RTB is tapping the brains of our experts and posting articles on stuff you might want to learn about. This week’s article by Karen Nolting is about Strength Training in the off-season. Karen will also be teaching a free strength training class at the Kent Easthill Physical Therapy gym on October 7th at 7:00pm. (If you aren’t an RTB member, it’s $10 though….) Find the article and class here: http://weraisethebar.com/strength092710.html. THANKS KAREN!!!
Does he look skinny to you? I think he looks a little skinny
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Ed Clarke in the top 10 off the bike and went in the 2nd wave 5 min back. Trev about 5-10 min behind Ed. Got some KBA folks looking great out here too- perfect day
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Phone books came today. It seems that dex doesn’t know everything – and it looks like I’ll be getting questions for Raise the Bar & Grill for the next year. So, in answer to those questions I’ll get on my personal cell phone (sigh) here is a quick reference:
No, we don’t have live music on weeknights.
No, we aren’t hiring bartenders right now but would you like to join a neat triathlon team?
Yes, we would like to buy a block of Thunderbirds tickets and want the ones that come with free beer
Yes, we do need pint glasses – check back with me in June
Yes, we can time your beer-guzzling contest. Would you like chip-timing and a finish line?
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From Ardis Bow – coordinator of the swim angel program:
There often comes a time in a veteran triathlete's or veteran swimmer’s career when they feel the need to give back to the sport, to their fellow sister triathletes. One of the most rewarding ways to give back is to volunteer to be a BIC® Soleil® Swim Sister. This you know because you have generously give of your time and enthusiastic spirit in the past! You all made up one FANTASTIC Angel TEAM!!!
You are receiving this call out because we are still seeking potential BIC Soleil Swim Sisters for the Trek Women Triathlon Series race this weekend in Seattle. If you haven't signed up already and would like to volunteer or you know of a qualified women who would be interested in volunteering please email me with the appropriate contact information.
Thank you for your ongoing support of the DTS BIC Soleil Swim Angel and TWTS BIC Soleil Swim Sisters Programs. I am honored to call you my "sistas" : )!
namaste
ardis
Ardis Bow
ardis@thexxtramilellc.com
National Coordinator
Danskin Triathlon Series BIC© Soleil© Swim Angel Program
Trek Women Triathlon Series BIC© Soleil© Swim Sister Program Trek Women Triathlon Series
www.trekwomenstriathlonseries.com The Danskin Triathlon Series
www.Danskintriathlon.net
This is so inspirational – READ IT!
http://www.matt-hoover.com/finding-inspiration-in-finishing-last/
Nick has had a FULL year. While training for Ironman Canada, he completed his college education at Seattle U and became a honest to goodness engineer. In addition to graduation, he managed to squeeze in some awesome short-course performances earlier this spring and summer – notably the Seafair Tri where he placed 8th in a STACKED Pacific Northwest field. When he landed at Canada he was just 24 years old and a month and doing his first Ironman. As you’ll read, Nick plunked down a 10:05 – that’s the 2nd fastest Ironman time in Raise the Bar history my friends (Brian Guillen 9:57 IMCanada 2010) We’re super excited to have this humble, hard-working, smart young man who’s definitely raising the bar at Raise the Bar. Way to go Nick!!!
I got to the transition area with just enough time to get my bike ready, take a look at my age group competition which nearly all fit on one bike rack, and put my wetsuit.
Swim - This may be the most memorial part of this race. The first minute or so was absolute chaos. I wasn't able to get a front row spot and was churned up a bit in the beginning Things settled down and I just tried to find some waves to ride to the shore. I really had no idea what my time would be, but was hoping for something around an hour. when I saw 57 and change I was pretty happy, and I felt like that boosted my morale going onto the bike. The volunteers are so amazing! This was my first time experiencing this and I was so impressed, between the wetsuit stripping and the unpacking and packing of your plastic bags, they practically do the transition for you.
