TRI K2 Blog

Mountain Biking in the Desert

2011-01-19T09:05:00.001-05:00

Mountain Biking with a great team and a "future Champ"! We had great weather for my first venture out onto the 24 hour trail getting ready for the upcoming Old Pueblo 24 hour race. With a 5 person team hopefully I won't have to make too many night laps! Ricks first time on a mountain bike and even on Norms bike with no clips he made it up all the climbs, some of which must have had 13 to 17 percent grades.

2011-01-19T08:59:00.003-05:00

The "dreaded" metal man on the computrainer..Does anyone ever win with this guy? The challange is how much sweat you can leave on the floor!

2011-01-19T08:45:00.003-05:00

Lt Col Rick Crespo at the Innagural January Tri K 2 training camp. The weather was great, typical Tucson weather with the skys sunny and clear. Cool mornings with the days warming up nicely. Along with the typical bike, run and swims we even made time to get some mountain biking in, since we have a 5 person team competing in the upcoming Old Pueblo 24 hour mountain bike race. Lots of fun and some top training rides with brothers Ryan and Mike Mazura , Kerstin and Dr Matt Jones and others. Tuscon has been tagged as one of the top training locations in the nation, with miles of bike friendly roads, hills and scenic trail running.

Kerstin's First 1/2 Marathon

2011-01-18T07:41:00.007-05:00

A BIG congratulations to Kerstin Jones on a great finishing time of 2:17:35 in Sundays Rock and Roll Marathon in Pheonix Az. Kerstin - you ROCK! You were so fast that you got past the 3 of us tht were on the look-out for you! With an average pace of 10:30 for your very first 1/2 marathon you are fast on the heals of husband Matt. Matt played race "Sherpa" and did an outstanding job of it, sending Kerstin off at the start and then racing over to the finish to park and see her cross the finish line. We still havent quite figured out how Kerstin managed to slip past Matt, Sherry and me since we were all on the look-out for her at different points in the race but she did!
Its a coach's dreamm to hear your athlete debrief after the race and say they did exactly what they had practiced in training! Kerstin has a mind like a steel trap and once she sets her sights on a goal there is no stopping her! Look for an exciting race year from this athlete!

Mountain Bike Racing At 7000 Feet

2010-10-05T16:55:00.032-04:00

The 8 Amigos - Left to Right - Phil, Jake, Kate, Pam,
Dave, Ryan, Mike, Jenny

Good mountain bike racing this last weekend on Saturday Oct 2nd in Show Low AZ at the Show Low Bluff Tour of the White Mountains. This was the 15th annual running of this event, with three competitive racing distances - 15 miles, 35 miles & 60 miles. We travelled up with some friends from here in Tucson to Show Low in the White Mountains, about a 3.5 hour drive NE from Tucson.

Through our good Tucson friends Ryan & Tami, we have met some other great folks in Tucson (Dave & Jenn), who have a large cabin in the White Mountains. Friends from Phoenix, (Phil & Jenn) & daughter Kate from Phoenix also came down & we all stayed at the cabin, making large communal meals, kicking back & listening to the trash talkin'. "The 8 Amigos" were racing on Saturday. Needless to say, the pre-race and subsequent post-race "trash talkin'" was, as usual, highly entertaining!

Race results were pretty impressive with the following podium finishes - a third and a fifth in the Men's Open 15 miler (Phil & Dave, respectively), a third in the Women's Open 15 miler (Jenny), a fourth in the Women's Masters 15 miler (Pam) & last, but not least, a first & second in the Men's Open 35 miler , (Ryan and Mike respectively).

This is the second year that we have travelled up for the race & as usual, a GREAT time was had by all, so same time next year.

Racing In The Desert

2010-05-31T15:10:00.010-04:00

Did a local sprint tri today - the Sahuarita Lakes Tri. Distances, at least for the swim were a little strange - i.e. 1 KM swim, 500 M out and back. Bike & run "normal" sprint distances.

A very beautiful course, very nice weather, with good dry heat and a nicely run event. Really enjoyed the race although that 1 KM swim really took its toll!

Train Safe & Smart

Tucson Arizona

2009-09-17T18:09:00.002-04:00

Sat 8/15/2009

So…it took us 2 and ½ days of driving with 2 cats and the dog to arrive in Tucson, and 2 days to unpack and move in. The movers unloaded and unpacked everything that I could find a place for on Wed. We spent the rest of Wed afternoon and Thursday putting away and emptying other boxes. I think everything is unpacked that is going to get unpacked.

