SERIES WINNERS

The main two multisport series' came to a close in August:

• The TRI MINNESOTA SERIES (http://www.pickleevents.com/series/trimn/)
• The Midwest Multisport Series (http://www.midwestmultisport.com/

Overall winners of the TRI MN Series:

• male overall: Steve Sander
• female overall: Brook Larsen

Overall winners of the MSS:

• female overall: Kathy Yndestad
• male overall: Devon Palmer

Check out the sites above for age-group winners as well.

Cannon Wells Duathlon Recap

I wasn't intending to peak for this race originally, but when the Treadman Du was canceled, and training was interupted due to a work-trip, I decided to peak for this race. Then the Treadman was brought back so I was able to train thru that and use it for a little end-of-the-season fitness boost. I think peaking for Cannon Wells worked out pretty well. Although I didn't win, I was 2nd overall. I left it all out there (what all I have is questionable) and that is the best I could have finished - unless the guy that won hadn't shown up. That would be Steve Sander--the 2009 TRI MN Series Champ. What I mean is that, for the training I put in (average of about 7 to 7.5 hours per week, all training combined) there's no way I could have matched his pace on the bike or final run. Here's how it went (thru my eyes):

RUN 1 (2 miles): I wasn't surprised at how fast it started, but I was surprised that I was in 4th after about 20 yards and stayed there for the opening run. Officially I was 3rd for individuals as the fastest run 1 time was by Steve Stenzel who decided to race on a relay team. I hit mile one at 5:55. I was going pretty hard, but not at my max pace as I didn't want to blow-up. The first three guys to T1 got there pretty much together at 11:15-11:24. I could see them enter, but I was back a bit.

Run 1 finished in 11:53 (5:57 pace).

T1: Entering T1 I had to deal with my only mistake of the day. Actually, the mistake took place prior to the start of the race as I forgot to take my cycling shoes out of trans pack. Luckily, I left it in front of my bike. The shoes were in the bag, in an interior separately zipped section, then fastened under elastic straps. It sounds like they were burried in a tomb, but I had two miles to think about how to get them out. All-in-all, I was about 15-20 seconds longer in T1 than the guys that got there first, but in the end it only hurt my time, not my placing.

In and out of T1 in :57 seconds.

Bike (14 miles): When I exited T1 and hopped on the bike, I started moving pretty quick. The routes starts out with about a half mile of paved bike trail. I passed the one guy after about a quarter mile. Then the course start to follow a lake side road, counter-clock-wise around Cannon Lake. It wasn't until about mile 6 that I caught 2 more--just as we hit the out-n-back section which turned right, going away from the lake. Then I thought: "I passed three guys so far, there were 3 in front of me entering T1--could I be in front? I knew that Steve Sander was wearing a white and blue with red uniform (Twin Cities Tri Club?), but I didn't pass those colors. Were he and I placed just right in the rollers that I couldn't see him? That had to be it. Sure enough, when I came over the last little hill, I could see a vehicle parked on the road with the lights flashing, a guy in the street, an orange cone....and a lone rider coming back at me. He had to be a quarter to half mile up on me. I hammered on. I got thru the out-n-back, was back to the lake, went right and continued on the counter-clock-wise loop. The last two miles of the bike section were back on paved bike trail. It wasn't the smoothest section and I got bucked up a few times because I was trying to keep the speed up at 24+ mph hoping to extend the gap on anyone in pursuit, but knew at that point that Sander was not slowing down, and he didn't get a flat so if I held on, I would take 2nd overall.

I completed the bike course in 35:03 (24 mph).

T2: Nothing spectacular here. In, out in 33 seconds.