Bike - The start was a total rush, with all the people cheering and announcer calling out your name I was cruising on pure adrenalin. I remember looking down seeing 27 and having to tell myself "Easy now!"
The road to Osoyoos was fast but easy at the same time. I stopped to use the restroom, and without realizing it this it where the frigg bypassed me. The slow climb up to yellow lake really got me, I felt like I was in the tour de france during the final ascent as all the riders funneled through a crowd of cheering people all out there in the rain and hail. Coming down the other side I was terrified. The wet and slick looking roads had me all over the brakes. My arms were so cold and numb I could barely steer. At one point I had some pretty serious speed wobbles and I thought I was going to hit the pavement. Feeling lucky that I recovered from this, I played it pretty conservative on the decent to penticton. I was happy to be back in town where it felt 20 degrees warmer.
Run - Leaving transition I saw 6:40 on the clock and I knew breaking 10 would take a lot of work. I used my Garmin:
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/47215756 (minus the first mile) but mostly just ran by feel. Less than a mile before the turnaround I saw Brian, he was looking strong but still looked at my watch to count how many minutes I was behind. I figured had maybe 10 minutes on me. Josh looked to be feeling good as we slapped each other five running by. Attempting to pick up the pace only worked for a couple miles, and eventually struggled to hold onto 8:00 miles. about a mile from the finish someone with a 23 on their calf passed by I tried to follow but could not. The friggulator was cruising to the finish as I made my lap through town. As soon as I finished my legs stiffened up (and are still stiff!) and am glad to say I left it all out on the course.
Congrats to Josh and Brian on great races, its always fun racing with teammates.
and thanks for the geyser crew for getting me mentally and physically ready for the ironman, and for supplying me with extra clothes on those 30degree days when I would show up with only my jersey and bike shorts haha nj
Ironman Canada 2010 Race Report
Swim-My plan was to start in the middle, about 4 or 5 rows back, and find some good feet to follow and conserve as much energy as possible. To gain a few minutes here would be a bonus. I just wanted to conserve as much energy as possible.
Mission accomplished on finding the feet. This guy was taking really good lines on the inside of the course and I hardly had to spot at all. The swim went fast and easy but a little too easy. I can’t help but think if I started more towards the front and caught a faster guys feet I would have had to work a little but might have gain more time. All in all I did what I wanted and hardly worked at all in the swim. I think I have some 1hr IM swim splits in my future but I need to get in the pool with EE this off season. Plus I need to get it down to a 1hr so I don't have to pass 700 people on the bike course :) Bike-I knew that the course would start fast if the wind blew in its normal direction so I wanted to conserve for the first 40 and kick it up a notch when I got to Richter, punch it up and over all those rollers and have about 15-20 miles of flats to conserve energy until I got to the hill out and back section and Yellow Lake climb. Mission accomplished here. Everything was going as planned until I started up Yellow Lake. The strong head winds and horizontal rain/hail came and zapped a little extra energy. It was very cold and this was as GW would say a "Mental Giant" moment. I had about 10min of a pity party until I came to the realization that this is an IRONMAN and it should be tough. At this point I more or less embraced the cold and wet misery and started to crank those big gears up the false flat. The major time lost during the bike ride was the decent down Yellow Lake. I saw 5 medical personal vehicles and 4 bodies on the side of the road. So I decided to play it safe and ride the breaks down the 14 mile down-hill at 25 mph instead of 40+. The key was I made it back to T2 alive and borderline hypothermic. Run-My main goal for the run was to do exactly that: RUN the marathon. I planned on going out slow and trying to keep my HR at or under 150 bpm for the first 15 miles which would get me through the hardest and hilliest part of the run and then kick it up 5 bpm until I got to mile 23 where I was going to give it all I had left. My hope was I would be about 2hrs on the out and be able to do a 1:55ish effort on the way back into town. Well my #1 goal was accomplished. I NEVER stopped running...not 1 add station...not 1 bathroom break...I just kept running. For the first 10 miles I got passed by easily 30 or 40 people. Most of which I knew I could go with but I stuck to my plan and kept my HR right at 150 which turns out to have been about 9:30 miles. I saw Frigg and NJ coming back from the turn around and gave them a friendly teammate low 5...good lord those dudes are fast! So I get to the turn around at 2:03. At this point I knew I had a lot of work to do to break the 4hr marathon mark...turns out I got onto the run almost right at 2pm so a sub 4hr marathon is what it was going to take to break 11hrs. The DAD was right again!!! This is the point where the carnage begins. About 20 of those people that passed me at the start of the run were walking up the first hill after the turnaround. I ended up passing 90% of them by the time I reach mile 15. I got to mile 15. It’s time to kick it up a notch....ummmm....not so much. Ok, I will hang on to this pace and try it again at mile 18...ummmmmm...not so much...Ok mile 20?...nope...Ok the last 5k?...nope. The legs were stuck at a 9:30 turned into a 9:45 with a head wind.
