Arch Mounted Cleats

There's an article in this month's issue of Inside Triathlon regarding a not new, but fairly novel idea of mounting your cleats on the arch of your shoe rather than on the ball of your foot. Sounds crazy right? The author tells of his initial hesitation, but admits he was blown away by the result. He said over the course of a ride, he was able to increase his watts to HR ratio by nine percent. Nine percent! Killer increase. Another benefit is with this set up, the cyclist uses his calf muscles less therefore saving them for the run. Initially, my thoughts are wouldn't this just be more taxing on the quads? For me, the muscle group I feel the weakest in during the run portion of a race or a brick is the quads. This may be in part to my inability to pedal through the rotation of the pedal stroke rather than just pounding the down stroke. In Birmingham, if you don't have any juice left in the quads, you're done. There are too many hills. That being said... 9% is hard to argue with.
So on to training: This weekend, Lauren and I went down to Perdido Key, FL to spend the weekend with her folks. Of course, I brought along my trusty Cervelo and running shoes. Between Perdido, Orange Beach, and Gulf Shores there's a nice smooth bike lane that stretches 17 miles along the shore. Even though you're almost guaranteed to face a wind from some direction, the ride is incredible. Saturday I hit the road for a hard 32 miles. I worked on what Coach calls intervals, but I've renamed "pulsing." Push it hard, then recover, repeat. I've found that over the course of the ride I'm able to keep a higher speed. It's a tool that I was supposed to use in my last tri but failed miserably. So for now, I continue to work on it.
Today, oh my goodness. I did 20 hard miles along the same course, then followed that up with an 8 mile run. The run was a battle the entire way. "Matt, just do 4." "Matt, why don't you walk a little." Mentally it was a dog fight, and I was exhausted. But I finished it in 61 minutes. So big deposit into the bank on that one.
Hope all is well.

A little humor for Friday

ALRIGHT! HERE IT IS!

So after much prodding, I've decided to let the cat out of the bag. No, I haven't won a lottery ticket to Kona. No, I haven't bought a new bike. I'm not that lucky. What I do have to offer you is the one thing we spend countless hours training for. A race. Not just any race, the first annual Carbon Man Triathlon on May 19th! I've had the Memphis in May Oly on the schedule since late last year. I've been training for it and had even located a wet suit for the swim. But, things are the way they are and our plans fell through, and I've had to drop the race. Devastated, I set out trying to replace the race. Unable to find another race close by, I decided what better way to replace it, than to create one? Now, let me explain. This is a race without borders. That means, it's not a race that's confined to Birmingham, AL. It's location is Every City, USA. We're talking NY, WA, OR, and even CA I'll even open it up to my friends north of the border. What's up Hosers?
So, here's how this is going to play out. On May 19th, gather your friends, training buddies, whoever and pick out a spot to hold YOUR race. You can do the swim in the pool, in a lake, or even in an ocean (Crash). Likewise, the bike can be completed on the road or on the trainer. Need I go on about the run? As for the distances, I'm only going to set a minimum. What would be the purpose of going easy? This is all in hopes of better preparing you for your race season. The minimum distances are as such, 400 m swim, 15 mi bike, and a 3 mi run. These are the distances that I will post on the t-shirt.
Oh that's right, there's going to be a t-shirt. If you read this mess I call a blog for any length of time, you've discovered that I have a certain disdain for race tees. I'm a pretty hard critique, so you know I've put some time and effort into these shirts. Cafepress.com is a great little site where you can create shirts and make them available on-line. The shirts are made to order, so once I make the link available, click it and buy the shirt. And yes, they are going to be sweeeeet!
So to the Birmingham and Alabama contingent, we'll be holding our version of the Carbon Man Triathlon out at Oak Mtn State park. I have already signed two guys up. My wife has offered to watch our stuff before and after transitions. I'll be in contact with each of you to make sure you're on board. To all my friends abroad, let's make it a huge event. I'll be looking for your race report.
That's it. I hope you weren't expecting too much. If you've found your site linked on this post, that means 1. I read your blog, 2. I think my friends should too, and 3. I'm putting extra heat on you to do this race!
T-shirt link soon to follow.

