Christmas has come and gone, i had a great visit with my family and Carley's family over the break but it was a lot of travel back and forth as well as dealing with the climate change, and a lost bike.
The rest of last week went well, some intervals on the bike on Wednesday and some swimming. Thursday was Christmas and i went for a 14mile run on freshly packed snow before having a great visit with my parents. Friday was a swim and some flexibility and core work and more driving.
Saturday i swam with the squad again long course. Coach Allian really is taking it to them. This was the workout.
1200warmup, 600kick
40x50 on :45 (first and third set of 10 where threshold)
2x800kick, 4x100 on 1:20pull, 4x100on 115 twice through.
then a cool down.
After the swim it was a longer ride it was nice to have my bike back.
Sunday was a little base work with a 3.5hour ride with some big ring slow cadence strength work followed by a 1hour run later in the day.
This week should be a great time with new years. I also have some great training partners in town. Blair and i are going to throw down some swims, as well as Mike Hay is visiting, and Ryan Smith will be back from Dallas later this week so we will have a great group for the next little while. Thats all i got for now. I am missing Texas, but being able to spend time with Carley has taken away some longdistance relationship stress so things are good.
12/29/2008
12/23/2008
good few days
Good few days, swimming with the old squad up here. Varsity and Club is on a training camp so i have had a few swims 6.7-7.3km sessions. Good ride on Sunday of a few hours and a long run.
Today was a very good day to get back into the groove of some structure. Swim in the morning with a mainset of 20x200m on 3mins @AT pace and heart rate, very solid, followed by a good nap, and a good run on the tready of 11miles in 75mins including 6x4mins at 11.5mph with 1.0-2.0 incline. After the short rest intervals it was 1hour of weights and core work and stretching.
Now it is Quaseo time, there is nothing like spicy hot processed cheese with tortilla chips for a recovery snack.
Tonight Carley and I are going to a Christmas Pajama party with some friends and tomorrow i will be heading to Orillia to visit my parents.
12/22/2008
12/20/2008
bike still down
After arriving Wednesday night, i still have no bike. My ears are sore, really sore from listening to Carley yell at some poor man in India working for air Canada's baggage claims. I have never seen Carley get to crazy but i think having me wound up not being able to ride and UN-pack, she would really like me to have my bike to play with.
There are a few pictures of my trip, it was -4 f the other day day so that gives some Texans and the crew from the south a good picture of how cold it is here.
Mondays training was pretty recovery specific after a good weekend of training, and i have a light week planned to get back to Canada.
Tuesday was 3 good workouts in Texas with a Christmas party. One of the workouts was a fun fartlek of 5x6mins with 2mins easy, i did this on a trail, trying to run 5:15-5:30 pace for the intervals high zone 3, with a touch of zone 4 effort. The next workout was a swim session with some 500's aerobic, followed by a light spin and weights and core.
Wednesday- hard threshold swim in the morning, and the rest of the day was a travel day with a quick meeting in the airport with My uncle and Aunt.
Thursday- After arriving in Toronto, just north of orillia i did my first run in snow with a good buddy and a super fast runner Brandon Steele. After that i did some weights and core and then a spin on an exercise bike later in the day it was probably the longest hour of my life.
Friday- A long swim session with Masters and a continued road trip to Sudbury to Carleys house. So at this point i still have no bike and i am trying to arrange for it to get to Sudbury once it arrives in Toronto. It really amazes me on how they can lose a bike on a direct flight.
Saturday- 6k swim with masters, and a 2hour ride on my Schwinn stationary bike, which has become my new friend. I have a lot of names for it, but i would like my bike to arrive so i can at least watch movies and ride the compu trainer while i am here.
Tonight Carley and i just got back from watching Four Christmas's with Vince Vaughn. It was a must see movie.
Anyways i am really hoping my bike comes tonight or tomorrow, because all i can hear is airline music on the speaker from Carley having 4 lines connected with Air Canada trying to get through. The good news is, the box is in Toronto and is scheduled to arrive on a flight to Sudbury any time now. The other pic is of our Gingerbread house which is a yearly tradition Carley and I try to put together. It is pretty cruisey i know but after reading it has 220 calories per 32 servings i will not be eating it all after a long ride like i did last year. However, I must admit our Gingerbread house making skills are getting better yearly, and this is definitely our best house. I hope everyone enjoys the holidays and has better luck than me. Happy Holidays!
12/15/2008
great weekend
What a fun weekend. Lots of training, some adidas swag, and some great food with friends.
This weekend was my last weekend in Fort Worth for a while, and i had a visitor from outside of town staying to do some training with us. William Ritter traveled down and had a great time training with Dave and I. Training was fun but very windy, Saturday we got in a good swim, followed by a longer ride with some hills, where Dave cracked his Cervelo pushing too many watts on some of the hills. In the afternoon we watched the beer mile which was a lot of fun, followed by a night out with some of the boys. Sunday was a solid run session followed by a 3.5 hour hilly windy ride again, followed by a trip to Dallas to meet Kate "Super Kewl adidas Rep" at the adidas store. She hooked us up and we are very grateful. Thank you Katie! After that it was back to Dallas for some sushi for Britney's (Saucony Rep) birthday where we sat with some wicked fast runners in town for the White Rock marathon.
This weekend was fun, but today is a much needed recovery day to pack/clean and get ready for a trip to Canada, luckey enough i was able to squeeze a lunch in with my good buddy Chance.
I have a lot to do and i always leave everything to the last second. Thanks again to Colonels bikes, for my super kewl new cycling shoes. I tested them out on Saturday and Sundays ride and they were great. Tomorrow i am meeting up with the legend "Sully" to have them heat formed to my feet for maximum performance. Then it will be road trip time, it should be an interesting trip back.
If i cant post before the holiday, i would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday!
12/12/2008
letter from a friend
A good friend and training partner, a super swimmer in NCAA sent me his Ironman Az race report, so i thought i would post it and share is experience. He tried to get back at me on my birthday, but it didnt work. This is what Dave Mcmanic wrote, i hope you enjoy!
