IMC race report

Friends,

I apologize for my delay on a race report, but I had to get 1400 miles of driving out of the way after finishing Ironman Canada on Sunday. I was glad I took the land route this time around, but I think I will opt for a flight to southern BC should I race therea gain.

Race Morning.

I lined up right behind my good friend Gordo at the start of the swim as I had hoped he would have a feel for where the best pack of swimmers (for us) would be once we got rolling. Unfortunately I lost him shortly after the cannon went off and it was largley in part to my left goggle eye filling with water and limiting my sight. Oh well.

After a few minutess I found myself swimming just behind a pack of five or six athletes (with a train of my own behind me). I bridged up to the back of that pack and we all stayed together for the final 3000+meters to shore. The group was fairly controlled and the pace only picked up when the camera crew came alongside of us. Its all about looking good for the camera.

The group hit the shore a little over 57 minutes which definitely surprised me, but I was less worried about swim PRs given the company I came out with. A quick transition (my fastet T1 yet in an IM) and I was rolling. My general plan was to float the first 40 miles to the base of Richter Pass before opening it up a bit. I kept things under control to the base of the pass and even had a couple athletes sitting 10-20 meters behind me to keep me honest. Once we hit the pass I opened it up and by the second step of the climb I had dropped anyone that had gone with me from the start.

After descending I found myself dealing with a good bit of wind and the rollers were turning into mini climbs given the speed I was forced to ride. Nevertheless I felt good and once I got through the rollers I kept my heart rate hovering under 160 in the flats and the out-and-back. I continued to push to the base of Yellow Lake and the fantastic amount of spectators along the YL climb carried me to the summit. From there you get a net downhill to the finish which is quite welcome although the headwind was not.

Another (somewhat) quick transition and I was out onto the run. Serge Meyer (SUI) and I started the run together and after a couple miles it was clear that we were not going to split up. My brother told me that I was 5 minutes from 8th and 6 minutes from 5th at the startof the run so I was hoping that Team Serge/JD could work together to run ourselves into the money.

We ran nicely to the turnaround in OK Falls and got a look at the competition up the road. It was at this point that Serge and I actually spoke to one another.We basically concluded that money spots were possible, but we would have to make sure that the pace did not fall off. The return was a bit more difficult. We had to deal with a headwind on the way back, but the second half of the marathon in an Ironman is just plain hard so that was likely the primary issue.

Sadly, I fell off pace around mile 19 and simply did my best to hold everything together to the finish. Places 6-11 (I was 11th) were within five minutes of one another so it certainly was a frustrating finish. I did manage a new run PR of 3:02:xx and continued my streak of setting new marathon PRs in every Ironman I have raced to date (six total now).

I can say that I took a lot away from this race. Racing professionally at the Ironman distance takes both fitness and tactics into account. Making the right moves at the right time can be the difference between success and obscurity. I am learning what it is going to take to fulfill my goals in the future.

Thanks to my family, friends, sponsors, and my Canadian homestay (Scott and Sarah McMillan; www.f9tc.com) for all the support you have given me this year (and beyond). I will send another update shortly about upcoming races.

Cheers,

Justin

www.justindaerr.com

www.eas.com
www.trainingbible.com
www.javbike.com
www.descenteathletic.com
www.fuelbelt.com

Canada

Howdy folks.

I made it up to the Northern Country earlier this week and I've been settling into my temporary home in Penticton. I have had the good fortune to have a place to stay with Scott and Sarah McMillan (www.f9tc.com); both of them will be racing next Sunday as well.

The remainder of my trip was quite uneventful except for a little interrogation at the Canadian border. My Texas License plate and my Colorado residence didn't seem to sit well with them. (I currently live in Boulder, but for the last 3 years I have had a rotating residence so I kept everything registered at my brother's place in Texas). The friendly border folks eventually got over my shadiness and let me enter the country. I have not had the pleasure of seeing very much of the country, but what I have seen is great.

I have had the oppurtunity to check out all sections of the course (S,B and R) during my training sessions. This was the exact reason that I decided to travel to Penticton so early. Its one thing to drive the course or see the course, but actually feeling it on the bike can be a totally different scenario. You get a much better mental makeup of the course when you have felt it; as opposed to having just seen it.