BIG HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT COMING

Give me a couple of days, and I'm going to throw one on ya. Stay tuned!

Training update:
Sunday 32 mile ride (1:40)/ 8 mile run (1:03)
Monday 2400 m swim (1600 in 26:24 & 8 X 100's on 1:33)
Tomorrow - Biking Powerman course - Booyah!

Frank Maples Reverse Sprint Tri

So today I completed the Frank Maples Memorial Triathlon. It's a reverse sprint tri up in the small town of Scottsboro, AL. The run was a short 2 miles with a 15 mile bike and a 200 m swim.

As I mentioned before, I drove up to Huntsville, AL last night and stayed with ZBuck who was also running the race as well. Let me just set the record straight. Buck has two photos of himself posted on his blog. They are of a round faced kid who doesn't look much like a triathlete. After meeting him last night, let me tell you the guy has been doing some work. He's slimmed down tremendously. He's down 20 pounds! It won't be long before he doesn't qualify for the Clydesdale division. More on that later, but make no bones about it. He's a triathlete, and he looks like one.

Being the consummate welcoming guy that Buck is, he brought along his trusted training partner, Z-man, for the race as well. We arrived around 6:30 for the 8 am start. The field of racers was rather small at around 80. The race itself is a no frills type of race. My race packet came with a note pad, a pen, a magnet from a local bank, a brochure about Scottsboro, and some Bio-freeze. You really have to appreciate the laid back atmosphere the event provided.

8:00 - the gun goes off. I'd already positioned myself around some of the guys that I knew I'd want to keep an eye on. To be competitive I knew I needed to keep them in sight. There were a couple of track stars out there that ran like their hair was on fire from the very start. I was able to stay within sight of them and keep up a pace that was comfortable. Coming into the first transition, I was in 10th place with a 12:00 time for the 2 miles.

Bike portion - I felt great from the start. The weather was perfect. The course was great too. Fairly flat with some steady climbs. I yo-yo'd back and forth with one guy for a while before taking him on a hill. I was in 9th. I kept my pace steady and attacked when I was able. Out of no where two cyclist came flying by me. Two, as in together, as in drafting. I was livid. An official came by on a motorcycle and watched them for a while then went on. I'm not sure if he gave them a penalty or not. I didn't lose sight of these guys, but they were losing me. I was now in 11th. About mile 9, three more came by. Together they caught the other two guys and they stayed in a pack about 45 seconds in front of me. I was able to catch one of them when he faltered and put him behind me. I rolled into the 2nd transition in 39 minutes. A 23 mph pace. 13th place.

Swim - The 200 m swim was being held in an 8 lane pool. Not the easiest to get into rhythm in but it didn't matter. My arms felt heavy and the water felt like jello. I'd forgotten to take off my tri-shirt which only proved to act like a parachute in the water. One guy past me on my slow drudge through the thick molasses. I had one guy on my tail as I made my way through lane 7. I had to kick it in. It mattered. I turned on the jets and left him on lane 8. I wanted to puke when I got out of the water, but I was done. 14th place and a time of 56:23. Not bad.

Buck wasn't too far behind me. Despite being slowed by two dog paddlers going side by side, he finished strong in just over 1 hour flat. A solid 26th place. As soon as he got out, he said we've gotta go find Z-man. He crashed!

Z-man had apparently crashed at the 2 mile mark. He took a turn too fast and his wheels went out from under him. Here are some picks:

Z-man's face, thumb, knees, back, and chest were all just one big ole' strawberry. He kept saying, "Man, my wife is going to be pissed!" Z-man took the pain about as well as I've seen anyone take it. He's got a rough road ahead of him for a few weeks.

Now here's the big news. ZBuck who competes as a Clydesdale finished 2nd in his age group. For whatever reason, they didn't add him to the Clydesdale division. If they had, he would have won it. He said he was more proud of beating those skinny 150 pound guys anyway. Here's the proud man and his hardware:
So, a good race overall. It was quick and easy. I learned a lot about myself and how to compete today. I would have like to have finished a little higher, but I'm taking away a good deal of knowledge on how to push myself and how to reel in my competitors.
Tomorrow's another big brick. 35 miles, then 8 mile run. Can't wait.

