Dangle the Carrot ... An Endurance Sports Blog

And Just When You Thought Hollywood Was Out of Original Ideas ...

2012-01-30T16:26:00.000-06:00

... They completely redeem themselves!

Chiller TV brings you - Bunnyman!

Wednesday, Feb. 1st at 8pm EST:

Seriously, it is about a killer dressed as a Bunny. I cannot make this shit up - watch the trailer. Thank me later.

Jeff

Running is Perplexing ...

2012-01-23T22:15:00.001-06:00

Last Sunday I ran the Houston Marathon (will get a RR up one of these days) with my wife, Annie. My job was to be the pacer and push her to a PR so in order to not be tempted to run harder the timing chip was removed from my bib. Mission accomplished as Annie crossed the finish line in 4:07, which was a 7+ minute PR. Since the pace was around 9:20 for the 26.2mi my legs felt fine. I did not taper at all for the marathon and just treated it as my weekly long run. I ended up running 63.22mi last week and was ready to take on the next week.

Monday (day after marathon) is my normal rest/recovery day so I took it as an off day. On Tuesday the schedule called for 9mi with 5x600s @ 5k pace. I crushed it - the pace for the 600s was 5:38 and I ended up logging a total of 9.6mi. Wednesday was an easy 5mi recovery run and Thursday was 14mi at a general aerobic pace (8:45/mi). Friday was supposed to be 10mi but we had our Tri Club Year End Banquet so due to time constraints was only able to log 6mi. The legs were feeling great going into the scheduled 13mi run for Saturday morning. It was a hot (75*) and humid morning (96%) but the 13mi clipped by quickly. All was good, until Sunday ...

This was a big day. The training plan had me doing 18mi with 12mi @ marathon pace. I needed to nail this run as it is the last marathon paced run at this distance. I picked out a fast and safe area to do the run and was set to go. You'd think on January 22nd that the temperature would not be 72* at 8am with 97% but this was the weather so I just brought some extra EFS Drink. I was prepared to hurt but had no idea it would be this bad.

Long story short: I did it - 7:02/mi pace for the 12 miles.

It sucked, bad. I wanted to slow down and quit pretty much the entire run but kept pushing. I needed this run and when I finished, felt awful.

The car was parked next to a Starbucks. My bottles were empty so I went inside and got a big bottle of water and a coffee. I sat down at a table and could not move. It took me a few minutes to get the plastic cap off of the water bottle. It was ugly.

Not sure how long I was sitting there? It could have been 5 minutes or 30 minutes, sort of a blur. Finally got some water in me and chased it with coffee and managed to waddle out to the car and head home.

Walked in the door and told Annie that I had finally broke myself. I had hit my goal pace but the run had physically defeated me.

I spent the rest of Sunday laying around watching Football and feeling like absolute ass. I've had some difficult days training and racing but this was one of the worst. With some travel for work scheduled this coming week the training plan changed to have a 10mi recovery run today (Monday). By Sunday night I had decided that based on how I was feeling my body needed and extra day or maybe even two days.

Until I got home from work this afternoon and decided to go to Run Club and just do an easy 5mi. I figured that these 5 miles were going to be awful but something happened this evening ... best run in weeks?

I ended up doing 10mi and felt absolutely wonderful the entire time. Strong, powerful, fast. A mere 12-hours earlier I was thinking of never running again and my body and mind were fractured.

Isn't it amazing how something as simple as running can crush your soul one day and put you on top of the world the next? Perplexing and Exhilarating, all at the same time.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Sh*t Cyclists Say ...

2012-01-22T15:03:00.000-06:00

I am loving all these "Sh*t ______ Say" videos on YouTube.

This one is brilliant:

Jeff

Olympic Trials Pics ...

2012-01-18T16:31:00.000-06:00

Saturday was the Olympic Marathon Trials and we were lucky enough to have front row seats for all the action. Annie snapped off over 180 pictures and instead of putting each one up on the blog Click Here to see them in a Picassa Album!

Enjoy

Jeff

Olympic Trials & Houston Marathon

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend is just packed full of runner activities!

The US Marathon Olympic Trials are being held in Houston on Saturday morning. This means all the fast kids are coming to play!

A group of us are headed down to get a glimpse of the future Olympians. The course set-up is quite different from the normal Houston Marathon course. It will be three loops and another smaller loop around the Convention Center:

This means the race will pass us by 4 times and we will still be able to cut over to the finish line to see the winners. Very spectator friendly set-up and we are all excited to see what real speed looks like.

Wish you could be here?

I got your back.

Even if you are not cool enough to live or be visiting the Great State of Texas I, along with an assist from The Twitter (@JeffIrvin), will make sure to give you tons of live coverage. I will be live tweeting all the action along with pictures and tons of snarky comments. So follow me on The Twitter and start looking for updates around 8:00AM CST.

After the trials we are going to head over to the Expo to pick-up our race packets for the Houston Marathon that is happening on Sunday. Yep, you read that right I typed "our" race packets because I am now running in the Marathon.

Originally I planned on being a spectator and the official cheering team for Annie but a spot opened up and she asked me if I would pace her. AND my training plan calls for a long run of 22mi that day so I figured why not? This is going to be just a training run but with like 25K other runners. Going to try and pace Annie to a 4:10ish time!

Then to wrap up the fun filled Saturday, Annie and I have been invited to attend the Brooks Running party to celebrate the Brooks athletes that have made the Olympic Squad! This should be a really good time and we are planning on taking a bunch of pictures. However, it will have to be an early night as we have to be in our corral by 6:40am the next morning!

Brooks Running

Then Sunday morning it is race time and hopefully a new PR for my lovely wife Annie!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

2011 In Review ...

2012-01-12T10:46:00.000-06:00

I have always been a big fan of taking an analytically approach when determining how a race season went. Sometimes it is very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind and not look at the big picture. The overall training numbers can give you an idea of where a deficiency may have occurred and help with setting goals in the future. For me, I like to go back and review my race reports and compare side-by-side with the raw training data. The correlation between the two is usually spot on in terms of results.

2011 was a different type of year for me as the main goal was Ironman Texas, which occurred on May, 21st. I spent the majority of my time in the saddle for the first five months of the year which led right into IMTX.

2011 Training Review:

After a successful Ironman I experienced a case of the Ironman Blues. Training became some thing I wanted nothing to do with and every session was a struggle (see June in the graph below). I had the Rev3 Half Rev at Cedar Point in September but spent hardly anytime in the saddle and almost zero time in the pool. However, I had rediscovered my love of running and that is how the majority of the second half of 2011 was spent.

As you can see from the total training numbers both the swim (45mi less then 2010) and bike (900mi less then 2010) were way down but I increased my run volume by over 600mi from 2010. In 2010 my total time spent training was 457hrs, in 2011 that time stayed statistically flat at 451hrs. In terms of training time I am quite consistent.

2011 Total Training Volume:
- Swim: 72h 23m - 164594 meters (102.24mi)
- Bike: 149h 43m - 2,792.55mi
- Run: 229h 02m - 1,572.45mi
Totals: 451h 08m - 4,467.24mi

This graph below really tells a story of two completely different seasons. First half of the year training was as a triathlete, the second half of the year as a runner:

Click to enlarge

Overall I am pleased with the way training for 2011 ended. My total volume for the bike and swim were down but considering over 90% of the volume for the bike and swim were done in only 5 months then it is actually really good.

With my focused turned to running in the second half of the year I am extremely pleased with this training. My speed and endurance are at levels never before thought possible and would not have been realized without doing a concentrated block of run training.

2011 Racing Review

Going into this year the one goal was Ironman. Based on that criteria 2011 was a success. After that I PR'd the 70.3 distance at Cedar Point and continued on to PR every running race after that as well. As my running volume increased in training the correlation was apparent in decreasd race times. I had a goal of going sub-5hrs in a 50K and did that with a 4:39 race at the beginning of November. Then another goal of going sub-1:30 in a half marathon was accomplished the very next weekend at San Antonio (1:29).

Here is a recap (with race reports) of the entire 2011 race season if you have a couple of hours to kill at work!

Total Races: 11

Total Running Races: 7
- 5k: 1
- 5Mi: 1
- 10k: 0
- 10Mi: 1
- Half Marathon: 3
- Marathon: 0
- 50K: 1

Total Triathlons: 4
- Sprint: 1
- Olympic: 0
- Half Ironman: 2
- Ironman: 1

Total PRs: 8

2011 Race Reports:
- LaPorte Half Marathon
- Run Thru the Woods 5mi Turkey Trot
- San Antonio RnR Half Marathon
- Rocky Raccoon 50K Trail Run
- 10 for Texas Race Report
- Rev3 Cedar Point Half Rev
- Tejas Sprint Tri
- Ironman Texas Race Report
- Galveston 70.3 Race Report
- BridgeFest 5K
- USA Fit Half Marathon Race Report

Moving Forward to 2012

Goal #1 for this year will be to Boston Qualify at The Woodlands Marathon on March 3rd. I am continuing only run training until that time. On March 5th the new #1 goal changes to Ironman Mont-Tremblant and the bike and pool are going to become intimate friends once again.

In term of overall volume, I am not setting any volume goals because I am not sure how the year will finish out. If I am unable to BQ in March then another attempt will be made at the St. Jude's Memphis Marathon on December 4th and this will require strict run training once again. If I do BQ in March, then the Memphis Marathon will be nothing more then a long, slow training day and the second half of 2012 will be spent getting stronger on the bike.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Calling Bullshit on CrossFit Endurance

2012-01-06T10:50:00.001-06:00

A couple of days ago the February issue of Runner's World arrived in the mail. I saw they had a preview of the Olympic Marathon Trials and since I will be attending this year, began to page through the issue.

However, I stopped on page 46 at the article titled:

Totally Fit: Devotees of an intense new training regimen say you don't need long runs to train for distance running - By Selene Yeager

This article is all about CrossFit Endurance (CFE) and how it can replace your normal running routine. If you are asking what CrossFit Endurance is click here to read more. Here is the description from Ms. Yeager from the article:

"...CrossFit Endurance (CFE), a high-intensity, low-volume training plan that blends CrossFit conditioning (i.e., heavy, explosive strength training) with sprints, time trials and tempo workouts. Goodbye, long runs. CFE reduces mileage to as much as one-quarter the average of a typical marathon program."

That sounds glorious! Sign me up ...

Now I am very aware of what CF and CFE are and actually think they are very solid programs for maintaining a fit and balanced lifestyle. In fact, before I became an endurance athlete, I was very involved with P90X and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts which encompass many of the same principles of CF. These types of workouts made me very fit and I looked better with my shirt off doing these workouts then I do now. I will make that concession right now - CrossFit makes you more buff than running!

You know what these workouts did not do? Make me a better long distance runner.

Maybe I am old school or maybe I am just skeptical of snake oil? I believe it takes more then 6mins to get ripped up abs and have experienced first-hand how increased volume can lead to increased performance. CFE takes the principle of Specificity and stands it on its head. They say get stronger and get faster by not running all that much - this is just plain wrong.

Am I suggesting that weight training has no benefits to runners? Absolutely not.

What I am suggesting is that if you have 8hrs a week to train for a marathon that time would be much more beneficial if used for running as opposed to dead lifting empty beer kegs. The principles of CFE disagree with this according to the last line of the above citation, "Goodbye, long runs. CFE reduces mileage to as much as one-quarter the average of a typical marathon program."

Now to give Ms. Yeager credit, this is not a complete fluff piece. Aside from looking for advice on the RW Forum, she does go the extra step and interview a CFE enthusiast (James Herrera) who slightly contradicts the opening of the CFE article with this statement:

"I'm a firm believer in HIIT, but I still feel a runner - especially a new runner - has to cover about 75 percent of the distance in training for a marathon to prepare for those elements."

Okay, now that I have given my thoughts on CFE I want to talk about what stood out to me that wasn't in the article: Race Results from those training exclusively using CFE.

Usually when we are being sold a new "kind" of training/regimen/product we always are shown the successes. Maybe this got cut from the RW article? Maybe the writer chose to just focus on the idea and left out the results?

Or maybe these impressive race results just do not exist?

I did some searching online and over the CFE website and found a couple of CFE blogs and nothing was really impressive in terms of race times. I hate to sound like an elitist but I found a couple of 4+hr marathons and 6+hr 50ks but nothing considered fast. I am not trying to downplay the success of those who accomplished these races but would really like to see some proof from the CFE camp that this type of training does work.

So I guess my question is if CFE is so wonderful then why are the results not being pimped all over the internet? Why can I not find any pro runners or triathletes who are preaching CFE? Was Chuck Norris unavailable for the infomercial?

So tell me, what are your thoughts on CFE? Have you tried it and do you believe it can replace traditional marathon training like suggested in the article? And Mr. CF cult member, please show me some fast results.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Texas Half Marathon Race Report - 3rd Place Overall

2012-01-02T11:44:00.000-06:00

New Years Day - 1/1/2012

Annie and I had decided to run in the Texas Half Marathon early in 2011 after a few of our friends had raced it. The race is in our hometown of Kingwood and only allows in 650 racers (300 Marathon, 350 Half Marathon) so we signed up early as it always fills up.

One thing we did not think of when we signed up was that we usually celebrate New Years Eve with a group of friends and this year it was at our house! Everyone showed up with tons of food. We ate like it was our last meal. I was out of control with my food consumption but that was okay because I washed it down with beer. Every so often one of my friends would remind me that I had a race in the morning, my response was to eat another cookie!

Then around midnight the real fun began:

Just a small sampling of our Fireworks!

Then my cul-de-sac morphed into what looked like WWIII:

After all the festivities and clean-up Annie and I ended up in bed just shy of 2am. The 5am alarm came rather fast.

Annie and I slowly woke up and got ready to go run. I jumped on the scale and my weight was showing 162.2 lbs. I had weighed in at 155 lbs the morning before!! This was going to be a long morning!

We drove over to a grocery store about a mile from the race start and met up with some friends. The plan was to do an easy run over to the race start - we all slowly walked!

A few minutes before the race Dave, Bobby and me went for a brisk 1.2mi run to just loosen up a little and my legs were actually feeling better than I had guessed. A positive sign?

The Race:

Dave, Bobby, and me lined up in the front row and decided to go out hot and then just hang on for as long as possible. I really wanted to practice running even splits and decided to go for around a 6:45-6:50 pace. Bobby wanted to break his PR of 1:42 and Dave wanted to break his PR of 1:40. My goal last week was to beat my 1:29:30 PR but as of this morning that goal changed to just not pooping myself.

The course was a 6.55 out and back that we would run twice. The marathoners had started 15mins before us and had to do the out and back four times. The course was on the paved greenbelt trails so my biggest concern was that once we caught the marathoners the course was going to get quite congested as the trails are about the size of a normal sidewalk.

The gun went off and two skinny fast guys jumped out ahead of myself and Dave. They looked the part of fast runners and the opening mile proved just that! Dave had decided to run with me for as long as he could as he sometimes has trouble with pacing on longer runs and would let me and my garmin help him. My goal was to settle in after the first couple of miles and save something in the tank for a strong finish.

We were about two miles in and Dave and I were running next to each other, he was setting the pace, and we were in 3rd place. I looked down at the Garmin and we were averaging 6:00min/mi. Here is how the conversation went:

Jeff: "Umm, Dave, you know we have to do two loops right?"
Dave: "yeah?"
Jeff: "Well, we are averaging 6min miles, that is unsustainable buddy!"
Dave: "Maybe we should back off a little?"
Jeff: "Maybe."

It was at about 3mi in we started to catch the BOP marathoners. Dave and I ran single file from this point on and took turns pulling. A short little out and back and then another turn around put us in the heart of the marathoners and things started to get tight. We went through one rather large pack yelling, "passing on your left". After we got through it Dave looked back at me and said he felt like Jerome Bettis going through tackling drills! It was quite the apt description!

At one point we went around a lake and started our way back towards the finsh line/turn-around point. They had a water station setup here and right after that you made a 90 degree turn. It was at this point a young handicapped girl in a wheelchair pulled out right in front of Dave and I. He was in front of me and I saw him jump before I even saw her. He literally went right over top of her and, luckily, landed safely without making any contact with her. My reaction was to take a large side step behind her and while doing this I actually spun in a circle as to keep my balance missing her by a hair. When I landed my left quad got a shooting pain and it hurt like hell. Dave and I both immediately turned around and saw that the young lady had made it through unscathed, in fact, we think she didn't even notice us. Disaster averted! Whew!

My quad loosened back up and we sprinted back to the turn around to begin out second loop. We were still in 3rd and 4th place as we started the second lap.

The remaining miles were pretty uneventful as we pretty much just zig-zagged in and out of the other runners. For the most part the slower runners were very respectful of those of us going faster and stayed to the right. A couple of times I made some contact while passing but none of it was intentional or purposeful.

By mile 9 I could tell Dave was starting to tire just a little so I told him to just hang on my shoulder as long as he could. We hit the little out and back section and I saw the guy in second and we had made up some serious ground on him. It was at this point that I decided to give all I had left and really kicked it in for the final 5k. Dave told me to just go and a started the chase.

The last 2 miles hurt pretty good but I just kept pushing. I never caught the guy in 2nd but ended up finishing with a new PR of 1:27:50 and in 3rd Place Overall. He finished about a minute in front of me.

Dave came in at 1:30 smashing a new PR by 10mins and Bobby came in at 1:36 which was a fantastic 6min PR.

After I hit the finish line I continued along and was presented with the biggest and best finishers medal you will ever see:

1.5 Kilo Texas Marathon Finishers Medal!

Just how big is 1.5 Kilos?

Next to a Garmin 310xt!

Making the Ironman Texas Medal look like a nickle!

Dinking Bailey the Pug who is 27lbs!

This race was my type of race: Small (650ppl), local (5mi from house), Unique Swag (Medal and Pig), and very laid back. The course was technical but extremely well marked and organized. Annie and her friend Jenn took it easy for the 1/2 distance and had a great time too. We plan on doing this one next year again!

Thanks to Steve Boone for putting on a wonderful event and a huge thanks to Metal Sawing Technology (local company) for sponsoring the race and providing us with the awesome medals!

Final Results (Not posted yet, will update when they are up):

Jeff Irvin

Texas Half Marathon

January 1st, 2012

1:27:50

6:42 Pace

3rd Place Overall

Every year at this race they have a different animal for the theme that they place your finishing position on! This was the year of the Pig:

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Thoughts on Advanced Marathoning ...

2011-12-30T12:00:00.001-06:00

Last year around this time I was in the middle of Ironman Training and not really enjoying running all that much (all that much = not at all). With the increased training workload I was finding each run to be mentally and physically exhausting. I needed help.

Knowing I had four more months of Ironman training I started to look for answers as to why doing something I once loved had become such a chore? Was it just the accumulated volume that was weighing on me or was it something else?

So I hit the endurance message boards and over and over again people were recommending a book called, Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger. I downloaded it an begun to dig in!

The opening of the book tells you that you can basically skip over all written chapters and go right to the training plans in the second half of the book.

This is what I did.

The back section included three weekly volume training plans presented in the form of: 55miles per week, 70miles per week, and 70+ miles per week. You could choose a 12 or 18 week version of these three plans.

My first reaction was that the "easy" plan was 55mpw!!! People do that? I was in the middle of Ironman training and was usually around 30-35mpw and this felt like a lot. Triathlon had been my focus over the last few years and I never realized how much went into stand alone marathon training. Ignorance was bliss, I guess?

Instead of pushing the book aside I decided to do something drastic - read the first half!

I sat down and started in and the book basically explained what the training plans would accomplish. Chapters on nutrition, training, and recovery all presented in a clear and concise manor made me realize something - I knew very little about running, especially for the marathon distance!

It also answered the questions I was having about my lack of desire to strap on the sneakers: I really had no idea what the hell I was doing! This book changed the way I attacked each run and made me think in terms of "why" each run was being done and what it would accomplish. Pfitzinger also made it easier for me to understand what I needed to be eating before and after workouts and how glycogen levels were integral to performance. Even though this book is for marathoners the principles covered really applied to all forms of endurance sports so it got applied to my Ironman training.

After all this information was absorbed I decided that after Ironman was done a serious attempt at running a Boston Qualifying time was going to happen and one of Pfitzinger's plan was going to be my guide.

