2013

New Year, New Season. Greetings from a frigid Boulder. The last few days have seen single digits in the a.m.; quite a contrast to the warm winter we had last year. Even though the cold temps have made it challenging to ride, the rest of the training has been going pretty well. I decided to race Panama 70.3 this year (February 3rd) so staying on task in January has been a must, even when its a bit chilly.

After racing in Panama on the first weekend of February, I'll be heading down to Tucson for three weeks. The first two weeks I will be attending a training camp led by my coach, Cliff English. Each Spring he holds a 2-3 week camp for his athletes. Its a great chance to get out of the cold weather for a bit; and its particularly helpful in getting in some decent riding when coming from a Colorado winter.

The last week of my trip to Tucson will be for the Endurance Corner Tucson Camp. Tucson feels more and more like a second home to us as this will be the sixth year of hosting the camp. We still have spots available (as of Jan 15) so if you are interested, click here.

Following the Tucson Camp, I'll be back home and the only trips from there on out will be for racing. I haven't quite finalized the plans in March and April, but I hope to race 2x as a lead into Ironman Texas. Much of this will be dependent on my training progression in the next six weeks. The primary goal is based around performing well in Texas, so we'll be looking to make decisions (about racing) that support that goal.

Look for an update following Panama in a few weeks.

Until then,

Justin

Check out my latest article on Endurance Corner: Show Up and Blow Up

Sample Days

Follow up to my article, Eat to Perform, on Endurance Corner. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SAMPLE DAY ONE:

Meal One: Toast with Almond Butter, 2g of fish oil, 65mg of Iron.

Workout one: 3 hour ride with Intervals (2000-2400 kilojoules); intake of ~1000 calories in Powerbar Perform and Powergels.

Finish ride within 30 minutes of swim practice; Eat bar in the car going to swim practice

Workout two: 4500 meters @ Masters. One Gel at the end of the warm up and another 200 calories of Perform during the swim session.

Meal two: 4 eggs with goat cheese and spinach. Bowl of oatmeal with walnuts, raisins and chopped fruit.

Couple hours off.

Meal three: Toast with almond butter

Workout three: 60 minute fartlek run

30 minutes before dinner: plate of raw carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes.

Meal four: Green chile chicken with rice, black beans, avocados, onions, tomatoes and cilantro. Probably two big bowls. Dark chocolate after.

Later: Couple pieces of fruit and almonds.

SAMPLE DAY TWO

Meal One: Toast with almond butter

Workout One: 5 hour steady state ride; 4000+ kilojoules. Consume ~2000 calories of Powerbar perform, gels, and a bar or two. Probably a Sprite at one stop midway as well.

5-10 minute break before run; consume 2 gels just before run starts.

45 minute steady state run; consume 300 more calories of Perform and gels.

Meal Two: Two breakfast burritos with whole wheat tortillas, eggs, potatoes, salsa, grilled vegetables and guacamole. 2-3 glasses of orange juice.

Couple hours off.

Just before starting swim; 2 bananas.

3000 meter easy swim; 45 minutes.

30 minutes before Meal three same plate of raw veggies as above.

Meal three: Steak (medium rare), grilled potatoes in olive oil; grilled onions, mushrooms and bell peppers in olive oil. Dark chocolate afterwards.

Later: same as above; some fruit, almonds, etc. based on any extra hunger.

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I eat other things as well, but this is a pretty good example of what my training days look like. During some of my easier days of the week, you might see a similar style to my main meals, but less supplemented sports nutrition as energy output is much lower.

Ironman Arizona 2012

Last weekend I traveled down to Phoenix to close out the 2012 season at Ironman Arizona. I have finished off many seasons by racing in Florida, but I decided to race in AZ this year to give me a little more time following Ironman Wisconsin in September. The weather in Boulder was remarkably warm and dry this fall and I hardly had any challenges getting ready for a race this late in the year. Race Day:

The swim started in fairly uneventful fashion. I missed the front group, but I was following the lead of a strong swimmer that was moving up nicely as we were approaching the turnaround. Unfortunately, I lost contact at that point and was solo for a long time. I eventually bridged up to Thomas Gerlach in the last 10 minutes or so and we came into T1 together.

