Holiday Wish Lists...

First I want to say Happy Holidays to all my new Rev3 teammates as well as all the returning guys and gals. I look forward to meeting you at some of the races.

Now on to the time sensitive material....

To help the family with some Christmas/Birthday ideas (since I am a January birthday), what are some of your favorite workout and race products?

Shoes?
Gadgets?
Training Aids?
Etc.?

I need ideas!

Not much else to report. I am working on finalizing my race schedule for 2012 and will be starting a new job the first of the year. Other than that, I am enjoying (aka fattening up:)) the offseason and looking to get myself back in gear January 1. First up is the Germantown half marathon.

Post season lazies...

Not a whole lot to report these days. Now that my season has ended, I am taking some time off and hanging out for a bit before I start my offsesaon program. For next year, I am leaning towards 1-2 halfs and then targeting an August revenge date with Louisville. Other than that, not a whole lot to report.

What do you guys do for offseason programs? Weights? Sport specific training? Looking for tips and possibly looking to outsource the program to someone more qualified than myself.

Not what I had planned....

I'll go ahead and get it out there...I DNF'ed. First time ever and I can report that it sucked! As I sat on the side of the road waiting for the SAG truck, I actually cried. Yep, I cried. Don't really know why, just the emotion of it all hit me. I despise quiting. I walked 20 miles of the marathon of this very race 2 years ago, because of GI issues. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I quit something. But my body decided that Sunday was going to be a first. The night before, I had a few stomach issues, but didn't think much of it and kind of chalked it up to nerves. Looking back, this was probably the first sign of the issues to come.

The swim went ok. I planned on taking it easy and was shooting for a 1:20 swim. I came out of the water with a bruise on my ear from getting punched right around 1:24. Pretty much on schedule. I then had a plan of taking the first 20 miles of the bike easy until I got my legs going. As soon as I got out of the water, I noticed my stomach was already feeling somewhat queasy, but the first 20 of the bike went pretty well. I averaged around 18.5 mph up until the turnaround. This is where it all started to unravel. In Louisville, there is a long downhill at the turnaround where you can hit speed of over 40 mph. Right before this turnaround, is a water hand-off. I had started drinking water only for the first 20 miles, hoping to settle my stomach. I ditched my water bottle and grabbed a hand-off as I started the downhill. After placing the water bottle in the cage between my handle bars, I reached for my nutrition in an effort to start that aspect of the race. As soon as I had my nutrition in hand, I hit a bump and lost not only the water that I had just picked up, but also ended up dropping my nutrition that I was holding. So, now I am without food and water. Not what I had planned!

After making it down the hill, I quickly went into plan B mode. I still had my First Endurance EFS, but it was not sitting well on my increasingly angry stomach. It was as if, I was not digesting anything at all and it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. I made it to the next bike aid station and grabbed a water and banana. I was determined to try to get as much nutrition down as my stomach would allow. I continued this plan up until special needs at around mile 70. By this time though, I was feeling very nauseous. At special needs, I took some pepto that I had placed in my bag. Unfortunately, this only stayed down for about 2 minutes. I tried to go to the port-a-john, but nothing was coming out. It had now been about 4 hours since I had peed and I should of had to go by now. My trip in the port-a-john quickly turned from a restroom break into a full on vomit fest (sorry for the gory details). I quit counting at 11, with the last few being dry heaves that resulted in the worst stomach cramps ever. I now had absolutely nothing left in my stomach and still had 42 miles to go. Not good.

I spent about 10 minutes in special needs trying to get some water down and a bit of food in me, but as soon as I got back on my bike, it all came back up again. This is where the cramps in my legs also started. I made it about 5 miles and had to pull over again. At this point, I was an absolute mental wreck. I said I would try to back it way off and see how that went, but every little rise in the road, felt like Alpe de Huez. My legs had nothing in them. I stopped a second time, and had my quads and hip muscles seize up. As I sat on the side of the road, I had my come-to-Jesus moment and decided that today just wasn't meant to be. I was in terrible shape and just getting back the 32 miles I had left was going to be a monumental task, not to mention that little marathon I would still have to tackle. About that time, a bike tech official road by and asked if I needed help. I rehashed the fact that I couldn't keep anything down and was cramping severely. From this info, he radioed the bike SAG and from there I was loaded up and taken back into transition (by the way, the phrase...can you hand me your chip is the worst question ever).