Fast-forward to today and I am over half-way through the 18wk/70mpw plan. Over the first 10 weeks of this plan my running performance has increased to levels once never thought possible. Now do not misunderstand, this plan is not easy and definitely not for everyone. I'd recommend you have a solid volume base in endurance sports over a couple of years. Just for a reference of the amount of work required, for the month of December I have ran 252 miles and over 650 miles the last three months.

But if you are serious about getting faster at the marathon distance and the training volume above seems realistic then you should probably check this book out.

Click Here to see my 18wk/70mpw plan on a Google Spreadsheet. I also included my recommended training paces.

Happy Running and Happy New Years!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Looking Ahead ...

2011-12-28T14:44:00.000-06:00

Over the last few weeks quite a few bloggers have already planned a lot of races for 2012. I had done this as well a couple of months ago but have since changed my mind!

I've decided to do a lot less racing this year and focus on only two "A" races. The main reason for this re-calibrated mindset is that I want to get faster. Over the years when significant speed increases have been realized one factor has always been the same: Consistent Training with Purpose.

That will be my goal for 2012: Consistent Training with Purpose!

2012 Race Schedule:

- Texas Half Marathon (Jan 1st): This race falls right in the middle of my 18-Wk Marathon Training plan and allows me to gauge fitness. The goal is to go as hard as humanly possible so I can use the results to set the training paces for the remainder of marathon training.

- The Woodlands Marathon, "A" Race #1(March 3rd): This will be my first stand-alone marathon and I am ~~foolishly~~ attempting to Boston Qualify. I am 36 years old and with the new 2012 qualifying standards it means I need to run a sub-3:10. Based on current fitness, training, and my last few races all the pace calculators say I am very close to being able to hit the qualifying standard. BUT it is going to take eight more weeks of consistent, purposeful training to get below the 3:10 mark. AND if Kevin decides to come race we will be shooting for sub-3:05 since he is a youngster!

- Kemah Olympic Triathlon (April 29th): This race will occur 8-weeks into Ironman Training and be used to get back into racing Triathlon and, more importantly, assess swim and bike fitness. If my swim and bike are struggling then my plan can be adjusted to account for these deficiencies. I have also learned that Long Course training can really beat on you over time and sometimes it is just good for the soul to go out and race.

- Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3 (June 24th): This legendary race on the 70.3 circuit is one I have been wanting to do and it coincidentally falls 8-weeks out from Ironman. This is the perfect amount of time to assess fitness and dial in nutrition. The course is located among canyons and makes for some difficult climbs on the bike and run. This should get me in the right mindset for the mountains in Quebec.

- Ironman Mont-Tremblant, "A" Race #2 (August 19th): This is the big daddy of the season and I already cannot wait to get to it. The best part is that this race has been planned with blogger buddies Jon, Mandy, and Kevin. We are all going to have such a great time. Last year Ironman Texas training was with the mindset of just wanting to finish. It was a great day and the race went exactly as expected. After I finished it was apparent to me that a lot was left on the course and I have the ability to go faster. This year I am training to race and to see what level my body can be pushed. This course is going to be one heck of a challenge!

- Memphis Marathon (Dec 1st): Annie and our friends Jenn, Dave, and Deanna all want to run this race. If I was able to BQ at the Woodlands in March then I will be the super-sherpa for everyone. If I missed BQing, then I will try and parlay the Ironman fitness into another BQ attempt. Either way it appears we will be hitting up Beale Street to close out the year!

As of right now this is it! I could potentially add a few running races in during the fall and was also thinking about Rev3 Florida in October.

With the spacing of these races it will allow for focus on training and peaking for each race as opposed to tinkering with reduced training and half-assed tapering.

Has everyone else locked in 2012 races yet? Are you planning on any of the races above?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Stuff ...

2011-12-21T20:39:00.001-06:00

It is very exciting to announce that I will be a member of the Brooks ID Team for 2012. I have been running in Brooks since 2008 and believe they are the best running shoes and best running company in the business. I currently rotate between the Launch and Pure Flows as my trainers and use the T7 Racer Flats for racing. I am very thankful and humbled to be part of the Brooks ID Team!

Early last year I attempted to wear another running companies shoes and this poor decision resulted in achilles tendinitis that plagued me for much of 2011. I rarely mentioned it on the blog due to sponsorship obligations but these obligations are now over so I can write more about it. After the injury I went back to wearing Brooks for the rest of the year and I truly believed switching back to Brooks saved my season and potentially saved me from a serious injury. I will never make a rash decision like this again. I learned the hard way how important high quality running shoes with proven technology are to a high mileage endurance athlete.

So lesson of the day: Run in Brooks!

Marathon training is going well. I know a lot of you come here to see what kind of ridiculousness I put my body through so here are a couple training numbers:

Miles Ran Last Week - 72mi.
Miles Ran Last 28 Days - 249mi.
These are both all-time highs for me (for now).
Miles Ran so far in December - 189mi (with 10 days still to go).

Here is the cool thing about all the running: I feel wonderful (knock on wood)! I have been taking extra care of my legs by foam rolling twice a day and icing the achilles after long runs but overall my legs still feel fresh. With less then 10 weeks to go until the Woodlands Marathon I am hopeful the fatigue monster can stay away until taper!

I cannot wait to begin Ironman Mont-Tremblant training. Missing the bike and pool big-time but I committed to being strictly a runner and will follow through with that commitment.

On Monday Kevin (Ironman by Thirty) and me decided to do P90X again. We have both been through the rigors of P90X in the past so we thought we knew what we were in for. Wrong. It hurt. Bad. Woke up on Tuesday morning and my upper body felt like it had been hit by a truck. Today the soreness was even worse but I was happy to see a text from Kevin that said, "...I think my arms/shoulders hurt more today then yesterday ...". Ditto buddy!

On New Years Day Annie and I are running in the Texas Half Marathon. It is a small race (650ppl) on the Greenbelt trails about 4 miles from our house. I train on these trails all the time and am really looking forward to doing the race. Last year the finisher's medal was like 3.5lbs! If I do not drink too much on NYE then I am going to try and hammer as hard as possible. If I DO drink too much then I am still going to hammer but will probably ended up passed out in a bush along Lake Houston! Just hope it is cold enough to keep the gators away.

Right now if all stays the same Pittsburgh will be playing at Denver for Wild Card weekend. This is the dilemma of all dilemmas for me. I love the Steelers. My house is decorated in Black and Gold. But they will be going against The Tebow! I am so conflicted.

Joe Biden is the biggest idiot to ever hold the title of Vice President of the United States. He makes us all long for the days of Dan Quayle.

Bye, Bye Kim Jong Il. Feel like we hardly knew you. You should have won Best Actor for this moving performance: (NSFW)

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Week in Review - All Pictures

2011-12-13T20:04:00.000-06:00

My wife has been away for the last week in Hawaii where she set a PR at the Honolulu Marathon. This means it has been just me, the pugs, and the iPhone camera:

Lots of this was consumed.

Ernie and me Tebowing in front of Tebow.

Notice the winter hat and long sleeves - cold days running last week!

Storage Room - Before.

Storage Room - Before

Storage Room - After (Yes, that is a 5.5ft Replica Braveheart Sword on the wall - it will be quite the surprise when Annie gets home tomorrow).

Storage Room - After (Now the Bike Trainer Room).

My left calf after getting attacked by a dog during a run - 3 puncture wounds from the bite - lovely, huh?

Big Ernie being a lap dog!

Little motivation for those "trying" to get off the couch!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Ramblings ...

2011-12-07T10:35:00.001-06:00

December is always a crazy time of the year for me at work so the next couple of posts will more than likely be of the bullet point variety as my brain is sort of fried:

- My wife, Annie, is on her way to Hawaii for the Honolulu Marathon. She is staying with a good friend from college, Deanna, who lives in HI and they are both running the race. So this means I am a Bachelor for the next eight days! When I was in my twenties this would have been the opportunity for lots of beer, crappy food, and 72-hour video game marathons. Now being in my mid-thirties it is the opportunity for a couple of extra naps and being a total recluse. How times have changed!

**MINI RACE REPORT**

- On Sunday my buddy Dave and I ran in the LaPorte by the Bay Half Marathon. I had my share of Sausage on a Stick (so good) and even got to meet the Maestro behind the BBQ'ing! I'll have a full race report up by the weekend. I ran the race with the goal of holding my Marathon Pace (per my training plan) and accomplished just that. I finished in 1:32:08 (7:02 pace) which was 19/890 overall and 2/47 in my age group. The AG award was a pint glass - best hardware ever!

- Next race is the Texas Half Marathon on New Year's Day. It is in my hometown on the greenbelt trails I run on all the time. My goal for this race is going to be around 1:28:00 - hopefully all the miles I am putting on this month will get me there. All finishers of this race receive a 3lb pound finishers medal and a small plastic pig with your finishing position painted on the side!

- If you liked/disliked my last post about Barefoot Running then you may enjoy some of the rebuttal posts:

- Over the last couple of years I haven't really talked all that much about my choice of running shoe. Probably because I have tried so many! But I have settled on a nice rotation and am working on a post about the shoes I am now using for training and racing and how each type is being used. Look for this in the next couple of days as the choices seem to go against conventional wisdom.

- Recently I have received quite a few emails about my current training plan. If you are interested it is linked in the top right hand corner of the blog. If you are interested in monotonous data my training logs are public so feel free to check them out.

- I have been carefully following all of the GOP candidates running for President. At this point I have not made up my mind as to who will get my vote but the field has narrowed and right now I am leaning towards Tim Tebow.

- One thing this "vetting" process has reconfirmed with me is that I cannot stand the media, especially cable news programs and left leaning newspapers. It is to the point that whatever they report (using this word loosely) my instincts tell me to believe the exact opposite.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Barefoot Running, an essay ...

2011-12-03T21:05:00.001-06:00

I came across this essay by Chas Gillespie on his feelings about Barefoot Running and it's proliferation through the running community and thought my readers would find it as interesting as I did.

Chas is a 1:04:xx Half Marathoner and has Qualified for the 2012 US Olympic Trials being held in Houston this coming January. He is also a Harvard grad. Gillespie is a talented runner, but, as you will see from this essay, he is also a student of his craft.

A fair warning, this essay is rather long but extremely well written and, IMO, well worth the read. The reason I posted it here is because my views on Barefoot Running mirror Gillespie's and he does such a good job at laying out a clear and concise argument that it would be fruitless to try and duplicate his fine effort.

Enjoy! CLICK HERE to read.

Come back and tell me if you agree or disagree with Chas. I have a few more thoughts on the subject but will wait to share them in the comments.

Jeff

Welcome December

2011-12-01T09:36:00.001-06:00

Can you guys believe we are already in the last month of 2011?

It seems like just the other day we were all planning our races for this year and now it is almost over!

Time flies when your having fun, right?

November was a solid month here at the Carrot headquarters.

Three running races were completed (click below for race reports):

Rocky Raccoon 50K
San Antonio RnR Half Marathon
The Woodlands 5mi Turkey Trot

Total run volume for November came in at 178mi. This was a little short of what I wanted but with taper and recovery it was necessary to take a few days off from running. Of the 30 days in November three were spent racing, 11 were taken as off days for recovery or taper, and the remaining 16 were for training.

When I did run the average distance was 9.36mi per run, so that was not too shabby!

After the 50k at the beginning of the month I only ran once in the six days following the race. I actually felt okay but decided the prudent thing to do was to get some solid rest and the San Anton HM was the next weekend so it was a mini-taper.

As for December, this Sunday is the LaPorte Half Marathon (Sausage on a Stick race) which I will be running at a slightly slower Marathon pace (7:14/mi) per my training plan. This is the only race scheduled for December so it will be a great opportunity to pile on the volume. According to my plan I should finish December around 270 total miles run - should be a fun month!

Good luck to all the blogger buddies racing Vegas this weekend! And especially to Jason who is attempting to BQ!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Turkey Trot Race Report - 5mi

2011-11-29T15:59:00.001-06:00

Love me some Turkey Trottin'

This is the third consecutive year Annie and I have made the 15-minute drive over to the Woodlands, TX on Thanksgiving morning. We both really enjoy this race. Usually it is a rather laid back event that has a 5mi run, 1mi kid's run, and a 5k walk/run.

This year was also the first time we had some decent running weather with the temperature around 45 degrees at the 8:15am start. Last year we suffered through unseasonable heat and humidity and the year before was bitter cold. This was the Goldilocks year.

We met up with our friends Bobby, Jen, and Dave and started to stroll over to the starting area. For some reason everyone but Bobby and me was walking like they were on a casual Sunday afternoon stroll through the mall! And with a few thousand people around we ended up getting separated.

Bobby and I decided to line up at the front of the pack as this race is notorious for having large groups of walkers near the front. We got to the front and I looked around and noticed that there were a lot of skinny, fast looking people today. All the local Colleges and High School teams were there and we even had a Kenyan in full Spiro gear at the very front! Going be a barn burner!

Okay, I had not really given this race much thought in terms of pacing. This was my third race in 19 days and the legs were a little flat feeling so I just decided to go out hard and back off if it started to hurt.

The gun went off and the opening pace was ridiculous!! About a quarter mile in I looked down at my Garmin and it had a 4:42 in the pace/mi box? Holy shit, this is not sustainable, was my first thought. I backed off and got passed by a couple groups. The legs were not responding very well so I told myself to find a pace that wasn't too painful and just cruise for the middle three miles and then hammer it for mile 5.

The middle three miles were pretty uneventful. I was holding around a 6:35-6:40 pace and was passing a lot of the people that barreled by in the opening mile. Quite a few of the HS kids were now walking at this point as they all learned a valuable lesson about going out to hard!

Mile 4 approached and I decided to step it up and really picked up the pace. I passed a TON of people in the last mile and finished feeling pretty good with a new PR for the 5mi distance. Probably could have went a little harder but that would have put me on the couch for the next couple of days and I had a big weekend of running planned.

Jeff Irvin

GE Run Thru the Woods

The Woodlands, TX - 11/24/2011

Finish Time - 32:20

Overall Rank - 94/2300

Age Group Rank - 10/155

Old PR - 35:45; New PR by 3m25s

Overall I was pleased with my time but sort of disappointed in my AG ranking. In every other AG my time would have been in the top 3. Last year I finished 8th in my AG but was over 3 minutes slower? This means next year the goal is going to have to be a sub-30! It is good to have goals, right?

Annie got herself a new PR as well and had her first race that she averaged under the 8min/mi pace! She is becoming quite speedy!

Mile Splits per Garmin 310xt:

#1 - 6:08

#2 - 6:34

#3 - 6:40

#4 - 6:31

#5 - 6:04

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Turkey Trot Time

2011-11-23T13:43:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow at 8:15am Annie and I will be running in the GE Run Thru the Woods 5mi Turkey Trot!

This will be the third consecutive year we have done this race so I guess it has become kind of a tradition.

Here are my results from the last two years:

2009 - Total Time - 36:27

Average Pace - 7:16/Mi

Age Group Rank - 25/143

Overall Rank - 293/2300

2010 - Total Time - 35:45

Average Pace - 7:09/Mi

Age Group Rank - 8/140

Overall Rank - 128/2266

In 2009 the weather was a perfect 45* at the start but last year it was around 75* with 95% humidity, it was awful. This explains why my overall and age group rankings were considerably stronger in 2010 but I was only 42 seconds faster. Heat and Humidity kills!

The good news is that tomorrow we are expecting extremely pleasant temperatures!

According to Accuweather the temperature in the Woodlands at 8am is supposed to be 52* and sunny with humidity at an uncomfortable 86% BUT the Dew Point is at 48* so it should feel rather crisp.

Love this day and love this race!

Also, I am quite excited to watch the Packers vs the Lions tomorrow. It has been quite some time that meaningful football has been played during the early Turky Day game in Detroit and the much improved Lions are going against the undefeated Packers. I really do not care who wins but I have Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, and Jermichael Finley on my fantasy rosters so hoping for lots of points from the Pack!

Is anyone else doing a Turkey Trot tomorrow? Rooting for the Pack or the Lions?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Random Shit ...

2011-11-18T08:40:00.001-06:00

Last year I was a member of Team Trakkers/Rev3 and really enjoyed my time being part of this wonderful group and great company. It is with regret that for 2012 I will no longer be a part of the team. My work schedule is such that I will be unable to attend any Rev3 races this coming season so I decided to step aside and allow my team slot to go to someone who can give Rev3 and the Team the type of support it deserves. If you have been considering doing a Rev3 Race stop everything and go sign-up right now. You will not e disappointed! I will always be a proud supporter of Rev3 and would like to thank them (especially Carole Sharpless) for letting me be a part of last year's team!

Getting misty up in here ...

Last night I chose to start Tim Tebow over Carson Palmer on my fantasy team. Palmer has a much better match-up but I really wanted a reason to watch last night's game AND I am a True Believer of the Tebow. If you saw the game you know that he disappointed for the first 59 minutes of the game but them pulled out a "W" for Denver with a 20-yrd TD run in the last minute. Also gave me 17-fantasy points! All Hail The Tebow!

This has been a difficult week on the training front. After a 50K and a Half Marathon 6 days later at all-out paces my body has decided to revolt a little. On Tuesday I got in a slow 5mi run that helped to shake out some of the soreness in my quads. I wanted to run on Wednesday but woke up with some very unpleasant pain in the lower back so decided to take an extra rest day. Last night I got in 8.25mi at a slow 9:15/mi pace and by the end of it the legs felt good but the back started to get sore again. Going to try to go a little harder today(7mi) and tomorrow(5mi) and then am hopeful I will be back to myself for the scheduled 15 miler on Sunday.

I am absolutely loving The Walking Dead on AMC. If you are not watching this show go set the DVR right now (Sunday's @ 9pm) as it is the best show on TV (I know that is not saying much)!

In case you have concerns about the possibility of a Zombie Apocalypse fear no more! Fellow bloggers Kevin, Jon, and MattyO along with myself have a plan for when the Zombie Apocalypse occurs (and it will). Since we are all Triathletes with extremely high levels of cardio training we have stepped up and decided we would defend you all as the perfect Zombie Kill Squad! The perfect 4-man zombie wrecking crew. For more details on our plans you should really follow all of us on Twitter - it might just save your life!

If you have been enjoying all of my recent race reports then you are in for a treat as I have quite the packed race schedule! On Thanksgiving we will be doing our normal 5mi Turkey Trot in the Woodlands. On December 4th I will be running in another Half Marathon over the Fred Hartman Bridge - this is the famous Sausage on a Stick race! I am considering running this race with a Flip Video Camera so you can see everyone suffering as they run over one of Houston's largest bridges and then back again! Then on New Years Day I will be doing another 1/2 marathon in my backyard at the Texas Marathon race in Kingwood!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

San Antonio RnR Half Marathon Race Report

2011-11-14T17:26:00.001-06:00

Click image for larger view

At one point the day before the race I considered not running as my legs were still not feeling good from last weeks 50K Trail Run. Based on the results this would have been a mistake as this was a big time PR and also accomplished a small goal I had set of running a sub-1:30 Half Marathon. This was by far the largest race (over 30k) I have ever ran.

Race Morning:

Annie and I were staying at the "Haunted" Menger Hotel which was two short blocks from the start line. The hotel was awesome and I will post some pics from it later. No ghost sightings ...sigh.

The race started at 7:30am as opposed to the normal 7am starts we have become accustomed. The reason for the later start was that the organizers had put together a charity ride on the marathon course. Makes sense since the roads are already shut down. I saw many a cyclist who was pumped about being able to ride through the city sans traffic.

There were over 30,000 people running the full and the half so toss in all the spectators and the Alamo Plaza/Convention Center area of San Antonio was packed jammed. We run with the LifeTime Fitness Run Club from the Lake Houston LTF and we had around 20 or so run club members doing the race so we spent the time before the race looking for everyone. Once everyone was located it was time to get ready.

Race:

The way these large Rock n' Roll series races work is that they have corrals based on your expected finish time. Annie had heard they had over 30 corrals this year and to look down the street this would have seemed right as runners were lined up as far as you could see.

My friend Bobby and I were in the first corral as we both put down an expected finish time of 1:30 for the half. Our corral had all the pros and a bunch of intimidating-looking (aka-skinny, not tough) elite runners. Bobby had run the 50k last weekend as well and we both decided to take it easy as our legs were still a little out of sorts. The plan was to just start off and stay with the heard and then back off a little when things spread out and we could find some real estate to claim as our own. This plan was a massive fail.

