Fiv3 Racing – FIV3 Racing News

November 27, 2017

End of the Offseason, Wrap-up

Tomorrow starts the training for Ironman South Africa! Well actually today does, but I have today as a rest day. Back in the pool for the first time since September and on the bike for more than just fun rides.

The offseason was pretty productive this year. It was ~ 2 months long from my last race in late September until now. South Africa is April 15th so I have a solid 4.5 months to prepare. Some things that I accomplished on my offseason:

1. Lots of rest, no stressing on missed workouts (mostly accomplished) and a break from the trainer and the pool!

2. The run has always been my weakness so I took about a week off here (I believe in 2 weeks a year of time off from the run, typically in 2 one-week blocks). The first month or so was pretty inconsistent, but the last month I ran over 100 miles. My running was mostly base work with some what I like to call “micro-intervals” as given by Coach Liz, http://www.multisportmastery.com. I love these intervals – typically anywhere from :15 to 3:00, they are all about foot speed, run economy and keeping some level of fast running in the training without over taxing the body. I have found over the years that running feels mostly awful if I run less than 20 miles a week. Once over that threshold things are much more enjoyable.

3. Along with the run training I made a trip with my athlete Troy to the UVA Speed Clinic. This was a very useful trip as I learned that the issue with my running was something I hadn’t thought about at all! I know I have swimmers posture, something I have worked on all my life but Max taught me how to work on that in my running! I had been sticking my head/neck too far forward, which caused overstriding and issues I have been experiencing in my hamstrings/hips. With a simple cue of “neck back” my posture was suddenly better with very little muscle engagement and I have noticed I am using more of my posterior chain instead of just being a “quad runner”. This trip also motivated me to get back into yoga as it would help with my postural issues. https://med.virginia.edu/speed-clinic/

4. I also did 10 yoga sessions that were really helpful for strength, flexibility and mobility. And they were a great change of pace from swim, bike run. http://fiv3racing.com/news/index.php/2017/10/26/why-i-do-yoga-in-the-offseason/

5. Probably my biggest limiter other than time is weight. Especially post-baby that last 15 pounds has been sticking. I focused on no sugar, very limited grains, and limited dairy for 30 days and lost 6.5 pounds. I made some new habits – swapping rice with cauliflower rice, eating a banana instead of a granola bar, etc, that were quite helpful with the weight.

Now on to IMSA. I have some big personal goals. I figure if I write about them I will be more likely to make them a priority. So here goes:

PR the Ironman distance. I have done 4 Ironmans, 3 Lake Placids and one Louisville. Other than being hilly one Lake Placid was 4 weeks post broken collarbone, one was less than a year post-baby and the third is my PR when I put up the most training I have ever completed (12:14 in 2011). Louisville I was in great shape but I had a run injury (2012).
Lake Placid 2011

Lake Placid 2016
Get back to my race weight. 10 pounds to go!
Do the training necessary to compete. The last time I did training that I would find suitable to compete well at long course was in 2011/2012. I took 2013-2014 mostly off with IVF/trying to get pregnant and in 2015 I was pregnant with Bode. Since Bode I have averaged in season about 8 hours of training, will need to double that to be competitive. I focused my time on proper execution on limited training since 2015. Now it’s time to tie the execution to training load.
Write about the training every 1-2 weeks. I have learned so much from doing the sport myself. I love coaching races and training others, but there is something about making the sacrifices and doing the work that can’t be replicated watching others.
Balance family, work and training. When training put the focus on training, when not training put the focus on work or family. Multitasking only goes so far, productivity is the goal.
Find a masters program I really love. I really enjoy the social aspect of it, but I need to do a daytime masters program as mornings and evenings are mostly focused on Bode. I am going to try a lunchtime program 2x a week in January. Swimming is clearly my strength, but my best long course fitness came when I swam a lot.
Learn to love long rides on zwift/kickr and get outside when it’s cold but dry. This is going to be a challenge. The garage is setup with tv/plex/treadmill/kickr/trx etc so I really have no excuse.
Keep the running going. I’m happy where it is right now and hope with the 10 pound weight loss that it continues to go well.

