Category: Blog Entries
Ironman Kona 2012 from the sidelines
Excuse the patchy blog. Its just a lot of pictures of IM day downloaded from my iPhone. Liezel and I are flying to Maui in a few hours for XTERRA Worlds in 2 weeks, so its packing time again. Meaning I dont have time to compose a cute blog about this deep event- which certainly cant be summed up in a few short lines.
Here’s some random snapshots
Aussies continue to dominate men’s race. 6 years and counting. “Runner” Pete Jacobs took the race by the scruff of its neck on the bike and pulled through in tough conditions and slow times in all 3 disciplines. It really was a race or attrition rather than tactics & speed. Andreas Raelert ran into 2nd and Sebastian Kienle (4th) was about to blow the race apart with his strong bike but then got a flat and lost 5 minutes. Macca took strain going up Palani drive (early on and dropped out on the bike.
After an explosive ride (pun intended) Marino Vanhoenacker suddenly blew up in the lava fields and gave up the lead. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Was quite a performance, despite the DNF.
I was impressed with Jordan Rapp’s sage pacing strategy. Surprisingly, something not so common in this race. He was 9min down in the swim, did his own race and was one of the freshest and fastest runners out there. Herbert Krabel from Slowtwitch.com providing interesting foreground…
3 time Kona winner and defending champion Craig Alexander came into this race brimming with confidence and very well prepared. This race on this island is exceptionally harsh and unpredictable and does not respect reputations or titles. Crowie had a rough day- finishing 12th- lost 20min on the bike when his body shut down and his smooth run style lacked the usual punch. He remains a true gent and an ambassador for the sport. Was amazing to hear the cheers wherever he ran through the crowds.
Tim O’Donnell showing perfect form on Alii drive to finish 8th in this 1st Kona.
Jordan Rapp and Paul Amey on Alii drive
Caroline Steffen on leading towards Energy Lab
Legend and former pro Kenny Glah doing his 29th Kona. Wrap your head around that!?
Luke McKenzie blitzed the bike and shows perfect belly breathing
Liezel and I watched the start with coffee, rusks, papaya, macadamias and a few thousand spectators
With the humidity here you have to Zip Loc the rusks to keep them crunchy
Saw quite a bit of gorilla marketing here. Like this gorilla chasing the banana, chasing Marino. For miles! The gorilla came prepared though- spot the Camel Back. Should be a Gorilla Back…
Wonder what a “Barnana” is?
Specialized sent a team of engineers to “look and learn”. They scribbled notes in books, took photos and video, counted bikes, ogled the opposition and learned the intricacies triathlon. This Shiv with hydraulic brakes (amoungst other things) belongs to Mark Cote aka The Pharaoh of Aero- the father of the Shiv…
When I rode back from my own late training session I saw some amazing stuff- like this amputee running in the dark with her leg going click click click. Only 36km to go.
Saffers Alec Riddle and Kyle Buckingham chilling at Lava Java in the week before the crowds came. Love the Ukelele tunes. Liezel got me one for my birthday 2 weeks from now- but I’m already learning.
The setting at the Oakley House…
Pretty cool backyard for Olympic silver Lisa Norden, who resided on the Oakley premises.
Training is going great for XTERRA World in Maui on the 28th. In fact, I was going so fast, this cop couldnt even zap me with his tazer, I mean lazer
4 weeks in the life of a Caveman and 10 XTERRA USA Series titles
Anyway, I was man down, missed about 2 weeks in training and ended up getting dragged to the doctor, and going on a 10 day antibiotic course, which ended just a few days before XTERRA USA Champs. Not the best prep, but other than staying calm, there was nothing I could do about it.
Training Peaks diary. Click here for interactive Training Peaks profile on Caveman. 3hr47min of training the one week, and 2hr30 the next. And seriously spikey ATL and CTL graph…
After much searching, we found the only real cure for “Man Flu”: Much wine and love… Being nestled (5 weeks) in San Luis Obispo- heart of the Central Californian wine lands- we fortunately had both ingredients on hand.
With the Man Flu better, I managed to squeeze in about a weeks’ training before it was time to taper again.
Took Black Beauty for a canter on Central CA coast cattle trails.
But before going to Utah, we had pack all our belongings in the US into one tired “new” minivan and park it at storage. (Mailed the road bikes and the “box with stuff for South Africa” to Kona) They say moving is one of the most stressful thing you can do. I’d say it’s THE most stressful.
Just ask Liezel! Here we are in the airport taxi.
People often presume the wife of a pro athlete lives a life in the lap of luxury- traveling the world etc etc. Umm, no. (Its not rugby or NFL- no private jets) Often its “grin and bear it”. A good sense of humour is key.
Surviving another near fatal flight when the props turned to rubber over LA. Flying in the US is like taking the bus in other countries.
Hectic travel is made considerably easier by quality luggage. Of the Thule veriety. Life is too short for bad luggage and weak coffee.
Once in Ogden Utah:
Pre ride the bike course:
The fall (autumn) colours are stunning. Ride slowly and hopefully legs will come round by Saturday.
It is the most beautiful course on the continent- in terms of scenery.
Too bad its all uphill. By the time one gets to the top of the 3400ft climb, (starting at 4900ft) , the altitude sickness is so bad, I dont care much for the view of the swim course down theeere. If the downhill would be an equal 3400ft, it would be a fair race, but unfortunately a quick, uninspiring drop “down” to T1 at 6500ft is not worthy of a National Championship event. 6 years in a row…
Press day: The good folks at XTERRA.TV promised to make me look good, but mumbled something about “it wont be easy”…
Live Pro panel discussion on the internet from ENVE Composites HQ. Social media is the hot item nowadays- got to stay with the times.
