The wrong nutritional way to off-season

The off-season is a very important time for athletes. Consistent year-long training with no time off can increase the risk of burnout, overuse injuries, fatigue and sickness. A temporary and planned break can help rejuvinate and repair the body and brain.

Every athlete has her/her own approach as to the best way to tackle the off-season. While athletes recognize that a mental and physical break is needed, it can be difficult for a lot of athletes to worry about the loss of fitness that you worked so hard for during the season. A bit of de-training is needed as your body deserves rest to appropriately recover from the past months of peak training and racing.

As an athlete, you train to make physiological adaptations. This takes many many months. Training is something you need to do day after day, week after week and month after month. Thus, when you are not training, this doesn't mean you do nothing. You simply take a break from the structure, the early alarms, the sacrifices. On the other hand, working out is doing what you want to do, when you want to do it. There's no guilt, tight scheduling or obsession with the details. Whereas training is systematically designed to help you achieve race readiness to perform at your best, working out doesn't necessarily have a purpose. If you are working out to burn calories, to improve health and/or to relieve stress, there are many different ways to achieve those goals. Unlike training, working out doesn't require a plan, a coach, discipline and a rigid schedule to ensure that you develop and peak appropriately.

Sadly, many athletes fall into a trap of compromising health and fitness during the off-season. Either the athlete refuses to take a break from structured training or, in complete contrast, the athlete lets loose and all good lifestyle habits fall out the window.

Keeping in mind that you don't have to be an athlete (training for an event) to live a healthy lifestyle, maintaining healthy lifestyle habits throughout the off-season not only provides you great benefit in prep for your upcoming season but it's a requirement to living a healthy life - reducing risk for disease, maintaining a healthy body weight/composition and improving mental health.

The biggest mistake(s) that I see athletes making in the transition to the off-season is going from being extreme and all-in to being inactive and apathetic for nutritious eating. If this is the case, two things are to blame.

1. You were too disciplined, strict and obsessive with your training and eating during the season. You denied yourself from socializing, having fun and eating certain foods too much during the season that now you feel the need to enjoy those things that were previously off-limit.
   
2. You forgot to establish/maintain good lifestyle habits prior to and during peak training. You failed at meal prepping, planning ahead, learning how to plan balanced meals and creating sustainable habits that will keep you healthy and well. 

The off-season should not be used as an excuse to excessively overindulge in large amounts of nutrient-empty foods such as cakes, candy, chips, ice cream, cookies and sugary drinks. The off-season is not the time in the year when you should increase alcohol consumption, forgo restful sleep, binge on television shows on the sofa, skip meals, diet, overwork yourself, not drink enough water and stay up way past your bedtime.

Bearing in mind that doing something unhealthy often develops into a habit, take advantage of the off-season as a prime opportunity to enjoy a relaxing break from structured training. Be ok with your body changing from "race weight" (the body that enabled you to feel athletically ready to compete - not a number on the scale or a look) to a healthy body (a body that can function well in life, free of sickness and disease - it's not a look or a number on a scale). Take care of your body during the off-season for a healthy, rested and rejuvinated body in the off-season means you've created a solid foundation to build from when you start your training for the upcoming season.

And remember, you don't have to be an athlete to live a healthy lifestyle. Health first, then performance.

Becoming an overnight success

Today is a very special day for me for it's one that will be remembered for the rest of my life. Today is the release date of my first book, Essential Sports Nutrition. I never thought this day would ever come and I can't thank you enough for your support. Especially those who ordered the book before the release date! I'm so excited for you to get the book in your hands in this week. I hope the book lives up to your expectations and helps you better understand and apply nutrition to your active lifestyle.

Tonight I'll be on the Run In Facebook page for a LIVE discussion about my book. You can tune-in at 7pm EST or re-watch it at a later time. We will be following up the chat with a podcast interview (Seconds Flat Podcast) answering your nutrition questions.

It doesn't seem that long ago but ten years ago I started my educational journey to become a Registered Dietitian. It wasn't more than a year after completing my Master of Science degree in Exercise Physiology when I realized that there was something very important for me to accomplish in my life and I couldn't do that with a MS degree. Write a book on nutrition.

At a very young age, I loved writing. I always had so many thoughts in my head that just needed to get out. I always seemed to have my best thoughts when I was working out (ex. swimming). Getting those thoughts on paper was so relieving for me because if I didn't, my head would hurt. and I had a hard time focusing. Eventually, all my journaling turned into blogging and eventually my words reached larger audiences in the form of magazine and online articles. I feel honored that my words have helped others experience athletic and health success.

Shortly after graduating from graduate school with my Master degree, I became very interested in nutrition, specifically sport nutrition. I had just entered the crazy world of endurance sports and I started to apply the science of nutrition and sport nutrition to my active lifestyle. As I began to learn more about nutrition, I started to experience more success in my athletic lifestyle. I then wanted to share my knowledge with others to help other athletes. But I quickly realized that credentials are important when counseling. Just like I wouldn't put my trust in a doctor who is a health "expert," the purpose of credentials is to attest the knowledge and expertise of the person who is attempting to diagnose and treat a condition or problem.

Although the launch of my first book is very exciting, I am reminded that this was no overnight success. Ten years ago I started a 3-year journey to become a Registered Dietitian. This occurred a year after I completed a two year journey of earning a Master Degree. Two years later after becoming a RD, I became Board Certified as a Sport Dietitian. After graduating from High School in 2000, I dedicated the next 12 years on my education! This took a lot of time, money, effort, brain power and did I mention, money? It was not a quick process and there were many times when I wanted to give up. Sometimes I wondered if I all this hard work would be worth it? Would I have a job/career? Would I be happy?

There's a saying that it takes successful people 10 years to succeed overnight.

In today's world, everyone defines success differently. For some, it's all about money and power. To others it's about giving back to others. Then there are people who see "followers" and "likes" as success whereas some people see material objects as success.

Regardless of how you see "success" fitting into your life(style), many people try to skip a few steps in order to get to the top faster. In today's ever-connected, fast-paced society, people want everything right now. There's no time to wait. Sadly, this has caused there to be a lot of "experts" misleading and misguiding people when it comes to health, wellness and fitness.

As you think about your own life, do you find yourself frustrated that you aren't seeing/experiencing success as quick as you'd like? Are you ready to give up?

There's a saying that "the distance between you and success isn't a yard - it's an inch. To get that final inch is excruciating. You have to stay committed."

Like the process of writing a book (or waiting for the right publishing company to reach out to you to write a book), success isn't meant to be fast. Good things take time. 

Living in a world obsessed with instant success, it's easy to become impatient. A new career, more money, more fame, better athleticism, improved health, a change in body composition....it's easy to look for (and to take) the quick and easy path to success. Abandoning morals, values and respect for yourself, some people will do anything for success - even if it means compromising your health or quality of life. Short cuts often increase your chance of failing in the near future. When results/success happen quickly or you receive something that you didn't necessarily "work" for, you miss out on the aspects of hard work, struggle, commitment, dedication and overcoming setbacks. With these things, you feel more satisfied and grateful when you finally accomplish "success."

Do you have a big goal for yourself? Are you ready for a career change? A healthier lifestyle? Improved fitness/performance? Sadly, many people work really hard only for a short time because  results are slow to achieve.

Invest. Dedicate. Commit. Don't give up.

There's no quick fix, magic-bullet or secret sauce. The idea that you need to be all-in or just not do anything at all doesn't work either.

Hard work pays off. Be patient. Do things the "right" way. Don't go at it alone. Get help. It doesn't matter what goal you are chasing.

And most of all,  never compare your own journey to an "overnight success" story.

Hincapie Gran Fondo '18 Event Recap

Shortly after moving to Greenville in May 2014, Karel and I went out for a ride to check out our new cycling routes. I came home with tears in my eyes "Karel, it's too hilly here. There's no way I'll ever be able to ride here!"

Little did I realize that Greenville was exactly what I needed during such a tough time in my life....I had just lost my dad to Cancer.

After a year of embracing the challenging terrain, I found myself getting stronger. My cycling skills improved and I was riding better than ever before. Most of all, my love of cycling grew incredibly strong and I found myself itching to be outside on my bike for it was the closest way that I could get to nature and enjoy all that Greenville had to offer us.....farm animals, mountains and lots and lots of climbing. Greenville provided us with bike-friendly roads and the bike became a safe, fun and healthy outlet for me to clear my thoughts, work through my emotions of losing my dad and to step (far) outside of my comfort zone. 

Source: Facebook 

George Hincapie has created something special with the Hincapie Gran Fondo. With your registration fee, you get a jersey (for the medio and gran distance), bottle of wine and an incredibly awesome event experience including chip timing, full-stocked SAG stops, bike support, well-marked roads (and climbs), great volunteer support and an amazing feast of food at Hotel Domestique (the start/finish of the event).

While the Gran distance (80 miles, 8100 feet of elevation gain) includes three of our toughest mountain climbs around our area, it's sure to make you feel accomplished when you get to the finish line. There are also two other distances (15 and 50) that are worth trying out as you still get lots of mountain views and a chase to surround yourself with many like-minded individuals.


As for the event itself, I lined up with my athletes (Reid, Meredith, Bryan and Diane.....Dana was a bit behind us) around 7:30am. We took turns going to the bathroom and dropping off our bags at bag check. The start of a cycling event is always a bit crazy so come 9am (after the professional rider shout-outs of Mark Cavendish, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Christian Vande Velde), it was nice to finally get rolling. The temperature was cool but not cold as it was in the upper 50's with a slight midst in the air. I wore an undershirt under my jersey and arm warmers, along with my cycling shorts.

With this being my 3rd consecutive time participating in this event, I knew that the first 10 miles would be really chaotic and my goal was to stay safe. Karel was not participating in the event this year but told me to give it my best effort to leave it all out there.

The first 10 miles were neutral, which meant that the riders on the front who were "racing" could not pass the lead vehicle. There's a lot of vehicle support on this course and it's very well-marked with volunteers all over the course. Although this event brings a lot of "racers" anyone can participate. Only those who choose to "race it" do so but everyone feels the same type of accomplishment at the finish.

After veering off Hwy 11, it wasn't too long later when I heard the sound that you never want to hear when riding in a group. It was a huge crash with the group that I was riding with (the main front group). Luckily, I was able to dodge the crash that occurred right in front of me as I was on the far left of the road (riders can take up both lanes on most of the roads. Although the course is not closed to traffic, only one car passed me over 80-miles). I managed to keep my eyes straight in front of me, instead of looking over at the crash, which allowed me to find room to move my bike to the grass. I am thankful to Karel who has helped me improve my cycling skills over many many years. I eventually jumped back on the pavement and never had to dismount my bike. I didn't look back as I knew that help would be on its way and with so many people tied up in the crash, there was nothing I could do to help. Hopefully everyone was ok. 

Although nothing is flat or easy with the 80-mile route, there are three major climbs. The first is Skyuka mountain which occurs around 24 miles into the 80-mile ride. At this point, I had only been riding about an hour and we had already covered ~1500 elevation gain. Group riding is very tough for me for it's a lot of accelerating and riding someone else's effort (everything that triathlon is not) but I enjoyed the challenge. I was also "racing it" from the gun with no real agenda on strategy but just giving my best and being strategic throughout the event to try to get to the finish as quick as I could. 

Once I started climbing Skyuka, I warmed up really quickly even though the air temp was dropping to the low 50's and it started to drizzle. The Skyuka climb took me 30 minutes and 22 seconds and I placed 5th out of 65 females on that climb (one of two timed climbs). It was a relief to get to the top, enjoy the view, top off my two water bottles and start the descend. While my heart was pumping hard throughout the climb, it only settled a little bit during the technical four-mile descend on wet roads. 

Less than four miles later, it's nearing time for the 2nd major climb of the Gran Fondo. And this climb is the nasty one. Howards Gap is probably the most difficult climb we have around where we live (well I think the 30% grade climb that Karel took me on once ties with this one) as it is two miles of straight road, averaging around 10%. I covered Howards Gap in 16 minutes and 43 seconds, my average speed was 6.9mph, cadence averaged 61 rpm, and it was a relief to get that climb behind me.

While the "main group" (with George and several other notable riders who were not technically racing but still racing from SAG stop to SAG stop) passed me up Skyuka, I went ahead at the top so I could get as far ahead as I could before getting caught again. At this point in the ride, I was feeling strong but certainly my legs were getting a bit tired. I managed to stay with small groups after Skyuka which was good for me to keep pushing a strong effort to keep up with the wheels in front of me.

The Green River Cove loop is one of my favorite routes. It's a little over 20 miles and has beautiful scenery that reminds me of the Lake Placid region. There's a lot of descending and climbing within the loop but you do get several miles of flat to settle into a rhythm. The feature of this route is the Green River Cove Switchback section that comes at the end of the loop and includes 17 (more like 20+ if you counted every single switchback) over 2.4 miles. While the switch backs break up the momentum, the sections between can be rather steep. It's a relief when that climb is complete as you know you are only about 15 miles away from the finish. 

In one of the very steep downhill switchbacks around 5.8 miles into the loop, I was caught by the main group and had a large group of guys around me (who had much better cycling skills than me). This switchback is incredibly steep as you are going downhill and it's a tight 90-degree right hand turn, followed by another sharp left turn. The road was wet and I was trying to ride as safe as I could. Perhaps I was squeezing on my brakes too hard but soon after those two switchbacks, my front tire exploded. It was a super loud pop and it was immediate to me that I had a flat.

My first reaction was sadness because I was having such a strong ride near the front of the race. I was then passed by lots and lots and lots of cyclists, as well as a few girls that I had managed to pass on Skuyka and Howard's Gap. But then I told myself that the longer I wait on the side of the road, the less chance I have to catch back up with the group at the upcoming SAG stop at the church. I changed the tire in less than 4 minutes and jumped back on my bike and thankfully, the group was still at the SAG stop. Just to be safe that I had enough pressure in my tire, I went over to the Boyd Cycling truck and asked for a pump. He pumped it up to 90-95 psi, put the wheel back on my bike and then BOOM. It flatted again. At this point, the tread was ruined and perhaps it was my fault that I pinched it when I was trying to change it or just bad luck but I was in need of a tire or wheel change. I noticed that the group was getting ready to leave so I asked for a wheel change. I received a new wheel, the mechanic adjusted my brake so the wheel would fit and then I thanked him greatly for saving my ride. Thankfully Boyd Cycling is in the area so I can exchange back this demo wheel for my wheel this week.