IMAZ Race Report
Before Leaving
I was planning on leaving for Tempe on wed. after work. However, I had been having a problem with some unwelcome tenants who had decided to move into my apartment the weekend before. Waking up at 2 AM Monday morning to go to the bathroom, I flipped on the light and found a dead rat who had fallen into the toilet and drowned in the water. Talk about being woken up in a hurry. Anyway, as this one rodent was not the only one who had taken up occupancy in my tiny apartment I decided to spend a few days at my parents house in Southlake while I waited for the apartment complex to bring in an exterminator.
I left without a hitch wed after work and made it to Midland, TX where I spent the night and continued the rest of the way Thursday.
Friday
Friday morning I woke up and went down to the race site to register. No major problems. After registering I took a drive along the bike course to see what I was getting myself into. I spent the rest of the day getting my stuff together and packing it in the bags. I also made a couple trips to pick up some last minute things. I went to the banquet that evening and sat with a guy from Canada named Bernard and his daughter. He was a cool guy and after chatting he told me he was doing his 18th ironman.
Saturday
I woke up early and went and took a swim. While swimming is my background, and I have done several open water 5K swims, I had never done one in a wetsuit. So this was a good chance to try out the wetsuit Yates gave me. I must say that I don’t like swimming in the wetsuit because I can’t feel my body position in the water. However, with a water temp of 63F I was certainly glad I had one. By the time I got back to the hotel, Mark, my best friend from high school had just arrived from San Francisco. The rest of the day we hung out and watched a movie and got a good dinner. It was to bed early for me as I had the alarm set for 4:45 AM the next morning. Mark stayed up and waited on my other friends who were driving in from LA.
In the middle of the night I woke up to go to the bathroom and I see my friends from LA have arrived. They had brought a blow up mattress and an electric pump to blow it up with, however they did not want to wake me up and were attempting to blow it up in the hallway (keep in mind it is about 1 AM). I tell them to bring it into the room and blow it up inside so we aren’t kicked out of the hotel.
Race Day
Alarm went off and got to race site without any problems. I got all of my gear ready and dropped off the special needs bags. Otherwise I just relaxed and chatted with a few other competitors. Finally got the wetsuit on and to the start line.
Swim
I treaded water and pushed myself to the front of the pack since I knew I would be in the top of the swim. When the gun went off I went hard for the first several minutes before I got some separation for the 2,500 people behind me. After a while I settled in on someone’s hip and drafted off of him for the rest of the swim.
Bike
I got out on the bike with no major problems. Transition was a little long but whatever. I started my nutrition plan and just sat down for a long time in the saddle. There was a bit of a head wind going out on the bike but not too bad. I made it to the turn around where there was an aid station. This one was probably my favorite aid station because of the cute girls in santa hats and short green skirts. Each loop I debated on faking a medical injury just to hang out with them. My biggest fear on the bike was getting a flight and luckily I made it through with out that. My friends were there and drove out to different points of the bike course to see me go by and were definitely loud, just what I like. By the third loop I knew I was well behind my goal pace and wasn’t having a great day. But, I just continued on and figured there was a lot of race left to make up some time.
Run
I knew starting the run that there was no way I would be able to make my goal time. This got me bummed for a few minutes, but then I thought, today I am going to be an ironman. I knew I could walk 26.2 miles and still be able to finish well under the 17 hour cut off. This gave me a little motivation for the first half of the run loop. Also, during this point the top 3 pro males went flying past me all within about 20-30 seconds of each other. Raelert, the eventual winner, was in third when he past but you could tell was moving significantly faster than the two guys ahead of him. The first loop went by and I was able to run most of it, except for the aid stations and started out on the second loop. My friends were awesome the entire time and were moving around to different parts of the course to cheer. At one point they were running alongside me while I was crossing a bridge. Two of them were falling behind me, while the third looks back at them and says, “He’s raced like 130 miles so far and you’re going to let him drop you?” Definitely cheered me up and made me laugh. I finished the rest of the run/walk and met some nice people along the way. Of course with a mile left I start to pick up the pace and ran down the finishing line listening to Mike Reilly say, “David McManic from Fort Worth, TX, you are an ironman.” Definitely was cool. Immediately after the finish two girls pulled me to the side and ushered me out of the way to the food tent. I know we talked but have no idea about what. Hopefully I was witty.
Post Race
After I had a little time to recover my friends and I decide the perfect post race meal would be at the hooters down the street. I don’t really remember much of the meal probably because I fell asleep while sitting at the table. We went back to the hotel and I got a good shower and good nights sleep.
All in all it was a great experience and hopefully I will get a chance to do another one. I must thank Brent, Brian, and Yates who did a lot of training with me. Also, my friends for coming out and watching the race.
IMAZ Race Report
Before Leaving
I was planning on leaving for Tempe on wed. after work. However, I had been having a problem with some unwelcome tenants who had decided to move into my apartment the weekend before. Waking up at 2 AM Monday morning to go to the bathroom, I flipped on the light and found a dead rat who had fallen into the toilet and drowned in the water. Talk about being woken up in a hurry. Anyway, as this one rodent was not the only one who had taken up occupancy in my tiny apartment I decided to spend a few days at my parents house in Southlake while I waited for the apartment complex to bring in an exterminator.
I left without a hitch wed after work and made it to Midland, TX where I spent the night and continued the rest of the way Thursday.
Friday
Friday morning I woke up and went down to the race site to register. No major problems. After registering I took a drive along the bike course to see what I was getting myself into. I spent the rest of the day getting my stuff together and packing it in the bags. I also made a couple trips to pick up some last minute things. I went to the banquet that evening and sat with a guy from Canada named Bernard and his daughter. He was a cool guy and after chatting he told me he was doing his 18th ironman.
Saturday
I woke up early and went and took a swim. While swimming is my background, and I have done several open water 5K swims, I had never done one in a wetsuit. So this was a good chance to try out the wetsuit Yates gave me. I must say that I don’t like swimming in the wetsuit because I can’t feel my body position in the water. However, with a water temp of 63F I was certainly glad I had one. By the time I got back to the hotel, Mark, my best friend from high school had just arrived from San Francisco. The rest of the day we hung out and watched a movie and got a good dinner. It was to bed early for me as I had the alarm set for 4:45 AM the next morning. Mark stayed up and waited on my other friends who were driving in from LA.
