Stroke It, Ride It, Pound It, Drink It!

“Pain is temporary.  It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place.  If I quit, however, it lasts forever” – Lance Armstrong

 

     For those that have never raced, what I like to call, ‘The Party Tri’, in Rocky Point Mexico, you’re missing out!  Not only do you get to swim in a section of the Ocean right in front of the Las Palomas resort on Sandy Beach, bike on a private paved road, and run on a private golf course, you finish on the beach……all after a nice morning of sleeping in because the race doesn’t start until 8:30am!  In 2013, I raced the sprint distance and ended up 3^rd Overall, after they discovered two athletes ahead of me cut the course.  My prize……a nice large bottle of tequila!...oh yeah and a finisher’s shirt and medal.  But you can’t drink the medal!

     Since 2013, I know the race had picked up some popularity, so the field would definitely be deeper and more challenging.  I love a good a challenge!  My goal for 2015 was to leave it all on the beach and see what happens………

     The stage: A 500 meter open water Ocean swim in the Gulf of Mexico.  A cool water temp of about 70 degrees; a 9.4 mile bike on a private flat and fast road with possible head winds on the turnaround; and a challenging 3.1 mile run over a hilly private golf course ending with a 100 meter beach finish.  As participants cross the finish line they will be handed the appropriate hydration……A CERVEZA!  The 2015 motto: Stroke It, Ride It, Pound It, Drink It!!

The Swim:  What a beautiful morning it was in sunny Mexico!  The days leading up to the race were actually a little chilly and windy.  Friday night at our condo, the wind was so bad we were forced to move the patio furniture off the patio in fear it would literally get carried away.  By Saturday morning the chill in the air was gone and the wind was much more reasonable.

     Unique about this race was the start time of 8:30am.  An earlier start than years prior, but I was able to sleep in just a bit!  Leading up to the race, the open water was unforgiving and the morning prior to the start was no different.  The white caps on the waves were visible and the break in the water stretched about 100 meters off shore.  The swim course for both the sprint and Olympic course was slightly adjusted due to the possible danger the water posed, but the overall distance for each remained the same.  For the sprint course it remained one loop in the shape of a triangle covering 500 meters.  For the Olympic course it was a two loop swim with a short run in between. 

     I lined up on the front line next to, fellow ONE Multisport competitor, Maurice Khoury.  Despite knowing my swim was my weakness, I was confident the swim would be a challenge for all competitors.  3…2…1…GO!  We ran our way to the shore line.  The coast of the Gulf is unlike most other Oceans in that the water level doesn’t drop as quickly.  Knowing this, I ran out at least 50 meters even before I began swimming.  Fighting through the waves, I could see others starting to swim and finding the ground was still just knee deep.  Once I began to swim, I was graciously greeted by, what felt like 10 foot waves!  Holy shit!  

     Although, it felt like I was being pushed back faster than I was moving forward I kept moving and spent most of my time focused on the change in wave structure.  Swimming in the ocean, you must understand when the wave forms a white cap, you are better to swim under the wave rather than fight to the top.  When the wave no longer forms a white cap, you simply swim over the top trying not to let the momentum of your stroke be affected. 

 

     Once I reached the turnaround buoy, I was definitely struggling for a good breath.  Unfortunately, while swimming in this type of environment I was breathing whenever the opportunity presented itself.  Once I sighted the shore from the turnaround, I knew the waves were now on my side, and I used the current to recover and pick up speed.

     As I neared the shore, I could see the Ocean floor.  As soon as my hands began scraping the bottom, I stood and began to run out towards transition.  I could see three athletes ahead of me, one of them being Maurice.  As I exited the water, I passed one of the athletes still struggling to gain momentum to begin running towards the hill that leads to T1.  I made my way out of the water as I stripped the top part of my wetsuit down to my waist.  

     Unique about this race, I chose not to wear my Garmin on my wrist leaving it on my bike for ease of transition.  So, all I knew at this point is I was in third place out of the water!  My heart rate was already elevated by the time I reached the bottom of hill leading into T1, but there was no time to recover. 

