Hey BTCers! We’re enjoying some gorgeous weather, and hopefully Colorado’s sun and powder combo have been more than enough to ward off any winter blues. 
If not, however, this issue of the Beat has plenty of motivation, including an excellent article from Burke Fishburn on solo vs. group training which highlights several BTCers as well as pro Joanna Zeiger; training tips from Coach Eric Kenney; and an account of Lauren Greenfield’s latest snowshoe adventure. In fact, I’ve gotten such great content from people that I’m saving a few bits for the next issue. Be sure to scroll to the end for opportunities to earn yourself homemade cookies by giving the quickest correct guess on the trivia and partial shot question marks. Also, please note info on Mike and Caron Ellis’s upcoming Haiti fundraising event, included in the calendar section. It’s sure to be an incredible night for an important cause!
Letter from the Prez
Well, we got the season off to a great start with a terrific club gathering at Max Muscle in Boulder. We had at least 50 people in attendance, heard from a couple of our key sponsors, and reviewed the 2010 calendar. It was a great meeting – a big thank you to Max Muscle for providing food and drink and a great time. One key message I sent to the club was the importance around supporting our sponsors. Our sponsors provide so much for the club and it is critical that club members do their best to take advantage of the services and the discounts they offer. I wanted to give you a quick list of our sponsors and ask you to utilize them as much as possible. Be sure to tell them you are a BTC member when shopping at these establishments!
- Max Muscle – nutritional supplements, energy drinks and nutrition plans
- D3 Multisport – triathlon coaching
- Blue Competition Cycles – tri bikes, road bikes and more
- Boulder Center for Sports Medicine – bike fits, gait analysis, fitness testing and more
- Flatirons Athletic Club – corporate discount for BTC members
- Caledonia Wealth Management – financial planning
- Tri-Massage – sports massage
- Body N Balance – sports massage
- Boulder Running Company – athletic shoes, running gear and more
- Fleet Feet – joint training, running shoes, wetsuits and other tri gear
- Vision Source! – finest, highest quality, affordable eye care
Jeff Kinsey and I continue to work to finalize agreements with a couple of additional sponsors and I hope to be able to announce those shortly. Over the past couple of months I have been doing a lot of thinking about the Boulder Triathlon Club and what we mean to the triathlon community in Boulder. I am convinced that the BTC needs to remain and enhance its role as the fabric of triathlon here. After all, the membership of the club represents highly trained and competitive athletes, certified coaches, experienced age groupers (like me!), beginner triathletes, those considering becoming a triathlete, and leaders of organizations that promote and enhance triathlon. No other organization in Boulder can make that claim and I believe that is where the BTC shines. Keep doing what you can to invite new people into our organization because every triathlete can benefit from what the BTC offers. Keep your eye on the BTC calendar as we will start to kick off some of our planned events in February. Also, I hope to see more of you at our next club gathering on Feb 8th.The meeting will be held at the East Boulder Rec Senior Center and will feature Mike Ricci from D3 Multisport.
Keep up the Beat BTCers,
~Graz
FEATURE
Solo and group? by Burke Fishburn
‘OK, now what?’ my wife asks when I return sweaty, exhausted, eyes glazed from a long solo run or bike ride. I have made several major life-changing decisions on these journeys. Decided to get married. Decided to move to Vietnam. Decided to ditch a comfortable 20-year career for utter uncertainty. Moved back to Colorado after 37 years away. I have also meditated on moving the couch and whether Rogaine could be a business expense. Most of my solo adventures are not about getting faster or because I’m antisocial, but to get the neurons firing.
But I have experienced the benefits of group training. Group training got me back into triathlon after a 17-year hiatus. Living in Manila, Philippines, working 12-hour days, traveling globally one-third of the year, I desperately needed the support and friendship of committed triathletes. You could set your watch by the PoloTri’s schedule: Monday rest or recovery ride, Tuesday run intervals, Wednesday swim, Thursday tempo ride, Friday tempo run, Saturday long bike and Sunday long run, all at 5:30am. We were expected to show up at the trainings and compete in the local and regional races or suffer the displeasure of PoloTri’s founding fathers, who managed the club with an IronFist. Training with them was fun. I made good friends, I got fit fast and it made my job and living in Manila bearable.
A few recent studies back this up. For example, the University of Oxford’s Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology studied their rowing team and found that the rowers’ pain threshold—measured by endorphin levels in the brain—was steadily twice as high after exercising in a group than after exercising alone even with the same intensity. Researchers suspected that shared goals, like winning and endeavoring to row together in synch pushed that endorphin button. And a 2007 Ohio State University study reported that group exercise programs improved the physical and psychological well being of women being treated for early-stage breast cancer.