Be sure to check out ZBuck's account as well.

Don't Piss Him Off!

Look at this guy! Do you want to get in his way? Let me introduce Coach to you. He's an animal. You see that look on his face? He's struggling, but he's fighting. Do you have this in you? His focus is on his goal. This past week, his goal was a strong finish at the Whistlestop Duathlon. He did just that. 13th OA and 3rd in his age group. I won't tell you what age group that is as it might have some repercussions.

Other than providing me with daily training help, Coach has given me nutritional advice as well as thoughts on race strategy. I'm currently getting ready for tomorrow's Sprint Tri in Scottsboro, AL. Given the short distance of the race tomorrow, it'll more than likely be an all out, full throttle effort. After a talk with Coach today, I believe he's given me a key to being able to sustain that all out effort longer over the course of the race. It's going to be fun tomorrow to see where it all plays out at the end.

Also, I'm going up to Huntsville tonight to meet the man himself, ZBuck. Despite our frequent lauding of one another, I've never met my fellow blogger. He's doing the race tomorrow as well and will no doubt leave everybody wondering how a Clydesdale can move so fast. So game faces are on from now on. It's go time!

Time to move on and turn it up a notch

Powerman is over. Done. In the past. I've rested. I've stretched. And I've eaten like only a fat kid knows how. I'm ready to go again.

Other than this fine race T I'm sporting (good job Race Guy!), I'll take away a few lessons from this weekend. #1. It looks like I need to get on Acid Zapper. Apparently, it's the rage, and I've had my head in the dirt while everyone has been reaping the benefits. #2. My goal is to ride the Powerman course at least once a month to improve my time. And lastly #3. I'm ready to turn up the intensity in my training. I witnessed some spectacular athletic performances on Sunday. These guys were out of your mind good. I want to know what that feels like. I'm ready to join them and toe the line.

My next race is this Saturday. It's a small local Tri that's actually run in reverse. My man ZBUCK is in as well. I'm trying to talk a few of my fellow B'hamians into joining me (come on you know you want to!). That goes for everyone in our little Southeastern group of bloggers. If you're within driving distance of Scottsboro, AL come on down and let's have some fun.

Lastly, tell your friends, family etc that you love them today. There are families in VA and across the nation today dealing with the terrible tragedy that occurred at VA Tech. I will be praying for the families who lost loved ones and those that are recovering their injuries.

POWERMAN ALABAMA 2007

I just completed Powerman Alabama this morning. To say the least, I'm pretty exhausted and ready to do nothing but eat. I've got to make up for the 8 pounds I lost while racing. So here's the story.

The morning started at 4:15. Breakfast and coffee at 4:30. A quick check of the equipment, and off to the course around 6:00. The event was held in Irondale, Al just east of Bham. The course is mainly around a little community of homes and off a minor hwy. Upon arrival, cars were parked everywhere. There were a ton of participants. Not too many spectators. The weather was a blistery 40 something degrees with drizzling rain and 15-20 mph winds (per the weather channel). Everyone was decked out in their winter riding gear. It looked more like we were about to go skiing rather than compete in a Duathlon. Set up was easy, my mind seemed to be in the right place, and overall While at the starting line, everyone was shivering waiting in line for their wave. It can't be good to shiver as much as we did. I have to really feel for one guy. He had just exited a porta-potty, then turned around real quick and started looking around. He looked down into the toilet and said, "Aw man, I dropped my glove in the toilet!" He didn't retrieve it to say the least.

The first 8k was easy. I warmed up quickly and the legs felt good. I finished it in 34:02. Along the way, I found some ear warmers someone had dropped. I asked a few people about them as I passed them, but no one claimed them so I quickly put them on for the bike ride. I know I looked like a dork, but at that point, who cares?

I don't know what it is about this course, but it's always windy. The gusts are insane. It was all I could do to stay on my bike at times. There was a good long section in which the wind was actually at our back which helped, but didn't make up for having to face it on the way back. Overall, I felt fine on the bike. My right calf started cramping up on me on the first loop, so I started pounding my fluids, but it didn't help. By the second loop, both were cramping and I had to grit my teeth to keep it going. I finished the 53K course in 1:41 which is at 19.4 mph. This is slower than what I'd planned, but given the conditions I was happy with it.