   

*Swim Time – 8:49*

T1:  As I crested the hill that led to T1, it felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest!  I entered T1 and quickly moved to my bike rack and stripped my wetsuit and strapped on my helmet.  Another fellow ONE competitor, Garey Bryant, was racked right beside me and jokingly asked if he could draft off of me for a few miles.  I laughed with the little breath I had, and said ‘sure, let’s go!’.  I grabbed my bike and was off!

*T1 Time – 1:08*

The Bike:  I slipped into my shoes which were already strapped on my bike and quickly fastened my feet into place.  I took a quick drink of my Skratch, leaving a little better taste in my mouth than salt from the Ocean.  

     The first two miles of the bike were over rough road and extremely technical.  Given the condition of the road in combination with the turns that lead out to the smoother part of the bike course, I was unable to settle in to top speed right away.  I used this time to spin out my legs and prepare for my game of catch up with my fellow podium thief’s.  Right out of T1, just before the roundabout, I passed Maurice.  I now was in second place and looking for the lead spot!  Maurice went on to place 17^th overall and 3^rd in his age group……good job buddy! 

     After I cleared the first two miles of rough road, the bike course turned north onto a smooth straightaway with the wind at my back.  I now saw the lead rider about a mile ahead of my position.  I settled in and used the tailwind to my advantage knowing I would be battling it at the turnaround.  So many weeks I spent on Legacy Boulevard doing mile repeats at threshold pace……this was just another workout and my legs were responding perfectly.  I topped out just under 27 mph as I saw the gap between the lead rider and I quickly decreasing.

     With the road being marked every mile, I passed the 4-mile marker and I saw a set of arches in the distance signifying the turnaround.  The distance between the lead rider and I had disintegrated to just a few 100 meters, and just as he slowed to negotiate the sharp turn, he looked back and saw me coming in hot!....I have you now!  We both slowed our speed to almost a walk due to the fact the turnaround was a sharp U-turn providing room for only one biker to turn at a time.

     As the lead rider made his turn, I could see the last name on his custom race kit; RAMOS.  Luis Ramos was first out of the water with a phenomenal swim time of 7:58, and an even smoother T1 time of less than a minute.  Luis went on to finish 3^rd overall and 1^st in his age group (M20-24).  I had made up almost a minute on him just in the first 5 miles of the bike.  Now, came the trek back to T2 into a slight head wind.  The real question would be if Luis could hold his pace despite the resistance.  About 50 meters after the turnaround, I passed Luis, moving into 1^st place.  I tucked in and dropped a gear to keep my cadence around 90 rpm in order not to burn out my legs.

     As I made my way back towards the Las Palomas Resort, I could see there were about three other athletes nearing the turnaround right on my ass!  One of them was Garey in 3^rd place……there was no time to recover; I now pushed the pace to see if the others could hang.  Garey went on to finish 7^th overall and 1^st in his age group (M35-39).

     Despite a slight headwind, I was still able to manage a 22 mph pace, and after a few minutes I turned to see how Luis was riding……I saw NO ONE!  I couldn’t believe it, but still there was no time to recover!

     Into the last two miles of the bike and back onto rough road, I neared T2.  I again, turned to see where the other riders were, but I saw no one.  Onto the resort property, spun out my legs and unstrapped my shoes loosening my feet.  I prepared to dismount.   

*Bike Time – 24:42*

T2: Without any loss of movement, I hopped off my bike barefoot and hit the ground running.  I racked my bike, slipped into my running shoes, and grabbed my signature orange colored ONE Elite Bondi Band.  I turned to make my way to the running path and could see the 5K and 10K run crowd preparing to be let off onto the course……shit!  I had to get out ahead of these runners before the slower runners clogged the golf cart path.  As I turned to the run-out, other athletes were exiting the transition, as their attention was drawn towards the announcer prepping the Rocky Point run crowd.  After dodging a few athletes out of T2, I hit the golf cart path just as they started the run……jackpot!  Now, I had nothing but open path ahead.  T2 done!