I managed to hang with a strong group of 4 guys to the start of the Green River climb when we got caught by the main group (more like swallowed). I tried to hang with the climbers but I only lasted about two switchbacks. It was fun suffering while it lasted. Mid-way of the climb, a girl (Austin) caught me and I remembered her from Skyuka (I passed her right at the top). She was riding super strong and we ended up finishing the last 15 miles in a group together. I could not match her strength on two wheels so she got me at the finish line but I was proud to give all I could all the way to the finish line. I completed the Green River Cove climb (timed) in 15:20 and placed 4th out of 46 females.

Despite an eventful event, I had a blast. I suffered, I finished exhausted, I took risks, I had fun and I felt grateful for all that my body allows me to do. Oh and the post event hot shower truck was amazing!

While life has been busy lately, it was nice to be able to escape the daily life stressors and enjoy a few hours on two wheels, on our amazing cycling playground, with 2500+ other people who love riding bikes.

Results: 

4:43.11 (chip time)

4:31.03 (Garmin time)

Place: 7th overall female

3rd AG (35-39)

61st overall (out of 526)

No one likes a complainer

There's no denying that a cancelled race, shortened distance or course change will evoke a lot of emotions for the athlete who has invested time, money and energy in to participating in the upcoming race. Although no athlete can predict or control modifications and cancellations, it's part of the game when preparing for an outdoor activity which requires a venue that is impacted by outside forces.

As a coach who puts on triathlon training camps, I empathize with race directors. While athletes may feel otherwise, I can't imagine that any race director wants to put time, energy and money into a race, only to cancel it. Because many race directors are athletes themselves, there's nothing fun about cancelling a race, changing the course or venue. Recently, Ironman made the decision to cancel Ironman Florida in PCB due to the devastation of Hurricane Michael. Prior to that, Ironman 70.3 North Carolina was cancelled. This was the right thing to do as each city tries to overcome the significant damage that occurred. Ironman Chattanooga had a cancelled swim and Ironman Kentucky had the swim shortened. 

Whether it's a tune-up race, fun race, key race or a race of a lifetime, every athlete will handle the decision of the race differently. While some athletes will agree with the decisions that are made (whether they like them or not), a large number of athletes will voice their unhappy thoughts and feelings about the situation. Essentially, it's a lose-lose situation for the race director and staff.

Soon after IMFL was cancelled, something happened that I have never seen happened before. The event was moved to a new location (Haines City, FL) just one day later (Nov 4th). This is unheard of! I can't imagine the stress, money, time, energy and overall effort that is involved to put together a 140.6 mile event, in a new location, in just 3 weeks! It takes me many months just to plan a 5-day triathlon training camp for 15 athletes! If you'd like to volunteer for the event, you can do so HERE. I think it's absolutely wonderful that this is happening!

Despite the two options that Ironman provided for IMFL athletes to still put all that training to good use in a new venue, on the same weekend OR to defer to another Ironman (Texas) less than 6 months later, there has been a lot of complaining. I'd like to think that triathletes are a special group of people who are genuinely nice, supportive, caring, resilient and mentally tough, but this has not been the case as I've heard many nasty, negative and mean comments made by triathletes over this recent decision.

This brings me to the purpose of this blog....complaining.

Thanks to various modes of communication, such as on forums, private groups and social media, many athletes are venting about their thoughts about the recent decision of moving IMFL instead of cancelling the event all together. Athletes are venting about their lack of options and the money lost due to the recent cancellation of the event in PCB. Athletes are downright not happy. While it's ok to vent (you don't want your negative thoughts to add up), it's best to share your thoughts with a close friend, your coach or a family member who can help you work through those uncomfortable feelings. Venting in a forum (or on social media), with a group of like-minded individuals, has the potential to escalate into stronger feelings of anger, frustration and disappointment. Knowing that others are listening, the complainer often comes with an agenda - needing to feel validated, sympathy or attention. While there is no real solution to the situation, complaining often feels like the right thing to do for some athletes because it feels good to complain.

Interestingly, complaining doesn't change a situation. However, it can certainly change your mood and perspective. Complaining is exhausting and draining - for both the complainer and those who choose to listen. For many athletes, complaining is a default setting. When things don't go as planned, complaining is the norm It's all the athlete knows to do. If complaining seems like the easy solution when things aren't going your way, I encourage you to change your perspective. Here are a few ways to ditch your negative thoughts: 

1. Think positive thoughts - While this is easier said than done, there has to be something good in every situation. Instead of only seeing the negative, try to see the positive in the situation.
2. Vent - Instead of using a public forum to enlist help from strangers, find comfort in talking to your coach, close friend or family. You may even consider speaking to a therapist who can help you work through uncomfortable feelings.
3. Acceptance - Don't waste energy on things you can't control. Complaining will not solve the problem. Try to be less judgmental if you are playing the blame game. Focus on something else that is good in your life and surround yourself with energy givers.
4. Limit your exposure - Stay off forums and avoid complainers who only see the bad in a situation. Be the voice that will inspire others. If complaining does not cause real and positive change, it's not worth listening to (even if it's in your own head).
5. Move on - Life goes on. There will be other races. As an athlete, things will not go as planned and certainly not every race will go as planned. If you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now, take a deep breath and remind yourself that there's more to life than just one race. 

IM Kona '18 Race Report

When the alarm went off at 3:45am, I stayed in bed for another 15 minutes to let Karel have the kitchen to himself as he made his espresso and pre-race meal. When I got up, I was quick to go outside to the patio to let Karel do his own thing without getting in his way. Karel’s mom stayed in bed as we told her to watch the swim from behind the building in front of us as it would be too crazy for her to go down to the finish line area. Karel was incredibly calm and I couldn’t sense any nervous energy from him. It was a mixture of excitement, readiness and confidence and of course, gratitude that he had a healthy (and injury free) body at the end of a very successful season of racing. Around 5:15am, Karel was ready to head to the race venue. My job was to carry his special needs bags (and drop them off) and to grab his pump from him after he pumped his tires. 

Due to the rain the night before, Ali’i drive was a little wet but the air temp felt very comfortable. Crowds were already lining up on the wall to watch the swim start, the finish line was fully assembled, you could hear Mike Riley (and the other announcers) and there were athletes everywhere. I walked with Karel behind the King K hotel and dropped off his special needs bags before wishing Karel a great race and giving up a good luck kiss and hug. Karel went into the athlete-only area to get body marked (temporary tattoo) and weighed before heading to his bike on the pier. 

During this time (which moved rather quickly, I was surprised with all of the athletes!), I made my way to the pool area behind the King K as that was my meeting spot for Karel to hand me his pump. Around 6am, Karel came back from his bike, handed me his pump and I gave him one more good luck wish. 

He looked really calm and relaxed as he was listening to his music. I waited just a little longer to make sure he didn’t need me for anything else and then I walked down the road to get a spot to watch the swim start. During this time, Karel did his jog warm-up to our place, went to the bathroom once more and then jogged back to the pier – all before 6:30am. With Karel’s wave starting at 7:05am, he gave himself time to get close to the stairs entering the water so that he could get in a 10 minute swim warm-up with a few efforts to get the blood flowing. 

Making friends. 

2.4 mile swim

Aside from the chaos that comes with a mass start, Karel had his best non-wetsuit/Kona swim. Karel lined himself up to the far left of the buoys and near the front row. The buoys were spaced every 100 meters which made it easy to mark progress. Plus there are a few landmarks to the left which help athletes know how far they are (ex. the “boat” looking hotel by Huggo’s is about 1000 meters in). It was really important for Karel to try to accelerate hard from the front and then settle into a good rhythm. This was something that he practiced in the practice swim the previous Saturday. Karel was most proud of how he felt on the way back from the two turns (around the boats – which are the only two turns of this swim course) as he felt strong and exited the water feeling relatively fresh and not exhausted. The way back to the pier is typically a little slower due to the movement of the waves/ocean and layout of the course but Karel felt like he was able to swim strong throughout. 

T1
Whereas any other Ironman may have a small group of athletes exiting the water between 1 hour and 70 minutes, IM Kona is a bit different. With so many fast athletes in one race, it’s not uncommon to have 30-80 athletes exiting the water within a few minutes. Karel made his way up the stairs (which are only placed there for race day), through the hoses to rinse off and then to his T1 bag. Karel did not have anything in his bag since he had his cycling shoes and helmet on his bike (mandatory for all athletes to have their helmet on the bike, shoes are optional in bag or on the bike pedals). When he grabbed his bag, he took off his swimskin and then put it in his bag before running to his bike. No need for Karel to even enter the changing tent. Once he got to his bike, he put on his helmet and made the long run with his bike all the way around pier. Every athlete has to cover the same distance/path around the pier, which makes for a very long transition area.

112 mile bike
Karel was filled with happiness when he got on his bike (flying mount) as he was thrilled with his swim. Going into the race, Karel had a stretch goal of trying to get in the top ten for his age-group. Not knowing what the weather would be like, Karel was more focused on chasing the competition versus chasing a time (then again, Karel doesn’t care about times when he races). With his swim time being a few minutes faster than in 2016, Karel felt like this would set him up to be with faster cyclists. Having a lot of confidence in his run, his goal for the next 112 miles was to put together a solid bike, nail his nutrition and deliver himself to the run.
It was only a matter of a few pedal strokes that Karel realized something was wrong with his bike. His electronic shifting was not working. This meant that he was stuck in one gear and one gear only….for the next 112 miles. And not just any gear but a very easy gear. Karel went from such a high, to such a low in a matter of seconds. He suddenly felt so empty, sad and confused. Even as a bike mechanic, this was a mechanical issue that was completely out of his control. With the upcoming in-town section taking only about 20-25 minutes, I wasn’t sure why I didn’t see Karel flying down Palani after he exited the transition area. When I finally saw his neon-green kit coming down the hill, I was super happy to see him. But what came next was not what I expected to hear….
“I have no gears.” 

My heart immediately sank into my stomach and I couldn’t believe it. Karel later on told me that he got of his bike within the first mile and tried to jam the chain into another gear for more resistance. No go. Compared to the 24-27 mph speeds that other athletes were holding to cover the “in-town” section, Karel was averaging 15 mph. 

As soon as Karel shouted that to me about his gears, I felt like I needed to help. I didn’t know what to do so I just started running to my condo. I left Karel’s mom on Palani (there was no way I could communicate to her what had happened since she doesn’t speak English) and made my way to the condo. Luckily, our condo is just a block from Palani. My heart was beating so fast, I was sweating like crazy and I just felt so sad for Karel. Not even a few miles into his 140.6 mile race and his day of racing was overwith. Sure, he could still ride his bike but it was going to be a very long morning of riding with just one gear. Plus, riding in such an easy gear means a lot of pedaling which means a lot of mechanical and cardio fatigue. I also worried about Karel’s hips and back (which he has to be so careful with when he rides) and just the overall emotions that he would be carrying with him for the next 112 miles. 

When I got into my condo, I grabbed my bike because my first thought was “He can ride my bike.” Then I thought, oh that’s silly. Then I thought “I have a battery! He can use mine!” I searched for some tools because I thought he would need those. I know little about bike mechanics (prior to this incident, I didn’t even know where the battery was in my bike) but I have seen Karel work on bikes enough to know what tools he uses/needs. All of this was in a mega panic and feeling the need to help my husband. 

After I grabbed my bike and a small tool gadget, I sprinted my way down the stairs and rode across the street. I was hoping that I didn’t miss Karel for I really wanted to help him.

Luckily, I spotted Karel. I yelled and jumped up and down so he could see me. At first I thought he was going to keep riding but he stopped soon after he saw me. He pulled over to the side of the road in pure sadness and told me that he has no gears. When I saw a tear fall down his cheek from under the sunglasses attached to his helmet, that was my sign that I had to switch from wife to coach. Whereas I wanted to give him a hug and be emotional, I knew that would only make him more upset. We moved on to the sidewalk on Kuakini and Hanama (around there) and as Karel said “And I had such a great swim…” I stopped him from talking as I knew his emotions were taking over. I said “take my battery. I even brought your tools.” Karel was overloaded with his thoughts about this unfortunate situation and told me that he didn’t think it would help. He was convinced that the wire shorted the battery due to the rain as he clipped the wire prior to travel when removing his aero bars and secured it with electrical tape. I told him to try and he swapped my battery for his (from inside the seat post – aha, that is where it is!) and his biked shifted! Karel took the tools with him just in case he didn’t them again and I told him not to let this get to him. There was very little communication between us during the few minutes that this battery swap took place as I wanted Karel to stay calm. Karel is not one to over-react, play the blame game, make excuses or get angry so his emotions were purely from disappointment in the situation. He knew that his top 10 goal would no longer happen even though he now had the ability to shift his gears. I told him that I love him and to give his best and that everything will be ok as he rode off. Even though he lost a good 15 minutes in the first 7 miles or so of the bike, I still felt like he would be able to be in the race, so long as my battery worked for the rest of the ride.

As I walked back to the condo with my bike, I felt a bit of relief that I could help Karel during is helpless situation but I felt sick to my stomach about the situation. I just helped Karel cheat. As I made my way to the condo, I couldn’t help but think that we just broke a very important rule with triathlon racing – no outside assistance. I knew this meant a disqualification so I just hoped that Karel would be able to continue the race and cross the finish line for I know Karel and he is not a cheater or a quitter and would not want his race experience to be taken away from him. Even if his goal was no longer reachable, he loves to race and I wanted to give him the opportunity to race – even if he wasn’t an official finisher.

Karel’s mom came back to the condo and she was visibly upset because she didn’t see Karel on the bike. I showed her a picture that I saw him and gave her a thumbs up to signify that he was ok so she wouldn’t worry. Before the race, I made a time-line for Karel’s mom so she knew about when Karel would be where on the course so she could go and cheer. Well, I had to adjust those times because of the incident.

Sadly, I couldn’t feel happy about what just happened. Rather than feeling like the hero in this, I felt disappointed that we cheated. I knew Karel would feel the same way so I just hoped that he was able to enjoy his day before he would need to tell an official that he received outside assistance. To help with my emotions, I went for a run along Ali’i drive while listening to the live broadcast on my phone and periodically checking the Ironman tracker app to see how Karel was doing. When I saw that Karel was riding a more normal speed, I did feel better that he would be able to ride more comfortably by choosing his own gears to change throughout the race. I notified our team (on our private Facebook team page) that Karel had a mechanical but I wanted it to come from him to explain to our athletes what had happened, especially since we still needed to speak to an official.