Run 2 (3 miles): I had a rough start. I felt like I was barely moving, but wanted to start fast to get out of site of anyone behind me (out of sight, out of mind, right). I only consumed a few ounces of water throughout the bike course, but I have found that in a short race like this, unless its 100 degrees, it would be hard to dehydrate and gels and sports drinks weren't sitting well all season. I had plenty of electrolytes in me (Gatorade prior to race) so I would be fine. I hit the first mile at 6:09 which was a lot faster than I thought I was going. I looked back and could not see anyone--I guess I could see a 1/4 mile back or so. I hit mile 2 at 12:41 (so the second mile took 6:32). I looked back and could swear I saw someone gaining on me. I forced a little more turnover with the legs. Pain. About 1/2 mile to the finish there was a volunteer so I asked "Is there anyone behind me?" He said "Yes, but they're far back. They won't catch you." When I was about 100 yards from the finish I couldn't see anyone approaching so I eased up a little. The last mile took 6:23. I crossed the line second overall.

Run 2 took 19:04

Total time of 1:07:28. The winning time was 1:04:07.

Judging by my numbers (pace, mph, heart rate, etc) I know I put in a fairly solid effort.

• Average HR for the whole race was 174. My threshold is 172 so being able to maintain higher than threshold for over an hour without bonking or having to slow down is a good thing (I think).
• Max HR hit was 184.
• Time spent above threshold or in zone 5 (173 or higher)= 52:51
• Time spent in zone 4 (161 - 172)= 14:19
• Time spent below zone 4 (160 or lower)= 18 seconds
• Run 1 average HR= 176
• Bike section average HR=173
• Run 2 average HR= 174 (but last mile AHR was 175)

That concludes the 2009 duathlon/triathlon season for me. Well, unless Jace and I do a du as a relay team at the Osceola Duathlon.

RESULTS

Another Random Post

This is not related to sports, but hey, its Friday...

Last Tough Brick

Its hard to put in an evening brick on a Saturday after you've done the daily stuff around the house and didn't get much sleep the night before. So there I was, about 5pm Saturday wondering if I should put it off till Sunday and instead try to do just an easy ride. No... I need to put in the right workout and can't confuse tired motivation with truely being tired. I took a little nap earlier so I believe I am just feeling tired, but should have enough in me to do a short, but tough brick in preparation for the race this weekend. I only try to peak for two to 3 races a year and when I looked at a late season races, the Treadman looked good, but that was moved to early September so that messed things up a bit. However, the Cannon Wells Du moved to late September so that worked out good.

Back to the weekend workout... If you follow Joe Friels Tri Bible, it was pretty much the A1 in the 'combo' (brick) section. Since the race I am training for is pretty short, I went with the shorter end of what the A1 has you doing. This is a bike-run brick. Intervals are tougher than just TT'ing, but I guess that is sort of the point--working up to the desired HR, effort, or power level (often higher than you would race at), then recover back down to an aerobic level. Rinse, repeat. Intervals at the right time yield great benefit, but too many too often can cause a plateau, which may make you think you have to do more, which will then cause a loss of fitness, a downward spiral of results, etc. Anyway, two weeks ago was an R&R week, last week a taper so the week ended with an easy 30 min ride yesterday, following the intervals on Saturday.

Here's how the interval session went:

Run 1- 8:52 easy jog of 1.1 miles--just a small loop near my house to help warm-up

Bike- 15 min easy ride for a warm-up, then:

• 5 minute all-out interval (mostly flat), w/ 2.5 min recovery
• 5 minute all-out interval (which took place on climb, then rolling hills), 2.5 recovery
• 5 minute all-out interval (a roller or two, then flat), 2.5 min recovery
• 10 minute moderate pace back home

Since I have struggled with the second run in most du's this season (start fast, then fade) the last month or so I have been starting my brick runs easy, then going at a harder pace to finish. They have been rough, but this last one worked out ok....

Run 2 (5k)- started at below race pace then ran a harder:

• mile 1- 7:04, moving ok, breathing well, not quite race pace
• mile 2- 6:15, moving well, pretty much gasping, but tolerable
• last 1.1 miles- 6:59 (6:20 pace), breathing hard, felt like a race, a couple hills hurt!