*T2 Time – 0:47*

The Run:  As I hit the path, I looked back into transition and saw none of my followers.  I didn’t know it at the time, but I had built about a three minute lead on second place.  Despite not seeing any other athletes breaking into T2, I pushed up the first of many little hilly turns.  After cresting the first of these, I looked back and saw the lead 5K runner about 200 meters behind me……he’s moving pretty good I thought.  It appeared he would catch me within the first mile, so I reeled him in gradually in order to use him as my carrot for the run!  I figured I would let him settle into his pace and then see if I could pace him.  Ultimately, the lead runner passed me, and I ended up pacing him all the way to the finish.  

     The run course was not necessarily a course where I would set a run split PR, but it had its speedy sections!  A lot of little hills and a lot of little turns…not my favorite, but I was able to maintain a sub 6:30 pace.  As I reached the last mile of the run, the course turned back towards the resort, and this was my first opportunity since T2 to see who was on my tail.  As I looked across the golf course, it became difficult to visually search through the crowd of runners for any type of triathlete.  I kept seeing waves of athletes wearing running singlets and t-shirts……but no race kits.  I kept looking for Luis in his bright blue custom race kit, but still nothing.  What I would come to find out is that the race for 2^nd and 3^rd place was still three minutes behind me.

     Just as the path began to level out, the course turned onto a nearby putting green.  I could see the swim-out inflatable arch just over the green and zeroed in on the finish chute that led to the beach.  My body was screaming for relief but my legs kept turning over.  

     Just as the lead 5K runner breached the swim-out arch, he stopped and started looking around.  I closed my distance on him almost instantly, but didn’t even have enough breath to tell him to keep running!  Luckily, a nearby spectator directed him towards the beach where the finish chute turned onto the sand just on the other side of the resort.  He turned and began sprinting.  I followed him into the finish chute and made my turn onto the beach.  

     As I made the final turn, I hit the sand.  I could hear the roar of a thirsty crowd awaiting the intake of finishers!  The sooner the race ends, the sooner the kegs are cracked!!  As always I crossed the finish line sporting my signature race pose……’And here comes Branden Turley from ONE Multisport finishing 1^st overall in the men’s sprint race!’.

*Run Time – 20:23*

**Finish Time – 55:50**

***1^ST Overall, 1^st in Age Group (M30-34)***  

               

     For the first time in my racing career, I felt what it was like to have the overall lead, even if it was for a short amount of time.  The question always becomes, ‘who can endure more?’.  I knew from the start of the swim, I could not stop.  I had confidence I could play with the lead athletes, but today I even amazed myself.  A sprint race requires not only the ability to push your threshold, but to understand time is everything and every movement on the course remains vital to the finish.  As with all my races, I took away new experiences and valuable data.  I learned today, I could play with the big boys!

      At the top of the podium, I was given a basket filled with two large bottles of tequila, Dick’s margarita mix, and several limes to complement my race day margarita!  Thank you to all my ONE Elite sponsors; Endurance Rehab, Destination Kona, Fuel to the Finish, Biotec Wellness, Scottsdale Health Magazine, Lifetime Athletic, Lush Burger, Integrated Orthopedics, Pei Wei, and John T Dean with Realty ONE. 

     Thank you to John Reich, run coach extraordinaire of the Phoenix Free Soles run club, Jozsef Major with Major Tri Coaching, and Valerie Grosso RD with Nutrition by Val.  Each of you were incremental in my success and very first overall first place finish. 

     I would also like to thank Human Movement for putting on another awesome race weekend in Rocky Point, MX.  Thank you to Bettina and Gus with Race Lab for supporting ONE of the best races south of the border.  Thank you to Under Armour for branding the most awesome race shirt I have ever worn post-race!!

     

     Even though the pre-race festivities quickly, the post-race fiesta stretched well into the day and night.  We enjoyed a hill top view as the sun set during dinner with friends and family at La Casa De Capitan.  After dinner we ventured out for a night cap margarita at Wrecked at the Reef.  Our Rocky Point weekend was filled with friends, family, and a little bit of racing!  What better way to make our race-cation memorable?  Ultimately, we all decided this would be an annual event, as Joszef and I were almost required to return to defend our 1^st place titles!! 

     Next up on the racing agenda I move to the pines!  Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival coming up at the end of May!  Join the ONE Multiport family and friends as we have a blast racing fast in Show Low!  