The gun went off and we starting moving at around 7min pace. Surprisingly, my legs had some spring in them and felt remarkably good. Bobby was with me for about the first mile and I looked back and told him I was going to see what I could do.

The first four miles felt pretty good, lots of turns on the course and a few hills made it difficult to find a real rhythm but it was so early in the race that it did not really bother you too much. At the mile 3 point there was a band and a bunch of people handing out drinks. One guys was yelling "Root Beer" and I grabbed it thinking a shot of soda would give me a boost. Well, it was Jager. Half of it went down the other half went out my nose. If it wasn't so damn funny I would have turned around and punched the guy in his head.

By mile 5 the lactic acid was starting to creep up in my quads and my new goal was to see if I could hold a 7min/mi pace. The lactic acid burn became manageable and for the next 4 miles and I was just cruising along enjoying the day. Somewhere around mile 9 the sun started to come out and you could really start to feel the humidity. I noticed my breathing was becoming labored and an uncomfortable lung burn was beginning to rear it's unsightly head! I told myself to hold the pace until mile 10 and then just back off and cruise on in over the final 5k. For the second time today a plan was a massive fail.

A few weeks back I had done a 10mi Race (10 for Texas) and despite some muscle issues I ended up with a strong finish time of 1:11:08. So when I passed a race clock at the 10mi point and saw the time of 1:08:45 blaring at me it was time to make a decision. I looked down at the Garmin and did some quick math and figured I needed a time of 20:30 over the final 5K to get in under 90 minutes.

Actually said to myself out loud, "This is gonna hurt!"

And the race was on.

I passed a ton of people in the final 5k and just kept tuning out the pain as the Alamodome kept getting closer and closer. The final 1/2 mile of the race is up a big hill. Last year I was a spectator standing on this hill and I was remembering all the people I saw walking into the finish. That would not be me this year as I hit the hill with authority and busted ass up that sucker.

I crossed the finish line with 28 seconds to spare - 89minutes, 32 seconds.

Jeff Irvin

11/13/11 - RnR Half Marathon

Time: 1:29:32

Overall Place: 149/19365

Gender Place: 125/7337

Age Group Place: 10/1192

Here are the Garmin Splits:

1 - 6:59
2 - 6:46
3 - 6:42
4 - 6:50
5 - 7:00
6 - 6:58
7 - 6:52
8 - 6:46
9 - 6:39
10 - 6:45
11 - 6:41
12 - 6:51
13 - 6:31
.1 - 5:50

Overall this was a fantastic race. Spectator support was amazing and running through San Antonio was pretty cool. The weather ended up being warm and humid but we all made the best of it as us Texans are used to the pea soup. We enjoy San Antonio and this race so much that we will be doing it again in 2012! Whose in?

A big congrats to my wife Annie who set a PR @ 1:53:01. Congrats to my friends Bobby and Beth who also set PR's of 1:42 and 1:47 and to all the other wonderful runners from the LTF Run Club!

And another huge shout out to my cousin Bonnie who did her first 26.2 yesterday! She is super competitive and did not let the mid-80 degree temps slow her down. Congrats Bon!

**** Edit **** I just re-read this race report and it was not very fun and much more serious than most of my Race Reports. I apologize for this and leave you with a picture of me kicking Predator ass:

"You Are One Ugly M*******"

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Ghosts and a Half Marathon ...

2011-11-12T08:13:00.001-06:00

Annie and I are getting ready to head out to San Antonio for the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon tomorrow. We will both be running the half distance this year.

Annie is going to try and run under a 1:55. This is the time that qualifies you for early entry into the Houston Marathon and if she misses this time then you must rely on the luck of the draw in the lotto. The weather is supposed to be a little on the mild to warm side, which sort of sucks!

I really have no time goals as my legs are only about 75% recovered from last weekend's 50K Trail Run. I've done a couple of short runs and feel okay but the "zip" is definitely missing from my step so I am just going to run and see how it turns out!

I am more excited about staying at the Historic Menger Hotel directly across the street from the Alamo. I dig old buildings and the history that surrounds them. The Menger's known to be one of the most Haunted Hotels in America! Booooooo....

This looks bogus to me but maybe I will be proven wrong tonight:

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Rocky Raccoon 50K Race Report

2011-11-07T14:13:00.002-06:00

The Bling

Rocky Raccoon 50K Trail Run

Huntsville, TX - 11/05/2011

Jeff Irvin

4h 39m 49s

Overall Rank: 7th

Age Group Rank: 1st

Back in 2009 I did my first 50k trail run at Huntsville State Park. It took me 6h 19m to finish that race and about a month to get over the damage done to the legs and IT band. I was happy to finish that race but have always felt that I severely under-performed on that day and in the back of my mind I have been looking for Redemption.

PreRace:

The alarm went off at 2:45am and I promptly smacked the snooze button with ninja-like precision. Alarm goes off again at 2:54am and it is time to get the show on the road. Annie, being the world's best sherpa, snaps to it and we plow some breakfast and pile in the car for the hour and fifteen minutes drive north. My friend Bobby was running the race as well so he crashed in the guest room that night and around 3:30am we were on our way to Huntsville.

We got to the state park, picked up our packets, and went back to the car to warm-up. It was around 40 degrees, which is quite chilly for us Southerners. The race was scheduled to start promptly at 6am so this meant we would need headlamps for the first 90 minutes.

The PreRace Shiver

One of the things I really enjoy about trail races are how laid back and friendly all the other racers are. We were all standing around 5 minutes before the race chatting and joking about what the upcoming 31 plus miles were going to be like. I meet Annie's friend Nicholas, who was running the race, and we both had the same goal of coming in under 5hrs. Just good, solid people up there in the Texas woods!

The Race:

The race is two 15.5mi loops over single paths and old jeep roads. After the RD is done with his announcements he tells us he is going to walk up to the trail head entrance and sound the starting gun from there. About a minute or two later we hear him yell the race will begin in 45 seconds. I turn to the guy next to me and say, "Where the heck is he, I cannot see a thing?" The guy next to me says, "I don't know? Guess my plan to follow you isn't going to work?"

Gun goes off and 100 people head out in a single file line and we somehow find the trail head and the race is on.

First Loop - Miles 1 - 15.5:

The beginning of the race is on a single path and is a slight uphill for about a mile. A group of about 8-10 guys form off the front and we are moving at a pretty conservative pace trying to navigate the terrain of roots, rocks, sand and stumps. At the one mile mark you hear a bunch of garmin's all simultaneously beep and/or vibrate and I promptly announce, "Only 30 miles to go guys!"

Everyone had a good laugh as we crossed over the main park road and into the heart of the trails. This section is technical and you had to be very careful not to catch a root and take a header. After we crossed the road a younger guy with his shirt off (it was sub-40 dgrees) took off and dropped us all with the freaking agility of a jungle cat. He was so light on his feet that it looked almost effortless as he ran through the single trail switch backs. He would end up being the overall winner.

At this point we had a solid group of about 8 guys and Nicholas took the lead pulling us successfully through the dark forest. We finally came out to the jeep trail around mile 4 and headed out on the first out and back section to the #1 aid station. The jeep trails are pretty worn but a lot safer to run on so it is a little bit of a mental break.

After the first aid station around mile 6 me and a couple other guys jumped out to the front and slightly picked up the pace. I really didn't want to go much faster but I sort of wanted to shake things out a little and see who the runner were. Since I had the strongest headlamp I took the lead and this was not fun. A couple of roots jumped up and hit me pretty good. I never went down but stumbled a few times and at one point twisted my left knee pretty good. It stung a little but I was able to quickly shake it off.

We headed back down the jeep trail and I started chatting with another guy. Very cool dude and extremely efficient runner. I am pretty light on my feet and have decent form, next to this guy I sounded like a two-ton bull stumbling down the cobblestone streets of Pamplona!

In our conversation he confirmed my observation about his running. He had been a 2:21 marathoner and an 8:47 Ironman! Extremely badass! I asked him to save me a few pieces of pizza at the finish line. He finished second overall.

At about 8mi we hear someone coming up behind us and turn around to see the jungle-cat guy who was in the lead? He has a big smile on his face and tells us he took a wrong turn and was lucky to see our lights. He promptly re-takes his position off the front but for some reason me and the two other guys decide to try and run with him. We cover the next two miles at a sub-7min pace as I was sensing he did not like us with him. Now I am still feeling comfortable but the voice of reason in my head that I usually ignore started to make some sense about my inability to hold a sub-7min pace on these trails. I slowed down and the other two guys (jungle cat and elite runner guy) pulled ahead and shortly after that one of the the other guys I had been running with decided to kick it up a notch and he passed me around mile 13.

At this time I coasted into the finish area in the 4th position and it was time to start lap number two!

So fast the camera could not keep up!

Making the turn

Annie and Beth - Best Volunteers Evah!

Second Loop - Miles 15.6 - 31.2ish:

I made the turn and Annie and my friend Beth were volunteering at the aid station. It lifted my spirits to see them and they quickly grabbed my water bottle and filled it up. We were able to leave a drop bag at the turn around point. In the picture about you will notice my hands are full. I was dropping of my head lamp and empty EFS Liquid Shots container. I tossed these into my bag and took off. The entire turn around, drop off, and refill probably took no more than 20 seconds.

I headed back out and saw Nicholas coming in and he was maybe 2 or 3 minutes behind me. The next 6 or 7 miles were pretty uneventful. Aside from the 50k, their was also a 25k and 10k taking place. The 25k started an hour after us and the 10k started 30 minutes after the 25k. This meant the trails were a little more crowded but it was also sort of nice to see other people.

About 20 miles in my left knee that had been twisted earlier started to give me some grief. It felt fine climbing and running the flatter areas but hurt like hell when I tried to run the downhills. It was more of a swollen/irritation type of pain as opposed to a sharp/stinging pain so I knew it wasn't serious and would just have to suck it up and nurse it later.

Around the 22nd mile I heard someone yelling behind me and it was Nicholas. By this time I had been running alone for a couple of hours so it was nice to see him. We ran together the next 4 or 5 miles. He was having some hip flexor pain and I was gimping along down every downhill. We chatted it up and it really helped pass the time. I was trying to stick to his shoulder for as long as I could but at one point looked up and he was gone! He had an awesome race and finished in 4th place.

Once again I was alone and just trying to focus on moving as fast as I could without falling. It was getting harder and harder to lift the feet up over the roots and my form had become much more of a shuffle than a run. At this point I was in need of some motivation and believe it or not that motivation was strapped on my left wrist in the form of my Garmin 310xt! Right at this point I looked down and simultaneously hit the 26.2mi mark and my split was 3hr 45m - not to shabby on the trails and this gave me the boost I needed.

The knee was sore and limiting me a little but at this point in an ultramarthon everyone has some sort of hurt going on - this is when you just have to dig down and focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Over the final four miles two more guys passed me and they passed with authority. It sucks to get passed but you got to respect the effort from these guys this late in the run.

The final few miles hurt and hitting the finish line was great because it meant I could stop.

Only a few more yards to go!

My type of finish line!

Post race activities included cookies, a bag of M&M's, ice on the knee, warm clothes, and cheering on the rest of the field:

Front Row Seat in the Sun!

Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta.

My Trakkers Teammate, Anne, was also running the race and this was her first 50k. She finished with a huge smile and told me she had a blast. And because she is crazy and 31.2 miles is not enough she went and ran an additional .8 miles to give her a round 32mi for the day. Go check out her blog to read about this lunacy!

Okay, I am not usually a flip flop with socks type of guy but my feet were too swollen for shoes and it was to cold to be with out socks - bring on the jokes (-:

Funny story. So I am sitting and waiting for Annie to come over so she can take a picture of me Tebowing in front of the lake. At this time a guy just finished the 50k and I overhear him telling his buddy he wants to get a pic Tebowing in front of the finishers chute! This led to a lot of laughs and then of course, group Tebowing:

Lake Tebowing:

Bobby Tebowing at the finish line:

Couple Tebowing or Couplebowing:

Summary:

What worked?

- EFS Liquid Shots: I carried one flask for each loop for a total of 800 calories.

- First Endurance PreRace Caps: Three caps 30mins before the race and three more at the turn around.

- EFS Drink: Started with a 20oz bottle with three scoops or 300 calories.

- Hoka One One Bondi B Shoes: Review to come later but these shoes are a little slice of heaven on the trails!

- Peeing myself while running: After stopping to pee three times on the first loop I decided enough was enough and in the words of Harry from Dumb and Dumber, "Just Go!"

What did not work?

- HEED: This was the sports drink at the aid stations and it tastes awful. It gave me some calories and some hydration but the taste is horrendous. I actually considered licking the dirt at one point to get ride of the aftertaste.

- Amphipod Full Tilt Hydration Pack: It was rubbing against my back. I left it hanging on a sign at mile 16 and picked it back up at mile 30. I would not have been upset if someone would have stole it.
- Tebowing.

I came into this race with the goal of finishing under 5hr 30m. My stretch goal was under 5hrs. My final time was 4hr 39m which is a PR of over 1hr 40m.

That my friends is what we call Redemption.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

Oh Marathoning ...

2011-11-01T09:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the official start date of my 18-Week Training plan leading up to the Woodlands Marathon on March 3rd. I am using the Pete Pfitzinger Advanced Marathoning 18/70 Plan. Click here to view plan.

This will be my first stand alone marathon and my goal is to go sub-3:10. If able to achieve this goal it would be enough to qualify me for the Boston Marathon.

The pace for a sub-3:10 marathon is 7:15/mi - very attainable, I think, will let you know in 18-weeks.

On Saturday I am racing in the Rocky Raccoon 50K Trail Run. This is by no means an "A" race but I will be going as hard as humanly possible. My PR for a 50k is 6h19m and I intend to smash this time to smithereens.

The trail race is at the State Park in Huntsville, TX and a very cool area. The course is made up of a combination of single lane paths with switchbacks and roots galore and old, rundown jeep trails. My plan is to move slow and steady on the single paths as to not turn an ankle or take a header into a tree. Once I hit the jeep trails it is time to open it up and make up some time. The goal is to get in under 5h30m for the 31miles run.

October was a solid month on the training front. I decided to only run this month to give myself some much needed R&R from swimming and biking. I ended up running for 31hrs and concluded the month with 209mi on my feet. This is the most miles I have ever run in a single month, but will end up being about average for the next 4 months.

The new show Terra Nova is absolute ass. Had high hopes for this one but it seems after the show creators figured out the cast they realized they forgot to ~~higher~~ hire (happy RA?) writers and were out of money. My theory is they are just making it up on the fly.

However, the second season of The Walking Dead has been amazing and has given us all hope of the future of TV. At times the pacing of the show is a little slow but they are using this to effectively develop the characters. I find myself excited for Sunday nights because The Walking Dead will be on - if you haven't seen this show yet check it out on AMC.

On Saturday I will be doing the 50k race wearing Hoka One One Bondi B shoes. If you are unfamiliar with these shoes, as most are, stay tuned as I will have a full review of them next week. They have changed the way I approach running ...

To add some positive mojo to my life I am considering Tebowing at multiple locations throughout the race on Saturday.

Next post will be the 50k race report with hopefully tons of pictures!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

10 For Texas Race Report

2011-10-23T18:15:00.001-05:00

Jeff Irvin

10 for Texas - The Woodlands

October 8, 2011

Time: 1:11:08

Overall: 56/1909

Age Group: 9/144

Weather: 74 Degree/Butt Crack-like Warmth (90% Humidity)

This was the first time I have done this 10 mile race but am familiar with the area as it starts and finishes on Market Street which is the same finish as Ironman Texas.

PreRace:

My friend Bobby came to the house and we drove over to the race which is about about 20 minutes away. We found rock star parking and walked over to the race expo area to find our friends Dave, Jenn, and Ruth Ann. They were hanging out in front of the Starbucks so we decided to go utilize the facilities - good call as the outdoor crappers had some long lines! Dave, Bobby and me got in about a mile warm-up run and then it was time to line up.

The Race:

We started about 4 rows from the front as to not have to deal with zig-zagging around slower runners. This was also a good call because the gun went off and we made it out extremely clean. The plan was to not stop at any aid station so I carried a 20-oz bottle of EFS Drink in a handheld.

My goal was to hold back a little for the first two miles at around a 7:15 pace - big fail. Mile one a 6:33 split; mile two a 6:38 split. It was at about this point that the area just south of my calf and north of the achilles really tightened up on me - on both legs? And when I say "tighten up" I really mean hurt like hell.

At this point I decided to change my normal mid-foot strike stride to a more of a heal strike by elongating the stride a little and reducing the cadence. This helped alleviate the pain below my calf but required a little of a slow down. It was a little frustrating because my HR was way down and I still had a lot of matches to burn. From miles 3-7 I held a pace of around 7:15 and it was about this time when my arches began to tighten up - on both feet? And when I say "tighten up" I really mean hurt like hell.

With only about two miles to go at this point I just sucked it up and finished the race. My final time was about 3-4 minutes slower than I wanted with a pace of around 7:05/mi.

Why in the heck would I get this type of pain in my legs and arches?

Quite simple actually. New shoes. I made the mistake of racing in the new Brooks Pure Flow shoes with only about 25mi on them. Normally I do most of my training miles in Brooks Launch and they have a 9.5mm heal-to-toe drop. The new Brooks Pure shoes take a more minimalist approach by using a 4mm heal-to-toe drop. This is quite a contrast in drop and I knew better than to rush the transition so fast. Lesson painfully learned as it took me two days of no running for the tightness to subside.

Now this race was over two weeks ago and I have been running in the Pure Flow shoes ever since and absolutely love them. They are a great shoe that I am currently using for the majority of my training but they did take about 50-60 miles until my feet and legs felt completely comfortable.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

School Me, Runners ...

2011-10-21T09:17:00.003-05:00

Howdy y'all!

The weather has been absolutely fabulous here in the Houston area. We have been experiencing morning lows in the upper 40's and afternoon highs on the lower 70's. No humidity. No clouds. Lots of running!

My next race, the Rocky Raccoon 50K Trail Run, is a mere two weeks away and I am excited to get it started. This will be my second foray into the Ultrarunners world and I am ~~praying~~ expecting a much less painful experience this time around.

Last time was in December of '09 and I was a rather inexperienced runner. Around the 22mi mark my concentration waned and I slipped on a wet root and hurt my leg. The IT band got plucked and I was left hobbled. It sucked not only because of the pain but because I was at the front of the pack when it happened. I ended up shuffling the final 9 miles to the finish line and still, to this day, was the most pain I have ever experienced in endurance sports. Got some unfinished business with this course. Click Here and Here to read about my first Ultra experience.

Okay, I have a question for all of you badass runners: Are my Saturday long runs too long and am I peaking too early?

Before you answer lets provide some background. The last three Saturdays have been: 22mi, 12mi, 20mi, and another 20mi planned for tomorrow. I have been running everyday using active recovery runs after hard efforts and long runs over the last three months. Over these last three months I have totaled about 500mi by gradually increasing the volume each month and will be around 220mi for the month of October. My legs feel great and the increase in volume and run frequency has led to an increase in speed. As of today, I am experiencing zero aches and/or pains or any signs of a potential injury. *knocking on wood*

Now the reason I ask about my long runs is that an experienced runner friend of mine thinks I am emptying the tank early and am going to be flat on race day. Admittedly, this friend performs better on lower volume training and I seem to excel when racking up consistently high miles.

Do you agree with my friend, should I cut back tomorrow's 20mi trail run and start my taper or since I am feeling great should I continue along with my plan and mash out another 20miler?

Talk to me Goose ...

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Say Goodbye to Blisters ...

2011-10-11T11:02:00.002-05:00

TRUSOX

A few months back I was talking with my buddy Mike, who is an avid soccer player, and he was telling me about how he was wearing these socks that had completely stopped the blisters that have been plaguing his feet for quite some time. They were called TRUSOX and he swore up and down that the little rubber patches on the outside of the socks prevented his feet from sliding around inside his sweaty shoes and completely prevented blisters.

I pretty much forgot about the conversation until a pair of the TRUSOX arrived in the mail from Mike. And since he was nice enough to send them I figured I would try them out and report back my findings and see if they have crossover potential for Endurance Athletes.

Running:

I have never really had a problem with blisters while running on the streets until I get up into the 18+mile range. However, I have had a problem with blister while trail running.