I'll check back in a couple more times this week. Keep thinking positive thoughts for Team Good Guys and me. The rest of the clan arrives today.

cheers,

j

Thoughts

As I was leaving Billings yesterday I noticed there was a notepad with "Thoughts" written at the top. Apparently this motel provides everyone with some pen and paper to keep tracks of their thoughts.

Well I decided to take this pen and paper with me on my drive to Spokane, Washington to record my own thoughts. Without thorough explanations; this is what I wrote:

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Billings, MO is pretty industrial.

Every part of Montana is either on fire, has been on fire, or could be on fire if someone sneezed wrong.

I bet this drive would be much prettier if visiblity wasn't reduced because of the smoke.

Religion (Christianity) is clearly very important to the people of Montana.

I need to start fly fishing.

There are a lot of really big trucks in Montana. Even more so than Texas.

I wonder how many bugs are on my bike.

Bozeman doesn't seem that cool.

I cannot believe that Mike Schoenfeld lived in Bozeman for a year.

Missoula seems like a place I should check out some time.

But maybe when it isn't actually on fire.

Sort of ironic that there is a forest fire just above the exit sign for a firejumping training facility.

I'm not much for Harry Potter.

Lake CdA is quite pretty. A bit busy, but still quite nice.

There are a lot of ads on the radio about Meth Abuse.

There seem to be a lot of "Taco Time" 'restaurants' here.

I bet Taco Cabana is better. It always is.

I could go for a quesadilla from Taco C, but it isn't 4:00 a.m. so it just wouldn't feel right.

I need to go to Sturgis.

A lot of really big people ride motorcycles.

Spokane is cooler than I thought it would be.

There are espresso shacks everywhere in Spokane.

I'm tired.

Damn there are a lot of bugs on my bike.

Marilyn's bike is much lighter than mine.

My front race wheel is lighter than Marilyn's. OHHHHH snap.

When my car has all of M and I's gear in it the resale value doubles.

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From this morning

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I'm tired.

The coffee here is terrible.

There are ads on TV here about Meth Abuse. I'm sensing a trend.

USA today wrote that the 20s are the new teen years; As it relates to self destruction. Breakthrough stuff there.

The breakfast buffet here is lame.

I wonder if they throw out the unused boiled eggs at the end of the day.

I doubt it. This one tastes a week old.

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-justin

Wide Open spaces

I cruised from Boulder to Billings, Montana yesterday. Its not the most eventful drive, but the endless view of 'nothing' calms my soul a bit. When I first started riding my bike extensively outside of College Station, Tx I often found myself in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

But when riding through nowhere I would be focused on the task at hand so it was just as noisy as the city I left. I guarantee that a flat tire or two helped give me a clearer view of the world around me at the time. Flat tires are a drag, but once the wind stopped filling my ears I got a clear understanding of how calm and peaceful my surroundings were. And all of a sudden everyone in the world would seem to be lost except me.

When I was driving through Northern Wyoming yesterday I pulled over to the side of the road the get something out of my trunk. At that moment there was not a car for miles in either direction (on an Interstate!) and got to hear my favorite sound: nothing.

I seem to seek out those quiet spots quite often. Its as if I seek a place of being untouchable. No internet, no cell phones, no tv, no one talking, no one driving, etc. All that's left is me (and often times my bike, but it doesn't talk).

Now for a run and then a drive to Spokane, WA.

-justin

two weeks left

I got a note from a buddy to get going on the blog,but I have had a hard time quieting myself over the last two weeks. Its pretty difficult for me to write anything when I cannot even keep a straight face for two minutes. I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't make it through one sentence with my buddies without cracking some joke or making some comment to
get a rise out of everyone.

I personally see this as a sign of genuine friendship with the folks that I have trained alongside with this year. The greatest friendships I have ever known have always involved an incredible amount of laughter and its wonderful to see that these friendships are obviously no different.

Ironman Canada is two weeks away now. I started the year without any intentions of doing this race, but I changed my race plans after traveling to Sweden in June to say good bye to my Grandfather. Despite the circumstances for the choice; I could not be happier that I found myself gunning for this one.

Why?