After my run, I returned back to the condo, showered and ate, watched more of the live coverage and continued to track Karel. Although he was making good progress on the course, he continued to move back in places. This told me that something was not right. When I looked at this split paces compared to other athletes, I knew something was wrong. He was still moving much faster than in the first few miles with only the easy gear but far slower than what he is capable of riding. I tried not to think much of it and I was just counting down the hours until he got off the bike.

As Karel was getting closer to the transition area, his time was not bad but it could have been so much faster. On a record setting day with no wind, I knew something was not right as he was nearing 180ish place off the bike. 

T2
Karel had a quick transition and was relieved to be off his bike with his feet on the ground. The temperature was heating up but I had no idea what was going on with Karel. Why was he riding somewhat fast if he only had one easy gear but also so slow compared to what he could have ridden?

26.2 mile run
When I saw Karel running on Kuakini before heading to the out and back section on Ali’i drive, I gave him a big cheer. He quickly told me that the battery stopped working again and he only had one gear for most of the ride. Later on, Karel told me that the battery only worked for about 20 miles and luckily, when the battery died, he was in the big chain ring. It was still an easy gear and on any other typical Kona day, it may have been fine with wind but on a day that required a lot of resistance on the chain, he was forced to pedal at a very high cadence just to keep the momentum going. But with every climb, the gear was too heavy, which forced him to get out of the saddle a lot and to use a very slow cadence to get over some of the hills. This was a very poor way to ride the course, not to mention the mechanical and cardio fatigue that occurred for over 90 miles. He had a lot of low moments during the ride as he was helpless being passed by so many athletes. He refused to quit and tried to make the best of the decision and adjust his position or figure out the best way to gain speed (or make it “easier” when climbing) whenever possible.  In addition, he still focused on good nutrition but because of this very inefficient riding style, his body was under a lot more stress compared to if he would be able to ride at his preferred cadence (around mid 80’s) and change his gears.

After I saw Karel on the run, I yelled to him “Put together a run that you will be proud of!” and that seemed to stick with him as he was running really well, with good form and at a great pace. Again, I had no idea how much the ride took out of his legs and heart but I knew my mission for the day was to keep him going. Karel isn’t a quitter but it’s easy to give into the thoughts in your head that it’s not worth it – especially on what was turning into an extremely hot marathon run at the Ironman World Championship.

I rode my bike (without the ability to change gears – since I had Karel’s dead battery) on one of the side roads so I could see Karel once more on Ali’i drive. I rode on the opposite side of the road, took a few pictures and a video but didn’t say anything to him.

I knew he needed to get into a good place with his rhythm (and thoughts) so I just tried to be invisible. After a half mile of watching Karel run, I turned around and made my way to the top of Palani to wait for Karel once more. 

When I saw Karel running up Palani (the steepest hill on the course, occurring this year -with the new course-around mile 7-8ish), I told him that he is running one of the fastest paces at this point in the marathon. Even though it was not possible to pass 150+ people over the next 20 miles, I wanted Karel to know that he was still having a good race. And most of all, I wanted to make sure Karel still felt like he was racing. The bike was now in the past and the focus was on getting him to the finish line with the best run that he could put together on the day. 

Karel said that the run was incredibly hard – one of the hardest Ironman marathons that he has ever run. It was so hot out there and there was no cloud cover. He had no idea of his pace or overall run time as the focus was on running from one aid station to the next, walking through the aid stations and taking care of himself with ice/water and then surviving to the next aid station. Karel was later shocked when I told him that he ran a 3:15 marathon and moved from 181st to 82nd. With the wind at his face as he got closer to the new entrance of the energy lab, it started to get very hot and very tough for Karel. Despite his body breaking down and his mind exhausting, something inside of him kept him going.

Although Karel slowed down (as everyone does in the marathon), he was still putting together solid splits according to the tracer. I was just so proud of Karel for what he had overcome and how he was able to still run so well. 

I went back to the condo to tell Karel’s mom to head outside to watch Karel finish and I made my way to the bleachers to capture Karel crossing the finish line. As Karel made his way over the finish line, I could tell he was completely empty – mentally and physically. What a day.

Post race
I made my way to the patio area by the pool where I stood to meet Karel in the morning. Thankfully, our friend Livingston was volunteering and snapped a picture of Karel and called me so I could talk to Karel. Karel was absolutely exhausted and told me that he just wanted to lay in the grass for a while and go to sleep. I told him to take his time and that I would meet him when he was ready. Livingston wouldn’t let Karel fall asleep so he stayed with Karel until he was able to get up. Karel went to the bathroom, rehydrated a little (no appetite to eat) and about 20-30 min after he finished, he hobbled his way to me. I told him that I was so proud of him and he said that was the hardest thing he had ever done. As we were walking, I wanted to bring up the battery swap but I hesitated as I knew Karel was lacking some brain cells to think. Once Karel started to talk a little more (although clearly disappointed), I mentioned about us needing to talk to someone about my outside assistance. Karel agreed and said he was thinking the same thing. Neither one of us could live with this scenario if we didn't tell an official. Even though my battery didn’t technically help Karel (he still rode 90 miles on one gear), it was still outside assistance and we always want to play fair and by the rules. Plus, we feel that being a good role model for our athletes and having integrity for the sport means doing the right thing.

Although the day was not as Karel planned, the goal shifted from being top ten to finishing and Karel was just so relieved to have crossed that finish line.  Even if he was disqualified, he just wanted to finish what he started and to know that he never gave up on himself. It was not about proving anything to anyone or getting kudos for his performance but more about racing for himself and doing the best that he could out there. Karel really appreciated that I told him to put together a run that you can be proud of for he carried that with him for the entire run. He didn’t come all this way and train this hard just to give up on himself. More so, his bike was still functional, even with one gear so he wanted to pay respect to the sport and do what others would love to do – even with only one gear.

After we made our way back to our place, Karel was feeling super nauseous. He took a shower and laid down in bed. Unable to eat anything, we started with some soup and over the next 2 hours, his appetite slowly came back. His mom was super proud of him.

Nearing 7pm (when athletes can start checking out their bikes), Karel mentioned that he was feeling ok enough to walk around. We both wanted to find the head bike official (Jimmy Riccitello) as soon as possible as we wanted to take care of this situation for we both didn’t feel good about it.

Karel and I slowly walked to the King K hotel (official race hotel) and went to a room (Lost and Found) to see if we could locate Jimmy. The volunteer we spoke to was very confused. The convo went like this.

Karel “I’d like to speak to the head bike official about a situation on the bike course.”
Volunteer “OK, is this about another athlete?”
Karel “No, it’s about myself.”
Volunteer “ Did another athlete do something?”
Karel “No, I’d like to disqualify myself.”
Volunteer “Are you sure?"
Karel "Yes.”

We waited over an hour for Jimmy to be found (during that time Karel collected his bike and gear bags as I waited in the room) and once he came, we told him the entire situation of what happened. Jimmy was a bit speechless as he couldn’t believe that Karel wanted to disqualify himself at the Ironman World Championship. Jimmy said that he really appreciated the honesty and that he would write down Karel’s number in case anyone complained about what they saw but in all fairness, he didn’t feel that Karel was deserving of a disqualification. He told us that although it is outside assistance, it was not something that was planned to help Karel gain the competitive edge and I was not offering Karel something that he could use as an advantage over his other competitors. We expressed several times that we felt like it was the right thing to do, Jimmy took note of it but didn’t feel it was worthy of a DQ. We thanked him for allowing us to share the situation and he thanked us for being honest about the situation. I think he was a bit taken back by it all and a little speechless.

Afterward, Karel got back his appetite in full force and wanted a burger and fries so we picked one up outside of a restaurant (Karel only managed to eat half) and headed back to our condo.

It was a very emotional, exhausting and tough day for Karel but he is incredibly happy that he finished. He said even if the bike would take him 7 hours, he was going to finish the race. While Karel had to deal with more than he had planned to deal with over the course of 140.6 miles, he is heading back home with a finisher medal that means more to him than any finish time or finishing place. Onward and upward we go.

Thank you for your support and for reading. 

IM Kona '18 Race Report - Quick Recap

In sport, every athlete is seeking that perfect race. The race where everything goes smoothly, the weather is perfect or your strengths outweigh your weaknesses compared to your competition. 

The "perfect race" scenario played out for many athletes at the 2018 Ironman World Championship. Records were broken, PR's were set and dreams came true for many athletes. Crossing a 140.6 mile finish line should never be taken for granted and even for those who did not reach personal goals, the achievement of crossing the Ironman World Championship line is now embedded into the memory bank of every athlete.

Karel did not have his perfect race. For the first time ever, Karel had a mechanical issue on the bike. His electronic shifting was not working as soon as he left T1....less than 75 minutes into the race. Six years of riding with electronic shifting and never has he had an issue. Talk about bad luck. Because of this, Karel could not change his gears. He was stuck in an easy gear with 112 miles of riding ahead of him. Because of the calm winds, this was a day where having "big" gears would allow you to ride fast. Karel is not angry or making excuses. He actually blames himself as he clipped the wire to his Di2 as he was packing his bike before our Kona trip two weeks ago, and secured the wire with electrical tape. He's done this in the past and it worked out and even this time around, he had no issues with his bike over the past two weeks. However, with the massive downpour on Friday night, the taped wires were impacted by the rain (otherwise, the wires/battery is just fine in the rain) and it drained the battery overnight. Karel did not realize this until he tried to change his gear at mile 0.1 of his upcoming 112 mile bike ride.

Whereas it would be easy to dwell on the could have, would have and should haves, Karel is very proud of what he overcame to reach the finish line. 

You see, when an athlete has a perfect race, he/she is instantly rewarded with the feeling of satisfaction and gratitude. There's nothing wrong with that and as a coach (and athlete), the "perfect" race is worth chasing. However, things don't always have to go as planned to achieve the perfect race. More so, if you are hoping to have a perfect race every time you race, you'll likely be disappointed far more than you'll be satisfied. Does this mean that you should give up on chasing your goals because the odds are against you in having that perfect race?

Sport can be cruel and unpredictable but it's important that when you lose, you don't lose the lesson. In other words, giving up because of a mistake, failure or low moment teaches you nothing. Sure, when things don't go as planned, it's ok to be emotional, upset or disappointed, but when you give up, you immediately lose the opportunity to overcome whatever set you back and learn from the situation. And more importantly, learn more about yourself.

If an athlete always has a "perfect" race, he/she never gets the opportunity to learn the important lessons that sport teaches us. If your natural response to unfavorable "perfect" race scenarios (ex. bad weather, tough/fast competition, mechanical issue, nutrition issue, etc.) is to give up, you ingrain the habit of giving up when the going gets tough.

While no athlete should sacrifice health in an effort to get to the finish line, many athletes give up when things don't go as planned - even though the body still has the ability to move forward. These pressure cooker situations often emotionally break athletes and throw them off their game and thus, the immediate reaction is to give up due to excuses, negative thinking and the thought that continuing "isn't worth it." But when you give up, you also give up on any chance that you have to have a good outcome. For any outcome is better than not finishing what you started.

No athlete trains or hopes for race day issues, whether it's physical, mental or mechanical/gear related. But these things are bound to happen. Especially if you are racing for 140.6 miles.  When you give up, you give up on your effort, the progress you made and on the possibility for a comeback.

In contrast, if you try to see the best in the situation or try to fix the situation, you at least give yourself a chance that something good may happen. And that's something you can be proud of. Every athlete is bound to have race day issues. It's not about IF those issues will happen but how you respond to them. While you may not reach your race day goals with a setback, you can cross that finish line with satisfaction, excitement, confidence and gratitude that you are a tenacious competitor who always finds a way to persevere, no matter what the day gives you.

Although Karel did not have his perfect race, he was given the race day scenario that provided him with the perfect platform to show his mental resilience and integrity to the sport. 

Karel started the day off with a phenomenal swim showcasing his continued improvements with his swim fitness. Despite a bike performance that costed him a lot of mechanical fatigue due to having to spin at a very high cadence (115-120 rpm at times versus his normal mid-80 rpm cadence) or riding with an extremely heavy gear when there was a climb (often standing for the entire climb), Karel was able to pass over 100 athletes in his age group on the run (185th place to 82nd place out of 266). While it wasn't his fastest marathon run off the bike, he suffered a lot during the run and never gave up on himself to put together the best performance possible on the day, with the scenario that he was given. 

Karel's Race Results: 
2.4 mile swim: 1:04.45 (course PR)
T1: 3:01
112 mile bike: 5:17.27
T2: 4:13
26.2 mile run: 3:15.50
Total: 9:45.15
11x Ironman finisher
3x IM Kona finisher

IM Kona '18: 1 day out!

Karel and I live together, train together and work together. But when it comes to racing, we both have a different strategy for feeling "race ready" in the 24 hours before a big event. Whereas I like to talk, watch funny videos/shows on the computer, laugh and socialize, Karel likes to hibernate with techno music, visualizing his race. Respecting Karel's pre-race rituals, I planned a long ride on Friday so that Karel could have time to himself, doing whatever he needed to do to relax without any distractions. 

As for my ride, I biked the course! Well, all but 6 miles in town. 

Whereas I've had an unfriendly relationship with this bike course for each of the four times that I have raced in the Ironman World Championship (2007, 2011, 2013, 2015), I wanted to cover the course (to Hawi and back) all by myself. 

And wow, the roads were rather empty from athletes! Although I did see a handful of athletes scattered over the Queen K and a few in Hawi, most (if not all) were not IM Kona racers. 

Since riding 100+ miles is a rarity for me and Karel (a combo of where we live and we do more higher intensity training versus long aerobic miles), I also looked forward to sharing 5+ hours with my body and mind. If I've learned anything about the IM Kona bike course it's that the weather is very unpredictable and you have to be physically fit but very mentally strong. 

To keep the ride structured instead of just going for a 100+ mile ride, I used the first 8 miles to the airport as a warm-up and then started my main set for the rest of the ride. I went 20 minutes "on" at Ironman effort followed by a 5 minute EZ spin. I continued this for the remainder of my ride (4+ hours), all the way back to town. 