October 10, 2017October 10, 2017

2017 Ironman World Championships Fiv3 Athlete Preview!

We are excited for our four Fiv3 Racing athletes racing in Kona at the 2017 Ironman World Championships! Here is a little preview of who they are and how they got to the Big Island!

First up in the qualifying year was Coach Kevin Wright! He raced at Ironman Wisconsin and finished 2nd OA, 1st AG with a 9:14 and a 2:51 run split that was the fastest of the day! Next Ironman up he raced the South American Ironman Championships at Ironman Brazil and again finished 1st AG with a 8:53 and the fastest run split of the day with a 2:49! In fact, Kevin has won his AG and had the fastest amateur run split in each of his 4 non-Kona Ironmans (IMChattanooga ’14, IMLP ’15, IMWisconsin ’16, IMBrazil ’17). We look for big things this year on the Big Island for Kevin as he’s no longer a rookie in Kona (previously raced IMWC ’15)!

Next up was Colonel (ret) Robert Toth! Rob retired from the USAF one week and the next week raced at Ironman Louisville. He had just finished up his first World Championships at the 70.3 Worlds in Australia and was ready to race really well in Louisville. He finished in 2nd AG with a 9:41! A 1 hour and 50 minute PR! Rob had a bit more of a challenging year this year with knee surgery and a move to Fort Worth Texas. He also raced the 70.3 World Championships in Chattanooga and we are excited to watch him race his first Kona!

Our next qualifier was Matt Gentile. Matt is an CEO Executive Challenge Athlete which has a different qualifying path than traditional Age Group qualification. His first Kona qualification was in 2016, Ironman Mont Tremblant with a quick turn around to Kona. This year he raced Ironman Lake Placid with a bit more time to get ready for Hawaii. This training year had its own set of challenges, with a bike crash and back injury prior to Lake Placid causing him to miss some key training and training camps. He raced really well at Lake Placid, winning his division and secured a slot for the second year in a row! There are 27 other XC athletes racing in Kona this year!

Our last Kona Qualifier for 2017 was Jason Davidson who qualified at Ironman Santa Rosa. He finished 3rd AG in a PR time of 9:43! He also had a PR marathon with a 3:15! This is Jason’s second Kona after qualifying in the crazy heat of IMCDA in 2015, where he ran himself from 20th or so place off the bike into 2nd place, including moving up 5 spots in the last 2 miles (never give up!!). Jason has also qualified for the 70.3 Worlds a few times, racing in 2015 (Austria) and 2017 (Chattanooga).

We are really excited for our 4 athletes and can’t wait to track them from home and on the race course!

October 10, 2017

Day to Day Nutrition Lessons from Jesse Kropelnicki Reviewed by Coach Kim Baumgartner

As we approach the end of the season many athletes reflect on their season and either worry about gaining too much weight in the off-season, or regret never getting down to their “race weight” during the season. Most athletes who have problems reaching their race weight goals fall into one of two categories:

They workout to justify calories instead of fueling for performance – leading to less than ideal food choices and improper workout fueling
They are not eating enough which is actually lowering their metabolism and causing their bodies to hold onto those fat stores.

I recently attended an advanced Triathlon Nutrition seminar by Jesse Kropelnicki in September. The seminar focused on two different aspects of nutrition – day-to day nutrition and fueling strategies. I wanted to share with you some perspectives on day-to-day nutrition to help you develop healthy eating habits to not only stay healthy and lean, but to boost immunity and help you perform better and recover from workouts better.

Like other “diets” such as Paleo, Whole 30 etc, Kropelnicki recommends focusing on eating “CORE” foods that humans have evolved on for millions of years: “Core” Refers to foods that are all natural, with nothing chemically altered or processed. This helps keep blood sugar stable while delivering enough vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to speed recovery and boost performance.

CORE foods include: lean means fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, healthy oils, lean meats, legumes, and lean dairy while avoiding processed foods with higher glycemic indexes such as breads, pasta and sweets. Essentially foods with high nutrient density for recovery between workouts and are low glycemic to help keep blood sugar stability throughout the day while not exercising. These foods also stimulate recovery with protein and provide plenty of vitamin and minerals as well as antioxidants to help protect your cells from free radicals. A few other tips from Kropelnicki include: Eating very frequently throughout the day with a maximum of 2-3 hours between feedings to help keep blood sugar stable and provide a constant supply of nutrients available for muscle recovery. Additionally he recommends reducing the fasting window at night by having a protein shake or some other source of lean protein immediately before bed and something the moment you wake up.

