Do You Smell It?

 

 
I believe Mr. Krabs said it best. It’s that time of year. Already. How is it March in two days? Race season is upon us. And that smeary smell that smells, smelly? That’s the start line. And maybe your old gear. That being said, don’t be the athlete who shows up to your first race of the season only to put on your racing flats and discover one of your little piggies is sticking out the side (and if you do have shoes that ave reached their peak milage, shoot us a message about how to donate them at SneakerSavior).  Check your gear before you wreck your year.

1. Wetsuit been sitting in the closet or under your bed the last couple months? Make sure you recharge it before you slide into it race morning. It’s a quick process: Recharge Your Wetsuit.
2. Write down what you need race morning as a check list. Then pack it. Then walk through T1 and T2, taking note of what you need and don’t. You don’t want to be the person in transition hefting around a steam truck of gear nor the one begging for a spare set of goggles. Make sure you have a good goggle defogger too. 
3. On the same note, PRACTICE TRANSITIONS! I’ve been this [YouTube] guy. I’ve been this guy AT THIS EXACT RACE!! DO NOT BE ME! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fok38BMc9Pw   If you don’t do flying mounts/dismounts, then don’t try on race day. Practice, then transition should basically be you on autopilot.
4. Give your bike some much needed TLC. Unless you know what you’re doing, because the line between bike and jet is starting to get blurry, go see the mechanic at your LBS. With all the sweat and sports nutrition products we drip over our rigs, they get pretty grimy. Shifting gets chunky. Wheels begin to resemble strands of DNA. Tires go bald. Take it to the shop for a tune-up. And just take care of your bike in general. Also…dont be the guy who drops into the shop the Thursday before a big race and expect a full overhaul then and there. aim for 10-12 days out. And tip; beer (of the craft variety) and coffee (of the REAL kind, not Starbucks) are A-OK ways to show thanks.
   

   ‘Beer and Coffee’ surprisingly turned up a lot of results very quickly. Apparently that’s a thing. I just picture a lot of hammered people doing things really fast.

5. Simulate a race in training. Make a day where it’s swim-transition-bike-transition-run, even if it’s at 75% and very very short. There’s a lot of changes that happen going from one position to the next. Bike-Run bricks are important, but come race day if you haven’t taken into account that extra time, and caloric deficit, you spend in the water, you’ll have one more thing to worry about on course. In addition, you can test yourself at a training camp, like these! 
6. Speaking of the race sim…practice your nutrition in training. Once you’re about 14 days out, it’s too late to teach your gut a new trick. 
7. Go over the race in your mind, and put it on paper. Some people go through the race breaking it down mile by mile, others by leg, so find what works for you. It’s also a great way to lower pre-race nerves. That includes looking at the race and deciding what equipment you’ll use to match the course/conditions. And if you have a question or need some guidance about your event, talk to a coach. I happen to know a good group of coaches with a very large experience base from both sides of the sport.
   

   This is actually on the newer USAT membership cards

8. Warn…or at least bring up…that you may get out-of-sorts the closer it gets to race day, and afterwards. Don’t take out your freaking out on those that love you. I’ve been that guy too. It’s embarrassing. No one wants to be a triathlon widow.
   

   “Maybe, ‘I’d rather do that anyway’, wasn’t the best response when she told me to go ride my bike instead…”

9. Remember that you chose to do this. Not to take yourself too seriously. And to have fun. 
10. Do a Challenge race!!!! Why wouldn’t you? They’re everywhere. And they’re awesome. And I can get you 10% off if you ask nicely. 

Are you ready?

Challenge Pocono Mountains & Florida are Open!!

From the Challenge Family Americas Facebook page:

“NEWS FLASH! Challenge Pocono Mountains and Challenge Florida will both open for registration on Feb. 2nd! For one week only we will offer an early bird special! Buy one get one registration for 50% off!”

Challenge Poconos registration can be found HERE

Challenge Florida registration is HERE

Don’t miss out on these events. A quick Google search for race reports for Poconos and Florida gets top hits from age groupers and pros like Jesse Thomas and Richie Cunningham.

AAAAAAND…if you shoot me an email or a Facebook message or a smoke signal, I’ll have a special registration code for you. So why wouldn’t you sign up?

 

2014’s Wrap-Up + 2015’s Beginning

It’s pretty common to see athlete’s post their totals for the past year when the time to replace your calendar; it’s become a fitting way to tie up the last 365 days with a little bow. As such, and before I get into the last three weeks’ happenings, here are [most of] mine via Garmin Connect:

Swim: 155 activities ~302 miles ~143:18 hours

Bike: 205 activities ~5853 miles ~345:36 hours

Run: 180 activities ~922 miles ~ 129:24 hours

Total: 555 activities ~7081 miles ~620:40 hours

All that said and done, this new season should eclipse those numbers thanks to the races and distances I’m competing in. I’m not going to lie…I’m stoked to do it. Challenge Atlantic City is just over five months away!!

To start the season and set my baseline, me and the girlfriend raced a little 10k & 50K in Green Cove Springs. I won and shaved about a minute off of my 10k PR (in January no less!), and she placed 3rd in her age group. She was also far less amused at my taking pictures, which only served to make amuse me more. Also, fellow Challenge Triathlon Team member Susan Haag ran the 50k, because…well because that’s just what Susan does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next weekend we had the Challenge Triathlon Team summit here in Jax. Lots of cool stuff, most of which I can’t tell you. What I can tell you is that on Saturday morning we volunteered at the Jacksonville Best Damn Race. And of course that weekend was probably (hopefully) the coldest of the winter. Don’t get confused, even our Canadian teammates wore pants and jackets; it was cold. Giving back to the community and getting to see the sun come up over the St. Johns pretty much made it worth it though.

After summit the girlfriend and I drove up to Atlanta for the week, which also happened to be her ‘birthday week’ -_- Don’t get me wrong though; it was worth it. And aside from traveling into even colder weather, we did get to see downtown Atlanta from the top of the ferris wheel, AND with gas for under 1$/gallon, I can’t really complain.

Up next is the Donna Breast Cancer Marathon. Well…the 5k and half-marathon. Last year I placed 3rd in the 5k. I saw the 1st place finisher cross the tape. There’s a bit of a chip on my shoulder. Plus, I want to see what kind of time I can throw down for an open 13.1 after knocking almost 5 minutes off of my then PR back at Rev3 Venice in November. That’s a 5k Saturday, and a 13.1 Sunday for both me and the GF. Athletes are weird.

Ummmm…What else… Lot’s of swimming. PT school applications and perpetually crossed fingers. And rebuilding treadmill motors. Yes; there was a lot of cursing.

Quick note before signing out: For those of you that haven’t found your groove or need some extra motivation to get off the couch, check out our Peak Racing Team’s GAPS Camp. Late March, and if you’ve never ridden the North Georgia GAPS, you’re seriously missing out as a cyclist/triathlete. Registration is open now, so act on it, because we will sell out. 

 

Also; modern day dinosaur at feeding time