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Dave Reed Classic 5k Yields a New PB!!

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Race Report:
Waking up on race morning last Sunday, March 26th, I was still groggy and tired (not the best sleep pre-race, but seems to be the norm in the racing world,) so off to the espresso machine for a little pick-me-up. BAM!!! A double shot of espresso later, my head was in the game, and I was ready to run. I was nervous about this race, as I was coming off yet another hard week of training, (just the day before was a double swim day, and a track workout in between with coach Bjoern and the rest of the UBC gang,) and my calves were just SCREAMING at me, “DONT DO IT!!!” They were pretty fried to say the least, what with this being my 3rd race in only 4 weeks (UBC, St. Paddy’s Day 5k,) and I knew that it was going to be pure pain. The funniest part is, only a few days before the race, I was just cruising through my training log, and I decided to check out the details on this particular Saturday’s workout, as it looked a little odd. It showed a 45min warm-up, and then the main set showed a URL website address. Opening it, to my horror, it showed the 5k race. So with only a few days notice, I had to sign up. I figured coach was trying to do me in for sure.
My #1 Fan!!
 Fortunately for me, there were others participating in this suffer-fest of a race (aren’t all 5k’s pure suffering?) First off, my very good brothers-in-pain David Pallermo, Elliot Holtham, and Drew Nicholson were all entered in the race. What I also found out at the start line, was that National Training Center members Andrew McCartney and Cole Stewart would be there (very fast athletes, and guys I will be racing with this season.) Very exciting!! I also somehow managed to convince my mum to sign up for the race (more of me signing her up, and kindly informing her she was running!haha) Coach Bjoern was going to be there to watch as well, and I had a special fan coming with me, cheering me on like crazy at the finish line, my girlfriend De Anna. Always have to give that extra effort to impress my girl 😉
The finish line sprint, with a pass
Sipping my E-Load Heat Endurance Formula on the way to the race, I was fuelled by a solid breakfast shake of yogurt and berries (which in retrospect, might have been a bit too much to eat, back to the drawing board on that,) but I was feeling superbly energized, surprising even after a hard week of training. A good solid 40minute warm-up and an E-Load Gel later, I found myself bouncing around the start line, ready to go. With a loud horn blast, the race was on, and as predicted the calves were in searing pain from the start. As the race progressed, the rest of the legs started to burn like mad, but I kept pushing to keep with the pack. I was happy that I could hold on to the main lead pack of runners (including Dave and Andrew,) for the first 3.5kms, then I started to fall off as they cranked up the pace. My goal became one of survival, trying my best to stay away from anyone behind me (which included Elliot, hot on my heels and keeping me running scared!) As the last 500m’s loomed, a runner up further started to slow slightly, and I decided that it was time to give it everything left in the tank. Lungs burning, vision blurring, legs in a hellish realm of torture, I was reeling in the last guy I thought I could catch, and with an excruciatingly difficult effort I managed to surge past with about 100m’s to go, ending up in 6th place, with a new Personal Best of 15:58, FINALLY breaking the 16 minute mark (and that much closer to the World Cup Time Standard of 15:40 for the 5k!) Andrew and David threw down some killer times, Andrew edging out the others for second, David pulling in an incredible PB smashing race to go 15:39, and pull off a second overall. Outstanding work for everyone, with Elliot surviving his first EVER road race (barely,) for a just over 16 minute 5k.
Elliot, myself, Dave, and Drew, post-race celebration
Super happy with the new PB!!!
So a few things about this race: A. Eating a GIANT burrito at 8:45pm the night before the race (which is becoming a routine ritual after the Friday night track/masters swim sessions in UBC,) = BAD. Leaves you feeling too full on race morning, and does NOT help with a good sleep.
B. Breakfast needs to be smaller, ESPECIALLY with these short 5k races. Some liquid calories with a banana is going to be my new pre-race breakfast (for short course anyways,) keeping me lighter with less stomach issues.
C. The E-Load drink, mixed with the Gel about 15 minutes before the race ensured I would have enough energy and electrolytes to make it through the race, as the short race needed a very long warm-up. They worked perfectly, SUPER easy on the stomach, with no crashing or anything. A healthy product too, with no fillers or additives, for those health freaks like myself!!!
D. I used the Compressport Calf-Guards, they are a staple in my race execution. They help with the shock from running, keep fresh blood flowing to my muscles, and help keep everything together (especially after a hard week of training.) They do seem to make a difference, and on  a bit of a colder day they keep the legs slightly warmer (although on hot days, they almost seem to keep the legs cooler!)
E. Julio Daza, of Code Sport, gave me a new pair of Code Bamboo Socks the day before the race, to try out. From the moment I put them on, it was like a vacation for my feet!! They are EASILY the most comfortable sock I’ve ever worn, and during the race it felt like I was wearing cadillacs, (you know, the smooth cushy ride in the back seat of your high school clunker, that EVERYONE wanted to ride in because it was the most comfortable around!) They are SO soft, and being slightly thicker on the bottom gave them a very cushioned feel, but not so much as to make my shoes feel too tight. The New Balance 205KIM race flats were absolutely amazing as always, hugging my feet so perfectly, giving me a TON of spring in every step, and super light to boot!
The top guys in our Age Group
The day being a success, I looked forward to the next chance to test my fitness, which will be the 2011 Vancouver Sun Run 10k road race, which Bjoern somehow conned me into signing up for. It will be more pain than this 5k was, as I will have just returned from my 12 day training camp in Las Vegas (a 60+hr training camp,) and will also be coming off my second night shift at work. Fatigued, tired, and rushed. That’s the life of a pro triathlete.
Guess I’ll just have to get used to it J
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Training Camp and some races