Should we all be training with groups all the time? Probably not. Based on the experience of local amateurs, coaches and pros, the benefits of group training are not so clear, and may be counterproductive or at least inconvenient.
Lauren Greenfield, a former Wild Oats team Cat 3 cyclist, trains solo out of necessity and choice. She mostly bikes and runs alone because of her work and family schedule, working in her commute as bike training. Greenfield likes the idea of group runs, but finds the typical pace intimidating. Greenfield does join Masters swim at Longmont Recreation. “I couldn’t swim across the pool when I first started doing triathlons,” Greenfield says, “so I knew I had to get some help.” She also got coaching help from Craig Howie for her 2008 Ironman Arizona debut, and also completed the 2009 Ironman New Zealand. “I can see doing more group stuff as I get into hardcore training, but I am still not sure what I will do in 2010.”
Peer pressure can be a good thing. It got Boulder native Megan Phares into triathlon. Friends and friends of friends were triathletes and gently pressured her to join their fanaticism. Megan, who grew up playing team sports in high school and college, made the multisport leap from running with FastForward Sports. “I am looking to improve my bike through more groups ride, but I’ve given up on my swim.” She admits she is a terrible swimmer, but loves the camaraderie of the Boulder Stroke & Stride series. Despite her love of the social side of sport, the majority of her training is solo due to her schedule. Phares says she has a hard time finding other BTC members who run at her pace with. “I have quite a few friends who run at my pace, but they are not in the club.” Phares does plan to improve her running through more group training this summer.
For some triathletes, going solo helps focus their dedication, determination and discipline. Stephanie Murphy, a former elite level gymnast, admits an antisocial mind-set when it comes to training. Priority on her family means training (and work) gets squeezed into tight schedule. Murphy is a Berthoud resident and has limited options for group training. Regardless, she does not like the pressure of group sessions, preferring hours on her CompuTrainer and intense solo track workouts. She does have help. She follows Joe Friel’s The Triathlete’s Training Bible and swims with Scott O’Brien at Longmont Masters. Is it working? Murphy has placed in the top five in just about everything she has raced. In 2009 she qualified for USAT Olympic Nationals and ITU Sprint World Championship. In 2010 she is focused on the HalfMax National Championships in 2010 with hopes of going to the ITU Long Course World Championship in 2011.
If you are serious about the sport, D3 Multisport’s Mike Ricci says you have to ask: What is the ultimate goal? What is the level of the athlete? And perhaps most importantly, is there a coaching component? Groups can provide motivation, but without correct technique, proper pacing and plan, it is just social time. Ricci says a good example of this is Master’s swimming programs, where many people struggle to maintain the lane pace and lose all technique and don’t get proper coaching. “The swim is about form, form, form. Not everyone can swim like Phelps because they don’t have the physiology so [coaches can help you] adapt techniques.”
It’s all about executing a specified training plan and learning to swim, ride and run at an appropriate pace.” Ricci insists, often tripling his emphasis. “In our American, Type-A culture, triathletes have a tendency to push, push, push. I want to get better, get faster and so I do more, more, more and do it harder, harder, harder.” Ricci says that many amateurs begin to breakdown instead of getting stronger or faster. In any given training there should be no more than three hard workouts, such as one hard swim, one hard bike, and one hard run. Doing every workout with a group can result in too many hard sessions that will ultimately break you down or result in injury.
Ricci says that the structure of group training has its benefits and can be a good entry point for the sport. For example, biking in a group is easier than on your own. You can learn a lot: learn to corner, descend, get other good tips, and learn to fix a flat.
“There is a time and place for solo and group training and you need to integrate both into your approach,” says pro triathlete Joanna Zeiger. There is hardly a Boulder triathlete who has not seen Zeiger out on solo runs or solo rides on her pink Guru. But group training figures in her mix as well. She came from a competitive swim background and still craves the same organized structure of swim sessions, which Dave Scott is happy to provide. “Learning proper swim technique on your own is hard, so having a coach on-deck really helps.” Zeiger mixes it up on the bike, doing intervals and intense rides with men and long rides on her own. For the run she does track and pace sessions with a loose group of training buddies who share similar goals and attitudes, and long runs on her own. Zeiger has coached a lot of women, “Who tend to wind it up with the boys all the time and end up overtraining.” Her advice is that most women should limit group efforts and not turn every workout into a race. “In my younger days it was a sin to get dropped, but I am smarter now.”