At transition I went to the med tent, where they packed some ice on me and had me lay down. They took my blood pressure (they didn't give me that info though) and asked how I felt. At this juncture, I was still nauseous and cramping a lot. After about 30 minutes in the med tent, I was transferred to the convention center, where the IV ward was located. Once I got there, they hooked me up to a magic IV that also had some nausea medicine in it and took my blood pressure again. At this point, almost 2 hours after I called it quits, my blood pressure was 102/56 which is pretty low for me. The IV started helping pretty quickly. I was up and at em' by 4 and back in the hotel by about 30 minutes later.

I relaxed for a bit, grabbed some dinner with my wife and oldest daughter and then put my big boy panties on and went back down to the finish line to cheer on some folks and to watch my brother finish his first Ironman (way to go Bubs!). All in all, it was not how I had planned, but I realized that plans to always go the way you hope. Yes I DNF'ed. No, I still don't like it. But I will be back to race the 140.6 distance again.

Congrats to my Trakkers teammies Jill and Andree who toughed it out and got their finisher's medal at Louisville and to Trakkers pro's Big Sexy McDonald, who just happened to win the whole she-bang, and Hillary Biscay who crossed the finish line to record her 50th 140.6 distance race.

Good luck to those that have races coming up, I am taking a short break to eat some Doritos and some other junk, before I start getting ready for 2012, the revenge season:) Keep smiling and keep working hard.

Josh

It's show time!

The lists are being checked. The bags are being packed. It is time! IM Louisville is a mere 6 days away and I am making sure everything is in order. EFS cannisters...check. First Endurance Prerace...check. TYR Elite Torque swimskin....check. Helmet....check. And so on and so on. I feel ready for the swim and bike and maybe a tad underprepared for the run, but let's be honest, the chances of me running the whole marathon are pretty slim:) I don't feel too nervous, but instead anxious to start. So let's get this show on the road. Time to rock this thing and have a little fun while doing it!

Good luck to evryone else racing this weekend.

Down goes Frazier!

In an effort to entertain all of those who read this and to laugh at myself a bit, I thought I would share an anecdote from my ride this weekend.  Our normal 100 mile ride to prepare for Louisville is a 56 mile out and back where we add a second loop of about 40 miles to get us right at 100 miles.  The ride is all on two lane roads that are considered rural and considering we leave at 6am, we see very few cars, especially on the first loop.  Along the route, there are a few 2 way stops where our road crosses a more heavily traveled rural highway.  Some of the intersection have limited sight lines, but you can usually hear the cars coming b/c of the light traffic.  Well, this weekend while on the second loop of our ride, my brother and I came up to one of these very intersections. I looked right (very easy to see traffic looking this way) and noted we were clear.  To the left, sighting cars is limited to about 30-40 yards.  From what I could see, there was nothing coming.  I also didn't hear anything. So as I started to pedal out into the intersection, I suddenly hear "CAR LEFT" in a somewhat dire tone.  I quickly grabbed the front brake...so hard in fact that my rear wheel came off the ground.  I managed to get my left foot unclipped, but by the time I did, my balance was a bit off and I began to do the dreaded biker pogo.  You know the move....you start hopping on one foot try to find any way possible to regain your balance and stop the impending tumble.  After a couple of hops, I was feeling confident that I had averted disaster.  That feeling quickly turned to despair on the third and fourth hop.  The fifth and sixth hop became quicker than the previous ones, and I am pretty sure that by the 7th and eighth hop, I was on my way to the asphalt. TIMBER! Of course I had manged to fall on the most jagged and rough section of gravel that I could manage to find. Sliced my knee open, bruised my knee and hand, and I have a sore shoulder to boot.  I am sure, the incident was humorous to the cars that got to witness the extravaganza. Next time I will come to a complete stop, and double check the traffic situation so I won't become the human pogo stick again:)

See you at the races!

Training update...