I suppose the dynamics of this choice had many indirect effects on my life that have turned out for the best. Its always a fulfilling moment when you realize that the lead up to a race is what will be remembered when its all said and done. I suppose the finishing time might fill some memory space as well, but it certainly won't be the justification for this year.

My friends will be.

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My summer training has essentially come to an end and tomorrow I will be heading out to Penticton, Canada for two weeks. I'll be spreading the trip (in the car!) over three days to keep the travel stress low (and to not neglect some training). Heading out there early will give me the oppurtunity to really understand the course by riding it in pieces over the next couple weeks.

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I'll give you all a new heads up when I get to Penticton on Wednesday. Health is good. Fitness is
good. My head is good. I'm looking forward to racing long again.

cheers,

j

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Television, racing, and 14,200 feet of fun

If you're a Colorado local then you might have turned on Channel Nine news at noon on Friday and decided that I am a damn liar.

I didn't appear on live news like it was originally planned. There was a major explosion in the Denver area and that took precedent over me. I did do a taped interview with Channel Nine and Channel Seven which were both aired at some point over the weekend (though I'm not sure when).

I also did three radio interviews (two local; one national) on Friday. I was scheduled to do an additional interview on Sirius, but I was bumped by Michael Vick which was one of the more surreal moments of my day (and life).

The entire day was a completely new experience and I was pretty wiped out by the end of it, but I was really psyched that I had the oppurtunity to do more than race for one of my sponsors.

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I also raced the EAS Boulder Peak triathlon this weekend. Good times

I always have a bit of anxiety with these high profile short course races, but a couple of my long course amigos were racing alongside me so that gave me a little more to work with.

The water was above 72 so the elites were racing without wetsuits and I have ZERO issues with that since marginally warms waters have a tendency to blow me up like no other.

We had a pretty big elite field with almost 35 guys. Given the caliber of athleticism in Boulder this was going to be a fast and hard race. I was sure that the swim would include an aggressive start so I was merely hoping to get towed out for 2-400 meters where I had hopes of finding a group to swim tempo with.

The race director gave the final warning at 30 seconds and all I remember from that moment to the firing of the gun was the silence. Everyone: the spectators, the athletes... ...it was like a golf tournament. Pretty cool actually.

The race kicked off like I thought, but I found myself gapped from the two main groups ahead of me. I actually moved ahead of the guys around me and solo TTed for nearly 1000 meters to the swim finish. I came out about 4 minutes from the lead guys, but about 60+ seconds from the second pack. I'm going to need to get my swim starts down as I likely wasted time and energy missing that train.

Nevertheless, I was off onto the 42K bike course. I felt nice and smooth and fortunately I was not dealing with a 190+ heart rate that I often see after T1 in short course races. I paced myself nicely to the base of Olde Stage and summitted the climb within my comfort zone. The rest of the ride was uneventful and I hopped off the bike with hopes of running down a few people on the three loop circuit.

Well that did not happen; at least not by will anyways. I did manage to run a few people down, but that was only a result of the fact that their meltdowns were even great than mine. It was around 100 degrees (our race started at 9:00 after the AG race) on an exposed, windless and dusty run course. No matter what I tried I just couldn't pick the pace up. I was totally tapped out as I saw an immensely elevated heart rate, but without the pace to match it. So I just stayed relaxed and finished the day as best I could. I ended up around 20th in the professional race which was fine by me on the day.

So 2:07 and the 20th place is ground zero for the years to come. I'm hoping to make this race a staple over the years as long as Boulder is a place I call home. Plenty of room to grow there!

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Yesterday I finally did a ride I had hoped to do for over two years now. I rode to the top of Mount Evans (14,200 feet) via the highest paved road in North America. However, in hopes of making the ride truly epic we made sure to ride eight hours and climb over 12,500 feet along the way.

Chris McDonald (www.trimacca.com) , Marilyn MacDonald (www.marilynmacdonald) and I rolled from their summer home in Nederland around 7:00 yesterday morning and made our way up a long, long, long climb. I have never been above 13,000 feet on foot (or bike) so I was really looking forward to getting to the top.

All three of us stayed together the entire day with the exception of a few miles and we all walked away with a new experience at day's end.

Around 10,000 feet (when the air was getting quite thin) Chris commented that he felt ( and I agreed) that very few of the professional triathletes living and training in BoCO would (or have done) the ride we were currently doing.