The last run ended up being a 19:18 5k. Hopefully, come race day, I can pull that off.

Mostly short easy work for the rest this week, but with a few very short intervals (30 sec) thrown in on a couple of the days. These are just for maintenance to keep the systems in check and reminded of what they can do. The tough training is done for this race--if I wasn't ready a week ago, I'm not going to be ready, come Saturday.

IRONMAN 2009

Peace Coffee Racing members finish IM WI.

Joe Moyer (pictured post race, right) finished in 10:29:27; 108th of 2,176; 19th of 260 in age-group M30-34. He was in the top 10 male finishers from MN. He knocked off around 56 minutes from his 2008 time. The winner of Joe's age-group, Joe Kurian, was 9th overall and was also the Amateur winner (first non-pro to cross the line so this AG was deep and competitive).

Bob Albright (left, heading to T1) finished in 11:38:22; he was 388th of 2,176; 72nd of 368 in age-group M40-44. This age-group was the largerst in the race. This was Bob's 4th straight finish at IM WI !

New PCR Veronica Bond finished in 12:58:03; she was 979th of 2,176; 42nd of 116 in age-group W35-39; This was her second finish of 3 entries for IM WI (a fellow participant crashed into her near T1 in 2007). She bettered her 2008 time this year by around 46 minutes!ALL RESULTS: http://www.ironmancenter.com/results/index.php

Energy Drinks Continued

Not much to say here, but found and interesting blog of a total energy drink extraordinare. He has a drop down on the left that has a gazillion reviews. I had no idea there were that many.

Click THIS.

Energy Drinks

What I didn't report in the Treadman recap is that I went with straight water in the aerodrink, but downed about 6 oz of RedBull within the first 3 miles on the bike. A regular RB is roughly 8 oz so I drank 2 oz prior to the start then poured the rest in a Fuel Belt bottle and stuck that in the Bento box. If you do that, I suggest you either leave the drink out, open, overnight to get it flat (get rid of the carbonation)--otherwise it will fizz all over when you start riding. If you push the top shut on the Fuel bottle, it will burst open if you haven't flattened the drink first. I learned the hard way when I tried to jog with something carbonated a few months ago. Surprisingly, I felt fine with regard to GI issues during the Treadman. Lately gels have been sitting not-so-well for the 2nd run or the run in a tri so I figured I'd give the energy drink route a shot.

With that said, my kick on energy drinks started about a month ago. I was in FL last month for work/vacation and bought a few lo-carb Redbulls and ever since I have been hooked on them--not just them, but any energy drinks. Here is what I've tried since:
- Buzzed and low-carb Buzzed (only at KwikTrips, I think--taste pretty good)
- Rockstar low-carb, Sugar Free (yes, they have low-carb and a separate Sugar Free), and reg Rockstar, and Rockstar Juiced (50% juice?)
- Monster low carb, Monster 80% juice, Monster reg I had a few years ago and didn't like it
- Red Jak low-carb (this one is bad)
- AMP and one of their sugar free varieties (they make too many version to keep them straight. Mostly they all suck).
- MonaVie eMV
- XS Energy (AmWays energy drink)

The best tasting so far is the MonaVie eMV, then RedBull regular, then Buzzed regular. Rockstar Sugar Free is ok, but for the most part all the rest are sorta crappy. The juice ones are good, but way too sweet. The Amway drink was ok, but I tried Cherry Cola version--tasted like cherry cola, but is loaded with B vitamins. Only 8 cals per cal, but it tastes like its got sugar in it. Jace's coach (or his wife) sells Amway so I have a variety pack coming of that--we'll see how that turns out.

