Popularity: 6% [?]
Archive for November, 2008
Team EN Virtual Marathon Relay: 2009 Team Roll Call
On November - 20 - 2008
We are very excited to have a grand total of 11 teams entered into our annual virtual marathon relay. There are 9 teams of 4 peeps (each running 6.55mi), and 2 teams of 3 peeps (each running 8.73mi), competing for Team EN glory. The race will happen over the weekend of 11/22-11/23, with results to be posted on this blog. The smack talk is strong in the EN Forums, only time will tell who’s running-fu will stand tall at the finish line. Good luck everyone!
TEAM PURITANS
“Screw the truth into men’s minds.” (Richard Baxter, famous Puritan)
1. Patrick McCrann (CoachP)
2. Maura McCrann (MauraMcCrann)
3. Leigh Boyle (Leigh)
4. Dave Boyle (dboyle)
TEAM RATHER BE RIDIN’
1. Verna
2. Kathy G
3. Cat (TriToy)
4. Bryan (Boglecda)
TEAM WTF
Censored Motto
1. Mdemello
2. Ann
3. Dcorso
TEAM 26.2…Below!
“Twenty-six point two
Too cold for many of you
Us too: if BELOW”
1. jlbwalleye
2. Jesse Spates
3. Blazer86
4. _noodle_
TEAM BEAR DOWN
If you have trouble fitting all of our names on the 1st place Trophy, please just use BEAR DOWN
1. HayesSanborn
2. ToddP
3. MattS
4. Stringcheese
The Four Horsemen [of the November Apocalypse]
From the Four Seals, we have come.
From the heavens, we have descended
From the winds, we are carried
From our beginning, we have fashioned your end
Had Res Sumptus ~ At Any Cost
1. JT(UCD)
2. CNIDog
3. Chris G (Seth is now on SAU Duty)
4. James G10
TEAM RUN TIL YOU PUKE
26.2 is for weanies, our goal – 42.2 miles!
1. Heather Bender
2. Marianne Park
3. Colleen Capper
4. NavyTriGuy
TEAM SUB 3
“How do you spell easy? H – A – M – M – E – R !!!”
1. Steve Chavez
2. Steve Cramer
3. Carrie Chavez
4. Tom Glynn
TEAM “Beat team SUB 3 head to head”
Run Until The Wheels Fall Off
1. John Stark
2. Ed Maier
3. Simon Mutlu
4. Mark Dube
TEAM NIL
“Who’s Next In Line that thinks they can knock us off the pedestal?” (Larry Gilbert, team spokesman and smack talker)
1. Matt Ancona (mancona)
2. Jim Hansen (jhansen21)
3. Larry Gilbert (chi22)
4. Mike Biarnesen (Mike_B)
TEAM Packin Heat THE HOT FLASHES
Is it hot, or am I just running fast?
1. Paula Erikson (Paula)
2. Kris Frazier (KrisF)
3. Gina Hamel (Gina)
4. Linda Patch (Linda)
Popularity: 6% [?]
Ironman Arizona Reprise
On November - 19 - 2008
This Sunday we revisit the Tempe Arizona course for the last Ironman racing stop in North America for this year. The November race date is to be the permanent time slot for this event starting in 2009. The weather looks like it will be somewhat different from the weather back in April. The weather forecast is for a high of 79 degrees. ENers racing this Sunday:
Laura Knapp - This will be Laura’s 4th time on the start line for the Arizona course. Her best race in Arizona was 2007 with a 13:27. Her third start on this course was April this year. During race week back in April she started to feel a bit under the weather and as the race day temperatures soared her day eventually came to an end in the ER with a severe case of hyponatremia. Since then she has had two different jobs in two different cities, ever changing training partners, 4 different pools, a few injuries, and obstacle after obstacle…yet she is back in Tempe this weekend looking for the reset bottom on her April experience. Her first goal is to finish health with a close second goal of enjoying the race since there wasn’t much of April that she enjoyed. Her ‘one thing’ on Sunday: “a solid IM finish”.