I responded: "Dude, most people haven't even ridden up Sunshine Canyon, let alone Mt Evans."

Training works best with routine, but the willingness to train can be fueled by adventure. Don't let pace and power compromise your need to have fun fromt time to time. I might not be able to justify the physiological gains from a ride like that, but it will be one of the few days I will remember when this is all said and done.

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The Ironman Canada preps are continuing to go well.

All the best,

Justin

News broadcast today

Sorry I could not post this earlier, but......

I will be appearing on Channel Nine (Denver, CO) during the 12:00-12:30 newscast today, Friday July 20th.

-Justin

Three Years to improve

A friend of mine sent me an email a few days ago.

In this email he asked as to whether or not I thought it was possible to make enough improvement over the course of three years to qualify for Kona in 2010.

My first IM in May 2001 was 12:55. My second in November 2003 was 9:20. In addition to his first question, he asked what it took for me to make that progression in the course of 2.5 years.

I responded with the following email.

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Justin writes:

Yo-

I'm not quite sure how to answer this question. I can give you the rundown on how I improved, but that might not be the answer as it relates to what will make you improve.

Some basic factors for Long course improvement (In my opinion) would include:

1. Bike Volume. It will need to be quite solid at some point in your life (and you need a good relationship with your bike). Long course athletes typically always make a big jump from this. I like to see all intensities addressed at some point each season; not limited to easy/steady. I prefer fartlek training based on terrain that can address all systems until you are in a specific race prep.

2. Proper run biomechanics coupled with frequent running. I also suggest being a sucker for soft surfaces. I run on soft surfaces all the time with the exception of some sessions specifically designed for eccentric overload (and these run a risk).

3. Adequate technique in the water that allows for conditioning. IOW, stroke can always be worked on; but it initially needs to be_good_enough for fitness improvements. I believe in drills and technique, but training/conditioning is specific to the muscles trained (there is general conditioning carryover from BRing, but not on site at the muscles).

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My IM in 2001 was mostly just an adventure for me. I likely trained about 8-12 hours/week, but I generally considered it as exercise/working out since it wasn't many more hours from my days of lifting and cardio w/os. I did about 3-4 rides over 2 hours (total) and I didn't run over 90 minutes from Feb-May (race was in May). I also swam about 2000-4000 yds/week at most and I don't think I swam more than once in May leading up to the race (needed the taper:)

My point is that I might have finished the event a little more quickly had I understood what the hell I was supposed to do. 12:55 may or may not have been an adequate assessment of my fitness at the time, but it was a starting point in any case.

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I made some good improvements from may 01 to may 02 and it primarily came from riding my bike.

I simply enjoyed riding 3-5 hours 2-4x/week (usually 10-12 hours/week with the occasional 15).

I didn't have major intentions of improving in my first couple years in triathlon (I just really liked to ride and the swimming and running were part of the gig).

It wasn't until a couple seasons had passed that I started to do what I 'needed' instea of what I wanted (and even that wasn't always addressed adequately because I lacked a consistently objective source).

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I don't know how much of my progression can be attributed to what makes-me-me, but I personally believe that the major gains came from my consistent willingness to train as well as my need for social interactions (my friends didn't train and I enjoyed their company. that meant time away from training). I always trained, but I never burned myself out.

I'm also not sure I can assume my path of improvement will work equally with anyone who plugs in the formula.

Frankly I'm sure could have done things "better" (or worse!) and if I were to help someone I would guide them differently that I guided myself. Nevertheless, adventures of self-discovery do have their place.

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In the end I would tell you this:

If you want to qualify for Hawaii in 2010 then you have to make sure that you_really_enjoy triathlon.

I'm not really talking about balance in your life (that's another discussion).

I'm talking about what you find to be fun within thise sport.. That does not mean you have to be indifferent to your results. It just means that the process of attaining results is what brings you joy (and not relying on the results themselves to make you happy).

If you can focus on doing fun events and training in the next three years then I imagine you will find yourself with the best level of improvement when Sept 2010 comes around. I don't know that it will be enough for Kona or not, but I imagine it will be your best given the time you have put in leading to that date.