The winds were not howling but it was hotter than hot. I felt like I was riding in a sauna - and this was even with a 7am start to my ride. 

I went through 8 bottles during my ride (5 with calories, 2 with "electrolytes" and 1 with plain water to use for cooling my head. I had a stop in Hawi at the gas station to refill my bottles. 

While a year is a long time away, I am getting more and more excited to return back to the Big Island in 2019 for the Ironman World Championship - as a participant. Whereas I turned down my slot last year at IM CHOO, I'm really glad that I took my slot at IMWI last month as I feel much more confident with my open water swimming abilities, my riding skills and my running form. This was a great season for me (training and racing) and I hope to build off this season....after I take a well deserved short off-season break near the end of the month. Next up I have the Hincapie Gran Fondo next Saturday. 

Maui off in the distance. 

While I didn't have any lows during the ride (this may have been because I didn't have to run a marathon off the bike), there were a few times when I found myself getting lazy with my pedal stroke. Having the set of 20 minutes ON and 5 minutes OFF helped as I could stay focus and then look forward to a little reset.

Aside from the cars/trucks on the road, the shoulder was pretty empty compared to the last few days. As someone who enjoys courses with lots of spectators (and loos), I also feel this ride was very valuable for me to be alone for so long with my own thoughts.

Stats from the ride:
Total ride time: 5:28.59
Total distance: 106 miles
Average speed: 19.4
Elevation gain: 3635
Normalized power: 143 watts
Average HR: 120
Average temp: 82 (Max temp 97!)

After I returned home, I wanted to see how my legs felt so I went for a quick 16 min run (1 mile out, 30 sec walk, 1 mile back) along Kuakini. I kept the pace comfortable and as usual, I wore my hydration belt. I was glad I had it for it was toasty! After cleaning up and eating, it wasn't too long later that Karel, his mom and I went down to bike check-in. Karel's slot for checking in his bike was 2:30-6pm so he waited until around 4pm to check in his bike. It was a very cloudy afternoon and as I write this now (7pm) it is pouring outside. Tomorrow should be an interesting day with the weather! 

As a spectator and fan of the sport, I really love this part of the Ironman World Championship. There are crowds of people, you can feel the nervous energy of the athletes and you can sense the excitement of dropping off the bike and gear bags with only one sleep to go until race day. 

The finish line arch and stage are coming together. It won't be too long until we get to witness the relief and joy by the athletes as they cross the most incredible finish line in the sport. 

As for the bike/gear bag check in procedure, first athletes will go under an arch (athletes only) and it's a big show for spectators and athletes. There's music, announcers and tons of volunteers. There are literally people just watching for hours as athletes check in their bikes. 

Once you enter the athlete-only area, there are a few booths where athletes with their respective bike gear/equipment will get some swag from the companies. For example, Karel got a Shimano hat because he has Shimano on his bike. It's a cool way for companies to say thank you to their customers. 

And then there are the counters. There are a good two dozen plus people counting all the bike specs to determine how many athletes have certain brands on their bike. These counters look at everything from bike components, wheel brands, saddle brands, power meters and so much more. The final tally typically circulates the internet a few days after IM Kona on various triathlon websites.

Next up, athletes get their picture taken. Well, actually the bike gets a photo. I believe this is for security reasons but there could be other reasons as well. 

Next is another wait in line before finally entering the transition area. 

With so many volunteers, from all of the world, it's really neat to see how many people come here just to help out with the event. 

The volunteer takes the gear bag and then the athlete walks to the gear bags to drop off the bags (Blue = Bike, Red = Run) and then place the bike in the floor rack. The helmet must go on the bike and cycling shoes can go inside the Bike bag or on the bike. Nothing can be on the floor next to the bike. The gear bags are also clear for security reasons. 

The transition area on the pier is huge. With 2500 athletes, everyone has to cover the same route to enter and leave the transition area for swim to bike and bike to run. 

After Karel was finished checking in his stuff, he did a quick video with Czech TV before heading back to the condo. The rest of the evening was "feet up, eat up." 

One more sleep and this is where it's all going to start (and finish) tomorrow morning! 

To follow the race, check out Ironman.com, Ironman Now on Facebook and the Ironman Tracker App. 

Karel is bib number 1322 (40-44 AG). 

I'll also be sharing pictures/updates on my Trimarni Facebook page tomorrow as often as I can. 

Thanks for the support! 

IM Kona '18: 2 & 3 days out

The past two days have been incredibly busy. I am not even racing and I have found myself with a packed schedule!

On Wednesday morning, Karel and I both ventured out for a run workout. Karel had a few 1K efforts followed by a 15 min IM effort. I gave myself a workout of 3 x 6 minutes with 1 min rest followed by a 15 min at IM effort just to spice it up. I'm noticing that I have acclimated to the heat over the past week as my breathing is much more controlled, I can run "faster" paces at a lower heart rate and overall, I don't feel like I am running through a blow torch. We both ran along Ali'i drive and as usual, the shoulders were packed with cyclists, walkers and runners. 

The nice thing about not racing is that I can deviate from my training anytime I want, which means stopping to take pictures, especially selfies with friends. This is my athlete Dana who lives in Greenville who is here spectating. It was fun to "run" into her along Ali'i drive. It's so funny how you can run into so many people that you know despite there being 2500 athletes and thousands of spectators and volunteers. 

Karel showing off his custom paint design to co-found Diaa Nour

After the run, we did a quick change into our bike gear as we wanted to join the 3rd Annual IM Kona ventum ride. Not only did we get to see so many Ventums (several with awesome custom paint jobs) but we were able to see the reveal of the NEW Ventum road bike. 

The group ride was led by Leanda Cave and there were also a few other Ventum professionals who were at the start of the ride, such as AJ Baucco, Kevin Collington and Lauren Brandon. 

The ride was an hour long and we rode up toward the airport (on the Queen K) and then turned off to take a picture inside the energy lab. For those who have raced/been here before, this is the "new" section of the energy lab run course to start/finish the section in the energy lab. 

Picture by Ventum Media crew. 
Check out this awesome video with a little cameo of my Pink Rocket.

I even got to chat/ride with Triathlon Taren.

After the ride, it was a very busy afternoon. After a well-needed meal, I got some work done before making a video with my contact at Levelen regarding sweat testing. If you missed the video, you can check it out on my Trimarni facebook page. As for my other half, Karel's Czech friends arrived on Tues evening and one of them had an issue with his bike. Karel was unable to help as he didn't have the right tool for the job but since his friends don't speak English, Karel went to Bike Works with them to help translate so that his friend could get his bike fixed. Karel also had a swim on the schedule but the pool didn't open until 3 (break from 1:30-3pm) so around 2pm, I made a quick trip up to the grocery store (Safeway) for a few more specialty food items that I couldn't find at Walmart (more like produce and fresh bread/croissants) before heading to the pool. We rode our bike to the pool around 3pm but we only had about an hour to swim as Karel had an interview with Czech TV at 4:30pm. I was invited to attend the Clif Bar BBQ which started at 4pm so I drove there around 5pm and stayed for about 40 minutes. As usual, the food was fresh, locally sourced and amazing.

The pool was packed and we even had a few pro sightings (Daniela Ryf, Tim O.). It got very chaotic when 6-8 of us were in the same lane circle swimming and each one of us was doing a different set, with different swimming abilities. Somehow we made it happen and Karel was able to get in his prescribed swim set.

600 warm-up
Pre set:
100 smooth
2 x 75 build
3 x 50's fast
4 x 25's very fast
MS:
100 smooth
100 build
100 smooth
50 fast

You continue to repeat the above but add a 50 each round to stop at 4 x 50's. 

After returning home from the Clif Bar house, I had a bit more to eat, we caught up with Breakfast With Bob, Talbot Cox videos and Ironman Now (on Facebook) before I fell asleep around 8:30pm. Karel met up with his Czech friend Roman soon after I fell asleep to get his Czech tshirt (designed for Czech IM Kona athletes) and a few sweet treats from Czech. Of course Karel can't do a race without his favorite treats! 

It's crazy to think it's already Thursday. The IM Kona athletes only have two more sleeps before race day! Karel slept in and had a solid 9+ hours of sleep. I was already out on the patio working on the computer and eating my pre-workout snack. After Karel had his espresso (or three) and his pre-workout snack, we walked down to "dig me beach" for an open water swim. Holy moly the ocean was packed! Not only were the construction crews setting up the finish line area but there were athletes everywhere. This was our first AM open water swim since Sat last week so it was nice to be back in the ocean - navigating our way around so many other athletes.

                                Group photo with our Ventum friends and co-owner Jimmy Seear.

After the swim, we walked back to our condo (about 5 min walk) to get ready for a bike ride. One of my favorite parts of IM Kona week is around this time and seeing the finish line area transform. The red carpet is yet to be laid but the finish line arch and backdrop screen and bleachers are getting set up. It's so exciting to see it all come together! 

For Karel's open water swim, he didn't want to overdo it in the ocean as sometimes his shoulder gets sore/tight so we swam 500 yards out to the coffee boat (Karel can always have one more cup of coffee) before heading back. Although the water super choppy/wavy and we needed to sight almost every stroke to avoid swimming into another athlete, Karel swam really well. I couldn't keep up! Then again, I didn't have a swimskin on (that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it). 

On our way back from the swim, we stopped by the Picky Bars booth and spun the wheel for a prize. Karel one a package of Picky Oats and I won a $25 gift card! Oddly enough, we ran into Jesse Thomas as we were walking up the stairs to our condo. Selfie time!

To avoid the stop and go/lights, we drove our bikes to the Energy Lab (new entrance) and parked so that the only light we would need to get through was the airport light. Then it was nonstop riding along the Queen K for the rest of our ride. Karel kept the ride fairly smooth but included a strong 15 min effort on the way back to town to wake up his legs. His hips were a little stiff to start but loosened up as the ride went on. 

Once again, I'm running into friends. This time in the middle of the Queen K! It was nice to catch up with my friend Emily who is a superstar athlete. 

After the ride, we drove back to town and I did a quick change before heading to the King K hotel to meet Marnie (how cool is that!) who is the Global athlete development director at Ironman. We chatted for a while, I shared my thoughts about helping to grow the sport of triathlon and she told me a bit more about some of the Ironman initiatives to help get more people into the sport of triathlon. 

I then made a quick stop in the merchandise tent to pick up a few requested items for Karel (for race day) before walking back to our condo. Once again, the island continues to transform as the buoys are getting ready to find their location in the water and the finish line area is getting more touches. 

Karel is feeling good. Tomorrow he will do his pre-race brick and then spend the rest of the day off his feet, visualizing and fueling up (with carbs) for the big dance on Saturday. I have a long ride planned in the morning so that Karel can do his own thing before he checks in his bike after 2:30pm. There's something really special about the entire IM Kona bike/gear bag check-in process.

I still remember the very first time I checked in my bike and gear bags for my first Kona back in 2007. 

First IM Kona in 2007 at the age of 25. 

I was so excited to be part of this historic and special event as an athlete and even today, I feel so lucky that I can be here as a spectathlete and to cheer on Karel. Who would have thought that back in 2011 when Karel spectated his first IM Kona (my 2nd IM World Championship) that he would be back here as an athlete for his third IM Kona?? He didn't even start the sport of triathlon until 2012, with his first IM in 2013!

How can this be seven years ago?!?!

IM Kona '18 - 4 & 5 days out

First things first. The ebook of my book Essential Sports Nutrition is now available for only $0.99!! Take advantage of this great deal as it's only for a limited time (until the 17th).

Now back to Kona happenings....

The streets are getting super busy. Along with a cruise ship rolling in on Monday, the majority of IM Kona athletes and volunteers have arrived to the island. 

Monday morning started bright and early with a 6:15am swim led by Matt Dixon with Purple Patch Fitness. Karel and I got in a bit earlier and I swam a bit extra for a total of around 4300 yards. Here's the workout:

Warm-up: ~1100
Pre-set:
100 smooth, 25 fast
75 smooth, 25 fast
50 smooth, 25 fast
25 smooth, 25 fast
(continuous)
MS:
6 x 50's fast
200 smooth
4 x 50's fast
200 smooth
2 x 50's fast
200 smooth
Post set:
6 x 100's strong
300 EZ pull
(I think I'm forgetting something but that was what I remembered)

As we were leaving the pool to ride back to our condo, we bumped into Natscha Badmann who is a 6x Ironman World Champion! Although she is no She was one of my biggest inspirations when I started Ironman racing. I even took a picture with her back in 2007 for my first Kona!

Me and Natascha at my first IM Kona, 11 years ago at the age of 25!

Around lunchtime, we had lunch at Lava Java (they have a new location just a street over for those who haven't been to the island in a few years) with our friend and doctor, Dr. Cassas. Because Karel and I don't have a primary care doctor, we always reach out to Dr. Cassas with our questions. We are so lucky to have such a personable, smart and easy to reach doctor! Dr. Cassas is getting his learn on here in Kona at the Sport Medicine Conference. It was nice to catch up with a few of his colleagues over delicious food. I ordered the Vesterby veggie bowl and Karel got the Potts Poke Bowl. 

Just as we were finishing lunch, it started to drizzle. By the time we returned back to our condo, it was pouring. The rain lasted all afternoon. Karel had an easy 45 minute spin on his training schedule so we managed to spin our legs on the Queen K around 5:15pm. While the rain had stopped, a beautiful double rainbow showed up during the end of our ride. 

Another beautiful sunset to end Monday. 

Although Monday starts race week, I feel like Tues is the "official" start of race week as there's so much going on. First off, the ocean becomes more crowded and the coffee boat makes it's first run out for a mid-stop java while swimming in the ocean. 

Karel had a 90-minute ride on his schedule so I joined in and we ventured out to the Queen K and then took a side road down to the ocean in a State Park. It provided us with a nice 5-minute climb back to the Queen K for Karel to do a little hard effort to wake-up his legs. After the ride, Karel was done for the morning and I followed up the bike with a 30 minute run. The streets were pretty crowded with cyclists and runners and walkers and of course, the normal car traffic of locals and tourists. It seemed like the humidity was a bit lower on Tuesday as I could sweat much easier and I didn't feel like someone was blowing a blow torch on me as I was running. There was one tent set up on Ali'i drive (Gu) with free sport nutrition but I didn't need any as I had my fuel belt on with my hydration/sport drink (Carbo Rocket hydration for this run...I'm almost out of my Clif hydration).