Gilberto Hernandez - Gilberto was a first time finisher in Arizona in 2005. He continued IM racing in Lanzarote in ’06 and France in ’07 before also hitting a snag(DNF) in his IM racing – pulling out of the Full Vineman in 2007 for medical reasons. He was ready to go at New Zealand earlier this year when he fractured and partially severed the tip of his left index finger while preparing his bike for the trip to the race. Training for Arizona November was going well until October 5th during a century ride he had a crash when he hit a raised segment of road going 35.5mph. The accident left him with some pretty severe road rash, cracked helmet, and a broken finger requiring surgery and two titanium screws. Most people would have thought Arizona was over …9 days later Gilberto was on the trainer. His pre-accident Ft was 251 and on November 6th, his first long ride since the accident, his FT was 255. Gilberto has a final medical follow up visit on the 19th and is expected to be cleared for full activity. He heads to Tempe on the 20th ”grateful”: “grateful to be alive, to soon have a fully functional dominate hand(left- handed), eager and ready to execute my EN race plan with patience, discipline, and courage.” His ’one-thing’ on race day is his life-mantra “PERSEVERENCE”.
Rich Miller - this will be the first IM for Rich. He is happily tapering and very happy with his training coming off open shoulder surgery in February. Rich describes the surgery as a repair of a full tear, bolted shoulder due to instability, removal of bone spurs, removal of part of the acromion and collar bone and some “miscellaneous other things.” But when ask about any major obstacle going into race day he doesn’t mention the shoulder but says his major limiter is his diabetes. The focus on Sunday will be his nutrition and how critical it will be to his race day execution. His expectations as a first timer: “It will be a long day, but confident.” He has some nerves about what the mass swim start will be like and also mentions looking for Mile 18 after a long ride – sounds like he has studied up on the EN race execution. Rich has a good friend along a race support for the weekend but his wife and son will be sending support vibes from home. His ‘one thing’ on Sunday: “Stay out of the medical tent!!!!!”
Antonio Llona - third IM and first time in Arizona having raced Lake Placid in 2004 and Florida in 2006. Antonia will have 4 training buddies and 45 others racing from Puerto Rico on Sunday. He also is has been bring his training back since February from an ankle injury that has kept him from running since July of 2007. He has also had a lot of life going on in the last year. In August 2007 his second son was born. He then moved the family in January this year. In February he lost his Father. Changed job and moved again in September and this new job requiring travel 50% of the time. Antonia says this will be his last full IM “until I have more time in my life”. He will have his wife and 4 year old as race support on Sunday. He is hoping to “enjoy 130 miles and race 10 against fellow island guys and most importantly cross the finish line and absorb the last 100 meters with my 4 year old son. I want him on the finish picture for when he grows up.” Bonus for the day would be a final time under 11:30. His ‘one thing’ race day: he mentions something about getting to the finish line before 4 specific guys. I don’t want to tip any of them off, but sounds like there is a bit of competition between them and if they are all within eye shot near the 18 mile mark…it could get personal!!
John McCarroll – This will be IM number two for John. John raced Florida in 2007 and goes to the start line in Tempe a ‘feather-weight’ of 188 lbs. This weight is down from 230 lbs in 2006. WOW! John joined up with EN in August and says he couldn’t be happier with the decision. Reporting no injuries, confident in his training and ready to race on Sunday. His expectations for the day: ” I paid for 17 hours so anything under that works.” I love that answer! Seriously, John has an idea of what he is capable of on race day but doesn’t want to jinx himself with a time goal. His expectations do include a EN race execution strategy that gets him a competitive marathon. He also is looking to hit T1 and T2 with a high degree of commitment to get in and out quick. He mentions that he gave away “way to much free time” in transition time in Florida. His race day ‘one thing’ is “IW” which stands for his IronWife, Sue. Sue will be John’s lone supporter on race day. She has IM sherpa experience from Florida in 2007 where she established a tradition of greeting John at the finish line with a big kiss, his recovery shake and a cold beer!
