It was a PB Type Weekend

Another fast weekend of racing by A3 athletes. A weekend that brought a first and many, many PB’s. At IM South Africa Nick opened up his pro career with a brand, spanking new IM PR of 8:48. But not only did he break 9:00 for the first time, knocking a measly 22 minutes of his previous IM PB, he also knocked 6 minutes off his IM marathon PB and did that after riding 112 miles faster than he has ever ridden it before. After dropping several spots early in the run, his steady pace brought him up over seven positions to net him 11th. It was a great hit out as a first time professional in a race.

Do you know what else happened in that race? Mark was racing, trying to avenge his 4th place finish from the year before. Mark rode according to the plan, letting a lot of guys ride past him. His plan netted him an IM bike PB ride dipping under 5:00 for the first time. Starting the run, he was down, way down, just over 13 minutes down in his age group. Seven guys in his age group were closer to the finish line then he was. But when it really matters, in his age group, could he do it on the run, could he pull back :30 per mile to win his age group and secure a Kona spot after riding faster than he has ever in an IM? Not just a few seconds here or there, he had to run 7.5 seconds faster per quarter mile for every single quarter mile of the race to take the lead in his age group. And he had to do it over the guy who won the age group in 2012 by 20 minutes. And so the chase began. 7 guys, just over 13 minutes and the 3k of distance already covered by the leader stood between him and the top step. Mile after mile, the splits came down, the guys in his age group fell to the wayside as he charged along the course. He moved into 6th, then 5th, up to 4th, then into the top 3. The course was getting shorter, the finish line closer. Second, after moving into second one guy stood between Mark and the age group win. With only single digit kilometers between Mark and the finish, with his competitor yet closer to the finish line, he was still minutes back. He continued the chase, the gap was coming down. Instead of :30 per mile it was :30 per km. Could he do it? Under 6k to go and no leader in sight. At 5k to go, up ahead, the age group leader came into view. With just under 4k to go Mark glides by and there is no response. It took a PB in the marathon, a 3:13:28, a marathon that was 10:41 faster than anyone else in his age group and a sub 9:20 time to secure the title. He went from 46th overall off the bike to 27th overall at the finish line. What a great race.

Half a world away, Bill and I toed the start line at the Leadman Tempe Triathlon. It’s always tough when you’ve been on the east coast and Mother Nature has slammed you weekend after weekend with bad weather. It’s hard for guys to come west and race a long course race so early in the season. I’m pretty sure Bill was a little nervous about the power plan I sent him at first glance. Add in sun, a trail run that was technical at parts, one of his first really long bike rides outside, he made a pretty good race taking a top 3 spot in his age group. The results have changed daily since the race, the above link may or may not be accurate. My race turned out well. After resorting to a Jedi swim trick to stay with the wave leader in the swim. The first 1.5 laps consisted of a few of us swapping the lead several times. I just listened to my power meter and rode according to plan with a 2 minute negative split over the back half of the race. While my watts and p/wt ratio are on the small side, just like my biceps, I confirmed that I can go faster then most on less watts thanks to a good position on my bike. My watts per lap were 208, 212, 211, 214 for an AP of 211 and NP of 221, which was lower than everyone I talked with after the race by 15-35w on the AP side. I gave up the lead in the M40-44 age group as I stopped to add nitrogen to the soil around a tree so that it grows up big and strong. With one of the slowest runs in the top 20 I strongly suspect that I was going to give up that lead even if I didn’t stop to pee on a tree. All in all a good day for A3 athletes as we got that early season race out of our way.

Bill and I working on our sunburns

The Calm Before the Season Storms

If last weekend was the opening shots of the start of racing season heard around that world, this weekends races were more of a skirmish. A skirmish there, a big battle here, it matters not. You show up, race fast then sort it out a the end. At the Wildman Triathlon in Florida, Adam and Lora both won their age groups while finishing 5th and 7th overall. Between the time trial the other week and a slightly shorter than Olympic distance triathlon, it’s nice to know that their training is coming along as designed.

