Evolution – Blog has been moved to www.F9TC.com

When I worked for adidas, the marketing team hated using the word evolution in any product advancement because NIKE previously ran a huge advertising campaign (and successfully) surrounding the word evolution.

Here at F9TC, we are not afraid of NIKE.  Bring it on.  I am evolving the website and blog.  And actually making them one of the same.

I will post all my blogs, articles, tips, race reports and anything else tri-related here:

www.f9tc.com

The evolution to something greater will take some time so please be patient.  AND, feel free to add your own suggestions!

 

 

More races this weekend…

And aside from watching the IM70.3 2007 Clearwater Championsships (that’s a mouthfull), we can also watch IM Arizona and IM South Africa on Ironmanlive.  There will be no Factor 9 athlete’s racing in South Africa 

But, we have 3 in Arizona.  Best of luck to Jen, Garren and Bill!!!  I have a good feeling about this one…

And here is the forecast.  It is going to be hot and dry.  And that is why athlete’s further North do sauna training to get ready for a spring race.  It is tough this time of year to race in the heat when it has not been hot at home.  However, I am sure Bill, Jen and Garren are ready for it since they knew it was a possibility. 

And good luck to all my friends racing including Sara, Chris, Ann and Dave. 

The best 10k

OK, we did a small 10k running race down in Oliver, BC this weekend.  There were a couple hundred people in it.  It started on time.  The course headed straight out of town along a irrigation canal or creek depending how nice you thought it was.  The race started at 10am so the temperature was nice and cool but not cold.  Definetly T-shirt and short weather.  But, by 10am the wind picked up so we had a steady wind and some gusts to battle for the first 4.5km.  The last 3k were on gravel and grass so that slowed us down a bit on the return trip home.

The race went well for me.  I had a solid training week going into the race (including a 2hr hill climb on Wed, track workout on Thursday and a group roadie ride on Saturday) so I was pretty sure I would race well but was not sure how I would hold up this early in the season.

I ended up 38 and change (38:13 I think) which translates into a 6:09 per mile.  I am pretty happy with that in April.  A good benchmark for me is to do 5 x 1mile repeats on the track at 6:00 min pace without digging deep.  With a 6:09 in a 10k, I feel I am very close to being able to do that (perhaps in 3-4 weeks).

Sarah and Jenny had really good run’s as well and we will be using that data to set up their intervals for the next 8 weeks.

I don’t think I mentioned anything about Ironman CA 70.3 which happened on April 5th.  Both Christain and Aleck gave it a go.  They suffered through a miserable winter in Oregon this year and ended up with that nasty flu as a result.  However, they both got back on track and were looking good for this race. 

Sometimes as early races go, things can get messy.  Aleck ran into some nasty GI issues because he ran out of his usual fuel that had worked for him so well in the past.  Christian got a flat that was not repairable and had to wait for support (45minutes).  I felt bad for both of them since they both got in so much work and suffered through many cold and wet training days.  But, I know their time will come.  They are actually both further ahead than I had thought based on their performances. 

IM Australia was this past weekend.  Looks like Chrissie Wellington is definetly the girl to beat this year.  She out duelled Kate Major to win and set a new course record.  She was only 30ish minutes behind the male winner, who is no slouch himself.  So, an impressive performance for both Chrissie and Kate.  Kona is already looking like a great race this year.

In the men’s race, I was pulling for Mitch Anderson to come from behind on the bike.  However, it was Vernay to run a 2:51+ marathon that took the win.  Mitch ended up 2nd.

The best 10?  Sarah and I came home with two bottles of wine (every participant gets a bottle from the local wineries) and I also won a door prize (pair of shoes).  Plus, we finished the race, did a cool down jog, snacked a bit, chatted for a little while and then the awards were done.  It all happened so fast.  I was thoroughly impressed how well organized it was.