Lessons learned. The choice to train with a group or solo—with a focus on improving performance—is not mutually exclusive but getting the mix right. Here are few suggestions:
Swim. Masters swimming can be boon or bane, especially in uber-Boulder. Without proper technique you may struggle to keep the lane pace, reinforcing bad habits and getting discouraged. Beginners should consider some one-on-one coaching, training alone for a while then consulting with the Masters coach on proper lane assignment before jumping in. Need some time for drills and to work on technique? Go solo.
Bike. Conventional [roadie] wisdom says triathletes are hapless, unskilled cyclists. Ride with roadies, on a road bike if you can, and learn peloton skills, but be prepared to be dropped and do not take it personally. Develop a thick skin. Once you learn the proper handling spend some quality time out on your own. Unless you are almost exclusively focused on UCI draft-legal races, the benefits of always riding with a group will be limited. Most triathlon races are non-drafting, so learn to ride aero and on your own.
Run. Know thyself. Invest in a speed/distance heart rate monitor. Keep to your pace, nail-down your heart race zones, know your threshold. Long-distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie is famous for his three sets of training partners precisely calibrated for his “slow” recovery runs, tempo-pace, and fast runs. Consider the same approach. Just don’t tell your running partner that he is your “slow pace” buddy. When it is time to go fast, go fast. And when it’s time to go slow, GO SLOW. Save it for race day.
Shared goals. Seek out training partners with similar goals, training philosophies and plans, schedules and pace. Many BTC members will race the Boulder series (Sprint, Peak and new Ironman 70.3).
In the end, going group or solo is about what motivates you and makes you fall in love with the sport every day. Use the best of both worlds. Use group training to get started and learn technique and gain knowledge, but also do a significant portion of training on your own.
As a BTC Member you will be able to take advantage of many opportunities. Whether for training gains or meeting your new training partner or life partner, take advantage of the ramped-up events in 2010. Or forget the training and have a few drinks with BTCers at the next party. Like me, you can still sneak in that life-changing solo run the next day.
Need some help with your training, group or solo? Following is just a sample of group training as well as coaching options for the Boulder County-based triathlete:
BTC Sponsors
- Mike Ricci and D3 Multisport team offer discounted one-on-one coaching services, group training, and the training plans as well as Tuesday night run interval training starting late Spring, free to BTC members. D3 USAT-certified coach and Body Balance massage therapist, Amanda McCracken, also offers female beginner triathletes
- Flatiron Athletic Club. BTC members get a discounted rate and free access to the following: Masters swim classes with such as Dave Scott and Wolfgang Diettrich, and Boulder Aquatic Masters (BAM) mama, Jane Scott; Spinning classes and Winter-season indoor trainer bike sessions with Simon Lessing; Runner’s conditioning with Colleen and Darren DeReuck.
Boulder Recreation
- North Boulder Recreation Center, 25 yd pool BAM swimming
- East Boulder Community Center 25 yd pool, BAM swimming, indoor cycling
- South Boulder Community Center, 25 yd pool, BAM swiiming
- Scotty Carpenter pool (outdoor 50 m) and Spruce Pool (outdoor 25 yd), summer BAM swimming
Longmont Recreation
- Centennial 25 yd pool, triathlon training programs, indoor cycling
- Longmont Recreation pool, 25 yd, Longmont Masters
COACH’S CORNER
Winter Training and Maximizing Time by Coach Eric Kenney
We all have different ideas on winter training. For some it is a vital time of year, laying the foundation for a big race mid-summer, or tuning speed for early season duathlons. For some, winter will be a success if they gain less than 10 pounds. Whatever your motivations for this winter, balancing a structured plan with a good dose of spontaneity will get you in the best form ever, physically and mentally.
Outlook: If you live in the northeast or anywhere typically snowy, and you’re not a pro, you simply can’t train as much in the winter. With darkness coming around 4:30pm, frigid morning temps and icy roads render some workouts impossible. Let’s not even begin to get into jobs, girlfriends, kids, wives, the Bronco’s game schedule, etc…
So, once we’re at peace with the fact that we simply can’t put in as much time as we may want, we can focus on what to do with the time we have.
Getting started: Find a routine. With cold temps, warm beds, and stale indoor air, it is easy to get “off track”. Try to find some kind of routine. This could be 1 workout or rendezvous with a friend per week ( ie. “every Wednesday morning john and I run together, no matter what.” “Thursday night I do the spinning class at my gym.”) Even with only one appointment per week with your body, you can maintain your fitness. Find something that works with your schedule so it will be easy to keep this commitment and not get side-tracked. This can work for you in a great way if your one workout focuses on your weakness. I have known athletes to turn their swim from 5 minutes down to 1 minute up, over the course of the winter!