Finished alive and well with an 11hr 9min effort with a lot of room to improve. Sub 11hrs is right around the corner.
Looking forward to an off season with a lot of short fast swim and run efforts and of course the weekly Geyser ride. IRONMAN-jQaEnd your fun holiday weekend with a swim workout Mike Murphy style. 7-8PM at the Covington Aquatic Center. $7. Sign up at www.weraisethebar.com/swimworkouts.html
Jim Tanasse is home in 12:47….Gary Conner at 12:50 (almost got you Jim!) Then Duane Reathaford 12:52. So close!
Swim, then bike overall, then run splits for the first half of marathon…
Bryan Gormley 1:08 - 6:35 - 2:12
Duane Reathaford 1:17 - 6:12 - 2:28
Jim Tanasse 1:10 - 6:06 - 2:37
Gary Conner 1:18 - 6:26 - 2:22
Jay Udelhoven 1:11 - 6:22 - 3:01
Brian Keller 1:13 - 6:27 - 2:35
John Bahlenhorst 1:22 - 7:01 - 2:34
Lee Spencer 1:09 - 6:59 - no run split
Jason Coen 1:09 - 6:28 no run split
Denny Pierre 1:21 - 6:48 - 1:52
Kalany Benoit 1:12 - 7:42
What a Stud! Made up 12 minutes on the FRIGG but not enough to capture the elusive one. 5th in age group with a no-biggy 3:25:25 marathon – my oh my!!!. should be on the bubble for Kona. WHOLY SMOKES!!
Ed
He has done it! He has done it! FRIGGULATOR GOES SUB-10!! The Frigg pounds out an amazing 3:30 marathon and GET ‘ER DONE!!!! 16th in age group. It will be super close for the Kona slot.
Ed
NJ in #6 position, Frigg in #18 position in respective age groups… both moving up through their fields on the way home. Kona is on the table folks!
Ed
Sorry folks – so the run splits are taken at the turn-around, not lap 1 of 2. This means FRIGG is running scared with no clear idea where the hunter NJ is. However, jQa would have given NJ some info after passing on the way back as to how the gap is up the road. WHAT A BATTLE!
Ed Clarke
206-601-0904 cell
425-650-6869 fax
The large jQa and just logged 2:03 – 9:45mi pace – on lap 1 of the marathon. Go Quad!! Wish we could have intel on the Frigg/NJ battle but this will have to wait until the finish line
The Frigulator has posted 7:56mi pace for the first half of the marathon! Still no time posted for NJ…
Ed Clarke
206-601-0904 cell
425-650-6869 fax
NJ splits just posted – the youngster has registered 7:48mi pace through 1st half of run – gaining 2mins on the FRIGG! Oh my goodness you know these two freaks are in the zone – imagine the focus in their eyes as they pass each other at the turn-arounds. 2nd half of the marathon, 15 minutes separating the two, SHOW TIME!!