Kropelnicki’s strategy, however, is much less restrictive and focuses more on nutrient value rather than whole categories of foods. You’ll notice that on his list are included legumes and lean dairy which are considered “off-limits” for several other plans. The Core diet takes into consideration that sometimes life gets in the way and those natural foods aren’t readily available. For those times when you must resort to “man-made” foods (foods with a label – generally the middle of the grocery store), use the core ratio to determine suitability. Add total carbs (g) and total sugar (g) then subtract fiber (g). Divide this by the sum of Fat and Protein. If the result is less than 2, then it’s a core friendly food! The only caveat is to ensure that the total Saturated Fat is less than 5g total. It is however key to remember that this is a “backup” and should not be your first choice for food!

So to sum things up – for those time throughout the day (does not include 1 hour pre workout to the recovery period post workout) in between workouts or rest days:

Eat often (every 2-3 hours)
Minimize overnight fasting period by eating lean protein right before bed, and again the moment you wake up…. DON’T skip breakfast or routinely do “fasting” workouts. Get that metabolism going!
Focus on CORE foods and stay away from processed/man-made foods. Look at every bagel or piece of bread or cookie as a missed opportunity for nutrient dense fruits, veggies or lean meats!

Coach Kim’s take: Having had much success myself following Paleo for athletes, I’m happy to see some of the same principals applied but also accounting for those times when you are in a pinch without access to paleo friendly foods as that always stressed me out! When following Paleo guidelines, I absolutely felt like I ate a lot more fruits and veggies, that I slept better, recovered much faster which helped me push harder during workouts. Of course like any lifestyle change – its important to remember not to be too hard on yourself – striving for 100% perfection can be exhausting and everyone slips up now and then. Those perfectionists tend to take those slip ups a lot harder. Really striving for 80/20 or even 90/10 is a much better plan that will help you stay lean and fit, fuel recovery and regeneration and still allow you a few indulgences now and then!

September 29, 2017September 29, 2017

Kona Thoughts by Nathan Rickman

As fall approaches and many of us are winding down our triathlon season, the biggest and most iconic race in our sport nears. For those that have earned the right to be in the water at Dig Me Beach when the cannon goes off, you need to figure out why you are there and what you are looking to accomplish. There are only two reasons as far as I am concerned. Some will say there are plenty of areas in between and maybe there are, but for me it is binary, but then again, some say I am little messed up in the head.

Are you looking to relish the moment, take a victory lap, be smart and do the best you can? Or…
Are you willing to turn yourself inside out, throw caution to wind and do something special, something that you wouldn’t have thought you were capable of?

If the former, no shame in that. Great accomplishment and achievement making it to the big island and hanging out with the world’s best. You are roughly the top 2% of those that do this sport just by qualifying. You have 17 hours to finish and you will not be alone. Enjoy your day.

If the latter, you are there to match yourself up against the hardest headed, self-motivated and driven type A’s in the world. For me, this is why I compete. If I am going to enter a race; it is a race after all; I am going to do everything I can to cross that finish line knowing I had nothing else left to give on that day. That may mean crashing and burning and having a historic meltdown and has always resulted in me going to the medical tent after this race. But maybe, just maybe, that may mean doing something that you never thought possible. The human body is capable of so much more than we realize and can comprehend. It is our minds’ that get in the way of achieving our full potential. Every time I hear, I need to ride “my watts” or I can’t go over “X”, a piece of me dies. I am not suggesting to go FTP from the gun, but we should be racing to see what our potential is. Often times, that may mean we fail, but on that special day, it will mean you are able to accomplish what you previously thought impossible. That is what motivates me and should motivate you. To be great and do what you previously thought unachievable, it needs to hurt. You need to second guess yourself. You need to think this is insane and there is no way you can maintain this. If you go easier because the conditions are harder, then you have already lost. This is the World Championships – you should be going harder! It should be tougher than anything you have experienced. It is tougher for everyone and if you are able to mentally push through that, you will feel something you have never felt before. For me, nothing is worse than not giving every ounce that I had. The sporting events where I have not laid it on the line or let up, I lay in bed thinking about at night. The what if, the should’ve been moments – those are the ones that will haunt me until the day I die. You need to embrace the pain and learn how to suffer. Only then can you truly achieve what you are capable of. The individuals that perform the best are the ones willing to take that chance and go further than they ever thought possible. Every race is not going to be their race, but the day that is their day, is the day that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