As ran through T1 I pulled my helmet out of my bag put in on my head and came to find that the buckles on the strap had completely broken off. I ran up to my bike and sat on the ground and proceeded to try and fix it. With a clear head, I might have been able to do something, but in this case I was sitting there for 2-3 minutes trying to find a way to put this thing together. Eventually I ripped some tape off my bike and tried to tie it together so that I could get out of transition.

I got out and started riding and within a few miles it had fallen apart. I pulled over to try to fix it again, but I quickly realized there was nothing I could do about it on the side of the road. I decided to try and ride up to the next aid station and see if there was something I could do there.

A few miles later I got the to aid station and rode straight to one of the supply trucks. I asked someone if they could see if there was any tape lying around. Someone found some duct tape and she did a solid job of taping the straps together well enough for me to continue. This proved to finally be the fix, but I had lost a lot of time in the process of finally finding a pretty simple solution.

I had a hard time getting myself back into the right headspace once I got back out onto the road. All this happened within the first 10 miles of the bike and I think that made it all the more challenging for me to deal with mentally. Prior to a race, I go through a lot of scenarios (flats, lost nutrition, crashes, etc) in my head and I know exactly what to do, but I was missing this one.

The remainder of the bike was a struggle for me. I did feel 'off', but its hard to know whether that is truly how I felt, or whether that is simply what I found myself focusing on. Racing is always uncomfortable, but if you are focusing on RACING, you keep your mind where it needs to be and the discomfort is managed.

I finished up the bike and headed out onto the run. I can't say I was super excited about running 26 miles at this point, but I know what it feels like to drop out of a race (by choice) and that feels worse to me than a subpar race. I just kept it ticking over and managed to move up about 10 places or so by the end of the day to finish 11th Overall.

I know it sounds cliche, but sometimes the day really is about finishing. It is frustrating to not be able to transfer success in preparation to success on race day, but its part of the process.

Happy Thanksgiving and Offseason to everyone out there.

-justin

Ironman Wisconsin

Last weekend I traveled out to Madison to race Ironman Wisconsin for the second time in my career. I raced there in 2009 and it definitely earned my respect as one of the more challenging races I have ever done. This year proved to be no different. On race morning we had favorable weather conditions following a recent cold front. We were going to have some pretty good wind to navigate throughout the day, but the highs were only supposed to be around 70 with low humidity and clear skies.

The race changed their swim course this year, moving from two lops to one. I thought this was a great change, even if the back stretch (1700 meters) seemed to last a long, long time.

At 6:50, the pros started and the swim went along fairly uneventfully for me. I exited 5th out of the water with a large group and proceeded to take on the more difficult challenge of the day: running up the exit ramps of the Terrace to T1. At any race, I usually see the highest heart rates of the day running to T1 without the additional challenge of running uphill for a minute-plus.

The bike course in Wisconsin is the most challenging bike course on the IM circuit in North America (now that STG is gone) in my opinion. You never have any extended climbing, but it is constantly full of hills, turns and can be quite windy in some of the more exposed areas of the course. Having said that, I find it to be a course that keeps your mind engaged and rarely lets you fall into a state of indifference. For that reason, I really enjoy the dynamic nature it provides.

Exiting the water in a large swim group usually leads to a group forming on the bike and this race was no different. During the first half of the ride, I think 6-7 riders stayed together and it wasn't until the 2/3 mark where things eventually started to split up. I felt good for the majority of the ride, but even with that in mind, Ben Hoffman (eventual winner) continued to put time into everyone. In the closing miles, Thomas Gerlach and I eventually caught the 2nd place rider and made our way back to T2 in the 2nd and 3rd positions.

Coming out of T2, I just tried to settle into my own rhythm and hoped to try and see if I could close any portion of the 10:00 gap Ben had on me to start the run. My legs felt pretty good, but I was a bit concerned about how my stomach was feeling. During the ride, my stomach had been feeling a bit off so I ended up taking in less calories than I normally would. That wasn't such a big deal, but I knew I had to be diligent about getting them in on the run.

Unfortunately, my stomach proved to be my biggest challenge for the next few hours. I managed to keep it somewhat together over the first half of the run, but I was having to stop repeatedly and couldn't keep any calories down either. Eventually it proved to be too much. I'll spare the details, but it wasn't pleasant for awhile.

I eventually dropped into 4th place with 6-7 miles to go and I knew I had to try and get some calories in me or I would concede even more positions. Over the next few aid stations I was able to get some coke in me and with about 4 miles to go I finally seemed to come back to life and started to run more steadily again. Fortunately I was able to keep it rolling to the finish line and just barely held onto 4th place.