Blister from 50k Trail Race

With the trails I run on being quite technical this leads to a fair amount of lateral feet movement and in the past this movement has led to some rather uncomfortable blisters (above) and hotspots. My first attempt at using the TRUSOX was in a pair of trail shoes (Brooks Cascadia) at East End Park in Kingwood, TX.

This is a small park along Lake Houston that is packed dirt, sand and wooded bridges. I was able to rip out about six miles on a hot and humid evening and the TRUSOX performed brilliantly. They were extremely comfortable and I was impressed with the high quality of the socks. Amazingly I was able to tell a difference in my running performance. It felt like I was more confident on my feet when moving laterally over rocks and trail irregularities. This was an unexpected positive outcome of the TRUSOX.

During the run I could not even feel that anything different was even being worn in terms of comfort. After the run my feet looked fine and no hotspots were noticeable.

So far so good ...

Cycling:

Shortly after wearing the socks on a trail run I then tried them out for a long ride with a group of friends on a rainy and windy Sunday morning. As I mentioned above I rarely have problems with hotspots or blisters while running on roads. This is the complete opposite while cycling.

At Ironman Texas the bottom of my feet were on fire from mile 80 to the 112 mile bike finish. It seems anytime it is hot (which is often here in Texas) that after about 60mi on the bike I develop some hotspots. After the socks performance on the trails I was extremely optimistic about trying them for this ride.

That morning we did 80mi of cycling and my feet felt wonderful. Zero issues. Zero hotspots. And it was an extremely wet and humid morning, which is what has lead to my past issues with foot discomfort. I felt like the TRUSOX really shined for me on the bike.

* Since this initial run and ride I have worn the socks for a Half Ironman and many other road and trail runs and my opinion has not changed since the initial run.

Summary:

Pros:
- The TRUSOX do what they claim and absolutely prevent blisters.
- They are comfortable enough to be used for everyday training.
- They are as easy to put on as any other sock.
- I could tell a noticeable difference in performance while running on technical trails.
- They are the perfect cycling sock.

Cons:
- They are a little thicker sock then what I normally use but are still pretty breathable.
- Cost. They are $24 per pair.

Overall I can say that I am extremely impressed with the TRUSOX. According to Mike, these socks were designed by a soccer player for soccer players but the crossover to endurance sports makes complete sense. Runners and cyclists spend a lot of time on their feet and we need to keep them healthy - TRUSOX does that even if they were not initially made for us endurance folks.

For those of you who have blister problems I would highly recommend picking up a couple pair of TRUSOX. Currently I am using them for all of my trail runs and long Saturday morning runs and will use them in next months Rocky Raccoon 50k Trail Run. They are a bit on the pricey side but I'd much rather pay a little extra cash then be unable to run or ride because of a couple of puss filled blisters! Well worth the cost.

Click Here to purchase a pair of TRUSOX.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

**Disclaimer: The TRUSOX were given to me by a friend. I was not paid for this review and am not entitled to future compensation. The opinions are mine alone based on the trial of the product while training. If you have any questions about TRUSOX I suggest you visit the website.

Things that Bother Me: The Triathlete Edition

2011-09-28T17:37:00.000-05:00

We wear lycra in public. Normal conversations for us involve poop, puke and snot. We think it is awesome if you pee on your overpriced carbon bike. Yep, us triathletes are a very unique group and with this uniqueness comes a few inherent bothersome traits.

Without further delay here is a small sample of Things that Bother Me: The Triathlete Edition ...

- The Aero-Wienie Triathlete: This is the guy (yes, this is 99.9% dudes) that will spend thousands of dollars on "aero" advantages but will never even consider the possibility that dropping a few (or many) pounds will do so much more. The next time someone tells me the exact time savings an aero helmet (about 8mins in case you were wondering) will save over 112mi course I will reply by asking how much of a time savings can be had by removing 20lbs of fat from his ass?

- The Gadgeteer Triathlete: Us triathletes love us all the fads and gadgets! We must be an absolute wet dream to Marketing Directors. Jason bought the new Speedfil A2 Torpedo Mount Hydration system last week and I could not wait for his review. I emailed him a ton of questions and ideas about the product and for his review. Other endurance athlete do not seem to be as enamored with the new and shiny as triathletes. The Gadgeteer would choice a new device over actual training to improve performance! Actually this doesn't really bother me, might have to change the title!

- The "I Am Spartacus" Triathlete: You've all heard this joke: "When you walk into a room how do you know who is a Triathlete? They will tell you!" Since it is true it is okay to laugh. This is mostly newer triathletes. They are sort of like six-month old puppies who are so proud to show you the pair of shoes he just chewed up. Cute but sometimes a touch overbearing!

- The "Just a Training Run" Triathlete: This guy is my personal favorite! He is the person at a running race who needs to let us all know he is a triathlete (related to I Am Spartacus). He will be recognizable by his sporting of head-to-toe lycra, rocking a hydration belt with four flasks, sipping on an energy gel, proudly displaying an M-Dot logo on all clothing - except his socks because he is not wearing them under his Vibram Five Fingers, and he loudly proclaims time and time again that this is just a training run for him because he still has to ride 40miles after the race. This is all done to prove to everyone that he is so much more hardcore than just runners. Look for this guy at your next race, he might just be you.

- The I am so Vain I have a Blog Triathlete: umm. ahh. cough. scratch. What is that ov-er there?

- The Zero Variance from Training Plan Triathlete: This person is usually quite the rule follower of society and does not deal well with changes to their training plan. You have probably done a group ride or run with this person. It could be in the early spring when the sun is out for the first time following winter. Someone in the group suggests adding a little extra distance and everyone enthusiastically agrees except Mr Training Plan Follower. He explains that he has already reached the distance his coach told him to do and will do no more. Now this same guy will call you all a bunch of pansies if you ever cut a ride shorter than his plan calls for.

- The Huge Bag of Gear at the Pool Triathlete: Pull Buoy - check; Flippers - check; Paddles - check; Snorkle - check; GoPro Video Camera - check; Clear Goggles - check; Yellow Tinted Goggles - check; Dark Reflective Goggles - check; PB&J Sandwich for Refueling - check; Workout Typed and in ZipLock Bag - check; Hydration in Bottle - check; Gel Packets - check; TriSlide - check; Waterproof iPod Case - check; Getting Lapped by a Blue Hair in the Next Lane - check. Did you forget anything?

- The Cannot Change a Flat Triathlete: I've experienced this person many a times during races and training rides and the vast majority of the time this person is a chick! C'mon ladies, admit it, you cannot change a flat. You just bat your eyes at the skinny, dork male triathlete and let his male ego take over. I am on to your little game. And once all the other dudes read this they will have an epiphany and we will all band together and deny you our flat changing skills from this point forward. Okay, chicas, you've been warned - now watch this and take notes:

The over/under is 5 for the number of ladies who will tell me in the comments they can change a flat. Smart money is on the under!

I am guilty of 4 out of 8 of these little indiscretions. Can you guess which ones? Anything else bother you about Triathletes?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

If you liked this Things that Bother Me here are some from the past:

Things that Bother Me: The Gym Edition

Things that Bother Me ...

Rev3 Cedar Point Half Rev Race Report

2011-09-22T22:09:00.001-05:00

September 11, 2011

Rev3 Half Rev 70.3

Cedar Point - Sandusky, Ohio

Jeffrey Irvin

5:21:14

AG Place - 17/73

Overall Place - 99/650(ish)

Last year when Annie and I were planning out our 2012 race season this was a date we had circled on the calendar because we were really looking forward to it. It was a chance for us to spend sometime with my family who lives in the Pittsburgh area and also get to hang out with a bunch of cool blogger buddies at Cedar Point.

After flying into Pittsburgh on Thursday and hanging out with my parents we then borrowed my mom's car (Thanks Mom) Friday morning and headed out on the 3.5hr drive to Sandusky. One thing I realized instantly was that I did not miss either the Pennsylvania or Ohio Turnpikes. I spent the first 30 years of my life in this area and the exact same sections are still under construction. How is that possible?

We arrived at Cedar Point, checked into the Hotel Breakers (which was 200yds from the swim start), and headed over to packet pick-up. Rev3 made the usually disorganized act of packet pick-up extremely easy. This was huge. A couple stops, a couple exchanged pleasantries with awesome volunteers, chatting with Kristin (who rocked her 1st IronDistance) and some cool swag and BOOM packet pick-up was done!

After mingling with some of my Trakkers Teammates it was off to meet Colleen and Tom for an evening of ROLLER COASTER RIDING! Not only did we get to ride coasters but we got to do it at a discount and with NO LINES. Rev3 got us $20 tickets and the park opened two hours early for us - yet another reason why the triathlon community is falling in love with Rev3!

This was exciting. Cedar Point has some kick ass coasters. Some say the best in the world. Tom and I were not scared. We were not skittish. We looked those big ass coasters square in their metal faces and we did not flinch.

Bad Ass Coaster #1 that Tom and I conquered: MILLENNIUM FORCE - we sat in the front seats and only screamed like little girls for maybe 30seconds.

Hold onto your computer:

Bad Ass Coaster #2 that Tom and I conquered: TOP THRILL DRAGSTER - we sat in the front seats again on this 120mph monster and only screamed for 20 seconds this time.

Strap yourself down on the recliner:

The Top Thrill Dragster was freaking awesome. The entire ride lasted 20 seconds but you were going 120mph in like 2 seconds. Your face was just pushed back by the pressure, best ride at Cedar Point!

Pics or it didn't happen - notice our death grips on the bars!

We continued to kick some coaster butt but the two above were the big boys of the day! After slaying them biatches we headed over to the Tom and Colleen's place with some of Tom's Team Type 1 Teammates (great organization, check out the site). Shortly after a few of the blogging buddies showed up and we finally got to meet MattyO and Heather. They were going to be doing their first 140.6 and we were all very excited for them. Then Mark and the nephew Nick showed up and we all spent a rather chill evening sipping some beers and sharing race stories. It is so cool when you finally get to meet people for real after following their blogs for so long. It is like you've known one another for years and this time was no exception. Good people. Good times!

Saturday morning came, Annie went for a run, and I meet the fabulous Carole Sharpless and the rest of the Trakkers Crew at the practice swim to lather (always wanted to use that word in a post) fellow triathletes up with TriSlide. After all the lathering was done it was time to get in a practice swim.

Due to tropical storm Lee, Lake Erie had some beautiful sludge wash ashore and as we waddled out through the knee deep gunk I couldn't help but sympathize with the crude-covered pelicans from the Alaskan Exxon Valdez spill.

Actual Pic of a Triathlete in Lake Erie

It sounds gross but in actuality it was extremely gross. BUT we still had fun with it and once you got out 50 yards it was all clear. At one point I was talking to Trakkers Teammate and IMTX pal, Rachelle. After she declined having a sludge fight with me she asked what I thought the gunk was? My straight-faced reply was, "Dead babies seals." Good times I tell ya, GOOD TIMES!

Saturday night my family made the drive up to Sandusky to be my crew. We all went out to a nice restaurant and had a great time just hanging out. The plans were to meet up in the morning to watch me get out of the water and then they were going to take my niece, Ava (who is the sweetest little girl in the world), over to the amusement park. They ended up slaying some coasters too!

A rare pic of Annie and I in jeans

Race Day

The Full Rev was scheduled to go off at 7:05 am and my wave in the Half Rev was set to start at a comfortable 8:45am. I got up bright and early and went over to transition to set up the nutrition on the bike and get my area ready. I ran into Mark who was getting ready to tackle his second 140.6 race and I must have been still a little groggy because I could have swore he was still wearing his pajama pants?

Maybe I wasn't so groggy?

I made my way over to the beach and found Matt and Heather and wished them good luck and assured Matt I would have his cold beer waiting for him at the finish line! When I got to the beach I realized Rev3 had setup 2996 flags in honor of the victims of 9/11. This alone will make me race with Rev3 again and again.

First Class Rev3 - Job Well Done!

Okay onto the Race Report:

Swim:

1.2mi - 40:23

AG Place - 33/73

OA Place - 181/650(ish)

The start was a running beach start and we had to try and slosh and dolphin dive through the Lake Erie sludge. Once I got free the entire swim went pretty well. The course was marked with ample buoys and I did swim a little off course but this was due to just some poor concentration on my part. This was one of my slower 70.3 swims and I actually felt like I was moving at a 36-37min pace. However, my swim fitness was quite crappy since I had not been swimming (makes sense, huh) so my perception could be off some. But based on my overall and AG rankings it would be easy to make the assumption that the course might have been a touch long.

I got out of the water feeling great and made the jog up the beach to transition.

T1:

4:28

Should have been a little faster but I decided to stop and pee. Couldn't go for some reason during the swim?

Bike:

56mi - 02:43:57

AG Place - 27/73

OA Place - 154/650(ish)

Check out that tight ride!

Big props to Rev3 for this bike course. Apparently a construction project did not get completed in time for the race so they scrambled and made some last minute changes which went off without a hitch. I had never even glanced at the original bike map (I know, I know) so I was unaware of this until after the race. Ignorance is bliss!

The first 10mi of the course we worked our way through Sandusky and eventually made our way out to some relatively traffic free country roads. I was equipped with my normal nutrition of EFS Liquid Shots, EFS Drink on the downtube, and water in the aero bottle. Total calories of about 900. And I hit my nutrition as planned and it went off without a hitch. First Endurance makes it way easy people - quit fighting me and get aboard this train!

Once we hit the country I absolutely loved the bike course. A few rollers, some flats, and one little steep bugger that surprises the heck out of you. We hit a small town about midway through and a bunch of people were out cheering, it was pretty cool. I'd rate the road conditions from good to average. A few miles of chip seal but nothing too bad.

The ride was pretty uneventful for me. Around 30mi in I looked down and realized I was averaging 21.5mph and even though I was feeling pretty good decided to ease back a little or my run was going to suffer. I did and am glad my meat-headness did not intervene. I had maybe two hundred miles logged in the saddle over the last two months prior to race day so I was not expecting a good bike split so this was quite surprising, as I typed a few posts ago: Base Matters!

Back into transition and time to run.

T2:

3:30

Not bad considering I had to pee again. And it was a long one too. I really need to learn to pee on the bike.

Run:

13.1mi - 1:48:56

AG Place - 17/73

OA Place - 99/650(ish)

The run started out okay. I could tell the quads were a little cooked and immediately knew I was going to have a problem soon. As I was running out I saw Annie, Dad, and Colleen so I slowed down to say hi. Colleen asked how I was doing and I yelled, "I cooked myself a little!". Colleen yelled back in a confused and disturbed voice, "You pooped yourself?" Annie's face showed a little bit of disgust as well so I decided it was probably a good idea to clarify, "COOKED, Cooked my quads, but a poop would be nice too!"

Would I be smiling like this if I pooped myself?

About .5mi in both of my quads seized on me. Luckily I was right by the aid station and the first person I see is Carole. She is all pumped up and give me some ice. I lost about 2-3mins at the aid station but I rubbed ice on the quads and grabbed a couple of salt tabs. It was going to hurt but it was time to suck it up and the hope the quads would loosen.

They did.

At mile two I met a guy named Mike and we ran the next 11 mi together. We held a 7:30ish pace and only slowed down to walk the rest stops. We didn't chat a ton but we definitively pushed each other. Mike, if you read this - thanks brother! The run course was real cool. In the city, in a park, along the lake - it was really quite scenic (for Ohio).

The last 2mi were extremely difficult, my quads were dead to me, but unlike the swim and bike I have been dropping 150mi months running so was prepared to suffer. When we came around the final stretch to the finish line Rev3 had American flags for us to run through the finishers shoot with and it was very cool.

Just a few more steps ...

Annie, Mom, Me, Dad, Sister Liz, Niece Ava, BIL Matt

This was just a great little vacation. The entire event was extremely well run from start to finish - Rev3 takes the extra steps and does all the little things (personalized bike racking, temp tattoo body marking, high quality finishers shirt ...etc) right. I would highly recommend scheduling a few Rev3 races next season into your race schedule!

Annie and I had such a good time hanging out and racing with all of my Trakkers Teammates and cheering for all of those that completed the Full Distance Race. Please check out the sidebar to the left <----- and click on some of the race reports to get more Cedar Point goodness.

As for my race performance I was extremely happy with the results. The swim was a little slower than I am used to but the bike and run were both solid and this was a PR for me. I really enjoyed the entire course, it is fast, and I'm trying to figure out a way to get back and do Cedar Point again next year.

A big thank you to my family for coming out and being my cheering section, to Colleen and Tom for making us feel so welcomed, to Matt and Heather for including us in their inaugural Iron Distance race, to Rev3 for having me as part of their wonderful team, to all the fellow triathletes who told me how much they enjoy the blog - it is always so nice to hear, to my sponsors who helped make this race such a success: Kestrel, First Endurance, Tyr, Avia, TriSlide/TriSwim/Foggle, and Team Trakkers!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Why Do I Always Forget ...

2011-09-21T18:20:00.002-05:00

.... Anniversaries?

Who am I fooling? I forget pretty much everything that is attached to dates. Birthdays (my own included), race days, holidays, appointments, and did I already say Anniversaries?

Don't start the hatin' ladies it is not my wedding Anniversary that has come and gone, it is the Three Year Blogaversary (8/27/08) of Dangle the Carrot which occurred 3 weeks ago!

Woot!?!

If you are a new reader and have absolutely nothing better to do and would like to learn a little more about the author of ~~my mom's~~ everyone's favorite endurance blog here are some links to get you started:

About Jeff

An Interview About Jeff

Pics of Fat Jeff and Buff Jeff

Last Year's 2nd Blogaversary Post

My Favorite Post

The best part about realizing it was my belated blogaversary is that it always seems to force me to go at the sitemeter on the blog.

Here are da stats:

Total Posts: 709 or 236.33 per year - suck it Arianna Huffington!

Total Page Views: 166,715

Average Views per Day: 155

Largest Amount of Views One Day: 4,284

Another cool thing about looking back is that it makes me realize how much crap I have actually posted on the poor internet. In retrospect, about 95% of all my posts are utter garbage. Which, incidentally, is the same percentage of garbage songs Pearl Jam released after TEN. So what I am saying is that I am exactly like Eddie Vedder - got it?

In all seriousness, I'd like to thank each and everyone of you who has taken even a brief moment to read this blog. This all started so that I could be helf publicly accountable to shed some pounds and has turned out to be so much more then ever imagined.

Thank You!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Marketeers are in my head ...

2011-09-18T10:22:00.001-05:00

Watch this video:

When I first saw this video this morning I wasn't even sure what the product was being advertised? However, after viewing, instantly wanted whatever it was!

After poking around on the interwebz this write-up was discovered in Lava Magazine (Click Here) and it is Tyr's latest and greatest wetsuit. I've been swimming in a Tyr Hurricane Category 5 Wetsuit and this suit is an amazing piece of technology. If they are coming out with something that is an upgrade over the Hurricane Category 5 then they will have my attention!

Does anyone else find themselves getting sucked into cool marketing pieces like above?

Marketeers know me oh so well...

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Catching Up and Moving Forward

2011-09-16T13:14:00.003-05:00

It has been over two weeks since my last post. In the almost three years of blogging this is the longest post-gap ever here at the Carrot. Not sure why but this is sort of cool to me?

Last weekend Annie and I were in Pittsburgh visiting family and then we drove up to Sandusky, OH for the Rev3 Cedar Point Half Rev Race. We had such a great time hanging out with my Trakkers Teammates and cheering on Matt and Heather as they crushed their first 140.6. I am working on a Race Report with a bunch of pictures for later this week so stay tuned.

Even thought I have not been doing much training on the swim and bike I still ended up with a PR of the 70.3 Distance - 5h 21m. Guess Base really does matter!

My next races are all of the running variety:

- 10 for Texas 10miler - Oct 8th

- Rocky Raccoon 50k - Nov 5th
- San Antonio RnR 1/2 Marathon - Nov 13th
- Run Thru the Woods Turkey Trot 5mi - Nov 24th
- LaPorte 1/2 Marathon (Sausage on a Stick Race) - Dec 4th
- Texas 1/2 Marathon - Jan 1st
- The Woodlands Marathon - Mar 3rd ("A" Race)

I might have missed a race or two above. This is not unusual. Annie is the official race scheduler of the family and will need to look this over. I tend to sometimes forget races we have planned, especially running races as they are so abundant in Texas over the next few months. We talk about so many and my brain turns to mush.