My aunt , Helen and her daughter Judy and husband Phil and my daughter Kate all came down Friday afternoon from Phoenix and we went out to dinner last night at La Fuentes. Old Tucson – wonderful Mexican food and mariachi band. Our celebratory entry into Tucson and Judy and Phil’s 46th wedding anniversary. My aunt will be 90 in December and we will be here for her Birthday celebration!

Life is good…the guy from the gas company that hooked our gas up on Wed is a cyclist…saw my Cervelo t-shirt and bikes and figured out he would test a Fla girl out on a mountain ride Sat morning… I survived and got invited back again for tomorrow Sun am ride.

Ah…2.5 hours – of climbing. ( I am out of shape) A 7 mile climb, and a mountain pass. Mountain lions, wild pigs (javalina) coyotes , jack rabbits and snakes. Its like the wild west. This is a very cycling friendly town with lots of bike lanes and for the most part polite drivers….and the best part..after 2.5 hours – my clothes were still only slightly damp…WOW…no dripping sweat in the eyes…. Lots of runners and bikers out early in the morning. We started at 5:30 and were done by 8 am.

Now I know why we Fla people always get our butts kicked on the bike by the Western state folks. These are cyclists out here – even when people are modest and say they aren’t very good. I was huffing and puffing and Ryan was talking away not=2 0even breathing hard…hmmm I have some work to do before I try Mt Lemon…9200 ft…27 miles of climbing.

There are mountains everywhere you look – very humbling and the stars at night look to be close enough to touch. Our house is off of big sky road – Big Sky Ranch – and it is aptly named. At night the big dipper is huge and so bright you can actually see the stars twinkle.

Cooking steaks on the grill tonight for neighbors…Norm has a couple of good leads on jobs already and I start Monday at Tucson Eclectic.

Hope all is going well…

Pam

Great Cartoon

2009-06-02T11:53:00.002-04:00

No Fly Bikes

2009-05-05T21:25:00.008-04:00

4/30/09 .. This is the text message that I received enroute from Pam & Nina's trip to the St. Croix Half IM , 2009... Ja Mon!

"We be climbin' da beast on foot mon. Sitting next to cock fighting rooster mon! Nina gonna let loose in SJ airport.

Dey fly the rooster, but no fly bike Mon!"

Ultimately the bikes arrived in St. Croix...

Miami International Tri 2009

2009-03-31T20:24:00.002-04:00

MIT 3/15/09

Photos - Click here

Pilates and You

2009-03-11T19:41:00.002-04:00

Ever considered the serious stretching & core strength benefits of Pilates as it relates to Tri?

See Doug's experience with one local Pilates Master at the following link

Pilates Article

Early Season Form

2009-01-19T07:31:00.001-05:00

Here we are in Mid January already. Training has started for everyone with early season races, and if it hasn’t quite started for you yet it can’t be far off.

The Tri K 2 team has some stellar results already this year with the St Pete Classic 10k road race and the Clearwater ½ Marathon and 5 miler this past weekend. Wendy Johnson put on a great race in the St Pete Classic. Scott Vaughn posted a big PR by more than 3 minutes and was 12/32 in his age group with a time of 47.41!!! 3 min in a 10 K is huge. I think he is at the start of an A-1 race year!

Doug posed a time of 40.13 (5th) in the 35-39 age group with a perfect 5 k spilt of 20.06, after a HARD week of training, Val ran a 1.14 with her heal pain, a SISU effort. Thanks to Dror’s advice ,yours truly hit my goal of breaking 50 min, with a little help from Scott and Doug, thanks guys!!.

Jose Baez and Jose Baez Jr both ran the Clearwater ½ Marathon and 5 miler respectively. Jose posed a time of 2.24 for the ½ and was glad to be somewhere warm instead of freezing in Chicago…at least he thought this was warm. It’s all relative, the rest of us are freezing here. KUDOS to Jose Jr, who posed a time of 34.50 for the 5 miler, avg. pace 6.58. He was 9th overall male and won his age group. Congratulations to all of you!

Doug and I proved out the benefits of OUTSPOKINS RETUL bike fit on Sunday with our first long ride 4+ hours on the Suncoast with some friends and training partners. The RETUL is like the MasterCard commercials – Priceless--added power in the hills and on the flats, pretty amazing. I saw a lot of Doug’s back wheel from a distance as he must have had a motor on his P3.

