No Mans land of February

So it is February...

Eh

Usually by this time in the winter everyone hates the cold, is tired of the snow and is about as pale as a ghost.  The same is mostly true for this winter except the snow mountains.. or any snow for that matter.  If nature is reading this it could definitely send us some and make me happy!
Back to the point.
It is the middle of winter with no snow and nothing too exciting is happening.  The little hope we have is spring break lingering in the almost reachable distance.  At this point it is one of those "so close but so far away" things.   My eye is on San Diego and the Super seal Triathlon.  As for now I get to look forward to class and tests. 

Training is going well. I actually don't have much else to say so am filling space ;) This is the boring crap. Cycling is strong right now with finally breaking my bike test PR.  It has taken a long time to do it so I am relieved to finally see progress.  After a little IT band flare up a few weeks ago things are back to normal.  Coach decided to dial back running a little to be on the cautious side and keep healthy.  At the moment I am in a swim stroke funk but that will hopefully get worked out soon.  The 4th sport of lifting is going well.  Lifting is something I have not been very consistent with in the last few years and hope some consistency will start to show gains. 

The nutrition experiment!

Last week I had the light bulb flashing moment.  Lets see what I can do to zone in on nutrition.  After twisting Ellen's arm and maybe in the end paying her with a bike she agreed to help.  This week I am going into the Bod Pod to measure body composition and doing a metabolic test.  After this we are going to start tweaking things so maybe I can get a little more out of my workouts and recover better.  It is exciting to think about getting so in-depth with nutrition.  You are what you eat, right? More to come on the experiment when we figure out how my body is functioning right now!

Random picture from the College of Design.  Must have been some pretty strong fertilizer!

First ITU Race

Last weekend I headed out to Buffalo for the Nickel City Triathlon.  This would serve as my first ITU draft legal race and see if the style of racing fits me.

Headed out there late Thursday and chilled most of the day Friday.  Had some great food at a place called Anchor Bar with my parents as my pre-race meal.  The race was not until 2:00 in the afternoon so it was nice to sleep in and hang out in the morning before heading to the race site.

Going into the race I had no expectations and 2 goals: be able to finish (not get lapped out) and not get last place.  The goals were not too lofty but with a new format and not knowing how things would play out I was just getting my feet wet with this one.

Mission accomplished: 65 guys on the start line- 46 finished and I placed 38th.
Results here: http://www.score-this.com/ResultFiles/20110924NCTMResults.pdf

I was pretty much dead last heading out on the run but had an ok run and picked off some guys.

My weakness is the most obvious right from the gun.  I was damn slow in the water.  The full second loop I was all alone and was kicking myself for not finding some feet.  This set me up for getting caught in the tail end of riders.  I was between a pack of 15 guys in front and 3 behind me.  After the first lap I could tell I was not gaining any time so sat up and hoped to work with the group behind to make up time.  We didn't make up much time but at least I was not dumb and TT'd the whole thing.  We almost got lapped but luckily were able to finish and get onto the run.  For a bit of the first lap I was running in last but then started to pick off some guys.  Ended up 38th.

My education: SWIM FASTER.  Thats it-  Dont find feet or get in a decent pack and thats it.  So back to the pool!

Need to throw a huge thanks to Ruster Sports for their Hen House bike case.  It got my bike there SAFE and CHEAP.  If you dont know about these you should check out their website or follow them on FB or Twitter.
Only cost me $50 round trip as a single checked bag to get the bike there.  No more $150 each way bull crap.

Another thanks to DiscountTriSupply.com for all their help with gear.  Check out their end of season sales and save some $$$.

Now it's time to get back to studying and prepping for Myrtle Beach in 2 weeks.

Enjoy the fall weather because it will soon be winter!

Copper Creek

A few weeks ago I participated in a local sprint tri called Copper Creek.  For being a small local race it has some pretty steep competition.  IM professional TJ Tollakson had won it two years in a row and other local  stud racers like Chris, Matt, Adam etc always show up.  I was pretty nervous going into it since the last time I raced TJ he blew me out of the water.

My strategy for this one was simple.  Dont let TJ get away on the bike.  He is one of the best in the business on the bike and could easily put 1+minutes on anyone in a super short race.   The strategy ended up working and I got off the bike about even with him and was able to put together a good run to take the win.

Up next is Lifetime in 2 weeks.  First time racing with a HUGE pro field so we will see how the nerves hold up.

Big thanks to Discounttrisupply.com, Multisport Mastery, Ruster Sports, Krueger Chiropractic and everyone else who is helping me out this year.  Couldn't do it without you!

Picture thanks to Adam Wilson

The Kyle's crew!

Slap hands

Report from Trinona

Last weekend I headed up to Winona Minnesota for the Trinona triathlon.  This was not a race I had heard much about and did not know much about the area.  I was definitely in for a treat.  It was a great small town feel with some amazing scenery.

The race is relatively new but wow they did a great job.  What was interesting about this race was the "Battle for the Bluff" challenge.  The challenge is a separate split time for a mile long climb up a bluff in the middle of the ride. Lets just say I was a little nervous about how that would leave me for the rest of the race.  

As the second race of the season there were still a lot of "what ifs" about where my fitness was and a lot of pre-race nervousness.  Not a whole lot of thought went into pacing, race specifics or who the competition was.  Although there were a few names that I had either never beat or knew would most likely take it all. Most of my thought was geared toward the basics like transitions not making any stupid mistakes.

The race was absolutely gorgeous.  While riding to the race site there was some thick fog over the lake and surrounding bluffs.  While burning off there were spots where the sun was really bright and others that still had the grey haze.  Once the sun was out the weather could not have been better.  We were blessed with perfect temps and sun.

The strategy was similar to Pigman:  get out fast and hold on.  I swam my fastest split ever and then topped it off with a 45 second run pr.  By not thinking much about the uncontrollable parts of the race, such as who else was on the line and how hard the ride might be, my mind was where it needed to be.  Mostly I just didn't mess anything up too bad and had a good result come from it.

I crossed second after David Tompson tore it up.  I knew my result was pretty good as I had kept the distance about the same on the run with the guy behind me.  It wasnt until later that found out I had 2 PR's and ended up having the fastest split up the bluff.  I do, however, owe that to the riding I did in Italy.  Lets just say there are some more hills there than in Iowa.  The State Fair Crit may have also helped out a little as well.

It was awesome to be able to spend the weekend with my parents and Aunt Joanie.  It is nice to be able to hang out with them every once in a while.

I need to thank everyone else who is helping me reach my goals;  Discounttrisupply.com for supplying me with gear, Kruger Chiropractic for getting me back to 100% after injury, Multisport Mastery for being the brains of the operation, Ruster Sports and Kyle's Bikes.

Next up is Copper Creek!  

Exciting news!

There are two awesome things that I am very excited to talk about!

1) I have recently added TJ Tollakson's Ruster Sports as a sponsor of mine! With my upcoming trip to Europe and 2011 racing plans it was time to see how I could start saving some money while flying my bike. After contacting TJ I was very excited to hear that he would be interested in partnering with me. This is one of my first relationships with a company and am excited to see how we can help each other out.

In a few days I will be writing again about my first experience with the Hen House!! Very exciting.

Take a look at TJ's innovative products at: http://www.rustersports.com/

2) Rome!!! Thursday morning at 9:55am I will be leaving the country until May 12. I am doing the ISU Rome study abroad for the architecture program. This is going to be an awesome and hopefully life changing experience. My bike is coming with me and my training will continue as normal (hopefully!). I am hoping to be able to see a lot and understand how things differ from the American way of life.

Wish me luck!