My 11-year old Pug Ernie is getting ~~even more~~ fat. Just had to adjust his collar and it is on the last notch. Time to get him on a weight loss program.

On Saturday night at the hotel in Cedar Point I was getting all of my gear together for the race and accidentally banged the the heel of my right foot off the bottom of the metal hotel bed frame. It hurt like hell and instantly numbed the entire right side of my foot. It bothered me a little on race day but has been quite sore since Monday. I blew off my runs on Tuesday and Wednesday to help expedite the healing process. I ended up doing a 7.5mi run last night and it feels much better. Stupid injuries are so, stupid.

I have a bunch of things to write about over the next couple of weeks: Blister prevention socks, Moon boot running shoes, my take on the GOP candidates and who you should vote for, thoughts on long course bike hydration/nutrition set-ups, thoughts on long course nutrition in general, Fall TV show line-ups, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, high volume running weeks , ....etc

And last but certainly not least ..... A HUGE CONGRATS goes out to Kevin Neumann @Ironmanbythirty.com for completing his first Ironman this weekend in Madison, WI. Kevin busted his ass in training and put together a fantastic race. It was an honor and privilege following your journey Mr. Ironman!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Bullet Points within Bullet Points

2011-08-31T17:33:00.000-05:00

Bye Bye August, you Bitch!

This has been my seventh summer living in the Houston area and it has been by far the most miserable summer yet. Look at the normal temperatures in the image above and you'll notice we average about 10 degrees more than normal each and every day. The worst part isn't even the 100 degree temps, it is the humidity, which has been even more brutal than the heat. The term "Dog Days of Summer" held some real meaning to us Texans this summer.

Annie and I are a mere 8 days away until we board a plane and head North to Rev3 Cedar Point. We are going to make a short stop in Pittsburgh and see my family and then drive out to Sandusky on Friday morning. My family is going to come out to Sandusky for the race too! And we are both excited to meet up with all of our blogger buddies and Trakkers Teammates, but we are ecstatic about spending time in temperatures that are supposed to be about 30 degrees cooler. It is going to be so awesome to be able to breathe normally while running and biking!

My training for the Half Rev is quite different right now. For the month of August I only biked 90mi and only pushed about 10K meters in the pool. This are lame numbers for racing a sprint! But the reason for the lack of swim and bike time is that I was able to drop 150mi running. My run fitness right now is superb! Swim and Bike fitness, not so much!

Based on my training it is pretty apparent that Cedar Point is not going to be a PR type of race. The race mantra is: Float the swim, Coast the bike, and Hammer the run. Got that? FLOAT, COAST, HAMMER!!!

Why have I backed off on the swim and bike? Three reasons:

(1) After the heavy volume from the end of last year and then the heavy workload from Ironman training in the first half of this year I am burned out. Looking back over my training logs I had gone about 2 straight years without any significant rest. Much like Government spending, this was unsustainable and a decrease in volume was needed or I was going to break down.
(2) I am doing a 50k Trail Run on November 5th and my first stand alone marathon on March 3rd. I really want to race both of these and in order to do that I needed to become a runner.
(3) Training for Ironman Mont-Tremblant is scheduled to begin the second week of March. One of the things learned about myself is that swim and bike fitness seem to come back much faster than run fitness. So the plan is to have an extremely solid running base going into IM training. 60+ miles per week for four months should accomplish this goal!

I hope everyone has an awesome long weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Man's Best Friend

2011-08-26T18:12:00.000-05:00

One of the most touching things I have ever seen ...

HA HA!

2011-08-17T18:11:00.000-05:00

Spectating FAIL!

Nothing makes the hilarity of of one's stupidity captured on video and shared on YouTube much better than the perfect music!

Thanks for Viewing,

Jeff

Becoming a Runner

2011-08-16T20:56:00.001-05:00

"Th......a......t Su.......c.....ked!"

Is the only words I could muster about 45mi into some diabolical hill repeats this Sunday. I was out with my buddy Dave who has been riding hard all summer and he completely handed me my ass during this training ride. It is awesome seeing my friend, who has put in a ton of hard work, turn into an absolute beast on the bike but damn, did he make me hurt!

We got in some brisk riding over some decent rollers over the first 25mi or so when we stopped at a gas station to refill our bottles. After that the first 10mi were on a newly paved section of road that was relatively flat. I figured this would be a good time to take it easy and warm-up before we got to the South section which is home to some ruthless hills. Dave had other ideas. It was go time from the first pedal stroke out of the rural town of Coldspring - and it was at this point I knew it was going to be an unpleasant ride!

I figured it was better to latch on to Dave's rear wheel going 27mph then it was to go it alone at 23mph so embrace the pain became my mantra for this rather painful Sunday morning. Unfortunately this was the easy part of the ride!

We eventually hit the brutal hills and the realization that this was going to hurt became a reality. I struggled and struggle bad. I watched Dave pull further and further away and my pride was the only thing that kept me from not walking up the last big ass hill. I had never been so happy to be spinning that final couple of miles back to the car. I made it, barely.

The funny thing is that 3 months ago this ride would have been just another day of training and I would have eaten those hills for breakfast instead of the other way around. But this day was not 3 months ago and I no longer am that guy who rides 200mi over the weekend. Bike fitness sure fades fast!

And I am okay with this because ...

I am becoming a runner.

Over the last 2 months I have become run focused. The lycra is hanging in the closet, my running shoes have laces instead of yanks, socks are now being worn, chlorine is no longer my fragrance of choice, and my right calf is lacking smeared chain grease.

Yep, I am a runner!

At this point I am just your run of the mill recreational cyclist (as proved on Sunday) and swimmer and have decided to dedicate myself to becoming the best runner I can be. I've become so serious about this running thing that I have even sought training advice from running guru's Chris K and Adam (Thanks for the guidance guys)!

When I was a kid I was always one of the fastest guys in whatever sport we were playing and this carried over to high school and college. Then in my first semester of college I had my clavicle shattered and tore all three ligaments in my shoulder when I got tackled playing football and landed in a weird way (with a 300 pound dude on top of me). This ended my career in football and put me on the path of eating crappy foods and drinking lots of beer.

By the time I graduated college my weight was exactly the same as it was when I entered but my pants had increased by four sizes and I was no longer good at running. Over the years I gained even more weight until 2008 when I dropped 50lbs and started Triathlon.

Flash forward to today and I feel like it is time to see if I can be good a running again by giving the training the time and effort it deserves. Over the last few years I've been on the podium in my AG at a couple local running races that have been done during Tri training but I have never trained or tapered specifically for just a running race. Last summer a huge amount of time was dedicated to getting better at swimming. Last winter and spring my focus was on the bike. Running has always taken a back seat so this fall and winter it is time to run.

So if any of you bloggy peeps are interested in this little running experiment I welcome you to follow along on this journey to becoming a runner.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Things that Bother Me: The Gym Edition

2011-08-12T18:54:00.000-05:00

With the temperatures here in Texas mimicking the surface of the sun quite a bit of my time in training has been spent indoors at the gym. This is not a bad thing as the gym I go to is a huge LifeTime Fitness with four pools and a gazillion treadmills. The square footage of this place makes many a Super Wal-Marts blush and we are fortunate to have such a great place to train when the mercury reaches hell-like levels.

With a gym this size means that I am going to have to encounter that which bothers me more than anything else in the world: Other People.

This edition of Things that Bother Me will be entirely focused on certain types of folks at the gym:

30 Second Treadmill Guy - This is always a dude. He gets on the treadmill, usually the one right next to me, and does a series of stretches for his arms (makes no sense?) and then proceeds to crank the treadmill up as fast as it can go. He usually hangs on for about 30 seconds and then stops and leaves. And as he leaves he usually struts away like he is Ben Johnson! Great workout dude, thanks for playing.

The Checking out my Stats Treadmill Guy - Once again this is always a dude. Last week this happened two times in one run. A guy gets on the treadmill next you and is constantly looking at your speed and distance? It is a treadmill buddy! We are not moving? And I am not racing you? This is more annoying than anything else just because you are trying to get your workout in and you sense the eyes upon you.

The Shaving Naked Guy - There is this one guy I have seen a few times when I come into the locker room after Master's swim. He is completely naked shaving his face standing at the sink. This is not what bothers me. It is that his junk is resting on the sink. Seriously, you cannot toss on a towel and keep the boys off the counter? I openly wish that the guy with athlete's foot was cleaning out his toe gunk on that very spot on the sink!

The Using Blow Dryer for your Junk Guy - This major infraction has been witnessed on many occasions. Usually it is an elderly guy. He takes the blow dryer and holds it under his towel to dry off his balls. It is very classy!

The Guy Who Needs the Locker Right Next to Me - As mentioned early the LTF I frequent is ginormous. This means the locker room is rather spacious as well. However, it never fails that I will be standing at my locker getting changed and someone will come in and want the locker right next to or above me. There are literally 1000 other open lockers with no one around them and they have to choose this locker? People become such creatures of habit that they cannot move to another locker - just ridiculous. A few months back I actually yelled at a guy who attempted this, felt bad afterwards but it needed to be done.

The Entire Gym Parking Lot - The front of the gym where traffic intersects is tight. Yet this does not prevent people from stopping to pick-up others at the front door. This backs up all the other cars trying to find a place to park. My scientific study has shown that 9 out of 10 people who do this are fatasses. Glad you are off the couch chubby now walk that extra 20 yards to the car.

The LifeTime Fitness Music Video Channel - This is quite awful. If you are at a LTF and forget your iPod I suggest you go home because the music will drive you crazy. Thanks to the video channel I now realize all current top 40 music absolutely sucks and every video is the same: Scantily clad singer/dancer chick, surrounded by a bunch of other scantily clad dancer chicks, they begin suggestively dancing in some pyramid scheme with the lead chick at the top, they may or may not be in water/mud/cafeteria/jungle, a group of scantily clad muscular guys at some point during the song enter the video. Boom! I just directed and produced a LTF music video, genius.

The Text Message Guy/Girl - This group has grown rather significantly over the last few years and us usually a younger crowd but not always. You will be on your treadmill and notice someone come in and jump on a machine. They will sit on this machine for a long time and send a shit-ton of text messages. Sometimes they will even laugh out loud so we can all see how funny the message they just received was. They may do one or two sets on the machine in between texts but usually will get up and leave without doing any work.

That is all I got for today!

What do you see at the gym that bothers you?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Is the Triathlon Swim Unsafe?

2011-08-09T17:30:00.000-05:00

On Sunday two triathletes died during the swim of the New York City Triathlon. Details about the deaths are still coming out but it appears both victims, a 64-yr old man and 40-yr old woman, suffered from cardiac arrest.

Fellow bloggers Jon and Joel had some thoughts if you have been in a cave and need to get caught up.

As a surprise to no one, NYC Lawmakers are already calling for changes to protect triathletes in future races.

According to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer:

"New Yorkers signed up for a triathlon - not a game of Russian Roulette," Stringer said. "Choosing to compete is a decision every athlete has to make for themselves - but it is the obligation of the city to make sure all potential risks are accounted for to the extent possible."

Personally, I feel Mr. Stringer is completely over the top in comparing triathlon to a game of Russian Roulette but does he have a point that maybe something needs to be done to mitigate possible risks during the swim?

I've seen a few ideas flowing around the triathlon message boards and was wondering what everyone here thinks?

- Should a competitor be able to prove they can swim the race distance by submitting previous race results?

- If competitor is a first timer should they be required a recommendation from a life guard or certified swim instructor?

- Or, if a first timer, should a pre-qualification swim be required to prove your swim-worthiness?

- Or should we just chalk this up as a tragic accident and not overreact and make the barriers to entry that much more challenging?

I spent this Sunday spectating at a local Sprint Tri with over 1500 competitors and it was reported about half of the entrants were first timers. I saw A LOT of people suffering on a short (non-wetsuit) 500M swim course. Lots of ugly out there and a few people were pulled out on kayaks as well.

Normally, I would flip the NYC Lawmaker the bird and tell him to mind his own freaking business but after giving it a little more thought would it be such a bad idea to implement some type of qualifier to prove swim worthiness?

Please let me hear your thoughts?

*Disclaimer - since this is my blog I am free to change my opinion and be hypocritical on this multiple times.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

The Next Year

2011-08-02T11:12:00.001-05:00

It has been Eleven weeks since the completion of my first Ironman. In this time I have not followed any training plans or put pressure on myself to train. The plan was to basically not have a plan and just do what I wanted to do. This worked out extremely well and both my body and mind are ready to get back to it.

For July the overall volume ended up being pretty low by my standards:

Swim - 7h 23m - 17,250m
Bike - 12h 10m - 230mi
Run - 13h 50m - 92.41mi
------------------------------------
Total - 33h 23m

Total Weight Gained Since IM - 12lbs!

Yep, I was 150lbs on race day and am currently sitting at 162lbs. The funny thing is I look fit at 162lbs but 150lbs is a much better racing weight. I will take my time getting back down to racing weight!

Moving Forward:

I have two more Tri's this year:

- The Half Rev @ Rev3 Cedar Point on September 11th.
- The Olympic @ Rev3 Anderson on October 9th.

Then my schedule becomes extremely run focused. I am going to use the Advanced Marathoning 18-week 55-75mile per week plan. The purpose of doing such as high weekly volume plan is twofold: Build up a large running base for Ironman Mont-Tremblant and attempt to Boston Qualify. Not sure if I can BQ since I have never ran a stand-alone marathon but will use the races listed below to gauge my progress. It would be cool to BQ on my first marathon attempt but have a feeling my inexperience at the distance make it improbable. Still going to put myself out there and go for it!

My training program will officially begin on October 31st and I am currently working on building my weekly miles up to the upper 40's. The first week on my plan calls for 54miles - should be fun! I will be 36 years old for the marathon and will need a sub - 3h10m time to qualify. Pretty confident I can do a low 3:20 right now but will need to drop another 15 minutes.

Here is my planned schedule:

- San Antonio RnR 1/2 Marathon on November 12th
- Texas Trail Run 50k on December 10th (tentative)
- Texas 1/2 Marathon on January 1st, 2012.
- The Woodlands Marathon on March 3rd, 2012 (A Race)

After the Woodlands Marathon I will begin Training for Ironman Mont-Tremblant and will do these Tri's in preperation:

- Kemah Olympic Tri on April 15th, 2012
- Rev3 Knoxville Olympic on May 8th, 2012
- Buffalo Spring Lake Tri 70.3 on June 24th, 2012
- Ironman Mont Tremblant on August 19th, 2012 (A Race)

As you can see the schedule is planned for the next year. It is nice to have it all worked out but the loss of spontaneity sometimes leads to regret!

Since I have decided to focus on running the time dedicated to swimming and cycling is going to have to decrease. This was a hard decision to make because I really do enjoy both but the reality is in order to put the type of weekly miles into running that is required then something had to change.

This also means that I will be heading into Cedar Point 70.3 and Anderson Olympic under-trained on the swim and bike. Thanks to IM training I do have a decent base in both the swim and bike so completion is not an issue but I will be slower. Hopefully all the run training will pay off and carry me through.

Has anyone else started planning for 2012 yet?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good

2011-07-29T16:36:00.001-05:00

Conversation from earlier today between the Annie and Jeff:

Annie: "My 5mi run sucked this morning, I wish that Houston would have a cooler climate!"

Jeff: "If you had just one wish, you'd wish for a cooler climate in Houston? That is a stupid wish."

Annie: "That is not stupid, your stupid, it is F^&*#%#G disgusting outside!!"

Jeff" "I am saying if you have just one wish you should wish for something much better than that. People are always screwing up these One Wish Scenarios and I think y'all need to put more thought into this stuff."

Annie: "Whatever, Jeff. {could feel her eyes rolling even though we were on the cell phones} what would your one wish be?"

Jeff: "To be the inventor of Teleportation. See this is genius. Most people would wish for the ability to Teleport. In my opinion, that is cool but is also short sighted. If I INVENT Teleportation then I am easily going to be able to Teleport, right? BUT I will also reap the financial rewards of the invention. So by wishing to be the inventor of Teleportation I am getting another cliche wish which is to be rich. Two for the price of one! And when the weather is shitty here we can just Teleport to San Diego or Alaska for your run. Trifecta!

Pretty sure Annie hung up someplace in the middle of this conversation so she may or may not of heard my very excellent wish. Oh, I was stuck in traffic at the time too.

Mad points to whoever can tell me where the title of the post came from?

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Ironman Lake Placid Crew

2011-07-22T07:37:00.002-05:00

Big Sunday for many of our Blogger buddies! I am so nervous!

They will be rocking the full iron distance this Sunday at Ironman USA in the usually sleepy town of Lake Placid.

Last year a big group of us decided 2011 was going to be the year we all were going to complete the full iron distance. We selected our races and began training. We cannot even begin to count the amount emails, tweets, phone calls, texts, FBs, kicks to the butts, and pats on the back that have been exchanged among the group. Knowing the hard work, pain, and sacrifice of each member of our group makes this Sunday special.

With that being said I am more nervous for them this weekend then I was for myself during IMTX!

And in traditional blogger fashion they will have the eyes of the interwebz upon them.

Here is a list of who we should be tracking:

#918 Jon (SwiCycloRun) Leonard Campbell – @vrljc
#312 Mandy Farrar (Caratunk Girl) – @caratunkgirl
#2213 Bryan Payne (Training Payne) -- @tri_bry

#1709 Derek (Tri'ing 4 Iron)

#1147 Jason Rodriguez (Tri Tech Blog)

To make it even easier to complete your stalker duties Kevin @Ironmanbythirty went ahead and created direct links from the IronmanLive site so we can all enjoy the one-click follow:

Jon Campbell
http://tracking.ironmanlive.com/newathlete.php?rid=375&race=event/ironman/lakeplacid&bib=918&beta=

Mandy
http://tracking.ironmanlive.com/newathlete.php?rid=375&race=event/ironman/lakeplacid&bib=312&beta=

Bryan Payne
http://tracking.ironmanlive.com/newathlete.php?rid=375&race=event/ironman/lakeplacid&bib=2213&beta=

Jason Rodriquez
http://tracking.ironmanlive.com/newathlete.php?rid=375&race=event/ironman/lakeplacid&bib=1147&beta=

Derek
http://tracking.ironmanlive.com/newathlete.php?rid=375&race=event/ironman/lakeplacid&bib=1709&beta=

Of the group above every one but Bryan are first timers! They have all put in the long, hard hours of training and will reap the rewards of those efforts on Sunday. I'd like to wish them all good luck, but that is not needed since they are prepared. Instead let's all hope for perfect weather and that they all have a wonderful day!

Go get 'em guys!

Jeff

Things that Bother Me ...

2011-07-15T12:51:00.001-05:00

I wrote the below list before this intro and must say I feel much better. "Things that Bother Me .." may have to become a weekly feature on the Carrot. Pretty sure I did a good job of equally offending a plethora of different groups of people. Enjoy.

Things that Bother Me ...

Minivans - As an outside sales rep and an avid cyclist I spend a lot of time among other drivers. This means I see a shitload of stupidity taking place on America's roads! I would be willing to bet that over 2/3rds of the head shaking acts of idiocy witnessed is perpetrated by a distracted motorist in a minivan. And a minivan ran over and killed my pug puppy 13 years ago. Suck it minivans.

Boston Globe Hack Brian McGrory for this asinine article stating that cyclists should not be allowed on Boston Streets. Here is his email (mcgrory@globe.com) if you would like to let him know that he is indeed a douchebag!

Parents who think their children are gifted geniuses - In most of these occurrences the parents are barely functioning morons so, to be fair, the children might be advanced considering the shallow swamp of a gene-pool they originated from. Most of these conversations start like this, "Little Jimmy is so gifted, he figured out how to walk up stairs already!" And they end like this, "Yeah, Mommy of the Year, you might want to turn around because your future rocket scientist is eating cat shit in the back yard."

Cats - They just suck.

FUN, FAIR, POSITIVE SOCCER - First off soccer blows but it blows even worse when the kids leagues do not keep score. Everybody is a winner! Yeah! Let's all go get ice cream now. This teaches kids that mediocrity is acceptable - Bullshit! You think the Chinese have fun, fair, positive soccer? If Ricky Bobby taught us anything it is that if you Ain't First, You're Last.