In the middle of the night I woke up to go to the bathroom and I see my friends from LA have arrived. They had brought a blow up mattress and an electric pump to blow it up with, however they did not want to wake me up and were attempting to blow it up in the hallway (keep in mind it is about 1 AM). I tell them to bring it into the room and blow it up inside so we aren’t kicked out of the hotel.
Race Day
Alarm went off and got to race site without any problems. I got all of my gear ready and dropped off the special needs bags. Otherwise I just relaxed and chatted with a few other competitors. Finally got the wetsuit on and to the start line.
Swim
I treaded water and pushed myself to the front of the pack since I knew I would be in the top of the swim. When the gun went off I went hard for the first several minutes before I got some separation for the 2,500 people behind me. After a while I settled in on someone’s hip and drafted off of him for the rest of the swim.
Bike
I got out on the bike with no major problems. Transition was a little long but whatever. I started my nutrition plan and just sat down for a long time in the saddle. There was a bit of a head wind going out on the bike but not too bad. I made it to the turn around where there was an aid station. This one was probably my favorite aid station because of the cute girls in santa hats and short green skirts. Each loop I debated on faking a medical injury just to hang out with them. My biggest fear on the bike was getting a flight and luckily I made it through with out that. My friends were there and drove out to different points of the bike course to see me go by and were definitely loud, just what I like. By the third loop I knew I was well behind my goal pace and wasn’t having a great day. But, I just continued on and figured there was a lot of race left to make up some time.
Run
I knew starting the run that there was no way I would be able to make my goal time. This got me bummed for a few minutes, but then I thought, today I am going to be an ironman. I knew I could walk 26.2 miles and still be able to finish well under the 17 hour cut off. This gave me a little motivation for the first half of the run loop. Also, during this point the top 3 pro males went flying past me all within about 20-30 seconds of each other. Raelert, the eventual winner, was in third when he past but you could tell was moving significantly faster than the two guys ahead of him. The first loop went by and I was able to run most of it, except for the aid stations and started out on the second loop. My friends were awesome the entire time and were moving around to different parts of the course to cheer. At one point they were running alongside me while I was crossing a bridge. Two of them were falling behind me, while the third looks back at them and says, “He’s raced like 130 miles so far and you’re going to let him drop you?” Definitely cheered me up and made me laugh. I finished the rest of the run/walk and met some nice people along the way. Of course with a mile left I start to pick up the pace and ran down the finishing line listening to Mike Reilly say, “David McManic from Fort Worth, TX, you are an ironman.” Definitely was cool. Immediately after the finish two girls pulled me to the side and ushered me out of the way to the food tent. I know we talked but have no idea about what. Hopefully I was witty.
Post Race
After I had a little time to recover my friends and I decide the perfect post race meal would be at the hooters down the street. I don’t really remember much of the meal probably because I fell asleep while sitting at the table. We went back to the hotel and I got a good shower and good nights sleep.
All in all it was a great experience and hopefully I will get a chance to do another one. I must thank Brent, Brian, and Yates who did a lot of training with me. Also, my friends for coming out and watching the race.
12/10/2008
more of doing nothing
This past week has sort of been flying by. Training has been pretty low key so i don't have too much to discuss in those regards. This past weekend was pretty good for training, Saturday was a easy swim in the morning followed by a cycling session doing some TT's and some power tests. I was lucky to have a pretty good friend out pacing me and doing some work in making sure that i kept myself honest. The data from the TT was all over the place but that Power Meter was sent back and the new one should arrive tomorrow thanks to my wonderful sponsors at Colonels Bikes.
Sunday was a Little more work with a 3.25 hour ride in some crazy windy conditions with a 1hour run and a few other festivities involving core/strength and watching the cowboys lose.
This week has been super busy as i am spending most of the week training/packing and attending some last minute Christmas Parties as well as a rumored beer mile but i haven't committed to that.
Key Workouts so far this week, if you want to call them key have been a long run with 50mins tempo zone 3 restrictions so mid 160's averaged between 550-6mins with my nifty garmin. I am happy with those paces considering i was really holding myself back. It was over 13 miles in the 90minutes with a warm up and cool down so a good start to the week. A few swims, nothing special one of the swims was 10x150m at race pace on short rest. Another key interval session on the bike but nothing special. The rest of the week will have some good volume before i head back to the cold weather. I have had some neck problems lately that was a case of sleeping wrong but luckily Dr. Roberson saw me yesterday for a few adjustments and my great massage therapist Tim i will be seeing tomorrow, so hopefully i wont have any pain.
I have been seeing some great results in the weight room with my strength to weight ratio so i am hoping this will help me out a little come race season.
Other than that not too much to chat about. I should have some pictures from this upcoming weekends festivites but i will try to get away with drinking diet cokes and see if anyone notices while we are out.
Carley and i will be attending a few christmas parties when i am back so i will probably be eating salad for January and Februrary before the first training camp begins to make sure i dont look like Jan Ulrich pre camp days when arrive.
Have a wonderful week and be safe but aim high!
12/04/2008
the last month
Sorry for the lack of posts over the last month. Its been the first day that i haven't had company over the last 4 weeks. After Iron Star Triathlon i took a bit of a break from things as Carley was down for a while, and my father was down for my birthday and thanksgiving. I had a great visit with Carley even though i was a bit sick and run down from my trip to Houston, she got me a pretty kewl 405 watch and i have been using it lately to down load my workouts. So the past month i have really focused on getting out of shape but working a little more on strength, and working on my golf game.
I had a great Thanksgiving with my Family and a great birthday even though it was a little out of hand. I don't have too much to report on training other than a few field tests and and out of shape birthday 10k swim as well as a 10k Turkey Trot that i was used to help pace a Friend. Its amazing how much a 10k can hurt after not doing to much, going out in the first mile in a 458 didn't help on the hurt scale.
