Training and a Season Update

We've jumped into June and it still feels like April with our cold and windy weather!  The training for Ironman Racine 70.3 is going well and Team Motiv8 has had a successful first few weeks of racing.

Craig Weaver and Family wrapped up the Curwood Half Marathon in style!  Craig took 2nd in his Age Group at the Half Marathon distance.  Craig's wife, Susan, took first in her Age Group at the 5k distance and son, Ryan, took first in his Age Group at the 10k distance.  This absolutely shows the underlying reason that Team Motiv8 exists; to help encourage families to be active together!

I raced the Hawk Island Triathlon and the Motor City Triathlon.  At Hawk Island (400m, 10mi, 5k) I raced well but I wasn't as fast as I hoped to be.  In fact, I was about 20 seconds slower than I was last year.  Unfortunately I was about 2 min  30sec out of contentions for an Overall finish; in a sprint distance triathlon that is a fairly big time gap!  I had the disadvantage of working my normal shift (24 hours at the fire department) the day before the race.  So I got off from work at 7am and went straight to the race.  But I finished in 1h 2min  with a 2min/100 swim, 21mph avg on the bike and a 7:10/mi paced run.  A good friend, Adam, did race very well taking a 3rd place OA finish and setting a new PR at that course!

Last Sunday at the Motor City Triathlon (500m, 12mi, 3.44mi) I raced very well!  I set a huge personal best in swimming!  I placed 6th Overall and 1st in my Age Group by over 7 minutes.  I was still about 2 minutes away from a Podium Overall placement, but I am very satisfied with the performance! My swim averaged a 1min/100, biked 22 mph and runs were paced sub 7min/mi.  My biggest advantage came in the swim where we had the help of a 3-4 mph current in the Detroit River - we swam mostly with the current and I used my full wetsuit as the water was a little chilly.  What I find rewarding is that even if I would have experienced my "normal" swim, I still would have placed first in my Age Group.  My bike split was very good and also a race PR for speed.  My run followed suit where I raced a sub 7min/mi for the first time in a triathlon.

This past week was my Peak Week in the Periodization Training Plan for Racine.  So my volume was huge and the speedwork on the run was intense.  I hit a big benchmark in speed training on the run and completed a new 1 Mile Best Effort Run in 5m42s.  I feel like the past 4 years of training and planning and analyzing data are finally paying off.  While my overall training volume is much lower this year than last year, I have trained much more intentionally and spent a lot of time working on form, both in the water and on the run.  Perhaps later this year I'll be able to bring my biking up and show a big break to hit avg speeds of 24mph. 

Racine weighs heavy on my mind every day. I've looking back at race data from last year and trying out more specific nutritional planning.  While I raced well at Racine last year, I know that my nutrition was low on a caloric base and I wasn't properly conditioned for the run.  I cramped up on the run last year, partly due to nutrition/hydration and partly due to a storm that left the run course brutally hot and humid.  Tuesday I will complete my final long distance bike/run session being a full distance brick session.  From there I am only about 3 weeks away from Racine and will wrap up the Peak Training Plan and start my Taper.

After Racine I plan to enjoy the rest of the season with another 70.3 in September for fun, a local triathlon, a marathon and wrap up the year with the largest single mountain biking race in America - the Iceman.

I have to send out a big "Thank You!" to my family and friends who have helped me with training (support and encouragement, watching the girls and so much more).  Becky has always been my biggest supporter!  Marsha at Escapes Spa Therapeutic Massage, Fluid and Trinity Multisports continue to be very supportive sponsors -- You owe it to yourself to be treated the way I have been by visiting them! (Marsha even has a special offer for first time customers if you mention Team Motiv8)  Please do mention Team Motiv8 when you visit or purchase from these sponsors - we get NO kickback from them when you utilize them, but they do like to hear that we are promoting them.

On the personal training front: I have set up a training studio in the PKSA Karate Saint Johns location (this link will take you to their Facebook page - please go 'Like' them.  I hope to start building a solid client base in the St Johns area and still plan to meet others for sessions.  I look forward with great expectations to this next month!  Come out and swim, bike and run with me!

Game Time!

It's game time.  Well, not time to race, but time to train.  20 Weeks until Racine!  My racing plans have taken a definitive shape.  Here's the list:

    4/02 Martian Marathon (Not set in stone yet)
    6/05 Hawk Island Tri - Sprint                  
    6/12 Motor City Tri - Olympic                
    7/17 Ironman Racine 70.3                                      
    7/30 Warrior Dash MI
    8/07 Lansing Legislator - Sprint or Olympic                        
    9/11 Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3                          
    10/15 GR or Detroit Marathon
    11/05 Iceman MTB Race - 27 Miles of Pain!!  

