop on my sweet new ride and get in a solid century! So, Saturday morning I headed south following the newly created Willamette Valley Greenway bike route headed towards Eugene. The plan was to get in somewhere around 110-120 miles and have Meg pick me up wherever that ended up being. The Greenway is not a direct shot so my guess was from my house it was about 140 miles or so. It ended up being a decent day as we had some sun in the sky for the first time in a while.

The day went pretty well. The route is not hilly (2800 feet of elevation), which was kind of nice because it allowed me to spend a lot of time in the aero position. Michael and I have been dialing in the fit on the new Speed Concept for the past few weeks and this ride was going to be a good test of where we were in relation to fit. As I got going, I could tell I was going to have a decent ride. I was finishing an intense two week cycling block and so my legs were still a little sore, but they warmed up quick. I was feeling so good in fact that I didn't stop to take any pictures along the way! Sorry. I've incorporated some new nutrition and hydration techniques thanks to Muddy so I can tell you that I was stopping more often than normal as I was very well hydrated! After about 75 miles I stopped to call Meg and develop a game plan of where to pick me up. I looked down at my computer and realized that I had been moving despite keeping my HR in check. I was very pleased to see these numbers.

The last 40 miles went pretty well. Eventually Meg met me in Harrisburg as I was already nearing 115 miles. Despite having a headwind for the first 60 miles and rolling through 3 towns that forced slow speeds and frequent stops, I was able to average over 20mph riding solo for the 114 miles (check out the Garmin below). The best part was, I felt great. I never pushed it. In fact, I averaged 125 Heart Rate. I was ecstatic with these numbers. After picking me up we checked into our lovely B&B and then went out for a romantic dinner at King's Estate. Highly recommended if you want to take your significant other out for a romantic dinner while in Eugene, especially on a sunny evening. The views are excellent. The next day was great as I got to watch my buddy, and training partner, set a new pr at the half marathon distance! I guess that is all I have to report for now. This week is a recovery week which was much needed after a tough two week block. I know I need to post some pictures of the new machine and will try and do this soon. Just been too busy working and training to do anything else the last few weeks!! Thanks for reading,

-T

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