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A bunch of new exciting updates over the past few weeks: two weeks ago was the UBC Duathlon, and last weekend was the St. Patricks Day 5km road race. Two hard races, and some INTENSE training in between!!

UBC Longcourse Masters Swim

I managed a win a the UBC Duathlon, and miraculously got a new personal best at the 5k (but only by two seconds.) In between was crazy, I had a blast with Coach Bjoern and his other elite athletes, Steven Hewick, Andrew Powell, and Elliot Holtham. We did a 4 day training camp out in Vancouver, and did about 20 hours of training, from the tuesday to friday.

It was AWESOME.

So many hard workouts, every day, including brick runs as all-out hill repeats, brick track sessions, and underwater filming. And all this leading up to the saturday 5k. I was amazed I could even RUN on the saturday morning, let alone PB!! It was an insane field at the 5k, the top 15 guys went under 16 minutes, and the top 5 guys were under 15 minutes! It was a cold, rainy, very windy day, ugly conditions for a run really. But there was an awesome showing at the race (sold out, 600 people,) and probably the BEST post-race spread of food for all the runners (definitely the way to an athletes heart, through their stomach!) All sorts of goodies: chocolate mint scones (from Cobbs bread,) lucky charms, muffins, cupcakes (St. Patricks Day green no doubt!) fruits, starbucks coffee, and the best part, was the two different types of stews they had!! Delicious!!

Running hard in the pack

I’ve entered all the big races this season that I plan on racing (in the Elite/Pro category), which are:
San Fransisco ITU Continental Cup
5150 Provo, Utah
Kelowna ITU Continental Cup
5150 Las Vegas
5150 Clearwater Grand Finale

There’s going to be other races, mostly smaller races, like the Peach Classic and a few Lifesport races (Sooke, Shawnigan Lake, Vancouver,) but the main focus will be on the big pro races.

Time to get ready for the big double swim, double run day tomorrow, with the Lifesport Crew!!

Nathan

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VO2 Max Testing Mishap

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first spirometry test

So I decided to participate in a research study on shunting in asthmatic athletes, and I started the initial testing a few days ago. It all starts out with a spirometry test, where you take the deepest breath you can, and blow it out as hard and fast as you can through a little plastic mouth-piece.

6mins of hyperventilating

Then you do a simulated effort by breathing a mixture of carbon dioxide and air, breathing in and out as fast as you can, for 6 minutes. The carbon dioxide keeps you from passing out (pretty much like hyperventilating, actually much harder than it sounds!)

second spirometry

Then the spirometry test is done again, to see if the results have changed (ie, to see if the athlete has exercise induced asthma.)

Warming up on the Velotron

Then, I was whisked away (well, actually walked 10min to another building) and did a VO2 Max test. It was my first test, and I was looking forward to finding out the results!  But there was a problem.

getting sweaty near the end of the test!

As I was nearing the end of the test, I was working so hard that I jerked my head to the side a little too hard, and ripped the front of the face piece right off! It was disappointing, but for the purposes of the study, I passed (VO2 Max was 63.2 @390watts when the mask fell off, they needed athletes with a VO2 Max of 60 or higher.) They’ve invited me to go back and try again (hopefully no more mishaps!)

