Blown Away!

Well, Detroit Lakes down WIM to go. Saturday was the much anticipated rematch of Sam Janicki and I. In the end it wasn't much of a rematch as much as it was more of an ass whooping.

Friday night I got in to register and volunteered to set up a fake transition area and help new athletes learn more about what to expect on race day. I had a great time helping people and answering questions. People seemed to be very interested in what info I had to offer and I really hope it helped out. I also saw Sam and we stopped to chat for a few minutes. This sport is full of great people and Sam is no different. Sam is a youngster compared to me at the age of 24 so if I call him a kid, please forgive me. Sam is a hoot and I really enjoyed getting to know him better.

Saturday morning started as all race mornings do. Sleep was moderate to good and I got to transition right when I like to with plenty of time to relax warm up and stretch. Before I knew it the race was about to start and the butterflies began to fly again. I knew I needed a great swim to have a shot at beating Sam to go along with a strong bike and a great run to finish. I asked my mom to tell me how far back I was when I came out of the water. I started strong and didn't hammer it like I typically do to try to save a little energy for the second half. Just after the first buoy I caught a draft off of two guys and realized that we were a three man chase pack behind Sam. Unfortunately Sam was way ahead of us. After the first turn the sun was right in our face and the glare made it nearly impossible to see what few buoys there were. I came out of the water in fourth and believe I was second out of T1. The swim was not as good as I was hoping for but compared to other times it was pretty good. As I ran by my mom she yelled four and a half minutes. I let out a little grown as I knew I was going to need help to catch Sam.

I got on the bike and started to push. I again started slower than I have lately to find a rhythm and save some energy for the last 20 miles. I felt strong and really started to feel it on the second lap. Unfortunately Sam never came into sight. That is until I was about a half mile from T2 when I saw him sprinting the other direction on the run course. I thought to myself there is no way that kid can keep that pace in the heat. I dismounted and picked a good start pace that felt very strong. Last year I had 5:55 splits on this course and I needed at least that to catch Sam and that would only happen if hew blew up. The run was extremely hot but I still felt strong coming up to mile 2ish. A short time later I saw Sam coming the opposite direction on his way back. As he was coming up I let him know he was having an incredible race. After Sam blew by me I started wondering how far I was from the turn around. After what seemed to be an eternity it finally came. I know I was a ways back but still had it in my mind that I wanted to break the 2 hour barrier. With as strong as I was feeling I though this was very possible. As I came up to the finish Sam was there cheering me on and looking like he hadn't even raced. As I crossed I immediately grabbed water and Powerade and started to rehydrate. When I saw that my time was nearly 2:04 I was a little surprised but not as surprised as when I talked with Sam and he said he went 1:55. 1:55! Holy Crap that is fast! Especially on a legit Olympic course. In fact the swim is even a little long. Granted the it is a fast course it is still 25 mile bike and 6.2 mile run. I don't care how flat it is 1:55 is blazing.

Sam and I talked a while as he was waiting for his girlfriend to come in. On top of being super fast Sam is super modest and very easy going. I think this kid is a legit contender to go pro very soon. Who knows maybe as soon as next year. I want to see him race against some tougher guys at larger events like Nationals, Dallas, Lifetime or Waconia but my feeling is he will do just fine. In fact I wouldn't doubt it if he wins. All the kid has done this year is win and set course records. This weekend he will probably destroy my record I set at Baxter last year. Mind you this is a record that was held by a very speedy Dennis Dane before myself. I though this record would stand for a while as there are not many guys out there that can break it. In fact maybe five in the state last year could have put in that kind of a race and they all tend to do larger races. Now comes a new era of Triathlon to our state with the likes of Sam, Patrick Parish and Dan Hedgecock. D1 athletes that decide to push themselves beyond the limits of their own sports and try triathlons. I've got some training to do.

IM Training and DL Preview

Wisconsin is less than a month away. My volume is huge right now and all three disciplines have shown huge improvements since Chisago. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I believe I have been anemic for some time and have started taking an Iron supplement. Since then I have been able to go over 90 miles on the bike three times when before I was struggling to do 75. I believe I am actually ahead of schedule for the race. Now I just need to hit my nutrition and hydration.

Well, the Young Life Triathlon in Detroit Lakes is on tap for this weekend. I picked this race for a few of reasons. This was my first triathlon win in my career and I have a weird felling of loyalty to it for that reason. DL also falls on a Saturday and fit into my training schedule pretty well for IM Wisconsin. I also missed a turn last year and want to see how fast I can go on this course. This was the race that started to set me apart last year when I started racing really fast. I'm hoping that will continue.