Further up north in the south, James earned a full compliment of donuts, 4 exactly. He earned them by winning the Cary Duathlon. The rule is win a race and you can eat them without having to do vo2max intervals for punishment.

Just so all my athletes know, if you win, place second or third overall you can eat 4,3 and 2 donuts respectively. If you win your age group you may have 1 dount. If you have more, or eat donuts when you haven’t won, that’ll cost you 7 extra minutes of vo2 work per donut. I want to clarify one more thing for you guys. Placing top 3 overall in a race or winning you age group gives you 2 and 1 extra whines for the month. But remember, all whining and donuts expire at the end of the month, no rollovers. These are some of the tricks I use to help keep people motivated, keep their eye on the prize and all those other sayings.

I will say good work everyone, and enjoy your donuts.

PBx2=IMAZ

Ironman Arizona is a math equation. Really. Take two athletes, Jeff and Greg. Take what they’ve done, what they want to do, where they are at, plug it into a quadratic equation, divide that answer by the square root of both of their previous IM PB’s added together then divided by three and presto the solution.

Both of these athletes had some specific goals, Greg wanted an overall PB as well as a new PB in each segment. Jeff had the goal of wanting to beat my IM PB. Now a few years ago, Jeff had that same goal. But back then he was a 12:30+ IM dude. Could I turn Jeff from a 11:35 IM guy into a sub 10:57 IM guy? Greg was a 13:10+ IM guy. How much faster could he go, he set a huge half IM PB early in the season, could he do that for IM?

Goals in, solutions out, training done and the final exam. Now that the papers are graded and both athletes have their grade, how did they do?

Greg, knocked off 69 minutes from his record, setting a new IM PB of 12:02. I’d have to say that’s an A for the race, and I think there is room for him to knock off another chunk like that. His new self was only 8k or so ahead of his old self by the end of the race.

Jeff, reduced his PB by exactly 60 minutes going 10:35 and accomplishing his goal of smashing someone’s fastest IM. As a coach I couldn’t be happier about that.

All in all I couldn’t be happier with the whole weekend. Saw some old friends, made some new one’s, connected some circles, formed some dots. The racing went well and the beer tasted good.

Miami Vice or Victory

Fall has arrived, the colors on the trees are changing, a cool breeze is blowing into town. The season is winding down, at least for my North American and EU based athletes. But just because the racing is tapering off, doesn’t mean the results stop.

For the third time this season one of the athletes I coach has finished as the top age group athlete in a 70.3 event. This time it was down in Miami at the Miami 70.3. Upon reaching dry land, Sarah steadily rode and ran her way through her wave and the rest of the age group women. When the dust had settled, she was about a mile ahead of the nearest age group woman.

Who’s #1?

Post race party!

Another BIG Weekend!!!

The Hawaii Ironman has come and gone. What a great race at the front end of both the women and men’s fields! But that wasn’t the only racing going on. Nick was racing, fresh off his recent M18-24 age group win at the 70.3 World Championships. We were looking towards having him climb atop of his second WC podium. He did a ton of work heading into this race, was fitter than he’s ever been and was able to overcome some harsh conditions to go faster than last year, which not many people did.

Last year Nick was 118th overall, a fabulous result for any age grouper at IM Hawaii. This year he crushed it. Nick crossed the line 40th overall, finishing 2nd in the M18-24 age group and as the 11th amateur on the day. He turned in a marathon that was 9 minutes faster than he’s run before. An awesome performance from an athlete with lots of room for improvement.

Nick on the run

Several time zones away Chad was racing at the Rev 3 Anderson Half. he grabbed 5th in his age group on a very hilly, hard half Ironman. This was his first long course attempt this season and it was a good hit out. I suspect he’ll have a few more cracks at this distance next season.

Chad rolling along

In Tucson, Billy finished 2nd in his age group and wrapped up second overall in the Tucson Triathlon series. He was three minutes down after the first race, cut that in half after the second race, but couldn’t quite cut the gap in the third race. This is his best overall series finish in nearly a decade of racing this series. Once again Billy proves getting older doesn’t have to slow you down.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

We’ve all been out when someone wearing a one size fits all article of clothing proves that statement wrong. Most of the time it’s not pretty, even if the person wearing it is.