People who think I am an asshole because when they ask me this question, "Can I ask you to do me a favor?" and I reply with, "No" and then quickly walk away. It is better to just ask and not give me a chance to get out of doing something I probably do not want to do ... just sayin. Maybe you could learn something from my honesty.

The overuse of the phrase "Just Sayin ..."

California - Just a failed social experiment that place turned out to be.

California Signs Law to Teach Gay History in Schools - Listen, I am all for gay marriage and gay rights. That is not the problem. What the problem is - is that kids have zero idea what the US Constitution or the Declaration of Independence means. They have no idea what type of sacrifices were made by The Greatest Generation or by the Founding Fathers of our nation. Gay history is going to be taught in Social Studies Class - my concern is what is it going to take the place of? Should they ax the Civil War? Maybe modify the length of the chapter on the Great Depression? I am so sick of political correctness dictating what is taught in the classrooms.

Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro Linebacker James Harrison - Lovely interview asshat!

People who still pay with checks - Okay dude, if you are reading this and are thinking, "I still pay with checks because ...." Let me just stop your excuse making self right now. Instead if commenting, log off the computer, get in your car (preferably not a minivan), drive to your bank, and get a freaking Debit Card. Everybody standing behind you at the local grocery store from this point forward will forever be grateful. Go. Now.

The excruciatingly ridiculous amount of commercials on Versus during every broadcast of Le Tour de France.

France - This has nothing to do with Le Tour. The Tour is so great that we tolerate the French each and every year during July. The French have always just bothered me. Surprised they haven't surrendered to Mark Cavendish yet?

Emotional Dudes - Get a hold of yourself Nancy. Crying is for chicks and kids. Man-up and rub some dirt on it. Time to be a little less Dawson Leary and a lot more John Wayne. As a side note - Emotional dudes are probably the main reason California, France and Cats bother me.

If you have things that bother you that I missed please feel free to add them to the comments.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Jeff

Twitter Killed the Blogger Star

2011-07-12T20:45:00.000-05:00

- It has been a few days since my last post which is very unlike me. I have noticed over the last few months that I have gone from posting 4-5 times a week to as little as once a week. Most people would probably think this is because of life getting in the way or a crazy training schedule but that is not the case. The main reason: TWITTER (Follow me HERE). The Twitter Killed the Blogger Star. All thoughts and conversation are now relegated to 140 characters. Everybody is doing it.

- Oh, and to add to the daunting and confusing world of social media I am now on Google + and it is freaking awesome. Google + is basically Facebook without all the ads and the ability to filter your updates to "circles" of followers. The other night Jon (SwiCycloRun), Kevin (Ironman by Thirty), and Annie (we were in the same room on different computers) all went to the hangout room and video chatted - it was very cool. Google + is going to revolutionize the way we communicate via Social Media. If you cannot get on by clicking the Google + link then leave a comment or email me with your email address and I will send you an invite. And then we can hangout and you too can meet this guy:

Big Ern

- It has been a little over 7 weeks since Ironman Texas and I am finally back in the training zone. I haven't talked about it much on the blog or Twitter but I was definitely going through some post-Ironman depression. I just did not have the desire to swim, bike, or run. It started out that I was beat up and really needed some rest but then it developed into a feeling of just not wanting to do anything training related. I was still getting in some short workouts but was very inconsistent. Well, last Thursday I woke up and watched Le Tour de France and jumped on the trainer for the last hour. I ended up hammering the entire time and it felt great. Then I went for a swim and followed it up with a nice run and it just all clicked again - Viola! Weirdest thing.

- Only 60 Days until REV3 Cedar Point! I am more excited to hangout with all the cool bloggers and Trakkers peeps that are going to be there than I am to race. It is almost like a little 70.3 and 140.6 is going on in the middle of a big old party!!! If you want to join in the fun sign up by clicking here!

- Some depressing news to report: Since it has been so freaking hot here in Houston I have moved two of my four weekly runs indoors to the dreaded Treadmill. I had only done one treadmill run in the last 10 months and that streak is now over. And here is the depressing part (Except for everyone but Treadmill Diva EMZ) - I am enjoying it, like really enjoying it. AND my speed has comeback big time. I have been doing Wednesday morning track workouts (at 4:45am) and Monday evening speed intervals on the treadmill and the snap is back. For those who did not know this, Ironman training made me a slow runner. All those long slow miles just zapped the speed from my legs. Not anymore, as I have been holding sub-5:15/mi paces on both the track and the treadmill. This is a good place to be with my first ever stand alone marathon coming in early '12!

- The Pittsburgh Pirates are 47-43 at the AllStar break and a mere one game out of the division lead. I have watched or followed on the computer most of the games (as I do every year) and must say I have not had this much fun watching baseball in a long time (18 years to be exact). They have 3 players in tonight's All-Star game and this is the first time since 1990 (21years) that they had 3 or more players in this game! I might have to start a Pirates Blog because this is all I have been talking about for the last couple of months. My friends and wife have to be sick of it by now but I don't care!!

- Doing the Katy Flatlands Century Ride on Sunday. It is supposed to be 100 degrees with a 100% humidity. I did this last year and stopped at pretty much every aide station to hydrate. I cannot wait to get to Sandusky, OH in September and see how my body reacts in 70 degree temps? I might have to run in sweat pants and a sweat shirt as that might feel really cold!

Thanks or Reading,

Jeff

Movies, Books, Interviews, and more ...

2011-07-04T12:17:00.001-05:00

I used to do movie and book reviews all the time on the Carrot but as training increased these review opportunities decreased accordingly. It has now been over six weeks since Ironman Texas and the time in training has been cut drastically. Over this period I've been able to enjoy a couple of books and a bunch of movies and figured I'd revert back to the good ol' days!

But first, I was interviewed by a site called Tri For Time about how to effectively manage training into your day-to-day life. Take a minute and check out the interview HERE. Leave a comment and let the author know of your quick tips for making training work!

Book #1: I'm Here to Win by Chris "Macca" McCormack

I received this book a couple months ago and put it to the side as I was not really that interested in reading. I have always thought Macca was one heck of an athlete and respected his abilities as one of the best triathletes in the world. However, I always felt he was kinda of a douchebag. His interviews and press conferences always came across as brash and selfish and have made him the black hat wearing villain of professional triathletes.

I finally picked up the book and after a few pages didn't want to put it down. The writing style was much like you get on this and many other endurance blogs - more stream of consciousness writing over structured foundation. This style made me feel like it was a couple of guys sitting around a table with a pint of beer just telling some stories. Very engaging.

The content of the book brought us back to when Macca was just getting started in triathlon. It told us of some tragic losses in his life and gave us some insight into why he has the work ethic that he does. It gives us a look inside of the professional and business side of Triathlon that I found extremely interesting. And in traditional Macca fashion, he pulls no punches when discussing some other professional Triathletes, both good and bad. And some of the information shared on training and racing are worth their weight in gold.

After fininshing I'm Here to Win my personal feelings towards him have changed completely. He is sort of like Mike Tyson - completely misunderstood! BUT I still see him as the black hat villain, the only difference is I now know that this image is by his choice.

Ranking: 8.5/10 Carrots

Book #2: Born to Run by Christopher McDougal

I do realize that I am the 2nd to last person in the endurance community to read this book (Kevin @Ironman by Thirty will be the last). Here is the description by Amazon:

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

This first thing that jumped out to me is that Christopher McDougal is an excellent writer and amazing storyteller. I had been avoiding this book because of the barefoot running "fad" that has been popping up among the running world over the last couple of years. This book is responsible for the boom. Sometimes I prefer to take an ignorance is bliss approach to things in the endurance community and the barefoot running debate was #1 on my list of things to remain un-knowledgeable about! And I am completely aware I used the term "fad" to describe barefoot running. We can have the argument on whether it was used in the correct context 2-3 years from now!

Anyway, I absolutely loved the book. I was expecting a sermon on the minimalist approach to running and that was actually just a small undertone to what turned out to be a remarkable story with compelling and likable characters. McDougal strings together a story of his injury history with out beloved sport by becoming intertwined with some of the world's best ultramarathon runners. He regal's us with tells of the Leadville 100 and ends with a race among an ancient tribe, the Tarahumara Indians, who are considered the greatest distance running tribe of all time.

McDougal asks the question of how this ancient tribe can run through the brutal terrain of the Copper Canyons of Mexico day-after-day in rubber sandals and limited nutrition and not become injured? He takes us to scientists, professional runners, and coaches to try and answer this question. However, what I really liked is that McDougal did not let the science overtake the story he was trying to tell. This book could have got extremely technical but it stayed focused on the characters, which kept me reading.

FWIW, I ordered a new pair of running shoes the same day I finished this book and they were not Vibram Five Fingers! Ha!

Ranking: 9/10 Carrots

Movie #1: Super 8

Last Sunday Annie and I were finished with training and it was too hot to hang in the outdoors so we headed to the movie theater. She didn't want to see an action flick and I was opposed to anything that would make chicks cry. So Super 8 it was. Here is the IMDB description:

After witnessing a mysterious train crash, a group of friends in the summer of 1979 begin noticing strange happenings going around in their small town, and begin to investigate into the creepy phenomenon.

I will make this review short and to the point - Super 8 was fantastic! Acting, directing, cinematography, production, story ... it was all just top notch. The best way to describe it is to say it is a combination of The Goonies, Cloverfield, and ET. It probably won't win any awards but it was a very enjoyable day at the movies and I highly recommend seeing it at the theater.

Ranking: 9.5/10

Movie #2: Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon

On Thursday night I went with a few friends to see the new Transformers Flick. It was in 3D and I had high expectations that it was going to be as cool as Avatar.

The story starts out with an Autobots shuttle crashing on the moon in the early 1960's. NASA was aware of the crash and thus the story takes off from here. It takes us back to JFK, and him and his administration pushing for man to walk on the moon. However, once we land Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have a much different agenda then what the American public knows - explore the crashed spaceship! Of course this leads to a major find and then a major cover-up and then to present day and thus our story begins ...

The 3rd Transformers brings back all the cast of character from the first two movies and recycles some of the same humor and relationship dynamics that seem to be the norm in most sequels. The only notable missing character was Sam Witwicky's girlfriend played by Megan Fox, who is smoking hot. However, the actress they got to replace her, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, is even hotter!

Okay, as seems to be the norm with Transformers movies the storyline was thin and, IMO, stupid. As not to be a Spoiler, I will not go into more detail on the story . The acting was good and quite a few funny one liners kept the mode light. The last hour of the movie was action-packed and once again pushed the limits in terms of special effects.

However, with a running time of 157 minutes I found myself looking at my watch and wondering when this was going to be over on more than one occasion. Oh, and the 3D was lazy when compared to Avatar. A bar has been set and no other 3D move has yet been able to attain that level since. My take on Transformers 3 is if you have a few hours to kill and have already seen Super 8 then go see it. If not, wait for it on Netflix.

Ranking: 6/10

I hope everyone is having a most excellent 4th of July Weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Adopt an NFL Player

2011-06-30T17:32:00.001-05:00

My buddy Ryan sent me this and thought all you football fans would enjoy!

For maximum effect I suggest you cue up some Sarah Mclachlan while reading:

Can You Help?

Americans have come together as never before in our generation. We have banded together to overcome adversity. We have overcome corporate/government scandal, layoffs, unemployment, stock price plunges, droughts, fires, mad cow, SARS, and high gasoline prices. But now, we must come together once again to overcome our greatest challenge yet.

Hundreds of Professional Football players in our very own nation are going to be locked out, living at well below the seven-figure salary level. And as if that weren't bad enough they could be deprived of their life giving pay for several months, possibly longer, as a result of the upcoming lockout situation. But you can help!

For only $27,080 a month, about $902.75 a day (that's less than the cost of a large screen projection TV) you can help an NFL player remain economically viable during his time of need. This contribution by no means solves the problem as it barely covers the annual minimum salary, but it's a start, and every little bit will help!

Although $900 may not seem like a lot of money to you, to a football player it could mean the difference between spending the lockout golfing in Florida or on a Mediterranean cruise. For you, nine hundred dollars is nothing more than a month's rent, a mortgage payment, or a month of medical insurance, but to a football player, $900 will partially replace his daily salary.

Your commitment of less than $900 a day will enable a player to buy that home entertainment center, trade in the year-old Lexus for a new Ferrari, or enjoy a weekend in Rio .

HOW WILL I KNOW I'M HELPING?

Each month, you will receive a complete financial report on the player you sponsor. Detailed information about his stocks, bonds, 401(k), real estate, and other investment holdings will be mailed to your home. Plus, upon signing up for this program, you will receive an unsigned photo of the player lounging during the lockout on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean (for a signed photo, please include an additional $150). Put the photo on your refrigerator to remind you of other peoples' suffering.

HOW WILL HE KNOW I'M HELPING?

Your NFL player will be told that he has a SPECIAL FRIEND who just wants to help in a time of need. Although the player won't know your name, he will be able to make collect calls to your home via a special operator in case additional funds are needed for unforeseen expenses.

Remember, a lifestyle is a horrible thing to waste...

---------------------------------------------------------
YES, I WANT TO HELP!

I would like to sponsor a locked out NFL player. My preference is (check below):

[ ] Offense [ ] Defense [ ] Special Teams [ ] Entire team

Please charge the account listed below $902.75 per day for the duration of the lockout. Please send me a picture of the player and my very own Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner) pin to wear proudly on my hat (include $80 for hat).

Your Name:____________________Telephone Number:___________________
Account Number:__________________Exp.Date:_______

[ ] MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] American Express [ ] Other

Signature:_______________________

Alternate card (when the primary card exceeds its credit limit):
Account Number:_______________________ Exp.Date:_______
[ ] MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] American Express [ ] Other

Signature:______________________

p.s. If you have a little extra, please enclose for the cheerleaders. Contrary to public opinion, cheerleaders are people too.

Source: http://www.sports790.com/pages/mattthomas.html#ixzz1QhRzVNpT

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Wonderful Story ...

2011-06-29T15:42:00.000-05:00

Damn Allergies ...

Click Here (you'll be glad you did)!

Jeff

USAT Coaching: Are Barriers to Entry Lacking?

2011-06-26T06:30:00.105-05:00

Flashback to a couple of weeks ago: My wife Annie and I raced at a local sprint tri. Since she had a much later wave start I found myself at the finish area waiting for her with some time to kill. As I was standing around a guy who was probably a few years older than me walked up with a beautiful black lab puppy on a leash. Naturally I asked if I could play with his dog and we then began to chat and discovered his wife was in the same wave as mine and he was awaiting her finish as well.

We got to talking and he told me that he and his wife did their first triathlons last summer and they both were hooked on the sport. From that point on it was the normal conversation between triathletes about races, training, clubs ...etc. I was only paying partial attention to him as I was secretly thinking of ways to steal his awesome lab pup when I heard him utter the following phrase:

"My wife and I are even Certified USAT Level 1 Coaches!"

Only a few minutes before he was telling me how he and his wife were new to triathlon and now he is saying that they both are Certified USAT Level 1 Coaches. They are self proclaimed newbies so how can they be Certified USAT Level 1 Coaches? Something just does not seem right?

Flashback to last October: My buddy Dave and I are doing a large group ride with one of the local Triathlon Clubs on the northern part of the Ironman Texas course. We are headed east and come across some cyclists who are having mechanical issues and they are stopped along the shoulder. We stop and offer our assistance as Dave has some tools in his saddle bag. As they begin working on the bikes I step to the side and start talking to one of the other cyclists. It turns out she is doing the same 70.3 race as me in November. She tells me this is her first 70.3 race and that she is very excited and also very nervous. As with most triathletes the conversation leads to training and we start comparing notes about the weekly volume we are doing for the race. We were talking about the amount of swim volume each of us was doing on a weekly basis. She proceeded to tell me that she felt I was swimming too much and was going to burn out and that she was ...

"... a Certified USAT Level I Coach and I should trust her!"

Only a few minutes before this she was telling me how this was her first 70.3 race and then shortly after is tossing around her credentials as a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach. She had never done a 70.3 nor asked a single question about my swimming background. Something just does not seem right?

I will be the first to admit that I did not even know what the hell a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach even really meant when I had the conversation with the cyclist. I had never done any independent research on the subject and the only real knowledge of USAT Coaching I had came from blog posts by Jaime @ Swim Bike Run Live and Joel @ TriMadness. In hindsight, I never really cared too much about it until more and more triathletes kept telling me they were Certified USAT Level 1 Coaches.

If you are unaware of what the USAT is it is the governing body for Triathlon in the USA. As the governing body and as an association all US Triathletes pay a $39 yearly membership. I assumed that the USAT probably had some stringent barriers to entry. I assumed they required Advanced Degrees in Physiology or Physical Therapy or even a certain number of years successful coaching before someone could even apply to be a Certified USAT Level I Coach. Basically I assumed that the USAT would want to have the most qualified group of individuals possible being certified to coach with the USAT Logo as credentials.

I was wrong and once again learned a the valuable lesson that assumption is the mother of all f#$k ups.

Here is what I found straight from the USAT website:

Level I

Prior to certification, candidate must complete and/or submit the following:

Current USAT Membership
Level I Clinic
Written Examination
Current CPR Certification
Signed USOC Coaching Ethics Code
Online Background Check

The Level l Clinic is a 2.5 Day classroom based lecture and the Written Examination is an online test that you have three months to complete. In addition to the Clinic and Exam as long as you are not a hardened criminal, have paid your USAT yearly dues, have gone to a CPR course, and paid USAT the $525 fee you too can be a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach.

Guess this answers how a nice couple that had been participating in triathlon for less than a year could be Certified USAT Level I Coaches. Or how someone who had never personally done a 70.3 race was confident enough to give someone who had done several training advice.

It appears that the only barriers to entry are the ability to have 2.5 free days to listen to a lecture and $525 to pay for those days. Something just does not seem right?

Getting back to my stories above - I asked the guy with the lab puppy if he and his wife were coaching any athletes and he told me that they were coaching a few ladies from his office. In my opinion, this is irresponsible by both this inexperienced couple and USAT, but mostly USAT. As stated, this couple was new to triathlon and I could clearly see from the guy, very passionate about it. If the governing body of the sport gives you an option to become a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach that is easily obtainable it is hard to blame these people. That is why I place the vast majority of the blame squarely on the shoulders of the USAT. They created the certification programs and make it too damn easy to become a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach.

As for the mechanically challenged cyclist I did not ask if she coaches any athletes nor did I ask how long she had been coaching. She may have just had the accreditation for shits and giggles. However, she did use the fact that she was a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach to make her point! Even though she never asked anything about my swimming background, time goals, level of fitness, or even if I liked to swim. She just asked about my weekly volume. And with just that little bit of information decided it was too much volume? BTW, I was swimming around 10,000 yards a week - that is not too much volume. But who am I to challenge her, she is a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach?

Now once this little ditty hits the interwebz I am sure to receive a few pissed off comments and emails. That is fine and I expect it. Since mostly triathletes read this blog and most triathletes now seem to be a Certified USAT Level 1 Coaches (kidding) I expect some backlash! Have at it.

But just to be clear. I am not saying that ALL USAT Certified Coaches are under-qualified. As a matter of fact, it appears that once a coach progresses to Level II and Level III the program becomes quite stringent and it takes a hell of a lot of work and experience to acquire these accreditations. This is good for both coaches and athletes and hopefully this level of expertise will trickle down to the Level I course.

What I am merely stating is that the barriers to entry (In my opinion) are entirely too lenient as determined by USAT. This does not mean that there are not some very good coaches with Certified USAT Level I credentials. I just means the our governing body makes it to simple for bad coaches to have the same certification as the good ones. And if I was a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach (which I am not) I would be pretty pissed at what a joke the USAT has made of this certification!

If you feel I am wrong and that you learned enough in 2.5 days of lecture to be a coach then I will eat this post (not really). But if you are a coach and this is the only credential you have on your resume then I am not impressed. This is not your fault because your governing body set the bar this low but if you are wondering why it is so hard to find clients then maybe you should look elsewhere then the USAT for that answer.

I guess the bottom line is that if you are an athlete in the market for a coach dig deeper than just a USAT Level I Certification because based on what I have found it really does not mean much. Buyer Beware!

Let's talk this out in the comments. Have any of you had similar experiences? Do you feel the USAT Barriers to entry are lacking? Are you a Certified USAT Level 1 Coach and want to come down to Texas and slap me?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Talk to me Blogosphere ....