As far as I know Sam Janicki will be the toughest challenge there. Sam destroyed me at Land Between Lakes Tri in May this year. I don't feel like I raced to my potential there but that would have made little difference as there is no way I believe I could've shaved two minutes off my time. It may have at least made the results look a little more respectable. Sam is having a great season and will undoubtedly win the Tri MN Series unless someone off the radar button hooks him. Which I seriously doubt.

I am in by far the best shape of my life right now, which is part of the problem. My Ironman Training volume is way up and after my longest training day yet consisting of a 104 mile bike ride followed up with a 17 mile run last Saturday. This has left me quite sore and on the edge of injury. I am following my standard race week tapering schedule but I'm not sure that I will be fully recovered by Saturday. Regardless as much as I want to beat Sam (I'm sure he wants to beat me too) I am focusing on a sub 2:00:00 race. If I can do that it will be a victory regardless of place. Last year I came in at 2:04 and change. I'm guessing that you can shave about 3 min off from the wrong turn and the swim was treacherous last year with a pretty good wind and only three buoys to mark the course. If the course is properly marked and the correct distance it could save me an additional 2-3 min. Since my run still has not developed like it did at the end of last season I may need it. Although my main concern is staying healthy and if I feel like I am about to pull something I will not hesitate to call it a day. I don't think that will be an issue.

Anemic?

Ever since Liberty I have not felt myself , been lacking in power on the bike and struggled on the run. After Chisago I started having chest pains when I would run for the first 10-15 minutes of my run. I've had that happen before but in the past it would go away within a minute or two and only for one day. This has been happening since Chisago.

Being that I have a fourth year med student as a wife who is scared to death of something called hypertrophy I didn't want to take any chances. I went in to see my family practice doc last week to see what he thought. At first he was thinking it was still the asthma bothering me. Since my breathing has been fine lately I steered him in a different direction. Doc then gave me an EKG and a chest X-ray. Besides the fact that my resting heart rate is 38 everything was fine. My Doc then came up with a theory that I may have some cartilage damaged between my ribs. Possible, but I again thought this was unlikely. Why would the pain go away? I then asked for a Heart Stress Echo. My wife thought this was the best way to see if my ticker was tocking correctly.

I went in for the test last Thursday wondering what it was going to be like. I was told that I was going to be on a stationary bike and they would be doing an ultrasound on my heart while I worked out. When I arrived I saw a type of bike, only I would be lying down while pedaling so they could do the ultra sound. There were three fun nurses who were administering the test and seemed to really enjoy their job. One explained that they were going to need to get my heart rate up to 161 in order to get a "good test result". I then told them that this would be a while. They explained that only one person had ever almost beaten the bike and they had atropine to get my heart rate up if they needed it.

I started pedaling at 50 watts. They quickly realized this would in fact be a while. Every two minutes they bumped it up 50 watts until they finally reached the max of 275 for about 15 minutes. Problem was I was still only in the 140s. The girls were astounded and started to get a little panicked. They did not think they would need the atropine so they didn't have an IV in. Then they had to give me an IV mid test. The nurse first gave me .5 milligrams which had little to no effect. She then decided to administer 2 milligrams which is the most she was allowed to give me. This still only got me up to 155. At this point there was nothing they could do but finish the test with a little lower than the desired heart rate of 161. I now have the distinguished title of being the only person ever to beat the bike at the Methodist Hospital.

The good news is that the test was normal. So what the hell is going on? I'm guessing that I'm either short on Potassium or Iron. I started taking Iron pills and got back on my multivitamin about ten days ago and have been feeling better by the day. My strength is back and I've been putting in two of my longest runs and bike rides I've ever done back to back on Saturday and Sunday the last two weeks. The better part is they have even felt rather easy, in fact easier than some of my 70 mile rides from earlier this year.

I did get a blood test done today and we'll find out what the results are but I'm guessing that I will show up on the low end normal for Iron levels. This will point to me being anemic for who knows how long. I'm sure I've been anemic in the past few seasons as well. All in all though I seem to be back on track. Swim times are back were they should be. Bike volume is way up, sprint times are down and my run is feeling more solid than it ever has. I have also added my Physical Therapy back into my training regiment and I feel stronger than ever. Hopefully this adds up to success in my last two races as I've felt like the season has been a bit of a let down since after my win at Minnetonka.

I must stay focused on the prize of Wisconsin IM though. Sam Janicki will be at Detroint lakes and I would love to defend my honor as much as he would like to prove that he can beat me again. Still, I must focus on the ultimate goal right now. To be honest I believe if I stay on track for WI then I should be in peak shape for Detroit lakes. If Sam beats me he beats me. Lord knows the kid is fast and has proven to be faster than me before. I just hope it will be an exiting race for LuAnn and the Young Life crew.