It is HOT! The heat indexes the past couple of weeks has routinely been in the triple digits and Excessive Heat Warnings have been routine.  Since I am profoundly against dreadmills (would rather barrel roll 5 miles than run on a treadmill for 5 miles), it has been a sufferfest. I am now 7 weeks out from Louisville 140.6 and am feeling overall pretty good.  I will be doing my second 100 miler this weekend and will be getting in a 2-2.5 hour run this week as well. It has been 2 years since I last did a 140.6 , so my memory may be a little fuzzy, but my legs are feeling way better at this point of the game than they did in 2009.  Must be the Recovery Pump and the First Endurance Multi V:)  I do need to get my diet straight in these last few weeks, but other than that, everything seems on track. 

For those others training out in this crazy heat, stay hydrated and safe.  See you guys at the races!

Training unplugged...

This year I am going back to the 140.6 distance at Louisville this year in August.  I did this race 2 years ago and am ready to tackle the course again. This year, though, I will be making a few changes in the training schedule.  Some of the minor ones are swimming only 2 days a week, increasing my run days (not necessarily more long runs, but more runs in general), and only doing 2-3 rides of 100 miles or more (but increasing the rides in the 80 mile range). Hopefully these changes will keep me fresh for the race while not leading to burnout like I had a couple of years ago. 

The bigger change though, is I am training without using a computer, stopwatch or heart rate monitor.  I am going unplugged.  And so far, I like it a lot.  I wanted to go out and train for the race and enjoy it without being tied down to how fast my workout was, or what HR zone I stayed in  or how my cadence compared to other rides.  I just want to go out and swim, bike and run.  If I feel like I can push it some days, I do.  If other days I feel slow, I slow down. So far this season, I seem to be benefiting from it. I have been able to run and bike faster than I have in previous years. I think alot of that comes from the fact that I am enjoying it more and not having those "disappointed days" where I didn't measure up to some metric that I felt like I missed or didn't quite hit.  I am doing it for fun and doing it with a smile on my face.  For those of us that aren't podium material, the race and training should be something we enjoy.  And this year I am enjoying it more than ever!

Keep moving forward and keep smiling! See you at the races.

Short and sweet....

I thought I would use this post to do some a couple of very short but sweet product reviews.

First up is the Avia Stoltz.  I have been using the Avia Bolt III for a couple of months and it was light and FAST!  Being a bit larger triathlete, though, longer runs and racing flats don't usually mix well on my feet.  I completed a half marathon in the Bolts, but that is about my limit in the Bolts or any other race flats for that matter.  About two weeks ago, I received my new Avia Stoltz.  Besides looking great (check them out at www.avia.com), they definitely give me that bit of extra cushion to push past the 13 mile barrier my feet had seem to find in racing flats.  The Stoltz are marketed as mainly an off-road shoe, but through talking with Avia, I found out that they make a great road shoe as well.  First thing I noticed was the extra cushion. Very comfortable shoe and unlike other brands cushioned footwear, the Stoltz weigh in at just 10oz!  That is as light as some other's racing flats.  The shoe also comes with speed laces, a microfiber mesh upper (to keep your feet cool) and a gusseted tongue that stays in place.  If you are looking for a good cushioned shoe that can double as a training shoe or a long distance race shoe, give the Avia Stoltz a look. 

Next up I would like to rave about the TYR Nestpro googles (www.tyr.com).  Best goggle I have ever used...hands down!  These things are light and do not leak.  What more can you ask for in a goggle.  They offer a great range of vision that works well in both the pool and in open water swims.  They also don't leave you with raccoon eyes after long swim sessions!  If it is time to replace your goggle, give the TYR Nestpro's a try...you won't regret it.

Two weeks until Rev3 Knoxville.  I am excited....under trained but excited.  This race has always been on my schedule as a training day as well as a weekend to meet some of my Trakkers teammies.  But with all the rain and severe storms we have had (not to mention the multiple days sprinkled in with no power at the house), I am feeling a little behind on the training.  Regardless, it will be a fun weekend.  Can't wait to see some of you guys there.  Hope everyone else's training is cruising along.  Summer is right around the corner!

I Fartleked in the pool....

Ok, not really, but my juvenile mind thought that sounded really funny:)  I did have a video swim analysis in the pool though.  I recommend it to anyone that is looking to improve their stroke and is more of a visual learner than than an audible learner.  I was doing some major things incorrectly as well as some little things that I wasn't even aware of.