Ed
I’ve never seen so many Vs and Ks in a top five list…
Top 5 Men
* VIKTOR ZYEMTSEV (#33) at 8:32:28
* CHRISTIAN BRADER (#57) at 8:32:41
* STEPHAN VUCKOVIC (#29) at 8:38:31
* PETR VABROUSEK (#32) at 8:39:16
* KYLE MARCOTTE (#61) at 8:40:45
Ed Clarke
206-601-0904 cell
425-650-6869 fax
The Frigulator has posted 7:56mi pace for the first half of the marathon! Still no time posted for NJ…
Ed Clarke
206-601-0904 cell
425-650-6869 fax
The Large-legged one rode himself from 45th to 16th in his age group with 5:36 bike split!
Ed
Update: Frigg and NJ have cleared the bike course! Brian rode 5:19 – WOW! NJ rode 5:38. Should be interesting to see how things develop on the marathon! jQa still out on the bike course
Ed
Weather pounding the age-groupers from Yellow lake in. Still looking for NJ, Frigg, jQA….
Ed
The age group athletes are experience brutal conditions out on the bike near Yellow Lake. Heavy winds, rain and cool temperatures are making an Ironman, that much more difficult. In town, it is getting darker and the winds have increased.
Ed
Updates are spotty… heavy rain has affected the coverage. No word on our boys Frigg, NJ, and Josh – they are finishing up their bike legs. Top 20 pros are onto the marathon – all logging very fast swims and bike splits despite the rain and wind
| ATHLETE | RANK | AGE/DIV | SWIM | BIKE | RUN | TOTAL | |
| 1 | 1/1/-- | 29/MPRO | 00:46:24 | 04:42:37 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 2 | 8/2/-- | 35/MPRO | 00:49:45 | 04:43:09 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 3 | 25/3/-- | 30/MPRO | 00:54:37 | 04:38:36 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 4 | 10/4/-- | 32/MPRO | 00:51:21 | 04:42:55 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 5 | 12/5/-- | 33/MPRO | 00:52:03 | 04:43:19 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 6 | 5/6/-- | 38/MPRO | 00:49:01 | 04:47:59 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 7 | 6/7/-- | 37/MPRO | 00:49:26 | 04:47:53 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 8 | 2/8/-- | 31/MPRO | 00:46:40 | 04:51:49 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 9 | 17/9/-- | 30/MPRO | 00:53:29 | 04:47:45 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 10 | 18/10/-- | 37/MPRO | 00:54:32 | 04:46:24 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 11 | 4/11/-- | 32/MPRO | 00:48:59 | 04:52:14 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 12 | 23/12/-- | 31/MPRO | 00:54:37 | 04:46:52 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 13 | 19/13/-- | 41/MPRO | 00:54:32 | 04:51:10 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 14 | 15/14/-- | 31/MPRO | 00:53:19 | 04:53:21 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 15 | 22/15/-- | 31/MPRO | 00:54:36 | 04:53:05 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 | |
| 16 | 7/16/-- | 29/MPRO | 00:49:36 | 04:59:01 | 00:00:00 | 00:00:00 |
Ed Clarke
206-601-0904 cell
425-650-6869 fax
Wow looks like a nice battle taking form in Penticton! NJ swims a screamin 57min. Friggin floated in shortly after in 1:00:+ and Josh comes in 1:10 and change. Through bike 40kms Frigg has made up the gap on NJ – they must be riding together at this point. Josh has made up 1 min on NJ is roughly 10mins behind the dynamic duo.
I believe NJ is exercising extreme patience and control through the 1st half of his bike ride and saving his big tricks for the coming marathon.
Brian Guillen, Nick Johnson, Josh Adams… All posting averages over 20mph.. not too shabby..