Happy Belated Birthday to Jodi who decided to go freeze in NY for her special day. Lots of good training rides and runs coming up soon. The Chilly Willy sponsored by Outspokin is Feb 8 so mark your calendars.

Now is the time to make sure that all those nagging injuries are put to rest – so you can focus on your training for 09 and reach your goals. Hopefully you have all done your goal setting for the year, have your races planned out and can be focused on what you want to achieve.

Train well, Race smart!

training and racing motivation

2008-12-23T13:14:00.001-05:00

found this on Ironman.com, thought I'd share.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seem so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit

Here's to racing in 2009!

The Perfect Blueprint?

2008-12-15T20:04:00.003-05:00

I stumbled upon this really good article about what maybe the perfect mix of diet, lifestyle and just may be the perfect receipe for the endurance athlete...

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-is-the-primal-blueprint/

What's Your Offseason Like?

2008-12-10T19:59:00.000-05:00

First – Happy Holidays to you and your families and thank you all for your support in the 2008 racing year. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be your coach and assist you in achieving your goals!!

What’s your off season look like?? Off Season to Florida athletes is an oxymoron…Off season – but “ I don’t need an off season”… ah! But your body does. I was fortunate enough to be on a webx last night with Mark Allen and Luis Vargas – way past my normal bed time! The essence of the call was goal setting and the off season.

The off season is a VERY important part of your training year, and key to your success for next year, depending on how you set your goals. It is also key to maintaining your health. – a good time to re-charge the batteries.

For instance, if you want to qualify for 70.3 World championships have you researched what your overall time will have to be? How fast will you have to swim? How fast will you have to bike and how fast will you have to run? What if your competition has their best day – you need to plan for that by 10%.

This is the time to look at your goals for next year. Where do you want to be at the end of next year? What is your big “A” race, and when is it. What do you have to do to get there. If your major goal for the year is qualifying for the 70.3 Championships in Clearwater, then you need to be thinking about what your race year will look like. When will you start to try to qualify – and what other races will you pick to do so if you Don’t qualify at your initial race.. how far apart will your qualifying efforts be. Can you still enter those races? Do they normally close early? How many races will you plan to do next year? Will you plan for adequate recovery time or race yourself into a “hole”.

A year or racing takes a lot of energy and focus. You need some time to let down and let your mind and body rejuvenate.

Change up your exercise, evaluate your individual strengths and limiters. Are you as flexible as you need to be? This is a good time to work on core strength, Pilates, Yoga, and Functional Strength training all play a role.

Do you need to work with an intuitionalist to really dial in on your nutritional needs. If you want to lose some weight now is the time – you cannot lose weight in the middle or a major training cycle.

You can take time off the bike and time off from swimming, but need to keep your running base. Since running is a contact sport and your tendons and ligaments are the last to get in shape, they are also the first to lose their fitness. This could cause injury when you gear up in the early part of the year. Running a minimum of 3 miles 3-4 times a week is enough to keep your run base.

Keep in mind that your body responds to variety in training, but will adjust to whatever you ask it to do.. so if you don’t mix things up you will NOT see any improvement in fitness. During the training and racing season we are training your aerobic and anaerobic systems, your carbohydrate, glycogen and fat burning systems and your fast twitch and slow twitch muscles.

If you have specific goals in mind for your training for 09, your training will take on new meaning. For instance if I have to run 9.5 min miles to qualify, I had better be doing it in training or I won’t be able to do it in racing. If you do this your mind will pull you toward this goal. This is the mind body connection. This as opposed to just going out and running – stopping when you feel like it with no particular pace or goal in mind.

Pat yourself on the back for all of your accomplishments for 2008 and access what you need to improve in for 2009. Come up with a list of goals to get you to your big event.

What will your time goal be? What can competitor X do on their best day? Be ready to go out at TIME X and prepare for perfection +5 to 10%.

The off season is ALSO a good time to get some running races in and recalibrate your “hard” meter.

So – enjoy your off season – set your goals for 2009 and give your mind and body some hard earned R&R!!

Train Smart
Recover Well

Pam

Cool Article

2008-12-05T19:40:00.006-05:00

Check out this cool article link that explains why humans are, ultimately, faster than your average four footed mammal. Sure has some relevance to endurance sports. Explain it to the Doberman the next time he or she decides to run you down...