Tough race, but a good experience.

I really enjoy Madison and the race atmosphere there is fantastic. I heard it sold out in record time for 2013 and I can understand why. Hopefully I can make it back there again some day.

Until the next one,

justin

Endurance Corner Boulder Camp

A few weeks ago we wrapped up the annual Endurance Corner Boulder Camp. We try and include some variations from year to year in order to keep things fresh and interesting. Our schedule this year included the following:

Day One: Ride up the East side of Lee Hill, down to Lefthand, then up Lefthand to Peak-to-Peak Highway, followed with a final summit to Brainard Lake (10,000 feet). We returned the same way which is mostly downhill except for a summit of the West side of Lee hill. Total ride included nearly 5000 feet in climbing. That evening we ran for just under an hour along the Boulder Creek Path finishing with Dinner and Presentations at Gordo's House.

Day Two: We started the day with an Open Water swim at the Boulder Reservoir. Boulder Aquatic Masters sets up a 1-kilometer swim course with buoys and athletes swam anywhere from 2-5 loops in total. A number of us did a mass-start Time Trial race in the middle of the session. Following the swim, we all did a fartlek run session around a 5-mile or 10K Loop. Finally, we all did a shorter ride with a summit of Sunshine Canyon: a short, steep climb that starts on the edge of the Boulder city limits.

Day Three: Today's ride included the "St Vrain Loop"; a very popular route with Boulder locals. It begins by traveling north along highway 36 to the town of Lyons. From there you head west, climbing into the mountains along the St Vrain River. This year we climbed all the way to the junction of Highway 7 and 72 instead of cutting the tangent through the town of Raymond. From there we preceded along the Peak-to-Peak highway to the town of Ward where we began our descent into Boulder. Like Monday, we finished with a short climb up the backside of Lee Hill (included in the U.S. Pro Tour this year) before finishing in Boulder. That evening we did another 50-60 minute run along the base of the foothills finishing with Dinner and Presentations at Gordo's House.

Thursday: This morning began with another Open Water swim at the Boulder Reservoir. Xterra Wetsuits put on a wetsuit demo for interested athletes and a group of us did another mass start TT in the middle of the session. Following the swim, we all proceeded to do a longer run around the Boulder Reservoir. Athletes chose routes of 10-13 miles and many included a main set of 4-6 x 8 minutes @ IM effort. We took the afternoon off the bike, but we included afternoons presentations with Alan Couzens and a Q+A session with World Champion Julie Dibens. We had dinner that evening in Boulder at a restaurant called The Sink; a famous Boulder staple.

Friday: The day started with a ride up "Super'' Flagstaff: a 5.3 mile climb with an average grade over 10% over the last 1.5 miles (also featured on the U.S. Pro Tour this year). We finished our ride at the Flatiron Athletic Club where athletes took part in a longer swim session with a focus on technique and drills led by Coach Jane Scott. We all took the afternoon off in order to get ready for an early morning race.

Saturday: The camp concluded with an Olympic distance race in Loveland, Colorado. The race took place in Loveland, Colorado, located to the North of Boulder. The race features a bike course that goes west into the foothills outside Fort Collins and finishes with a flat, fast run course through the neighborhoods of Loveland. That evening we concluded the camp with dinner (and lots of dessert) at Foolish Craig's.

I know I can speak for everyone at Endurance Corner when I say it was a pleasure to host another camp here in Boulder. We have always been fortunate to meet and train with some fantastic people from all over the world and this year was no different.

We already have new ideas for the 2013 edition and we are excited to bring about new and exciting routes. Check back on www.endurancecorner.com this fall to see details about plans for 2013.

Until then,

justin

Ironman Texas

This past weekend I made my way back to The Woodlands, Texas for the second annual Ironman Texas. Having grown up in Houston, this race is the closest I'll ever get to having a home town race. As such, my motivation to put together a successful race had been in full force ever since I crossed the line of the first race, one year ago. Race Day:

We had a non-wetsuit swim like last year and the morning water temperature was reported to be around 81 degrees. Fairly warm, but not bath water material. After a short warm up and a national anthem, we sorted ourselves out on the start line. After the race, Brandon Marsh pointed out the fact that while we have about 50 meters of start line, we all line up in about 5 of them. Quite true.