Why Do You Train?

Why Do You Train? 

     by Branden Turley, ONE Elite Team Athlete

      

     The days following the Marquee Triathlon were about recovery.  Despite feeling fine the next day, my body was still in need of recovery.  Despite the distance of the race and time spent at threshold pace, there is still a need to focus on recovery and nutrition. 

 

Karp (2015) refers to recovery as one of the most overlooked aspects of training.  While most athletes and coaches focus on the workouts, improvements in fitness occur during the recovery period in between training sessions.  It has been shown that positive physiological adaptations to training occur when there is a balance between stress and recovery.  When stress is applied to the body in small doses the body continues to adapt.  When the stress load is too severe, or applied in large doses with not enough recovery, injury can result.  The most effective adaptations occur when an athlete can recover from the previous workout prior to the continuation of additional stress in the form of training (Karp, 2015).

     The old adage of ‘no pain, no gain’ is accurate to a certain degree.  But nowadays, training should be approached from a more scientific standpoint. In order to make the ‘gain’, there will be a little ‘pain’.  But pain should be followed with a little R&R!     

     Tuesday, back on the bike for some easy hill repeats with Jozsef and Val, we began to assess the next series of training volume and upcoming changes in our training sessions.  After Rocky Point at the end of April, my volume will increase as the focus of training shifts from short course to long course.  After discussing several different types of changes to my training sessions, I began to think about training in general.  This made me ask the question, ‘why do I train, what is my intention?’.

     So many times I hear other athletes talk about their struggles with racing and the disappointment with race results.  With so much emphasis on racing in this sport I ask, ‘how is your training?’.  I have found many other athletes spend more time focusing on his/her racing than on his/her training.  If you don’t train for your goals, how do you expect to reach them?

     Racing should be the culmination of your training.  In other words, racing is the final exam and training is the coursework.  If you don’t train to race then you won’t race well.  With so much going on in the sport of triathlon, it is challenging enough to find the time to devote to swimming, biking, and running so many of us forget about the fourth and fifth discipline of this sport; recovery and nutrition.  Unfortunately, recovery and nutrition seem to be pushed to the bottom of the priority list as swimming, biking, and running become a necessity.  In addition to the loss of recovery and poor nutrition, athletes lose time throughout their week as life gets in the way.  They find themselves struggling to make the training time and soon it becomes about training hard not smart.  Training sessions should be about quality, not quantity.  

     Racing is more than just pushing yourself for the joy of accomplishment.  Racing should be a way to gauge your fitness as it pertains to your time spent training.  Every workout should have a purpose, an intention.  Each training session provides an opportunity to create fitness, but only if the training session is followed with an adequate amount of recovery and nutrition.  What do you expect to gain from your training sessions?  If you can’t answer the question before the training begins, then ask yourself ‘why do I train?’. 

     We are all creatures of habit, and with so many goals for our race season, we need to understand our fitness gains come from the time spent not training!.....That’s right!  Our improvement in strength, speed, and endurance comes from the time spent not training!

 

So, next time you dive in, saddle up, hit the road, or just live to train, ask yourself;

-    - What am I recovering from?

-    - What is the purpose of this training?

-   - What do you expect to gain from this training?

References:

Karp, J. (2015).  The art of post-workout recovery.  Retrieved from www.active.com

2015 Collegiate Nationals Race Report

This last weekend marked the end of my collegiate triathlon experience at the 2015 USAT Collegiate National Championships in, Clemson SC. A lot of training and preparation went into this race, as it was my "A" race for the spring.
My team and I flew into Atlanta on Wednesday, where we spent the night. The next morning we made the drive to Clemson. However, on the way there we encountered a literal road block. Just a half a mile ahead of us, a box truck had flipped over on the highway blocking the road entirely. We sat there for around three hours, and I did a short run to pass the time. Once we were on the move again we made it to Clemson without a problem, and we were able to check in.
The next couple of days before the race we did our normal pre-race workouts, and just tried to relax as much as possible. The weather was beautiful the days leading up to the race, but race day turned out to be a very different story.

Race Day:
When we got to the race venue on race day we knew we were in for a very wet race. It was only drizzling for check in and the swim, but it was pouring once I was on the bike.