Meet Chris.

Chris B. exiting the water

He’s one of the newest Accelerate 3 athletes. He was training by an endurance group training plan. Sometimes when you get an athlete and look at their training it’s pretty easy to see where the changes need to be made. In Billy’s case it lots of volume but not race specific work. Once the race specific work started he started PBing his Olympic distance, 70.3’s and IM’s . In Chris’s case he was doing intervals but not at the right intensity levels. His FTP had actually stagnated about 4 months ago and he was doing a lot of hard workouts but not necessarily hard workouts. For him it was a matter of changing how he was doing his intervals, changing the amount of time spent in certain levels, and looking at the data to come up with a power race plan that was actually higher in watts then he would have targeted otherwise.

I’m rather pleased with Chris’s first race as an Accelerate 3 athlete. Some tweaking here, some changing things there and BOOM he is 3rd overall in his first race as an Accelerate 3 athlete!

Chris B – 3rd Overall!

A New Deal 5 for 3!

Five athletes racing this weekend at five different races. Surely it’s not possible that all five would finish in the top three overall is it? Is it? It is!

Kerry kicked off the weekend by grabbing a win at the Fort Desoto Sprint triathlon. She not only won the women’s race, but she also came in third overall. Quite a few dudes got chicked in this race. This may also be the highest a female Accelerate 3 athlete has ever placed overall in the men’s field. There have been a few fourth overall finishes but this may be the first top three overall.

Kerry laying claim to the top spot!

James continued his winning ways, grabbing his third W of the season at the Lake Norman Triathlon. He came into T2 in a dead heat for first place. James blasted out of T2 gaping the competition for the win. This should increase his lead on top of the Inside Out Sport Triathlon Series standings.

James running towards his 3rd Win this season

Chad grabbed third overall at the Rocketman Triathlon using his strong bike to move up towards the top three. He then unleashed his run to grab the final spot on the overall podium. In a few weeks I’ll be looking forward to Chad and James racing each other.

Chad running into the top 3.

Rich snagged second overall at the Red Top Mountain Triathlon. He led out of the water, dropped to second during the bike then used the second fastest run split to hold his position over the field.

Rich locking down 2nd place on the bike

On the opposite coast of the country, Dusty ripped it up at the Santa Barbara Aquabike grabbing third overall. Dusty knocked off just over 8 minutes from this race last year over the swim and bike legs. last year he knocked off 10 minutes from the year before. 18 minutes over two years. That’s a huge amount of time and a testament to what happens when you go out and do the work.

Dusty in TT mode

A great weekend of racing by this group of athletes. 5 races, 5 states and 5 overall podiums. Not a shabby weekend of racing at all.

IM NYC – BOOM

IM NYC, one of the high profile IM races of the year. There was a lot of hype surrounding this race. It’s held in one of the highest profile cities in the world. 2500 of your closest friends all getting onto a ferry at 3am. To do an Ironman.

Doug boards the ferry for his first IM. The finish is only eight blocks from his house. This is his home course. His family was there, his friends were there, even his neighbors were there cheering for him.

The gun goes off and it’s soon obvious that the current is helping 2500 triathletes set a PB in the swim. After boarding his bike Doug follows the power plan perfectly, riding within 2 watts of his targeted wattage. This deposits him at T2 in 417th place. But never fear, Doug can run. Only 9 people in the entire race out ran him, pro’s included. He moved up 342 overall places on the run to finish 75th overall. He passed one person on average every 150 meters of the run. He can run faster then you can drive if you’re trying to flee to the Hampton’s on a Friday. From 89th in the M35-39 to 15th at the end of the race with a 9:59:06 while posting the fastest run in his age group by over 7 minutes. Breaking 10 hours, setting a top 10 overall run split and running faster then anyone else in your age group isn’t too shabby for your first crack at the distance. Nicely done Doug.

Doug starting the run

Chad continued his winning ways. He turned on the heat during the bike leg posting the fastest bike split of the day on his way to grabbing 5th overall and winning the M25-29 AG at the Mountain Lakes Triathlon in Al.