You can work with a three year plan, but keep the focus within the year, month, week, and day.

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I will post some follow up as it comes.

-Justin

Giardia

I didn't know what giardia was until last Wednesday. The nice folks at the Boulder Med Center kindly informed me of the parasite that was hanging around and totally wrecking my system every 2-3 days.

I suppose that most onlookers would have encouraged me to go to the doctor as soon as I felt ill the second time (as opposed to the fourth). The problem was that I was having good training sessions once I recovered from every shalacking. That made me question actually having an illness (much like folks questioning if they are really overtrained). Given the diversity of GI problems in the population I thought that perhaps mine came from anxiety, dehydration, nerves; whatever.

Well all those justifications were clearly incorrect and I'm currently finishing off a prescription of meds to kill the sucker. I cannot guarantee the source, but I would imagine I received giardia from open water swim training in the Boulder Reservoir as I got sick for the first time shortly after swimming there.

Kind of amazing to think that I trained_and_raced with a parasite in me. No wonder everyone kept commently that I was thinning out. No nutrients were getting to me!

My training has been a bit up and down this week. I imagine that the meds, the illness, and the training-I-did-while-ill has buried me a bit.

7.5 weeks to IMC and I feel relatively confident about my fitness. Even with these setbacks it has been easy to make adjustments since I'm not spreading myself thin with races. That allows more time for patient progression.

no thoughts today, just updates.

cheers,

justin

montezuma, sprint, and faith

MONTEZUMA.

I cannot quite wrap my head around what has happened to me over the past week, but it has been peppered with ups and downs. All the training has been solid, but it has been coupled with wicked GI issues. I got sick to my stomache three different times within an eight day period and had to take as many full days off. Interestingly enough I had excellent training on the odd days.

Some folks around me have been getting the funk as well so perhaps Boulder county is dealing with the "summer camp shakes." (Thats what we called the contagious funk that always circled throughout the summer camp I worked for in my teens and early twenties).

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I raced last weekend.

Seriously.

I got my arse handed to do me a bit, but I definitely went as hard as I could.

Essentially the race consisted of a mediocre swim, a decent ride and a decent run. I'm not sure why I lost so much time in the swim, but I did. I started the ride with Michael Hagen (great Master athlete for ARMY) and we surged back and forth the whole way. It was great to have someone force me to keep it pinned the entire way. I had a feeling he would/could run away from me so I kept trying to hit him on the bike over and over again.

If it did tire him, it didn't tire him enough! I cruised the run at a good tempo and finished up a few minutes behind the overall leader. Once all the other waves came in I finished up in 15th place. 2nd-2oth were all within about 2 minutes of each other and sure would have been fun if we had all raced head to head.

Sometimes people are surprised when I don't knock out uber fast times in short course racing. A lot of folks assume that because I can cover big miles in modest times then I must be able to race short miles in fast times.

Trust me, there are plenty of people who are that way. Just not me.

Generally, my races are going to give you a good idea of my fitness. My ability to execute longer races better than some fitter athletes might be the case from time to time, but you should not assume that I am "faster" than them.

Most Athletes, from BOPers to top Pros, show their fitness in the first three hours of an IM instead of doing it all day. That's all.

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Faith.

Faith in what you do.

Faith in what you do when there is a lot of noise around you.

A lot of you are training right now. A lot of you are constantly being told what to do and what not to do by every chap with an email address and an opinion.

Here is an observation I shared with some friends today:

Every year (for me) is different. Sometimes I am actively trying to incorporate new training plans/ideas; while other times I know I NEED a different training plan. Some things work. Some things don't.

I know there is a risk that what I do might not be right, but I am willing to take those risks because I have faith in the plan I create.

Each year I:

Gather a team I trust. I generate questions and appreciate their input and criticisms. I thank them for their time.

Then I commit to what I know in my heart is going to work for me.

As the noise around me grows, I quiet myself and focus on what I believe in.

Happy Monday,

-justin

Quotes

12 days of heavier training are over and I've had enough thoughts to fill an entire notebook. Unfortunately many of those thoughts are going to cycle back into my subconscious where they are likely to rise again at hour five of a long ride (insetad of right now when I need them). Nevertheless, there did seem to be some consistency in my thinking pattern and perhaps it can be synthesized by a few quotes.