Tuesday is also the first official day for athlete check-in (9am-2pm). All athletes must check-in by Thursday. Karel told me that the official athlete wrist bands did not arrive so Karel received a shiny red wrist band instead. He is welcome to go back and get his official wrist band when they arrive (hopefully tomorrow they said). As Karel was checking in at the King K hotel, Karel's mom and I went into the merchandise tent (one of three in the area) and waited for Karel. 

From my own personal experience of racing in the IM World Championship, I think the athlete check-in makes it feel very real and it brings a new level of excitement for those who are racing. Several people have asked me if I regretted turning down my Kona slot at IM Chatty last year when I won my age group and my answer is still no. I am not only happy that I could give my slot to another athlete but I feel like I needed a few years away from racing IM Kona to get even more experience racing the Ironman distance. Now that I have qualified for 2019, I am super excited to return back to the island next year as an athlete. Plus, I never thought I could handle the winds in Kona but now that I have my new Ventum, I feel so much more confident riding here that I actually look forward to racing in windy conditions. 

Karel got a huge backpack/duffel bag which was perfect to hold free swag as we made our way to the IM Village to check out the expo - which just opened today (Tuesday). 

So official! 

As I mentioned in a previous post, it's really awesome to see how the town transforms from a small town in Kona to the race venue of the Ironman World Championship. As a huge fan of the sport, I just love race week and the energy you feel as you are surrounded by so many like-minded individuals. 

Although the main athlete village/expo is across from the Farmers market on ali'i drive, there are actually a few different booth areas along Ali'i drive (all within walking distance - no need to drive anywhere). We checked out all the different booths as Karel loves seeing new bike products/gear. There have been several "new" bike gear/equipment items revealed this week. 

We made a stop at the Ventum booth so see our Ventum friends. No expo is complete without a hello from Rachel. By the way, if you are in Kona, make sure to stop by their booth to make your free support t-shirt! 

How cool are these shirts that you can design???

Also Ventum is holding a free no-drop ride at 8:45am from the Ventum booth on 10/10 (Wed morning) for anyone who would like to participate. The ride is about 15 miles and there will be some refreshments afterward. You can even test-ride a Ventum (first come)!! 

Because my triathlon season is complete and my only event left this season is the Hincapie Gran Fondo (80-miles) in two weeks, I'm making sure that no workout here feels like a chore. I don't feel the need to make myself workout so everything that I do is for fun, because I want to do it. In the afternoon, I decided to go for an ocean swim, just because. I didn't have a workout or a set but I just swam and stopped when I was done. I swam for around 15-minutes, back and forth from the shore to the first buoy. It was super duper wavy but I was having fun just swimming around and looking at the fishes. 

During this time, the kids Dip n' Dash event was going on and the streets were packed with fans. Wow, those kids are super competitive! It was so much fun to watch the kids (our future triathletes) in action. 

Karel's mom even came out to cheer for the kids. I spotted her in her new Ventum shirt (Karel made it for her) as I was walking back to the condo from my swim. 

As I was heading up to the condo, I ran into Karel as he was making his way to the King K for the Parade of Nations walk along Ali'i drive. Although Karel is now a US Citizen, he enjoyed walking with his home country, Czech Republic. 

Despite another rain shower, the fans and athletes came out with smiles and lots of cheers for the parade. Karel's mom enjoyed her walk with the other Czech athletes. It will be sad to see her head back to her home next weekend. 

It's remarkable how many people from so many different countries are here on the island. I think that's one of the many reasons why this event is so special. It truly brings together all athletes from around the world. 

A selfie in the rain. 

IM Kona '18 - 6 days out

Around 7:15am, we left our condo and drove to the shops at Mauna Lani (North of the island) to start our ride. Karel had a 3-hour endurance ride on the schedule to flush his legs from yesterday's sessions. Since we hadn't yet ridden the Hawi section since arriving (we covered everything else on the Queen K), we thought it would be good to head out there early and get reacquainted with the back part of the course. As you may know, this is where the historic Kona winds are the fiercest and you can always tell from the white caps on the ocean if the winds will be blowing (no white caps = calm winds).  

As we left the parking lot, Karel needed some time to loosen out his legs so the pace was rather easy to start just to move blood. 

Although we started the ride at 8am, it was already hot. Thankfully we packed along plenty of hydration/sport drinks for our ride.

From the exit of the Mauna Lani resort (turning North on to the Queen K), it's ~6.5 miles to the first official turn on the course (not counting the "in town" section). Once you get to Waikui, you make a left on to 270. This is a fast downhill section of the course for just under 2 miles before veering right at the gas station for the 18-mile "climb" to Hawi. The elevation gain is around 835 feet (according to Karel's Garmin) and although you are climbing throughout all 18 miles, it's never steep and there are some flatter sections and rollers. However, because the course bends around the island, the wind is constantly changing. The winds can be very unpredictable and lucky for us during our ride, they were relatively calm. 

The views of the ocean make this part of the course pretty spectacular. They are even better on the way back as you get to see Mauna Kea (elevation 13,803 ft!).

As the road winds around, the terrain changes. 

What starts as a normal looking highway....

Turns into a desolate looking road. 

The views eventually become more greener as you get closer to the town of Hawi. 

As I mentioned, I wouldn't really call it a climb but more a gradual incline with a few terrain changes. 

The town of Hawi is super cute but also really small. There are a few shops and restaurants and it's worth checking out (not on bike) if you have time. There's also a beautiful lookout point at Polou Valley. 

Once again, my Ventum rode amazingly well and I felt so comfortable on the descend. It's not a true descend in that you still have to work for it at times because of the wind and there is still some climbing on the way back. 

There are a few sections where you can pick up some free speed but depending on the winds, you have to be alert and can't relax too much. 

While we rode the climb up to Hawi in a very steady effort (nothing too hard), we had fun descending. It took us 58 minutes to reach Hawi and 53 minutes to descend. We weren't doing anything spectacular for this ride as Karel just wanted to spin his legs. Thankfully, that meant I could stay on his wheel and enjoy the ride with him. 

After you veer left (gas station), the hottest part of the course, with one of the steepest climbs, occurs. The climb is about 1.2 miles and elevation gain is 226 feet (per Karel's Garmin). It's a kicker right before the right hand turn back on the Queen K for the last part of the course (~36 miles). 

We rode back to the car and I refilled my bottles with more sport nutrition before I headed back out on the Queen K to finish my ride....back home. 

Karel drove home and I rode back home to finish off my "long" ride. I ended up with 4.5 hours of riding and 83 miles. On the way back, I did 3 x 25 minutes at a strong IM effort w/ 5 min EZ between. I only did 20 minutes at the end because I was back in town and wanted to spin my legs before arriving to the condo. I felt very strong on the bike and I was really happy with how I felt - especially how my Ventum rode in the wind. It wasn't crazy gusty but it was windy. 

After refueling and getting some work done on the computer, I made my way to the pier/beach for a little dip in the ocean (not a swim, just looking for fishes and playing around). I caught a few pics of my favorite things. A chihuahua with a life vest. 

"Sandy" the local turtle. 

And beautiful Hawaiian cats. 

Oh and then my 4th favorite thing....PIZZA!!

Karel mentioned he wanted pizza tonight before we went for our ride and as my favorite food group, I couldn't deny him of a yum. I ordered out from Longboard Legends Pizza (Hawaiian for Karel and a Vegetarian and Margarita for me and his mom, as well as a salad) and walked over to get it a little before 5pm while Karel was out for his 40-minute PM shake-out run. 

Tomorrow is the official start of IM Kona race week. With the island filling with triathletes and tents getting set up all along Ali'i drive, I'm so excited for the craziness that is IM Kona week!

IM Kona '18: 8 & 7 days out

The energy is building on the island. With more and more triathletes arriving each day, you can feel the excitement building. 

Now that Karel has brushed off most of the stiffness from travel, his training called for a 90-minute ride in the AM and an intense swim workout in the PM. I did a longer (and slightly modified) version of his swim workout in the morning.

MS: 3x's
300 strong
6 x 50's fast
6 x 25's very fast
300 smooth w/ paddles and snorkel
Total swim: 4300 yards

I shared a lane with Helle Frederiksen which made it easy to step up my game during my faster efforts. A few other stars were in the pool - Lucy Charles, Joe Skipper and Sebastian Kienle. I rode my bike to and from the aquatic center (~4 minutes away) instead of driving. By the way, in case you didn't know, the Kona Aquatic Center is free for anyone to use. 

Karel's meal

Karel and I got home around the same time and we both enjoyed our post workout meal/breakfast on the patio. I had a busy day of consults so while I spent the next few hours on the phone, Karel took his mom to Mountain Thunder for a coffee tour. Karel and I have been there before (we went with my parents back in 2011) but Karel's mom loved the tour and even came back with a few souvenirs.

The town of Kailua-Kona is slowly turning into the race venue of the Ironman World Championship and it's really neat to see the town changing with all the signs and tents. The official Ironman Village (expo) doesn't open until Tuesday but Ironman is wasting no time in getting everything ready. 

Late afternoon, I went for a ~47 minute run on the first part of the bike course to the Queen K. I kept it fairly easy but it was so hot out!

While I don't think any athlete would find joy in riding on a highway, an exception is made for IM Kona. There are so many athletes out riding on the Queen K Hwy that you almost feel like you are in a race each time that you are out training. Thankfully, the shoulders are extra large here in Kona and every local knows that there are athletes training here.

After dinner, Karel was craving ice cream so we walked down to the street (from our condo) to Kope Lani. Of course, I couldn't let Karel eat ice cream alone. Karel got some kind of coffee ice cream (of course) and I enjoyed a mint chocolate ice cream. 

Although we've been getting a solid 9 hours of sleep each night since we've arrived to Kona, I am still struggling to stay up in the evening. I tried staying up until 8pm last night but I was fast asleep by 7:45pm. 

While the alarm was set for 5am, we didn't need it as we were up just before the alarm went off. We've been waking up around 5am each morning which works well as we get to bed early and can start the day early. Around 5:50am, we walked to the pier for the 2018 Ho'ala 2.4 mile practice swim. We registered a few months ago and for the second time, we were both looking forward to this fun "race". After picking up our packet that included a t-shirt, chip and swim cap, we got body marked before putting on our swim skins (ROKA Viper X). The swim officially started at 7am but we got in the water around 6:35am for a ~5-8 minute warm-up before going back to shore to take one more look at the swim course (there are only a few buoys for the practice swim so it was not an easy to sight) and then swam back out ~50 yards or so to the official "start". I treaded water for about 8 minutes and funny enough, bumped into Karel. The memories of my past 4 IM Kona's were coming back as I was treading water and I was even getting a little nervous and excited for next year when I will be racing in Kona. Thankfully, the fishes were out today so we had a lot to look at during our warm-up. Sadly, the jellyfish were out too and many athletes got stung during the swim. 

With ~600 athletes, the craziness of the mass start was exactly what I thought it would be. It didn't seem to settle down throughout the entire swim so only a few sections did I find myself with clean water. I felt like I stayed on course fairly well until about 3/4ths way in before the turn buoy where I found myself way off course with a group. Because I swam with my watch for this event (I usually never wear my watch when I swim in races), I checked my watch at the first buoy and it read 30 minutes. Ugh, I was so frustrated. I started to get really down on myself, convincing myself that I was having a horrible swim and that I will never be able to swim well in open water without a wetsuit. All because I looked at my watch. This is why I don't wear a watch when I swim! Too much judgement. All these negative thoughts were getting into my head and I really had to work hard to get them out. Even though just a practice swim, I really wanted to test myself and push myself. As I was getting closer to the finish and could see the finish line arch, I took another glance at my watch as I was swimming and it said something around 53 minutes. Ok, maybe this isn't such a bad swim after all! I never found myself swimming alone but once I got within 100 yards or so from the finish, I really picked it up and gave it everything I had. Although I had some low moments during the swim, I really pushed hard at the start, tried to settle into a good strong rhythm and then tried to pick it up at the end. I was so thrilled to see 58 minutes on the clock when I got out of the water. Never have I broke 1-hour in a non-wetsuit swim and I even swam a little faster than what I did at IMWI just a few weeks ago (with a wetsuit). This gave me a lot of confidence that my swim training is working and is translating well from pool to open water. 

I waited at the finish line for Karel and he finished in 1:04. This was one of his best non-wetsuit open water swims, even though he felt a bit tired in his shoulders throughout the swim. 

Selfie with Talbot Cox!!

After enjoying some cold water and fresh fruit at the race finish, we walked back to our condo for another meal before heading to the car with our bike/run gear and heading down the Queen K to start our bike ride. Karel wanted to ride a bit more out of town to bypass all the lights so we drove about 10 miles or so out of town before finding a gravel parking lot before the Scenic Point to park and start our ride from there. Karel had a tough brick session so my goal was to stay on his wheel for the bike and use him for inspiration for my run. I did the same workout as Karel.

Bike:
15 min warm-up
MS: 3 x 15 minutes build to very strong w/ 10 min EZ
Post set: 30 min IM effort

Run:
2 min smooth, 3 min HIM effort
2 min smooth, 3 min stronger than HIM effort
2 min smooth, 3 min even stronger than HIM effort
15 min IM effort

Because of the wind, long hills, rumble strips and cars/trucks on the hwy, I wasn't able to take pictures. I only managed to snap these two pics during our last recovery interval as Karel circled around to get me because I got dropped from his wheel on one of the downhills). 

It was windy and hot. Nothing abnormal for Kona conditions. 

After the run, we cooled off at the car before driving back to town. 

Aside from ice cream, we haven't eaten out at all since arriving to Kona. Karel was craving Poke so called it in at Umekes when we arrived home (~3pm) and walked over to the next street to pick it up so that Karel could rest and cool off in the condo.  Lucky for Karel, he got the last Poke bowl for the evening. 

IMKona '18: 10 & 9 days out

After a surprisingly great night of sleep on Tuesday, we woke up just in time for the sunrise while sitting out on the patio enjoying a pre-workout snack. We wasted no time with our first workout on the island and headed straight to "dig me beach" for a 40-minute open water swim. 