Chad Beginning the Run

Across the state line in GA, Rich, in his first race back since IMTX grabbed 4th overall and 1st in the M35-39 AG in the fourth race of the Tri in the Parks Race Series. Not a bad way to start the second half of your season.

Rocking the 70.3 podium

This past weekend saw some rather fine performances by Accelerate 3 athletes. Kerry grabbed 2nd in her age group at the Heartland Triathlon in Florida. She missed out on winning her age group by :13. She used the fastest run in her age group and the third fastest women’s run to almost close completely a 3:17 gap over 5k.

Across the pond Nick won his age group at the UK 70.3 and now has his tickets punched for the Vegas 70.3 championship race and Kona. His race start and therefore finish was a bit iffy due to a car smashing into him almost a month ago. He raced with a still separated shoulder. For those of you not familiar with this race, it’s one of the hardest half Ironman’s on the the 70.3 circuit.

Flying past his AG competitors

In the swim he was that guy, you know the guy way, way on the outside swimming away from everyone to protect his shoulder. He moved into second in his age group on the bike. Then on a very hard run track he unleashed a half IM PB run to grab his first AG 70.3 win and finish as the 10th age group athlete on the day. He erased a 4 minute gap less then halfway through the run. His 1:25 was 10 minutes faster then the next fastest run in the M18-24 age group.

Nick crossing the finish line for his first AG 70.3 Win!

Bust your Balls in Asheville NC at Tri Camp!

Accelerate 3 coaching is excited to announce in conjunction with HD Coaching a four day triathlon camp held in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, NC. Join us July 12-15, 2012 for some of the best cycling and running on the east coast.

We’ll cover a mix of flat and rolling roads with some stout climbs thrown in to test your legs. Come pick our brains, ask us all the questions you always wanted to but never have. Join your fellow athletes and campers for a 4 day training extravaganza.

Bikes ready to roll at camp

Asheville has been called home by pro riders such as Ted King, Davide Frattini, Lauren Tamayo with current resident pros John Murphy (Kenda), Ally Stacher (Lululemon/Specialized), Johnny Clarke (UHC) and Tour de France Veteren Brent Bookwalter (BMC). These pros, along with the many top amateurs, know that the combination of mild year round weather, low traffic and terrain that ranges from flat riverside roads to 12 mile steady climbs make for some of the best on-bike preparation of anywhere in the country. During camp we’ll be riding some of the same roads and climbs that were once covered in the famous Tour DuPont.

Asheville is also home to 100’s of miles of running and hiking trails. The running trails range from very technical single track on the Mountains to Sea trail, to groomed double and easy single track on the Bent Creek Experimental forest and DuPont National Forest preserve. We’ll be taking a little break from pounding pavement to explore some of these areas.

Outside of training, Asheville has one of the most vibrant and diverse food cultures in the south. It has also been declared Beer City USA for the last 4 years. If you are into that sort of thing, there are over 12 different Breweries in and around the area for you to explore and most recently Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Oskar Blues have decided to open up their East Coast operations in the area. Don’t explore too much, since there will be no mercy for any hangover induced grousing.

What is included? 4 days of training in and around beautiful Asheville NC. Pool access, daily rides and runs, swim stroke analysis, dinner one night as a group. Please be prepared to ride and run 4x per camp and swim 3x.

Swimming at triathlon camp

Who is it for? This camp is geared towards intermediate to advanced multisport athletes.

What is not included? Lodging and most meals are not included. You will also need to bring at least 2 spare tubes and the knowledge on how to change them. We will have support during the camp but that is not a guarantee that support will be next to you when you need it the most.

What is the cost? Camp cost is $450. Current Accelerate 3 and HD Coaching athletes are offered a discounted rate, please contact your coach. Athletes are responsible for their own hotel and food costs. Accelerate 3 and HD coaching will be providing a BBQ dinner one night during camp for participants. Participants are required to be USAT members per insurance requirements. Please contact accelerate3@gmail.com for further inforomation.