With that – my advice is to get in the mix in the swim and push the bike. The harder you ride, the less the wind affects you. You need to be alert but if you are not pushing yourself, then you will never know what was possible. If you are riding hard, the cross winds, head winds and swirling winds are just that and as everyone else is thinking about them, you are passing them. Do not skip an aid station and force yourself to drink more than you ever had. You will lose more hydration and electrolytes than you can replace, so don’t miss an opportunity to get what you can in. For the run, steady and strong. Feed off the energy of the island, those cheering you on and your competitors. Get something to drink (multiple drinks) at every aid station and find a reason to embrace the pain. For some it is memories where you have excelled that make you feel good, for others, it is times where you didn’t achieve what you were capable of that motivate you. Figure out what works for you and find a gear you didn’t know you had. It is hot for everyone, embrace it and push on. While others are embracing the last mile and taking in the atmosphere, you are putting time on your competitors, digging deep and ensuring you do not leave a second on the course as there will be plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere after you have crossed that line.

Of course, I will be a case deep listening to the Boss singing Glory Days on repeat as you all run down Ali’i Drive in two weeks.

September 19, 2017September 20, 2017

70.3 Worlds RR – Coach Shelly

Back in the pre-Bode days I tried quite a few times to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. I got “kind of” close but never met my goal. After Bode, when he was 6 months old, I qualified in my first race back for the 2016 Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Australia. I was shocked when a slot made it to me and we took it not yet realizing the race was on Bode’s first birthday. Australia was really a fabulous experience and I hoped to qualify again one day. We decided after I had done three 70.3s and Ironman Lake Placid in 2016 that 2017 would be a year of Sprints. That was until I got a Women for Tri slot for my All World Athlete ranking back in February. Hell yes I will take a slot!

I had been doing no biking or swimming and very little running (since Australia!!!) back in February and quickly got back on board with Coach Liz (Multisport Mastery). We started again April 1st with a season laid out as 70.3 Worlds as my “A” race of the year, with a few sprints and the Bay Swim in the spring race season.

The sprints and the bay swim went well. I was really enjoying my training for the fast stuff, averaging between 6 hours (hello sick baby or coaching training camps) to 11 hours. Very reasonable, I won my Age group in the 3 sprints I completed and was happy with my bay swim time.

In July it was time to get serious about my training, both Bode and I got pretty sick on top of that we had a family vacation. That month was a bust.

Driving around Deep Creek on the Ladybug

August 1st I was ready to GO! I had a great month and some of my most solid training post baby! 10-14 hours and my training was really focused. The highlight of that month was the training we did at Deep Creek at Nathan’s late summer training camp. I never felt so prepared for hills that I would face in Chattanooga between Deep Creek and the couple of rides we did on Skyline. My run was also going quite well for me – hitting a 100 mile month for August.

Enjoying some big ice cream post lots of working out

Race week came and we traveled half way down to the race on Wednesday night and the rest the next morning with a few of my athletes that were racing. When we arrived on Thursday we went straight to packet pickup, ate a bunch of pizza at Mellow Mushroom and then headed over to our house on Lookout Mountain. The house was great – we had hang gliders flying right over the house – the views were spectacular!

Hang gliders so close you could almost talk to the person

It was a little challenging race week as I was racing with two of my athletes on Saturday (Cindy and Denise) and 7 others were racing on Sunday (Chuck, Nathan, Trey, Jason, Kevin, Michael and Rob). I also had a few doing Ironmans all over the world as well as the big event at home, the Reston World Championships! I was a little scattered but tried to stay focused on the race.

Saturday morning I woke up pretty positive and excited to race. For maybe the first time I was excited the swim was wetsuit legal as I really have found a groove with my new Roka wetsuit. I went to the swim start, made a few friends pre-race and was happy to be in the first AG wave as we had a front line view of the Pro start! I had decided as part of my race plan to take the first half of the race like a training day. Not to overdo it in the swim or the first half.