Here are the 5 reasons i need to get back to some solid training and better eating.
1. I did the mirror test that James Cotter mentioned on his blog, and i failed.
2. Someone on the trail the other day yelled " hey Poulsen its 75 how many layers do you have on?" i replied " i am wearing shorts and a tee you ahol$!"
3. The waitress @ 8.0s brought me a Michelob Ultra and lime after not even ordering anything yet. Some how i had a hard time explaining to Scott and my Dad that i have never been to 8.0's and the waitress had me confused with someone else.
4. My Dad Said to me " are you sure your going to eat all of that?" * usually they are telling me to eat more.
5. I started to wear a tee shirt and shorts on deck while stretching before swimming, because Mcmanic called me the Nutty Professor!
Here are a few of the workouts and tests i have done this week. I am a hurting unit in the weight category but training isn't too bad.
Field Test 4mile Run with Mcmanic.
It was below zero and after a warmup we ran 4mile TT with a big cooldown. Kind of a hard run with tights and a jacket and all of the hat and gloves gear. Oh well it was fun averaging below 530 pace and 179avg hrt. (not good, but not bad for this time of year. ) i would have liked to see 520 at least but it was hard warming up when it was so cold and windy. Mcmanic agreed with his frost bite and sore legs so we chalked it up.
After 12x100m on 130 holding race pace threshold.
mostly 09's and 10's. i think i had 1@1:11 but other than that 10's or faster. This was better than i thought it would be after not doing allot. Alister has had me doing some strength and drill work since racing last so i cant complain for now.
Another session this am was a zone 2 base run, keeping my hrt at 140 i did a 90min easy run, i felt like death but averaged 715pace. I am hoping the weather will get better as i will be doing some power field tests on the bike on Saturday and a long base ride on Sunday.
another session i have done this week was a trainer workout, a nifty high cadence workout at 300-350watts. doing 10x30seconds at 100rpm, 5x1min @100+ with some recovery, also some single leg spinning work.
So other than a few swims a ride a few runs and some weights not much has gone on this week, and i will report on the rest of the power tests after the weekend. As for right now i am working and figuring out how i am going to kill all the lady bugs in my house. I have a feeling Carley saw one of them and didnt want to kill it and now i have its whole family living there.
Be Safe and practice healthy holiday habits as i have read the average American gains 8lbs from thanksgiving to newyears so luckily i am Canadian.
11/11/2008
Iron Star Triathlon
On Friday i travelled South to The Woodlands to stay with a great friend from the Czech Republic Mikey Benes. We had a great time for a couple of days before the race catching up and doing a bit of training. Mikey is a very good friend and he opened his door to a few of us to crash at his place. On Sunday i did everything for a triathlon that you shouldn't do if your looking to have a good race. After having wetsuit problems earlier in the season i decided not to take my suit and what a mistake that was. The temperature had dropped the last couple of weeks in Texas making for a cold morning and a very cold swim.
To make matters worse, we were late getting to the race, because of a wrong turn and small complication of Mikey Making oatmeal at 7pm Saturday night and then waking up in the middle of the night because he forgot the oatmeal was still on.
Needless to say it was a pretty fun start to the race.
The Swim
Due to a cold start i decided not to warm up because i didn't want to stand around for 20minutes till my wave would start. I swam slow and tried to avoid cramping because of how cold it was. I was pretty sure that i was going to get hypothermia and if anyone knows me in the past i am absolutely useless once i start to shiver.
I excited the water around 26minutes which wasn't too bad for this course, and the extreme difficulty to sight the buoys and the ability to get moving.
Bike
The bike was a enjoyable hilly windy course that felt a bit long, and a few people mentioned there bike computers indicated that. The first 30miles i was very cold and felt useless however i started to get moving and averaged close to 24mph which is a bit off due to the distance/time.
Getting off the bike, i knew i was in Second and there was a pro up the road with roughly 9mins on me.
Run
Good enjoyable run, minus getting lost at one of the turnarounds where no one was standing. After a quick detour i was on course and running pretty solid. I caught the leader with .5miles to go, and just kept on going to the line. I finished in 4:14 and change but due to some errors with the starting wave i am not sure if that is correct, i am sure the results will be posted in a few days.
All in all it was a good training race, and a fun weekend. My new Orbea is super fast, Doug and Josh at Colonels did a great job making sure it was dialed in and John Cobb put the icing on the cake with his professional bike fitting.
I would like to congratulate everyone out there in some tough conditions. Mikey and William had great races and i am looking forward to watching them in the future. Good luck to Mikey and Trent in Arizona.
Carley will be here this week so i hopefully i can get some pictures posted of the adventures we have down here this week.
11/08/2008
more from saturday
In The Woodlands training for IronStar 1/2 Ironman Tommorow. having too much fun with Camera Features.
11/07/2008
This week has sort of flew by since the last time i posted. It was an excellent turn out at the Meredith Hatch bike Rally and Chuck Burr and the rest of the amazing individuals that donated bikes did a great job. I know chuck has a wear house full of bikes that will be donated to kids at Christmas, so a job well done to everyone for coming out and showing support.
Saturday after a swim and the bike rally it was off for another 2.5hour ride with Mcmanic and nice guy we met from the Moritz Cycling team, i think his name was Erik but if iam wrong i am sorry. Anyway it was great to have some company on the ride. After the ride it was a short nap and then off to the Texas Longhorns vs. Tech game Party .* (what a game!)
Sunday was another great day with a 85mile hard ride with Mcmanic it was 30miles of Cruisey pace then 50miles at a hard intensity which worked out to be 24mph with the wind and hills, just over 2hours for the 50miles. A great run off the bike and some light stretching and a nap and the weekend flew by fast. My position feels great on my New Orbea, i am excited to put it too the test Sunday.
This week has been a fair amount of everything, i am not really resting much until tomorrow when i am in Houston.
A good tempo run, a good swim with 16x50m on 45seconds flipping 34-35's good consistent effort of race pace. Another good bike session with some 4min efforts at 270-300watts to keep the legs sharp for this weekend.