Jay Udelhoven powering through the course in Penticton on one of RTB’s rental bikes courtesy of Kraft Foods and Thriftway. This program was made possible largely through another athlete on the course – Jim Tanasse – who is with Kraft Foods and is doing his 2nd Ironman (IMCDA in 2008 was his last I believe). There’s a friendly food rivalry out there between Kraft’s Jim and General Mills’
Duane Reathaford. This is Duane’s first Ironman. He brings a deep history of cycling to the course and will be fun to watch. He’s got about 7 minutes to make up on Jim from the swim who was a 1:10 flat…
Youngster Nick Johnson led the way for Raise the Bar – freshly graduated from Seattle U he plunked down a 57:10, good for a 4th place in his age group. Brian Guillen posted a personal best of 1:00:54, and Brian Gormley – also a PR I think – swam 1:08. Josh Adams, Jason Coen, Brian Keller, Gary Conner, Duane Reathaford, Lee Spencer, John Bahlenhorst, Jay Udelhoven and Jim Tanasse are all out of the water as well and off on the bike course. Great swim times posted by the whole group. GO RTB!!!
Hey gang – listen for Suzy Hoover’s interview with Jackie and Bender tomorrow morning about the Lake Meridian Triathlon. I think Raise the Bar just got cooler!!!
Vince Partridge Xterra 2010 race report
I knew the day before the race that this XTERRA thing was going to hurt a little bit, I had already crashed (ok fallen over while trying to get shoes unclipped) twice on the pre-ride with Jason Jablonski. This pre-ride by the way was one of the smartest things I have ever done before an unfamiliar race. Jason’s instruction and willingness to answer any question was invaluable for an XTERRA newbie like me. I was just hoping the 9 miles of mountain biking the day before was not going to blow out my legs.
Morning of the race was amazing, I have never been so relaxed and I attribute that to the RTB team members, volunteers and race directors. I also had no real idea of what I was in for. The water was warm and the swim was off, then things began to change when almost 160 athletes tried to get out of the water half way through the swim and run across a mysterious “XTERRA Island”. I figured I was already dehydrated when I saw Trev in a grass skirt and “Wilson” from Castaway fame sitting on the ground. My plan was to be steady and save energy for the bike and run. (Swim 24:43) Once back T1 went as well as expected, just had to focus on task at hand and don’t fumble with equipment. (T1 1:06)
Here comes the bike, or should I say specifically Mountain bike because they are not the same. In my opinion 15 miles on this course is about the same as about 43 hilly miles on the Tri bike at race pace or more in terms of feel and fatigue. I only crashed two more times on this day but a little faster this time and trees and stickers were my pillow. But who can feel pain when those endorphins I crave so much mask all. By about mile 12, I had a case of white line fever so bad I was talking to myself in my “outside” voice, but at least they were words of encouragement. The mental effort and focus involved in a mountain bike race of this nature is beyond anything I had ever experienced. I am sure this will come as no surprise to the mountain bikers out there as this is the reason people with mountain bike experience do so well in this type of venue. It really is amazingly fun to jump roots, rocks, streams, and other riders at race pace. Oh and race pace for a mountain bike rider can be around 2-3 mph for extended periods of time. So for a road Tri guy, my time on the bike made me ask myself what have I become? (Mountain bike 1:52:24) Really? For only 15 miles? You had to be there. (T2 0:59) Yeah baby!
Running time…aka leg gramps-r-us. Yes even with 4 gel packs and almost 2 liters of fluids I still cramped horribly after the first loop hill out of transition. Took me about the first two miles to work into what resembled a pace. It was much slower than I knew I was capable of but the muscles were angry. I hooked up with another competitor who provided huge amounts of encouragement. He even stopped with me when I had to stop and stretch after cramping on about mile 4. We continued talking and pushing ourselves harder each mile. He had the goal of finishing in 3 hrs 15 min or less. I took on his goal as my own and we finished side by side. He was a true testament to the character of the people who do these races. (Run 58:18) (Overall 3:14:26.8)
I finished sore, bloody and slower than I had anticipated but I gained a mental toughness that only competitors will truly know. Plus, I now have a goal to beat 3:14:26 next year. Thank you to RTB volunteers and race staff, now I totally get why XTERRA BD is #1.