 

Spring Camp 08 – Day 3 – Ouch

Day 3 – OUCH

Monday, March 17^th

Prior to the ride, I hit the pool for an easy 3000m.  Nothing special, lots of longer sets. 

Today was a “Get R Done” ride.  Camps are a funny thing.  You do considerably more training than you could sustain week in and week out.  As a result, you crash hard at night and barely get yourself out of bed the next morning.  But, once you jump on the bike, it feels pretty good.  It feels good to ride again.  Not every day feels good, but, it amazes me how you can feel so shitty but once you start pedaling, the legs can actually produce some good power.

This day was the coldest of the entire camp.  Within four hours we wanted to hit a lot of hills so we headed to Summerland.  The ride starts out along the massive Lake Okanagan on a fairly busy 4 lane highway that has a big shoulder.  After 25 minutes, you dip down into some quieter residential streets and pass a lot of lakefront or lakeview houses. 

We then headed up towards the center of Summerland (and up it goes), the first hill is pretty steep.  Then out on the highway to Princeton.  This is actually part of the Ultraman Triathlon Marathon course.  I personally think whoever designed that course is very sadistic!  The ultramarathon is very hilly!  I can’t imagine how sore people’s legs get going done hill after hill after hill on that course.  Brutal.

Just outside summerland there is a nice climb that weaves it’s way to the Camp Boyle turn off.  From there, it flattens out and you get a really quiet road that goes by some acreages and farms till you reach Camp Boyle.  Once you turn around, you can take advantage of the gradual and steep downhills all the way back to Summerland.  However, since we wanted to do a 4hr ride, we decided to take a right turn on the Princeton Hwy instead of going left immediately.  This was a great little climb that finally took us out into the wildnerness where there were no more farms or houses.  Unfortunately, by the time you reach the first peak, the road turns to gravel.  I can not wait for the day when the pave that entire highway.

Now, it was all downhill back to Summerland and then we cruised along the lake to Penticton.  My legs were fried when we got back to town.

Some food, a little break and then it was off for a 70min run in the hills.  I felt quite good and was very pleased to run so well on Day 3. 

Here are the spec’s on the ride:

Entire workout (126 watts):

                Duration:             3:37:10 (3:55:54)

                Work:                    1638 kJ

                TSS:       149.6 (intensity factor 0.643)

                Norm Power:     167

                VI:          1.33

                Pw:HR:                 n/a

                Pa:HR:                   n/a

                Distance:             92.947 km

                Elevation Gain:                  1033 m

                Elevation Loss:                  1036 m

                Grade:                  -0.0 %  (-3 m)

  

And here is the route:

Camp Boyle Loop

Spring Camp – Day 2 – Ode to Craig

While I was writing this summary, I just came across this article on xtri:

Craig Walton Retires

Craig was one athlete I always looked up to.  He won his races by swimming and riding HARD and then holding on in the run.  I will miss watching him.  Maybe after Beijing he will come back and do some racing?

 Back to the camp…

Day 2

Sunday, March 16^th

Jenny, looking back, said Day 2 was her toughest day.  No doubt, we just did our longest ride in months just the day before and we were going longer today.  Nothing crazy, but a 5hr ride nonetheless.  Our bodies were used to going for a run on a day like today (you know, the usual routine, bike long on Saturday, run long on Sunday).  So, today definitely took some mind over matter.

Jenny soon realized and we did too, that it was also about EATING!  She simply did not each very much on Day 1’s ride and had trouble making it up that night.  As a result, her tank was a little empty all day today.  You can get away with it for one day, but when you do consecutive days of volume training, one must EAT!  Plus, we are getting used to volume again so our glycogen stores have probably shrunk over the winter months and not where they were last summer.

We all made sure we started taking more food with us.  Here were some of the favourite foods for riding:

Scott

PB and Nutella on Multigrain bread.

Chocolate Bars (Eat-more or O’Henry’s – part of the reason I moved back to Canada).