The group that I did the video swim analysis for me was BPC Performance Systems (www.buildpeakcompete.com) out of Memphis.  The instructor that gave my lesson was Dale Sanford.  Excellent teacher and very easy to talk to.  If you are looking to improve your swim, bike, run or all three, and are in the Memphis area, give them some consideration.  Top notch group!

Back to my swim analysis though.  Two of the bigger things that I need to correct in my swim stroke are the fact that I tend to swim uphill (meaning I drop my legs) and my kick is inconsistent and at times very flawed.  Both of these I was aware of subconsciously, but seeing what I was doing wrong, has allowed me to focus on the best ways to correct them.  In reality, the two are tied to each other.  If I improve my kick, it will help to correct my uphill swimming.  I have always had a poor kick.  I am not consistent in the number of beats per stroke and I have some form issues (especially when I rotate to breath).  To combat this, I have been focusing one swim session each week to fin work.  I am starting to see some improvements, but have some work to do.

Some of the smaller things that I was unaware of that BPC pointed out, were that I rotate a bit to much when I breath (I also had been only breathing unilaterally) and that my thumb is the first part of my arm that enters the water.  What is the big deal with this you might ask?  Well, when my thumb enters the water first, it is causing my shoulders to over rotate which then pushes my underwater stroke off to the side instead of straight back.  The over rotating issue I have further exasperates this issue.  I have been using a second swim session each week focusing on pull drills.  In doing so, I have been able to get about 80% comfortable bilateral breathing.  In doing so, it has really helped with my overall swim body balance. I am not quite there, but I am definitely seeing improvement, and that in of itself is enough for me to justify the swim analysis session and allow me to look forward to better swimming in the future.  Good stuff by BPC Performance Systems!

Rev3 Knoxville is only 5 weeks away.  The weather has finally made a turn allowing outside riding to be possible.  Here we go!  Keep smiling and keep training hard...

Swim help is on the way...

I am not a strong swimmer.  I am not a bad one either (at least I don't think so).  I am pretty much middle of the road.  With Louisville coming up later in the year, I have decided that I want to be a bit more effiecient in my swim.  Being faster would be an added bonus, but I definitely want to finish my swims feeling as fresh as possible heading into the bike.  I have found someone locally here that offers video swim analysis and coaching that I am most likely going to try.  Anyone else out there ever had video swim analysis done for the stroke?  How did it work out for you?

On the training front, things are moving along.  The new bike (Kestrel 4000) is AWESOME!  Rides fast and smooth.  I plan on doing a review on it later in the spring, once I have a few more rides under my belt.

Knoxville is 2 months away and closing in fast.  Hopefully, I will see some of you there.  Keep smiling and keep working hard, you never know who you might be inspiration to:)

Knoxville,here I come...

So Rev3 Knoxville is my first triathlon of the season and it is about 3 months away.  In anticipation of the race, check out Rev3's Knoxville site and look over some of the course preview videos from last year.

http://www.rev3tri.com/knoxvilleComingSoon.htm

(the videos are at the bottom of the page).

Enjoy!  Hopefully, I will see some of you guys there!

The new ride is almost here!

New pedals....check.
New seat....check.
New bike to put new pedals and new seat on....almost.

The new Kestrel 4000 is 1-2 weeks away.  And I can't wait!  Not that the weather has been all that cooperative which would have allowed me to ride outside anyways. 

Beside waiting for the new bike, I have been mainly doing some light running in preparation for a March half marathon that I will be doing with my brother and dad.  Today was a slow 8 miler.  Had a little knee pain near the end of the run, but nothing that I am overly concerned about...yet.  Lastly, I hope that old ground hog was right about an early spring, because I can't stand doing workouts inside.  I mean, I really can't stand them.  Running on a treadmill or doing a 5 miler on a .1/mile track is getting really, really old.  Bring on the sunshine!

Keep smiling and enjoy what you are doing, because you might not always be able to do it!

Ever had a race or training question you wanted a Pro to answer...

Well now you have a chance to have a bonafide professional triathlete answer YOUR questions.  Check it out.

http://www.kestrelbicycles.com/Explore/ASK-THE-PROS.aspx

Need training advice?
Curious about that bike question you've been wondering about?
What is the best setup for transitions?

Go to Kestrel's website and ask one of the Pro's in their vast stable your question.  Where else can you get this kind of access to a professional athlete?