It was a beautiful day outside, so I went and did my first ever run in the UBC Pacific Spirit Park, and it was AWESOME!! 2 hours of trails (longer than it was supposed to be as I got lost a few times,) and on a sunny beautiful day to boot. I’ve been starting to ramp up the volume the last few weeks, soon it’ll be time to do some speed work to get ready for the UBC Duathlon (first multisport race of the year!) Sounds like a bit of a cold weather front is moving in, hopefully we can get some decent weather for race day.

Enjoy the weather everyone!

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2011 Revised Open Water Swim Training

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The summer of 2010 saw me doing a LOT of open water swimming. I’d say that probably 3-4 of my 4-5 swims a week were open water, which is GREAT for getting accustomed to open water swimming, but not good if you’re doing it wrong. I spent too many meters in the lake just cruising, and NOT pushing myself hard like I would if I was in the pool. Plus, not enough pool swimming meant I wasn’t focusing on my proper form, and basically I was loosing speed. Not training at race pace or faster translated to some VERY poor performances in the later summer races. I had great swims early season, but it was a steady downhill decline after that.

This year will be different.

After much consultation with my newly appointed open water swim partner (the master of open water, Rod Craig, who has managed some amazing open water feats, such as crossing the English Channel!!) we will be revamping this years open water swim practices. Much more interval work, more group training, and the most important thing, RACE PREP! Just like running and cycling intervals, track work, and tempo training, you need to do race simulation for swimming as well. This video shows the 2011 training strategy we will be using. It will be hard work, but I know it’ll pay off.

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Unexpected 8km Road Race Performance

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Today was the Steveston Ice Breaker 8km road race, and oddly, I was toeing the start line. I say oddly, because in the 6 days leading up to the race, I’ve done 20 hours of training! I was surprised I could even walk properly after yesterday’s 4 hours of INTENSE training, let alone make a sad attempt to run an 8k race.

Amazingly, sad it was not.

I couldn’t believe how relaxed and comfortable I felt., right from the get-go. I didnt push hard off the blocks, I just immediately fell into a rhythm, and ran with a small pack. At the start, a bunch of people took off like mad-men (as is the usual,) but slowly we filtered past them through to the half-way mark. At the 4km turn-around, another runner made a surge and picked up the pace, so I stayed with him, and we dropped the rest of the group. I just sat on his heels for the next 2km’s, and figured out his running tactics. He would constantly surge, and then fade back to a slower pace. So at the 6km mark, I surged up beside him, which would make him surge ahead (he was a young, but very tall fella’,) and I would fall into his draft right away, forcing him to pick-up the pace, yet let him do the work (not that you get much of a draft, and we had a tail wind on the way back anyways.) I did this a bunch of times. At about the 1km to go, I gave it a really solid surge (I could hear he was starting to labor; I was feeling fresh,) and ran up beside him, holding the hard pace. As I could feel him backing off a bit, I backed off with him for about 2 or 3 seconds, and then put in a hard surge. Pushing hard, I could see he was starting to fade away.

“Awesome,” I thought, “I got him!”

Then, what I didnt anticipate, (and I’ve learned this is why a lot of the top Elite ITU sprinters are pretty tall guys,) was at about the 100m to go mark, a friend of mine yelled out, “HE’S COMING!!!”

I looked over my left shoulder to see what the commotion was all about, and that’s when I saw him, making an EPIC sprint for the finish. I thought, “awe shit,” and poured it all on, giving it everything I had.

Too late. He already had the jump on me, and I couldnt match his pace. 50m’s to go, and I all I could do was watch him go by. He ended up 1 second ahead of me. My friend said if I had started to kick about 20m sooner, he wouldn’t have caught me.

Pre-race with my buddies Cristina and Jeff

:01 second. Crap.

Oh well. Good for a 11th overall, 2nd in my age group, and a new 8km personal best time (27:02, :25 seconds faster than my best time.) I’m super pumped about that, I was amazed I could even walk well today, let alone PB, after yesterday’s hard 4hrs of training, and the 20hrs of training this week!! I could’ve pushed harder, but I wanted to work on race form, tactics, and I was told not to go out and kill myself (coaches orders,) I had a 3 hour ride to do still, and this was purely a test. The best part of the race today was getting to see all my friends out on a sunny sunday morning, everyone had a great time!