The bike: Time constraints really hit hard when trying to work on your bike, especially if you are training for an early season half or full Ironman. First thing to do is invest in the proper warm clothes: water/wind proof booties and gloves; warm tights; thermal cycling jacket; hat or helmet cover. Investing in proper cycling winter gear will make your cold rides more enjoyable, more effective, and maybe a bit longer. One trick for the cold feet is to use shoes 1 size too big and put in two insoles. And don’t jam your feet in there with too many socks. You’ll restrict circulation and have lumps for wood in place of feet in less than an hour.
The trainer can be your worst enemy and your best ally all at once. If you are going to improve your riding, regular visits to the trainer will be a must but they don’t have to be torture. Here are a few tips to add appeal:
-Don’t do the same thing day in, day out. Mix up trainer workouts and the amount of time you spend on them. Try something new once every 2 weeks or so, like watching football with your buddies 3- 4 hours with big gear climbs every commercial, sprints every field goal, and hard tempo every time your team is on offense would make even Mark Allan slump over the handle bars by the final 2 minute drill.
-Keep your mind busy. When your not with your friends watch tv, listen to the radio, etc…
- Stay focused. I have just given you ways to distract yourself from your work, but the best way I find to make time fly is to have specific workout and stick to it, to the second. Warm up, cool down, some 10 minute strength intervals, rest intervals. You’ll find that riding for less than an hour becomes pretty difficult.
Take care: It’s important that you take care of both your body and your equipment with the same care as you would in the summer months. Proper nutrition and stretching is vital to staying healthy and on the upward path. Care for your bike and trainer is also a must. Just because you’re not out in the rain and dirt doesn’t mean you can just get off your bike and be done with it. Salt will build up on your bike and trainer and will destroy both if you don’t clean them. They will surely fail you when you need them most.
Work outs:
1. Low RPM tempo: One of my favorites!
3×8-10’ (4’ rest) interval is done at 50-60 rpm’s in Z3.
This 30’ of work will give you the muscle fatigue of 90 minutes or more of tempo (Z3) riding at a normal cadence. This will boast the intensity of your workout, giving you better endurance adaptations; it will strengthen your riding muscles while keeping an “endurance” focus on the training session. This workout will have you resisting fatigue better than ever with less time on the trainer!
Technique work is something that can be and should be incorporated into every workout on the trainer. A clean efficient pedal stroke is something that every triathlete and cyclist can reap huge benefits from, more so than most realize.
2. One leg pedaling: 30 sec. each leg x3. Pedal with one leg. focusing on pushing the pedal all the way around the circle. Keep pressure light and body still.
*incorporate this into your warm-up and cool-down every time you ride the trainer.
3. Fast Pedals: Great for technique and neurological function/ durability. Pedal in an easy gear with your cadence 10+ beats higher than you normally ride. Relax and try to keep your PE and HR low, in Z2. This will raise your HR and your excretion level a bit but the better your adaptation become the faster you will be able to pedal and easier it will get. This adaptation will leave your leg felling fresher after the bike and have you ready to run, fast!
Check out more articles and programs at http://ekendurancecoaching.com
RACING
Congratulations to everyone as always on great performances and sporting accomplishments! Please send me your PRs and achievements…or, boast on behalf of your modest and amazing friends!
Congrats to Phoenix marathon, half marathon, and 50K runners: Marathoners Dave McMillan 2:57, Artie Sandman 3:11, Wendy McMillan 3:15, Denise Farley 3:22; Half marathoners Derek Cicchitto 1:26, Jay Lochhead 1:34, Anne McDonough 1:59; Barry Siff 4:15 for 50K.
All the Oatmeal Quicker Quaker 5K runners–nice BTC turnout!
Ann Remmers, 10th division in 1:08 at Chilly Cheeks, and any other duathletes!
Luck To:
Todd Landin in first straight-up marathon, Austin Feb 14th
Doug Wendel, Red Hot 50, 55K trail run in Moab, Feb 13th
All the CU Frozen Foot 5K runners!
…and all other racers in February events!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Upcoming Events
February
3- Eldora Nighthawks series continues on Wednesdays (3rd, 17th, 24th)!
8- BTC Club Meeting, East Boulder Recreation Senior Center, 6:30 pm. Features Mike Ricci, D3 Multisport.
13- Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon
13- Sweetheart Classic 4 Miler, Loveland: looks like a very fun couples race! Results based on cumulative times.