Core and strength has been really something that i will be focusing on during the off season leading into a big race season next year.
Last night at the gym i have been doing some AA type work to get my body back to the routine of strength.
I did some rowing to warmup then, single-leg press, leg extensions, abduction adduction exercises, leg curls, db squats, ropepushdowns, single arm cable curls, db bench press incline and flat, and some shoulder press routines. Each gym session has been different but really lite to get me ready to start strength after the next few races.
My core for the last couple weeks have been a few sessions a week usually pared up with strength or before swim workouts.
4x1minute of each exercise: Back Extensions, V-ups, Crunchs, side crunchs.
Then a few sets of bridge exercises with back on ball, then laying on floor with feet on ball and often trying to elevate one foot and hold balance. Then some bridge work on my elbows lifting legs and then on each side.
I have been doing a lot of neat roll outs on the ball and different exercises involving firing my hamstrings and using my core to iniate movements.
So the long story short is Alister has me working on the strength/core as i am weak.
The picture of the pancake or yam cake i call it is one i made this morning, i didn't eat all of it but i will eat the rest soon, it packs roughly 560cals and 120ish carbs. I will continue to increase my carbs over the next couple of days to make sure my glycogen storage's are adequate as i am not resting much i need to make sure i have fuel for Sunday.
I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend>
10/30/2008
check out John's Blog, He is a Wicked Smart man with lots of Knowledge, and he is the gold standard of bike fitting. Thanks again to John for his Work, the Boys at Colonels are doing some tweaking this afternoon with a different stem trying to get me lower.
Another cool website to check out is www.arundelbike.com
These guys are from Fort Worth and are supplying Garmin Chipolte Cycling team with Swagga this season, the bottle cages are absolutely amazing. I was lucky enough to meet one of the top dogs at Colonels and i will be testing a new hydration system for Triathletes.
Not a whole lot going on with training, putting in some quality sessions this week and trying to stay healthy going into the last few races of the season.
This weekend will be very busy with alot of volume and i will also be riding in the Meredith Hatch Memorial 10mile ride, please read this letter From Chuck Burr. If your in the area Nov.1 please attend!!
Team Ridglea/Mansfield Masters,
Of all the e-mails I have every sent to you, this one may be the most
important.
I want to appeal to your heart. As most of you know, we lost one of our
active team members last July. Meredith Hatch was riding her bike (which
was her true passion) around Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie on a Sunday
morning at 8:00 A.M. when she was fatally struck from behind by a drunk
driver. If you knew Meredith, you knew of her outgoing, bubbly personality.
If you ever got her started in a conversation, it always soon got around to
talking about either her family or her passion for triathlons. She had
wonderful plans for the future with regards to her triathlon training. It was
always obvious she loved her family (husband and sons; 11, 9, and 7) very
much.
As the Head Coach of this program, it is my desire that we don't forget
about Meredith or her passion for life. This is why we (Team
Ridglea/Mansfield Masters) will have a bike collection rally in Meredith's
memory this Fall. Since she loved cycling so much, we will be
collecting new, or gentling used, children's bicycles from now through
November 1. It is my goal that we collect at least 100 bikes.
In Meredith's memory, we will then donate these bikes to deserving
Tarrant County area children this Christmas, so that these kids, that
wouldn't ever have a chance at a new bike, will wake up Christmas morning
with a new bike in memory of Meredith Hatch. All the details have not been
worked out yet, but I have made initial contacts with the Tarrant County
United Way and a few area YMCA's to help with the distribution logistics.
They were very excited to do whatever they could to assist in this project.
If this is a calling that you would like to be a part of, then please bring
such a bike to me from now through November 1. I will store the bikes in
my warehouse until we distribute the bikes.
On Saturday, November 1, we will have a 10 Mile Bike Rally titled 'Bike
On Meredith Hatch' departing the Benbrook Community Center/YMCA at
8:30 A.M. This will not be a race, but simply a memorial ride and a time to
bring a bike to donate.
It is my sincere hope and wish that all of you will want to participate in
this overall project. I can't think of a better way to remember one of our
teammates and to also spread her joy and passion for deserving children
this upcoming holiday season.
Chuck
Of all the e-mails I have every sent to you, this one may be the most
important.
I want to appeal to your heart. As most of you know, we lost one of our
active team members last July. Meredith Hatch was riding her bike (which
was her true passion) around Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie on a Sunday
morning at 8:00 A.M. when she was fatally struck from behind by a drunk
driver. If you knew Meredith, you knew of her outgoing, bubbly personality.
If you ever got her started in a conversation, it always soon got around to
talking about either her family or her passion for triathlons. She had
wonderful plans for the future with regards to her triathlon training. It was
always obvious she loved her family (husband and sons; 11, 9, and 7) very
much.
As the Head Coach of this program, it is my desire that we don't forget
about Meredith or her passion for life. This is why we (Team
Ridglea/Mansfield Masters) will have a bike collection rally in Meredith's
memory this Fall. Since she loved cycling so much, we will be
collecting new, or gentling used, children's bicycles from now through
November 1. It is my goal that we collect at least 100 bikes.
In Meredith's memory, we will then donate these bikes to deserving
Tarrant County area children this Christmas, so that these kids, that
wouldn't ever have a chance at a new bike, will wake up Christmas morning
with a new bike in memory of Meredith Hatch. All the details have not been
worked out yet, but I have made initial contacts with the Tarrant County
United Way and a few area YMCA's to help with the distribution logistics.
They were very excited to do whatever they could to assist in this project.
If this is a calling that you would like to be a part of, then please bring
such a bike to me from now through November 1. I will store the bikes in
my warehouse until we distribute the bikes.
On Saturday, November 1, we will have a 10 Mile Bike Rally titled 'Bike
On Meredith Hatch' departing the Benbrook Community Center/YMCA at
8:30 A.M. This will not be a race, but simply a memorial ride and a time to
bring a bike to donate.
It is my sincere hope and wish that all of you will want to participate in
this overall project. I can't think of a better way to remember one of our
teammates and to also spread her joy and passion for deserving children
this upcoming holiday season.