2011-06-24T11:28:00.003-05:00

Just Your Average Houston Summer!

As you can see from the temperatures above it has been a blast furnace here in South East Texas. Add in the ridiculous humidity levels and when you walk outside it feels as if you are draped in a hot wet blanket! Lovely, huh?

I hear the term Heat Acclimation tossed around all over the message boards, Twitter, and other blogs. With the weather here I even toss around the Heat Acclimation phrase quite often and over the last couple of smoking hot runs this term got me thinking:

Am I getting the most out of my training by doing it in these ridiculously hot conditions?

Now this mostly applies to running as I already spend a fair amount of time on the indoor bike trainer.

Here is a list of Pros and Cons I have come up with in regards to training in the extreme heat:

Pros:
- It builds mental toughness and teaches you how to suffer.
- It teaches your body its needs and limits in terms of hydration and dehydration.
- Forces you to go slower and thus builds aerobic capacity.
- It does seem to help improve performance when you enter/race cooler environments.

Cons:
- It wears you down thus your body needs more time to recover.
- Due to increased fatigue from the heat your form may breakdown and then you are just practicing bad form.
- You go slower so you do not cover as much distance so you might not be maximizing your time that is committed to training.
- You can hurt yourself. In these temps a point is reached where the sweat output far exceeds the water input.

Over the last year I have ran well over 1000mi and only about 8 of those miles have been on a treadmill. The current consideration is to up the indoor miles. With the extreme heat I have REALLY been suffering on my runs. On Wednesday I ran 4mi and finished at 7:30pm. My pace was around 8:30/mi and I was exhausted and lightheaded after. I was so exhausted that I was unable to get out of bed at 4am the next day for Masters Swim. This wasn't the first time the heat has zapped me of energy just the most recent and it is concerning because it was such a short run.

Here are the questions I need help with from you guys: Should I move my runs indoors? Or is it better to just suck it up and keep running outdoors as it will help me in the long run? Can you think of anymore pros v cons? Am I just being a baby?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Mont-Tremblant

2011-06-15T13:53:00.000-05:00

Today I signed up for Ironman Mont-Tremblant. It will be my second 140.6 race and it will happen on August 19th of 2012. The course looks extremely difficult but last I checked Ironman wasn't supposed to be easy!

Go read Kevin's post on Ironman Tremblant as he describes it perfectly! We have an awesome group of bloggers going and the only negative is that we have to wait 14 months to race.

Going to have to brush up on my French! And when I say "brush up on" I mean "learn a few key words".

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Things of Interest ...

2011-06-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

Lots going on in the Triathlon world over the last couple of days. First, WTC announced a new 140.6 race at Mont Tremblant. This race has me intrigued. Actually I might be a little obsessed with it by Googling everything Mont Tremblant related.

The above picture is of MT. I emailed it to my wife yesterday morning and told her that in August of '12 an Ironman will be happening here and that I wanted to do it. She replied back with two words: Book it.

We might have a couple other blogger buddies interested in this one too! *cough* Kevin, Mandy, Jon *cough* who else is thinking about it?

WTC followed IMMT by announcing another race - Ironman New York City. They are calling it the Ironman US Championship (whatever the heck that means?) and word on the street is they are going to charge $1000 per entry. Freaking ridiculous! Especially considering 90% of the race is in NJ. Oh, and the swim is in the polluted Hudson River, yuk! I'd rather churn butter for 17-hrs then do this race!

My wife, Annie, did her 2nd every Sprint Tri on Sunday. Click HERE to read her report.

I saw a picture of myself from the race on Sunday and realized something weird. Look at this pic and see if you can see it as well:

Do you see it? My thighs are bigger than my entire upper body. Completely disproportionate. This isn't necessarily a bad thing for a triathlete BUT it is a bad thing for ones own vanity (and also trying to buy properly fitted pants). This is freaky looking - time to start adding in some weight training for the upper body!

So I mentioned the other day that my achilles has been giving me some trouble. It has actually been bothering me since the beginning of April but since I am a meat-head the path taken to deal with it was that of ignorance. This path is not one that I would recommend as it could have become a lot worse than it is now. That being said, it really is not at injury stage yet so I have decided to take a couple of weeks off from running and let it settle down some. Because of this I have decided to not race Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 at the end of the month. The thought is to take the time to get healthy so I can begin a solid block of training leading up to Rev3 Cedar Point Half Rev on September 11th. Oh, and if you haven't signed up for Rev3 Cedar Point Full or Half you better get to it soon because all the cool kids are going to be there and you don't want to miss out!

Speaking of Rev3, check out the new website! It is so easy to navigate and gives you all the information about your races that you could possibly want. The user friendly rating for this site is through the roof. This should be the template for all race website from this point forward.

The weather here in Houston has be brutal. It has been over 100 degrees for the last few days with dangerous level of humidity. Yes, Houston is usually hot this time of year but not this bad. Hopefully it cools off by the time I resume running next week or I might have to do my first treadmill run of 2011.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Tejas Race Report

2011-06-07T16:31:00.001-05:00

Annie and I woke up at 3am on Sunday morning and made the hour drive south to Sugarland for the Tejas Triathlon. This was going to be Annie's second Sprint Tri and I really was just looking for something to do after IMTX.

We got to the race site and had to park about a mile away. It was already in the low 80s and the humidity was extremely high. It was going to be a smoker.

Swim:

The swim was in a duck pond and it was 656 yards (600M). The water temperature was 88 degrees and it felt like I stepped into a warm bath.

I was in the first wave (M30-39) and the RD wasted no time getting us in the water. I was sort of late lining up (big shocker) so I got stuck towards the back of the group at the start - it meant I was going to have to swim over and around a quite a few people.

Swim:

The gun went off and it was your normal washing machine that is associated with the triathlon swim start:

The first 100 yards or so was a little rough but I found a seam and really pushed to get ahead of the big pack in the middle. There was a big turnaround buoy at about the 400m mark and by this time I was towards the back of the lead pack of about 12 or so guys. It was really hot and I could not wait to get out of the water to cool off (read that sentence again).

At this point I could see the finish and was just trying to stick on some feet to pull me home. Then a guy in a kayak told us we were going the wrong way and we need to go to another buoy and make the turn. It was about 50m away and we had to swim BACK to it and then make the turn. This sucked because I easily lost a minute or two doing this but so did 6 or 7 other guys so it wasn't a big deal. But the people coming up behind us picked up some ground on us as they all followed us in the right direction.

According to the pre-race announcement and the athlete's guide we needed to keep to the left of all buoys. By us going around this last buoy it was to our right? The funny part was I asked my buddy Steve, who was 3 waves behind me, if I just missed the announcement at the pre-race meeting. He told me that they were watching us swim the wrong way from the shore and the RD made another announcement telling the rest of the swimmers to go around the buoy! This is why I love the small local races - we all stood around after the race and laughing about it! If it was a big race and something like this happened (See CapTex from last week) everyone would have been bitching and moaning.

My Swim Time was 11:27 which is 1:45/100yd.

Bike:

I had a quick transition at 1:33 and jumped on my Kestrel and started to spin in granny the gear. Then I realized it was a freaking sprint and I needed to hammer. My last 4 races have been an IM and three HIM's so the spinning has become a habit to get the legs ready for the long ride - not need here buddy.

The bike course changed some from previous years as it used to be 13mi so I really had no idea what to expect. The RD told us it was a little over 11mi this year. The course was flat and on good roads but had a bunch of turns as it was a 2-loop course. It was difficult to every really get in a groove as you kept having to slow down to hit a turn. For the last year plus I have not been training for this type of burst on the bike so my legs were screaming for most of the bike split.

Transition came at about the time I was starting to warm up!

My Bike Time was 31:32 and the distance was 11.54mi (according to the Garmin) which was a 22mph avg.

Run:

My bike to run transition was only 52 seconds so I hit the course fast. My problem was that the competitive portion of my race was done when I put my bike on the rack. I've been experiencing some pain in my right achilles for about the last 2 months. And to make matters worse over the last 2 weeks I have had some piriformis and lower back pain on the left side. I probably should have done the Aquabike but just decided to take it easy on the run.

The run course was a picturesque little 3mi jaunt though a nice neighborhood with big old Pecan Trees that offered excellent shade. It was still in the low 90's but the shade really helped.

I had trouble fighting the urge to run harder as people were passing me but kept myself at the 7:30/mi pace that was comfortable. My legs were feeling awesome and I had a sub-19min run in me but for once I did the prudent thing and did not push the achilles.

My run time was 22:26 with a 7:29/mi pace.

Overall I finished in 1h 07m
It was 87th out of 400ish.

This is the first sprint I have done in a long time and I forgot how hard they are!! It is just an all out anaerobic effort from start to finish. Lots of pain on the bike! The best part was hitting 28-30 mph on a couple of the longer flat areas on the bike and not worrying about blowing up because you still had a long run upcoming! The bad part about doing this sprint was that my body had no idea what was going on! It was like, "Whoa, Jeff, slow down bro, we need to ease into this!"

This is a fun local race that is just a great way to spend a Sunday morning and I would recommend it to everyone. Lots of food and drinks at the post race party too! Annie had a really good race and more importantly is really enjoying doing swim, bike and run.

I'd like to thank our friend Anne for coming out to support and to take all these pictures. She is a talented photographer and captured a ton of great shots of Annie!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Big Weekend

2011-06-03T09:10:00.000-05:00

I love this time of year!

Not particularly for me because it usually is the start of the brutal summer season here in Houston (ie: 103 degrees yesterday). BUT because all of my cooler climate peeps are finally able to put all that hard training to the test and get to do some races! This means a plethora of Race Reports to read on Monday!

Wishing a wonderful race weekend to:

Mandy, Mark, Jason, Regina and the rest of my Team Trakkers buddies at the Rev3 Quassy Olympic and Half Rev.
Jon @ The Ridgefield Sprint Tri.
BDD, MattyO and Heather @ the Warrior Dash.
Kevin @ the inauguarl Grand Rapid 70.3.
And my wife Annie @ the Tejas Sprint Tri

Sorry if I missed anyone! Let me know if you are racing in the comments.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

And It Begins (again)

2011-05-31T08:06:00.000-05:00

So I am done with recovery. Over it. Time to move on.

Yesterday I finalized a new training plan that will carry me to the next series of races and since I am not a big waster of time that new training plan begins today!

Here is my race schedule for the remainder of the year:

Tejas Sprint Triathlon - June 5th
Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3 - June 26th
Rev3 Cedar Half Rev - September 11th
Redman Triathlon 70.3 - September 24th
Rev3 Anderson South Carolina Olympic - October 9th

Joel @ Tri-Madness is known for doing interviews with Pro Triathletes in his "Ten Questions With ...." Series. Well, today he went the other direction and interviewed an average MOP triathlete, ME! So if you want to learn more about the man who runs this very blog jump on over to Joel's interview (Click Here).

This weekend was extremely productive: The House is CLEAN! Annie and I dug deep and got the house back to the no-longer-embarrassed-to-have-people-over-stage. I even steam cleaned the carpets!

We saw The Hangover 2 on Saturday. It had some funny parts but I would give it a ranking of OK. As you expect from a sequel it recycled some of the funny moments from the original movie and went even more over the top with some of the jokes. But as I was sitting in the theater I kept looking at the time even though I had nothing to do afterwards?

People came over for a cookout on Monday and the house is no longer clean ...sigh.

The Kestrel 4000 got a cleaning last night and is ready to be rocked. This evening will be the first time I have been on the bike since IMTX and I cannot wait!

Annie and our friends tried to sit outside under a tree yesterday while I was cooking on the grill. It was 95 degrees. They last about 10 minutes. The Houston summer is in full effect!

The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cubs 10-0 on Saturday afternoon. No real reason for typing this other than I wanted to see it in print. Scores like these do not happen to the Pirates!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Random Thoughts ...

2011-05-27T10:17:00.001-05:00

It has been 5 days since IMTX and I am feeling wonderful. The legs have been feeling good since Sunday morning and the soreness wa completely gone by Tuesday.

A HUGE Thank You to all of you that commented, emailed, or tweeted about the IMTX Race Report. It was very cool and I am appreciative!

I have only done one workout since the race and that was a 4mi with the LifeTime Fitness Run Club on Wednesday evening. It was your typical Houston day with 95 degree heat and dripping humidity. The first two miles felt a little labored but after that I found my groove and held a 6:15pace for the final mile with a sprint at the end.

After this week I am going to start training in earnest again. I figure the body will be completely healed up and I do not want to lose all of my IM fitness so back at it.

Annie has been freaking killing it the last couple of weeks - she has been putting long swims at the pool and running like a mad woman. She has a Sprint Tri next Sunday and is going to do so good. It is hard being married to a crazy triathlete that gets up at 4am and goes to bed at 8pm (-:

Pretty sure I am done with The Biggest Loser. I love the show and the premise but I am so sick of every single freaking thing these people do being treated like they cured cancer. It is more the production than the contestants that has tired me. I mean this year they were jumping out of a building, (queue dramatic music) yeah it is cool, but all the contestants tried to parallel the meaning of jumping out of a building with "letting go" or "overcoming obstacles" ... blah, blah, blah ... this is just one minor example. I mean can't it just be fun to jump out of a freaking building? Why does it have to have some symbolic meaning in association with weight loss? I seriously think the producers encourage the contestant to say these things and after years of this they have hardened my heart - I'm out.

Have you ever seen the show with Monica from Friends called "Cougar Town"? Annie and I have caught a few minutes of a few shows and it is an absolute train wreck. The dialog is beyond awful - it makes me want to ram scissors in my ears.

On Monday Annie and a bunch of our friends are running in a 5k that finishes in Minute Maid Park. We did it last year and the post race spread was the best I have ever seen. However, this year will be different because I am not running. Instead I have been put in charge of ... wait for it .. wait for it ... WATCHING CHILDREN! Yep, no one saw that coming right? 3yr old and 5yr old boys - they will probably end up watching me!

Next Race: Well, I have two options. Do the Sprint Tri with Annie next Sunday or do Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 on June 26th. Or a 3rd option is to do both! The BSLT is considered one of the more difficult 70.3 races out there because the bike course is crazy hilly. You go up and down canyons! What do you think I should do?

Hope every one has an awesome holiday weekend!

Ironman Texas Race Report

2011-05-23T18:19:00.002-05:00

Jeff Irvin

Ironman Texas: May 21, 2011

Overall Time: 12:19:51

Overall Place: 584/2165

The Woodlands, TX - 91*F/Freaking Hot

On the first Tuesday of December 2010 I woke up at 4am and went to swim. This was the first day of training for Ironman Texas. That day was pretty uneventful as far as workouts go but it was the first step (or stroke) of what turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences of my entire life. It seem like it was so long ago.

My goal in this post is to share the outcome of this journey with all of you. However, I must warn it will be long. Grab a comfy chair, a sandwich, and a cold beer because this sucker is going to make War & Peace look like a short story!

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It has been less than two days since I crossed the finish line and heard Mike Reilly announce, Jeff Irvin You Are An Ironman, and it is still a completely surreal experience. I have been trying to write this race report since last night and really still have no idea where to even begin? I guess we will just jump right in from the beginning!

Friday - Practice Swim & Bike Check

The practice swim was scheduled for 8am on Friday morning at Lake Woodlands. The water temperature was 76 degrees and the talk of the morning was whether the swim would be wetsuit legal or not. If the temperature was above 76.1 then it would be a non-wetsuit swim. However, the twist was that you could still wear a wetsuit except you would not be eligible for Age Group awards or a Kona slot AND you would have to walk over a different timing mat as you entered the swim start. It was supposed to rain that night so we would not know the temperature until the morning.

The swim practice was awesome because Annie and I got to hang out with my Trakkers Teammates Rachelle and Anne. And also blogger buddies IronBob, Shannon, and Ryan (White Hot). A bunch of friends from my Tri Club, BeginnnerTriathlete, and Houston Racing where there and everyone was in a great mood - just a fun time!

"Hey Shannon, do these funky tan lines make my butt look big?"

My good buddy Patrick and I jumped in and did about 800m just to get a feel for the water. It was a little chilly at first but after 100m or so I was warm and pretty much decided I was going to swim sans wetsuit and use my TYR Torque Swimskin.

League of Extraordinary Tri-Geeks Uniforms?

We then headed to breakfast and then to check our bikes and gear bags in at transition. This was an extremely smooth and easy process. From there it was a quick lunch and then time to relax in the hotel room and stay out of the sun and off of the feet. Bob even texted me to make sure this was occurring - he is always looking out for me!! Thanks Buddy!

Bike Racked in First Full Row - Rockstar Parking!

A little later Jason arrived and stopped by the hotel. He was going to be staying at our house which is about 20 minutes from the Woodlands and taking care of our pugs, Ernie and Bailey. He showed up when I was getting all of my nutrition together so we talked some shop for awhile. Hell of a good dude! A big thanks to Jason for making the 4hr drive from Dallas to support and volunteer. If any of you are considering volunteering at an Ironman please read Jason's post (here) about his experience!

We then headed off to dinner with my buddy Mike and his family and Rob from First Endurance. You all know how much I love First Endurance nutrition and after meeting Rob I like FE even more. Really cool guy who loves Endurance sports. Contact me (or read any of my myriad of posts) about First Endurance if you want to learn about my IM nutrition.

After dinner it was early to bed ...

Saturday - Race Day

.... and early to rise, 3am. I had a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and a bottle of Ultragen. I then laid back down for a 45m nap and got up again at 4am. I did some stretching, had some EFS Drink, took some salt tabs and then Annie and I headed down to transition.

We meet up with my buddies Patrick and Bobby:

And then something really bad happened as I was topping of my tires - the stem broke off the tube on my front wheel. I was a little freaked but Patrick stepped up and grabbed a spare tube from my hands and changed it for me.

Personal Bike Mechanic Patrick!

He got the tube changed at NASCAR pit crew pace and I slapped on the adapter and BOOM!!! This one exploded so loud that people were ducking for cover - Pinch Flat! The first thought that came to my head was, Oh Shit! The second thought was that I only had one tube left on my bike and would have to ride with out a spare. Then I remembered I had two spare tubes in my special needs bag which had yet to be turned in - whew! Disaster averted! Take away - bring extra tubes!!! Second tube went on without incident and Bobby keep the mood light by showing us his new haircut:

We then all made the mile walk over to the swim start and met up with our tri club and just tried to stay loose and have some fun:

Chris, Me, Patrick, Bobby, Mike, Demi & Jama

Chris was having a lot more fun then the rest of us:

Then it was time for body marking:

We all hung out for about a half hour and discussed our swim start plans. It was then announced that the water temperature was 79 degrees and it would be a non-wetsuit swim. Patrick and I had talked about this scenario and we decided to not wear the wetsuits. My guess is about 400-500 people elected to wear wetsuits. In hindsight our decision was probably not the correct one.

The Swim

I positioned myself about half way out and right in the middle. I originally wanted to stay to the right with Bob but I got in the water early and all the other people coming in carried me to the middle. I looked over at my friend Jama, who was right next to me, and we talked about how this was going to hurt.

Picture 2400 people in an area that can hold about 400 and you are envisioning the swim start. With a couple minutes to go you hear Ozzy Osborne screaming I -AM -IRONMAN over the ridiculously loud PA system and I am grinning ear-to-ear thinking, This is F**cking Incredible!

7:00 AM - BOOM!!!

UTTER CHAOS!

As you can see from the pictures above the swim start was absolutely insane. It was pretty much like this for the first 1000m or so. People were climbing over you, you were climbing over people - I never had a chance in 2.4mi to every really find a rhythm. The only way I can describe what occurred in the water is to flash back to the days of WWF Steal Cage Matches - it was like this except with 2400 swimmers all just trying to survive. The first and second turn buoys were like large traffic stops except no one wanted to stop!

After the second turn buoy we began to head back north towards the canals and the contact wasn't as bad but still not good. It was like this until we hit the narrow canal and then it got much worse:

The Woodlands Canal - Saturday, May 21st!

The canal was nothing short of violent (but it was cool because spectators were cheering all over the place). My swim time put me squarely in the middle of the pack and the bruises on my body prove just how congested this part was of the swim. It was one of the worst and most awesome experiences all at the same time. The good news was that I got out of the water feeling great and ready to ride. My time was about 5 minutes longer than what I expected but I never expected this much contact so I was overall pleased with the performance.