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/may/tramps-like-us

Congrats and Happy Holidays

2008-11-30T07:39:00.002-05:00

Pam thanks for the invite. congrats on a great race season. I got your Christmas present (yes a bag of marbles). I'll let you explain

Miami Man Half Nov 9th 2008

2008-11-29T14:31:00.002-05:00

MIAMI HALF RACE REPORT
Race Day: Nov 9th, 2008

Congratulations to Everyone on some stellar results from the Miami Man 1/2 Ironman. Although it was not an easy day - and they never are when you are racing, several folks managed to PR and Doug Kugley had an awesome 1st 1/2 Ironman Distance Race placing 8th in his age group and 42nd overall male. Not bad for the 1st time at this distance!! Several TOP TEN finishes! A group got together for a nice pre-race dinner at Bonefish grill and was there at the finish line to cheer each other on. Doug’s wife Kim and I were the Iron Sherpas for the weekend. Watching a race is much more nerve racking than racing trying to see everyone at some point on the course and offer encouragement.

Racers had a beautiful spring fed lake swim and a windy bike. Those fast tailwinds turn into some mean headwinds on a course with lots of turns! The sun came out in South Florida style and made the second loop of the run nice and hot. Everyone liked the course with the run through the zoo offering distraction from the pain of running, but Doug said he missed the elephants...hmmm....wonder how you miss Elephants. Jody, Doug and Todd all PR'd. Cristy laid out the great swim she normally does and set a lead. Lisa Sandusky won her age group. This is one tough lady. I talked with her after the race in the finish area and she really raced hard. Todd’s significant other and Mother were there and I got to meet them both which were great, also nice that they got to see him set a big PR. David Burg had an awesome race also. Nina put together a very strong race and had an impressive finish, and Nina thanks for racing in TRI K2 gear! Jody and Cristy both had fast bike splits.

Doug has the "pro" bike mounts and dismounts conquered.

Jose and his son both worked as volunteers at the 70.3 world championships in Clearwater on Sunday. Val was race support for the MAO racers so got her workout with at least 10 bridge repeats on the causeway bridge!!

Next weekend Scott Vaughn is off to San Antonio for a 1/2 marathon and hoping for a PR, and in just 2 weeks Val and I are heading to IMA.

January starts IMCDA training for Nina, Lisa, Jody and I, and I hear a rumor that others are considering IML???

Congratulations to all of you. Everyone overcame some personal demons and many raced with assorted levels of pain. You guys are my inspiration.

2008-11-28T11:38:00.001-05:00

When I mention Sisu - this is what it means......

SISU

a uniquely Finnish quality;

the word used to typify the Finnish spirit;

a concept that is at the heart of how all Finns view themselves;

a certain feature or value considered by Finns to be typically Finnish

- endurance, resilience, tenacity, determination, perseverance

- an inner reserve of diligence, capacity, the ability to face head-on and always overcome

- craziness: the recklessness that inspires a person to take on something in the face of incredible odds

- bravery, empowerment, inner strength

Gritting your teeth, continuing to fight against an overwhelming enemy, clearing a forest with your bare hands, continuing on to win a race even after falling.

Sisu means that you finish what you start, you don’t quit in the middle of a job, and you don’t whine.

"It doesn’t take sisu to go to the North Pole; it takes sisu to stand at the door when the bear is on the other side."

2008-11-28T10:36:00.000-05:00

IM Arizona 2008 Race Report

I have to start this race report with a special thanks to all of you for your support, phone calls and emails. And a very special thanks to Niki and Trav for unending support even throughout the race and to Martha Dudley for the run support and finish line support, and to Val and Stan for sharing their condo and Stan for the great cooking!!! and My husband Norm for his unending support and encouragement who could not go to IMA - and without these other folks it would have been a lonely and tough day.
Thanks to Travis for getting me race ready with his massage and stretching and Special thanks to Val for the P3 speed machine and to Bob and Anna for holding the fort at work in my absence :)

