I love Grosser Feldberg!

To tackle the Norseman Extreme, I need to be ready for some hills. Note the course profile below:



So I have been doing a lot of training out in the Taunus Mountains, which is only about a 30 minute drive from my house. Because it hurts my toe to clip in and out of the pedals, I wanted to find a route with minimal chances of stopping. So I found a great loop that starts/ends in a remote parking area:

Since this doesn't quite compare to the 1200m of climbing in Norway, I do this loop 4 or 5 times a session.

The most notable landmark is the giant TV antenna on the top of the hill.

(Wikipedia photo)

The antenna is visible from my house, so it is a constant reminder of all the tough training I have been putting in.

This is fitting, since I'll soon be seeing another antenna, the one atop Mt. Gaustatoppen -- the finish of Norseman!

Rice bomb

It can get prohibitively expensive to eat all those gels during training. Plus, I tend to like real food better anyways. One of my favorite workout foods is the Rice Cakes from Alan Lim's Feedzone Cookbook.


The rice cakes are basically sticky rice, eggs, and bacon that you cut into squares and wrap in foil. Since we were leaving on vacation, I put the remaining two in the freezer and then defrosted them when we returned.

Something about freezing and defrosting must mess with the binding property of the rice, because when I opened the foil packet while riding down the road, the rice barely held together. So now I had bits of rice all over my bike, rice going down my windpipe, and not much food making it to my belly. Thank goodness I had two Larabars with me as well!

On a related note, I love this cookbook. I have probably cooked more meals out of this one than all my other cookbooks combined. They are healthy, fairly simple, and make big portions to fuel my training. This one is highly recommended!

Triathlon 101: Swim class notes

Class 2 swimming

Your ultimate goal is to maximize forward propulsion and minimize drag

Swimming is very technique based!

Aerobic fitness is only part of it

TRAINING

Pools:

About 4 EUR for entry

http://www.swimmersguide.com/ is the most complete listing I’ve found

Pool size isn’t really important

Mainz Mombach 7 days a week, 25m inside 50m outside

Kostheim (near Mainz Kastel) closed MON

Klienfeldchen closed WED

Bring 1EUR for lockers, shower shoes, shower first, putting the swim cap on before showering is easier

Lane etiquette: circle swim, keeping right, just like the autobahn, eye contact/hand gestures to people already swimming

Gear:

Goggles -- make sure they fit your face, consider the color/tint, prevent fogging by licking

Caps -- put it on dry

Training aids:

Swim Smooth

Total Immersion

Go Swim (drills)

Sprint pool swimming is different than open water swimming -- watching Michael Phelps on YouTube is not the best answer

Technique:

We watched Mr. Smooth to analyze stroke technique

Open Water Swimming

Swimnights Thursday nights starting in May

Sighting - practice in the pool too!

Picking up your head throws off your body position; use the "crocodile eyes" to minimize head movement

Sight as little as required

Do this in conjunction with breathing,

Landmarks are better than buoys

Interval sets will do you more good than a non-stop session

WETSUITS

Video of how to put on your wetsuit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEH0bWMyDnU

Help with buoyancy, not the same as surfing/scuba wetsuits

You will be faster with a wetsuit than without

Water temps for wetsuits -- up to 78 degrees, will announce race morning (Europe is generally always wetsuit legal)

Tri UK has wetsuit rental wetsuit 35GBP to rent for the season

Prices start around $200

Use plastic bags to get the suit over your feet and hands

Lube your wrists, ankles, neck, maybe armpits

Do not use vaseline -- instead use Body Glide or Pam

Don’t use your fingernails to pull up

Test your wetsuit in the pool, but make sure to rinse it out

Practice putting on your suit and don’t put it on too early on race day

RACING

You must wear the swim cap they give you at registration

Be ready and in the start area 10 min prior -- if it is a wave start, pay attention for your swim cap

If you can warm up in the water, do this! Get used to the water temp, look at the course, etc.

Start on the outside or back if you are nervous

Different types of starts -- in water, beach, other (jump off pier)

Also different ways to start -- mass (all racers together), wave (separated by groups), time trial (1 person every few seconds)
Swim courses can differ greatly. Some have multiple laps.

For the last 200-300m focus on kicking more to prepare yourself to run out of the water.

Exiting -- swim as far forward as you can, your HR will be super high

Drafting is faster than swimming alone. You can do this by following directly behind someone or off their hip. You are much more likely to make contact, so watch out.

Next class: Biking

Well, the flavo(u)r is the same

The local PX only carries the Strawberry Banana PowerGel. The gels are a bit cheaper from the PX than on the economy, which is why I've been buying them there. But when they ran out right before my race in Berlin, I had to buy some on the economy. I figured I'd go for the same flavor because I don't have any problems with it.

But here is the weird thing...the European version isn't caffeinated:

This is actually advantageous, since now I can make my own "half-caf" mix. Based on my current plan, I'll be taking in about 20 of these on the Norseman bike leg. I'm going to guess that I'm not going to want to eat another gel for a while after this.

Another Norseman update: The race is in one month, on August 3rd. I have been able to run for 20 minutes at a time with an acceptable level of pain. To keep the inflammation down, I have been eating a lot of fresh pineapple. That is a pretty expensive habit, with prices about $3-4 each!

Isn't it supposed to be summer?

The weather here has been crazy, temperature-wise. When we returned to the Wiesbaden area after the Berlin race, it was ridiculously hot. And now is cold again. It was over 90 degrees a week ago, and yesterday it was 60.

The pool I swim at has a 50m pool that for most of the year is covered by a bubble. Around June 1st is the "tear down" date and last night was the first time I had been in the open air. Remember how I said the temperature was 60? It was a bit chilly.

Most of the other swimmers wore their wetsuits, but since I am trying to prepare for the icy water of the Norwegian fjord, I elected not to wear mine. I actually find cold water refreshing, so I didn't feel overly cold while doing the workout. However, when it came time to get out of the pool, I was having a hard time with basic coordination.

My toe is doing much better -- I am avoiding doing hard push offs after turns, as well as swimming with a pull buoy to prevent kicking. This means that I lose lots of time at the wall. Since my clubmates I swim with are already faster then me, plus they were wearing wetsuits, plus I was almost coming to a complete stop at the wall, there was no hope of keeping up with them. So I just focused on relaxing and my hand placement.

I'll swim without a wetsuit tonight, too, but I make sure to bring a sweatshirt to put on afterwards!

Berlin 70.3 race report

In addition to my race report at the Team Timex blog, I wanted to include some information for people doing the race next year.

Overall, this was a great race for me (other than the broken toe). I felt like I could have pushed a little harder on the bike, but Ironman training has made it difficult for me to go into overdrive. I am definitely becoming a "diesel" and not a "turbo."

Here are my thoughts for next year:

1. The swim entrance requires going through transition. I normally give my gear to my husband and don't utilize the "street wear" bag. For this race, the spectators had to stop at the gate before transition, which wound up being about 300m away from the swim start. So, at least bring a) the white bag and put your shoes in it or b) throwaway footwear. The walk has a good amount of gravel on it. I was so thankful the people at the bag dropoff had extras. Lesson learned for myself is to bring the white bag even if I don't think I'm going to use it.

2. It is quite a hike to get your bags back after the finish, so if you want to change out of your running shoes quickly, have a pair of shoes with your spectators.

3. The hairpins on the bike course were well marked and widened where possible. If you compare them to a turnaround on a two lane road, there was much more room. All turns had orange signs with arrows about 50m prior to the turn.

4. The most dangerous part of the course was the 90 degree right hand turn off of Columbiadamm into the airport grounds. The turn itself was narrow and onto the granite cobbles. There is a metal bracket in the ground for the gate that could be a hazard. The next 250m is very uneven pavement and paver bricks. Some people had ejected water bottles here, so those added to the challenge. By staying far right after the turn, you can avoid the depressed area. You'll go through here 4 times in total.

5. When you make the 180 on Templehoferdamm, you'll be at the bottom of the hill. The turnaround is over a slightly raised median, but by taking the turn wide, you'll also cross over two well-worn road lanes. Be cautious here.

6. Using the S-Bahn is really convenient to the start/T1 (Treptower Park) and the finish/T2 (Tempelfhof).  Both are on the ring route, so you could look for lodging anywhere along there. I stayed in an apartment very close to the Hermanstrasse station and that was perfect.

7. I was concerned about the possibility of extreme congestion at the bike aid station. I purposely started with two full bottles, knowing that I would toss and take one during the first lap. I had no problems with this strategy. However, there are two important things to consider: 1) it was not hot, so hydrating was not a major consideration and I could get by on less water, and 2) I was in the first wave of amateurs, so there were not very many people on the course when I did my first lap. I do not know how busy it was when the bulk of the AG men came through.

8. Please be careful at the swim exit! Swim as far as you can and don't stop when you see the plywood.

My nutrition for this race:

Pre-race breakfast (eaten at 5 am): sweet potatoes, 1 package of Buddy Fruits gummies, 1 coconut cream Lara Bar

1.5L water consumed over 3 hrs until race start

1 gel 20 min prior to swim

Bike: 9x PowerBar Strawberry banana gels in a bike bottle with water, in the cage between my aerobars, total of 3 bottles of water (cage behind seat and one on seat tube)

Run: Coke and water at the western aid station, water and PowerBar Hydro at the eastern aid station. I thought it would be PowerBar gels, so I was suprised when they were holding out the bigger packets. Since beggars can't be choosers, I used them anyways. I had no stomach issues, but since the Hydro is more like a bag of liquid, I did a great job making a huge mess. I think I might have sprayed one onto the volunteer as I was opening it...oops. Sorry!

Post race: I had 1.5 bananas, as well as a bottle of my Infinit recovery drink. I didn't hit the finisher buffet until returning back for the awards ceremony, since I was more concerned about getting my toe checked out.

Hope this helps!

Triathlon 101 Class #1 Notes

Overview of class
1st class is basic info
2-4th will be sport specific
5th will be tying it together
Also will include German terms (italics)
I will post the the questions/answers on the blog
If I don’t know an answer I will find it
Feel free to e-mail me with questions!

Sport overview:
Three sports: Swim (Schwim), then bike (Rad), then run (Lauf)
In between you have transitions (Weschelzone)
T1 is from swim to bike, T2 is from bike to run
Generally in the same location, but not always (called a split transition)
Longer races (70.3 and up) will have aid stations with water, sports drinks, food on the bike and run course
Other variations: duathlon (run-bike-run), some novelty races with other events

Distances
Not every triathlon is an Ironman
Ironman -- 3800m/180km/marathon (distance for Hawaii race), 140.6 miles, takes 10-17 hrs
Half Ironman/70.3 -- 1900m/90km/half marathon, 70.3 miles, takes 5-7.5 hrs
Olympic -- 1500m/40km/10km, takes  2.5-3 hrs
Sprint -- varies, but usually around 500m/20km/5km

Races/Events
(In the information below, I'm using the term "larger" to describe more participants in the race, not a longer distance.)

Often started in waves, but Ironmans are usually mass start

Your time is calculated by a chip

Compete against people in your age group (5 or 10 year ranges)

For larger races, you may need to check in the day prior -- keep this in mind when planning.

Assume that for 70.3 and Ironman you will need to check in your bike and go to the race brief the day before.

Race calendar
www.trimapper.com (good resource for US races as well as the larger European races)
www.dtu-info.de/wettkampfkalender (this will have the smaller German races also)
Ironman-distance events (WTC or Challenge) usually fill up a year in advance, there are more 70.3s and they don't fill up as quickly
Some events will have multiple distances available

Licenses
All races will require you to have a license to enter, either a German DTU license, a USA Triathlon license, or buy a day license. A day license is about 12EUR.

You and triathlon

It is important to take in all the information in the context of your personal goals and situation!

There is lots of knowledge out there, but if you try to digest everything it can be overwhelming.

Goals -- What are yours?
Finish injury free
One and done? Driver for fitness? Long term ambitions?

Your situation
Time available -- training time, recovery time
Money available -- Race fees, training costs for swimming, travel if necessary
Things you already have
Your strengths/weaknesses/fears

Training
Books, online training plans, coaches (esp. virtually) are available
Remember that generic plans are generic
Aim for 2 workouts of each type per week -- more if you are really weak at one discipline
Give yourself proper time to recover
Running is the most “intensive” on your body -- do it when fresh
Swimming is a great recovery exercise

We talked about Joe Friel, author of the "The Triathlete's Training Bible." One of his big principles is "periodized training," where you break down your training into different phases, each with a different purpose. Many training plans will utilize different phases, like "base" and "build."


What to wear on race day?
ABC -- anything but cotton
Basics/things you probably already have: spandex shorts (swim and leave on), tech shirt, sports bra for women, running shoes
The best choice is triathlon clothes, either a top and bottom or a one piece suit
Seems like a good idea but isn’t: biking shorts (will get soggy)
Generally have to wear a shirt for the bike and run -- looser is better
Socks are a personal preference
Hat/sunglasses are a good idea

What do I need at a minimum?
Helmet, a bike (any kind), shoes, probably goggles

Best hints
Know that you can do the swim distance. It can be in the pool, but make sure you have successfully swum that distance without stopping.

Practice a few bricks (bike and then run). It doesn't need to be much, but after a few bike sessions, go for a 1-2 mile run immediately afterwards. You'll get used to how your legs feel and you'll understand that the heavy feeling goes away after a little bit.

Don't do anything new in a race. Think ahead of time of what you'll be eating, drinking, wearing and doing. Incorporate these things in your training sessions to make sure they work.

Clubs
Sports clubs are extremely popular in Germany, so it is not unusual to see many people wearing club uniforms at races. The club in Wiesbaden is LC Olympia. I am a member of TCEC Mainz. They have dedicated swim lanes on weekdays and also organize group runs and bike rides.

Resources

Forums
www.beginnertriathlete.com I think every question has already been asked here.

Videos
The "Become One" video series follows ex-NFL player Hines Ward on his road to completing a full Ironman. The first episode is here. They are currently up to episode 4. This is a good overview of some of the fundamentals.

Stores
These are what I have found so far, so this isn't an exclusive list

Both of these are specialty stores, but have a small selection of other accessories for triathlon. I have successfully used VAT forms at both of these.

Bike-- Radsport Smit in Gustavsburg (Darmstädter Landstrasse 13). Marco speaks English.

Running-- Frankfurter Laufshop (Große Friedberger Str. 37-39)  Have a few English speaking employees

www.wiggle.com Prices from here will include VAT.

www.triuk.com Prices from here will include VAT.

www.amazon.com

I have not found many US triathlon retailers that will ship USPS. Having something shipped to Germany via UPS is quite expensive.

The expos for the Ironman Frankfurt and Weisbaden 70.3 will have retailers selling tri-specific items.

Frankfurt Ironman Expo (located by the Dom), the race itself is on Sunday
Thursday, July 3, 2013 10:00am – 8:00pm
Friday, July 5, 2013 10:00am – 8:00pm
Saturday, July 6, 2013 10:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday, July 7, 2013 10:00am – 8:00pm

70.3 Wiesbaden Expo (by the Kurhaus), the race is on Sunday
Friday, August 9, 2013 10:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday, August 10, 2013 10:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday, August 11, 2013 10:00am – 6:00pm

Next time we will discuss swimming! Bring your questions or send them to me via e-mail before class.