Second 8K.- This is where the fun started. I somehow figured out a way to get my shoes on without bending over too much. Thanks Yankz laces! After the first few steps, I knew was I in for a tough time. Both feet were numb from the cold and I couldn't flex either calf. It took me 2 miles before I could run with a normal gait. This run was very humbling for me. I hurt so much and I just wanted it to be over. I started looking at my watch and calculating how slow I could run and still get under my goal. I had a little wiggle room, but not much. Mercifully, I found the finish line at 2:59:28. 32 seconds under my goal. Unofficially, I finished 79th OA, and 7th in my AG. Overall, very happy with the results. I'm glad they only hold this race once a year. I'm not looking forward to doing this again for a while. Yeah, I know pathetic right?

Afterwards, Lauren helped me round up my stuff. It's so good to have someone waiting for you at the finish line. I drag her to a lot of events, and she never complains. Thanks Babe.

A big shout out to my peeps from Team Transitions, Tracy, David, Dory, Mary Rebekah, and Daniel. They all did so well. I was impressed to see each of them with their chin up and braving the course. They all looked better than I did after the race. Looking forward to hanging out with you again soon.

I'm going to eat some ICE CREAM now!

Check out Tri Jack's report on the race as well.

Race Week

Well folks, this is race week and I find myself in sunny Bonita Springs, Fl on business. I've been here since Wednesday and will be returning tomorrow (Saturday) just in time to prepare for Sunday's race. It's hard to believe that race season is upon us. I'm really looking forward to seeing how I've progressed. This Sunday's race is Powerman Alabama and as I've mentioned before is a 8K,50K,8K duathlon. There is some nervous anticipation there, but overall I'm just glad to be racing. The field is going to be made up of some elite athletes so I'll only be competing against myself and the clock. No chance of a podium finish here, that's not what it's all about any way. The thrill of the start, the nervous twinge in your stomach, the exhiliration of the finish, and the sense of accomplishment are all tops with me.
I'm currently working on drinking as much water as possible. Being at a work convention, I've gotten a lot of odd stares carrying around a bottle of water the whole time and only picking at certain foods. Special diets and planned meals and drinks are all part of the method that WILL help me on Sunday.
So look for an update on Sunday regarding the race. My bike is cleaned up and all sparkly, the shoes are shined, the diet is tuned in and on track, and most importantly the mind is focused and optimistic. Good luck to everyone racing.

Good Friday and a pretty decent Saturday

It was good to see the end of this week. I spent Friday trying to catch up at the office after being gone, so by 5:00, I was out the door. Our church had a good Friday service that night and afterwards I met up with some friends at Surin West for a little Thai food and sushi. Can't say enough about that place. Oh, I did the unthinkable for lunch on Friday. We had a company lunch outing to Dreamland BBQ. You've heard me mention this place before. It has the best ribs I've ever put in my mouth. With a week to go before Powerman, Dreamland ribs is a big no no. Despite the catcalls and harassment I received from my co-workers, I was able to pass on the ribs and get a salad with grilled chicken. I even drank water instead of the blessed sweet tea. Wow, I was so proud of myself. I was the only one walking out of there not holding my stomach and feeling like crap.