1 Power bar all week.

PB and Honey on White Bagels.

Iced Tea

Chocolate Milk

Sarah’s Favorite

Homemade micro-waved potato’s with salt.

Jenny’s Favorite

Tortilla’s rolled around nutella and almond spread (I think).

Looks like I am the pig.  I guess i did not take good enough notes on what the girls were eating…next time I will keep a closer eye.  We all supplemented these solids with our infinit drinks (and I took some concentrated bottles of hot chocolate mix which was not hot at all but so-so good).

Without a sag wagon, every morning was a test to see how much stuff we could fit in our jersey pockets.  I always took a couple of sandwiches with me (see above) and 3 bottles (2 infinit, 1 Hot choc concentrate) of which 1 had to go in my jersey pocket and two on the bike.  That usually was not enough for the 4-6 hour rides.  So, I would supplement with the chocolate bars and drinks at a convenience store.

We headed out along a similar route as yesterday but we added more climbing this time.  It was a really solid day.  I think doing a lot of climbing in the second half of the ride took our minds off of the pain.  This route is not particularly steep but it is a long gradual climb from Oliver up to Yellow Lake.  We stopped at twin lakes where the store had been renovated.  Nice work – they have addeda  lot of goodies (deli, pizza etc…) in that store and it just happens to be the store I frequent the most out here.  500ml of Chocolate milk and I was ready to rip!  That did not last too long, I was bagged by the time we got over Green mountain and ready to hit the couch by the time we descended into Penticton.

After some couch moments.  I got up and did the 40minute run.  It actually felt surprisingly good.  Maybe I am not in such bad shape afterall?  There is hope for me!  The girls did really well, never too far behind me on the climbs.   I could tell Jenny was struggling and starting to second guess herself and her ability to do a big week.  Stay tuned…

Here is the route:

Roughrider Mtn Loop
Find more Bike Rides in Penticton, British Columbia

Spring Camp – Day 1 – Going Solo

Prelude

I set up this Spring Camp as a base training camp.  Most of us in the PNW are coming out of the off season and have done some sort of base training.  I set up our training programs so that we could handle a large volume camp without getting exhausted or injured.  The big 5 objectives of this camp were to:

1.       Mentally get used to high mileage again (it has been awhile).

2.       Shock the system with a volume overload.

3.       Thoroughly embed our bodies with endurance and steady training.

4.       Improve our leg strength and muscular endurance with sufficient hill work.

5.       Emphasize bike training and maintain swim/run work.

Why now?  This is why…After the camp, we will do a very easy 7 days of training.  Then we will go into a period of higher intensity work.  With our aerobic systems well intact, we can afford to do plenty of high intensity training without worries of over-reaching.  This sets us up for some shorter course racing in the early part of the season and gives us lots of power going into our Ironman builds.  Over the years, this has been my favourite format for training and racing.

Here is how the camp went down…

Day 1

Saturday, March 15th

Camper 1 – Jenny Ayers – “Suck me dry and call me dusty”.  Jenny knows what it mean to harden up when training.  She was born from a British bloodline in the throws of Kenya and moved by parents across the world to the crossroads of Canada in Winterpeg.  In Manitoba she was one their best female triathlete’s.  A few years ago she moved to Penticton with her man, Brian.  She has competed in two Ironman’s and did quite well but had a few disappointments.  This season she is bound and determined to nail it.  That plan started in January and this camp was the first big step towards meeting her goals.  She has never done a big week and was in “shock and awe” when she saw the plan.

Camper 2 – Sarah McMillan – “Suck it up Princess”.  Previously known as Princess, Ms. Sarah has come a long way in recent years and is now telling others to HTFU or to suck it up.  Born to the South in LALA land she was watered regularly in Portland for 20 years.  She then migrated North in 2007 with her Canadian husband.  Sarah has done 10 Ironman’s with, unlike her husband, zero DNF’s.  Known to ride like a girl on occasion, she rode like a woman in IM Arizona 2006.  Fast enough to gain her a Kona Sport in the IM Hawaii 2007 World Championships. 