As most of you know after IMF I made the decision to race IMA 3 weeks later to try for a Kona slot. It was just not in the stars for this year. The water temp was 63 degrees and we got in the water 20 min before race start. I like to go out in the front with open water - so I was in the water at 6:40 with the first group -mainly guys and held on to a kayak and treaded water for 20 min. I knew I was cold then - had a great new wetsuit 2xu that Norm got for me at IMF and a neoprene skull cap under my swim cap. They did not allow booties or gloves. The swim was 1.2 miles down, turn under the bridge and 1.2 miles back. I knew by the time I was at the turn around that I was in trouble, I was really cold. It was worse on the way back. It is a very narrow swim course and no one can spread out so you have 2600 bodies everywhere. Every time I would pick my head up to see how much farther I would get nailed - kicked – hit, swallow water, hyperventilate and have to get going again..so a rather long swim for me. The water was not rough except for the other 2599 people churning it up to a chop. By the time I got out of the water - the volunteer led me straight to the special med tent they had set up for hypothermia victims like me. Luckily one of my Mark Allen team mates was in the cot next to me so we snuggled up and tried to warm each other up. I have to say the guys in the tent were awesome. 6 thermal blankets wrapped around me and a huge heater with a 12 inch hose blowing under the blankets - chicken soup also. They held the soup for me as I was shaking so badly I could not even hold the cup to drink. After a bit he told me it would help to warm up if he took me out in the sun and I walked around a bit, so off we went me wrapped up like a tamale in a blanket - then back to the cot - more blankets and the heater again. I really did not want to leave that warmth, curling up for a warm nap sounded pretty inviting…. and go get on my bike. The med tent guy actually walked me still wrapped up in blankets to my swim to bike bag - then to the change tent and met me on the other side so I could keep the blanket. By then I was pretty well warmed up so the shaking on the bike wasn’t too bad. The depressing thing was that out of 2600 people in the race - there was only a VERY small portion of bags and bikes left in transition. I had two choices - go as hard as I could go on the bike and run in hopes of making up time or quit…which is not in my vocabulary…so Off I went…No computer and no HR monitor again. Niki’s advice was going until the wheels come off until you can't go any more…Norm's was race a SISU race..I kept those two thoughts I mind and tried to push all the negative thoughts away - like how far ahead of me are the girls I need to be racing…

It was a 3 loop bike and a 3 loop run so for the first two loops the Pros were passing me, other than that only a few of the younger age group guys. Joanna Zielger passed me like I was sitting still. Leanda Cave passed me on the run and Chris Lieto and I ran together for about 1 minute - he was finishing and I was starting… No drafting for me on this race - everyone I passed was slower than me and when I got passed they were much stronger. There is a very gradual 10 mile climb that we got to do 3 times into a headwind - I am guessing that I was 14-15 mph here. The last 4 miles of this climb has two steeper climbs and I was in the small chain ring for these. Oh but the downhill on the P3 was glorious..let r'rip!! Had to be close to 40 mph in places on the downhill. Several turns in the race were somewhat technical also. Off the bike to a fast T2 and off on the Run. Martha and Niki were the tag team for me with Niki giving Martha race updates from St Pete on line, so Martha would tell me on each loop where I was and if I was gaining or losing ground..It was a HUGE help. The trouble with these new compression socks is everyone is wearing them and for the most part you can’t see ages, so I just tried to pass everyone I could see. The 3 loop run had about 10 short rather steep hills - 3 x 10 = 30 hills - not good when you live in flat Florida.

Ended up in 3rd place ( was 3rd at IMF too)- beat out of first place and my Kona slot by 4 min and 31 sec and beat out of second place by 41 sec…I just needed more real estate!! My T 1 was 24.48 due to my little foray into the hypothermic zone. Niki said I made up 43 minutes.

So - I write this for 2 reasons - 1 to let you know WHY I was SOOOO LONGGG in T1 and more importantly to share with you just how important it is to STAY positive - believe in yourself and what you can accomplish and NEVER NEVER QUIT unless it is for a real medical reason. You never know what kind of day anyone else is having..give it your all - race with SISU and go until the wheels come off!!

As to Val’s race - she had a sisu race also - she raced with vertigo that she has had for several weeks now. She finished strong - # 2 IM for her. We both agree this is a much tougher race than IMF. I am VERY PROUD of her too!

And for those of you who will ask - No I am NOT disappointed in my race - I had a phenomenal race and proved to myself that I Can win. I am really only kinda disappointed in regard to the KONA slot. Kona will always be there - I will be some day I know. Friends like you all make this sport one of the best - thanks to ALL for your support! Could not do it without you..