The start of the race was a little hectic, but it actually sorted out quite quickly. It might just be a coincidence, but I find this to be the case more often in non-wetsuit swims. As we made our way to the far turn buoys I was sitting with a few other swimmers and we had settled into our pace. I was glad to have some others around me at the time because my goggle seal broke and they were flooded with water. I could still see things up close pretty easily, but sighting far buoys was difficult. Our group of three stayed together to the end of the swim and we exited in 55 minutes and change.

I hustled through T1 and got out on the bike. Generally speaking, the first half of the bike went really smoothly and was uneventful. We had a slight tailwind for the most part and the shade from the tree-lined course kept things much cooler than it would have been in the sun. I had one other athlete riding with me for the first couple hours and for a short while there were actually four of us that came together. However, somewhere around the halfway point of the bike I went off the front and from there it was a solo effort to T2.

I have done plenty of rides completely on my own in Ironman races, but for whatever reason the second half of this bike leg proved to be one of the toughest I've had to deal with mentally. I don't really know why; it might have been the lonely country roads or the headwind we had on the back half, but whatever the reason, I was fighting to keep my head in the game.

I couldn't have been happier to see T2 as I rolled back into town. I really did not want to be on my bike any more that day. After a quick change I headed out onto the three loop run course sitting in 7th place.

Initially, I was not really thinking about where I was in the race. I knew I just needed to get through the first half of the run without getting too dehydrated or overheating. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and I knew that it would just continue to get warmer as the day went along.

Not too much had happened by the end of the first loop. I did manage to move into 6th place, but Jozsef (4th) and Brandon (5th) were holding steady with their gaps of 3-4 minutes.

I rolled through the next five miles of loop two and as I made my way back onto the canal I heard a split of one minute to 4th. A couple miles later I managed to bridge to Brandon, who had just bridged to Jozsef and all of sudden the three of us were running side by side. I respect both these athletes immensely and having this moment where the three of us were all racing side by side was very cool to me. Its just something that stuck with me afterwards.

At the start of the third loop, I was running alone in 4th and I was told Rasmus (3rd) was about 3 minutes ahead of me. When I made my way out onto Lake Woodlands Drive I could see him up the road and somewhere between miles 20 and 21 I had moved into 3rd place.

At this point in the race, I assumed that any other position was not an option. I just wanted to stay hydrated and fueled so that I finished the race in one piece (and didn't concede the position I was in).

Then as I made my way back into town along the canal I was told around the mile 23 marker that 2nd place was less than 90 seconds up the road. With three miles to go, this still seemed like a pretty big gap to close so late in the race. As I hit mile 24 someone said the gap was now down to less than a minute. However, I still couldn't see anyone up the road so I wasn't sure that was even accurate. Then as I made my way to the far end of the south side of the canal I could finally see the 2nd place bike leading Mathias. It honestly still seemed too far to make up.

I made my way across the bridge and down the hill to head out to the final turnaround. Someone yelled 20 seconds just before I saw the mile 25 marker. I continued down the canal, through the turnaround and somewhere in the middle of the 26th mile I had finally made my way up to Mathias. A couple hundred meters later we had to run up a slight hill that led to the new finish line area. I know better than to underestimate Mathias so when I came up to this hill I just went as hard as I could go. I actually thought the finish was right around the corner, but when I got there I saw another turnaround in front of me instead. I started to think I might have just blown myself up in this last little bit, but fortunately I didn't and I finished up the race in 2nd Overall.

It was a crazy way to finish the day; certainly not anything I would have predicted. It was good reminder to always race every step of every race. You never know what lies ahead of you.

Congratulations to Jordan Rapp for closing it out and taking home the victory on Saturday.

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I want to say thank you to the Deppe Family for being such great hosts for us over the weekend. They treated us like family and took us in like one of their own.

Until next time,

justin

Galveston 70.3

I made the trip back down to Galveston again this year for the 70.3 US Pro Championship. Last year was a bit of a bust so I was looking forward to redeeming myself at this year's race. My lead into the race was less than ideal. The week prior to the race I came down with a bad cough and fever and had to take several days off from training. However, I seemed to be making a comeback by the weekend and I felt like I would be fine in 7 days time when I had to race. Unfortunately, I went through somewhat of a relapse during race week and I had to continue to shut down my training. All my sessions were pretty much done at a recovery intensity and even then I was pretty fatigued all the time.