Swim:
The swim always is the toughest part of a triathlon for me. It's all about limiting my losses, and getting on my bike as quickly as possible. I ended up having an ok swim, with a time of 24:05 for the 1500m. I was hoping for a time under 23 minutes, but I put that behind me and I set to work on the bike.

Bike:
By this time it was absolutely pouring. T1 was all muddy, and when I put my helmet on I was surprised with the amount of water the had accumulated in the helmet, which ended up splashing me in the face. The bike course was a pretty good match for me with a 3 lap rolling hills course. I knew I had time to make up so I put the hammer down, and began to pass a lot of people. I have never biked so hard in a triathlon before, and it resulted in a time of 58:37 for the 40k, which was the 38th best time. I was very happy with my bike split, and I was looking forward to the run.

Run:
The run course was one of the most difficult run courses I have ever done. We basically had to climb and descend this pretty steep hill four times. On the first lap I was still feeling good and was running around my goal pace of 6min/mi. The next and final lap is where those hills really began to hurt. My pace started dropping to around 6:20/mi and I was able to hold that until the finish. My quads and hamstrings were so sore on the last lap, and I felt like I was barely moving. Coming into the finishing shoot I crossed the finish line with a run time of 38:10 and an overall time of 2:04:25, a PR. When I crossed the finish line I was greeted by my girlfriend, and I was so relieved that the run was over.

This race was a great finale for my time competing in collegiate triathlon. I would like to thank everyone that has supported me through this time. Specifically my dad, who always helped me no matter the cost. Valdora Cycles, who gave me a super fast bike to race on, and all the other ONE Elite Sponsors:
ONE Multisport
Lifetime Fitness
Destination Kona
Fuel to the Finish
Lush Burger
Endurance Rehab
Pei Wei
My Oatmeal
Biotec Wellness
Integrated Orthopedics
Scottsdale Health Magazine.

All of this wouldn't have been possible without all the help I've received. Thank you so much.

The next big race I want to do is Leadville 100 mountain bike race. I need to qualify for Leadville at a qualify race over the summer. I can either do Fire Road 100k mtb or Silver Rush 50.
I am the strongest I have ever been, and I'm really excited to see how the rest of my season progresses.

2015 Lifetime Fitness Marquee Sprint Triathlon Race Report: Whitesides

Lifetime Fitness Marquee Sprint Triathlon was a great way to start off the 2015 season. I tried a few new tricks. Here are a couple of learnings:

·    Most of my high priority races are either 140.6 or 70.3 miles long which requires racing at a moderate effort for a long time. A 16 mile sprint triathlon is a nice way to shake-up the intensity and practice quick transitions.

·    I put significant effort into the swim and bike segments with the intention of moderating my effort on the run which is opposite my normal race strategy. The result was a nice bike split: about 2 minutes faster than my normal time. I started off the run at a moderate effort but found I had plenty of energy to push through the run at a good pace. The big effort on my bike may have slowed me down by ~20 seconds on the run. Victory in the sport of triathlon is measured by the sum of all segments, including transitions, so my overall finish time improved by ~1:40 min (2:00 min faster on the bike, twenty seconds slower on the run equals 1:40 min improvement). Note, going all out on the bike segment of a long-course triathlon is a colossal bad idea.

·    Working with Coach Elizabeth Waterstraat, my swim times have improved nicely in the pool, however, my swim time in the race was flat despite my best effort. While racing, I noticed that my swim stoke in the pool is different than when I swim in a wetsuit in rough open water. Before my next race, I will practice more in the open water.

·    This was my first race with ONE Multisport. ONE is ONE big family! Incredible support from fellow ONE participants and support crew. Really inspiring.

·    Separate from race strategy, it was a great day to see my kids and wife volunteering at the swim start. Our little girls were the cutest little volunteers holding wave start signs prior to the swim.

·    In the end, I ended up winning my age group and placing 8^th overall. Not a bad way to start off the season.

·    Last, check-out the size of the Lifetime Fitness medals. You could serve turkey dinner on these platters! I’m going to have to add an additional anchor screw to the hanger that holds my medals.