To summarize my off season:  October left me spent.  Grand Rapids Marathon was a great race, but I was secretly glad the season was done.  I had hopes to run an ultra marathon, but I needed the rest.  I decided to take December easy, January came quick and I emphasized strength training and stretching.  I did low volume running and no swimming.  February proved to be a challenge to get back into the groove of training.  Many times I had to really make a mental push to get in the workouts. 

Warm weather is close, here in Michigan, and everyday we see more sunlight earlier in the morning.  I'm ready to go, I'm chompin' at the bit!  

I've registered for the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race.  This was my 3rd year thinking about the race, but every year it sells out within hours of opening registration.  This year I got in, the race sold out in 5 hours with 3700 participants.  I'm pretty excited about this race.

Becky and I will be running the Warrior Dash just after Racine.  I'm excited about this one too, it'll be my first adventure race and it will be super fun to run it with Becky!!  Some good friends ran it last year and came back with stories and pictures that you wouldn't believe, I'm stoked to run this one!

Team Motiv8 is well under way!  We're nailing down our sponsors and creating our tri training classes.  We are also readying our childrens programs.  I can't wait to get in with the kids and talk to them about the importance of making healthy nutritional choices and to encourage them to play (like kids should do).  What a great opportunity that we have!  Check out our website at Team-Motiv8.com We'd love for you to join us and run with us across the finish line.  Watch for us at local races and stop by our tent before and after the event!  There will be good stuff happening at our tent!  

As always, thank you to my girls! Becky, Anna and Sophia - you ARE my world! You inspire me to be a better person every day.

February Totals:

Bike:	10h 29m 48s  - 161.55 Mi
Run:	9h 31m 10s  - 53.5 Mi

April in Review

Photo Shoot with Lisa Taylor for Fluid

April 2010 turned out to be a beautiful month. There's so much change this time of the year; the trees, the grass, the weather... and with that brings the change in focus for training. My first triathlon is a month away. It's a short distance tri that I've run the last 2 years. The course is fun and the atmosphere is great! Then in the middle of July comes Racine 70.3 So next week I will be starting the Build Phase of training.

The Build Phase of training is Moderate to High Frequency, High Duration and Heavy Intensity.  No doubt, a little painful.  This phase lasts 6 weeks and then I'll hit the Peak / Race Phase.  That 2 week time will be the heaviest and most intense training that I've ever done.  I'm rather excited!  I will be starting speed work drills for running and biking.  I've listened to my swim coach and I while I don't think that I'll be much under a 1:45/100yd swim, I do feel like I'll be able to race the swim strong and be able to drop the hammer on the bike and run.  So swim training will be crucial over the next few weeks - making sure that I'm practicing in the open water regularly and doing brick (swim/bike) workouts.

I've been fortunate to have a few friends to train with who truly push me.  Thank you to the family and friends who have encouraged me this past month.  I look forward to the next 6 weeks with a lot of optimism and expectations.  

*A quick side note, we bought Anna new bike with training wheels... then she wanted to 'train' with me in the basement.  So I built a 'trainer' for her bike and painted it green like my Kurt Kinetic Road Machine.  She uses it and loves to workout with me, she even gave Spinervals a run with me last week.  She loves to then go upstairs and tell Mommy - "I'm all sweaty, like Daddy"

As always - I have to give huge thanks to my wife and girls for the love and encouragement that I get from them with this crazy tri thing.

April's totals:
Bike: 16h 34m 15s - 276.87 Mi
Run: 6h 44m 27s - 44.43 Mi
Swim: 4h 22m - 11100 Yd

Go check out Livefluid.com and get yourself the best Muscle Recovery drink on the market.
Thanks to Darryl Evans at Pure Enchantment Photography for doing the Fluid photo shoot - that man has an eye for a great image! He's also on Facebook, you can find more of the Fluid shots on his site!

Hawk Island Triathlon Race Report

Hawk Island Triathlon (Sprint Distance) Race Report and Photo's:

Click on the photo for full size / readable image. A friend from Pure Enchantment Photography took some very sweet pictures. Very good stuff! Go Visit his site.

Good race overall. Now I need to consider my options and plan for the season. I still plan to race the Lansing Legislator, but I need to decide on either the sprint or Olympic distance. Maybe I'll run in one of the T-Rex series races, there are 3 of them... but it's rather expensive :) I still plan to run the Capital City River Run, and then I am planning on the PumpkinMan tri in Las Vegas for November! It's a huge race and should be a ton of fun!!