When working out, I have only tried the RedBull and the Rockstar Juiced when riding. I did some running intervals within 15 minutes of drinking a RedBull and had no GI issues. I think I will stick with RedBull if I need a pick-me-up for training or something during a race. Years ago when I did the Chequamegon a handful of times I used to run three waterbottles, two of which were flat Redbulls over ice for a diluted energy drink. Had no problems with that. Not sure why I didn't remember that until just a couple weeks ago...

I only drink one cup of coffee in the morning, and not every morning at that. So I've been justifying the energy drinks. However, bottom line is, is that I need to get off of these things. However, I would like to try the holy drink:

TREADMAN Re-cap

Finally, here's a recap of how the 2009 Treadman Duathlon went for me. I think this has to be one of the toughest bike courses in a short to olympic distance multisport race. Congrats to all who conquered it. I think there were very few DNF's too.

A usual, the race started pretty fast. Jesse Nelson and Brent Sinn pushed a pace of around 5:30-40 or so. I was running along side Mederic Hall, who has a Garmin GPS, so I asked what he thinks he'll run at--he said around 6 so I stayed there. About halfway thru run 1, Joe Moyer came along side us. He said he's doing around 5:45. That may have been what he was at as he caught us. Anyway, we hit a little gravel section then on to the Douglas Trail for 1.4 miles of straight blacktop path to finish the opening run. About a quarter mile on to the path, Mederic trailed off from us, but not too far behind. Joe and I finished run 1 in 20:16 (6:09 pace). It was easy to count where we were--we were 8th and 9th in the run and hit the bike course as such.

I knew he'd get a couple minutes up on me--and set the fastest bike time, so I just went at my own pace knowing better than to try to keep up with Joe. He didn't push too hard for a little while as I could see him for most of the race--getting smaller and smaller. I knew there were only 8 in front of me. I caught the first guy at about mile 5, second at mile 7, one here, one there... My plan to ascend Genoa Hill was conservative. I went into the little ring up front and the big cog in the back (easiest gear) and just spun up the hill. I didn't want to exhaust myself with 9 miles of road to ride and another 3.3 mile of running to do. Once I got up the hill, I settled in and upp'd the intensity a bit. I eventually caught and passed both Jim Hannon and Jesse Nelson within the last 4 miles of the bike course. I knew this would be short lived as they can both out run me in their sleep, but it was fun to log a faster bike split. I ended up hitting T2 in 3rd overall (and posted the 3rd fastest bike split of the day). Mark Carey was there and yelled "Joe's only two and a half minutes up, you can catch him!" I was thinking.... no, I probably can't. Words of encouragement are always nice though.

Only Brent Sinn and Joe Moyer were ahead of me as I enterd T2. Jesse and Jim were right on me though. In fact, Jesse actually passed me in transition, getting in and out in 19 seconds. I was over 30 seconds in T2. So by the time I hit the trail for the final run, I lost a spot and was in 4th. I felt really good going out. The distance between Jesse in front of me wasn't increasing very much. However, Hannon passed me at 1.4 miles in as I could feel myself slowing down. It wasn't long before Jason Sinnwell passed me. He went on to set the fastest split for run 2, but he wasn't able to catch Hannon. After Jason passed me, I could see back quite a ways and didn't see anyone. I almost wish I had because that would have pushed me a bit. Instead, I slowed down slightly. I knew I wouldn't catch the any of the four J's ahead of me (Jason, Jim, Jesse, or Joe). I figured Brent was going to win as I didn't see him out on the road with a technical or anything like that. I settled in to a pace that hurt, but wasn't unbearable. I finished 6th overall and was 1st in age 35-39. Jeremy Ekman took 2nd in our AG and 3rd went to Todd McCallum of Sioux Falls. The top 10 overall were:

1. Brent Sinn (third straight T-man win, pictured below)

2. Joe Moyer

3. Jesse Nelson

4. Jim Hannon

5. Jason Sinnwell

6. Mario Minelli

7. Jim Robb

8. Brendan Dolan

9. Mederic Hall

10. Julie Hull (1st female)

FULL RESULTS by clicking THIS.