Sadly, the water was a bit more cloudy and there weren't a lot of fish. It was also rather warm. However, it still felt amazing to swim in the ocean with the sun shining down on us. 

Karel and I swam an easy 40 minutes (~20 minutes out and back). We kept it fairly easy throughout but built the effort on the way back. The focus was just to move blood after travel and to have fun in the ocean. 

Even though it's still 10 days out from the 2018 IM World Championship, the swim venue was pretty busy. It was nice to be surrounded with so many triathletes from all different parts of the world. Karel is looking forward to connecting with some of his Czech friends next week. 

As we were walking back to our condo, we spotted a turtle! 

A local walked by and told us that she has a name and it's "Sandy." So now when we see a turtle, we say hi to Sandy.

I was craving a hearty breakfast after a day filled with snacking on Tuesday (travel day) so I made us pancakes (with the help of a box of Kodiak cakes that I bought at Wal-mart), along with scrambled eggs and chopped fresh fruit (banana, papaya, pineapple). 

Karel unpacked our bikes from our Scicon bags and before getting on the bike, we walked to the farmer's market to pick up a few more produce items and then stopped at Daylight mind for fresh bread. 

It was then time to head out to the Queen K (Bike course). We first made a quick stop at Bike Works for Co2s on our way out of town and then made our way North on the Queen K for an hour out and an hour back of easy spinning just to wake-up the body again from all the travel. Although we started our ride just before noon, there were still plenty of cyclists out on the road. There are a few lights/stops for the first 6 miles or so (to the airport) and then it's non-stop riding - just you and the elements. 

It wasn't crazy windy out but it was windy enough to know that you were in Kona. It was also very warm - drinking two bottles was incredibly easy throughout the ride (INFINIT). 

This was the first time that our Ventums traveled to Kona and based on my feedback, the bike rides so well in the wind. As I mentioned in my IMWI race report (it was super windy there), the design of the bike makes it feel like you are slicing through the wind. Of course, I still need to give it the real wind test in Hawi (which I plan to do this weekend) but with the wind that we experienced and the long rolling hills, I felt very controlled, safe and comfortable on my Ventum. I could not be more happy about my decision to switch from my Trek to Ventum just a few months ago. Also, Karel really loves his Ventum. While his back pain isn't 100% gone, it's remarkably improved since switching to the Ventum. 

Here are a few more pics from our ride. 

I lava you Karel! Sorry, I have been wanting to say that :) 

I love my Ventum! This will also likely be my wheel choice for Kona '19 (possibly a deeper rear wheel).

Obligatory bike-lava picture. 

After the ride, we ate a later lunch and then spent the next few hours on the computer getting work done. Karel and I took a short walk in the evening as the sun was setting and finished off the evening by watching a few Talbot Cox videos and Super League triathlon (YouTube) on the ipad before bed. We forced ourselves to stay up as late as possible to help with the jet lag so we made it to about 8:30pm before we were both out. 

Thursday morning....9 hours of sleep! I couldn't believe that we slept until 5:20am! Our daily morning routine back in Greenville is answering emails and spending a little time on Training Peaks before our first workout of the day so we haven't changed the routine, just the view. 

Karel and I both had our typical pre-training snack (Oatmeal for Karel, waffles and yogurt for me) before driving to the Energy Lab for our run. 

With the new changes to the run course, we wanted to check out the new layout in and out of the Energy Lab. It looks like the course may have been changed because there is no longer an entrance to the Energy lab from the Queen K (heading North). The new section means more time on the Queen K and in the Energy lab and less time on Ali'i drive. 

We purposely wanted to start the run early to avoid running in the hot sun and lucky us, we were blessed with a cloudy sky around 8am. It was still warm but for Kona standards, it was not boiling hot. As always, Karel ran with his Naked Running Belt and I had my Nathan Trail Mix Plus belt. We both had two x 10 ounce flasks for the run. I used Clif Hydration in one and Carbo Rocket in the other and Karel had Clif hydration in both of his flasks. 

Karel's run workout was 80-minutes form focused, smooth running. Since I'm not racing, I could suffer a little more so I did my weekly "track" run on the course which was 6 x 1K (.62 miles) w/ 2 minute rest between. I've been doing this workout for the past few weeks and I really enjoy it. I go by feel and run as strong as I can and then review my file when I am finished to see how I did. For this run, I was able to do all 1K's around or under 6:40 min/mile. Karel and I both listened to the latest PPF podcast about conquering Kona. It was a good one and worth listening to. 

Here are a few pics from the run (I took them during my recovery intervals). 

New section in the Energy lab. 

View of the new section in the energy lab from the Queen K. 

Queen K

Back section in the Energy lab. 

After our run, a few pics and a recovery/rehydration drink, we made a quick stop at Wal-mart for a few more items before heading back to our condo. 

We came home to a condo that smelled amazing! Karel's mom made us Vanocka (similar to challah bread) while we were away and I couldn't wait to dig in and have some delicious bread with my breakfast. 

We headed back outside to the patio to refuel before getting back to work on the computer (it's not all play for us here. We still gotta pay for all of Campy's toys!)

Around 1:30pm, I gathered some energy for my swim workout only to find that the pool was closed until 3pm (after I arrived). I grabbed a quick snack and headed to the ocean instead. 

Karel and his mom headed to the beach/swim start for Karel do a casual open water swim while his mom played around in the water and I headed out for an open water workout. 

Holy waves! It was choppy out there! I managed to do a somewhat quality workout but I would have much preferred the pool. My workout was: ~700 warm-up. MS: 3x's: 100 smooth, 100 strong, 100 smooth, 200 strong. I "rested" 10-20 sec between. Rather than swimming out and then back, I used a few buoys as my "course" and swam back and forth along a ~300 yard course. I saw about 5 other people swimming but other than that, it was just me and the fish. 

47 minutes later, I finished up my workout and before getting out of the water, I saw Sandy! She was swimming and I am pretty sure she was smiling. As for the rest of the day, it was pretty low key. The days seem to go by slowly throughout the morning but with an early sunset (~6pm), it's easy to get sleepy for an early bedtime. The island is getting more busy with triathletes and I can feel the energy building as we only have a few more sleeps until race week! As a reminder, I am not racing (only Karel). But as a huge fan of the sport, I am so happy I can be here to enjoy everything on this magical island, along with all of the athletes who are racing. 

Kona '18 - Travel day

Maps not to scale make the Hawaii islands seem so close to California. So deceiving! Well let me tell you, it's not a quick hop over the Pacific ocean. Over the past 11 years (since my first IM Kona in 2007), I've traveled to the Big Island for the IM World Championship a total of 6 times. Four of those times I was an athlete ('07, '11, '13, '15) and now twice as a spectathlete ('16 and '18). While it's a long journey to get to Kona, the first step off the airplane makes it so worth it. There's nothing like seeing the island as the plane is getting closer to landing.  

Our journey to Kona started on Monday afternoon. After a see-you-later to Campy and our cats (they will be well taken care of thanks to my mom and our neighbor Joey), we packed up the car and headed to Atlanta around 3:30pm. With a 9am flight on Tuesday morning and a total of 11ish hours of flying, the thought of leaving our house at 3am on Tues was a bit exhausting and stressful. Since we were leaving our car at the Holiday Inn (Parkway Parking), I booked us a hotel room for the night. It was actually a great deal because we could get 7 nights free parking with a one-night stay at the hotel. Aside from a bit of traffic in Atlanta, the trip was very uneventful to Atlanta. We listed to a few podcasts (loved the recent interviews on Triathlon Taren with Lucy Charles and Cody Beales) to help pass the time by for 2.5 hours (well, 3 hours with traffic). We ate dinner at Moe's (our favorite "fast food" option when we travel) and then checked into the hotel around 7:30pm. It was a quick stay as we got up at 5:20am, ate some food in the hotel at 6am and boarded the complimentary airport shuttle at 6:30am. We arrived to the airport around 6:45am and by 7:30am we were at our gate. Pretty quick for the Atlanta Airport! 

We usually fly Delta but I was able to find very affordable tickets to Kona on United (likely due to the Volcano) and the seat options plus layover options were much better on United versus Delta. We also wanted only one layover to eliminate a lot of plane changes with our bikes, so that is why we decided to leave from Atlanta instead of Greenville. And because Karel's mom is going with us to Kona, I wanted to make sure that this trip was easy for us all but also affordable. 

The first flight to Denver was 3.5 hours. I packed a bagel + PB sandwich for this first flight, along with other snacks (ex. trail mix, pretzels, Amrita bars). I "upgraded" our seats for around $47 each which was well worth it to have the extra leg room (especially for Karel). To pass the time, I watched a movie and skimmed through my book (Essential Sports Nutrition) once again as I am sharing some sneak-peaks for you all on my Facebook page. 

I typically like to give us a layover of 1:45-2 hours when we fly with our bikes so we had time in Denver before heading to Kona, to get some food before our 7.5 hour flight. I found a delicious lunch option of tofu, potatoes, apples, walnuts and goat cheese along with a strawberry whey smoothie. I brought the salad on the plane for later and had the smoothie during our layover. When we travel, I try to eat small meals/snack every few hours as it's easier to acclimate to the new time zone and to help the stomach with digestion (versus eating large meals and then having long hours go by without eating). 

I was very surprised to see that our flight to Kona was nearly half empty! There were so many empty seats. This was a big shock because in the past, the flight has always been filled with people but perhaps with the Volcano, people are choosing not to travel to Kona right now. We did have plenty of triathletes on the plane which was nice to be around so many like-minded people. 

Karel had his own row and extra-leg room up in the front of the plane and his mom and I sat in the middle of the plane (I wasn't able to get us three seats together near the front so I just purchased a seat for Karel so he could stretch out). Karel's mom wrote in her journal throughout the trip and enjoyed looking out the window (we had three seats for two of us so I took the aisle and she took the window). I watched a few movies/TV shows, worked on the computer and took a few short naps (I'm not a very good napper but I tried). 

Although a long flight, it was great to touch down in Kona. The view, smell and feeling of stepping off the plane is priceless and I always look forward to that moment. Karel's mom cried when she got off the plane for she never thought she'd ever travel to an island. Thanks to triathlon, we have been able to share so many of our races with Karel's mom and it's given us an excuse to travel and see the world. 

There's something about the outside airport of Kona that says "welcome, you are on an island." 

Karel picked up the rental car (mini van) and I collected our luggage (yay - everything arrived!) and then we headed off to Wal-mart for groceries and then to the Kona Plaza - our home away from home for the next two weeks. 

Karel and I went for a ~30 min jog along Ali'i drive and it was so nice to move blood and smell the salty air along the ocean. When the sun went down, it got very dark so I used my phone as a light to keep us running safely along the road. We ran just after 6pm - it gets dark early here but the sun rises super early, which makes it easy to get the day started early and to wind down quickly at night. After a light snack, we answered a few emails (work stuff) and then went to sleep around 8:30pm. We were quick to fall asleep and surprisingly, we slept until 3am (forced ourselves to go back to sleep until 5am).

Stay tuned for more of my updates as I will try to blog each day of our daily activities/workouts on the Big Island. 

Is your sunscreen safe and effective?

As the seasons change from hot and steamy to cold and dreary, his means less outdoor workouts or layering/dressing for the conditions. But for a lot of athletes (especially those heading to the Big Island of Kona over the next two weeks), there's still a lot of time left for outdoor training, which means you need to continue to protect your skin. 

Sunscreen is a very important product for overall health. Sunscreen use can help prevent skin cancer by protecting you from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Regardless of age, gender or race, anyone can get skin cancer. Sadly, it's estimated that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. Even if you don't burn easily, wearing sunscreen is still important. Sunburn is an immediate reaction, but sun damage occurs over a lifetime. The following information is from the Environmental Working Group:  "Thus, ingredients in sunscreen should be able to withstand powerful UV radiation without losing their effectiveness or forming potentially harmful breakdown products.  Ingredients should not be irritating or cause skin allergies. In a spray sunscreen, it's possible to potentially inhale ingredients, so ingredients must not be harmful to lungs or internal organs. Further, sunscreens commonly include ingredients that act as “penetration enhancers” and help the product adhere to skin. As a result, many sunscreen chemicals are absorbed into the body and can be measured in blood, breast milk and urine samples. Active ingredients in sunscreens come in two forms, mineral and chemical filters. Each uses a different mechanism for protecting skin and maintaining stability in sunlight. The most common sunscreens on the market contain chemical filters. These products typically include a combination of two to six of the following active ingredients: oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and octinoxate. Mineral sunscreens use zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide. A handful of products combine zinc oxide with chemical filters. Laboratory studies indicate that some chemical UV filters may mimic hormones, and physicians report sunscreen-related skin allergies, which raises important questions about unintended human health consequences from frequent sunscreen application." If you are using a chemical-based sunscreen, there's a good chance that it contains oxybenzone. Oxybenzone is one of the most common chemical filters found in chemical sunscreens because it provides UV coverage. While the primary function of oxybenzone is to absorb UV light, research has shown that it is also absorbed by the skin and stays in the human body for an unknown amount of time. Why should you be concerned about this ingredient? The EWG has rated oxybenzone an 8 on their toxicity rating scale, meaning it is one of the most toxic ingredients found in cosmetic products like sunscreen. The EWG and other toxicology experts are concerned about the compound because it has been linked to hormone disruption and has the potential to damage cells that may lead to skin cancer. Another UV-B filter is octinoxate. It can be absorbed rapidly through skin and has been detected in human urine, blood and breast milk. Octinoxate is an endocrine disruptor that mimics estrogen and can disrupt thyroid function. Octinoxate does not filter from UV-A rays. As it relates to the environment, some states like Hawaii are looking to ban products containing chemicals like oxybenzone and octinoxate because of concerns to coral reefs relating to coral bleaching. Kona athletes - does your sunscreen contain oxybenzone and octinoxate?? To choose a safe sunscreen, here are some top tips:  Stay up-to-date on all things sunscreen by regularly checking out the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and their annual guide to sunscreens.   Make sure your sunscreen protects against both UVA and UVB rays.   SPF 50 or less is recommended. Higher is not better.  People are more likely to use high-SPF products improperly and as a result may expose themselves to more harmful ultraviolet radiation than people relying on products with lower SPF values. Why? SPF factor tells you only how much the sunscreen is blocking the sun’s UVB rays, not the UVA rays. And since UVA rays don’t burn your skin as fast as UVB, you may be staying too long in the sun – without knowing it. So even if you don’t actually notice it on your skin, your skin may be damaged from the UVA rays. Properly applied SPF 50 sunscreen blocks 98 percent of UVB rays; SPF 100 blocks 99 percent. When used correctly, sunscreen with SPF values in the range of 30 to 50 will offer adequate sunburn protection, even for people most sensitive to sunburn.   Avoid harmful chemicals. Read labels and choose companies who are committed to health and safety standards. Ingredients such as Oxybenzone, Octinoxate and Retinyl palminate should be avoided. Sources:  What's wrong with high SPF? Sunscreen report The problem with vitamin A Coral Reef Safe cosmetics - Octinoxate Most of the information in this blog post above was copied from the sources listed above. BeautyCounter   Because of my outdoor active lifestyle, I'm always on the hunt for a sunscreen that protects my skin from the sun and is free from chemicals. While there are products out there that meet my criteria, the biggest struggle is finding one that is tolerable for sweating, isn't sticky and is effective. My friend Katrine, who is a Beautycounter consultant, reached out to me over a year ago regarding the sun protection line of products from Beautycounter. As a long time friend, I trusted her testimonial and asked her if I could try out some of the products. Of course, she did not ask me to promote the products in any way and I received no compensation to write this review. But when I like something, I want to share it with my followers. Since last April, I have been using the following products: Protect Stick Sunscreen Body Protect All over SFP 30 Protect Stick Sunscreen Face For myself, I have not had any issues with these products in terms of sunburn or feeling like I can't sweat with these products on my body. My favorite is the sunscreen face - it feels like a moisturizer on my skin. I also enjoy the refreshing smell and non-greasy feel. Since I have never been fond of cream-based sunscreens for training because it feels like I am sweating through layers of cream, I haven't had issues wearing the sunscreen cream. The nice thing about the stick is that it's easy to carry/bring with you and it makes sunscreen application very easy with no messy hands (which is a good thing when you are about to ride your bike or eat!). I also liked the size of the face stick, which is small and compact - perfect for traveling or keeping in your jersey or pool bag when you need to reapply. If you are interested in trying out any of the Beautycounter sunscreen products, Katrine would like to offer you a discount (below). I get nothing back in return from your order....I am just looking out for your skin safety. Place your order with this link www.beautycounter.com/katrinestrickland and then email your order confirmation to Katrine at katrinebstrickland@gmail.com. She will then immediately reimburse you via mailed check, PayPal or Venmo (which ever you prefer). I do not make any money from your purchase. Just passing along a great deal. You will receive $25 off any order of $75 or greater (not including tax & shipping). You also do not have to purchase the sunscreen to qualify for this discount. Happy shopping! BeautyCounter