Camper 3 – Scott McMillan – best known as husband/coach of Sarah McMillan and coach of Jenny Ayers.  Not much to say here.     

All 3 of us had a very easy week going into the camp so we were ready to rock n’roll on Saturday.  I had some unfinished business Sat morning with a client (actually a bike fit) so I had to ride solo for my first day of camp.  Sarah and Jenny rode to Oliver and back.  I took a little hillier route.

I rode from Penticton, down East Skaha road, through OK Falls.  At Oliver, I climbed up to Fairview and Whitelake road then turned right down Green Lake road.  That took me down “the wall” and back into OK Falls from which I cruised home.  I felt quite good this day.  I actually rode more steady than I wanted to.  I knew I had 8 solid days of training to go and was trying to tell myself to hold back. 

I seem to have these “hold back” issues when I train alone.  When I used to downhill ski (over 7 years ago), I noticed I got a lot more tired when I skied alone.  There was a big difference when I had no constraints (i.e. other people to wait for).  For no obvious reason to stop, my mind simply thought it was ok to keep going, never-mind the fatigue.  On occasion the same thing happens when riding.  If I go solo, I usually work a lot harder.  I tune out and just ride.  This is great if I can back it up the next day, but, not so great, if I dig a hole early on in the week.  “It is ok to ride slow when riding alone” is what I have to tell myself.

All in all, a very productive day on the bike.  Day 1 was a 4 hour ride, which is my longest ride since Dec 22^nd.  I have had plenty of solid 3 hr sessions.  But, nothing like starting a week with a ride one hour longer than normal and having to back it up with a 5 hour ride the next day, knowing there is another 4 hour ride to do on Day 3.  This is why I do camps!

I took an hour to chill out after the ride and to get some fluids back in me.  Then I headed off for the 40min run.  It went well – nothing special to report.

zStats (from my Ergomo Power Meter)

Entire workout (149 watts):

                Duration:             4:13:10 (4:30:59)

                Work:                    2260 kJ

                TSS:       193.7 (intensity factor 0.678)

                Norm Power:     176

                VI:          1.18

                Distance:             122.497 km

                Elevation Gain:                  1058 m

                Elevation Loss:                  1063 m

                                                Min        Max       Avg

                Power:                0              329         149         watts

                Heart Rate:        0              156         121         bpm

                Cadence:           29             107         80           rpm

                Speed:                0              56.9        29.0        kph

                Crank Torque:    0              61           18.6        N-m

                Temperature:     8              20           13.8        Celsius

 

And here is the bike route…

Big BASE Spring Camp

I am overdo for a blog post this week.  Things are going well.  3 of us have been doing a big week camp.  Myself, Jenny and Sarah.  This is Jenny’s first go at a big camp and she is doing really well.

But, that is to be expected.  She has been a very strong triathlete for a number of years.  In recent years she has been working at doing well at IMC.  She has tremendous love for the sport and is very competitive.  However, a few things have been holding her back and that is really what we are working on this season to fix.  Number one problem seems to be her stomach.  Her stomach is even more sensitive than mine.

That is one of the great aspects of doing a big week.  You train over and over so you have no choice but to find food/drinks that work for you.  No, it is not the same as race day.  Not even close (in the future, we will do race simulations using exactly what she will use on race day and tweak the formula as needed).  But, in the big week, you start to open up new worlds.  Things you may not have done in training before, you discover new tricks and we each learn from one another.

It has been a lot of fun training with Sarah and Jenny this last week.  To give you an idea, we have ridden 24 hours in the last 7 days.  Yesterday was a doozy that included 3 tough climbs within 3 hours plus a 75 minute run later in the day.  I am feeling that today.  Kinda feel like I have hangover.  My body is really holding up well though.  I am not nearly as sore this camp compared to previous one’s. 