Saturday - Big.Day. Very excited. Team Transitions (as ZBuck calls it) had scheduled a brick for 7 in the morning. I woke up around 5:30 to eat and get my stuff together. I made it over to Transitions just before 7 with the music rocking on the stereo. I was pumped. The problem was, no one else was there. Damn it. I'm going to have to do this alone. Not cool. Not fun. Nonetheless, I was there to train so I took off on my run. Did I mention it was freaking cold? 34 degrees was the temp with winds approaching downright ridiculous. Even though I had gloves on, my hands numbed up and swoll pretty quickly. I put in a quick three at my planned 7 minute per mile pace and practiced my transitions.
I took off on the bike to head over to the Powerman course. The wind, oh the wind was shocking. Somewhere along a straightaway my forehead froze to a point that it was painful. It was 6 miles to the course which was a perfect warm up before hitting the hills. I had just finished the first big hill and was heading down the other side, when I saw a familiar mug heading up. It was Coach. I spun my bike around and started sprinting up the hill trying to catch him. I caught up with him at the top where I found out the plan was to meet at the course rather than at Transitions. I headed off down the hill behind him where he took off and left me. Dude's been doing some work. He's not the same athlete he was the last time we rode together. He was an animal. With my legs still burning from that hill sprint, it was all I could do to keep him in sight.
I broke off from Coach back at the beginning of the course and decided to attack it again. It was a rough ride with the wind and cold, but it was well worth it. 37 miles of challenging hills and a stout wind is a good day for me.
Lauren and I went over to the Barber Motorsport Park to watch a Road Race. All Categories were represented, and it was a pretty tight event. It was exciting to watch, but at the same time tough to not be out there. Maybe next time. Hope everyone has a good Easter. Praise God there's a reason to celebrate tomorrow.

Stubbed toes and Mantras

One more day in Toronto! I’m heading home tomorrow. The trip has been interesting and tiring. I’m currently nursing a ripped up toe from stubbing it in the gym on Monday so running is tough right now. I nearly took all the skin off of the tip of my big toe so needless to say it’s kind of sensitive. But I’m tough, and I’ll survive.
Well seeing how I’m still traveling, I’ve had some time to read up on a few of my favorite periodicals, namely Runner’s World and Bicycling. A couple of articles have resonated with me. If you haven’t read RW yet, pick it up and read the article entitled “Choice Words.” It’s a piece discussing the conversations you have with yourself and the mantras you repeat to yourself while running or whatever.
I talk to myself constantly. Throughout my training I continue to give myself little psychological tests. I know that attitude has a lot to do with how I perform. I’ve seen it first hand, none so much as in the Frantic Frog Tri last year. I was able to create a mindset that I believe helped me put in my best time for a Sprint Tri to date.
So let’s start there. Do you have mantras that you use to get you through a hard session? Do you talk to yourself? Throw out some mental feelers? What seems to help?
After reading the article, I found one that I’m going to take with me for my next race. Before the Chicago Marathon, Deena Kastor’s coach said to her, “Today, define yourself.” You know, I’d like to make that my mantra each day of my life to tell you the truth. Some days I know I’ll wake up and hope that my crappy attitude doesn’t define me. I’ll hope that I just make it through the day, but most days will be days that I want to set myself aside from the rest by working a bit harder and pushing myself to my full potential not just as a Triathlete, but as a husband, employee, and friend.
So give it a shot. Find a mantra that works for you and use it to define yourself today.

O Canada - Why doth thou request my presence?

So hello from Toronto. It's not quite as sunny and bright as this picture would have you believe. In fact, it's nasty, rainy, and cold - more so than any Alabamian should have to endure.

I'm up here for work for a few days. Nonetheless, I am relentless in my pursuit to not miss out on training. I made it out on the road this morning before my flight left B'ham. It was actually a great ride. I went out to the Powerman course again to familiarize myself with the course. I want to know when to push it and when to sit back and small ring it. I'm feeling better about the race than I did previously. My brick on Sunday had a lot to do with that. Tomorrow, I'll be getting up a little earlier than I need to for a morning jog. We'll see what this town looks like from foot.

I did visit the CN Tower while I was here. I had dinner at the top which had an incredible view of the city and the "lake." Somehow I ended up sneaking into the Skydome where the Blue Jays play. I just walked around like I knew what I was doing. Off to bed now to rest up for more adventures. Stay tuned.

Uggh...

I'm sure this picture will get the point across as to what's going on with me right now. I went to the Lake yesterday and had a fish fry with my folks. Due to this triathlon crap, I'd cut fried foods out of my diet. Now apparently, the ole stomach doesn't approve when I have the occasional piece of fried fish followed by a crispy hush puppy. I'm glad it doesn't treat me this bad after beer.

Weekend workouts:

Sat: 5 mile run / 17 mile ride

Sun: 17 mile ride/ 8 mile run