Weekly (swim) training recap

I love to swim but there's something so special about swimming in the Kona ocean. While you always see brightly colored fishes swimming happily around you, it's not uncommon to see a pod of dolphins or a cute little dog on a boat, waiting for salty kisses. Oh the things you see in the bright blue waters of Kona.

After IMWI, I was itching to race again. I am actually still wanting to do another race (half Iroman) but my options are limited due to our upcoming travels and other events. Earlier this year, I signed up for my 3rd Hincapie Gran Fondo here in Greenville, SC which will officially conclude my 2018 "racing" season. However, I still have one more event approaching - the 2.4 mile Hoa'la training swim on the Ironman World Championship swim course. While a fun event for everyone who participates, it's still a tough event in the unpredictable ocean, along with a couple hundred other fit and fast athletes.

Because I am not yet ready to stop training (mentally or physically), I am maintaining my fitness with some intense run workouts along with joining Karel for a few of his IM Kona prep rides. I made sure to take good care of myself post IMWI and to be honest, this was the fastest and best that I have recovered from an Ironman. I am looking forward to a deserved off-season in early November (when Karel takes his off-season) but for now, I'm continuing to enjoy training at a much higher intensity than when I was training for the Ironman.

Karel has given me some tough swim workouts this week so I thought I'd share a few of the main sets with you. These are PPF and Tower26-inspired swims. Karel and I typically swim the same workout but lately we have had different workouts.

Total distance this week: 18,100 yards (My typical swim days are M, Tu, Wed, Fri, Sun).

Workout #1: 
MS: (all with 10 sec rest)
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (with buoy), 100 at Ironman (IM) effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 200 at IM effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 300 at IM effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 400 at IM effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 500 at IM effort
100 EZ, 100 fast, 100 EZ (buoy), 600 at IM effort

Workout #2
MS 2x's:
300 strong endurance
30 sec rest
6 x 50's fast w/ 10 sec rest
6 x 25's very fast w/ 10 sec rest
300 pull (buoy/paddles)

Workout #3
MS 3x's:
2 x 50's fast w/ a deck-up after each 50 (quickly get up out of the pool, touch the wall and get back into the water) w/ 10 sec rest
400 build to strong
6 x 50's w/ buoy and paddles w/ 10 sec rest

2019 Trimarni Coaching - APPLY NOW

It's that time of the year again. I can't believe that we are about to jump into the month of October. Where did the summer go? With the majority of triathletes nearing their off-season in the next 4-6 weeks, there's a good chance that you are thinking about your next-season goals and how you can train better, smarter or harder in 2019.

With the end of one season comes the beginning of another season. With that being said, we look forward to continuing to work with our returning Trimarni athletes and welcoming new endurance triathletes to our coaching team. While we have limited availability for accepting new athletes, we look forward to receiving your application.

APPLY HERE
Application will close on October 12th. 

Coach - Athlete Relationship

Your coach plays a significant role in your athletic journey. When I was in High School, I had one swim coach for four years. Then in college, I had another swim coach (one for my Freshman year before transferring to another college where I completed the rest of my education/collegiate swimming). Eight years = three swim coaches. While some athletes may have one coach for an entire athletic journey, the majority of athletes will likely have several coaching relationships throughout an athletic career. Different coaches means different opinions, attitudes, emotions, styles of training and coaching methodologies. Whereas the high school and collegiate athlete may not have a lot of life responsibilities or stressors, a strong coach - athlete relationship is extremely important for the adult athlete, who has a lot more to balance in life than just training and racing.

In today's society, coaching rarely occurs face-to-face unless you are in a squad environment or your coach is local. While your coach may occasionally see you in action, most coaches will monitor you via an online data software program and communicate with you via phone or email.  With internet-based coaching, your athletic success relies greatly on a healthy, trusting and safe relationship with your coach. Disliking the actions of your coach, not trusting your coach, feeling uncomfortable around your coach, not knowing your coach or struggling to effectively communicate with your coach are all signs that your coach is not the right fit for you. 

As an athlete, you likely love to train, you have great time-management and you are probably very motivated and driven. For the coachable athlete, it's assumed that your need of a coach is not to tell you to exercise but to help guide you in a way that will allow you to improve fitness and race readiness while reducing risk for injury, sickness and burnout. 

Although coaches come from different backgrounds, some with more notable credentials and knowledge than others, it's important that you see your coach as an expert and to fully understand his/her coaching philosophy and methodology. The more you know and value your coaches experience, the more trust you will have for your coach.

Trusting your coach is one of the most important components of having a great coach - athlete relationship. Since most coaches do a great job with marketing themselves, most athletes find it easy to know which coach is the "right" fit. However, don't fall victim to fancy websites, glowing testimonials, expensive fees/prices and trendy services as there are many "experts" that have poor coaching skills. Plus, coaching takes time, practice and experience. I look back at my early years and think "I had no idea what I was doing!" But thanks to mentors, years in the sport, ongoing learning and education and experience and always keeping an open mind (while being an active participant in an evolving sport), I've become better at coaching. Anyone can call themselves a coach but coaching an athlete is a lot of work and many times, it has less to do about writing workouts (anyone can be a great workout writer) but more to do about getting to know a person as a human being instead of just focusing on a person as an athlete with goals and a race schedule. 

Because coaching works both ways, there are many athletes who are not coachable.

As an athlete, you have every right to ask questions to your coach. When you don't understand something or you have a concern, you should feel comfortable communicating with your coach. But to go against your coaches guidance means that you are not ready or willing to learn a different or new way of doing things. Coaching is a dialogue - two way communication. But if an athlete is questioning his/her coaches decisions to the point where the athlete is telling the coach how to train him/her, this is not coaching. Because it takes time to get to know an athlete and time to develop an athlete, you need to give your coach time. If you the athlete hire a coach and then feel there's a certain way that you need to train to feel race ready or to reach athletic goals, you don't need a coach. You need to write your own training plan. There are many successful athletes who do not have a coach (maybe a mentor or two) but instead, figure things out along the way on their own. But being resistant to the methods/workouts that your coach feels is best for you is saying that you the athlete know better than your coach.  Typically, this occurs when an athlete feels he/she should be training longer or harder as athletes don't like to be told to do less or to rest.

Athletes who hire coaches do so because they need assistance, guidance or accountability and they recognize their strengths, weaknesses and limiters. A coachable athlete is willing to change. A non-coachable athlete is resistant to change. An athlete who is unwilling to deviate from what they think they need is a red flag that the athlete does not trust his/her coach. Communicating your concerns is good but a good coach should not have to change his/her coaching methods/philosophy in order to please you and to give you what you think you need. If this is the case, you hired the wrong coach. While there are bad coaches out there and sometimes coaching relationship (like in real life) do not work out, there are also a lot of really great coaches that you can choose from, that will give you what you need from a coach. Take your time selecting your coach and then put your trust into your coach so you can put your energy into your training.

APPLY HERE
Application will close on October 12th.

My Book Sneak Peak - Creating Your Food Plan

As I wrote this book on sports nutrition, my goal was to give you scientific and real-world based nutrition advice and strategies to help you optimize your performance. But with every tip, guideline and suggestion, there are no extreme practices or restrictive measures. While it was important to me to provide you with appropriate advice, I also wanted the book to be easy to read and to apply. Many athletes struggle with healthy eating and proper fueling and I feel confident that my book will make it easier to eat, fuel and hydrate as you work hard for your fitness and sport goals.

This book is not a quick-fix book or one with lots of rules and confusing guidelines. Sure, rules take away the guessing for how to eat "right" but these strategies often ignore long-term health and performance consequences. Regardless of your fitness level, sport or dietary choices, my all-inclusive approach in this book will give you practical strategies to enhance sports performance without compromising your health. Because there is no definitive standard prescription for sports nutrition, I hope that this book will help you move closer to creating a personalized daily eating plan as well as giving you knowledge and appreciation for sport nutrition.

Here's a little sneak peek before you receive your copy on October 23^rd.......

In the section Creating your Food Plan, I teach you how to prioritize the important food groups into your meals and snacks. This includes fruits and veggies, lean proteins and muscle and bone building goods, whole grains and energy giving carbs, healthy fats and water and hydrating promoting beverages. And guess what, there’s even room for the "extra’s" that bring enjoyment to your taste buds, add calories and fat to your diet and boost flavors. Within each of these food groups, I provide their role in your active lifestyle, food examples, how to plan your plate based on a percentage so you don’t have to meticulously count every calorie or gram of food and suggested serving size recommendations to ensure that you eat enough. I also give tips for easy meal prepping within each food category. While I want athletes to prioritize real food and to cook at home, all of this information can be applied to eating out and for traveling.

If you haven't placed your order yet, you can place your pre-order HERE. 

IM Chattanooga '18 reflection/interview

Wow. Has it really been a year since Ironman Chattanooga?

As a little recap, my entire 2017 season was dedicated to qualifying and then racing the 2017 IM 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga. However, on race day day morning, just after 4am I found myself on the kitchen floor, with a smashed and bruised face and bloody lip due to fainting soon after getting out of bed. You can read more here. Racing an Ironman in 2017 was not on my season plan as I spent the season focusing on the half Ironman distance. But after my incident at Worlds, I knew that I couldn't finish my season on such a low moment.

Thus, Ironman Chattanooga will go down as one of my most memorable Ironman races, for so many reasons.

First off, Karel and I shared the course with 14 of our Trimarni athletes and we watched every one of them cross the finish line. It was incredibly special to be there with so many Trimarnis (and to even have a few of our athletes attending just to cheer).

Secondly, Karel and I both won our age groups and each qualified for the 2018 Ironman World Championship. Karel accepted his slot whereas I let mine roll down to another deserving female in the 35-39 age group. Because racing Ironman Chattanooga was never on my 2017 racing season plan (more on this in a minute), I wanted to focus on my two Ironman this summer (Ironman Austria and Iroman Wisconsin) and to get more Ironman racing experience before returning back to the Big Island. I recently accepted my slot at Ironman Wisconsin to race my 5th IM Kona in 2019.

Lastly, Ironman Chattanooga was my first ever overall amateur female win. Karel placed second overall male amateur. Talk about a surprise for both of us, especially since I registered for the race just two weeks before the race! Thank you body for being so amazing - from a very low low to an amazingly high high!

To learn more about my Ironman Chattanooga race as well as a few of my thoughts about the course and venue, you can check out this interview that I did with Crew Racing.

Ironman Chattanooga interview with Marni Sumbal

You should also scroll through their other blog posts for additional information on triathlon training and racing, as well as on returning back to sport after injury. Caitlin and Drew have a successful coaching business as both of their careers revolve around athletes.

IM 70.3 Augusta '18 - race report

It seems like every year we are celebrating Karel's birthday at a race venue. I guess September 22nd is a popular time of the year for triathlon racing. This birthday was extra special for Karel as it was the first time in 18 years that his mom could celebrate with Karel. Although we didn't do anything special for his birthday, we did what we love to do - swim/bike/run (well one of us more than the other).

Happy 42nd Birthday Karel! 🎈

Although Karel is getting older, he doesn't seem to be slowing down. While he expects that soon the time will come when PR's will become a thing of the past, I contribute his continued improvements to not changing the winning formula. In other words, ever since Karel started triathlon training and racing in 2012, he's never been one to change his methods. Sure, the training changes and he is constantly evolving based on life, his fitness and health but he's never been one to be on the hunt for the next best thing - training, diet, fueling, supplements, etc. Karel is one who wants to nail the basics and is never looking for quick fixes or extreme methods for marginal gains. He's all about the journey, putting in the work day after day and not spending energy on what other people are doing. He could care less what other athletes are doing (in terms of his competition) as he's very invested into his own development, keeping up with the sport (what's really working for athletes - not what's trendy or popular) and doing what he needs to do to keep himself healthy as he continues to get older. There's nothing special with the way Karel eats, trains or goes about his active and busy lifestyle as it's all pretty basic. Put in the work, fuel smart, eat well, and get good sleep. Oh, and never take yourself or the sport too seriously. It's only a hobby.