Chuck
10/28/2008
10/27/2008
solid week
This weekend was a good week of training, as i am getting ready for a bunch of low key races leading into some bigger races in January. I am a little bummed out about not going to World Champs in Clearwater but i am the one that turned down the decision to go when i qualified in Florida because i didn't feel i was strong enough on the bike, next year i will make sure i am ready to rock.After a great trip in Colorado i spent the week going through some CO with drawls mostly missing the Mountains and the great runs i had there.
Monday- was a travel and recovery day with a bit of light training to loosen up.
Tuesday- a great run session, with a 4mile TT, i was out in under 1530 at the 3mile so i was happy about the run when it was said and done, its not the fastest course but when it was over i was pretty smoked. After the run workout it was off to the gym for some core/strength. Later in the day it was a good swim session with some threshold swimming, and it was a good day logged.
Wednesday- swim session, bike session, run session, everything solid with some good work done on the bike.
Thursday- was a long run with another core/strength session, and a swim that was active recovery.
Friday- was a swim at the Mansfield pool, some very hard and fast swimming but i am starting to see some faster times in the pool so i have been excited to step up and swim and test myself.
Satuday- Was a long day, in the morning it was a swim session and then a bike session with some intervals. My new Orbea is amazing!
After the ride it as off to Colonels to meet John Cobb who i was very fortunate to meet and have a great bike fit. I spent a couple of hours picking John's brain as he is probably the best and most knowledgeable Bike Specialist around, not to mention he works with lots of pro cycling teams and pro athletes all over the world.
It was a great session with Doug and John, and after a couple more small details i think i will be dialed in and ready to rock. He wasnt surprised that i wasn't racing fast after my previous set up had me working against myself tryng to move forward.
Sunday- 100mile ride broken into 2x50mile loop. I couldn't believe the speed i was able to hold, the combination of my new Orbea set up by John was amazing, the first loop being hilly with Mcmanic and Richard, we cruised 20mph and it felt super easy even with the wind. On the second loop the wind had picked up but i almost negative splited by 12minutes over my time not taking into account fatigue or the extra wind.
It was a solid ride but with a run after i was pretty smoked as i am seen on the grass. If it wasn't for the fire ants i probably would have missed watching football completely.
This week will spent logging some training to get ready for Iron Star Half Ironman in two weeks.
It felt like Christmas today in Texas, the temperature was chilly and i received some Gold Coast Swagga from Chris Buott, and a CD full of pictures from Cody's Wedding from my Aunt and Uncle, it was amazing. Thanks again to Doug for hooking me up with some cruisey Oakley's to hang out in when i am not training. These shades are dangerous especially around the TCU campus where Dougs shop is located.
10/20/2008
more pics
A couple more pictures of Ranch and another one of me getting brave with a Rattle Snake. The visit to My Uncle Jeff's Ranch was truly amazing!
10/16/2008
Buddy Walk
Please check out these links. This goes to a great cause, Jakob Westbrook has Down Syndrome and he is trying to raise money for a great cause. So if you live in the area or outside of the area you can help him reach his goals. His Father is a local triathlete and runner so it would be great to show all of these kids and families doing the Buddy Walk how much the triathlon community is supportive.
Take a look at the links below. 1 is for the Buddy Walk Event and the second is Jakob's fundraising page.
Thanks in advance for taking a look.
Best Regards
Brent
Best Regards
Brent
10/13/2008
Paluxy Pedal
Congratulations to Crowie for his big Win in Hawaii, it was wicked cool watching him put the hammer down and winning the crown. I have been lucky to know Craig for a couple of years and he is a first class athlete always willing to help out with media and always willing to take time to help other athletes and answer there questions. He was on fire and unstoppable, truly amazing and a huge inspiration.
This weekend was a great weekend, Saturday was a great stepping stone riding nearly 200kms at the Paluxy pedal, the first 80mile group ride was the hilliest ride i have done in my life, there is a picture of the wall or the start of the climb before it hits 19% and then the badge that a boy scout handed me at the top. I was hoping it was a gel he was giving me as i found my self off the front with 2 wicked fast roadies. But when he handed me the badge, it was way cooler then a gel would have been. It was great to be riding with some great riders, the Moritz cycling team was really doing a great job keeping the pace strong as well as some people from the Richardson Bike Mart. I did my best to represent Colonels and i tried to stay at the front 95% of the time, and i payed for it later on, but after the hilly 80miles i was out for another large loop averaging over 21mph for 6hours, with alot of climbing and wind.
What made this ride enjoyable was the company of Mcmanic and visiting Mikey, and also seeing all of the triathletes and cyclists i know out hammering for that period of time.
A special thanks to Willy (Pearl Izumi) for lending me a tube and C02 after i flated on a changed flat i repared. I was able to get it changed thanks to Willy and did my best to get back up to the group. After this weekend i am a firm believer that Texas Triathletes and Cyclists are the nicest people i have ever met. I think they are almost out looking for people in need of help just to be able to stop and help them out, amazing!
Sunday was spent training after a huge sleep that started at 7pm. I went out and met Dave near his parents place for a good long ride out and around the lake near grapevine/southlake area. It was then off to the pool to do a swim set of 30x50m pull. After the swim, it was a great dinner i was invited too, and it may take me this week to to burn off the meal but thank you to the Mcmanic family for having me over for a wonderful meal.
This week should be a fun filled week and then off to Colorado for Cousin Codys wedding.
10/10/2008
Weird Week
What a weird week. This week i spent the first few days very sore from Austin 70.3 and then spent 2 days trying to deal with someone on a website accusing me of being a doper and a cheater in triathlon, this person made some pretty ridiculous claims about me, and not that any of it was true but it sort of got under my skin and i tried to deal with it as best i could. Anyone that has been at any of the 70.3 races knows that i completely get blown away by the big riders during the bike section and then i hope for the best to run myself back in position. I hope that i can become alot stronger on the bike, so this will not happen and i can brush off any critics that i didnt even know. But after a good hard day in Austin alot of people were trash talking me after my 4:08 19th place finish. I do appreciate all the support from everyone i know that put these anonymous posts to rest, however on that day in Austin that is what i had. Alister told me this week that i didn't commit to the distance and that may be the case as well, i didn't give an honest effort all the way through and that i need to get my head wrapped around the distance and the feeling of time trialing for that long. So enough said about Austin.