SWIM 33:24 – 34th AG

I seeded myself right in the middle of the rolling wave start. This format was great – very little contact and the current did not seem that bad. The water temp/air temp were just perfect. One of the most enjoyable swims I can remember. Kept it easy and relaxed and came out with my heart rate not too high.

T1 – 4:56

Transitions at both of the 70.3 Worlds I have done are quite long. Lots of athletes and you do bike and run gear bags like an Ironman. There were wetsuit strippers and everything went calmly until I tried to put my bike shoes back into the bag instead of carrying them to my bike (long run, chose to run barefoot until my bike).

BIKE 3:03:31 – 94th AG

I took the first 5 miles VERY easy. I honestly didn’t feel that good. I think you want to feel perfect the whole race but it just doesn’t happen. Kept telling myself, just take it easy and it will improve. Good news is it did. I loved the climb at this race. It was not easy, but never felt hard. I had told myself that I was going to get passed a lot on the climb and it definitely happened. Combination of a speedier than average swim and a climb (not my strength from a height/weight perspective) – this was going to happen. And it did! I only got passed for the first 15 or so miles! And that’s ok – I told myself I would see some later – and I did. I wanted to keep my watts as low as possible. I was at ~75% FTP for the first 5 miles. At the top of the climb I was at 91% FTP – oops I went as easy as possible and it was still quite high. The top of the mountain was rollers. The highlight of the ride for sure was when my guys came out to the course, took off their shirts and shook them like a lasso over their heads. I could hear ladies behind me hooting and hollering. Fun!

I was really excited for the downhill – as I had driven it and the guys had given me a report when they had ridden it the day before. I knew I could go down it brake-less and that most athletes were going to be focused on the uphill and not how to optimize speed in this section. Oh and this is a place my height/weight combination is a big help! I passed a ton of Ladies here. This is when the passing started – and passing many that passed me on the uphill. Was very fun!

The rest of the ride I honestly felt better than I have ever in a 70.3 I was fueled, excited and just having fun. Oh and I was still passing as many as passed me which is a much more positive race experience! I ended up drinking 4 bottles (2 osmo, 2 GE) and eating 3/4 of a powerbar, 6 salt stick tabs and 50mg of a caffeine pill at mile 40. I was singing “Drop it Like it’s Hot” in my head. And I did – ended up at 86% FTP for the ride – way above goal.

T2 – 1:55

This one was fast. Bike catchers, got my shoes on and left. In retrospect I was quite speedy and made up a tiny bit of time here.

RUN 2:02:25 – 173 AG

My goal for this one was sub-2. Which I knew with the heat/hills was going to be a huge challenge. My 70.3 PR is 1:53 on a very flat course and this was pre-baby (aka when I used to train A TON MORE). At Australia last year I ran a 2:06 on a cooler day, much easier course. I was REALLY happy with this run. Especially with the watts I rode on the bike! From the start my legs felt fantastic.

I kept the first out and back controlled, but was hard as there was a ton of crowd there. The first big hill loomed and definitely ran it a bit too hard (my max heart rate for the entire race!). At the 4 mile mark I was still sub 9 and I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to keep that kind of pace on the relentless hills but I did my best to keep pushing. It was great to see Scott and Kevin so many times on the course! And I got another “show” from the guys when I went over the veterans bridge – SO FUN!

I sometimes find my mind wandering on the race course – especially when the run gets hard but this time I tried to focus on finding tips and things I could tell my athletes that were racing the next day. The format of the ladies getting to race first certainly helped me to focus on what I could tell the guys for the next day.

Not much to say here but the run hurt like it should and I don’t feel like I could have gotten much more time out of this race than I did. My midpack finish was actually another one of my goals for this race. I know that my racing is not 100% my priority anymore between my family and my athletes but I am glad I can still do these things and really enjoy them. I really focus on making smart execution plans/decisions and following them through. Do the little things right that are easier to implement than another 5 hours of training a week. Many thanks to Coach Liz who helps me focus the time I do have. As always thanks to Scott for not only enabling this crazy life we have but also being my number one supporter!

Coach-Spectating on Sunday:

The celebrations after the race were quite epic as well!