Schedule and planning...

So my 2011 season is coming together.  Here is what I have so far:
March - Germantown Half Marathon
May - Rev3 Knoxville Olympic, Memphis in May Olympic
June - Dragonfly Sprint
July - Music City Olympic
August - IM Louisville
October - Rev3 South Carolina (maybe)
November - San Antonio marathon (maybe)
December - Memphis St. Jude marathon

As you can see, my schedule is not totally complete, but I am getting close.  I have a plan to focus on certain segments of certain races in my prep for Louisville, which is going to be my "A" race for the season.  I am going to focus on the bike in Knoxville (prep for Louisville hills), the run at the Germantown Half Marathon, and the swim at Music City (to prepare for the non-wetsuit river swim in Louisville). 

I am really looking forward to this season. I will be on a new bike (hopefully soon since I just sold my current bike).  I have changed up my training plan to hopefully eliminate some of this past season's stomach issues.  And I will be doing most of my races with either my best friend, my brother or both.  What a better way to spend the season! 

Keep training and keep smiling...remember, triathlon is a choice we make...not a burden.

And the winner is....

Shannon (IronTexasMommy) is the winner of the TriSwim give-a-way! Congrats! Email me your address and I will get the goods into the mail to you (djscobey99@gmail.com).

Time for a GIVE-A-WAY!

Since so many of you guys are swimming indoors this time a year, I will attempt to do another give-a-way!  I have a few more samples of Tri Swim for those of you battling the chlorine this winter.  This stuff rocks!  I still have a few samples of the shampoo, conditioner body wash and lotion. Winner gets it all!

To find out more about Tri Swim, as well as their other products Foggle and Tri Slide, go to http://www.sbrsportsinc.com/index.html and check them out.

On to the rules. They are actually really simple.  To be eligible to win, you only have to follow to steps.

1. Be a follower of my blog

2. Leave a comment on this posting

Bonus entry option:

1. Who is the founder of SBR Sports, Inc.? Hint-The answer can be found at the above website. Just include the answer as part of your comment.

I will select a winner on the January 14th (next Friday) and will be using a random number generator for the selection (http://www.random.org/).

Good luck to everyone and happy training!

2011 is here and exciting changes are on the horizon...

2010 is in the books and 2011 is here!  Last year was a pretty low key race season for me and the main factor was the birth of our second daughter.  I did a few races, but mainly was under trained for them and did the races with no expectations.  Surprisingly, it was a very enjoyable season.  That might seem like it isn't the right attitude, but I enjoyed the races I did this past year more than I have any other season.  Having said that, I am going to go with this philosophy again in 2011, just without the under trained portion:)

I have a full slate for this year and plan on working my rear off tho be prepared, but in the same breath, I am going to focus on enjoying the event and atmosphere of the races and less on my performance.  I have come to realize that my times will be what they will be (meaning middle of the pack).  The more I stress about how fast I am or how fast those around me are going, the less I will enjoy the sport.  And let's all be honest, the vast majority of us are not making a living racing and are there by our own free will.  If it isn't enjoyable, then why do it? So look for me at one of your races this year.  I'll be the goofy guy in the bright green outfit, sweating profusely, but grinning from ear to ear realizing that I am lucky enough to be healthy and able to compete in this sport.

On to more exciting news....I am getting a new bike!  I will soon be the proud owner of a new Kestrel 4000 with Ultegra components! 

This will be my first tri bike.  I have been racing the past two seasons on a Cervelo S1 in the forward seat position with clip on bars.  Seeing that all my riding (or at least 98%) is for the sole purpose of races or training for races, I decided to take the plunge and get a dedicated tri bike.  Besides looking totally sweet, it sounds like it will have the added bonus of being fast as well.  Check out this review on slowtwitch.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Tri_Bike_by_price_/Tri_bikes_by_price_for_2011/Tri_Bikes_3800-_4700_2011_/Kestrel_4000_Ult_2011__1822.html.

In addition to the new bike, I will be trying several other new products this year including, but not limited to Avia running shoes (http://www.avia.com/endurance/).  Check back later to find out more about the bike and shoes...I'll be doing write-ups and product reviews throughout the year.

Have a great 2011 and see you at the races!