It was a fairly good week of training so far and my legs are starting to come along. I have a great big weekend of training ahead so it should be a good time.
Monday- easy spin and recovery day very sore from race on Sunday, and a much needed massage from Tarp.
Tuesday- swim session with 3800m straight cruisy mainset. and a run for 1hour on the trail with some zone 3 pace to start flushing the legs out, my legs started to come around after 50minutes.
Wednesday- Swim session and weights, also a bike session with a few 10minute intervals thrown in.
Thursday- Solid Swim session with 20x50m max effort swims. I started to feel a bit better and recovered from race. Also a base run with David.
Friday- swim session with a ton of 200 efforts very hard above race pace, and i thought a few times i might be sick all over the place. Swimming with Jim, Steve Woods and Mcmanic really made me work hard. Also a 90minute steady run session and some core work.
So not a lot of work done, but i am feeling good and the weekend will be big. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in Canada. I am looking foward to getting a good training partner back and and an excellent athlete. Check out his blog, he still holds the fastest pull swim session record after a 5hour ride and a run in boxers that i have witnessed in my life.
http://barrettbrandon.blogspot.com/
One side note i didnt mention earlier is after a bonking swim session in the lockerroom a guy named Joe decided to tell me that i sneezed because of the toxins that a special group were dropping out of planes to try and kill of the US population and have one common World.
Here is a quick speal i looked up when i got back from the pool , i really thought Joe was in my mind and he really didnt exist in the lockerroom.
So what are the true goals of the Illuminati? The main goal is to create a One World Government and a New World Order, with them on top to rule the world into slavery and dictatorship. This is a very old goal of theirs, and to understand it fully, one must realize that this goal isn't of a kind that's supposed to be obtained within one lifetime; it has been a goal that slowly is to be reached over a long period of time. However, they have accomplished more in this direction during the last few decades than they have done in hundreds of years, due to industrialization and the Information Technology Era. Their immediate task is to lower the living standard of the developed countries, like the United States and Europe, to a low enough level, so the government can more easily control us (you can see this happening). The living standard in the third world countries will then increase to the same low level that is planned for the developed countries, so that it all evens out. To be able to accomplish a New World Order, the living standard must be similar all over the world - they want a uniform world to rule over. We can see this goal slowly being reached right before our eyes. The following article shows it clearly: Africa and Asia Push for 'New World Order'.
It was a fairly good week of training so far and my legs are starting to come along. I have a great big weekend of training ahead so it should be a good time.
Monday- easy spin and recovery day very sore from race on Sunday, and a much needed massage from Tarp.
Tuesday- swim session with 3800m straight cruisy mainset. and a run for 1hour on the trail with some zone 3 pace to start flushing the legs out, my legs started to come around after 50minutes.
Wednesday- Swim session and weights, also a bike session with a few 10minute intervals thrown in.
Thursday- Solid Swim session with 20x50m max effort swims. I started to feel a bit better and recovered from race. Also a base run with David.
Friday- swim session with a ton of 200 efforts very hard above race pace, and i thought a few times i might be sick all over the place. Swimming with Jim, Steve Woods and Mcmanic really made me work hard. Also a 90minute steady run session and some core work.
So not a lot of work done, but i am feeling good and the weekend will be big. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in Canada. I am looking foward to getting a good training partner back and and an excellent athlete. Check out his blog, he still holds the fastest pull swim session record after a 5hour ride and a run in boxers that i have witnessed in my life.
http://barrettbrandon.blogspot.com/
One side note i didnt mention earlier is after a bonking swim session in the lockerroom a guy named Joe decided to tell me that i sneezed because of the toxins that a special group were dropping out of planes to try and kill of the US population and have one common World.
Here is a quick speal i looked up when i got back from the pool , i really thought Joe was in my mind and he really didnt exist in the lockerroom.
So what are the true goals of the Illuminati? The main goal is to create a One World Government and a New World Order, with them on top to rule the world into slavery and dictatorship. This is a very old goal of theirs, and to understand it fully, one must realize that this goal isn't of a kind that's supposed to be obtained within one lifetime; it has been a goal that slowly is to be reached over a long period of time. However, they have accomplished more in this direction during the last few decades than they have done in hundreds of years, due to industrialization and the Information Technology Era. Their immediate task is to lower the living standard of the developed countries, like the United States and Europe, to a low enough level, so the government can more easily control us (you can see this happening). The living standard in the third world countries will then increase to the same low level that is planned for the developed countries, so that it all evens out. To be able to accomplish a New World Order, the living standard must be similar all over the world - they want a uniform world to rule over. We can see this goal slowly being reached right before our eyes. The following article shows it clearly: Africa and Asia Push for 'New World Order'.
10/08/2008
Green Runner
From Runners World (nov2008)Here is a list of 30 things even a busy, sane person can do, i know i do a few of these but i after looking at this list i can easily change a few things i do to become a Greener Runner.
There are 10 categories and there is 3 options for both in terms of Good, Better, Best.
Get to Workouts
1. Bike to all group runs and track workouts
2. Run to a local farmers Market to buy produce.
3. Start all your runs from home
Race
4. Participate in Eco-conscious races(green-team.com)
5. Carpool or public transit to events
6. Race in your hometown as much as possible
Hydrate
7. Buy powdered drinks and mix yourself
8.Wave away plastic race cubs carrying your own water (fuel belt)
9. Use reusable bottles instead of throwaway plastic water bottles
Buy New Shoes
10. If you run on trails only occasionally, buy one pair of shoes that can handle light off road use.
11. Pick shoes that are made with few nasty solvents and recycled components.
12. Buy brooks trance 8. Its mid sole is made of BioMOgo, a material that reportedly decomposes 50 times faster than conventional mid soles.