For those of you wondering about Canadian weather in March.  We nailed it!  It has been mostly sunny with the odd cloudy day.  There have been some cloud showers in the area but we have yet to be rained on.  Temps usually start around 3-5 degree’s C and finish around 10 C (HOT!).  So, it has been no problem at all and there have been no complaints about been too cold.

There are two days to go (Saturday and Sunday).  We are attempting the IMC bike course (probably without the out and back depending on the wind) Saturday and then will do a longer run on Sunday.  Then it is back to the real world next week. 

Put it on your calendar next year!  This is a great time of year to lay down some big base miles. 

>Scott

Weekend Homework

Through some conversations and through some solo surfing I came across these interesting items that I think you will find interesting as well:

First a chat I found on Joel’s blog with Jordan Rapp (I beleive top 5 finisher at IMC last year in his first IM).  Great conversation about IM pacing with a power meter and good philosophy on how a fast IM’er (9hr guy) could approach their training.  Good stuff.  The only thing I would argue with is that one should target closer to 75% of their FT in an IM, 78% if they feel great and want to bike strong. It all goes to show that even at an elite level, pacing the bike leg is so important.

Interesting tidbit on what is in energy bars – note the section on maltodextrin which I beleive is a key component to fueling in triathlons (see some of my earlier posts on infinit and carbo pro):

http://www.philkaplan.com/thefitnesstruth/update_7_07_03.htm

And I leave you with this article on finding a good triathlon position.  I use the same software and procedure as the gent in the article uses.  It is one of the best ways to measure angles while a person is actually riding, make changes and then measure again.  In fact, I am doing a bike fit tomorrow which I thoroughly enjoy since I get to use my background in biomechanics.  The degree is not just a piece of paper after all. 

UBC was a blast!

UBC was a BLAST

Had a great time racing on Sunday.  It was so nice to clean out the winter cob webs.  The race went quite well and honestly better than expected.  I ended up 5^th and Sarah won the event for the females. 

If you look up the times: UBC Oly Results.  You will notice Jeff beat the rest of us by over 10 minutes.  There is a mistake in that time.  He was maybe a minute or two ahead of me off the bike and unless he really did run a 27min 10k split, there is no chance that time is correct.  Note that a 27min 10k off the bike would handily win a gold medal in Beijing in August.  Jeff is super fast and I am not a fast runner, however, he should have ran closer to a 30-32min 10k.

The pool swim was a nice change.  We started 10seconds apart.  Unfortunately for me the guys ahead of me pulled away (3 of them) so I did not bridge up to draft.  About ¾ of the way through, the swimmer behind me caught up and I let him by.  So, I got a draft for the last ¼.  It was a 8 lane, 50m pool.  So we swam down and back in each lane and then under the lane rope to the next lane.  After 8 lanes, we got out, walked down to the 2^nd lane and did 7 more laps.  So, the total was 1500m.  It was a great way to do the swim and I would recommend it for all indoor triathlons (which a lot of sprint tri’s are in the PNW). 

That was the first time trial for me since Ironman Canada and I started to feel it at the end.  I was in good form though and well rested.  My heart rate and breathing were quite low for the effort I was putting in.

It was a long transition to the bikes.  A walk around the pool. 

And then a run out to the bikes.  It was a chilly 6 degree’s so I put on a jacket and gloves so that took some more time.  I headed out on the bike in 5^th.  I rode well.  Again, my breathing and heart rates were low but I could feel it in my legs.   I held back the first 15 minutes and then tried to ride the hardest pace I could hold for the next 45 minutes.  It was a 4 lap circuit which was fun.  I could see the competition and how well I was closing the cap.  By lap 3, I was in 2^nd place.  I tried to gain on Jeff but I don’t think I did the final lap.  It was rolling course.  No climbs but one steady hill that we did 4X.  The rest rolled.  Not a super fast course (especially with 3 hairpin turns per lap so 12 in total).  But the course was also short according to my bike speedometer so I think that evened things out.