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"Its good to let everyone be strong at some point in the day."

Gordo relayed this quote to me from Molina. It carries a lot of weight with it and it really became relevant over the last twelve days since I trained with others daily.

Training groups are highly benificial, but it rides a mighty thin line between benefit and detriment. In order to really gain the benefits each individual needs to have faith in others around him. Athletes need to allow others to take the drivers seat without constantly challenging for that spot.

Last Spring in Florida we organized a group ride of about 4-5 riders and one rule persisted from start to finish: Everyone was allowed to pull until he decided to pull off. No one could come around.

Now this will not guarantee that the pulls will be civil, but it does mean that some sort of order will remain in tact throughout the session.

So what if someone is drilling it at the front? When you roll through should you smack him back?

Personally, I think not. The best thing you can do is make your pulls short and pull off the front forcing the peppy individual to retake the lead. Let your buddy be strong and just enjoy the ride.

And don't worry about folks who hammer in training....

"You should worry about the folks that_don't_have anything to prove in training."

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"I was always ok with my fitness..."

On Monday the Carolina Crew and I chatted generally about triathlon and specifically about my goals and progression.

Early in my 'career' I never particularly compared myself to athletes around me. Part of that had to do with the fact that there really weren't any triathletes in College Station to speak of so benchmarks were hard to come by. I simply concentrated on making gradual gains day after day and I knew my real potential was years away. My training consistency and mental/emotional sanity were more important to me than figuring out the next sexy workout.

And honestly, I had never worked_that_"hard" at anything else in my life. I wasn't great at lots of sports (but not bad either) and even if I had potential in some areas I never capitalized on it. So watching gradual progression in triathlon training/racing was always enough motivation to get me out the door. I didn't need the external variables to fire me up. It came internally.

I also never took issue with my race results so long as I working my way up the field. Instead of being irritated about someone beating me I would simply think "just think where I'll be in 5 or 10 years." Sometimes I would meet goals or fall short of them, but I almost always improved.

And I always tell my friends (and myself) to:

"Never be disappointed with progress"...

...even if that progress falls short of the goals you set for yourself. You still improved.

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Not as long as I wanted, but enough. I need to head out to make sure the race bike is in working order for tomorrow.

And its too damn nice to sit inside on a day like this,

justin

p.s. One more thought I had the other day that I told my buddy:

"I have spent a few years in this sport and have met some solid, stand-up individuals. I guess when it comes down to it the athleticism of these indivduals is usually the least impressive aspect about them."

Back Home

24 hours of travel later and I'm back in the States. Actually, that was Wednesday and now its Saturday morning as I type this. I do not know how to appropriately and repectfully talk about an overseas trip involving the passing of my grandfather: someone I knew and loved as a grandson should. So instead of speaking about the trip I thought I would speak about the man.

It was interesting to hear the thoughts and memories from everyone that knew him. My father had written a letter to the Holmen family that listed various memories that had struck him in the time he knew Sigurd. One such statement was: "I remember Sigurd never complaining."

Never complaining. He didn't.

He really did not complain; and interestingly enough, this is exactly what I had independently said about him before reading my father's note.

I cannot comment on how everyone in the world feels about folks that do not complain. This is probably because we do not really know many folks that don't. The majority of us often retract into a self-centered existence that necessitates the constant accomodation of the world around us. Obviously it never works perfectly as such and in the end most of us find it hard not to let everyone around us know about it.

But Sigurd carried on with his life without trying to find too much pity from the world.

I also remember my mother telling me about she and he brother, Anders, eating dessert as children. My mother never knew Sigurd loved dessert until she was off in college. My mother's family grew up with tight finances. Tight finances mean less food. When asked if he wanted any of the limited dessert, Sigurd would shy away stating that he never liked the stuff. And his children ate away, not knowing otherwise until many, many years later.

And many, many years later my mother would make sure Sigurd got all the cake and ice cream he ever wanted.

Sigurd was also a man of movement. He rode his bike_everywhere. Otherwise he walked. He learned to ski at 75. He would grip me with a hug whenever I saw him that often revealed his hidden strength. His quality of life rarely wavered for the first 85 years of life. And he always stands out in my mind as a healthy man as a result of his everyday lifestyle.

I did not fly over to SVE in any state of mourning, nor did I experience any noticeable sadness in the two weeks leading to the funeral. Yet as I stood there on the morning of May 29th I shed many tears in the hour that we said good bye. You could feel the emotions throughout the whole church that morning. No one stood by with a dry eye. That is the sign of the passing of a loved man.

Less than 24 hours later I was on a plane back to the states after spending two weeks in SVE. The trip honestly involved only a few moments of sadness. It was primarily filled with better times as my SVE and USA families enjoyed each other's company, despite the reason for it.

And so I fall back into my life. I will be heading out to SBR continuously once again, but now I have an advantage as someone on my side is helping me from above.

Cheers from Boulder,

Justin

I am sorry to go so long without an update. I have posted a recent email I sent below to explain:

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Family, Friends, and Sponsors:

I hope everyone receiving this message is doing well. Some of you already know, but for those who do not; My grandfather in Sweden passed away late last week. He was a great man that lived a full 89 years and he will be missed. I really appreciate all the kind emails and calls in the last few days.

I will be traveling to Sweden on Friday for two weeks to be with family and I have decided to pull out of Ironman CdA on June 24. I will put together a new race schedule after returning on May 30th. For now, I will be with my family.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Justin Daerr

Sponsors: EAS (www.eas.com), Training Bible(www.trainingbible.com), Descente(www.descenteathletic.com), Fuel Belt(www.fuelbelt.com), Javelin (www.javbike.com)

www.justindaerr.com

Muddy Mags

After taking a very easy Friday (70 minute spin) I was back on the training wagon for the weekend.

Dennis and I started our Saturday with a 5500 meter swim. Nothing particularly fancy with a pattern of:

5 x 500
4 x 400
3 x 300
2 x 200
1 x 100

The 500s and 400s were a moderate mix of intensities. The 300s were a descending set. The 200 finished with an IM round for time. 100 c/d.

After finishing I looked up at the not-so-inviting weather in the mountains and debated whether or not I should head up high to run Magnolia Road. The previous night/day had given us rain in the valley with snow up high. I hoped the warm morning sun would have dried the road out so a couple hours after swimming I found myself up at 8200 feet on my favorite road.

The road was immediately damp (its dirt), but it did not have that deep soak that creates heavy mud. A couple miles later was a different story. I was slipping and sliding and the cars that passed me were running me into the deeper goop. Nevertheless, I kept it rolling as some dry(well, drier) relief consistently showed itself. The other issuse at hand were the cold temps, the demoralizing headwind and the vey intimidating clouds that seemed to be on the horizon in every direction.

The weather was really becoming a concern to me because if it started downpouring I could be a serious candidate for hyopthermia. I seemed to be barely producing enough heat without the rain. Fortunately, as I made my way back down the road it appeared that the weather would hold out long enough for me to finish my session. And amazingly enough I had not been sprayed with mud by any passing cars.

Until I was 3 miles from finishing. Then a truck gave me an uber spray.

Awesome. I needed that. Without that, it would have just been another easy, uneventful day on Magz.

I finished up the 17 mile run and I felt pretty damn wiped out with the long swim, long run combo. I headed back down to Btown and managed a one hour recovery spin before the sky started falling again.

Sunday was much like Saturday; only colder. I rolled out around 10:00a.m. with two jerseys, base layer, wind vest, knee warmers, arm warmers, skull cap, and booties. I still felt like I could rock some more clothes without being hot.

I had hoped for a 6 hour ride when I originally planned the week, but the weather was looking to be pretty rough. It was only two hours into the session when I found myself time trialing back south to avoid those black clouds. I made it back to Boulder after 3:30 of riding and I thought I could knock out some extra climbing so I headed over to Lee hill and upped my ride time to 4.5 hours plus before calling it a day in the rain. The session was shorter than I wanted, but I ended up getting more quality than I had probably planned. I logged over 2 hours of steady-state riding and another 45 minutes of hard climbing.

So that concludes my ten day training block. It ended up just shy of 50 hours which is a good thing. I find it to be better to fall just shy of your training goals. It allows you to occassionally exceed your racing goals.

Train big, Train right

The principles of aerobic training remain the same from events that last a few minutes to those that last 4-17 hours (Half Ironman and Ironman races for our purposes here). In other words; going hard, hard, easy, long and short all have their place within a balanced triathlon (read: endurance) training program.

Today, we talk about volume. Long course zealots love to rant and rave about volume and they will be the first to point out that their training is lacking if the volume has not hit their ideal levels. Over the past seven years I have had to pleasure to get to know plenty of athletes. Some train huge miles. Some don't. The level of success never works linearly with training volume. I know many folks might wish it were such. Hard work is more honorable and justifiable when the returns are clearly realized.

However at some point training no longer becomes training. I was chatting with a friend once who proceeded to tell me about an athlete that put in 10 hours a day when training for an Ironman. My response?

"That's not training. That's touring."

Burning more calories in a day than anyone else is not going to make you any better than your competition.

Having said all that... ...putting in a solid aerobic overload with volume can be highly effective. However, even with high volume, intensity remains important. I have found high volume training to be the most effective when I spend the bulk of training within a steady-state intensity range. This means you need to find that best volume that allows you to not fall below zone 2/3 training ranges. In order to properly execute this type of training an athlete really needs to be smart about their nutrition, their training partners and the terrain they train on.

I have been stacking 6-7 hours days on top of one another for the past week with two more days to follow. In order to make sure I can get the most out of each day I....

1. Eat continuously throughout the day without stacking huge meals anywhere in there.

2. I include plenty of climbing on moderate grades to force more steady state riding and running, but I nix any steep climbs so that I can avoid (lots of) acidosis on these rides/runs. Swimming still includes all ranges of intensity.

3. I get training partners to come along (on some days, not every day) that will push me, but not try to beat me.

4. I rest when I plan to rest, even if I arrive at recovery days feeling like a million bucks. Recovery days are instituted for training absorption and recovery prevention. They are not a reactionary measure to offset exhaustion.

5. I swim, ride, and run solidly and steadily every day. Some workouts take longer to warm into, but I do my best. I also nix threshold to threshold-plus workouts so that I can train effectively without excessive fatigue throughout the whole allotted time frame (and therefore, the steeper climbs take a backseat).

6. I follow up each volume block with a short recovery period and then return to a more balanced program with high(er) intensity sessions. This way I avoid trying to create an overload with the same means over and over again. The body adapts, so mix it up.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My roommate asked me how I fuel myself throughout these bigger training days. Here is how it has essentially worked for me:

Wake at 6:15 a.m. Eat about 1.5 cups of oatmeal with 1-2 pieces of chopped fruit and 1/4 cup of fat free cottage cheese. I take one gram of fish oil, one tablet of EAS' Athlete's Defense, and one serving of EAS HMB. I also take in plenty of water and coffee.

Run 10-12 miles at 8:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m. I drink a recovery drink with one scoop of Race Recovery and one scoop of Muscle Armour. I eat a bowl of quinoa.

Swim practice at 10:30 a.m. swimming 4-5000 meters. I consume a sports drink with about 150-200 calories during practice (usually 1-2 scoops of Endurathon with .5-1 scoop of catapult).

Come home and eat 1.5 cups of quinoa, 2-3 eggs and raisins

Start riding at 1:00-1:15 from Amantes in North Boulder. Ride 3.5-4.5 hours; mostly in the mountains. I take in 2-300 calories/hours of sports drink (same as swimming) and I consume 1/2-1 full energy bar (myoplex lite) for every climb I summit (lasting 45-60 minutes). Consuming a high calorie source of nutrition at the top of climbs is important because it helps you avoid any blood sugar drops on the longer descents. You might feel fine when a climb is done, but 20 minutes later you can be in a whole other (fuzzy) world.

Arrive home at 5:00-5:30 and immediately consume two different recovery drinks. The first is water mixed with one scoop of Muscle Armour and 1-2 scoops of Glutamine. Then I make a Myoplex deluxe shake with Rice Milk and 1-2 bananas.

Afterwards I shower and eat dinner around 7:00-7:30 which includes a solid protein source (steak, chicken or fish), starch (quinoa or rice), steamed vegetables, etc.

Probably some more fruit and nuts into the evening. Asleep between 9:30 and 10:00.

Rinse and repeat.