I was hesitant as to whether racing would even be a good idea, but I packed the bike up and headed to the airport. The thought of a bad race was one thing, but the thought of good training at home while a race was going on was even worse. I just wanted to try.

The race itself, went like this:

Swim: I made the decision to wear a sleeveless wetsuit for this year's race. The water temperature was in the mid 70s and I really struggle with overheating in these warmer wetsuit races. I felt very alone in my decision as I saw 1-2 other athletes, out of 60 or so, with the same idea. Even if there was a risk of being slightly "slower", I still thought it was worth it if I didn't overheat.

The front pack broke away very quickly at the start and I eventually settled into the smaller second pack of swimmers. We came out a little less than 3 minutes down from the front group, but I felt pretty decent and did not overheat  at all.

Bike:

The course is a straight out and back along the Gulf Coast barrier island of Galveston. You essentially have a cross headwind the whole way out and a cross tailwind the whole way back. There is also zero elevation change from start to finish. Its about as flat as a course is ever going to get.

I rode to the turnaround feeling pretty good, but I hadn't moved up more than a position or two from the end of the swim. On the way back I caught up to a few athletes, but I was definitely starting to tire out. I was feeling the affects of racing and my cadence was dropping off (clear sign of fatigue to me). Fortunately I was still moving at an ok clip because of the favorable winds.

The Run: I came into T2 a bit worn out, but its rare that I finish the bike at any race feeling chipper. At the start of the run I was feeling pretty clunky, but the first couple mile splits were ok despite how I felt. Unfortunately that was short lived. I never really detonated or anything like that, but each mile was just a touch slower than the last one all the way to the finish. I ended up finishing in 4:01:00 and 15th overall.

I was happy to be able to start this race as I really wanted to get this season going. In the end, its hard to know whether the last couple weeks affected me all that much. The first race of the season always has its ups and downs and what I'm usually left with is a desire to get back out there and try it again. This race was no different. I'm looking forward to the next one.

-justin

Back from the desert

The past three weeks were spent down in Tucson, Arizona. The first two weeks of the trip consisted of a training camp run by my coach, Cliff English, and the last week was spent hosting the fifth annual Endurance Corner Tucson Camp. The pro camp (Cliff's) was a nice change of pace from training at home in Boulder. I was pleased with how training was rolling at home, but getting into a training camp environment is a great way to get that extra few percent out yourself and your training. The combination of good weather, good training partners and good coaching led to a very effective two weeks. Some of the workouts were similar to what we did during the 2011 camp and it was nice to see the progress from a years worth of work with Cliff.

Immediately following Cliff's camp I went to work putting things together for the EC Camp. I made some changes to this year's camp including a new hotel location and a new weekly schedule with more formal sessions and coaching. The athletes attending our camp had the following schedule:

Monday:

8:00 a.m. Swim with 1k TT + aerobic main set, followed by an easy 10K (50 min) run

3:00 p.m. Long warm u; then a 9K false flat Time Trial into a blasting headwind (headwind unintended!)

Tuesday:

7:00 a.m. 10K run with a summit of A Mtn (long climb)

10:00 a.m. 100 mile ride with 13 mile climb in the middle to Madera Canyon

Wednesday:

8:00 a.m. Long swim; 4-6K depending on speed with strength focus

10: a.m. Run Drills and dynamic warm up instructions followed by short fartlek run

3:00 p.m. 40K easy ride

Thursday:

9:00 a.m. Mount Lemmon (21 mile climb)

Friday:

8:00 a.m. Pace change swim; aerobic maintenance; 2.5-4.5K depending on speed

11:00 a.m. 90 minute run with one hour main set including IM pace+ work.

Saturday: 105 Mile ride to Kitt Peak with 12 mile climb in the middle.

The camp was a lot of fun and the changes seemed to all yield positive feedback. We will continue to make improvements going into 2013 so that we can ensure a great environment for athletes to train and learn.

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I'm settling back into Boulder and looking forward to another 2 week block before my first triathlon of the season: US Pro Champs 70.3 (Galveston) on April 1. In the weeks leading up, I'll be racing a 5K and a 1650 swim in a Masters competition. I was hoping to have a triathlon race under my belt before Galveston, but its just not going to happen. Hopefully these two events will serve up a nice shock to the system before the season begins.

-j