Mmmm. Carrot cake muffins from my book.
If you haven't already, you can pre-order my book HERE.

Seeing that this race was a low priority race for Karel, we planned a quick trip to and from Augusta. Karel is gearing up for Kona (his 3rd IM World Championship) in three weeks so this race was part of his training as he did not taper for this race and went into the event with a tired body. After arriving to the Ramada on Broad around 3pm on Friday, we unloaded all of our stuff and then made our way to the Marriott convention center for Karel to get his race packet. With this being my first time to Augusta, I really enjoyed the small town and all of the neat stores and restaurants while walking on Broad street. Campy was loving all of the smells. Nearing 5pm, Karel and I made our way to the river for an open water swim. The water temp was perfect (around 77 degrees) and the current was moving us down the river. Rather than getting out and walking back to where we started, we swam against the current to get ourselves back to the dock. Although a little bit harder this way, I enjoyed it. But then again, anytime I am in the water I am swimming happy. Karel has been swimming very strong lately so I was happy to have him by my side during our ~1000 meter swim.

Rather than waiting for food at a restaurant, we ordered take-out from the Southern Salad and then walked to pick it up. The meal was delicious. Since I brought plenty of food from home, we were stocked with plenty of food for snacking in our room and to minimize eating out at every meal. Having Campy around made the trip much more relaxing as he loves to travel and to check out new sights. He was (mostly) on his best behavior for this trip and he made a lot of triathletes smile. It was also fun having Karel's mom around as every trip is a new adventure for her and she's becoming quite the triathlon fan.

Saturday was pretty uneventful. Karel did his bike warm-up on some of the course - which he said was not the most pleasant as the roads were high in traffic and there were one too many railroad crossings. While Karel was riding, I did an hour run workout on the River Walk. I was really enjoying the opportunity to train in Augusta and check out the venue since we will be racing Augusta as a Trimarni team race in 2019.

This was from The New Moon Cafe on Sunday while spectating. 

After Karel's bike workout, he came back in the room, prepared his bike for check-in and then road his bike to check-in (in his running shoes) and ran back to the hotel (plus a little more) to finish up his pre-race warm-up. The location of T1/T2 was a little over a mile from our hotel. He said he felt pretty good during his bike/run warm-up which was surprising for him since he had been pretty tired earlier in the week from his previous training.

While Karel was checking in his bike and running, I ordered us all lunch from The New Moon Cafe. With the town flooded with triathletes, ordering out meals was much easier than sitting and waiting for food. We were eating lunch in our hotel room by 12:30pm which allowed Karel to rest for the remainder of the day. We also watched some of the recap of Ironman Italy on Ironman Now (Facebook). So that Karel could stay off his feet and stay in the AC (it was very hot out), I attended the athlete briefing at the expo/convention center at 2pm. I actually enjoy listening to the briefing (although many times they are boring) as I feel there can always be updated information worth hearing before the race and I enjoy being around all of the first-timers and feeling their nervous energy. I then relayed the information to Karel (I took notes) on any important information.

We went to sleep around 9pm for an early wake-up at 4:45am.

Race day
I laid in bed with Campy until 5:20am to let Karel use the room to get whatever he needed to get done to get himself race ready. After a few cups of espresso (portable espresso machine), bowl of oatmeal and a Guava pastry, Karel suited up in his race day kit and filled his bottles with nutrition. Around 5:50pm, Karel listed to his music and visualized his race while letting the Normatec boots move blood in his legs before we headed out to walk to the transition around 6:15am. Our athlete/friend Thomas joined us for the walk (along with Campy. Karel's mom stayed back in the hotel room and walked to the swim start by herself around 7:30am) and it was nice to see so many familiar faces. We had over 10 athletes racing! After Karel laid out his gear and pumped up his tires, he handed Thomas his pump to bring back to the room and I grabbed Karel's backpack. Karel went off to do his pre-race jog and we all met back up at the morning clothes bag drop-off area. It was nearing 7:30am when the pros went off and Karel got in line in the 27-minute and under group.

Swim: Karel felt strong on the swim. He felt comfortable in his new Roka swimskin, which was good practice before Kona. Although the downstream current helped, Karel felt like he had good rhythm in the water and could swim very steady but strong. While the sun was in his eyes at times, it was an easy course to stay on course. The main focus for this swim was to test his new swimskin and to find a good rhythm in the water while swimming strong but steady.

Bike: After a quick transition, Karel was off on the bike. Although Karel felt good and didn't have any low moments on the bike (aside from his left hip giving him a little feedback), Karel wasn't a huge fan of this course. While some sections were nice, the railroad tracks and non-technical, flat-road nature of the course did not suit Karel's strengths. This doesn't mean it was a bad or unsafe course, it just wasn't a course that suited his strengths. But that's ok as he wanted to race Augusta and get the most out of it as a solid day of training. He said that he rode a lot of the course by himself as the guys who passed him were riding really strong and because he was near the front of the swim (rolling start), there wasn't a lot of people on the course. He didn't let this get to him as he was happy with how he executed the bike. As he was nearing T2, he was getting more and more excited about getting off the bike and running (his strongest discipline).

Run: It didn't take Karel too long to find his rhythm and to start passing athletes ahead of him. Although the rolling start made it difficult to know exactly who was in front or behind Karel, the Ironman tracker made it much easier to know exactly where Karel was in his age group and overall. The run course was so spectator friendly in that we could see Karel (and the other athletes) almost every 2 miles (or less). It was easy to get from one street to the next and the streets were closed to traffic - even Broad street (the main street in the downtown). This made it a lot of fun to cheer and to keep Karel updated with how he was doing. It was also awesome to see the pros in action. Although this was a low priority race for Karel, this didn't mean that he didn't give his best. Anytime Karel shows up to a race, he is there to race. Tired or fresh, he's there to give his best. The main difference at this race (similar to when he raced Raleigh) was the fact that Karel didn't taper for it so he knew he was going into the race tired. However, Karel seems to race his best in the half distance when he doesn't taper.

It didn't take more than a few miles for Karel to start passing athlete after athlete. Although he was near the front of the age-group for most of the swim and bike, there was still a big gap between him and first place. The course was flat so I wasn't expecting any changes in Karel's pace - once he found his rhythm, he was going to stick with it. I gave Karel information that I felt would help him in the moment, depending on where he was on the course.

Since I knew that the overall places would change a lot as the race went on, as more athletes got on the run course, I focused mostly on his age group and then once he secured his first place spot (around mile 8), I gave him info about his overall ranking just to keep him motivated to continue to give it his best. Karel didn't have any low moments on the run and while it got hot and he pushed it at the end, he welcomed it all as it was perfect training for Kona. He felt controlled throughout the entire run and felt he executed it really well. He was also really thankful to have his hydration belt (which he wears in every training session and race). I never worry about Karel when he races for he's a smart racer and knows how to listen to his body, stay up with his fueling/hydration (thanks to his hydration belt) and adjust. He never gets stuck on times, places or metrics, which I feel is his best weapon as it relates to racing.

Photo: Katja

Video: Thomas

After Karel crossed the finish line, he cooled off with a few bottles of water and then greeted his mom, me and Campy. Our athletes Katja, Thomas and Fiona were also there spectating and it was so much fun to have them around. While Karel walked back to the hotel (just two blocks away) to shower, eat another pastry, drink a Mexican coke and recover with a chocolate recovery drink, I stayed out on the course to cheer for the other Trimarnis. Eventually, Karel came down and we all cheered to ensure that all Trimarnis reached that finish line on a very hot day.

Karel was very proud of his performance. It gave him a lot of confidence in his fitness before Kona, especially since it's been a while since he last raced (end of July). After the awards, we packed up the car and headed back home. Campy was exhausted.

Results:
Swim: 23.58
T1: 2:50
Bike: 2:23.06
T2: 1:56
Run: 1:21.29 (PR, 2nd fastest AG run)
Total: 4:13.17, 5th overall amateur, 1st AG (40-44).

Run paces (according to Karel's Garmin):
6:10
6:06
6:14
6:15
6:17
6:24
6:16
6:20
6:20
6:24
6:31
6:14
5:59

Race Gear:

Swim:
Goggles: MP Xceed mirror lens
Swimskin - Roka viper X short sleeve
Race kit - two piece Trimarni canari kit

Bike:
Ventum One Frame size 51 (custom paint by Kcycle)
Ventum base bar and speed shop 51 FSM aero extensions with Tririg ultra light elbow pads with CeeGees pads
Wheels: Front: Alto CT 86, Rear: Lightweight Autobahn disc.
Cassette:11-25
Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 Di2, crank length 165mm, gearing 54x39, Ceramic Speed oversized pulley system
Powermeter: Garmin vector pedals (not working during race)
BB: CeramicSpeed bottom bracket
Saddle: Dash Stage Custom saddle/post combo
Cages: Gorilla

Hydration: built-in Ventum System
Helmet - Giro air attack
Shoes - DMT triathlon

Run:
Belt: Naked
Shoes: Nike Vapor Fly 4% with Xtenex laces
Sunglasses: Oakley Radar Lock

Nutrition bike:
Infinit (2 bottles worth in hydration system)
1500 Precision hydration (1 bottle between aero bars)
Skratch chews

Nutrition run:
1500 PH (precision hydration, flask)
1000 PH (precision hydration, flask)
2 Enervit cheerpacks (consumed half) in small flask topped with water

(all stored in hydration belt)

Executing a tune-up race

Hello from Augusta! This is my first time in Augusta and the downtown streets are packed with triathletes. I am thinking it's not always this way but this weekend is the 2018 Ironman 70.3 Augusta event and the town is booming with multisport lovers.

To be honest, I really wish I was racing. I bounced back really quickly from IMWI and feeling fit, healthy and strong. While I only have two "fun" races left on my racing calendar, I have a feeling my FOMO from Augusta may lead me to look for one last triathlon race in 2018. We will see if I can find anything for Karel's racing calendar is keeping us busy over the next 7 weeks as he still has a lot of racing left. Speaking of Karel, it's his birthday today!! Today we are celebrating Karel's 42 years of life!

While IM Kona is Karel's big key race of the season in 3 weeks time, and he is then following it up with IMFL 3 weeks after, Karel is racing Augusta 70.3 tomorrow as a tune-up race as part of his Kona training. Racing in the final prep of his IM Kona training is not for the faint of heart as it requires a no-ego and courageous athlete who can keep things in perspective to execute a tune-up race properly just before the Ironman World Championship. Karel is a smart racer and never chases times for validation of his fitness so I know that no matter what happens tomorrow on race day, he's going to be race ready for IM Kona.

Speaking of tune-up races, many athletes will race before a more important race. Often, these tune-up races will occur a few weeks (3-5) or months (1-2) before a goal race. Most of time, athletes will race a shorter distance or the same distance as the big key race.

To execute a tune-up race properly, there are a few important strategies that athletes should apply to ensure that a tune-up race helps and does not sabotage the upcoming big race training or performance.

• Many athletes will use a tune-up race to test current fitness. It is important to recognize that fitness is not linear. In other words, if your goal race is the most important race of the season, don't get too attached to the results or metrics of your tune-up race. You don't need to PR or see improved watts, paces or times to feel "race ready." While a tune-up race can assess how effectively your training is or isn't going, your tune-up race should ultimately help you gain confidence for your more important race. Therefore, if your tune-up race occurs less than 4 weeks before a goal race, the preparations have been done and there's little time to change your training before your more important race. Thus, you need to race with a smart mindset that this tune-up race is seen more as training than as a validation of your fitness or race readiness. If a tune-up race occurs more than 5 weeks out from a goal race, there's more time to adjust training to continue to move in the right direction, if needed. As I mentioned above, don't get too attached to your tune-up race results. Many athletes have had a sub-par performance at a tune-up race only to excel at their upcoming key race because they were able to race smart, bounce back quickly and have trust in the final training preparations, while nailing the taper and nutrition for the upcoming race.
• Although you may not be able to drastically changed your training between two races (the first being your tune-up and the second being your key race), you can change your nutrition (pre-race, race morning and during the race), specifically if you found yourself with a nutrition-related issue in your tune-up race. Reach out to a Board Certified Sport RD, who specializes in your sport, for help. 
• Because every race is different (ex. weather, course, terrain, etc.) there's little benefit in testing paces at your tune-up race to determine what paces you you should hold at your upcoming key race. Instead, check that ego at the door and race by feel. Feel what you want to feel at your more important race, even if that means racing below the intensity that you feel you should be racing at. While it's ok to take some risks with pacing, be mindful of how those efforts will impact your recovery, especially if you need to quickly get back into structured training.
• Tune-up races are great for going through the racing motions and emotions. Never in training can you experience the nerves, anxieties, worries and excitement that you will feel on race day. Tune-up races are perfect for practicing your race day routine (including the days leading up to the race) and what you will do before, during and after the race. This includes waking up early, dialing in your pre-race meal and pre-race warm-ups, racing in/with your race day clothing and equipment, going through pre-race rituals and dealing with racing stressors like traffic, bad weather, delays, waiting in line, feeling rushed, idol time and race-day adrenaline. You can also practice and test race day nutrition in race day conditions.
• Many athletes struggle to pace a race well in race day conditions, despite having great fitness going into a race. This can cause fear, worry and lack of confidence for the upcoming race. Many times, athletes underperform on race due to fear of messing up (or failure) whereas others overperform, blow-up and race below their potential. To develop confidence, be ok with holding yourself back and then building into an effort. Many times, this strategy becomes the perfect race strategy for you to nail your nutrition, pacing and form for a well-executed race. 

Remember, racing is about putting your physical and mental abilities to good use on race day. To do so, you need to master your nerves, expectations, emotions, self-control, ego and self-belief. Many times, this is more mental than physical. Far too many athletes have the fitness to perform well at an important race but fail to understand how to use that fitness properly at a tune-up race. With your big key race in mind, do what you need to do at your tune-up race to gain confidence, familiarity and excitement for your upcoming big goal race.