I wanted to kiss the ground!

Wouldn't have been smiling like this if I knew about the swim cap crease across my head!

Swim Recap - If I had to do this over again I would have worn my wetsuit. The temp was still cool enough (79 degrees) that I would not have overheated and the time savings a wetsuit provides would have allowed me to get ahead of the middle instead of being caught up in it. I also would have started at the front and to the right in my wetsuit and sprinted for about 500m. This would have allowed me to get out in front and find a rhythm that I was unable to utilize. Another reason we did not use a wetsuit is because we were told that the people who used one would not be in the AG rankings and thus be listed in a separate ranking. This was not the case as wetsuit swimmers were ranked right along with everyone else. Those who choose the wetsuits made the right decision. The lesson from this is that if you can use a wetsuit do it! Also, it would have given me some extra padding to absorb some of the beating (-:

Swim Total: 1:25:57

Transition #1

This was extremely well organized and the volunteers were great. We got out of the water and had a long snaking walk towards the changing tents where we grabbed our bike gear bags. I found my bag and proceeded to sit down in front of the tent since I was not changing clothes. The TYR Torque came off easy and I dried my feet and head. I went to put on my GPS tracking device which was attached to a race belt with my number and it was loose. For some reason I decided this would be a good time to adjust the belt and it came undone. I fiddled with it for a little bit and eventually said screw it and just tied a knot around my waist. Wasted so much time.

I then decided to use the porto to take a pee. There was a line so this cost me a few minutes. I did not care because I really had to go. After the quality pee I grabbed my bike and navigated to the bike out location. This was hard work as my bike was in the first rack at the back. It was easy to find but I had the longest distance to the mount line out of any other racer.

T1 Time: 10:06

The Bike

Awesome Pic!

I stayed in the small ring and spun at about 100rpm's for the first 5 mi. My legs were feeling great and I was extremely optimistic that I would be able to hit my bike goal of 6h 03m and a 18.5 mph/avg. That is what I trained for and knew by holding back at this speed that my legs would not be cooked and I could get through the upcoming marathon in great shape.

The plan was to hold a 20mph avg for the first 56 miles and then take it easy as the headwind would be strong for the last 56 miles and would require some suffering. This plan was going well until Mile 11 at the 1488 intersection when a police officer decided to halt bike traffic and make us all stop so that cars could pass. I looked at my watch and by the time he let us go 4.5 minutes had passed. My average speed went from 20.2 to 18.2 mph when I looked at my garmin again a couple of miles later. Needless to say people were ticked off! Personally I did not really care, stuff happens and I can only control my attitude at this point so no big deal.

The first 55 miles were pretty uneventful. We went through the hills of the national forest and across a couple of bumpy chip sealed areas but I had ridden the course many times so it felt like another Sunday long ride to me - just a bit slower. At mile 56 I was at my goal pace of 20mph and stopped to grab some more EFS Drink at special needs.

It was around mile 60 that my stomach began to really hurt. I was afraid that I had screwed up my nutrition but going back over everything I was spot on? By mile 65 I could no longer stay in aero because of the stomach pain. It was here I decided I was going to stop at the mile 70 bottle hand up and use the porto.

Well, this was probably the best decision I made all day. I hit the porto and just unloaded - it was awesome. According to my watch it cost me 5 minutes (had some TP difficulties) by the time I mounted the bike again but it probably saved my race. It was not a nutrition problem it was just a I had to really GO problem!

At about mile 75 or so I got held up by police again for 2 minutes at the 105 intersection. This time I was more frustrated because it took a little longer to get the legs going again after the stop. These stops should not happen on an Ironman. Since this is a first year race and bugs are to be expected I will not make a big deal out of it but traffic stops cost me over 7 minutes on the bike - hopefully they work this out for next year.

About mile 80 we hit some headwind but it was nothing compared to some of the days we had training on the course. I was able to find a nice pace and spin my way into the bike finish. The crowds cheering us on heading back to the Woodlands were spectacular.

Annie and our friends were waiting at Bike-In and I was happy to see them!

Bike Recap - I hit my time goal right on the nose. I could have easily done this ride 20-25 min faster but it would have resulted in an extra hour plus on the run - my mantra was to not cook myself on the bike - mission accomplished! Aside from the police stops and the bathroom interruption the bike was perfect. This is just an excellent course and I feel so blessed to have the option of riding here on my weekends. It was an honor to share my roads with all the out-of-towners and to hear how much they all loved it. The weather was hot and humid but was mostly overcast with a couple of sprinkles during most of the ride.

Bike Time: 6:01:17

Transition #2

I walked the length of transition with my friend Scott recapping the joys of my ride. It was great to see him, Jason, Steve, and Dave volunteering at T2. It is amazing how a pat on the back from some good friends can lift your spirits!

I had to hit the porto for another pee before entering the changing tent. When I was in there I realized how damn hot it was. It had sprinkled some on the bike and the humidity had come on strong and the sun was out now. I was sweating profusely and decided I was going to change pants and socks in the tent. Others all had the same thought as the male nudity level was at an uncomfortable level.

Once again the volunteer in the tent was spectacular. Opened my bag and handed me everything and made sure I was alright - just a wonderful experience.

I filled up my handheld water bottle and decided to go take another pee - would rather have a longer T2 time than add the pee break to my marathon time.

T2 Time: 11:19

The Run

You will all undoubtedly read other race reports that describe the run at Ironman Texas using words like Carnage, Brutal or even Hell-like. Well, these words would all be pretty accurate descriptions of what occurred on this hot and humid Saturday afternoon.

My goal for the marathon was to finish between 4-5 hrs based upon how hot it was going to be on the course. When I took my first step out of transition and began to slowly jog I knew right away that some pain and suffering were in store for me in the near future. I immediately cleared these negative thoughts from my head and started to smile. As the pictures will show I kept this smile for the next 26.2 miles. I cannot control the weather but I can control my attitude.

Luckily for me the incredible spectator and volunteer support made keeping the corners of my lips turned upwards very easy. The marathon course is three 8.5ish mi loops. It takes you along the plush neighborhoods and up and down the canals that are lined with restaurants and bars. It has a rural section and an urban section seemingly steps apart. You really could not ask for a better venue to do a 26.2 mile death march under the unrelenting Texas sun.

Loop #1 started and I was feeling very good. The plan was to take it easy on this loop and to utilize walk breaks through the water stations. Around .75mi in I began to feel both of my quads begin to tighten up. I have learned through previous race experiences that when this happens to me I need to stop running and walk the quad cramps out for a few hundred yards. This worked to perfection and that was the last of any type of cramps for the rest of the day.

About 5mi in I was feeling awesome and was holding a decent pace running along the canal. I knew Annie and all my friends were going to be waiting within the next mile and I could not wait to see them. Here I am at about mile 6:

Still feeling strong!

It was shortly after this picture that I ran under the bridge and I saw Annie and the Kingwood Tri Club cheering like a bunch of crazy people. It was so Awesome! I actually got a little emotional when I saw all of them and am thankful I was wearing sunglasses so my man-card is still intact.

Here are some shots of all my awesome crew of supporters:

Ruth Ann, Elizabeth, and Jim taking in some hydration.

Chris, Patrick, and Annie showing how darn hard spectating can be!

Ruth Ann and Patrick helping Chris decide which hand is optimal for consuming beer!

The guys at the KTC tent swapping digits

Big Smiles from the Ladies!

The gals taking a cheering break!

Around mile 15 the suffering really began to set in. This was the first time in the entire race when I experienced negative thoughts and really wanted the run to be over. Other runners were in really bad shape. People were vomiting and cramping all over the place. I quit talking to other runners because they were all in bad shape and I didn't want to catch the negative vibes. I felt like I was the only person still running at this point. However, these thoughts were very short lived because around mile 16 at the water station I experience the greatest thing ever - chicken broth! Wow, is all I can say! I told Annie this stuff was the elixir of life at some point during the race. I got a second wind and from there I negative split the rest of the race.

By the time I was around mile 20 I was in a zone and just kept on moving. I hit the canal again and got a final boost from seeing everyone:

Suck it up ButterCup!

Ruth Ann's sign says, "Jeff Irvin: From Fatass to Badass" - love this shot!

The last 4 or so miles were pretty darn painful. My feet were on fire and I ran into Trakkers Teammate Anne Moore and we ran together for a little while. We pushed each other to keep on moving and I will be forever thankful to Anne for keeping me focused.

Around mile 24 I decided it was time to finish this damn thing off in style and pushed a sub -8min pace only slowing down to toss some ice water on my head at the last two water stops. I finished off those last two miles with a combined 8:30/mi split and am probably more proud of this than any other thing I did that day. It hurt and it hurt bad but I just keep thinking of all the hours of training and all the people who were pulling for me and I dug deep and tuned out the considerable pain.

Here are the finisher chute pics:

Almost There

A couple more steps ...

Jeff Irvin, You are an IRONMAN!

Once I passed under the finish two extremely nice volunteers walked me around and got me some water and made sure I was okay. I saw quite a few folks being pushed away in wheelchairs and began to feel very fortunate that I was still upright and feeling rather well. I made it to the end of the shoot and immediately saw Annie and she had tears streaming down her face. Seeing her at this point was an even better feeling then crossing that line.

My friends were right behind Annie and they all set me down on a big fountain:

At this point all I wanted to do was take my damn shoes and socks off! My feet were pretty much ripped to hell but I once the shoes came off everything felt good. Then I was given my favorite things in the world - COOKIES:

Thanks Katy these were AWESOME!!!

COOKIES!

My IronCrew!

Run Recap - The last 10mi of this run was probably one the most difficult things I have ever done in my life. My legs were trained but the heat was draining. Most people would probably think a 3-loop course would mentally be tough to handle, not me. I loved this run course and I loved the support from the crowd. It was one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of and I will volunteer for IMTX every single year from here on out - that is if I am not racing (-:

Run Time: 4:31:14

Summary of Ironman Texas - This race was held in my backyard. I live literally 18mi from the start of the course. When I originally heard that the race would be held in The Woodlands I was excited because this is such a great place and has a huge endurance community. I was skeptical as to how the non-Endurance residence of The Woodlands would support this race since it would significantly screw up traffic and parking in their town.

Well, my skepticism was completely off base because they stepped up and completely blew away all expectations. I spoke with many an Ironman vet after the race and they were all just blown away by the spectators and volunteers. Every single one said it was the best experience they have ever had in terms of crowd involvement. The Woodlands receives a huge "A+" for the effort!

The swim was tight, the bike was beautiful, and the run was electric. The heat made this one of the toughest Ironman courses on record (Click here for proof) but in hindsight I am glad it was hard because I trained hard and it made the experience that much more rewarding.

If you are thinking about doing an Ironman in the future and are not afraid of a little heat then I would highly recommend you consider Ironman Texas.

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I hope you enjoyed my race report. I might be more exhausted from writing this than actually doing the race (not really).

I want to thank my friends who haven't seen much of me in the last six months. Thank you for being there: Ruth Ann and Patrick, Elizabeth and Jim, Annie and Chris, Dave and Jen, Yvette, Steve, and Trey. I also want to thank my training partners: Dave, Patrick, Mike, Katy, Bobby, Chris, Steve, Bob and Frank. My cousin Bonnie and Rick for driving in from Austin to cheer and all the members of KTC that came out to support, especially Tina and Scott for setting everything up. Also a big thanks to all the members of the LifeTime Fitness Run Club.

Also a huge thank you to all of my blogger and twitter friends. When I was out there on the course I thought about many of you time and time again. When I finished the race and saw the hundreds of comments on Twitter I was absolutely blown away by you guys. Almost lost my man card again! Very touching, thank you all so much!

It is a very good feeling knowing you have such great people in your life, Thank you all!

I want to save the most import thank you for last - my wife Annie. She was my biggest supporter from day one and even kicked my butt every now and again when I didn't want to train. She was 100% on-board with this crazy dream and it never could have been done without her. We discussed the time commitment that was going to be involved with my training and she never complained, not once. When I was waking up early and going to bed even earlier she was there to encourage me and never made me feel guilty about leaving her with house work and chores as I went on 7hr bike rides. She was my rock and she deserves all the credit for getting me to the starting line. I love you Annie, you are the best!

Best Shot of the Day!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

TRACK-A-JEFF

2011-05-20T11:00:00.049-05:00

If you are in a stalking mood on Saturday morning at 7am CST please login and use these options to follow me about the Ironman Texas course.

Option #1: GPS Tracking - I will be wearing a small device for the Bike and Run courses. This device will allow you to see where I am on the course at all times. This device uses cell towers so if you see me stop that probably means I am currently in a poor cell area or taking a pee.

Here is the link: http://www.trackmyathlete.com/vemap.aspx?name=050281

You can also enter this link into your iPhone, iPad or Blackberry devices.

Option #2: Ironman.com. On race morning an Athlete Tracking option will be available on the main page of this link. You can track by name (Irvin, Jeffrey) or race number (#1320).

Option #3: The Twitter - My wife will be logged into my Twitter account (@JeffIrvin) and will be giving live updates. Considering the bike is one big 112mi loop this 6hr + portion of the race may be a bit slow on the race updates side since she will only see me at the start and finish. However, she will probably update you on her choice of shopping, coffee, breakfast, shopping, lunch, shopping, cupcakes, random snarky remarks on other womens idea of fashion, and shopping.

Thanks in advance for all the positive race vibes that you all undoubtedly will be sending!

Jeff

IMTX Goals

2011-05-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

Many, many people have asked what my expected finish time for Ironman Texas will be. I have had a hard time answering this because I just do not know?

Why am I so unsure?

The Weather.

If it is a typical hot (90+ degrees) and humid (80%) South East Texas day then my day is going to be longer. If the winds continue to blow out of the SSE like they have been all year then it is going to make for an even longer day.

If the winds are about 15mph sustained from the SSE these means the last 50 or so miles of the bike course will be into a direct headwind. I have rode into this headwind many a times during the last year of training and it is pretty soul-crushing.

But if the winds are out of the North or NW this means the humidity will be lower and the ride home will have the wind at our backs. This is what every racer on Saturday is praying for!

Taking all the above into consideration and the fact that this is a first year race and you can see how I really am not sure of what my finishing time will be?

Instead of a finishing goal time I will post a Finishing Goal RANGE:

Swim:

Lake Woodlands - It is a mass start in a pretty narrow lake with one loop that finishes swimming down a canal which will be lined with spectators. I expect contact throughout the entire 2.4mi and figure it may slow me a little. It is probably going to be one of the best Ironman swim venues for spectators. The water temperature will be above the legal limit for wetsuits so I will instead be wearing my TYR Torque Swimskin with my Team Trakkers Kit underneath. The lack of wetsuits will also slow the field some as well.

My 70.3 swims have ranged in the 35-37 minute range and my swim fitness is a little above average right now.

Projected Swim Finish: 1hr 20m.

Bike:

The course begins in the Woodlands and heads north through the rolling hills of Montgomery and Grimes Counties. The harder sections of the course begins once you cross over 105 and start North through the State Forest. This part is challenging but shielded from the wind. Once you get out of the woods you will past a little town called Richards and then make a left turn and start the ride back to the Woodlands. This section of the course is chip sealed (bumpy) and puts you directly into the winds from the South. You will remain in this headwind until a few mies from the finish.

If the winds are less then 10mph or from the North or NW then my bike split will be around 6hrs. If the winds are out of the South then my bike split will be 6.5hrs.

Projected Bike Split: 6-6.5hrs.

Run:

The marathon is a 3-loop course around the more plush areas of the Woodlands. We will run along the canals lined with restaurants and bars and then past some multi-million dollar mansions. Spectators will have an abundance of areas to view the run from and also a plethora of eating and drinking options. Makes me wish I was a spectator for this because they are going to have a blast!

My goal for the marathon is to go as hard as my legs and heart will allow. If the legs aren't cooked from the headwinds on the bike I'd like to do it in 4hrs. If it is hot & humid and I am really hurting the I'd be cool with 5hrs.

Projected Run Split: 4-5hrs.

Swim - 1h 20m

T1 - 10m

Bike - 6h - 6.5h

T2 - 10m

Run - 4h - 5h

Finishing Goal Range: 11h 40m - 13h 10m

Probably will fall someplace between this range!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Ironman Nutrition Plan

2011-05-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

As you all know I am a big fan of First Endurance nutrition for all of my training and racing. There is a reason for the FE love: First Endurance is owned by Triathletes and they make products specifically for Triathletes. This may sound like a marketing ploy and at first I too was skeptical, until I used the products. You can go back through the many, many posts on this blog and read about all of the different types of gels, drinks, bars, and salt tabs I have sampled over the years. They all are average (at best) when compared to the First Endurance product line.

Since FE has done such a remarkable job of differentiating itself from the other nutrition companies I will be using them for most of my race at Ironman Texas on Saturday. PowerBar Perform, Bars, and Gels are the official IM sponsor so they will be the on course provided nutrition. I will use this when my FE supply is depleted.

I read an article by Pro Triathlete Michael Lovato after he raced Kona last year and he described his IM nutrition in detail. He is a little bigger than me so my calories won't be as high as his but I am going to use a similar plan based on his recommendation. Find that article HERE.

Here is my plan:

Race Morning:

Wake up at 3am and eat a whole wheat bagel (250 calories) with peanut butter (2 spoons - 200 calories) and wash down with a cup of coffee (black) and 2 scoops (320 calories) of Ultragen Recovery drink. I am aware Ultragen is a recovery drink but I have been training with Ultragen before my longer swim and bike workouts and it has really agreed with me. I like the calories before long efforts. Then I will go back to sleep until 4:30am.

At 4:30am I will wake-up again and have a banana (135 calories).

I will then walk to transition with a 24oz bottle of EFS Drink (200 calories/2000 electrolytes) and sip on this as I walk to the swim start. About 10 minutes before we enter the water I will have 2 shots of EFS Liquid Shots (200 calories/600 electrolytes) just to keep the blood sugar level from dipping.

Total Calories before race: 1,305 in 3.5hrs or 372 per hour.

Bike Nutrition:

3 bottles of EFS Drink with 200 calories per bottle (600 calories total). Large drink every 30 minutes.
2 flasks (10oz) of EFS Liquid Shots (800 calories total). Plan to take every 45mins, should actually only be about 8oz total.
Alternate between water and Ironman Perform at each bottle hand-up. (200 per bottle x 4 = 800 calories)

Total Calories on the bike: 2200 in roughly 6hrs or 366 per hour.

Run Nutrition:

Begin the run with my Nathan's hand held bottle. This will be filled with water and I will refill at each station with Perform or water. I will also carry a 5oz flask of EFS Liquid Shots in my tri jersey. This is 500 calories and I usually will take a hit every 30 minutes. This will get me through 2.5hrs and then I will just live off the course. Each refill of Perform will be about 180 calories in my hand held. My stomach does very well with perform, especially if I sip between each aid station as opposed to downing large amounts of liquid at each station.

I am choosing to run with the hand held bottle because I train with it and since it is going to be hot and humid I would prefer to constantly take in liquid as opposed to my stomach getting sloshy at each aid station.

Total Calories on the Run: ??? Estimate will be around 180-200 per hour so if it takes 5hr then 1000 calories. If it takes only 4hr then 800 calories.

Another key nutritional requirement for what is more than likely going to be a 90 degree day with Texas-sized humidity will be my sodium intake. One of the main reasons I use FE products is because of the large quantities of sodium in both EFS Drink (1100+ Electrolytes) and Liquid Shots (1500+ Electrolytes). On a hot day this is essential. Many Ironman participants complained when PowerBar Perform because the exclusive on course sport drink replacing Gatorade - I though this was great because Perform has over 600mg of sodium per 20oz bottle. Gatorade is like a quarter of this amount. This is like taking two (2) Salt Tabs per drink. This is essential on hot & humid days!

Now I have an extremely high sweat rate so I am going to have a few salt tabs on the course just to be safe. I will keep some in my bento box and in my run special needs bag but really I do not intend to use them. They are just more of a fall back if I begin to cramp.

So this is my plan. I have been practicing and tweaking it for over 6 months and am pretty confident it hits my nutritional needs.

Feel free to critique and tell me your plan but with the race 5 days out I am not changing a thing!

Next post will be my Goals and then tracking information.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff