Matt Amman

2012: Outside Magazine

2012-01-10T18:10:00.003-06:00

February 2012 Outside Magazine

On the right side of the picture:
Cam Knuth
Matt Amman
Adrienne Amman

2011: Wrapup

2011-12-28T18:55:00.004-06:00

This has been an interesting year. It was a constant juggle between the fun of participating in a new work venture and the drag of Ironman training. I knew upfront that Ironman was going to take a back seat this year and that work was ramping up; however, I did not expect to have significant hangups when it came to training. Unfortunately, I did get sidelined for awhile.

As I danced across the Central USA for work, I visited too many YMCA's to remember, along with unknown roads, parks, and sidewalks. On my third trip to St Louis, running around the Arch was becoming a bore, especially since it was nearly midnight when I finally fit the workout in. The eventual result was a bad back that lingered with me through Ironman Hawaii.

While the finishing times at this year's races were not great, the fun level was mostly high. American Triple T was a record bottom mainly because the motivation was low, the training going in was too hard, and I got lazy during the races and forgot to take-in the necessary nutrition. Thank goodness I'm not going back to Ohio.

Ironman Hawaii was fun. Because of the aches and pains it wasn't as fun as I'd hope. Adrienne and I did manage to cross the line together, something unique, but that uniqueness did not satisfy the need for conclusion. We both left Hawaii with feelings of "only if." Is there another Ironman Hawaii to come? At the moment, I'll say yes. If life doesn't get more hectic, I figure I'll go back to race the race.

2012 remains uncharted. I have resumed training with Adrienne to the extent of doing something for fitness. I may do a few races this coming year.

2011: Ironman Hawaii

2011-10-09T14:49:00.013-05:00

10:58

The race was insane!

Swim: I started in the second row with Adrienne and Cam Knuth. As the cannon went off, the chaos started. It took me just under 30 minutes to get to the turnaround. The whole time I was battered, kicked in the face (causing a small laceration underneath my eye), and felt I like I might drown about 20 times. It was really scary. The swim experience alone made me realize that I don't think I'm coming back to do this race again. Unlike the two practice swims before hand, the salty taste did not overcome my taste sense. (This trip was the first time I swam in the ocean and I battled some sea-sickness and salt-water taste.)

T1: I took my time. I happened to sit down across from Madison, WI Mike Lavery. He commented to me that the swim was brutal. I agreed.

Bike: The week before the back was feeling better than it had for a long time. However, when I shaved my legs the night before the race in the tub, I re-aggravated my left SI joint. Race morning I woke up and it was really stiff and vunerable. I was noticeablely worried. At the race site, I happened to find the ART docs and they worked it over and I got it adjusted. It made it feel significantly better.

I took the first 10 miles easy. Dennis Melowski & Steve Chapin soon passed me. I kept the watts around 200. My pre-race watt target was 180-200 watts. Given my lack of training, I was realistic about it.

I rode about 85% of it upright trying to manage the back discomfort. I had a lot of discomfort in the right glut.

I had to white-knuckle it up to Hawi the winds were that bad.

At 110.5 miles, I got a flat tire by hitting a road reflector on the side of the road. It tore open the sidewall of my front wheel. The hole looked bad and was going to be surprised if PitStop fixed it. It did not. Then I got to work removing the razor blade taped to my frame and cut the tire off. Shortly after that, race support showed up and they put the tire on for me. After I inflated, I rode the last bit in.

Adrienne was about 10-15 minutes ahead of me I suspected.

T2: Again, I took my time. The run around the pier was long. The legs felt great because of the easy bike effort.

Run: I took off at a manageable pace, 7:30s. The first five miles were just fine. I walked every aid station.

I put in a few strong efforts to see if I was going to be okay and I was. Pre-race I had determined that I wanted to run the first 13 miles and run-walk it in.

I saw Adrienne way ahead of me on the first out and back on Alii Drive. But when I came to mile 8, I saw Adrienne walking. She massaging/stretching her right abdomen. We chatted and we both decided to walk-run the rest of the race together.

I had one stop to the porty-potty as we ran up Palani drive to the Queen K. From there we ran and walked until we got out of the Natural Energy lab. At that point, I figured out that if we kept running the last 4-5 miles, we'd crack 11:00. We ran around 8's for the last 3-4-5 miles.

On Alii drive, we grasped each other's hand and walked across the finish.

Post Race: All that Gu, Powerade, and Coke made me sick to my stomach. I went into medical to make sure I was alright. About 15 minutes later they discharged me, but when I went outside and over to the medal and finisher pickup, I puked four times.

After being escorted back to medical, I got an IV.

In summary, Ironman Hawaii is much harder than Iroman Wisconsin. The weather conditions plus the level of competition make it hard to do well. I am happy to have finished the race since my year has been tough from an exhausting work schedule and a bad back. Others seem to love the race, such as Dennis Melowski, but I think Ironman Wisconsin continues to be my favorite. If I do another Ironman, I'll stick to my hometown race.

Mahalo!

Hurt

2011-09-06T15:39:00.003-05:00

Low back pain has finally caught up to me. I went into 70.3 Racine with a lot of back pain yet managed to keep it under control. I vaguely recall riding with Brunold a few weeks prior to the race and that I never rode aero because the back wouldn't allow it.

After Racine, I went on an aggressive work trip covering a lot of real estate via plane and car. On the final day, I sat down in a Caribou Coffee shop in Minneapolis causing a strong dull pain in my left lower back. It felt like somebody stabbed me. It took me 10 minutes before I could get up and walk out. I slightly panicked because I wasn't sure if I could handle my flight home two hours later. After gripping the area and finding some ice it calmed down.

Nevertheless, this would begin my bout with back pain for the next seven weeks. There were times where it was good, but I continually aggravated it by trying to ride the bike. Big no, no! It usually went like this: run a bit, swim a bit during the week, then attempt to ride the bike on the weekend.

Today, I made the call to stop biking. I'll still run and swim as best I can because those activities don't seem to cause aggravations.

Interestingly, because I never let the problem heal I eventually injured most of the components in the lower back: left SI joint, right SI joint, lower lumbar spine. It also meant I got to experience the differences in those pain patterns: pain with walking, pain without walking, pain while sitting, no pain with sitting.

Kona is a few weeks a way and at this point, I'm just going to rest the back for three weeks, show up in Hawaii and do the best I can with a healthy back and untrained biking legs.

IM 70.3 Racine

2011-07-25T10:03:00.004-05:00

4:31
S-27 B-2:21 R-1:37
4th AG
30th OA

Decent race. Training since American Triple T was nearly non-existent for a month and then I started to pick it up to about 8+ hours a week. I was happy to see I could still be fast without much training.

The heat was a big issue on the run. I went into the race with a "just finish" attitude. When I got off the bike, I had a slight side stitch and it was hot. I let the legs carry me to mile one and whatever the pace was, I predetermined to hold it to the end. Once I crested the hill and strolled up to the first aid station and mile marker, my watch said 7:30 so I stuck with it until the end.

Next race is likely Hawaii.

Abandoned Pool in New York

2011-07-11T09:18:00.003-05:00

This was a photo taken from Yahoo News which reported on an old resort in the state of New York now abandoned.

Grumblings from the Readership

2011-05-29T23:37:00.006-05:00

I've received a fair amount of email traffic regarding my last post. Interestingly, none of the traffic comes in the "comment section", just via personal email. In the future, feel free to comment there.

Like all addictions, fellow addicts never want to see a buddy quit. Leaving this so called sport has been hard. I initially felt compelled to sell everything and take up painting, but I stopped short at the bike. I had a few nibbles, but push come to shove, I couldn't do it. That must mean something. Training the last few days has been unstructured and I figure I'll stick to that until whenever. "Fun" is slowly creeping back in.

Again

2011-05-26T22:50:00.002-05:00

...I'd do it again if I could.

For Sale

2011-05-25T11:15:00.007-05:00

This is the list of items for sale. All reasonable offers considered.

American Triple T

2011-05-23T18:11:00.014-05:00

pla·teau/plaˈtō/
Verb: Reach a state of little or no change after a time of activity or progress

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Have I improved?

American Triple T has taught me the answer is no. Four years of doing the same race and I have seen little to no changes in my time. Time to move on. In the past I thought it was a fitness booster. Wrong. Do elite marathoners participate in 50 -100 mile running races, i.e. ultramarathons to get ready for the big 26.2 race? No. I missed the boat on this one: Specificity in Training matters.

The realization really hit me at the start this race weekend. If you can't beat the guys in the first race, you're not going to beat then in next, or the next, or the next. Part of my ongoing problem is finding the correct training stress to overcome my handicaps. The first issue is the side-stitch. Insane S-B-R efforts are the only time I get them, something that happens at my Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. So, at a race like Triple T, that is a major problem. The second issue is continual improvement. Rarely, some of the faster athletes come back to this race and one or two of them go from finishing behind me in years past to beating me. This was the case this year. It was humbling. Finding the formula to being faster has been tough. Between friends' experiences and my own, it seems like nobody has it completely figured out. The results show it. Great duathlete, but DNFs at IM; Great HIM'er, DNFs at IM; Great TTT'er, mediocre at everything else; Sometimes good, rarely great, otherwise miserable. In many ways, I'm all of those things and so are we all.

I was talking it over with my dad. Both he and I are fans of the movie Chariots of Fire and applicable to the stage I'm entering. Athletic pursuits are a young-man's fancy and once you hit your ceiling its time to move on and/or give back to the sport you love(d). Being a competitive triathlete is a selfish endeavor (the twice a day workouts, the five hour bike rides to name a few); to stick with the sport too long is bad for my overall personal development.

Hydration

2011-05-05T22:47:00.002-05:00

In the last two years, the drink of my youth--Vernors--has returned to my lips to properly hydrate me after my workouts. Usually what I do is take two scoops of Glutamine and add them to a glass full of cold Vernors. Then I wash it down with another can or two of the stuff.

New Orleans 70.3

2011-04-25T14:55:00.005-05:00

Swim: Cancelled due to high winds
Bike: 2:23
Run: 1:26 (6:35 pace)
OA: 68
AG: 11

The swim was cancelled. That did not help my prospects of doing well overall. As an age-grouper, cheating/drafting and/or unintentional drafting is a problem. Given that the format changed to a bike-run as a time-trial start with M30-34 taking off at two-a-time, two seconds apart and behind various other age groups, there was a peloton for the first 45 minutes of the race. I'd say that a lot of the time the road was congested three-wide with bikers. Us faster riders spent plenty of time on the far left dodging road cones passing people. It was my first time at a premier race, such as an Ironman event, that I encountered a cancelled swim and bike congestion. Overall, I thought the racers and race event organizers did the best they could given the situation. By day's end, the event was merely marked by my participation.

The IM 70.3 Championship slot rolled down to me, but passed on it because I anticipate having a work conflict. I already have KONA on the schedule.

Other notables:
- Race venue was inexpensive (hotel, car rental, parking, food)
- Used a powermeter (ave 229 watts)
- I was under-nourished (4 gels on bike, 3 salts bike, coke on run)
- Have the two scoops of First Endurance Pre-Race, but add it to only 8-12 oz of sports drink.
- Great to see Wisconsinites there: Jackie Arendt, Chris Wichert, Paul Eicher, Mark Hering, and Mike Pierson

We had the opportunity to tour the French Quarter. I was as interesting and energetic as it was when we were there in 2003. I took this picture of a door:

2011: Training Update

2011-03-30T11:46:00.003-05:00

I've been so busy with work that I haven't had much time to blog let alone train. For the most part, I've kept the workouts to the main sets. In other words, little to no warmup or cooldown. Classic Me!

This year remains a big question mark and I like it that way. I just want to have a good time.

2011: Hard Work

2011-03-02T15:35:00.003-06:00

I've been busy trying to balance out my work schedule and my training schedule. So far work has been taken over training hours.

My triathlon results in the last week have been promising despite the lack of training: 10K last week (36:XX) and a decent FTP test (29X watts).

Handing off my training schedule to Scott Bowe was the right thing to do. It has kept me from thinking and stick to doing. Also, his methodology has really challenged me. Zone 5 work is fairly new to me. His emphasis on it has added to my understanding of it.

First race this year is New Orleans 70.3. Hope to see some of you there.

2011: Another Year

2011-01-04T12:17:00.003-06:00

The journey into another triathlon season begins. This year, I hope, is a little more fun than years past. I anticipate a heavy race schedule with a variety of distances. The two long races are American Triple T and Ironman Hawaii. The big A race is actually the half-ironmans. I want to be a bit closer to the four hour mark.

One major change for 2011 is the introduction of power-based, interval training. Since the concepts are new to me, I asked Scott Bowe to help me with it. In the past, I've relied on a heart rate monitor. While it worked, powermeters seem to a better work metric.

Also, interval training is new for me. Massive volume with a doses of intensity have been the cornerstone of my training for the last four years. I look back at those years as preparatory work for the next phase: hitting the ceiling. Could I have done it differently, I suppose so but I'm not convinced that it would have benefitted my desire to be competitive at IM. I have noticed that for other athletes who did a more controlled progression over several years from sprints to oly to HIM to IM yielded better improvement. I wasn't patient enough to do that. Bummer.

I look forward to seeing everybody at the races this year.

2010: Woods

2010-11-11T07:47:00.005-06:00

The Woods is a place of reflection for me. Since my youth, I've spent a lot of time trodding along with my dad, an avid hunter, taking in the beauty of nature. I really enjoy it. Deer hunting season is about to begin next weekend and I can't wait. Dad was out early one morning this week about to chop wood and captured a picture of this buck.

For the first time in a long time, my triathlon plans feel muddled. Usually by now I have next year's training schedule in rough draft form plus a tentative racing schedule. Right now I know I'm racing American Triple T and Ironman Hawaii. One is in May, the other in October. That's quite a time spread. Given that I want a break from Ironman, I want to spend 2011 doing sprints and olympics. But you'd hardly guess that by my race commitments.

The where, when, and how of 2011 triathlon (and otherwise) need some reflection.

I have faith the Woods will sort things out.

2010: Post Ironman - Into the Woods

2010-09-18T22:57:00.013-05:00

After Ironman, Adrienne and I headed North to relax on the lake. I found a beautiful vintage bike manufactured by Columbia at a rustic bike shop in Minocoqua. The trip was wonderful and it gave me some time to reflect on my Ironman race. At a recent Gear-Grinder gathering, the team manager thought I'd be happier now that the Kona monkey is off my back. When I said "kinda of" he didn't seem to get why. Personally, Ironman has been about reaching potential. A 9:50, although fast, is far off my ability.

I've been reflecting on my mindset as the race unfolded. Why did I find myself cruising the marathon? Why did I decide to ease off on the bike, I mean really ease off?

Matt Fitzgerald wrote a very interesting article in early 2010 for Triathlete magazine. One part is particularly relevant:

This explanation seems much more plausible than the first, but there is actually no good evidence that those athletes who produce the fastest run times in Ironman races hold back more on the bike than their fellow competitors. In fact, contrary to popular belief, elite Ironman triathletes really don’t hold back at all on the bike. If riding at 80 or 90 percent of capacity (relative to the distance of 112 miles) were normal and necessary at the elite level of Ironman racing, then you would see at least one clown fly off the front and complete the bike leg 10 or 20 percent faster than the real contenders (which would translate to 30 to 60 minutes). Even if it were suicidal, people would still do it for a moment of glory. It’s human nature. But this never happens. Why? Because elite triathletes actually ride the Ironman bike leg at something closer to 98 percent of their maximum capacity (meaning they would ride only five to 10 minutes faster in a pure 112-mile time trial).

...my sentiments exactly. At Ironman this year, I did exactly this. I rode too easy. By riding 10-25 minutes slower, I was hoping to run even faster to recoup ground lost. And if you read my race report, you'd see I did just that, kinda of. The hiccup started with the penalty, but it was more. The penalty shifted me into ultra-conservative mode. It transformed me from the racing mode to the "come on Matt, let's play it safe. You got one penalty, you can't afford to have any one." The result was I never dug deep, smiled a little more to the fans (I have to work on that some more according my family), and crossed the finish line as if I did something challenging but hardly hard.

When I was cruising into T2, I thought about shooting for a 3:00 run split, but found myself saying to myself why? It wasn't needed, I wasn't fighting for first amateur at that point. I wasn't even in contention for top three amateur. The penalty plus the lackluster bike performance just put me too far behind.

So what can I learn from this. When the bike fitness is verifiable, use it for goodness sake. But at IMWI, I had reservations about pushing the bike even with Brunold and Kurian dragging my arse around for five weeks. When thinking back, Door County HIM certainly put into perspective holding back on the bike, but when looking at the overall results, I did not PR the distance. "If" Pigman was a decent day, I could of sorted out mentally just how good my bike fitness was in relation to having a good run. The other demon haunting me going into IM and during the race, was that I just put too much time in the off season working on my run fitness just to burn all the matches by a blazing bike split leading to another 3:30 run. How slow of a bike split was I willing to have inorder to run what I considered a good time? My basic absolute bottom (BAB) expectation was a 5:30 bike split. Any slower, I would be disappointed. And for the run, I wanted 3:15 or faster. At the day's end, I hit my BAB benchmarks.

If I was a coach, coaching Matt A, I would say to him, "You did a great job. You displayed patience, the ability to handle the challenges of IM racing, and follow through with execution. You proved to yourself that the benchmark of sub-10 is easily within yourself. For the next 8 months, focus on consistent training and letting yourself get sharp for the short course racing that you want to do. Then, in 2012, lets attack another Ironman with the goal of having a wicked bike and run split." I better listen to that coach.

2010: Ironman Wisconsin

2010-09-14T11:43:00.001-05:00

Sensible. After taking a few steps back after last year's Ironman Louisville experience, I took some extraordinary measures to change my life. First, I got a new job. For that, I couldn't be happier. It changed my head space to contentment and fulfilment. A number of fellow triathletes were instrumental in making that happen and for that, I am grateful. The next big change was finding my own groove when it came to training and racing. When starting out as a novice, the books, the interviews, the Q&A with others attempted to supplement my inexperience. However, as the game goes on, nothing beats experience. This time around, I felt confident.

Sensible. Training this year focused solely around Ironman Wisconsin. I dabbled with equipment, raced with and without aero-equipment early in the season, played around with nutrition, tweaked my bike fit a lot, switched from a compact crank to standard, went for some soul-crushing bike rides with those that are clearly better than me, and attempted some PR splits. The highlights of those adventures would be:

1. American TTT - I went into the event with minimal bike training, and raced with bad tires and no aero equipment. Wow, I was working harder than most people around me.

2. Door County HIM - How fast can I run? I ran a 1:21 half-marathon split. Applicable lesson was by biking "very" under controlled, I can run with the very best of them.

3. Pigman HIM - How fast can I bike? I biked a 2:19, while making a few pacing errors in the process. Biking too hard, especially in the heat, leads to a tough run. So tough that it's really not fun.

These three things shaped the way for Ironman Wisconsin. A pacing mistake, from my perspective, is the worst type of mistake a racer can make. My overall "A" goal range was 9:15-9:45. On the one end was a time that would risk an atomic bomb type of explosion, and on the other hand, a sensible outlook. The day proved, by a matter of circumstances, a sensible one.

Sensible. Adrienne and I started the swim together on the left side right near the turn buoy. When the cannon went off, we had clean water with a great group of swimmers around us. Everybody was courteous. The pace was strong for less than 50 yards before we all settled into a 54-56 minute IM pace. It was my easiest IM swim yet.

I exited at 56 low without breaking a sweat. (Two years prior, I exited the water in 53 low and was hurting. It made for a really long day despite the good overall time.) Transition went smoothly and before long, I was out biking.

Biking the stick, as we affectionately refer to the segment between the Monona Terrace and Verona before starting two loops, was easy. So easy, that I knew I was tapered right and that I swam well within my means. I was biking with two other guys who seem interested in having a good bike split. I was happy to join them.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Interject: The day before the race. I had breakfast with a fellow friend doing the race who was also the host for Pro Eric Bean. He and I had a good discussion about powermeters and heart rate monitors. His argument was for using them in training, but not for racing. It convinced me, so I raced without any technology. It was a good move.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Myself and two others cruised the stick managing to catch a number of riders. It wasn't long before I caught my training partner Scott Bowe. At that particular moment, I wasn't sure if he was holding back or off to a rough start (At the end of the day, he killed all us by biking with uncanny even power, and backing it up with a 3:09 run). Then came the hiccup.

Sensible. Penalties are bad. I got one. The details are unimportant. I served my four minute time penalty in Cross Plains. Shortly after receiving my penalty, the strongest age-group racers caught me (Joe Kurian, Mike Lavery) on the way to Mount Horeb. Thomas Brunold did not catch me until after Cross Plains, by then I did my time. Going into the race, I knew that if I wanted to mix it up with the fastest guys, I would need to ride near them on the bike. Given that I swim 4-8 minutes faster than them, I could afford to hold even on the bike, and by biking a 5:15'ish, be only a few minutes down when starting the run. Given I had a penalty, that plan was down the tubes. From there on, I simply dialled down my effort to the point where I was saying to myself "this is easy and I don't mind it being easy." My Door County HIM experience was still fresh in my mind.

Sensible. I came into transition 2, well behind the leaders, and surprisingly, behind a number of local guys that put out some really incredible bike splits. By the time I got my CEP compression socks on, I was a ways back.

Sensible. When a pro tells you that he runs the first three miles really easy. He means it. I took Bean's pre-race advice to heart and ran the first three miles easy. Actually the first 13 miles weren't much trouble. I held 7:15-7:20s without any grimacing. When I came up on a spector who was spotting for me, he said I wasn't gaining any time on Scott Bowe, I replied "Well, I'm running 7:20s!" and thinking that either Scott is going to Rock star the race or blowup soon. For the second loop, I started having more coke, than water or Powerbar drink. The stomach felt fine the entire time, I had a salt tablet nearly every mile. No hints of side-stitches. I did feel some sloshing coming on, but took a gel and that prevented it.

Eventually, I caught and passed everybody I thought I would minus Scott. I put together a 3:15 marathon and finished with my wits. This was the most fun I had while "doing" an Ironman. The other two times were filled with some really low points mentally and physically.

Last year, I wrote:

"My future in Ironman racing is uncertain. I feel that there is much work to be done both physically and mentally to hit the ceiling. But like most hobbies, it's just for fun and if something else comes along that fosters the same feelings as racing I might just hang up the swim cap and goggles, sell the bikes, and use the running shoes to mow the lawn."

I took some flak for that statement. This time around, I'll say I thoroughly enjoyed the training and the race. The people surrounding the event make the journey worth while, especially my wife Adrienne. That darn girl is nearly as fast as me and she also got a Kona slot. So, next year we'll both be at Kona, Hawaii. My training partner Scott nearly won my age group as well. He'll be there as well.

Swim - 56
Bike - 5:29 (including 4 minute penalty)
Run - 3:15
Total 9:50
36th Overall
6th Age Group 30-34
Awarded Kona Slot

Things to Remember:
- 2 Cliff Bars, 1 Powerbar Harvest for breakfast, then bottle of EFS Pre-Race
- Bilaterally breathe when swimming. If I can't, it means I'm pushing too hard.
- In bike special needs bag, think about having a Red Bull in a water bottle and drinking it a mile 80.
- No caffeine for two weeks prior to an IM to increase sensitivity.
- First Endurance Liquid shot (15 of them) in water bottle topped off with water was fine. I had 19 in there but could only mustered down approx 15 of them.
- First Endurance EFS was fine for the first bottle on the bike frame, but after that grab water at the aid stations to wash down the Liquid shot.
- Mixing it up between water, Powerbar drink, coke at all the run aid stations was effective.
- Pee'd once on the bike, once on the run.
- Salt Stick tablets (26) in the MM's container tucked into jersey worked fine for the run.
- Konawi Tri-suit, CEP compression socks, Visor, no heart rate monitor, Nike Lunar Glide shoes (best shoes ever for me), LG aero helmet, Planet X Stealth Size Medium, Planet X Tubular 82-101 combo, rear cassette 11-27.

Special Thanks to:
- Gear Grinder
- Planet X Bikes USA
- Emery's Bike Shops
- Scott Bowe, Joe Kurian, Jeff May, Mike Pierson
- Lane Brostrom, Eric Bean
- Travis Evenson and Paula Skoy-Evenson
- TriWisconsin

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1-7:24 2-7:01 3-7:22 4-7:21
5-7:11 6-7:18 7-7:16 8-7:18
9-7:21 10-7:23 11-7:36 12-7:35
13-7:35 14-7:35 15-7:35 16-7:43
17-7:42 18-7:42 19-7:36 20-7:39
21-7:47 22-7:52 23-7:53 24-7:54
25-7:40 26-7:23

2010: Swimming Update

2010-08-24T22:38:00.000-05:00

It's three weeks before Ironman Wisconsin and now is when I do some cramming for the swim. All that hard biking that occured over the last couple of weeks makes it hard to add in some quality swim sessions.

Today was my first of the bunch: 30x100s. My goal was to hit sub 1:15 with an interval time of 1:25. It wasn't a problem. I average 1:12.7 for all thirty without any drop in pace or increase in effort.

The goal for the next two weeks is to swim 5x/week with the three weekly key sets each week. They are: 30x100 on 1:12/1:25 ; 15x200 on 2:30/2:45 ; 7x400 on 5:00/5:20. The inbetween swims are easy filler ones.

2010: Pigman HIM

2010-08-23T08:33:00.000-05:00

Cook my eggs over easy, please!

This was the hottest race I've ever done. Because of fog on the lake and roads, the race was delayed 45 minutes. Hence, we all got to feel the heat of Iowa and let me tell you, it was hot!

The swim was uneventful. A lead group of ten or so swam hard and I let me them go. I ended up swimming with the lead women (Lauren Jensen, Cyndi Bannik, Jackie Arendt).

The bike was an adventure. At mile 3, Jason Maurice went past me with David Cohen. At that point, I knew who my riding buddies would be to help me get a fast bike split. The three of us rode together for ten miles until Cohen eventually pulled away (and subsequently blewup on the run). Maurice was a good carrot stick and I decided to ride behind him for most of the race. I did put in one big surge for 30 minutes in the first quarter of the race to catch Scott Bowe that probably wasn't in my best interest. Given the speed I was already travelling at, it was a needless waste of carbohydrates. In the move, I dropped Maurice who eventually caught me 15 miles later.

Given my only goal for the day was a PR bike split, I accomplished it. 2:19 and change was a decent time considering the heat. Uber biker David Thompson rode slower intentionally because of the conditions. It was a good lesson for all of us.

I expected the run to be tough. Right out of transition the legs felt tired, I had stomach cramping, and wierdly enough, some right knee pain. Add in sensations of overheating, I thought I was fully cooked. DNF was on my mind, but when I reached mile one I was right at 7:00 pace. That kept me going, at least for another 1.5 miles. Knowing that I seeking a good workout this weekend and not a bottom of the well, PR type of experience, I proceeded cautiously. It was a good move. I ended up walking to cool down my body. From there on out, I walked all the aid stations, and ran very slowly just to get the race over with. I stopped and thanked the volunteers, cheered on others, and simply enjoyed the rest of the day. It was a lot of fun.

In summary, I had a great time despite the lack-luster time. A lot of us blewup from biking hard. On a cool overcast day, the results would have been very different.

Things to Remember:
- When my shoes get wet, especially the left one, the sole slips. Use double sided carpet tape to tape the shoe soles down.
- In hot conditions (85 degrees and +), slow it down on the bike and run.
- Use a visor, not a hat when above 75 degrees.

2010: Bike Crash, Training, and Planet X Bikes

2010-08-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

When I did my 2 hr bike ride on Thursday night, I got a late start so the last few minutes of my ride were in the dark (yes, I did have lights on). In doing so, I missed seeing a huge pothole that my front wheel fell into. I was sent flying to the pavement landing on my left shoulder. I got mild road rash on the left shoulder, left forearm, and left knee. Nothing too serious that a few days and some tegaderm couldn't heal. As a result, I took Friday off to recover.

On Saturday night I resumed training by doing my 13 mile MAF-10bpm test on the track. It went well and I averaged 7:06 pace and held even within a few seconds from start to finish. The drift upward at the end was from it being so dark I couldn't see my watch, hence I pushed a little strong:

1- 7:08 146bpm 2- 7:13 146 3- 7:08 146 4- 7:03 146
5- 7:03 147 6- 7:03 147 7- 7:12 146 8- 7:09 146
9- 7:08 146 10- 7:04 148 11- 7:02 148 12- 7:01 150
13- 7:05 149

On another note, Adrienne finally got her new bike. She ended up replacing her Planet X Exocet with the Planet X Stealth Pro. Our local bike shop mechanic Ryan, at Emery's, spent some time shortening the cables for us and checking everything over. He's our go-to guy for bike repair here in Milwaukee:

Our basement is full of Planet X bikes, plus we have another white one on the way. Brian Ray at Planet X USA and Brent Emery at Emery's Bike Shop have been great through the whole process of getting Adrienne a new bike since her bike crash.

2010: Build for IM

2010-08-10T13:57:00.001-05:00

In review, I polished off my third week of Base 3 with the hard 100 mile ride with Joe and Thomas in Madison mentioned in my previous blog post.

The recovery week was not much different: a solid 3 hr ride on Tuesday, a solid 2.75 hr run on Wednesday at 7:52 pace with neighbor John Lancanster, and again, a hard ride with the guys. Although, this time I got two flat tires reducing my ride a few miles to catch up. I drafted a bunch, unlike last time, allowing me to keep up. Joe held 271 watts for 3:53. I ran 40 minutes afterwards around 7:00 pace. It wasn't all that bad. I swam three times: 3K, 2K, 4K. Plus, I added in the track workout of 4 x 5:00 at 6:20 pace with 2:00 minute recover instead of past week's 6 x 5:00.

Weeks 1-3 are the my build weeks followed by a two week taper. The mainstays are the hard 90 mile bike rides, shortening up the long run, doing some 800s on the track, and adding some more mileage to the swimming. Nothing fancy.

2010: Late Season Training

2010-08-05T07:38:00.001-05:00

I was kind of like the picture above for four hours last week Saturday: a facial expression of Oh, God! and hanging on for dear life.

Rumor has it that we rode 260 watts for three hours, at least until I had to ease up the fourth hour. I rode a total of 100 miles, but timed only 94 miles of it at 4:14. That's a new land speed record for me.

I learned a few things riding with Wisconsin's IM rockstars Joe K and Thomas B. First, they mash the pedals more than I thought possible. I mean they crank it at 70-80 rpm to keep the watts high. Second, the hills were no different than the flats. Ride them strong and stiff. Third, a quality 100 mile ride means no stops. Carry what you need and, if possible, never slow down. Fourth, riding behind someone even 25 to 35 yards offers some draft. It's common to see a 5-10 watt difference when behind someone at this distance when riding really, really fast. Finally, a powermeter is a wonderful tool for keeping it real. I don't have one but these guys did and they kept the effort steady. Certainly something to think about for 2011 for optimizing training.

Last year, I did German Rides that were similiar to what I did with Joe and Thomas this past weekend. In retrospect, my German Rides had too many granny gear hills, stop signs, and turns. Thomas's route was a great blend of everything making it for a very humbling ride. Pushing the pedals for four hours without stopping is really hard, especially when riding with guys like them.

While it was a humbling experience, I noticed that when I rode hard a few days later, I could feel the benefit of the past weekend's ride. Pushing hard and steady for hours and hours is a learned skill and one that I "thought" I mastered, but was mistaken. I look forward to another dose of reality this coming weekend.

Overall, I've backed down the training volume to about 15hrs/week the last two to three weeks. The quality workouts of long bike, long run, shorter-harder bike, shorter-harder run are all getting done. The nice thing is that I'm not feeling like burnt toast all the time like in years' past. The other positive thing to mention is that Adrienne is back racing. She did a great job at a local olympic distance race taking second, plus she ran a 41 minute 10km. She thinks she can catch me. I'm starting to wonder that myself.

2010: Door County HIM

2010-07-19T22:06:00.000-05:00

Door County HIM
Egg Harbor, WI
7-18-2010

Matt Amman
7th Overall 4:22 S-28 B-2:30 R-1:21

I went into the race stressed. I started a new job, Adrienne got hit by a car while training on the Ironman WI bike course, and I was travelling a lot. Training was happening, but at irregular spurts.

Regardless, I wanted to do something VERY different for this race. I wanted to check my run fitness to gain some solid data applicable to upcoming Ironman Wisconsin (which is eight weeks away). My goal was to swim at IM effort, bike at IM effort, and then run to my potential--very Gordo'esque.

It worked! I swam easy and by doing so, I wasn't all that far behind the leaders. Yes, it was two minutes but it wasn't five. Given that I swam a 28, a 56-58 swim at IM is in the cards with little strain. Swim HR ave 157

The bike was surprising uneventful. I had about a dozen and a half people pass me. I did my best to have the HR be 145 bpm and at the end of the day I averaged 147. Not too bad.

Riding with the MOPers was a blast from the past for me. Three years ago I was right there huffing and puffing, taking the corners slow, having erractic speed changes, and weaving all over the road. Most the guys I rode with were pushing well beyond their fitness levels and either blew up in the last 15 miles of the bike or did so on the run. It pays to be in super duber bike shape. Bike HR Ave 147.

I left T2 with one other guy who wanted, I assume, to show off for the crowd (plus his family). For the first 100 yds, he was running at 5:30 pace until he suddenly stopped, ripped off his HR monitor for some inexplicable reason, and gave it to his family. Then he resumed top speed again for another 200 yards before blowing up. Kaboom! I cruised the first 200 yards with him and asked him if he planned on running the whole race at 6 minutes pace. He didn't say anything...must of been busy planning his sudden meltdown.

I ran hard and fast to see what my "run potential" should be. In the past, I usually rip the swim and bike and hang-on during the run. Usually that's good for a 4:2X. This year, it's probably good for a 4:1X. Who knows. Here's my mile splits:

1-5:52 (163bpm)
2-6:05 (164)
3-5:59 (164)
4-5:48 (165)
5-6:12 (164)
6-6:10 (164)
7-6:21 (163)
8-6:26 (little hill) (161)
9-6:11 (160)
10-7:14 (killer hill) (162)
11-6:08 (163)
12-6:17 (163)
13-5:55 (162)
.1-31 (163)

Total 1:21 (6:12 ave)

I was hoping to have the fastest run split of the day, but superstars Jeff Tarkowski put up a 1:18 and Mark Harms went 1:20. All things considered, I proved to myself that I can do it. Lesson learned: bike conservatively to optimize the run.

If wanted to "attempt" to win this race, I would have swam with the leaders, biked with the leaders regardless of the pace, and ran with the leaders hoping to out-survive them. Given that Tarkowski and Harms both went 4:00, there really is no other way to do it. In that scenario, expecting me (or anybody else) to run a 1:14 is not realistic. Even so, they biked fast enough that even a 2:20 bike split is not fast enough to win overall. However, if the winning time was expected to be a 4:1X, I'd swim with the leaders, do my own plan for the bike, and then run to my potential. In the future (2011), I'll be toying with it.

I also switched up my nutrition. I used First Endurance EFS - carried two bottles and drank both. I also used First Endurance Liquid Shot - carried two flasks using all of one of them and 3/4 or the other equalling 6-7 gels. I had nothing on the run. I also did lots of excentuated left footed exhales to minimize any side-stitches. I had inklings of them, but nothing that got out of control. My legs felt a little crampy on the bike, so I should consider using a few salt tablets in the future. Breakfast was two Powerbars and an EFS bottle with PreRace mixed in.

Today, Monday, I took completely off. I was sore. The long drive back home didn't help. Either did today's six hour drive for work. But hey, the pain was worth it.

Race Hard, Race Smart!

2010: Adrienne Hit by Car!

2010-07-19T21:36:00.000-05:00

(Picture from Pleasant Prairie Triathlon a few weeks before the accident)

On Sunday July 11th, 2010, Adrienne was involved in a hit and run accident while training on the Ironman Wisconsin bike course. A car struck her from behind launching her from her bike. A few hours later they captured the suspect.

The biggest thing is that Adrienne is alive!

The exact details are being sorted out by the Dane County Sheriff department.

Adrienne will likely post something on her blog about it in the future. Currently, she is trying to regrow skin as fast as she can.

Thanks to all of our friends, family, and fellow triathletes who have helped us through this trying event.

2010: Raising FTP

2010-06-25T10:02:00.002-05:00

Yea, that's how it's done. I found this photo when browsing through my old picture files.

Mountain bike racing is a really fun way to raise FTP although a little dangerous--tree branches that reach out and grab you, roots that snare the tires, loose mud to coat the chain and gravel to throw you sideways. In 2006, I did a stint of WORS (Wisconsin Off Road Race Series) racing to raise my FTP and it worked marvelously. I highly recommend it.

2010: High Cliff HIM

2010-06-20T20:47:00.001-05:00

Flat tire!

I was rushed this week and it carried over to the race on Saturday. The morning of the race, I struggled to get Adrienne's new Planet X Exocet bike working. I had tubular trouble with the Bontrager XXX rubbing on the seat stay. After various attempts at fixing it, it was a lost cause and so I had her race with it rubbing. Thank heavens that after a number of miles, she noticed it stopped. Yea, that's a watt sucker.

Swim:
Ah, I kinda of like it when we "have to" swim. Year after year, the swim portion of triathlons are turing into deep water walking events. As expected, the weaker swimmers get to exit on the heels of us faster ones. This race was no different. Jeff Tarkowski and I even managed to have a conversation during the first quarter mile because of shallow water, plus the distance was short.

Bike:
I exited T1 in third place. Out on the bike course, I caught up and passed Craig Lanza as Tarkowski started pulling away. I knew that he was going to, I just wanted to minimize the damage.

At mile 20 I came around a corner and suddenly got a flat tire. It didn't seem to do any tire damage, but I must of hit something hard causing a blowout. On the side of the road, I found out I grabbed the wrong spare kit from the car leaving me without any tire levers. After a while, a fellow racer threw me a set and I was able to get back on the road. I lost somewhere between 10-15 minutes. It was long enough that Adrienne rolled up next to me as I was getting back on the bike. I chatted with her for a moment before pressing on at "Matt" speed.

It took me nearly 23 miles to catch up to Jackie Arendt, the first female. I then rolled into transition as Alan Mast was finishing up lacing his shoes.

Run:
I got off to a good start staying alert to my running form (low arm swing). The ubiquitous side-stitch was present again. After two miles, I was up to speed going sub 7 minute miles but the gas tank felt low. I stayed strong for the first lap, but eased up during lap 2. The magic wasn't there and I simply held on at IM pace for rest of the run. I trickled in at 4:30.

In the end, it was a good learning experience and although the flat altered my time, I learned a few more things:

1. Ease up on the bike more -- keep HR at 150 for once instead of 160 then having it drop to 155bpm
2. Running fast is result of high motivation and proper bike pacing. I had neither this time around.
3. Side-stitch therapy - have 2 saltstick tablets for breakfast, eliminate water during the bike portion and substitute MotorTabs instead, have more salt tablets during bike and run
4. I prefer tubular over clinchers (easier to fix a flat, better feel for the road)

Also, it was great to see Jeff Tarkowski put on a show. The guy is incredibly fast and it's wonderful to be able to push him along a bit. Mister nice guy Mike Lavery did great as well taking second. Chris Wichert, unfortunately, came to the race already tired from some gruelling early week workouts and had to pull the plug a few miles into the run. I hope he keeps his head high. The other personal notable was Paul Eicker. He's a former swimmer of mine from when I used to coach a swim team. He's lightning fast and placed in the top five.

2010: Training Break

2010-06-14T10:59:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the weekend just does not go like you want it to. Every year, my dad organizes a Father's Day fishing trip for us sons. This year I managed to get away hoping to get my training in as well. It did not happen. Overcast skies and a continual rain hampered both the fishing trip and the workouts. I managed to slip in the weekly bike rides during the weekdays hoping I could get a lot of swimming and running in while away on the trip. No luck. Although I did not post any zeros, I missed my long run and swam only 30 minutes one day. On the upside, I did catch one walleye and catch up on the musings of my brothers Mike and John. Both continue to live the high life in the their own way: Mike tours the woods of Bayfield County as a Forester with his dog Nelson and John as a financial analyst sorting out billion dollar deals on Wacker Driver in Chicago. They had plenty of stories to share. Dad, as usual, was fairly quiet to focus on walleye fishing. He means business when he's on the water. We also cruised our old property nearby to make sure all the Amman Investments are in good shape.

So, where does this leave me? I was planning to do High Cliff HIM this coming weekend, but given I'm short on training hours this month, I'm staying home to get the work in. Adrienne is still doing the race so I'll likely ride home after watching her.

Edit: I have decided to do the race.

Ironman Training

2010-06-08T14:56:00.001-05:00

One of the great athletes and coaches in triathlon is Chuckie V. If you haven't read his blog (chuckiev.blogspot.com), I recommend you look it over. Nearly even thing he writes (about triathlon) is gold. Personally, I follow a lot of his recommendations. Recently, he's written a wonderful piece about Ironman training with a template that, I believe, is better than anything else I've come across.

Chuckie V recommends:

Monday: Run (1:00) + Swim (1:00)
Tuesday: Ride (1:00)
Wednesday: Time-consuming Run (2:00) + Swim (:45)
Thursday: Ride (1:00)
Friday: Run (1:00) + Swim (1:15)
Saturday: Time-consuming Ride (4:00)
Sunday: Time-consuming Ride (4:00) + Run (1:00)

And again, the three primary challenges within this are the midweek long run, and the weekend rides. (The real challenge, however, is in repeating such a week ad infinitum.) The long run is (or should be) self-explanatory: get out and run for a long time. If you run it too hard (or you go too long), you'll know a couple days thereafter. Be in tune with this and be aware in advance of next week's long one. The bike rides are ideally set-up in a manner where the challenge comes on Saturday (i.e., a harder steady-state effort), with Sunday's ride simply done as a "Caveman day" or a "feeling based" ride, followed by a transition run (we are, after all, triathletes). If you feel (and are indeed performing) like crap on Saturday the two rides can easily be swapped…in hopes you won't feel poor again on Sunday.

Now, as to where the rest of the challenge should lay, that's up to the individual and the coach, assuming the individual has a coach. If not, this is what I advise…

But first a disclaimer! It's imperative in training that you don't become mired in protocol or in a specific code of conduct. Protocol simply cannot prepare you like an adaptive response to reality can. (Reality = events that unfold; life.) This adaptive-ness is essentially the "art of training" and is every bit as important (if not more so) than the "science of training". And though verified to generate desirable outcomes on a wide range of athletes, the following is merely a suggestion based on principles and fundamentals and can only work if you make it work. And alas, making it "work" is NOT entirely up to you but rather your body and its fickle, ever-irregular responses. Amend where needed, when needed, as needed.

Okay…

Since the weekend is big enough Monday really ought to be recovery focused, a day free from the rigors of leg abuse. The hitch, however, is that we must continue to get the weekly load in, and starting the week with just a swim (regardless of what came the day prior) is a sure-fire way in which to fall short by the end of the week, and so Monday also includes an easy jog in the afternoon, preferably as late in the day as is feasible. And depending on how challenging the transition run was the day before, Monday's bout ideally ought to remain relaxed and slow, preferably on dirt or some other soft surface (rubber, pillows, babies butts, etc). As far as the swim goes, it's a good day for some "upper-body isolation" or "sport-specific strength work". Strap your feet together, throw on the paddles and a small pull-buoy and do a simple but challenging main set, like 10 x 250s @ 90% effort. With about two hour's training time in all, that leaves Monday a done deal.

As far as Tuesday is concerned, this is where the midweek bike challenge ideally fits in, at least on paper. (Keep in mind that everything is easy on paper, even an Ironman and even the Pacific Crest Trail, though you'll need that much more paper for the latter! And since everything is easy on paper, I plan to do my next long hike entirely atop the stuff.) In all truth, your body (and your drive) must always have the final say, but planning a hard strength-related ride here allows you to make the most of the restricted amount of time you have (or, more precisely, don't have). Warm-up approximately 10 or so minutes, then do 40-minutes at 95%-98% of FTP/UHOP in interval form (e.g., 5 x 8-minutes on 2-minute's rest), all the meanwhile seated in the aero-bars (not literally though, that'd be weird and hard to balance the bike) at slow, smooth cadences, roughly 65-70RPM. Cool-down for a minute or two and be done with it. Tuesday…check.

With regards to Wednesday, you'll need to find a way to squeeze the midweek long run here, particularly if your idea of a long run is two hours or so. If a long run to you is to the refrigerator and back, be sure to place the refrigerator in a town about 6-10 miles away. I advise waking up earlier than normal and setting out at 5am, before the rest of the lazy-ass world has even thought about waking; that way you'll feel pretty damn good about yourself (which is always an important consideration) when 7am rolls around, and the world still slumbers. The long run should be paced so that you could theoretically repeat it in 48-hours or so, without a hitch. If your recovery is compromised you went to hard. Later in the day (ideally at noon) a recovery swim is in order, to hasten recovery from the run (in a perfect world, you'd never finish the day with an abusive bout of exercise). This ought to be little more than a moderately challenging "flop" or gravity-removed movement. I usually have those I guide do more strength work with some light kicking (e.g., 20 x 75s pull {all gear} at 80-90% effort on a 5-second rest interval + 10 x 50s kick, alternating with kick-board and no kick-board. Include some backstroke and breaststroke to stretch things out.) Wednesday: done.

Thursday: If you're already a reasonably fit cyclist (relative to those you compete against), this ideally ought to be swapped for another swim or another run. If not, stick with the ride and go entirely by feel, ala the Caveman. Cavemen did not ride bikes (or their bikes had square wheels anyway) but it's important here that you do, or at least do something, whether easy or not (don't be afraid of easy; in training, it ALL adds up, even the easy stuff). I don't believe in taking a complete day off each week when time is of the essence, as it's doubtful your competition does. (Check this: One day off each week = two months off each year. Good luck goal-tending with that approach.)

As for Friday, this is where the hardest swim of the week comes, though your other swims should be tough too (recall that swimming is "easier" on the body, in terms of recovery). You needn't anything extravagant, just something challenging. My personal favorite was a 5,000-meter time-trial, but I'm known to suffer from a series of mental maladies, so I advocate something a little more stimulating, psychologically speaking. (The physical stimulus of a 5K TT is profound.) In general this means a workout that relates to your goal race: if it's an Ironman for example, then 20 x 200s on a paltry 10-second's rest will do the trick, so long as they're all paced faster than your intended race pace. (Remember: unlike this workout, an Ironman Day swim = extended warm-up; whereas here now you must present yourself with a challenge in order to set yourself up for fitness growth; development follows demand.) Today's run, however, is like most triathlon-related running and is simply about remaining consistent and strong; routine in running is perfectly fine (though sameness is not). Fast running is okay only if recovery isn't compromised and if injury/illness is averted. The 48-72 hours following a given run will tell you if you ran too hard; look back to look ahead.

-- Chuckie V

2010 American Triple T Race Report

2010-05-25T09:17:00.002-05:00

This was my first race of the year. I learned a lot.

First was the value of aero equipment. I expected the bike section to be harder without it, but I am little disappointed in myself for going non-aero. In doing so, I struggled to pull my weight out there. My teammate, Scott Bowe, may say otherwise, but I felt like I drafted too much. He was riding a 50-disc combo plus the LG aero helmet. I had nothing and didn't even bother shaving the legs.

Second was learning more about side-stitches. Like usual, I managed to have a nagging side-stitch at Triple T this year. This happens every year and I finally think I nailed down why. Personally, sustained efforts at 155-170 bpm require proper training to ward off the stitch. Years ago Ernest Maglischo wrote, in Swimming Fastest, that a side-stitch was the indication of somebody being out-of-shape. With a few years of race experience under my belt now, I believe him. I'll certainly remember to focus on this heart rate area in 2011 and spend somewhere between 4-8-12 weeks making sure my body can handle this activity level in the swim-bike-run. Tabata sprints may be a good substitute. As for racing in the lower to middle zone 2 area, that was a cake walk this year. That was a new feeling, an experience from a much deeper aerobic base. I also felt better when I was recovering between races. Keeping the swim easy helped a lot. I recall having to dig really deep (too deep) to hang with Bowe on the swim back in 2008 and putting myself in a hole for the remainder of the race(s).

Third, to access greater fitness requires a proper executed warmup. The days of no warmup are officially over. Skipping this before race #1 and #2 is part of the reason I got the side-stitches. And doing the "right" stuff in the warmup is important. Just a light jog for a few minutes doesn't cut it. I'll have to do some reading about how ITU/HIM racers warmup to assist me.

Third, I was sorting my way through the race pictures and noticed that my arm swing when running is really bad. I need to drop the arms a lot to have my hand position in right place. I'm holding my elbows really high and having the hands too high. I need to relax the shoulders, swing the elbows back and not around (torquing the chest), and have the hands much lower than the elbows. Driving the thigh has worked wonders for correcting errors on the lower extremities.

Fourth, this was another "coming of age" race for me. Back in 2008 I was in awe of Bruce G and John K. After this year, I said to myself, had I trained specifically for this race (by doing interval work) I could of been in the mix. They're not so scary anymore. Besides, both are friendly guys to talk to.

As for the races themselves, race #1 was really no different than years past, but the run section was a mud bath. My shiny new shoes turned brown for the rest of the weekend. Ugh. Because of high winds, heavy rain, and down trees the bike course for race #2 was changed to the course of race #3. So comparing times from previous years is not applicable. Race #3 and #4 were fun like usual. In the last mile of the race, Scott vowed for us to return next year (with him healed and transformed into a running machine) to take top honors. I'm on the fence about it like usual and I can't put my finger on to why.

In summary, Scott and I continue to be a great fit. Our abilities are nearly even and despite his lack of running from having a screw put in his foot, we ran fast enough to end up second overall in the team division. Outside my own reflections, there were a number of Wisconsinites at the race this year. It was great to see a lot of friendly, familiar faces.

2010 Base 2

2010-05-14T15:51:00.000-05:00

Base 2 Training

The physical struggles I experienced when I resumed bike training with intervals in the Prep phase are reappearing. I'm not surprised. Introducing long periods of zone 2 efforts for the first time in eight months (IMLOu Aug 2009) shocked my system. The message was really hit home after I did a 4hr ride on the computrainer with 2:30 at zn2. After I finished, I puked. Subsequently, the 1 hr run at IM pace afterwards was cancelled. The next day I did another 4hr ride at zn1 then made up the 1 hr run, but since I felt better than expected I pushed it managing 6:35 for 9 miles on the track (HR ave 157).

Overall, my swim has progressed to my goal level of 40x100 1:15/1:30. I have not yet applied any metrics to my bike fitness. Subjectively, it feels good. I'm not dreading the 4 hour weekend rides (Sat and Sun). My run fitness is at a career-level high (see metrics post). I've managed to have all my runs, short and long, stay faster than 7:50. Running at 7:15-7:45 pace is really comfortable for the first time in my career. In years past, this was a big struggle of mine. During IM training, most of the time I could not muster up the energy to run at speeds ranging from IM pace to 5K speed, I was too tired.

Training-wise I've targeted the following for Base 2:

increase swimming base by keeping intervals aerobic with 10-15 seconds rest.

bike in zn 2 range for one long ride and my interval ride.

run at a lot of different speeds (De Castella idea) by throwing in a tempo run, a run at IM pace, a run at LT (1-2 miles), etc.

Base 2 time-frame: 8 weeks

Periodization style:

The big jump in volume week three coincides with American Triple T this year. I look forward to seeing the Wisconsin and Slowtwitch crowds in Ohio.

2010 Stamina and Pursuing Speed

2010-04-11T11:46:00.000-05:00

Lassen Virén prepared with one focus in mind: coming to a peak for the Olympics. He accumulated thousands of kilometres of running in his local forests and in winter training destinations, running at gradually increasing intensities over intervening years to prepare a huge foundation from which to peak with his anaerobic work. All else was considered only as preparation, even European championships.

His story is interesting. The absolute dedication to Olympic victory is note-worthy given the distractions of a multiple of racing opportunities. Perhaps his secret, if there was one, was that his coach, Rolf Haikkola, put him through a training regime that was, for the time, extraordinarily rigorous. The schedule combined straightforward miles on the clock with fartlek, the Scandinavian tradition of changing the pace. It included periods of training at high altitude in South America and Africa; before Munich, Viren had spent three months in Kenya, training three times a day at 7,000 feet above sea level. The bulk of his training, though, remained running alone in the Finnish woods, 150 miles a week.

Viren prepared for the Olympics in a way that no one had before him; he was ruthlessly disciplined. Today he is widely considered to be a founder of modern athletics, the prime exponent of peak performance. "All my focus was on the Olympics," he said. "As they approached I would plan a year ahead, with systematic practice aimed at that certain date. This wasn't simply a case of physical preparation. It is the mental side which can be the deciding factor." Sisu sums it up. "It is the ability to endure and overcome any pain and challenge through mental strength."

Viren is good motivator for anyone focusing on the IM. Being on the Ironman wheel is fun. The very capacity to train appropriately for the event is rare and competiting at it, regardless of finish time or place, is special. Yet the journey to race day and to race it is muddy waters. With an influx of recreational athletes, the business side of triathlon is out there appealing to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that they should buy this, do that workout, and ingest this product. Shifting through the sand for gold is a tedious process for BOP and FOP self-taught athletes.

The strategy for training and racing an IM has been on my mind a lot the last two years. But recently, I've been able to apply life's little lessons to increase my knowledge base. The literatue base of triathlon training is small, IM even smaller, and far behind that of running and swimming. Ernest Maglischo's monograph Swimming Fastest spoiled me. Yet, triathlon is evolving. The blogs of Alan Couzens, Chuckie V, Team TBB "doc", Gordo Bryn, and others prove helpful. In their own separate ways we learn through them as athletes and coaches.

As for triathlon books, I haven't read a lot of them mainly because they're first generation genre: teaching you how to do your first triathlon. One of my favorite books in this category is Going Long by Gordon Bryn and Joel Friel. The title reaches out to their target audience--novices going long for the first time. It does a good job at introducing us to IM training while adding in some elite level tips. And not to gripe about the book too much, but it falls short on clarifying the nuances of novice versus elite and is too short on case studies. The other day I did pick up Brad Kearns' book Breakthrough Triathlon Training and was surprised at the content. Most of his material is profound in a simple way and applicable to those of us nearly toasting ourselves training week-in and week-out. His story of 200 versus 300 or even 700 miles of biking per week points out the high level of intuition the sport demands. Different folks need different pedal strokes - touche.

The other absence I see in the triathlon literature is benchmarking of swim, bike, run. That is, to do an IM swim in 60, you must be able to swim a 100yd Free in XX:YZ or some variation of that (I see that Alan Couzens, in his blog, is in the process of pointing out the physiological factors required to either complete, win your age-group, and win the the IM.). Explict definitions and training examples could clarify the fog that many of us float in. The McMillian tables for runners are great in this regard. Furthermore, I would love to see a case study of an athlete who progressed their IM bike split from a 5:45 to 5:15 or swim from a 58 to a 52. And it not just a matter of doing it, who did matters as well. We learn more from a 5th or 6th time IM participant who has breakthrough performance rather than a 2nd or 3rd time participant. From personal experience, the gains in years 1-3 are from simply putting in another year of training. For those with ongoing weaknesses the problem is no longer "more is more." Doing more 100 mile rides or adding in another 3K swim each week isn't going to help but many of us just see the answer answer as "more." The progress from BOP to MOP to FOP to Elite/Pro is, I suspect, a 5-8 year process in IM. So what does it take and how? How this occurs is what fascinates me and a trench that more triathlon authors should stake out.

When I was first introduced to IM, I badly wanted to sign up. However, an acquitance that I greatly respected in the sport told me "respect the distance" and advised me to hold off until my fitness was better. He was right, I was in the process of coming off a five year hiatus from athletics. So I waited until I acquired more money to afford the sport and soak in bike training which was completely new to me. A few years later I attended an IM training clinic held by four FOP racers (Dave Diamond, Terry Labinski, Eric Davis, and Heather Haviland), still a few years out from doing my first IM. I was captivated by their training volume, intensity, and periodization. But I also found that there was great variation in their approaches. Frankly, it was hard to summarize the clinic, instead I left chalking up their success as genetics because of the large decrepancies in their training models. Not that I'm opposed to it since God gave me some fastness, but I wanted more experience, more science, maybe a protocol to guide me.

Where am I going with all of this... I hope some good triathlon training and biography books come out in the next decade that captures the interest of racers and fans. Because, as I see it, many of us enjoy the biographies of Bowerman, Goucher, Viren, Prefontaine, De Castella. We can resonate with their victories and struggles plus, for some of us we can follow in their footsteps. Book publishers are still a few years behind me on this thought. Depth is what I seek. It reminds me of why I loved MTV so much as a kid. Video gives the artist another medium to relay his message. It helps give context to the singer's words. Comic books are the same way. Yes, the story teller can use words to tell us what Spider Man's costume looks like, but to see the artistic rendering makes it more real. The only thing that I think comes close to telling and showing us the FOP story is the triathlon movie "What It Takes" or Mark Allen's story told by Tim Noakes in the Lore of Running.

Back to Viren, he entered his first Olympics not as a serious contender yet came away with some gold. Most of us will never be Olympians but many seek similiar paths to personal excellence in triathlon. I would be happy to hit my ceiling of IM fitness this year and have a "best I could ever do" outcome. As you may gather from this entry, learning about triathlon training--stamina and pursuing speed--is an ardous journey that rivals the training itself.

2010 Base 1: Phase I, Phase II

2010-03-31T15:22:00.000-05:00

The Base 1 Phase of my training is still continuing. For the first 12 weeks of a 16 week base one phase, I focused on running. The overall weekly schedule was simple:

Swim - 3x/wk 2500-4000/workout
Bike - 3x/wk 1hr; 1hr zone 4 intervals; 2-3.5 hr long ride
Run - 7x/wk 55-62 miles/wk

I am happy with the progress and general feelings of fitness, especially the improvement in running strength. My body is starting to tell me good things. Swimming feels similiarly which is a nice surprise compared to last year when I struggled with motivation. Others might be surprised to find that out, but I was calling it quits most times at 2k yards. This year my key workout 30x100 1:15/1:25 is fun to do and I'm averaging 3000k/workout. The nice thing about the pace is that 1:15 translates to about 53-55 IM swim and I'm handling 30 of them without much trouble. Undoubtably, the cruising of these 100s is deeping my zone 2 swimming and continuing to add another round of 5 every other week will get me to 40x100. The downside, if there is one, is that I may continue them for their novelty and hurt the quicker front end swimming needed to do well at American Triple T. But given that I'm passing on stand alone sprints and olympics this year, any worry is unnecessary. As for running, the overall pace came around nicely the last 4 weeks of high volume to settle in at 7:45. For the first four weeks, the running pace floated around 7:55 to 8:15.

The final 4 weeks of my base 1 phase (phase II) transitions me to bring my bike fitness on par to previous year's fitness level:

Swim - 3x/wk
Bike - 4x/wk 1hr rollers; 1.5hr zone 4 intervals; 1 hr; 3-4 hr
Run - 6x/wk 50-55 miles/wk with long run at 2.0 hr

But, in actuality I changed it because the weather was nicer than I thought. I got outside and did a lot more biking.

Swim - 3x/wk
Bike - 3-4x/wk 4:00 zone 1 (AeT-10 to 15 bpm); 3:30 with 1hr SS (AeT); 1.5 SS; 1.0 easy
Run - 5-6x/wk 40-55 miles/wk with long run at 2.0 hr

I finally got a new bike...a black PX. Yesterday I started putting it together and ran into a few hiccups. The first was the cable routing for the sram rear derailler. Apparently there is a unique cable guide allowing the cable to reach up to the screw down bolt. I missed that and for a short while couldn't figure out why the shifting was tough and horrible. The CNC ultralight brakes are very industrial looking. Since there is no opener lever I failed to figure out how to open the brakes up. I had to email the PX distributor and ask. Turns out you need to squeeze the brakes together and wiggle loose the brake cable housing. Not too complicated but certainly a different approach. It also came with a new seat which I'm going to try. Seats are funky and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The reason I'm giving this one a try is that it's really long and allows the nose to sit near the bottom bracket giving me a steep riding angle. Helpful, but the real reason is the 100mm stem that came with the bike. Previously, I had a 80mm stem and with the extra 20mm, I need the longer seat to have a comfortable cockpit and not over-reach for the aerobars. Time will only tell if it works. If not, I'll have to get a 80mm stem and like all things, it's a pricey gadget.

Last, I fell of the wagon this past week. Training was horrible. I managed to get in the bikes and swims, but running simply did not happen. A few scheduling conflicts and lack of interest simply put some zeroes in the running category. I thought about "catching up" by killing myself but ultimately decided against it. So this week, I am starting anew by doing Monday's workout on Monday. Wow, it feels good to write that. Additionally, I added a picture of my favorite athletic movie for motivation.

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." -- Eric Liddell

2010 Working Hard & Productivity

2010-02-25T10:34:00.000-06:00

I've been reflecting on the ingredients to a successful triathlon career. Certainly you get out of it what you put in. I find triathlon to be a fun hobby, the intensity and commitment can certainly be addictive. I have to chuckle, I recently commented to a friend that if you want to succeed, you have to be willing to train so much that you almost lose your job and unsettle your marriage. I haven't had to sacrifice that much partially because of a flexible job and a wife who's a fellow triathlete. Plus, and this is a big one, we don't have any kids. Throw that into the scheduling book and any sort of long-term aspirations of becoming a front-of-the-pack racer is gone. Be real, do you want to sacrifice family time to practice countless hours for some upcoming softball tournament, opps I mean an IM race. Doing well in triathlon is not much different than doing well in a local softball tournament. Keep perspective.

But just in case you're starting out and wanted to know what worked for me in the beginning, I jotted down some notes.

WORK:
The work of a triathlete is no different than the work of a sole-practitioner. I should know, I do both. Often times, it's done in solitude. Sometimes I stumble across others, individuals like myself who are on the same journey. Maybe our paths cross for a brief moment at a stop sign when on a bike ride, or it's at the pool when you got into the lane next to me, or maybe it's at the track when you showed up to do intervals. While our interaction may be brief it's not because we're rude or mean, it's because we're wolves. Legs fed the wolf so our time together is short by our character. It's time to move on, to keep ourselves strong, to find another meal, to live another day. In this game we got lots of work of do.

The experience of "Hard" is a personal experience. Nobody knows how hard you or I am working. A lot of the time you need to workout at a semi-comfortable pace; at other times you need to work hard and I mean really, really hard. Those that succeed in triathlon are committed to maximizing their training hours. Each gesture, each stroke, each stride is calculated for its value. 80-90% might be zone 1-2, the remaining 10-20% is zone 3 and 4. Experience shows us the foolish things we did in the past. I recall doing 8 weeks of training to race my first half ironman. I also remember doing 4.5 hour bike rides in February for a September race. Our previous errors help us to refine our training process and race strategy.

How much work does it take to be good is a common question. The most important ingredient for triathlon success is innate talent. Either you got it or you don't; no way around it. Next is dedication. Consistency of training is directly tied to your dedication. Week in and week out we need to be training. The amount of training usually parallels the distance of our A race. For short-course triathletes, that's usually 8-12 hours a week. For those at the half-ironman and ironman that means 12-25 hours for the pointy end of the age-grouper field. As for the pros, they seem to float between 20 to 40 hours a week regardless of the distance.

TEAMWORK:
The accomplishment of goals is not a solo effort. It requires the support of a team. Support can come in many forms: money, gear, advice, recommendations, strategies, constructive criticism, and praise. In the world of triathlon, team means all the things listed above but also implies expectation. Without it, we have no one to answer to besides ourselves. While we may be able to muster up enough vital force to have a few conquests, the team environment makes the process easier, more enjoyable, and often times more successful. My first mentor in the sport was Paul Eckerle. His words of wisdom still resonate true for me today. Find somebody to help you along the way.

COMPETITION
We might ride the same bike, wear the same gear, or even be on the same team, but when the gun goes off the prizes are limited and I happen to want one of those shiny trinkets. The competitive spirit has always resided within me. While I might not push you off your bike, I may turn myself purple to pass you while riding mine. And if I don't say anything when passing you on the run, it's because the pain reaches a level where it's a spiritual event. You're going to want to find a way that makes pain/fatigue/high intensity an ally. A race is a situation for testing your training program. It's important to recognize this is the time to over-reach. That might mean coming out of the water with the lead pack, not allowing yourself to be dropped on the bike, or it may mean trying to lead the race start to finish. Going for it means... going for it. You should never feel embarassed by blowing up, especially in C or B level races. Hang your head high for trying to "go for it."

In summary, I would like to say all the training and winning is worth it regardless of some of the really low points. I have experienced a great deal of personal joy and happiness in my spare time by participating in triathlon. Equally true are the numerous friends I've come to make along the way. I continue to be impressed by the quality of the people in the sport. The same traits of competitiveness, integrity, and competency that they bring to the sport are often reflected in their professional careers and personal lives.

2010 Running Update

2010-02-24T08:37:00.000-06:00

For Base 1 running I managed to average 60 miles a week plus I got around to measuring out my weekly running routes. It turns out I'm running faster than I thought. On average I'm sustaining 7:45-7:50 pace. The weekly easy long runs are slow, but no slower than 7:59 pace. As expected and disappointing the obvious is, one bad run or a run cut short kills the weekly run mileage. This past week, I hit all seven runs but after a killer bike interval workout, I was too toasted to run 60 minutes and survived only 30 minutes.

The shoe situation finally came around. I'm happy with the new Nike LunarTrainer replacement shoes. After seven days of running in them, they felt fine. I may consider using them for IM Wisconsin. The other option is the new Nike LunarRacer.

Bike and swim training continues at status quo: three swims and three bikes. I hit my swimming benchmark: 20x100 on 1:15 with 10 seconds rest with it feeling comfortable. I opt to mix is up with every other set of 5 using the pull buoy. For the time being, pulling that fast is easier than normal swimming.

The only other comment is that I've decided to forgo the recovery week for Phase 1 of training (Base 1-3). Since I view the work leading up to Triple T as essentially prep work, it makes sense. The volume isn't all that high, 15 hours per week, and the intensity is manageable. It breaks down to 13 workouts/wk; no days off; 7 runs/wk, 3 swims/wk, and 3 bikes/wk. The running has been steady with no tempo work, just trying to keep it at sub 8 min pace. Let me clarify this some more. What I mean by no tempo work is that I am not spending time at sub 7 minute pace. Yes, on my 60 minutes runs I usually run about 7:20-7:40 pace but for me that still is zone 2. The bike has one zone 4 workout (15-20 x 2:20/:40EZ), one 60 minute ride (zone 1), one long ride 2-3 hrs (zone 1-2). Swimming is so vanilla flavored that it is not worth discussing.

Running Volume:
January wk 3 - 55 miles
January wk 4 - 60 miles
February wk 1 - 60 miles
February wk 2 - 60 miles
February wk 3 - 60 miles
February wk 4 - 60 miles
March wk 1 - 60 miles
March wk 2 - 60 miles
March wk 3 - 60 miles
March wk 4 - 56 miles
March wk 5 - 35 miles
April wk 1 - 60 miles
April wk 2 - 60 miles
April wk 3 - 60 miles

2010 Early Season Training

2010-02-08T19:10:00.000-06:00

I wrapped up another seven days of working out. I ran about 63 miles this week. I am not certain if I ran more since I don't measure everything out. I pretty much plug along on my normal 60, 75, and 90 minute routes at a survivable pace. I had two really strong runs, likely sub 7:30 pace, but I did have one horrible one. Running a lot is difficult.

I also had shoe issues. My trainers (Adidas SuperNova) hit their limit and I had to dip into my large Nike LunarTrainer supply.

However, I had issues with them after 45 minutes of running--a hotspot on the left foot on the third metatarsal head. It prompted me to head out and get a new pair of shoes: Nike LunarTrainer (Nike Lunar LunarGlide actually).

Initially, they felt good, but I'm having doubts. I'm cautious about the future. I'll add this though, it seems like running shoe performance is effected by the temperature. Most of my running has been outside when the temperature is below 30 degrees. The one day that it was 31-32 degrees, the new shoe felt just fine; otherwise, when it's 20 degrees they're a little stiff and hard like cardboard.

Overall, this week I ran 7 times, biked 2 times, and swam 3 times. Because the running volume requires a lot of dedication, the game plan is 7 consecutive days of working out followed by one day of complete rest.

2010

2010-01-22T14:32:00.001-06:00

Another year begins and already I'm looking forward to it. The focus so far has been increasing my running volume. This week is going to be nearly 60 miles, my biggest ever (It actually turned out to be 7.25 hrs of running equalling 55 miles at an average pace of 8:00/mile.). I did slip in a MAF-10bpm test for today's run. In years past, I did the customary test of four miles on a track done at MAF heart rate. But this year, I'm doing a 60 minute test on a treadmill with an incline of 1.0. I did it a month ago, but did not know that I needed to have the incline set to one. Today's test was a bit sluggish because of the heavy volume. I wasn't surprised to see 7:47 average pace at 145 bpm.

Next week I officially start Base 1 of 3 to get in shape for American Triple T. My partner in triathlon crime, Scott Bowe, is still tapering from foot surgery so I am not too worried about the gradual start this year. For the next few weeks, keeping the running volume steady is key. Biking and swimming will be light (2-3x/wk).

I still haven't got a new bike. For the mean time, I'm using the trusty old mountain bike that Adrienne got in college. It works well on the trainer giving me plenty of resistance; plus I can ride it outside when the weather tolerates. I haven't talked to Planet X USA (Brian) since early December, but it looks like the new PX time trial bike is coming out in the next few months. Hopefully, it's in the market by the end of March; otherwise, I might be forced to get the current model.

On the sponsorship front, my title sponsor will be Gear-Grinder (www.gear-grinder.com). Its been a wonderful relationship and I'm happy to be part of the team again. My other sponsor continues to be Planet X bikes (http://www.planet-x-usa.com). I have been very happy to see a number of PX bikes arrive in the Wisconsin market in the last two years.

+++++++++++++++++++

January wk 3 - 55 miles running
January wk 4 - 60 miles running

Metrics

2009-12-11T13:56:00.007-06:00

SWIMMING METRICS
2012
12:46 1000yd Time Trial 1-22-2012
3:46/3:45/3:44 (3x300yd with 30 sec RI) 1-19-2012

RUNNING METRICS:

Personal Best:
MAF 6:35 (2010)
MAF-10bpm 7:06 (2010)

2010
7:06 147bpm ave; 13 miles (track) MAF-10bpm 8-14-2010 warm/85 degrees
6:50 155bpm ave; 8 miles (track) MAF 5-28-2010 warm/hot 77 degrees
6:35 157bpm ave; 9 miles (track) MAF 5-6-2010
7:35 142bpm ave: 5 miles (treadmill 1 incline) MAF-10bpm 5-07-2010
6:35 156bpm ave; 4 miles (track) MAF 4-28-2010
7:47 145bpm ave; 60 minutes (treadmill 1 incline)MAF-10bpm 01-22-2010

12:45 Swim 1000yd TT 12-05-10 (Adrienne did the same)

(AeT)
Bike 135bpm (May)

2009 (MAF-10bpm)
7:24 145bpm ave; 60 minutes (treadmill 0 incline)MAF-10bpm 12-11-2009
7:30 145bpm ave; 2 miles (track) 7-2009

2008
6:49 155bpm ave; 4 miles (track) MAF 8-13-2008
6:56 155bpm ave; 4 miles (track) MAF 6-02-2008
7:00 155bpm ave; 3 miles (track) MAF 4-20-2008
7:44 156bpm ave; 4 miles (track) MAF 1-10-2008

2007
7:09 156bpm ave; 1 mile (track) MAF 4-07-2007

MAF Triathlon Run Racing Guidelines:
HIM = 15-20 seconds under MAF pace is good
IM = MAF-10bpm pace is what's possible for an IM run

2009 Additional Thoughts

2009-11-27T18:17:00.000-06:00

At the request of a friend, I've been asked to analyze my racing schedule in relation to my desired outcome. If my desire is to PR the IM, then I might need to reconsider my current race schedule. If my desire is to win a bunch of local races most of which are short-course, then I might be setting myself up for a good IM but nothing stellar. This led me to look at what other successful Wisconsin athletes have done to peak for an IM.

The fastest non-pro in Wisconsin is Thomas Brunold. This is how his IM career has played out:

2004 - Marathon (2:35); IMWI (9:12); IMKONA (9:49)
2005 - Marathon (2:31); 20K (1:06)
2006 - Marathon (2:46); HIM (4:14); IMWI (9:38)
2007 - IMWI (9:14); IMKONA (9:12)
2008 - IMWI (9:20)
2009 - 20K (1:15); Syttenda Mai (2:01); IMWI 9:31

And that's it. The guy only shows up to race IM and usually one or two long distance running races. Interesting. Lets look at his protege Joe Kurian. I included only the relevant races:

2001 - IMLP (11:53 or 11:04)
2003 - IMWI (10:34)
2004 - IMKONA (12:02)
2005 - Marathon (2:33); IMWI (10:42)
2007 - Marathons (2:31; 2:39)
2008 - Marathon (2:39); 20KM (1:06); IMWI (9:39)
2009 - Marathon (2:39); 20KM (1:10); IMWI (9:10); IMKONA (10:02)

Another to look at is Terry Labinski, long-time fast guy in Wisconsin. His fastest year was 2003. Let's look at the number of races he did that year and the distances:

2003 - Odd distance tri; 3 HIMS; 1 Sprint tri; IMWI (9:23)

Next is Scott Bowe who did a lot of racing leading up to IMWI in September 2006, then over the next seven months until IMAZ in April 2007, did only four running races to have a breakthrough race and qualify for Kona:

2006 - IMWI (10:26)
2007 - 15K; 15K; 10K; 5K; then IMAZ (9:46)

Finally, lets look at up and comer Jeff Tarkowski from Green Bay. He seems to follow the Brunold Approach: only two races a year both of which are triathlons.

2007 - IMAZ (10:10); HIM (4:30)
2008 - IMAZ (9:54); HIM (4:18)
2009 - HIM (4:01); HIM (3:54); IMAZ (9:36)

On the other hand, I can think of a number of guys who continuely crumble at IM distance but rock the short-course stuff. There certainly seems to be a dividing line between HIM and IM.

Why are these athletes racing so little? I suspect its because they trade the short-lived glories of winning multiple short-course races for the long-term benefits of getting another high volume workout in. With Ironman dependent more upon stamina than quickness, it makes sense to prioritize the season that way. Add in the responsibilities of work and family, one finds it too difficult to get in the necessary long workouts during the week hence the weekend is too valuable for training to be wasted away by a short-course race.

This limited amount of evidence suggests that I need to reconsider my 2010 strategy. I didn't sign up again for IMWI to simply participate. The Brunold Approach of doing only one race, IMWI, is extreme. I would love to hear his rationale behind it. I suspect that his teaching & working schedule might be some of the reason. Another might be that with an Olympic background, he has a natural inclination for focusing on one big "A" each year as a matter of personal experience. Besides an IM is so long that the technicalities of fast transitions is irrelevant. You simply have to slug your way across 140.6 miles. Additionally, when reviewing the front of the pack IM racers at the international scene, especially the pros, one sees a complete dedication to the distance. The local races are seen as low-key opportunities for weekend warriors infected with the triathlon bug to participate in the sport; mere diversions from the task at hand for serious IM racers. Initially, I saw such non-participation at the local races as elitism by Wisconsin's fastest IM racers and it really turned me off. But now, I'm beginning to see things differently. I'm convinced that the unfortunate promixity of many highly enjoyable triathlon races here in Wisconsin are too close to IMWI for proper race execution. Expect to see me a lot less at the local racing scene this year.

2009 Whistlestop Half Marathon

2009-11-09T19:55:00.000-06:00

October 2009
Whistlestop Half Marathon
Ashland, WI

Matthew Amman
1:21:25 (6:12 pace)
7th Overall

Good race considering it was 22 degrees and the seven hour drive to get there the night before caused havoc to my right hamstring. I was hoping to go a few minutes faster but still chalk it up as a good performance. I held fairly strong at 6:00/mile until mile eight when the leg started complaining and I had to stop and stretch it out a few times.

2009 End of the Year

2009-09-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

2009 In Review

Training:
I spent most of the year following my own advice, but I did add in the bike tips of Zach Ruble, an IM pro who many might know from slowtwitch as BigZach. After Ironman Wisconsin in 2008, I knew I needed to work towards achieving a deep bike base again but wanted a stronger high-end (threshold). Zach recommended some early season biking at Zone 4 then mid-season a weekly dose of Zone 3 work (3x30 min/2x45min /1x90min). As for IM prep, he recommended German-styled 5hr/3hr bike rides. It proved beneficial. I'll be doing it again for next year. This year I was inclined to add a run after them ranging from 30 to 60 minutes. I'll be dropping that down to 15 minutes. The key, as I see it, is getting the bike section to be a high quality workout. Saving something for the run afterwards is likely counter-productive.

As expected, I coasted on my swimming ability. As long as I could get to the pool 3 times per week I was happy. I spent most of it swimming 200-500's with a weekly set of 100's(Base 1)/200's(Base 2)/300's(Base 3) at IM race pace (1:17/100yd).

Running was not much different. I made sure to get in 3-5 runs per week with one long run that progressively got longer. My longest run was 2.75 hr and I ran 5 times over 2 hours this year. Most of the run work was done in upper zone 1/lower Zone 2 (135-140 bpm). The pace usually was 7:30-8:00.

Racing:
The highs were that I won a lot of races this year. My early triathlon dreams still lingered with me this year: to win J-Hawk Early Bird and Camp Whitcomb Mason. I managed to win both.

1st J-Hawk Early Bird Triathlon
1st Camp Whitcomb Mason Triathlon
1st South Milwaukee Tinman Triathlon
1st Stevens Point YMCA Lactic Edge Triathlon
1st LaCrosse YMCA Got Energy Triathlon

2nd Pleasant Prairie Olympic Triathlon
3rd Tri-ing for Children Olympic Triathlon

56th IM Louisville

The lows were getting hit by a car, not finishing Triple T because of another bike crash, and competing at a different Ironman venue that I thought would suit my strengths (swim, bike) but found otherwise.

What I learned this year:
I was physically sharper then ever before. Most of the improvements are from simply training another year. This was my fourth year, third serious year of training. The minor changes in my yearly training program did address some my specific performance limiters. The changes in bike workouts, the 2 week versus 3 week taper, and doing lots of early season long bike rides proved beneficial when looking at race results.

Off-Season:
To improve I need to make one big change. I recognize that competitive swimming from age 8 to 22 got me to the front end for triathlon's swim portion. As for the bike, that required 3 dedicated years of high volume and some intensity. And now, it's time to work on my running. I'm making two changes in my run training. First, I'll run in the middle to upper end of Zone 2 (6:50-7:45). Too often, I floated on the lower end (7:30-7:55 pace). It was fairly apparent when running with Scott Bowe or Chris Wichert that when running alone I was going too easy. To keep things on target, I'll start using the Polar foot pod. The other more important and more dangerous component is increasing run volume. I ran 30-35 miles/wk this year with the highest being around 40. I knew this day was coming. Every HIM or IM runner faster than me that I've met has at some time in their career put in some really high running volume. To that end, I'll attempt to put in 4-6 months of "runner" like volume. The goal is 60 miles/week January through April. I'll spend November and December slowly increasing the volume so that I don't acquire an injury in the processs. In summary, I want to be running 6x/wk during the season with a lot of race pace running.

Next, I need a mental adjustment. Work was a toll this year and took up a lot of "space" in my head. With the change in practice location and changes in fee-structures with insurance companies I had more stress this year. I need to refocus that area of my life. I am working on some ideas to make an adjustment. Although I successfully compartmentalized the mental drain at shorter races, when it came to IM I had a number of ugly thoughts slipping through related to work.

2010:
The goals include figuring out how to race hard without a side-stitch, have my run splits be more in line with stand alone run times, and having a breakthrough race at either a HIM or IM. To accomplish this I expect to race more. The tentative game plan is 10 short-course triathlon races, 2 HIM's, and 1 IM. The general training theme for the year is work on my speed for 3-4 months, then build my endurance on top of that. In Spring I'll start my usual training mode but decrease the weekly long bike to keep it under 4 hrs and keep the long run at 1.75 hr. This should allow me to add in a weekly track workout and race frequently. Late in the season I will spend 8-10 weeks doing the long stuff required for an IM and reintroduce the 100 mile rides and 2+ hr runs.

2009 Ironman Louisville

2009-09-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

Ironman Louisville
Louisville, KY
August 30, 2009

Matthew Amman
9:53:17

56th Overall
10th Age Group

PRERACE
What I saw in Louisville, Kentucky before I even started the race let me know that this was going to be ugly. As the son of a hydrogeologist and serious fisherman, I know a thing about water quality. The Ohio River is barely suitable for swimming. Add in floating timbers and logs, swimming is hazardous. As for the bike roads, the road surface itself was nice but there was absolutely no shoulder. The road ended at the white line. I was little taken back by the whole venue.

SWIM
Horrible, horrible! Imagine lining up at 5:15 am to sit on road pavement for a 7 am race start. And because I was about the 1,200th person in the 2,700 person line, I started around 7:25 am. This was a time-trial start and I certainly prefer the mass swim start.

After jumping in, we had to swim a narrow channel for a 1/2 mile or more. The congestion was terrible. I had to swim with my head up most of time until we rounded the turn buoy and headed out into the river. The long swim to the exit with the river's current was easy. I exited with a disappointing time.

BIKE
The first 2:13 on the bike were uneventful. I kept the effort ridiculously easy to save it for the back half of the bike.

At 2:14 I got a flat tire. Luckly it was the front wheel. I never did take the time to look for a hole. It did not matter, I needed to change it. It was my first time changing a tubular and made a few mistakes. Using a razor blade to cut the tire, I thought I cut all the way through the base tape. Nope. When I pulled with all my might to get it off the rim, it would not budge. I tried the other side. No luck. I thought this might be game over. After a closer look, I saw that I failed to cut the base tape. After cutting it, the tire came off. When putting the spare on, I found out it was not pre-stretched enough. Luckily, an IM race photographer was right there to help. With his assistance, I managed to muscle it on. I inflated the tire and was on my way at 2:21. Poof! seven minutes gone.

I pushed a bit after the flat tire to minimize the time damage. I also had to start dealing with road traffic. I passed a number of cars plus a truck with a horse trailer on the left. Yes, I said the left. Without a road shoulder 2-3 feet wide, often times motorists were stuck behind slow cyclists and simply had to wait patiently to pass. Well, when the faster cyclists like myself are on our second loop of a two loop bike course, we were forced to pass both the cyclist and the vehicle on the left.

The final 50 miles were a little hard to pace, akin to the first 50 miles. The rolly-polly hills made for a pedal, then coast feeling... similar to when riding with a group of cyclists. A powermeter would have helped out a lot.

In the last 10-40 miles somewhere, I got another flat tire. It was a slow leak that I did not notice it until the last few miles.

RUN
I felt really good running out of T2. I walked the first 2 aids stations like planned. I plugged along comfortably while watching my fellow competitors put on a show.

Guy #1 in my age-group passed me in the first 200 yards coming out of T2 running sub 7. No problem I thought, he'll die later. He never did.
Guy #2 not in my age-group was insane. He ran past me just after the 1 mile mark running 6:00 pace. No problem, he'll die later. He (Evan MacFarlane) never did. For the first 3.38 miles he ran 20:17 at 6:00/mile ending with a 2:55 marathon.
Guy #3 Viktor Zyemtsev and winner of the race running sub 6:30's.
Guy #4 Luke McKenzie and second place overall running sub 6:30's.
Guy #5 running around 7:30 pace and I just could not respond.

So about 5 five guys me passed on run. Not too bad I thought. Except for one, I was not confident enough to run in anybody's shadow and try to hold on. Based on how I felt last year at IMWI, this was a positive run and I looked great while doing it (according to my family and friends watching). My form was good, light on the feet, relaxed arm-swing, no side-stitch, and no stomach distress.

I crossed the finish line in 9:53. I was happy to go sub 10. As for qualifying for Kona, I needed to go a 9:48. Doing the math, the flat tire did me in. Frankly, the whole experience left me sour. Ironman corp. did a fantastic job; it was the venue (swim and bike course) that really irritated me. Ironman Wisconsin was a five star experience. I'll likely stick to my home turf next time.

SUMMARY
A month ago an acquintance asked me why I race. It's a question I have struggled with for a couple of years. This particular Ironman race gave me a two-fold answer. First, when life fails to demand my time, efforts, and talents either professionally or personally or both, I seek it out in the form of a hobby. Currently, triathlon quenches my desire for success and hard work. Second, I found out what makes me tick. I have a hard time racing against myself or the clock. To win races or beat rivals I mentally have to say, "I'm better than you and I'll turn myself purple to prove it." A lot of front-of-the-pack racers are like that. I am no different. But at an Ironman race far away from home, I had neither a chance of winning the race outright nor a rival--somebody that I could say to myself, "There is no way I'm going to let him beat me." So what happens to me under those conditions? I coast and that's exactly what I did. If you saw me racing last year at IMWI, you could see the agony and exhaustion. I was digging deep to try to catch my rivals up the road. I gave it everything I had.

My future in Ironman racing is uncertain. I feel that there is much work to be done both physically and mentally to hit the ceiling. But like most hobbies, it's just for fun and if something else comes along that fosters the same feelings as racing I might just hang up the swim cap and goggles, sell the bikes, and use the running shoes to mow the lawn.

THINGS TO REMEBER:
- Breakfast 3 Powerbars, 1 can Red Bull
- Bike: 13 Powergels; Chocolate is fine; Avoid Vanilla; Try Strawberry/Kiwi
- Spare Tubular plus trying bringing along Vittoria PitStop for flats
- Run: Loop 1 alternated coke/gatorade; Loop 2 just coke
- Salt tablets: 4 on bike, 2 on run (Salt stick); try more on bike and run

Heart Rate Data:
Swim 163 bpm
T1 144 bpm
Bike 135 but failed to work for last hour (likely was 145)
T2 122
Run 143 ave

Run Splits:
1 -7:54/pace 147 bpm
2 -7:19 141
3 -7:17 147 bpm
4 -7:41 146 bpm
5 -7:27 147 bpm
6 -7:40 147
7 -7:49 149
8 -7:25 146
9 -7:46 152
10-7:45 149
11-7:47 144
12-7:53 145
13-8:10 141
14-8:18 140
15-8:18 150
16-7:50 140
17-7:55 140
18-8:01 138
19-8:20 135 (started walking aid stations)
20-8:23 135
21-8:27 135
22-8:14 136
23-8:35 137
24-8:24 138
25-8:51 135
26.2-10:29 135

2009 Pleasant Prairie Triathlon

2009-08-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

Pleasant Prairie Triathlon
Pleasant Prairie, WI
August 16, 2009
Olympic Distance

Matthew Amman 2nd OA
S 19:47 B 55:18 R 38:57
1:57:09

PRERACE
This was the race to finish off my IM Build. I'd never done a race at this location and looked forward to a semi-flat bike and flat run course. In the past a number of "fast" people come to win money. Pay-outs were for the first three overall.

SWIM
Without an elite wave, Scott (Bowe) and I started in wave two with Jelly Belly Pro Daniel Bretscher starting in wave 1. The water was clear and I swam comfortably on Scott's feet for the first 1/3. The triangular swim course was nice because we made only two turns. One guy in our wave smoked us with a low 18 swim, I exited the water about 30 seconds behind Scott.

Transition went fairly smoothly for me minus having to rethread my right shoe strap. Scott had issues.

BIKE
When you start biking, we have a good vantage point to see who's in front. Scott was nowhere to be found. I figured my T1 must of been slower than I thought and he somehow put out a herculian effort to be out of sight. Turned out I was wrong. Scott delayed exiting T1 to rearrange his race belt and then while biking, his rear brake was rubbing for loop 1. I had simply exited T1 before him.

Loop 1 was uneventful. I rode fairly even and upon starting loop 2, I saw the leader and calculated that I was 30 seconds behind. Not too bad, but I didn't have the motivation to push any harder. Suffering to catch and overpass someone is fun, but to do it as a solo effort wasn't going to happen today.

RUN
I came into T2 and put my socks and shoes on. After exiting, I was informed that I was in third. The run was hard. I struggled with the side-stitch from the start. At an out and back section, I saw the leader and he was cruising sub 6's. The guy in second had a CC shirt on with running shorts, obviously a relay team. By mile 3 the stitch had become manageable. I ran even paced until the end for second place.

Mile
1 6:15
2 6:19
3 6:16
4 6:23
5 6:25
6 5:57

SUMMARY
The time difference between first and second was almost 5 minutes. Where can I make that up? First would be my transitions. Up to now, my bike shoes are off the bike. It seems that the faster racers are keeping them on their bike and slipping into them after the bike mount akin to the racers in ITU racing. I'm going to start doing that next year and try it out at Devil's Challenge Triathlon. Second, transition 2 is a little slow because I put socks on. With IM coming up, I was hesitant to get a blister. Third, raise my running performance. Between these three things, I might be able to make up the difference.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
- 1 Gel and Red Bull for breakfast, worked fine (race start was 6:30)
- Carried a spared tubular, probably carry Pitstop in the future
- No socks for Olympics triathlons
- Running with race belt in hand for 1/4 mile felt good
- Side-stitch strategies remain effective
- Liberal use of Vaseline for the unit, worked good
- Nasal strip, aero-helmet, Team GG kit, visor
- Tire pressure F-115 R-117

2009 Camp Whitcomb/Mason Triathlon

2009-08-12T10:02:00.000-05:00

Camp Whitcomb/Mason Triathlon
Hartland, WI
August 9, 2009
Sprint Triathlon
1/3 mile; 22 mile; 5K

Matthew Amman 1st OA
S-8:35 B-53:42 (24.6mph) R-19:43
1:23:59

PRERACE
The original plan was to do a massive workout on Saturday before the race (5hr ride, 1hr run) and then show up and humilate myself at the CWM triathlon. Well, the weather was terrible on Saturday but I managed to sneak in a 2.5 hr ride.

Sunday morning was sunny with a slight breeze. Like usual, I had to sign up race morning. Big problem. Upon registrating I was informed that they weren't allowing anybody in the elite wave. Huh! Two years ago I signed up race morning and was allowed into the elite wave. In a huff, I told the volunteers to hold onto the forms while I chatted with the race director. After pleading my case to both the RD and the head timer, the official response was NO! At this point I wasn't sure I wanted to play; besides Scott and I had a monster workout planned immediately after the race (3.5 hr bike, 1 hr run). After fuming for 15 minutes, I returned to the registration table, coughed up the $100, told the ladies that I'm going to win the race and not come back again. They just smiled.

SWIM
Scott (Bowe) with the rest of the elite wave took off while I watched. I was stuck in wave 7--the last wave. The previous time I did the race, I swam with a wetsuit and found myself overheating. With similar conditions, I opted to go without it this time. It was the right move. I had a lot of swim traffic to manuevre past and made sure to be courtesy. After the recent triathlon related deaths, I didn't want to hurt a newbie by swimming over them.

BIKE
Two years ago I raced CWM differently. It was my first time trying to win a triathlon. Between Michael Boehmer overtaking me on the bike coupled with trying to hold off Phil Bzdusek, I rode every hill all out (akin to MTB racing) and prayed that I wouldn't die. It worked that time to take 2nd OA and a big mental booster.

This time without the hype of "being in the front" when starting the bike, I simply kept my effort consistent never digging deep on the hills or making a tactical move.

RUN
I started running fast to take advantage of the uneven territory. At mile 2 I developed a side stitch. I kept it under control for another 100 yards but then I needed to stop. After resting for 10-15 seconds, I surged forward. One thing I learned that is if I tuck my chin, the stitch goes away. I may look a little goofy but it seemed to work. I finally crossed the finish line in 1:23:59.

SUMMARY
I'm taking my ball and going home.

Race safety is always my primary concern. After getting hit by a car in a triathlon earlier this year combined with a record number of triathlon deaths, I'm alittle worried while racing. In this particular case, you don't pay $100 to simply enjoy the morning especially for us competitive guys. To ask an elite to swim over a few hundred people and then bike past them 5-10 mph faster is potentially hazardous. We got lucky this time, but that hasn't always been the case.

2009 Late Season Training

2009-08-03T08:54:00.000-05:00

Beesting & Loose Skewer

This past week I finished my first of three Build weeks to set me up for Ironman Louisville on August 31st. I managed to survive, learn a few lessons along the way, and was thankful for the rest days in between. The key workouts consist of:

1. German style 5 hr bike ride faster than IM pace
2. Zone 3 bike ride for 90 minutes followed by 60 minute run faster than IM pace
3. Long hard run

A lot of times when you do really hard workouts like this you don't know what to expect. Sometimes you surprise yourself yet other times you make a few errors. The major lesson so far is pacing.

WEEK 1
Workout #1 was designed to be soulcrushing but with poor pacing, I sort of ruined it. I did the TriWisconsin Lannon loop three times (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3062739) with a working knowledge of how fast I can ride it per loop. Last week I did two loops at breakneck speed without much trouble. However, this time the wind was up and my stubborness led me to believe that I could still muscle out three loops fairly close to the same pace per loop. I was wrong. My final loop was 11 minutes slower than the first. Not good. And when it came to running 30 minutes afterwards, I struggled. While the focus was the 5 hr bike part and running was simply bonus material, I did not get what I wanted out it, plus I got a nasty beesting while riding. Adding insult to injury, my rear skewer was loose for the ride. Thankfully, I lucked out and nothing bad happened.

Workout #2 was at Crank Daddy's bike shop on a ergmo/computrainer to ride at constant watts to keep my heart rate within zone 3. What I did was ride 425 watts (the thing must be WAY off) for 90 minutes followed by a 60 minute build run. The first 20 minutes were to be easy, the second twenty moderate hard, and the final 20 tempo. It was a challenging workout.

Workout #3 was the long hard run. The goal was to run my usual 2:45 loop faster than usual and see what happened (house down north ave to parkway, parkway to Hawley then back along wells (at Hawley & Wells turn usually takes 29-30 minutes), connect with parkway head north, across bridge to hart park, up parkway to north ave junction (usually takes 60-62 minutes) up parkway to hwy 100 back along other side of parkway, back down all the way to Hawley, same route back to north ave then to home street). 20.5 miles later I finished in 2:30. I had to fight a few mental demons along the way yet I survived.

WEEK 2
Workout #1/German Ride
This was a combo workout with Camp Whitcomb/Mason Triathlon followed by 2.5 hr bike ride immediately afterwards. The race went really well (see race report) and the following bike ride was manageable. I was far off IM race pace, but I made it. I also thought about running after the ride, but called it a day. This was my substitution for the week's German Ride.

Workout #2
Long brick workout of 2.5 hr bike (originally going to be 3.5 hr) followed by 2 hr run. The bike was on pace until 2:10 when I was stung by a bee on the right thigh, ouch! I had to stop on the side of the road and was in considerable more pain than last week's episode. After a few minutes, I decided to cut my ride short and head back to the car. Ten minutes later I felt fine at the car, I decided to finish with the long run. I ran strong hold sub 7:30's. I was happy that I kept it together mentally.

Workout #3
Instead of a computrainer ride at Cranky Daddy's I opted to go outside and do the Lannon ride. I rode sub 1:40 for 35 miles with a 7:30 pace run for 45 minutes afterwards.

WEEK 3
Workout #1/German Ride
Long ride was 105 miles to Theresa and back in sub 5 hrs (4:56) with a sore throat/head cold. I was supposed to run afterwards but with a late start time I had to get to work. I ran 1 hr later in the day and it was easy. I did, however, check out the legs after the bike with a short jog and felt fresh unlike the previous effort the week before or a month prior when I did the exact same workout (105 miles to Theresa and back in 5:00) but could barely walk afterwards.

Workout #2
Long Run 1.5 hr hard at sub 7:20 pace in the heat. I suffered.

Workout #3
Olympic distance triathlon (see race report).

+++++++++++++++++++++

I followed this with Matt Fitzgerald's two-week taper.

+++++++++++++++++++++

In conclusion, the season has gone by fast. Adrienne and I have done a number of races with the usual drama. We won a few, lost a few, had moments of greatness and moments of failure. Mentally I feel cloudy with erradic motivation but physically things seem to be getting sharper. I believe the build workouts I have chosen for this year will make me stronger to handle the challenges of racing an Ironman.

2009 Tri-ing For Children Triathlon

2009-07-27T10:49:00.001-05:00

Tri-ing For Children Triathlon
Eagle, WI
July 26, 2009
Olympic Distance
1.5K 40K 10K

Matthew Amman 3rd OA
1:58:54
S 18:18 B 59:11 (25.2mph) R 39:37

PRERACE
I expected this to be a challenging race both physically and mentally. I had a few prerace jitters because a number of tough competitors were expected to be there (and they were). Next I just couldn't get my mind psyched up. I tried to talk myself into it but it failed to work. This and a few other races in WI just fail to motivate me unlike Camp Whitcomb Mason, High Cliff, Devil's Challenge, or Lake Mills.

To win this race I knew that I needed to run a 37:XX 10K otherwise Joe Kurian was going to run me down! I wasn't too worried about anybody else.

SWIM
Scott and a fellow Gear-Grinder Jordan Mathes took 1-2 in the swim with me exiting the water about 1 minute behind. I thought I had a decent swim minus my accident at the first turn buoy. When ducking under the buoy, my face caught the support line and took my goggles off my face so I had to spend some time getting them back on. As a result I lost another 10 yards to the swim leaders while letting the trailing pack catch up.

BIKE
The bike course distance was spot on for once despite some last minute course changes because of road construction. I managed to bike into the lead after Scott and Jordan decided to question the first bike turn. After a quarter mile, they decided to turn around thinking they shouldn't have turned right but once they saw me coming at them they turned around again to follow me. With time, I pulled away and rode solo around the two loop bike course. It was a windy day with some rough roads. I had the fastest bike split and knew I needed it if I was to have any chance winning.

RUN
Coming into transition was hectic. The sprint and half-sprint participants were finishing with me. After racking the bike, putting on socks and shoes, I took off. It looked like I had a minute on Scott and Jordan. Short of mile one Jordan ran past me fast, sub 5:45 fast and kept truckin' ahead to get about 50 yards ahead of me until he eased off the gas. He lingered there the rest of the race. By mile two I had trouble. Yes, I had an inkling of a side-stitch but that was gone by the first mile, this time it was bodily movement #2 trouble. I needed to find a restroom.

Jumping back in time, on the drive out to the race I had an upset stomach and was forced to make an emergency stop at PDQ to use the facilities. My guess is that 8 jumbo chocolate chip cookies I ate the day before were the culprits. Gosh, they tasted soooo good that I just couldn't stop after 1 or 2.

Now back to the race. From mile 2 onward, I ran as fast as I could while keeping myself intact. 6:20 pace was plenty fast but the rest of the competition managed to catch me. Joe Kurian caught me at mile 3 while performing a 35:10 run split and in the final half mile, Pete Metz blew past me with an incredible 36:XX run split and vomitting a few times in the process.(Although he somehow got a 2:00 penalty on the bike dropping him to 5th in the overall standings. Bummer.)

Heart Rate Data:
Swim 164 bpm ave
Bike 165 bpm ave
Run 160 bpm ave

SUMMARY
I'm happy with how I did. The high end run speed is simply not there this year from lack of speed training. I guess that's what you get when you're IM training. Long slow distance (LSD) training makes you just that...slow. Although I wanted to win, for this year I'll take it in stride. Joe Kurian and Justin Henkel continue to teach me that when it comes to triathlon racing, you need to develop the rockstar run of a 2:30'ish open marathon to really dominate triathlon running. That way you can run the following triathlon run splits: 16-17 5K or a 34-35 10K or 1:18-1:20 half-marathon or sub 3:00 marathon. That is what it takes to win anywhere on anyday.

When reflecting upon my strengths and weaknesses, I still believe I'm a fairly balanced athlete. When I started this sport in 2005, I knew I could coast on my high school swimming background for the swim section. As for the running part, Dad did a number of running races and a few marathons when I was kid, Grandpa too. As part of growing up I did few races with him as well until I got heavily involved in Soccer. Biking was to be my major performance limiter. My first big race was Spirit of Racine HIM in 2006 and the bike section killed me. When comparing myself to others in my age-group that year, I was a top swimmer, horrible biker, and ran mediocre considering that I fried myself on the bike. Three years later I've evened out my talents, especially at the HIM and IM distance. However, at the Olympic and Sprint I lack the raw running speed to put out a sub 17 5K or sub 36 10K run split. I chalked most of that up to lack of run specific speed training. When looking towards 2010, I see myself dedicating a lot of time towards that type of work.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
- Stay away from chocolate chip cookies
- Breakfast: One Powerbar and 1/2 can Red Bull was fine
- 1/4 filled water bottle filled with HEED was fine
- Simply flushing mouth with HEED twice on bike was fine
- Experts agree, crack marks on the chainstays seem to be paint cracks and not frame cracks

2009 Lactic Edge Triathlon

2009-07-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

Lactic Edge Triathlon
Stevens Point, WI
July 11, 2009
Sprint Triathlon
500yd; 18.12 mile; 3.22 mile

Matthew Amman 1st Overall
1:09:31
S-5:49 B-42:12 (25.7mph) R-19:12 (5:57 pace)

PreRace:
At the last minute Scott Bowe talked me (and our wives) into travelling to Stevens Point, WI to do the local Cellcom YMCA Lactic Edge sprint triathlon. Previous year, Scott and I were in the area for our epic IM training camp and did it. Scott won last year.

The race course was different this year. Construction caused the course to be slightly longer than last, hence when comparing times things don't match up.

Swim:
The swim start was quick with Scott leading us out to the first buoy. In the first few yards I happened to get cut off by fellow Gear Grinder Tom Shepard. To prevent a gap between Scott and I, I pulled Tom underneath me. Not very nice on my part, but he did cut me off (he forgave me after the race). From there I sat in the draft touching Scott's feet--something he let know after the race he wasn't thrilled about. Gee whiz! But that's what you get for wanting to swim in the lead. Next time I'll be polite and not touch the feet. At the swim exit, I was a few seconds behind Scott and together we put a half a minute on the field.

Bike:
Transition was smooth and I managed to leave T2 with Scott. He led the bike course for a 1/2 mile before I took over. I was working hard with the heart rate staying really high (around 175 (LT)) and after another mile I was happy to see Scott come around and pass me. I then eased off the accelerator to give myself a breather. With my reckless abandonment for speeding around the corners he never got more than 15 meters ahead. After another mile I was tempted to push hard again but decided to make my move around mile 8. Between Scott fading a bit and my love of perfect pavement, I hit it hard at the 7.5 mile mark--Sentry World--and pushed all the way to the finish. The effort and outcome was good but far from stellar. That lovely feeling one gets when racing tapered is addictive and racing when tried doesn't allow one to feel that unbridled energy. I was hoping to ride the final 4 miles in the 50-12 gear ratio, but lacked the power to sustain it. Bummer.

Run:
I came into transition with about 1:30 lead ahead of Scott and Tom. Transition went well and I managed to run with an even effort holding 5:57 pace. I did flirt with a right side-stitch but running sub 6 is fast enough for me. To get rid of the it would require a lot of track work and that's simply not compatible with IM training.

Overall:
Congratulations to my fellow Gear Grinder teammates. Together we took 1-2-3 overall. Individually I was happy to win but felt my performance was mediocre. The Pewaukee Triathlon happened to be this weekend and I feel that there is no way I could have won that race if I showed up. David Thompson and Will Smith are much faster than me. I often wonder if I could get that fast. I remain skeptical meanwhile I'll be happy to be one of the local fast guys.

Adrienne placed first overall in the women's field.

Things to Remember:
* Breakfast of 2 Powerbar Protein bars was too much.
* I may be fast, but I have a ways to go before I average 27-28 mph on the bike and back it up with low 17 5k run split.

2009 Got Energy Triathlon

2009-06-16T09:21:00.000-05:00

Got Energy Triathlon
La Crosse, WI
June 14, 2009
Olympic Distance (1500m;40k;10k)
Matthew Amman 1st OA
1:59:27
S-20:33 B-57:58 (25.7 mph) R-39:11 (6:18 pace)

A car nearly killed me in this race. In the last half mile before entering T2, a car took a right turn across the closed bike lane right in front of me. I had only a few seconds to react by braking and swerving. It was not enough and I hit the bumper.

PreRace
Earlier this year when visiting our friends Travis Evenson and Paula Skoy in Onalaska, we saw that the YMCA puts on a local triathlon in June. Adrienne and I figured we would sign up as another excuse to visit friends.

We travelled there after work Friday with the dogs. Zero like usual hogged the back seat with Nika having to stand. They eventually worked things out so that both could lie down.

Saturday was fun. We went and watched Travis play in a softball tournament in Sparta and enjoy the chicken dinner the local Lions club was grilling. Yum. Afterwards, I put together the bikes and Adrienne and I went for a 30 minute ride to warmup the legs. I was hoping to get a swim in as well at the YMCA but did not have enough time. We had an excellent dinner at an Italian restaurant in LaCrosse.

Race
This is not a very big race. The sprint category had some 180 participants while the olympic distance had just under 70. The venue, Lake Neshonoc and Swarthout Park, was beautiful with perfect conditions.

Swim
The swim start was uneventful. I started up front and a little too far to the left. The first 200 yards was fast with some guy pretty intent on swim up and over me. He kept swimming up on to me until his hands were on my waist. Wierd. After a while I was out in front and pulled away. However, by starting on the far left I had trouble swimming straight and kept veering off to the left. I eventually made it to the turnaround buoy and started back to the swim finish. I exited the water in 19:XX with a 30 yard lead. Transition went smoothly.

Bike
I rode out of Swarthout park quickly and onto Hwy 16 where an assigned motorcyclist was my guide through the bike course. Upon reaching the first turn as we started riding through town (West Salem), the motorcyclist had some troubles and went around the first turn too slow. I nearly ran into him and had to swerve. It was not a good sign.

The bike course was mildy hilly but the road conditions were nearly perfect and there was no wind. It made for fast bike riding. I pushed fairly hard but was a little worried about tired legs. My training partner Scott had done a race the day before (Elkhart Lake Triathlon) and when we chatted on the phone after he finished the race, he told me that his legs were still trashed from our hard ride at Merton Tuesday and the hard run we did on Thursday. Nevertheless I seemed to hold up okay.

I led the entire bike course. The turnaround was a bit gravelly and I did slip a bit. On the way back I could see that I had a comfortable lead. Second place (Brent Sinn) was a few minutes behind.

As we got back to town, there were a few turns to manuevre through. For the last 3/4 of a mile, the eastbound road starting at Leonard Street was closed off to traffic with construction barrels. Soon after entering this area--the dedicated bike lane--the lead motorcyclist decided to vear off into the traffic lane. I thought nothing of it because he had problems when we originally went through this section. My other thought was that maybe he thought I could make it back to the park/transition area on my own--it was nearly in sight. So I forged onward in the bike lane.

Well, apparantly what was going on was that a car wanted to take a right turn across the bike lane, something I did not see, to enter a side street into a subdivision. To avoid a mishap, I either needed to come to a complete stop or vear left into the traffic lane behind the motorcyclist. Anyway, the car turned right in front of me giving me a just 10-15 yards to stop and/or swerve. I tried to swerve but knew I was in trouble. I was moving way too fast (+25mph). The driver of the car must of saw me at the last second because he tried to stop but was still moving when I crashed into the right side of his bumper. The collision was between his bumper and my crank/left pedal (nothing touched the wheels or frame). I went flying landing on my left hip and shoulder. The pavement was smooth so I slide maybe 7-8-9 yards. Immediately, I got up to assess the damage. Having witnessed Scott crash at Triple T a few weeks earlier, I was familiar with the routine: check body, check bike, make decision if to continue. Based on the rather small tear on my bike shorts I knew it was not as bad as Scott's fall. Some fingers on my left hand were badly scrapped plus some minor road rash on my left shoulder and chest. The bike seemed okay, the wheels still true, no visible cracks on the frame.

I climbed back on and biked back into transition. Checking over my shoulder, I saw that the motorist had pulled over to the side of the road and race volunteers were scrambling over to talk to him. Meanwhile, I was falling apart mentally. I was extremely mad and felt violated. Here I was pouring my heart into having a fast race and some car takes me out! When I entered Swarthout park with the spectators cheering me on, hidden behind my sunglasses were tears of anger and fear. I managed to rack my bike, put on my running shoes, and start running.

Run
Full of adrenaline, I managed to run strong the first mile. I was trying to put what just happened behind me and hold it together to win. As wanted, I kept my running stride short and pushed the envelope short of side-stich territory for the first 15 minutes. At the first turnaround I had what looked like another triathlete running me down. He was running sub 6 miles, me right around 6:25. Worried I kept pushing it and after 5K never saw him again (He must of the been the winner of the sprint triathlon.). At the start of the second loop, Adrienne was starting out on her first loop. She was running fast (nearly as fast as I). Upon passing her, I told her what happened. She thought I must of been fine with the pace I was holding.

On the second loop I let myself find my natural running stride. My pace seemed even and I even managed to push hard for the last mile. I never ran on the edge for risk of hurting myself even more. I crossed the finish line in 1:59:27.

Conclusion
Who was at fault? I believe we all were: the motorcyclist, the car, and me. While it's easy to point a few fingers, I'm just happy to be alive. The medical staff at the race did a wonderful job and wish to thank them as well as the race staff. They did their best to ensure a safe race and sometimes things just happen.

I'll be sore for the next few days and have to grow some new skin. I was hoping to race High Cliff Half-Ironman this coming weekend, but will have to spectate instead. That's okay. Adrienne is fun to watch.

La Crosse Tribune:
Got Energy Triathlon: Wife and husband sweep intermediate distance racesBy KIRK BEY | kbey@lacrossetribune.com.

WEST SALEM — Adrienne Amman smiled. The “debriefing,” as she called it, likely would take place on their three-plus hour drive home Sunday to Wauwatosa, Wis.

Amman could take great satisfaction in a job well-done. The Got Energy YMCA/Touchstone Energy Triathlon, a race she and her husband, Matt, had first heard about when they visited the area last winter, had been an enjoyable experience. Adrienne won the women’s intermediate distance race, which consisted of a nine-tenths mile swim, 24-mile bike ride and 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) run, in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 53.6 seconds. She beat runner-up Maggie Fournier of Onalaska by more than seven minutes.
Adrienne Amman begins the swim portion of the Got Energy Triathlon Sunday as she runs into Lake Neshonoc in West Salem. PETER THOMSON photo

For Adrienne, it had been a day worth talking about. And the perfect person with whom to discuss it would be sitting in the car seat next to her.

Matt had had a pretty incredible day himself, winning the men’s intermediate distance race in a course-record time of 1:59:27. He had done so while doing the final leg of the race, the 10-k run,with an aching left hip. It was the result of a collision with a motorist as he approached Swarthout Park on his bicycle.

Matt simply was looking forward to icing his leg and getting some rest. But Adrienne was happy knowing her husband of seven years would offer his opinion of the day’s events if she asked.

“He’s my guide and my coach,” Adrienne said of Matt, who, like her, graduated from Middleton High School and the University of Wisconsin. “He tells me what I need to do with my training and I say, ‘OK.’ ”

It’s no wonder.

Matt, 32, has completed one Ironman triathlon (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, 26.2-mile run), the Wisconsin Ironman, last year in Madison, and plans to compete in one later this summer in Louisville, Ky. He’s a chiropractor with a hectic schedule — he has his own practice in Milwaukee — but he has a strict, 20-hour-a-week workout regimin.

Adrienne, 30, is a speech therapist at the Milwaukee Veterans Administration Medical Center who also has a busy schedule that includes between 16 and 17 hours of training a week. Even though Matt and Adrienne don’t get to train together often, days like Sunday when they both perform well are a great way to spend a weekend.

“This (competing in triathlons) is just fun for us. We keep it light and just try to enjoy it,” Matt said. “This is our hobby.”

It’s the type of hobby that Adrienne is glad she shares with her husband. She knows he’s a good resource in helping her improve.

“You can learn something from every race,” Adrienne said. “There’s always something you can improve upon.”

Things to Remember:
- Breakfast 500 calories (2 Clif Bars); 1 can Red Bull
- Drink only 2/3 can of Red Bull (5-6 oz) in future
- Tire pressure F-115 R-118 (Fine)
- Water bottle 1/3 full with water
- Flushed mouth twice on bike, never drank
- No food or water for OLY
- Wore socks for run (Good idea)

2009 American Triple T

2009-05-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

AMERICAN TRIPLE T
Friday, Saturday, Sunday
May 22-24, 2009
Portsmouth, Ohio
Shawnee State Park
Team Name: Rock 'N Rock Lifestyle
(Matthew Amman and Scott Bowe)

Overall Result: DNF

Scott Bowe and I teamed up again for the 2009 American Triple T race. After personally struggling in 2008, I was looking forward to testing my stamina. I have found that this race favors those with a long-distance racing curriculum vitae, short-course racers rarely perform well.

Our trip to the race venue included Adrienne's teammate Michelle Lanouette and Wisconsin short-course superstar Chris Wichert racing in the solo category. It would be his first attempt racing long-course and prove to be a learning experience. To breakup the 9+hr trip we stayed Thursday night at Adrienne's aunt and uncle's place in West Lafayatte, IN. We eventually rolled into Shawnee State Park at 3:30 Friday afternoon.

RACE #1 SUPERSPRINT 5th Overall
250 meter swim 4:46 (6 OA); 5 mile bike 10:47 (5 OA); 1 mile run 6:03 (38 OA)

Unlike last year, the lake water was warm and the pavement dry. I swam without a wetsuit again, biked evenly, and ran strong without a side-stitch. By placing in the top five, I earned us a 30 second time bonus.

RACE #2 OLYMPIC 12th Overall
1500 meter swim 20:16; 24.5 mile bike 1:09; 6.55 mile run 43:25 (6:38 pace)

The first race is just too short to really separate yourself from the competition so this becomes the ego race. Everybody around me smoked themselves trying to hurt each other.

I swam strong and noticed that I continue to develop a right side-stitch when breathing right--my dominant side. The problem seems to go away when I breathe to the left. Odd, for my entire swimming career I never had to breathe to the opposite side, but for some reason long-distance swimming is different. At least I found a solution. The other thing was that I swam by myself instead of trying to stay on Scott's feet the entire time. Obviously that set me up to bike and run better than in the past. The bike and run were uneventful. I enjoyed three powergels, 3 salt tablets (Saltstick), and water on the bike; 2 salt tablets and water on the run. I was happy with my performance and getting excited about hurting others in the final two races.

RACE #3 OLYMPIC 25th Overall
24.5 mile bike 1:09:57; 1500 meter swim 22:20; 6.55 mile run 50:44 (7:45 pace)

We started this race with the team bike time-trial. After what happened last year, Scott led out the first ten minutes using his SRM powermeter. We managed to hold strong. Switching over to the swim and putting on a wetsuit was difficult. In the process I put a few fingernail nicks in my wetsuit. Scott and I swam past a lot of people as expected.

The run turned out to be difficult for Scott. A right quad cramp and later a right chest stitch forced him/us to really slow down, but in stotan fashion he toughed it out keeping us in the top three (team category).

RACE #4 HIM DNF
1.2 mile swim 27:55; 56 mile bike DNF; 13.1 mile run DNS

If you haven't guess it by now, things got bad. After a solid swim, Scott and I biked comfortably on the heels of the top team (USPROTri). Scott was feeling a little wiped out so I did as much of the bike work as possible. At mile 21 before we got back to Hwy 125, something bad happened. Scott and I had just crested a hill and he took the lead down a snaky descent. On the way down his front tire hit a pothole causing him to lose control and fall. Because we were travelling at 34 mph he slide a good 20 yards on the pavement before rolling into the woods. Being a few yards behind him I narrowly escaped riding over him. It was horrific to watch and immediately knew our day was over. By the time I set my bike down, Scott was on his feet and about to grab his bike. I told him to stay put and assess the damage. We both thought he was going to live, but the road rash on both legs, arms, and left butt cheek was bleeding profusely and swelling fast. As for the bike, I picked it up and checked it over. It was rideable, but the front wheel was out of true, the right aerobar busted up, and the left brake handle twisted around. After fixing the twisted chain, I had Scott get back on the bike. We rode slowly back to the transition area just a few miles away.

SUMMARY
A DNF is tough on the psyche. For now Scott is going to learn how fast he can grow skin. I, on the hand, am going to go hammer the TriWisconsin Lannon ride tonight to makeup for missing out on the second loop of the Triple T HIM bike course. Fellow riders...look out!

On the flipside, my wife Adrienne and her teammate Michelle took second place in the women's team division. I swear that woman works half as hard as I do yet earns the same amount of hardware.

As for Chris Wichert, he survived (barely) and seems interested in returning next year. Arguably he should be in contention for the overall win. The swim remains his weak link yet in the tradition triathlon format of swim-bike-run you can have a weak swim, but Triple T is far from traditional. I continue to believe that the bike-swim-run format, found at the third race at Triple T, is a better triathlon format. At least that's what us swimmers think.

Thanks to HFP Racing for putting on another great race.

Things to Remember:
1. Training consistently pays off.
2. New Tubular tire pressure: front 115 psi, back 118 psi. Worked fine.
3. Razor blade is best for removing a flat tubular.
4. After installing spare tubular, pinch the rim between your legs and grab the tire to pull in an upward direction to reseat it. Start opposite of the valve. Repeat around the tire 4-5 times. This prevents a wobble.
5. Breathe more to the left when swimming.
6. 2 Powerbars and 1 can Red Bull for breakfast; Race venue food (Cans of coke, P&J sandwiches, Manwich sandwiches, chips, pasta, etc.) worked good for lunch and dinner; Race fuel was simply Powergels, water, and salt tablets (Saltstick type). Worked fine.

2009 J-Hawk Early Bird Sprint Triathlon

2009-04-30T09:14:00.000-05:00

J-Hawk Early Bird Sprint Triathlon
Race Report April 26, 2009
500yd Swim; 13.7 mile Bike; 5K Run

Matthew Amman
1:01:22 1st Overall
S-6:01 B-33:36(25.0 mph) R-21:47(6:45)

Back in 2007 I tried to win this race. The last triathlon race in 2006 was Camp Whitcomb Mason and I had shocked the field by coming in second overall to local pro Michael Boehmer. With the memory fresh, I put forth my best effort and did remarkably well with a tough field consisting of Nick Langer, Terry Harth, among others. I walked away with a solid second and a nasty side stitch. Then in 2008, the men's field was stacked with pros Terry Harth, Greg Thompson, Michael Boehmer plus elite racer Scott Bowe and Nick Langer. That time, I ended up third behind Boehmer and Harth.

This was my time to win. My training has not been much different than last year, but I've felt a lot stronger in all three disciplines. For the week going into the race, I put in my long run on Tuesday (1:52) plus my long bike ride of 105 miles so I felt a little tired. Previously, I had eased up on training to ensure a good race. This year I'm training through my C level races, something new to me.

Race morning it was raining and cold; however, the sky cleared up for the 11:35 wave letting us race comfortably. The temperature was in the upper 50's.

The swim was unremarkable. Scott Bowe took top honors getting out of the pool first, I came out second. Transition went well and I was glad to have the toe-covers on the shoes. On the bike course, I caught Scott around mile 1, taking the lead, and never looked back. I felt strong and tried my best to hold an even effort. My race wheels (PX 82-101 combo) worked fine although I could tell the cross winds pushed me at times. First the most part, the wind was light, the roads wet, and the corners well-swept. I was happy to put up a new course bike split record, previously held by Michael Boehmer 34:35(24.3mph). Transition 2 was quick and I started out running fast. The cross country run course was a muddy mess. Everybody was slipping and trying to avoid the large puddles. I was simply happy to run as fast as I could and not fall down. I finished strong and took the win.

My history at the race:

2009 1:01:22 S-6:01 B-33:36 R-21:47 1st
2008 1:02:49 S-6:06 B-35:02 R-21:40 3rd
2007 1:05:37 S-6:19 B-35:58 R-23:21 2nd

Overall, I was happy to see that everybody enjoyed the race. My training partner Scott Bowe did significantly better than last year mainly because he avoided riding the first section of the bike too hard. I believe last year he averaged 375 watts for the first five minutes, ouch! Adrienne, always a little timid on the bike corners and hates rain, was faster as well. She and Robbie Greco duked it out until the very end. We all survived a wet, muddy, and chilly weekend with plenty of stories to share.

Pre-Race Meal: 2 energy bars (Powerbar, ClifBar) 3 hrs before start time; RedBull (6oz) 2 hrs before start time
Race Setup: Team GearGrinder outfit, Aquaman Goggles, Swim Cap, Toe-Covers, Aero-Helmet, PX bike, PX 82-101 Race wheels (123 psi), Nike Skylon Running Shoes
Things to Remember: Training consistently works, Race smart with even efforts on swim and bike

2009 South Milwaukee Tinman

2009-03-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

RACE REPORT
South Milwaukee Tinman Indoor Triathlon
South Milwaukee, WI
3-14-2009

Matthew J. Amman

Official Distance 10.00
Swim .667 (47 laps)
Bike 6.71 miles
Run 2.63 (5:42 pace)

15 minute swim; 15 minute bike; 15 minute run

1st Overall

PreRace:
This was my second year doing this low-key race at the South Milwaukee Fitness Center. Again, it fell on the same day as the Blarney Run in Wauwatosa, but I was happy to forgo the gut busting 5K. Adrienne did the race as well, taking first for the women's division.

Race Morning:
No breakfast this time. We split a Red Bull two hours before hand.

Swim:
The swimming pool had lane lines in it this time and we had the pleasure of racing with Robbie Greco from Gear Grinder. Adrienne and I ahead of time decided to keep our swim pace at 1:20/100yd or slightly faster. The strategy worked well until I had some goggle issues. To compensate, I swam ahead to have some time to stop and fix them. In the end, I ended up one length ahead of Adrienne. Robbie, fresh off some club swimming, swam really hard ending up one length ahead of me.

Bike:
Ah, the stationary exercise bike. It’s nothing fancy and feels awkward when riding. I was happy to hold even power for the most part. The classic side stitch reared its ugly head but never got out of control like last year. The power level floated between 18 and 19 with only a few times easing back to 17.

Run:
Treadmill running is always easier than the real thing. I started out at 5:48 pace for the first five minutes and dialed it down from there. The last 90 seconds was at 5:00 flat and it felt hard. The stitch was present but did not hinder performance much.

Post Race and Final Thoughts:
Running five to six times a week for the last six weeks proved beneficial. My overall biking volume is down from last year, but the focus on zone 4 bike intervals is working. This race capped off the preparatory period for the beginning of the 2009 training season. Next week starts Base 1.

(Adrienne swim .653, bike 5.69, ran 2.29; 8.63; 1st overall female)

Things to Remember:
• Consistent base training pays dividends, the short hard stuff does a better job getting my abdomen in shape. Otherwise my body rebels by developing a side stitch.
• Red Bull might be enough for sprint triathlons.

Matthew J. Amman 3-18-2008

(picture from Spirit of Racine 2008)

2009

2009-02-12T09:01:00.000-06:00

For the last few months I have been hiding in a foxhole. After Ironman, I was physically and emotionally tired so I refrained from structured training until January. It was a good move. The excitement and energy returned and I am happy to be back swimming, biking, and running. A few things are different for 2009.

1. I accepted an invitation to race for Team Gear-Grinder (wwww.gear-grinder.com). I did so for a couple of reasons. The first was to restimulate the novelty of training. IM training can be boring and doing it with others can help me get out there. Riding with TriWisconsin club and the Gear-Grinder team will help keep me accountable to hitting my volume and intensity goals (20+ hrs/wk May-Aug; 2 Hard rides/wk). Second, they offer a nice clothing line with a variety of shirts that I can wear for work. For the last few years, I wore my collectin of IM Wisconsin polo shirts. It's time to update my work shirts. Once I get them logo'ized with Gear-Grinder, my office logo, and PX I'll start sporting them.

2. I changed my Planet X bike frame size from Large to Medium. Over the last year, I felt slightly uncomfortable on long training rides. It seemed that the top-tube length was a wee bit long, something like 2 cm too long. Add in what I saw in race pictures with my body position stretched out, I sold my PX frameset and bought a new, smaller PX frameset. It was the right move. Now I feel much better. To digress with a side story, I did a 1 hr indoor Time Trial race at the end of January. It was a disappointing race. My power was 251 watts for the hour despite a hr ave of 171. But a friend pointed out that my seat position looked wrong. Turns out, I inadvertently installed my seat slack (~74 degrees) instead of steep (~78 degrees) when building up the new bike. Hence, during the TT race the seat felt too high and I was forced to ride the seat's nose at the same time slipping off of it. A week later when I looked at it at my friend's suggestion, I saw my mistake and corrected it. Ah, much better.

3. My training has evolved again for 2009. Much of my training last year was focused on achieving base. I abstained from mountain bike racing and the fast TriWisconsin Lannon rides to promote "going long." I feel it was a good strategy for a first IM. This year I am building up volume slower from January to Spring, and then adding in lots of speed work with the Merton Ride on Tuesdays and the Drop the Doc ride on Saturdays. Hammering it with the roadies should be fun and prove valuable to increasing my bike speed. As for swimming and running, I'm content. My genetics and background keep me at the sub 55 min IM swim and the sub 3:30 IM marathon. I'll keep the status quo for this year.

4. Adrienne is doing her first Ironman this year. I am excited and nervous about her journey as any spouse might be. Inherently, she is a better athlete than I, and suspect she will do better than me. I distinctly remember the days when she used to show me up when running and swimming together in college. Today and now, she relies upon me as her confidant and coach, to get her to the finish line. I hope things go well. They have so far.

The racing schedule is simple this year. Ironman Louisville in August is the A race. Secondary races include American Triple T (with teammate Scott Bowe again) and High Cliff Triathlon half ironman. Tertiary races might include J-Hawk Early Bird, LaCrosse YMCA Sprint Tri, Steven's Point YMCA Sprint Tri, and late season Devil's Challenge Sprint Tri.

See You at the Races.

2008 Ironman Wisconsin

2008-09-12T14:29:00.000-05:00

RACE REPORT
Ironman Wisconsin
9/7/2008

MATTHEW AMMAN
BIB AGE STATE/COUNTRY PROFESSION
547 31 WAUWATOSA WI USA CHIROPRACTOR

SWIM BIKE RUN OVERALL RANK DIV.POS.
53:18 5:32:58 3:30:06 10:04:07 68 18

LEG DISTANCE PACE RANK DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM 2.4 mi. (53:18) 1:24/100m 19 2

TOTAL BIKE 112 mi. (5:32:58) 20.18 mph 94 25

FIRST RUN SEGMENT 13.1 mi. (1:40:58) 7:42/mile
RUN FINISH 13.1 mi. (1:49:08) 8:19/mile
TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi. (3:30:06) 8:01/mile 68 18

TRANSITION TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 5:37
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 2:08

PRERACE
What is possible at your first IM? What do you want to accomplish?

The first question provided me with excitement but the second question kept me grounded. I wanted my first IM race to be a positive experience, to avoid mechanical issues and nutritional problems, or end up physically hurting myself. To that end, I was willing to sacrifice a “Rockstar” first time IM time.

As a result, my race strategy was conservative. My overall “A” goal time was broad on purpose. I wanted to race anywhere between 9:45-10:45. Experience has a lot to do with racing well; I knew that I would make some rookie mistakes on my first try. Therefore, I wanted to keep things light and not put too much pressure on myself. Qualifying for Kona is not a dream of mine rather I seek to reach my potential at any given race. I compete to compete against myself and my enjoyment of racing is from having others helping to push me. Without them, many times I would give up.

SWIM
I started the swim in the second row behind my training partner Scott Bowe near the starting buoy. The swim out was quick for the first 300 meters and I quickly learned that slowing down would only get you hurt because you have hundreds of people behind you willing to crawl over you. No troubles, I just forged ahead.

Both loops were pretty much the same. I drafted the entire time with the lead pack. I did take a look at my watch at the half-way point and saw 26:xx. Before the final turn, the lead pack started drifting wide so I decided to solo it to the final left turn. It was good move and I cruised nicely into the swim finish for a good time with minimal effort. [HR 165]

T1
I ran slowly up the helix and my plan/trick to watch out for friends and try to acknowledge them worked. I never hit 170 bpm. [HR 164]

BIKE
I started the bike right behind Craig Lanza, a fellow local triathlete. I rode the first few miles easy and let the heart settle to about 140 bpm. From there things went as expected: I got passed, I got passed some more, and I just continued to get passed. I was not worried about it until Mike Meteyer went flying by me before we hit Verona within the first 15 miles. I expected him to catch me on the second loop after mile 70 somewhere. Well, so be it. I was there to do my own race.

As the race progress, my heart rate was stuck at 145 bpm at the top end of my zone 2. It was a gray place for me. Usually what happens is that after I warm-up, my heart rate settles down and I feel strong at 135-140 bpm range. It never happened. Part of it might be from feeling chilly during the bike. Bike riding in a wet jersey at 8 in the morning would make most people cold, I felt chilly and never broke a sweat until a couple hours in.

I ended up riding the whole ride at 145 bpm and managed to keep it comfortable on the hills, never spiking over 156.

The gels plus water plan worked great. I took a few salt tablets for insurance purposes. The only hiccup was during the second loop, CP to Verona stretch, where I had some stomach trouble. To alleviate the problem, I skipped the next two gel intakes and sipped very little water. Upon reaching Verona, I felt better and was able to catch up on nutrition by the finish. [HR 145]

@40 miles 1:56:45 20.55mph
@83 miles 4:01:34 20.4 mph
83-112 miles 1:29:01 19.54 mph

T2
It went easy. [HR 141]

RUN
I left the Monona Terrace Convention Center with plenty of traffic which led to a rookie mistake that I dearly wanted to avoid. For the first two miles, I was running with five other guys, with a few in my age group. Running felt sluggish, but I knew that after 15 minutes I would feel fresh. I kept looking at my watch to make sure I ran that first mile just a hare under 8 minutes, but when I never saw the first mile marker I started getting nervous. The small group that formed around me was not slowing down either. About 20 yards short of the 2-mile marker, my watch read 13:40 (6:50 pace). Not good, so I hit the brakes and trickled across for a time of 14:19. From there I tried my best to run steady in the 7:30 range and my legs finally came around at 18 minutes, two minutes later than I thought. Because I was very concerned about how the first two miles went, I decided to grab a coke at mile 3 and continued to do so at every other aid station. It was fun running through the aid stations and drinking water/coke. It gave me the feeling that I was out there actually doing an IM.

While running those first few miles I was trying to assess the situation. I figured I was in about 150th place starting the run. Mike Meteyer was running really fast way ahead of me, Scott Bowe was next and by the look on their faces and the feeling in my body I knew I was not going to catch them. Furthermore, I knew that I would have to keep the ship together to get a Kona slot. In years past, anything under 10 hours was a guarantee. Last year with perfect conditions, it was the fastest ever qualifying time at 10:04:08. So I forged ahead focused on never stopping and holding an even effort.

In the end, my pace slowed as expected although my effort did not. When I saw that my heart rate was in the mid 130s on loop 2, I conceded mentally and physically to just finishing. I crossed in 10:04:07 happy to finish this epic event.

POST RACE
The truth of my race was handed to me 15 yards after the finish line in the form of a small sticker. It listed my swim, bike, run splits, total time, overall place and finally, age group place. What did not surprise me because I was out there racing, but surely a surprise to my friends and family, was that I took 18th in my age group M30-34. Before the race I knew that I was playing it banker safe much like Ryan Hall and his Olympic Marathon this summer. His game plan was to race safely with consideration for the race field and weather conditions. In the end, he never had a chance. I ended up in the same situation. By playing it safe I met my personal goal of completing the race, but the bonus of receiving a Kona slot would slip through my fingers. I am not bummed in the least. I can find another thirty minutes.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I have never done anything that gave me an enormous sense of personal accomplishment regardless of the outcome. My parents might say otherwise, but I never felt that way when doing well in school or participating in athletics. I suspect that the main reason is that even if I faced insurmountable odds, the process was always fun. Ironman is not fun. After four hours of racing coupled with being passed a lot on the bike, I wanted to quit. I said to myself, “This is not fun. I am not having fun.” I felt that way until I crossed the finish line at 5:04 in the evening. In life I have experienced brief moments of darkness, but with the support of friends and family, my spirits were always lifted. In Ironman I felt hours of grayness and for the first time in my athletic life I had to dig to the bottom of the well to find the fortitude to carry on and finish. The sense of accomplishment I felt a few days after the race made me understand the "meaning" of athletics:

"The most important thing is not to win but to take part!" (the informal Olympic motto)

-- De Coubertin

EQUIPMENT
• Aquaman Kaiman swim goggles; Aquaman Full wetsuit
• PX bike with 50-50 PX wheelset (123 psi); cut water bottle filled with 11 Powergels (sodium added type and caffeine 1x) on seat-tube; short water bottle on downtube; spare tubular with 2 C02 canister taped plus razor blade behind seat; Sunglasses
• Oomph Lava Compression shorts, 2008 TriWi top, Red TriWi visor
• Adidas Supernova 6 (2007 model); Drymax socks (Large)
• Breathe-Right Nasal Strip

NUTRITION
• Breakfast: 3 Chocolate Powerbars 3 ¼ hrs before race; 1 Red Bull 8 oz 2 ½ hrs before race
• Bike: 17 PowerGels, Water, Salt Tablets (worked great); Gels every 15; 30; 45 minutes; 2 salt tablets every hr; Water after each gel.
• Run: Alternating water & Gatorade // water & coke; one gel first half marathon and another gel second half marathon; took a few salt tablets for insurance; everything worked great

TIPS FOR NEXT TIME
• Don’t worry about the swim.
• If it’s chilly, bike harder the first hour to break a sweat. Base keep the same, Build change to German style rides (alternating 5 hr hard rides; 3.5 hr hard rides for 6 weeks)
• Remember to not drink anything for the first three miles; however, stop at first two aid stations and dump water over the head to prevent running too fast.

Special Thanks to:
• Adrienne
• Scott Bowe, Michelle Lanoutte
• Planet X & TriWisconsin Triathlon Team
• My family and friends

Matthew Amman 9-12-2008

2008 Camp Stotan

2008-07-17T09:06:00.000-05:00

--Scott Bowe on his way to 1st @ SP YMCA Triathlon--

TRAINING CAMP REPORT
CAMP STOTAN
Stevens Point, WI and Cross Plains, WI
7/10-7/13 2008

Matthew J. Amman & Scott Bowe

Originally, Scott Bowe had this idea to put on our own little triathlon training camp in the same style as Gordo’s Epic Camp. Our invite to our friends stated our intentions nicely:

"Mark your calendars, tell your boss, get brave and break the news to your significant other - you're invited to a week of pure triathlon bliss. In the spirit of Gordo's Epic Camp, Matt Amman and Scott Bowe are organizing the first annual Stotan Training Camp.

The camp will take place July 9th, 2008 and end July 13th, 2008 - 5 days of dedicated triathlon training. This week is timed almost perfectly for your largest volume week of training leading up to Ironman Wisconsin. The goal of this week is to simply train and recovery as much as possible away from the distractions of the world."

Well, our idea of swimming 25K, biking 500 miles, and running 60K intimidated everybody and ultimately us too. When the big week finally arrived, we agreed to scale it back. Furthermore, at the last minute, we relocated the camp to the Stevens Point (SP) area because of pristine road conditions and Scott’s nostalgia for SP. Nick Hanson, Scott’s friend and fellow Point swimmer, provided us with accommodations.

Day 1 Wednesday
After heading to SP after work, we managed a short 30-minute run at 7:15 pace. That is it.

Day 2 Thursday
Swam in the morning at the UW-SP pool:
1000 warmup
5 x [75, 125, 150, 200] 300 kick b/w #3 and #4. 15-20 sec rest.

We biked 4 hrs with 1 hr at HIM pace. We both managed to crank with even power at 25 mph; soft-pedaled back home. We ran 30 minutes at 7:30 pace off the bike.

Day 3 Friday
Bike 3.5 hrs with Nick joining us (He is also training for his first IM.) followed by 30 minute run at 7:30 pace.

That night we rendezvoused with Al Boelk, the UW-SP swim coach, at Central Waters brewpub in Amherst, WI. We had a great time. In the midst of conversation, we found out that there was a triathlon in SP the following morning. We were stunned and immediately jumped at the idea of trashing ourselves at the race. Calling it the night, we headed to Starbucks to capture WiFi and look at the race’s website.

Day 4 Saturday - Stevens Point YMCA Lactic Edge Triathlon (500 yd; 18 mile; 5K)
We woke up early to head over to the race and slap down the cash to play. We were going to have fun at this one: no aero helmet, no race wheels, no race running shoes, no race-belt, and no race-top. Heck, we even forgo ‘ed the heart rate monitors.

The swim was in the Wisconsin River. I got the opportunity to wear my new wetsuit. She was tight and a struggle to put on, but performed beautifully. Scott and I screamed out the water 1, 2 a good 25 seconds ahead of the field. Scott had the pleasure of inhaling Harley exhaust and led the bike leg start to finish. It was a tough ride for me. I dropped back a minute from Scott. The run was manageable. I think that both of us where suffering a lot more from general training fatigue than pain the race was attempting to inflicting upon us. At the halfway point, Scott looked strong and I was managing a side-stitch. Meanwhile, two UW-SP runners turned triathletes managed to run me down. Kudos to Scott for hanging on for dear life to win.

1 Scott Bowe 5:39.7 20:11/M 46:34.8 2:29/M 19:16.0 6:13/M 1:11:30.6
2 Christopher Pfaffenroth 6:36.1 23:34/M 48:51.8 2:37/M 16:22.6 5:17/M 1:11:50.7
3 Cory Baumann 8:45.1 31:15/M 46:56.2 2:31/M 16:47.7 5:25/M 1:12:29.1
4 Matt Amman 5:44.3 20:29/M 47:34.4 2:33/M 19:54.5 6:25/M 1:13:13.2

Newspaper Article:
STEVENS POINT JOURNAL July 13, 2008 -- Over 200 athletes braved the windy conditions to compete in the 19th annual Stevens Point Lactic Edge Triathlon at Bukolt Park on Saturday. Participants came from as far as Seattle to go through the grueling combination of a 500 yard swim, 3.1 mile run and 18 mile bike ride, but both the men's and women's winners had ties to Stevens Point. Scott Bowe, a UWSP graduate, finished in one hour, 11 minutes and 30 seconds, while Kimberly Kuphal, a current resident of Stevens Point, completed the race in 1:24:34, to win their respective divisions. Bowe, 28, a Milwaukee resident, has done over 20 triathlons and four Ironman competitions, but never had a first-place finish until Saturday. "A triathlon is more mental than physical," Bowe said. "It's a struggle to keep your body going and keep the intensity up the whole race." Bowe's previous best finish since he started competing in 2003 was 29th in the 2007 Arizona Ironman, which he completed in nine hours and 46 minutes. Kuphal, 38, included swims at the Stevens Point YMCA and biking the Green Circle Trail as parts of her training. Over the last seven years Kuphal has finished around 30 triathlons and she is proudest of her third place finish in the Racine Half Ironman, which she completed in under five hours. "I was battling the wind and waves today," Kuphal said. "The hardest part is finding time to do the training with two children." Kuphal's husband David was the volunteer race director for the Lactic Edge Triathlon. He said that all proceeds from the event will go to the Stevens Point YMCA. Christopher Pfaffenroth, 27, was the second place male finisher with a final time of 1:11:50. Cory Baumann, 22, was third with a time of 1:12:29. The second place female finisher was Kristen Schram, 19, with a time of 1:30:30. Beth Mortenson, 46, placed third with a final time of 1:31:03. Twelve-year-old Thomas Edwards was the youngest competitor this year. The oldest participant was 73-year old John Milbauer who finished in 2:51:16.

After the race, we collected our hardware (imprinted pint glasses) and rode our bikes back to Nick’s house. After hanging out for a while, we packed up the car and drove to Cross Plains to stay with my folks to ride the IM course the next morning. Nick drove down a few hours later to join us.

Day 5 Sunday
We started out at 7 am in Cross Plains. It was a beautiful, sunny morning. Once in Verona on the first loop, we headed to Madison along the stick (the nickname for the section of the IM bike course Madison-Verona). This way we could get the entire 112 miles in. Short of the actually race start, we turned around at Rimrock road to avoid heavy traffic. On the way back to Verona, I started having left leg pain and thought about calling it quits, but at the last minute decided to stick it out. By riding out of the saddle, the muscle-firing pattern was different and disengaged the strained biceps femoris. However, by standing on the pedals, the effort is harder and I ended up surging ahead of Scott and Nick.

The second issue with the ride was the wind. Gusts up to 40 mph tried to break me down, but I refused and slugged my way through for another loop and managed to complete the whole thing. When I got back to the house, Scott and Nick were already there: changed, showered, and ready for brunch. Apparently, they felt tired and only did one loop (plus the stick). Huh! Only the suffering/hurt guy toughs it out.

After brunch with the folks, we headed home to resume our normal lives.

Injury Report:
As of Tuesday, I am officially hurt. The medial strand of my left biceps femoris and left gluteus medius is strained. Prior to the camp, I knew I might be flirting with trouble so I had a massage. It helped a bit. On the car ride to SP, both hamstrings were tight and caused noticeable discomfort. The hard effort on Thursday managed to push me into “hurt something” territory. In refusing to give up during the 1 hr HIM interval, the weak hamstring started to recruit the gluts to pump out the necessary power. Meanwhile, the moderate bilateral hamstring pain progressed to severe pain in the left hamstring and left glut. Somehow, the right hamstring survived. This week is a recovery week. Coupled with another massage today, I expect to be 100% in two weeks.

Final Thoughts:
Camp Stotan was a blast. I could tell Scott was in his element. He really likes the SP area—-many memories for him. I must admit the roads in central Wisconsin are much nicer than any other part of the state that I have ridden. Although we did not post insane S/B/R numbers, I believe what we accomplished was epic for us. Doing a sprint triathlon in the midst of IM training really made the whole thing an adventure.

Matthew Amman
7-15-2007

2008 High Cliff Half Ironman

2008-06-23T15:31:00.000-05:00

RACE REPORT
High Cliff Half-Ironman
Sherwood, WI
6/22/2008

Matthew J. Amman

Official Time 4:21:39
Swim 25:10
T1 1:05
Bike 2:24:31
T2 1:01
Run 1:29:51

2/431 Overall; 1/36Age Group

Pre Race Thoughts:
This has been a big year for me. I put in a lot of training starting in January. The biggest epic training event was American Triple T race a month ago, but the most recent was a 140-mile bike ride from home to Fond du Lac and back last weekend. Adrienne thought I was nuts for doing it. After that big ride, I knew I needed some recovery and decided to taper heavily (Following the protocol in the book Perfect Distance – days Mon thru Sunday) for High Cliff HIM this weekend. Out of convenience, I had Adrienne taper with me.

Our friends Jim and Erica Gallagher from Cross Plains were doing the race as well so we decided to stay at the same hotel (Country Inn & Suites in Little Chute, WI). The race was Sunday so we drove up mid-day Saturday. Because we registered late, the elite wave was filled-up so they placed me in wave 2. We confirmed our registration and did a light brick workout: 30-minute bike, 15 minute run. Both Adrienne and I felt a little flat during the workout.

My race strategy was different this time around. Based on races in the past, I wanted to avoid the notorious side stitch and decided to heed my friend Kevin Purcell’s advice to race within my fitness level. The game plan was to even-pace the swim and swim very, very comfortably. On the bike, I wanted to ride the first half in zone 3 (155 bpm cap) and depending on I felt, push the second half in zone 4 (160-163 with an absolute cap of 165 bpm). The final three miles of the bike would be easier and spin the legs out, then run the first three miles easy, build into a strong pace and hold it; red-line the last two miles. Finally, I wanted to take in more calories (6 gels on the bike), attempt to get out of my shoes coming into T2, and have good execution.

Friday: Big dinner at Mama Mia’s (pasta primavera)
Saturday: Light breakfast (muffins at Sendik’s)
Lunch at Pot Belly’s (veggie wrap, flavored bottled water)
Dinner at Sport Pub (chicken wrap, diet coke, water)

Race Morning:
I woke up to a beautiful sunny high 50’s Sunday morning at 4:00 am and had my usual 2 Powerbars three hours before the race and 8 oz of Red Bull about 2.5 hours before hand. I got to the race venue shortly before 5:30. Things went smoothly and I warm-up (15-minute bike with pickups, 10-minute run with pickups).

Swim:
Lake Winnebago was a little wavy, but nowhere as bad as Lake Michigan (at SOR). Wave 1 took off with plenty of fast people in it: Terry Labinski, Craig Lanza, Austin Rameriez, Greg Thompson, among others. Wave 2 took off without a hitch about two minutes later and I led the group out walking/running fast until the water was deep enough to swim. The swim was rather uneventful except that on the final turn, to head back to the beach, it was hard to see. The beach was in the shade making it hard to sight for the swim chute. Relying on the seven or eight people in the wave 1 that were still ahead of me, I managed to finish. I exited the water with Terry Labinski. [HR 168]

T1:
I had a quick transition and managed to pass my former Cross Plains Stingrays swimmer and later, assistant swim coach Justin Pernitz on the way out. [HR 171]

Bike:
The dreaded High Cliff hill was, in my humble opinion, not a big deal in comparison to TTT and mountain bike racing. My heart rate was still high in the 170’s from the quick transition and hill climb, but within a few miles, it was down in low 150s. Terry Labinski slowly passed me around mile four and slowly pulled away. At that point, I rode in 6th place.

After being on the bike 1 hour 15 minutes, I decided to push it and hold the HR steady in the lower 160s. After thirty minutes at that effort, I finally caught a few bikers and at 2 hours, I was within 100 yards of Terry Labinski and eventual race winner Jeff Tarkowski. The last few miles I eased up, something Terry did as well, and spinned back into T2 to loosen the legs up. I rolled into transition in fourth place overall, second if you factor in that I started in wave 2. I rode the last quarter mile out of the shoes—went well.

Nutritionally, I ate my first gel at fifteen minutes and ate another gel every twenty minutes thereafter. I ate six gels total. My fluid intake was approximately 20 oz: 1 bottle of Motortabs (2 tablets), sips of water from the water bottle I picked up at the last aid station. [HR 158]

T2:
It was nice to jump off the bike in bare feet and run fast to the bike rack. I put on my Nike Skylons with Drymax socks, put on my visor and race belt, and grabbed two Powergels. I tried to be quick and gain some time on Terry, but he runs without socks so cruised past me while I sitting down putting on my socks. Once I was ready, I hauled ass to exit transition. In doing so, I stumbled a bit on the uneven grassy area and floundered over the exit cones instead of the timing mat. I thought I missed the mat, but I guess I caught it. [HR 156]

Run:
Despite the hiccup running out of transition, I managed to be on Terry’s heels (10 yards back). Meanwhile Jeff Tarkowski was on my heels. Scott (Bowe) raced this last year and his insight was helpful. With Terry right in front of me, I was content to see how things would play out and felt comfortable enough to bide my time and out kick him on the last 5K.

After running up the big hill (again not as bad as TTT), the three of us forged ahead through the shady trails of the park. It was a nice run. Short of the first water station, Terry pulled up with a cramp and had to stop. I told him to push through it, but he said he could not. Meanwhile Jeff pulled ahead. Jeff managed to stay 20 yards ahead of me while Greg Thompson was another 20 yards of him. The lead runner was a cyclist who had muscled his way to the front while biking. He cracked before mile 6 on the run. At some point, I had to stop and go to the bathroom (#1). Running and whizzing is something I have not mastered. In stopping, Jeff, who was now running side-by-side with Greg, pulled out of sight. After the pit stop, I tried to bridge the gap but could not. On the long sections, I could see them up ahead and could tell they were pulling away. I managed to dig deep and hold pace. Meanwhile, I ate my first Powergel around 30 minutes and my second shortly before 60 minutes, each time washing them down with H20. In the past, its been hard to keep my heart rate up, but by consuming more calories on the bike, I was able to keep it above 160 for most of it.

With a mile and half to go, I laid it on the line and ran all-out. The final mile is back down the big hill and I gave it everything I had to try to get first or second. In the end, I managed to capture second overall. Jeff Tarkowski at some point pulled away from Greg Thompson to finish with a 4:18. I finished in 4:21, twenty-six seconds ahead of third place. [HR 160]

Post Race:
After crossing the finish line, I broke down. I mean literally broke down. John White along with the race staff was there to help walked me over to a chair to sit down. With a cup of cold water in my hand, I put my head down and began to sob. After four plus hours of intense focus with me smashing my previous personal best, I was physically and emotionally a wreck. It took a while for me to stop, but I felt much better afterwards. After collecting my composure, I chatted with the other finishers, drank some Gatorade and water to finally head over to my race bag and get my jacket. It was time to go find Adrienne who was still out on the course and on her way to incredible HIM time of 5:17 (6th female overall).

Final Thoughts:
Going this fast was a matter of training enough over the last two years and execution based on experience and reading. Those first thirty minutes of the bike are a teaser. Because your legs feel fresh and strong, the natural inclination is to push it. Was a sub 4:25 possible for me, I was not sure. I always thought I could slip under it, but 4:21 really took me by surprise and maybe that is why I was emotional at the end. My performances last year were a hint that something really fast was possible. It is an amazing feeling when “really, fast” actually happens. Zoom. Zoom.

Equipment:
• Brand new Aquaman Kaiman swim goggles; Full wetsuit
• PX bike with 50-50 PX wheelset (123 psi); cut water bottle filled with 6 Powergels (sodium added type) on seat-tube; tall water bottle with 2 tablets of Motortabs on downtube; spare tubular with 1 C02 cannister taped behind seat; Sunglasses
• Oomph Lava Compression shorts, 2008 TriWi top, Red TriWi visor

Things to Remember:
• Training consistently pays dividends
• Bilateral breathing works
• Six gels in a cut-off water bottle worked great, maybe try seven next time

Special Thanks to:
• Adrienne
• Scott Bowe, Michelle Lanoutte
• John White, Gloria West
• Planet X & TriWisconsin Triathlon Team
• My friends who where there (TriWi members, the Gallagher family)

Matthew Amman 6-23-2008

2008 American Triple T

2008-06-13T09:31:00.001-05:00

Memorial Day Weekend - American Triple T

Men's Team "The Cheese Stands Alone"

Women's Team "The Mighty Mice"

In the end, after three days and four races totalling an Ironman distance Scott and I ended up fourth in the Team Division just shy of the $. On the flipside, the ladies (Mary and Adrienne) captured first in the Women's Team Division.

RACE REPORT
AMERICAN TRIPLE-T
Portsmouth, Ohio
5/23-5/25 2008 Memorial Day Weekend

Matthew J. Amman & Scott Bowe – Male Masters Team
Team Name: The Cheese Stands Alone

Official Team Time 12:58:04 4/22 Division
Race 1 47:27 Rank 5/22
Race 2 4:35:45 Rank 4/22
Race 3 2:19:16 Rank 4/22
Race 4 5:15:36 Rank 4/22

Race 1 250 meter swim; 5 mile bike; 1 mile run
Swim 4:50
Bike 11:21 (26.4 mph)
Run 6:09
Total 23:37 18/287 OA

Race 2 1500 meter swim; 40K bike; 10K run
Swim 18:40
Bike 1:13:55 (20.1 mph)
Run 43:23 (6:40 pace)
Total 2:18:06 17/282 OA

Race 3 40K bike (team draft legal); 1500 meter swim; 10K run
Bike 1:09:22 (21.5 mph)
Swim 20:27
Run 46:01 (7:05 pace)
Total 2:19:16 15/275 OA

Race 4 HIM 1.2 mile swim; 56 mile bike (team draft legal); 13.1 run
Swim 28:26
Bike 3:01:14 (18.4 mph)
Run 1:43:07 (7:52 pace)
Total 5:15:36 17/261 OA

___________________________________________

Pre Race Thoughts:
Adrienne and I teamed up with Scott and Mary Bowe to compete in the American Triple-T race put on by HFP racing. This was Scott’s third time doing the race and Mary’s second. Adrienne and I were complete newbies. We were looking forward to a weekend of fun and great training. Racing hard was expected, but not the focus.

This is special race because it is a triathlon-touring event with participants competing in four races in three days. For races number three and four, the team divisions can draft on the bike section making it a fun team event. The race venue was Shawnee State Park in Portsmouth near the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio. Scott and I competed in the Male Team division under the name of “The Cheese Stands Alone” while the girls competed in the Women’s Team division with a clever team name of “The Mighty Mice.”

On Friday morning, Adrienne and I got up early at 3:15 AM to head over to the Bowe’s. We finally left Milwaukee shortly before 4 AM. After a couple of stops along the way, we rolled into Shawnee State Park around three in the afternoon. After checking into the lodge, we unloaded our gear and headed over to the race venue… just a short bike ride (down a hill) from the lodge.
_________________________________________

Race 1 Super Sprint - Friday Night
After we set up our bikes and put on swim caps and goggles, the overcast skies yielded a light rain. As the crowd tried to stay warm, the race director expelled remarks of caution about the dangerous bike course. With a crazy steep descent and a few nasty turns, wet pavement was going to make things even more dangerous. For the entire weekend, the lake water temperature was 54 degrees. Wetsuits were necessary, or so I thought.

Our race curriculum vitae that we submitted determined our seeding for the weekend. We ended up being numbers 16 and 17. The swim start was time trial style with swimmers leaving every three seconds. I took off first with Scott three seconds behind me. The swim was 250 meters and because it was a short swim, we decided, unlike many others, to forgo wetsuits. The water was chilly but it was the right decision.

The bike course was wet and I biked cautiously. The highlight of the five-mile course was the steep, granny-gear 2.5-mile climb. At the top, we turned around and descended the same hill. At the bottom, we had a sharp right hand turn into transition. Dive-bombing was not the goal, staying upright was. Two people passed me on the bike, but I managed to catch one on the run. I tried to run at top speed but had a right side-stitch for the first quarter mile (a theme for the weekend).
___________________________________________

Race 2 Olympic – Saturday morning
Lap one of the swim was good and Scott and I caught the lead people to be in the top five. Lap two we came out top ten. Scott, the faster swimmer, exited the water and transition ahead of me. The swim was a little short. I felt good on the bike and managed to ride the entire course about 1/8 to quarter mile behind Scott. He was moving fast and I felt comfortable sitting behind him within sight. This was a weekend where experience mattered and I figured that it was best to watch and learn. Scott knew what he was doing. The weekend was too long to risk a big mistake (blowing up or missing a hairpin turn).

The bike course had a treacherous downhill known for serious accidents. Last year, Scott’s brother-in-law ended up in the hospital because of the turn. I did a good job being conservative, but on the second little hairpin turn, I turned a bit wide and had to mountain bike it back onto the road….no big deal. Overall, one guy passed me on the bike.

I started the run with another side-stitch for the first two miles. Because I was on Scott’s heels during the bike, he waited for me at the T2 exit, but he took off once I knew the stitch was going to bother me for a while. Scott managed to push ahead while I got the stitch under control and managed to catch back up. Miles 3-6 felt good with sub 7-minute miles. I finished about 30 yards behind Scott and left some in the tank for the PM race.

Mile 1 7:10
2 7:07
3 6:59
4 6:56
5 6:12
6 5:43
.55 3:26

Nutrition:
Breakfast three hours before consisting of 2 Powerbars; one hour before Red Bull 6 oz Bike 1 bottle of water and 3 Powergels; Run 1 Powergel and sips of water
__________________________________________

Race 3 Team Olympic (Bike-Swim-Run) – Saturday afternoon
This race was awesome! This triathlon started out with a 40K bike race with a time trial start. Immediately out of the chute, we started flying. For the first twenty minutes, I hammered away. It was fun to catch the guys in front of us. Scott was a little worried about the how fast we were roaring down the road. Apparently, his powermeter was telling that we were pushing some big watts. When he acted concerned and implied that we might want to conserve some energy, meaning slow down, I laughed and told him, “No, not until we catch Gordo” Byrn (the Pro and author of Going Long) who was a couple minutes ahead of us. For me I pegged the heart rate at 160-164 bpm (LT zone). After awhile, we found ourselves involved in a show pony race with another team. We passed them; they passed us back and so on. With each pass, the watts/efforts kept going higher and higher. Finally, we decided to stop playing along and settled into a comfortable pace. At the halfway point, we managed to be within a minute of Gordo. I do not know if Scott was happy with me or not, but he seemed excited about our overall placing so far. On the way back, we managed to drop a bunch of riders, including the show pony team, and comfortably cruise back. For me, the hill rides were in the HR zone of 156-159, felt well. This ride was the highlight of the weekend for me.

When we finished the bike, we started the swim. Putting on the wetsuits in T1 proved easier than expected. I used bags for the feet and it worked well. In the water, we passed many people. Again, the swim was a little short.

The swim to run transition was good for me. This was the only time I managed to run fast from the start. Scott started the run a little shaky because of adductor cramps in his legs, but he ended up doing great. I felt good, much better than the AM race.

Mile 1 7:19
2 7:28
3 7:28
4 7:24
5 6:38
6 6:06
.55 3:37

Nutrition: Because lunch was between races, I opted for a liquid lunch forgoing the lunch provided by HFP. Instead, I drank a bottle of Infinit, a couple of cups of HEED. Bike 2 Powergels and water; Run 1 Powergel, sips of HEED and water. Late night dinner at the lodge (pasta primavera).
____________________________________________

Race 4 Team HIM
The swim started out good and remained unremarkable. The bike ride was freezing for the first 28 miles (loop 1). Riding in the shade at 8:00 in the morning was tough. I was glad that I put toe-covers on my bike shoes. Unfortunately, I had nutritional problems on the bike. I failed to pack enough Powergels from home and had to rely on Hammer Gels that HFP provided. The big hiccup with Hammer Gels is that they tear poorly when opening. I was unable to open three of them so I ingested only 2 gels on loop one. When we came around to the water/feed station to start loop two, I ended up grabbing two Powergels from somebody else’s stash otherwise I would have been without any gels or food for lap two. In discussing the matter with Scott, he took in over 1000 calories on the bike. On the other hand, I was trying to get by on 500-600. Without “borrowing” the Powergels in transition, things would have gotten ugly with only 250 calories. The second loop went okay, but I could tell I was hungry for most it. Scott felt strong and was nice enough to pull for most of it. I had to sit on his wheel for 85% of that ride. Part of the problem was that my perceived effort was off from fatigue and second, my HRM was not working. With his powermeter, he was able to pace us evenly. Thank goodness.

The run started ugly again because of another terrible side-stitch. Scott seemed worried that I might have to walk a bunch. I was not too worried and figured that after a while it would be gone. The bigger problem was going to be overall fatigue. We pushed hard and I have to thank Scott for his support. In the end, both of us had our moments on the run. Scott managed to get a rock in his shoe that required a stop for Vaseline at an aid station, plus a pit stop.

Mile 1 7:57
2 8:21
3 8:16
4 8:20
5 7:10
6 6:55
7 ?
8 ?
9 8:06
10 8:21
11 8:26
12 7:25
13 7:04

______________________________________

Injury Report:
I showed up at the race with a touch of runner’s knee on the right and a tight right hamstring. Straight-leg-raises over the last five weeks had helped the runner’s knee. For the first three races, I could feel it a bit. On Saturday night before Sunday’s HIM, I noticed the VMO tendon creaking at its insertion point with knee flexion, extension at the runner’s knee location, weird. At dinner, I did my usual 10x10 SLR. Back at the room, I took my coldest ever 20-minute ice bath. Come Sunday, the knee performed great and I had no problems. For the entire weekend, I never had any issues with my notorious left ankle. The hamstring actually loosed up over the weekend. Two days after the event, my muscles felt tired but nothing is tight or hurts.

Final Thoughts:
I walked (slowly) away from the Triple T with mixed emotions. The weekend was a blast up until the run at the HIM on the last day. Digging that deep is reserved for an A race, not a C level race and I was unprepared mentally to do so. It was certainly a learning experience. When looking at the results, I was surprised to see we out split team Bruce Gennari & Craig Evans and team Dan Litwora & Kirk Nelson on the final run. I must admit it made the pain worth it. Recovery from the weekend took a long time for different reasons. Although my body feels tired, it’s not sore or hurt. If anything, my internal chemistry seems off from all the quick food (gels) that I ate.

As for Scott and I as a team, I thought it could not have been any better. We managed to work great together. Although our genetic talents differ a bit, he has better endurance and I have a little more speed, we pushed and pulled each other to a fantastic finish. While we placed fourth and were out of the money (top three got payouts), I think we proved to ourselves again that we are top age-groupers who can push the professionals.

Overall, there are some quick people out there, Gordo Byrn being one of them. In the first two races, Kirk Nelson put on one hell of a show, but he had to ease up for his partner on the last two races. As a competitive age grouper, it was nice to push the big dogs a bit, but the difference in the level of fitness is large. To bridge that gap would require a lucky Wisconsin Lottery ticket granting me early retirement. Until then I am going to keep my day job.

Matthew Amman
5-28-2007