I rode around 59min for the course which is good for me this time of year.  I don’t have the official timing split since they are still sorting it all out (note: the splits have now been posted since I wrote this blog, I beleive the bike time includes T1 and T2 but I am not sure).  Power wise, my NP = 260W which is dead on my 1hr Threshold power estimate for training.  My AP = 254W.  So, I have no need to modify my training zones based on this race.  Obviously in a one hour cycling TT (FT power test) I could give a little more but I find it is best to err on the side of being conservative with threshold estimates.

Unfortunately, the run was not as smooth as the swim and bike.  My quads did not want to flex/extend when I started to run.  They seriously felt like bricks!  I guess the winter training did not prepare me for that.  It took a good two miles before I could hit a half decent pace but even then my HR remained in the 160s.  Usually I can run in the mid to high 170s in an Oly.  All in all though, I think I will be happy with my run split when they figure it out (note: as mentioned above, the run splits are up, I ran 39:27 which is not as good as I thought, got some running work to do…).

I felt pretty good at the end with lots left in the tank.  My quads were trashed and are still sore today (2 days later).  The race was great for my motivation and confidence.  The next race is Bare Bones Duathlon here in town (5k-20k-5k).  It will be my first du so I’d better work on that hard running.  But, my plan remains focused on a good performance at the Oliver Half Ironman (June 1^st).  11.5 weeks away.  A little rest this week then some easy volume and then we get dirty with lots of tempo(HIM) and threshold work.

On a side note.  The Penticton Peach City Runner crew did really well.  It was fun to see all 3 of us on the run in 1,2^nd and 3^rd.  Too bad I could not hold onto 3^rd though to make it a Penticton sweep.  And congrats to Steve Brown from Peach City Runner’s for coming up with the great looking kits for us to race in.

And, and, and a special thanks to our pal Mark Shorter for showing us around town, providing great conversation and giving us a place to stay.  

 

Racing UBC March 9, 2008

It is almost time!  The world famous UBC Triathlon is upon us, March 9th.  Ok, maybe not so famous.  It will be a wake-up call for sure.  I just started riding outdoors last week.  I had an average winter on the trainer.  Some good workouts, some not so good.  After training outdoors for the last 7 years, it was quite the change to be riding almost every session indoors.  Luckily I had my mountain bike to take out on days when it got above freezing. 

So, I have no expectations going into the race.  Just looking for a solid swim, hard bike effort and a steady run.  And, to have some fun.

Did you end up following IM NZ last Friday?  It was great to follow.  The men’s race was fun to watch until Cam Brown ran by and smoked everyone by 10+ minutes.  The women’s race was far more exciting.  Kate B. ran down Joanna Lawn on the marathon.  It looked like she would go by here and put time into Lawn.  She went by here, but, Lawn came back at her and then made a surge on an uphill to drop Kate.  She broke her then and even put time back into Kate.  Exciting stuff.  True grit and a never say die attitude!

Here are my candid pre-race tips:

1.  Get your sh!t together days before the race.  Make sure you have everything and pre-pack it so you are good to go.

2.  Check your tires.  If it is an important race or an expensive race then I would make sure the tires look new or are new.

3.  Get your head on straight.  Take care of stress so you can relax.  Don’t ignore it, deal with it and move on.  Be as proactive as you can be without going nutz.

4.  Start visualizing how you will feel during the race.  Feel the hard effort, feel yourself pushing hard, feel confident and picture yourself achieving your goal.

5.  Keep it all in check.  There is more to life than this one race.  Do your “due diligence” and then enjoy the rest of the time with family and friends.

6.  UBC specific tip – do a sunshine dance, otherwise it could be very cold! (BTW – it is a pool swim for those who think racing in Vancouver in March is crazy.)

Later,

Scott