Buy Apparel
13. Buy shirts, and socks made with merino wool, a natural and reusable resource.
14. Buys Clothes made from recycled post consumer polyester like Patagonia's Capilene 1 T-shir. And when your done with it, Patagonia will recycle it into other apparel.
15. Hold off on new purchases and wear your existing apparel as long as you can.
Make a Difference
16. Donate to the Rails to Trails Conservancy, local parks boards, or other organizations that create and promote new trails or running paths.
17. Volunteer to clean up a local trail, or adopt a road you like to run on.
18. Organize a recycling drive at a local race where participants can bring old gear.
Care for your Gear
19. Restore the breathability and repellency of your water proof gear by washing it with Mcneett's Reviex
20. Reduce your consumption of plastic and water by switching to super efficient concentrated forms of laundry detergents.
21. Wash your apparel in cold water and hang dry.
Fuel up
22. Recycle energy-bar wrappers with energy Bar Brigade, which up-cycles them into other products. For each wrapper you save, sponsor gives 2cents to a charity you pick.
23. Make your own energy bars.
24. Eat one less serving per week of meat, which requires significantly more fuel and water to produce than other sources of protein.
Cross Train
25. Run outside whenever you can(rather than inside on a treadmill)
26. If you need snowshoes, a bicycle, or a set of weights, purchase gently used equipment rather than new gear. Check out craigslist.
27. Leave your Car in the driveway and bike or run to the gym once a week.
Deal with Old Shoes
28. Wear them casually afterwards. They may lack cushioning for the long run, but they're fine to walk the dog.
29. Donate them to Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program, which recycles the shoes to help surface new tracks and for other uses.
30. Donate them to Soles4Souls, Shoe4Africa or One World Running outfits that give shoes to needy people. Check out runnersworld.com/donate.
10/06/2008
A short note on Austin70.3
Austin was a very Challenging Course, probably the hardest i have done in a while, the winds and hills on the ride and trail hills on run have made me pretty sore today. Swim started off well, coming out just behind leaders, however i got my race suit stuck in my Blue Seventy Point Zero speed suit, and couldn't get my suit off to get on the bike so after the slowest transition in the world, and watching people go by me and out on there bikes. I finally got it off but at the expense of my race suit being ripped. Out on the bike, i could see the leaders up the road, and i pushed very hard for 15-20miles trying to get back in touch. This probably wasn't a good move as i found my self fading, and to make things worse Tim Deboom and Bjorn Anderson went flying by me and i tried to pace off them to get back up. I ended up riding with a few people, but mainly Kevin Lisk and i road trying to make up some time, that was lost. I had a few other issues but i pushed hard and my ride is improving but it was a tough ride with the Winds. This was a very deep competitive field with over 50 pros, and i lost confidence when i was starting to fade and was passed by roughly 10people on the bike. Getting on the run i made up some time, but i had to be smart as it was getting hot and the run was a very challenging half Marathon with a few trails and lots of hills. I could see 5 athletes up the road but my final push was not enough as the race was coming to an end, i finished 17th in 4:08. All in all i made a few transitional mistakes, i lost alot of time on the second half of the ride as i slowly started to fade from the hard early effort.
It was great to see how this 70.3 distance race is becoming more popular with over 3700 athletes racing yesterday. I had a great weekend with my Dad and i will be looking forward to coming back to Austin next year, hopefully a lot stronger on the bike then i am now. I would like to congratulate all the athletes that finished this course on this tough challenging day, especially Diesel who throw it down out there. My Next race will be the IronStar Triathlon followed by the San Antonio Half Marathon.
"Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head." JOE HENDERSON
It was great to see how this 70.3 distance race is becoming more popular with over 3700 athletes racing yesterday. I had a great weekend with my Dad and i will be looking forward to coming back to Austin next year, hopefully a lot stronger on the bike then i am now. I would like to congratulate all the athletes that finished this course on this tough challenging day, especially Diesel who throw it down out there. My Next race will be the IronStar Triathlon followed by the San Antonio Half Marathon.
"Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head." JOE HENDERSON
10/02/2008
Race Prep has gone great this week, i feel good and very confident that i am in great shape. The next couple of days will be spent doing very little other than a bit of travel and race prep.
I really hope that my next post is a happy post after the race in Austin.
I really hope that my next post is a happy post after the race in Austin.
This is an interesting article they were joking about on the radio this morning about the differences between "obese" and "normal weight" eaters at a buffet.
So if your bored check it out, i think alot of athletes i know may have similar characteristics as the obese eaters. I try not to eat the foods at a buffet except we have an all you can eat Sushi Buffet in Fort Worth which i may be going to after Longhorn 70.3, as i have a couple of friendly bets in place with some athletes racing.
"The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck! " ~Author Unknown
9/30/2008
Support Crew Part 1
Rick and Doug acting the most serious i have ever seen. They own Colonel's Bicycles in Fort Worth, and are building me up a new 2009 Orbea for this up and coming season. It will be the fastest bike in Texas when they are finished with it. So if i don't represent on it, i will go missing. As intimidating as they look with the Oakley shades on, they are great guys and are the best guys in the area if your looking for a bike. 
This is Tim Tarpley aka Tarp! He is the best sports massage therapist in town .Above picture at swimming this am, is Chuck a great swim Coach and a great swimmer from Texas ATM, i know he also helped coach at ATM and TCU and started an age group team in town as well as run the Ridglea Masters group. Chuck's such a great swim coach that USA Masters is posting his workouts on there website to be viewed all season long leading into the national championships.
The other character is Mcmanic, he really helped me to hold my race pace for 8x200m this am. But don't leave your digital camera laying around or there will be some shots on there you weren't expecting, all jokes on deck but gets down to business when he is training.
Things are on track for Longhorn70.3 on Sunday, before Muskoka i crashed and i had a hard time holding any sort of pace but i am finally swimming faster than i was swimming short course before the accident in long course meters now, thanks to Dave for keeping me honest the last few weeks.
A man's health can be judged by which he takes two at a time - pills or stairs. ~Joan Welsh
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