I packed it all in!

The weather for the ride today was EASILY the most beautiful this year!! Cold as all hell, but clear blue skies:) On my way home, I made a stop in at my favorite meat shop, North Surrey Quality Meats. All free-range, grain fed meats (except for their non-medicated, grass fed ground beef, leanest I’ve ever seen,) easily the cleanest and leanest meats around! I figured, after a hard day of racing and 3 hours on the bike, I earned something delicious. I felt like a delivery cyclist, I packed everything in my back pouches.

Displaying the goodies:)

I picked up some tasty treats for dinner (spicy marinated chicken breast, and some small bits of lamb,) as well as a few frozen meats (ground Bison: 4x leaner than chicken; chicken sausage, and some coconut curry chicken breasts.) They were 25% off, how could I NOT get it?!? What can I say, I’m a sucker for a deal (you know, the guy who buys stuff he doesn’t need, just ’cause it’s on sale. lol) Also grabbed a bit of whipped cream for my homemade Crispy Crunch Ice Cream Cake 😀

Now it’s time for bed, back to work tomorrow. Sounds like sun for the next few days, GET OUT THERE AND ENJOY!!!

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The big pains to make the gains

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After a very solid recovery week, and closing in on the end of a full week of training, it seems the two week training camp was ages ago. But amazingly, I can already feel the effects of twelve days of full time training.

That’s just over 46 hours of training, including just over 150km’s of running.

Being a run focus, there were a few days of double runs.

All being new to me, and this block being, by FAR, the largest block I’ve ever done, (most of the training was at a high intensity, with all the running being either tempo, intervals, or track work,) it was pretty brutal for me. About 8-9 days in I started to crack mentally, and by the last day or two, I had a lot of trouble sleeping. It was odd, you would go for a nap, and your whole body feels like it’s sleeping, but your mind stays awake. Yet you wake up feeling oddly refreshed. Strange.

This week being a full week of training, it’s surprising to find out I am racing the Steveston IceBreaker 8k road race this sunday morning. Pretty much a “D” race, with absolutely no rest before, it will be a sufferfest like no other. But I am sure it will be a great time, I’ll be there to have fun and get in some solid training at the same time (FUN always being number 1!!!) I just have my fingers crossed for some dry weather, especially since there’s a 3 hour bike ride post race for moi 🙁

Ugly.

Some more VERY exciting news (mostly for me!haha) is I have booked a training block in April for Las Vegas!!!! It will be a big bike and run block, with focus on the bike. The thing I’m most looking forward to? SUN, HEAT, DRY WEATHER! Getting away from the cold, wet BC weather, and into the nice Vegas sun (average that time of year is a low of 14C, highs upwards of 30C) will be the real treat. Lucky for me, I’ll be staying in a condo owned by the lovely Barb McPhee (thanks Barb!) located about 10km SW of the infamous Vegas Strip (ironically, my parents are there right now, celebrating their 30th Anniversary. Hope they win some money!) This will be my first solo training camp, but there are a few guys who might join me for a few days, which would definitely make it a bit more interesting. Not sure if anyone’s seen the show ‘Pawn Stars,’ but I do intend on stopping by their shop to check out all the odds and ends they have (maybe try and pawn something?lol) Will be a good time.

Hopefully everyone is getting lots of early season training done, best of luck out there (and good luck with the weather!)

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Personal Camp-Week One

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After today’s ride outside, my first week of training camp will be done! Monday morning was the start of a run focus training block, and I jumped into it right away with two that day. It’s amazing how great you can feel for the second run of the day after a good solid nap.

Nap.

That’s been one of the staples in my diet the last week, having a nap every day! Especially on days where I’ve had 3 workouts, NONE being recovery. The first time I’ve done some major running like this, especially with friday’s double run and a swim day, which included a rather painful 80min Fartlek run in the late morning, coupled with a hard track workout out at UBC in the evening with some of Bjoern’s athletes and other Lifesport athletes. Bjoern made sure we ran hard, and I was surprised that I could even walk, let alone put out some decent splits on the track. This seems to be the week of self-discovery, I’ve learned I can push myself harder and further than I thought!