14- Screamin’ Snowman Snowshoe Race, 5K, 10K, Eldora
14- Valentine’s Day 5K Washington Park, Denver
19- ABCDEFG Haiti: Fundraiser led by Mike Ellis. Elks Lodge, 3975 28th St. in Boulder. The event, titled ABCDEFG Haiti, will run from 7 p.m. to midnight and feature performers including Chris Daniels, Ayo Awosika, Jaden, Megan Burtt, Rob Drabkin, Kyle James Hauser, and other special guests. The Mardi Gras-themed event will be hosted by Rockin’ Robin Abb, organizer of Niwot’s Rhythm on the Rails. Attendees will enjoy gourmet food, cash bar, dancing, silent auction, costume contest and more. Tickets cost $25. All proceeds will be given to the American Red Cross for its Haiti Relief and Development Fund.
20- Chilly Cheeks Duathlon series # 3, Cherry Creek State Park
20- Pedal Power Winter Triathlon, Leadville
21- CU Frozen Foot 5K Click to register online now for this fun local race guaranteed to have an awesome turnout!
27- BTC 10+10 run; details forthcoming!
ATHLETE UPDATE
Photo from Hardwater race website...not of Lauren! : )
Hardwater Snowshoe Adventure by Lauren Greenfield
Once we enter the world of endurance sports, living in Boulder County, it is not uncommon for our perspective on things and distances to become . . . well, a bit warped. So I thought in telling a several friends I was going to embark on a 30K snowshoe race in mid January. Four weeks out, upon completing a 14.5 mile run on the road with some dirt and ice, I had a rather defining moment when I realized what I was truly thinking of. Thankfully, shortly thereafter, the race director announced an 11 mile option. Okay – 11 miles is SO doable!
Now, I might tell you that while I have enjoyed snowshoeing for many years, about two-three times per year, it is definitely NOT “my thing,” as MY thing has two wheels, skinny tires and a pink saddle. Everything else I do is to “complement” my cycling. Or to be social. Or, simply to reach the finish line in triathlons.
January 9th. I arrive at 8:55 am. For a 9:00 am start. No time to get nervous. No time to pee. There would be plenty of opportunity for the latter once on course. The pack (of 25) stuck together as everyone went out at a relatively easy pace – some chatting while others more competitively vying for position. The snow was packed, the sky blue. The day could not have been more perfect. Course. Weather. Conditions. Solitude. My goal: to enjoy the day. To reach the finish line. Not to reach it first. Not to put my race face on.
The three and half hours on the course provided physical challenge with a different kind of mental challenge. While I might have a time “in mind” for an 11 mile running race, I had no expectations with my “adventure” that day. My Garmin went off and on I went in and out of trees, sometimes slowing down enough for it to go on auto-pause. And I smiled. I was okay with that. The smells. The footprints. The snow. The trees. Slow enough to see it all. Take in everything. Fast enough to get to the finish line before any of the 30Kers. I stayed present. I fell down. I laughed. And I reached the finish line. I wasn’t DFL. I wasn’t in the money. I was smiling, even more so that I had opted for the 11 mile snowshoe. An incredible adventure.
ATHLETE PROFILE: Run Coordinator David McMillan
- Years competing in tris: 1
- Worst tri mistake: Not putting sunblock on my pale British skin at Vineman and getting FRIED!!
- Top tri tip: Two things: Don’t neglect transitions and do single sport races for improvement.
- Favorite sporting accomplishment: Swimming 50yds for the first time ever as a 30 something newbie swimmer
- Goals for next season so far: To race at least 15 times and set some straight up running PR’s
- Favorite pre-race food: I pretty much have an iron stomach so anything goes. You can’t beat the traditional pasta carbo-load for long races.
- Favorite post-race replenishment: Chocolate milk and Ice Cream, not usually together.
- Something people may not know about you: I can speak 7 languages.
PARTING SHOT: Which BTC member got rid of this gut?
The guts will be spilled in next month’s Athlete Profile. Send your best guess to mcmillan.w@gmail.com.
RED LINE REMINDER: Just a heads up, the following memberships are expiring in January. Please renew soon to continue taking advantage of all the great benefits of BTC!
Expiring in January:
- Gail Matherly
- Jim Buderus
- Adam Hodges
- Jen Foley
- Sarah Vieweg
- Jeffrey Kern
Expiring in February:
- Todd Hotham
- Kevin Reinsch
- David McGuire
- Lynn Chance
- Thomas English
- Sue Buxton
- Ryan O’Connor
TRI-IT TRIVIA: Which BTC athlete raced more than 1000 bike races, yet never passed his HS swim test (because he was racing in Belgium at the time, but also couldn’t swim)?
