How About a 17 Hour Training Day?

The 17 hour training day crew traveled out to Tuscaloosa, Alabama this weekend to compete in the USAT Age Group National Olympic Distance Championships. This is the first in several steps of back to back triathlons for the team. The weather in Tuscaloosa was much milder than fretted over. Temps rose on race day but remained manageable. What none of us expected was an uphill swim.

Due to flooding several days prior to the race the Army Corp of Engineers opened the dam below the race course the evening before the Championships. This resulted in an extreme current. The swim was mostly up-current thus turning the Championships into a "swimmers race". It's a common phrase in triathlon that "the race is neither won or lost in the swim". Saturday was the exception.

The 17 hour training day crew battled through the adverse conditions, remained focused and determined, and persevered through a challenging day. Steve ran over the finish line secure in a 15th place age group finish, Anthony in a 20th age group slot, and Sonja in 14th. Steve and Sonja secured guaranteed slots into the 2010 World Championships in Budapest Hungary. The jury is still out for Anthony.

The goal of nationals for the team was to complete the race in a manner to facilitate a quick recovery. In this goal we were successful. 2 days later Steve, Anthony and Sonja are totally recovered.

Next up? Eight days after Age Group Championships we will stand on the beach next to the Giant Peach, waiting for the bullhorn to begin our first Ironman experience. Canada here we come!

We sat down this month to a tasty meal of grilled salmon, corn on the cob, salad, fresh bread, beer and some nice dessert. Andrea was in California and not able to attend this months meeting, her input was missed. This was to be our final meeting before the mayhem begins. USAT Age Group Nationals is on August 22 and Ironman Canada is on August 30.

Two days prior we biked 225 miles and much of the meeting was spent discussing what we learned. Here is a list of lessons learned:
- We are getting good at turning off our brains
- after 100 miles, things get easier
- hills and rollers pose no emotional threat to us
- having hydration bottles pre made forces better drinking habits
- a change of shorts can become very desired
- two pairs of shorts on top of each other can become very desired
- our confidence was boosted
- a train drove by us and it honked at Steve and made his day
- a REALLY big grasshopper gave Tony the stare down
- we saw: 2 dead owls, 3 dead turtles, and like 5000 dead giant grasshoppers
- we weren't really prepared for multiple flats, luckily we only had one in the group
- expansion joints on a 33 mile stretch become jarring and aggravated our wrists
- we ate almost 100% solid food

We spent considerable time talking about how we plan to execute our Ironman race. Steve, as our coach, spoke about the psychological side of the race. Steve's hopes were that we would accomplish the Ironman as quickly and effectively as we possibly could. He talked about completing the race without having to push too hard, without entering survival mode, and maintaining a sense of calm. This means not compromising your run for someone else's bike. IE, do not react to others on the bike but instead ride your own race. To try to out ride someone stronger on the bike only to find out they are a slower runner was discouraged. We also identified the sections of the bike course where it would be easy to get hyped up and go faster than desired. We talked about those trigger areas on the course and devised alternate plans for those sections, ie assess your nutrition, adjust your clothing, stretch your back. We also discussed the option of eating solid food on the bike portion of the Ironman. We are feeling more confident with the idea that we can eat solid food and not experience stomach distress.

We spent a little time discussing USAT Age group Nationals. Steve urged us to start performing most of our runs in the middle of the day heat, with long sleeves, zipped up.

Lastly we talked a little about next year. Steve is in the market for a Peoples Moped, 50cc, as a pacing vehicle. We had lots of laughs as we told Troy he was going to have to ride around for 14 hours a day on the moped going 25 mpg with cyclists off the back wheel. We talked about our excitement for bringing on several new 17 hour training day members. We also threw a few things out like which IM we will sign up for next year, RAAM, 50 mile races, a New Mexico training camp, indoor buoy swims, and some Colorado Trail action.

Lots of fun lies ahead. Sound like something that would fit with your philosophy? Want to be part of a group that has way too much fun and gets called crazy on a daily basis? Information is here for next season (which starts in October).