The biggest smile crossed my face this camp when I found out it was going to be sunny today, as today is one of my long ride days. It is absolutely beautiful out, and I am super excited to finally jump on the bike and ride in the sun. I’m sure a lot of people can relate to the fact that riding indoors on the trainer is SOOOOOO boring, and very monotonous! Especially when you have to do it almost every day. Living in BC, and not somewhere that is warm year-’round (see- Arizona, Texas,) we have our fair share of ugly days. And probably a bunch of others’ shares as well. One thing I was thinking about as I hammered out a hard brick run yesterday, was electrolyte use while on the trainer. I mean, I know a lot of people only use water while on the trainer, but think of how much you sweat! That accounts for electrolyte loss (more for some than others,) and water alone doesn’t replenish that. So after a 90+min hard workout on the trainer, that’s a substantial loss. I’ve been keeping on top of that (especially when I have the brick run after, don’t want to go in to that depleted,) using some E-Load heat endurance formula (gives you some calories to help out near the end too!)

Just food for thought.

Time to get outside and absorb a solid dosage of Vitamin D! My favourite way to take it:)

Enjoy the sun people, looks like LOTS AND LOTS of snow starting wednesday!

Nathan

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Snow?

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So I wake up knowing I have another hard LONG run ahead of me this morning, and to my shock there was a bunch of snow on the ground, and it looked like it had NO intention of slowing down! I knew it was going to be a wet, cold, nasty slog through the slush and snow out there. Lucky for me it slowed down, but I felt like I was running in a giant snow-cone as it warmed up just enough to make my feet miserable. I’m sure there was something extra to be gained from the run, it was a doozy. 23km fartlek in 1hr40mins, definitely not easy. At least I know that all this base building will make a HUGE difference next summer, as it gives me some killer base fitness. Way more than I’ve ever done at this time of year before. But I guess that’s what you get when you sign up with a coach as a pro athlete:(

My bad.

So some more exciting news! My first holidays from work are coming up, from January 3rd to the 14th, and Bjoern informs me there is going to be some MAJOR work going on, with a big training block that looks like a run focus.

Even more exciting though, I’ve picked my holidays for 2011 at work, and I managed to get some AWESOME slots!! A few weeks line up perfectly with a few major races, like the San Fransisco ITU Continental Cup in July, 5150 Las Vegas and 5150 Clearwater. I tell you, sitting in that room waiting to make my holiday picks was so exciting! Watching the picks move down the seniority list, waiting for turn to pick a slot, trying to guess who was going to pick which slot, it got pretty intense. In the end I got what I wanted, so a win for me.

Hopefully there’ll be a few more wins this year.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas with their family and friends, and to everyone, have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! BE SAFE!

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New Coach, New Season, New Goals

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So it’s been a while since my last post, and a bunch of stuff has been going on since then!

First off, I’m happy to announce that I’ve started working with Bjoern Ossenbrink of Lifesport Coaching, a very experienced professional coach that I believe will help me take my training and racing to a new level. I’ve been working with Bjoern since the start of December, and things are very exciting! I’ve been looking at the race calender for the new year, and it looks like a few of the local races races will be the rust breakers, possibly including UBC Duathlon and the North Shore Triathlon. Then I’ve been looking at the new 5150 Series (from the WTC,) to use as my “A” races. I will be competing in the pro division, and would really like to qualify for the newly designated 5150 series championship race, the Des Moines, Iowa, Hyvee triathlon. It has changed from a draft-legal ITU race, to a non-drafting WTC race. The non-draft suits me better, my swimming isn’t exactly top of the field! I’ll take another kick at the ITU can with Kelowna Nationals, and possibly the San Francisco and Texas ITU Continental Cups. Nothing is concrete yet, but at least something’s in the works.

Second, I’ve gained sponsorship from John at Pacific Multisport in Vancouver, on Main street between 27th and 28th ave. Fantastic shop, he has everything you need and more to enjoy the sport, so go on in and check it out.

My swim has been going well, I’ve had a few solid swims this week which are very promising. But I’ve had a few phenomenal runs in the last two days. Yesterday I had a super solid 21km run around Mundy Park in Coquitlam, and it was only a 90min run. I coupled that with a very good 60min brick run off a hard bike session today, running 14.5km.

These are the workouts that are going to make the difference next season, putting the hard work in during the early pre-season. Now I’m looking forward to a ligher recovery week, and I’ve been assured by coach that the next building block will be a fun one. I cant wait!!!!

Time to bake some tasty cookies and spread some holiday cheer! Everyone enjoy the festivities!!!

Nathan