Greg Rhodes – most of us know Greg as “Dusty” in the forum. Dusty is a 49 year old retired Marine Corps Pilot. He started tri’s at age 40 and met Rich Strauss 8 months later while racing the Vineman full. He is a veteran IMer with this Sunday his third time in Arizona and his 9th IM. IM Arizona in 2007 was his Kona qualifier and a PR at 10:38. Dusty also race Arizona in April this year with the heat and wind. His injury list this year includes a hamstring pull in January, a bike crash 2 weeks prior to the April race, and a pulled calf muscle 5 weeks ago. But he says his only obstacle on race day will be himself. His expectations on Sunday: “to race within myself and to race the IM..not the swim, not the bike, not the run – well at least until mile 18.” Dusty also feels like he has recently gotten a better “feel” for what the effort should be on the bike to have a good run. He says he had that effort combination in Arizona in 2007 but has just recently come to understand it. His ’one thing’ will be ”to keep my mind and eyes open to how blessed I am to have the health and ability to do this event. I plan on smiling all day not just at the finish line.” Below with Dusty is his wife, Beth of 30+ years and a veteran Iron-supporter.
Other ENers to keep an eye out for:
Suzanne Aquila
Jorge Geronimo
Warren Booth
Popularity: 6% [?]
Off-Season Intervention, Part II: Get Out of the Weightroom!
On November - 18 - 2008
In Part I, we introduced you to the principle that performance fitness is in the muscles, not in the cardiovascular system. Now we would like to introduce you to Return on Investment (ROI) and the Principle of Specificity, Endurance Nation’s “do-not-pass-go” concepts for the age-group athlete living and working in the real world.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Return on Investment is the rate of return, on race day, for every minute you have spent training.
For now, let’s forget all this training/exercise physiology mumbo-jumbo. Let’s talk about the real world; your reality as an age-grouper living in an age grouper world. It’s a busy place! Between family, work, a personal life outside of training, family, and…family, your weekly time-pie is cut into many slices. Training is just one of those slices and, we feel, relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Triathlon Speed is Relative (aka We Can All be Faster)
On November - 18 - 2008
Inside Endurance Nation we talk a lot about training hard and how “Work WORKS” — all with an eye towards making you faster. But a lot of folks in the triathlon space don’t think of themselves as fast. Fast is (apparently) reserved for the folks in the “A” group, or the people who lead the track workouts, or that girl with the college rowing background…but not you. Anyone else is fast…but you are just, well, you. “Try to Tri” is your motto, and you are just happy to be here and to be active.
Little Voice: You Can’t Be Fast
No, I am not trying to destroy your positive attitude or attempting to ruin the sport of triathlon for you. Yes, I am telling you that the little voice you’ve been listening to has a name, it’s Mediocrity, and it wants to hold you back.
Think about it for a second. Everyone you “think” is fast was slower at some previous point in their lives. They weren’t born fast. And if you start digging around, you’ll probably discover that the fast woman you hold in such high regard…doesn’t really consider herself fast. But she’ll be happy to tell who is faster than her. 
While you might view your speed as slower than the majority of folks around you, so too does everyone else. It’s the human condition to compare and assess our own relative placing in any “niche”, and triathlon is no different. The point here, however, is that this assessment is relative to the individual, not to some established order (everyone feels slower than someone). In other words, you can use that perceived slowness as a lever to make yourself faster — but only if you want to.
Little Voice: You Don’t Know How to Get Faster
That’s right, it’s a case of perspective now, since the “how” portion of the faster element is no longer a mystery. We outlined a great deal of information in our OUTSeason Webinar (download free here) and in our online traning manual (read it FREE online here). Bottom line is if you want to get faster, you have to train faster.
Little Voice: Do We Want to Get Faster?
Well finally, that little voice has something worthwhile to say. Being faster is a conscious choice we make daily to go faster in our training. Do you want to push your own personal limits? Do you want to see what potential lies within? Tired of just training to train, not training to be your best on race day? If you are ready to take that next step, our team is ready to help you out. Create a free trial membership and find out just how much fun getting faster can be.
See you online!
Popularity: 6% [?]