On the way home from press day I spotted an Old Car Show in the parking lot of a fast food joint and quickly convinced Liezel we should go check it out. “You only live once…”
The plaque above the wheel says: “Beware of the attack waitress” My Princess Hotstuff will crush the “Attack Waitress” like a Bud Lite can.
Everything on this plate is home made- in the garage- not the kitchen. Even the fries are carefully hand made from foam. And the “Attack waitress” has a $1 000 000 bill in her money belt. Gotta love the leopard skin hat.
Spider Monkey (in the back ground) and Paddy Behan drove the Specialized Racing Support truck all the way from Morgan Hill outside of San Francisco for this race. Spending time with these guys is such a treat. We all shared a house and much laughter was had. Its the first time I worked with the tall Irishman – thats obviously Paddy- and found him a treat. Full of energy, very enthusiastic, always eager to learn and especially work. And to ride his Stumpy after work. Most importantly, Spider Monkey (aka Joe Devera, used to be a pro rock climber- hence the nickname) was all over my bike, and needless to say, it was in showroom condition before and after every ride. If I rode till dark on Wednesday and my TV appearance is Thursday 9am, Joe and Paddy would be up at 7 polishing the bike. Bike care is just the obvious part of the job, but it goes much deeper:
The level of professionalism Joe brings to the team:
– When I cross the finish line, Joe is there with a wet towel to clean up with, a choice of drinks, Clif Bars, food and warm/clean clothes and a smile.
– He knows exactly how I like every part of my bike. The brakes- how much pull distance and the angle of the levers, he knows my tire pressure (but double checks at each race, just to be sure), he knows what I take in my saddle bag, he knows not to fiddle with my suspension settings, if there is a piece of equipment I should try, he would make a tactful recommendation. (Like not using road shoes & pedals for climbing races)
– When I get a new bike, Joe rebuilds every bearing, bolt and cable before shipping it – my saddle height, handle bar, which setting the Rotor Rings go, how I like my Squirt Lube chain stay sticker, Spider Monkey sticker etc. It comes already dialed in and marked for rebuilding after travel, every bolt tight. Whether it’s an Epic, a Shiv or a Roubaix- each bike has its own set up- Joe knows my measurements.
– When we rock up at a race town, he would ask for a grocery list and go buy groceries. But he only cooks after the race- he’s worried about poisoning the riders?!
And I’m just ONE of “his” riders- Todd Wells, Rebecca Rusch, Max Plaxton, Jesse Thomas, Ben Hoffman, Lisa Norden, Flora Duffy, Rasmus Henning, Melissa “House Child T” like he would say- to name a few.
These 2 bike pictures above and below were taken less an hour after my race. Although I suspect my bike was being washed while I was running…
More pre race day stuff: At the Paul Mitchell XTERRA University I teach “the Art of XTERRA”- giving tips and inside advice to age groupers the day before the race.
Race morning cold and crisp. High- and low five-ing the young fans. ie fellow pro Josiah and Adam Wirth’s kids.
Fixing the ejection seat on my Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit.
BOOM! the pros (in blue and pink) are off.
During my usual pre race pow wow with my coach Ian Rodger we discussed tactics: Ian said something like: “Well, with the 2 weeks you were down with the virus, we fell behind in training a bit and maybe you are dragging ass a bit with the antibiotics. (during training) So judging by the only quality bike ride you’ve done since then, its obvious your bike power is more like 420W instead of the usual 450W. So you’re going to have to ride the initial steeper parts more conservatively, and bargain on the less steep parts to roll on the power.”
I started the steep rocky climb up Wheeler Canyon more conservatively then in the past (like when I rode 1.40 into Lance) and understandably this time it took longer to catch the leaders, and instead of blowing by, they rode along for a while. Like Branden Rakita “the Hair of XTERRA” on his way to 5th place above.
Soon Josiah came flying past on a steep climb, but I latched on and on the flatter sections we reeled the leader Ben Allen in.
Well, at least there was nothing wrong with my Bike Kung Fu and on the short little descend in the middle of the 2 big climbs I aced (tied, actually) the Strava record (in training) and made some time on Josiah and Ben. (in the race)
For me to win on this course, I have to be 100% fit. At “normal” XTERRA races I can still fudge it a bit, relying on my skills With “only”420W under the hood, a 185lbs engine and 22lbs chassis, this course will always be tricky to win on. The last down hill on the profile looks good, but its pretty easy and high speed – not much room for creating time.
Profile borrowed from theterribletriathlete.com. Worth a read!
I started the run 45″ behind Josiah, but he was on form and crushed the run as well. I slipped to 4th, behind a much improved Aussie Ben Allen, who was only 10″ up on Nico Lebrun- the mountain man from France.
Much thanks to Nils Nilsen for the great pics. The ones with the NN in corner. And the unmarked ones by Trey Garman from XTERRA. Or the Caveman or -woman. It should be pretty obvious.
Josiah Middaugh cleaned the mountainside with us. Even had time to bring half the family home. (some more impressed than others!)
Since the day I beat him on his home mountain at XTERRA Beaver Creek CO in June, he has not shaved. His kids wore “Fear the Beard” t-shirts but I think that is where he carries his gels.
With Spider Monkey stoic in the back ground, (wet towel delivered) I ask Josiah (and apparently the whole world) “How long would it take me to grow a beard like that?”
My 10th XTERRA USA Series Championship title. What a ride.
2012 USA Series overall podium: 4th Craig “The Thighs of Belville” Evans, 2nd Josiah “Quickly shaved part of the beard before prize giving” Middaugh, 1st Cave Forgot to Smile man, 3rd David “Speedy Crocs” Heterosa and 5th Branden “The Hair Of XTERRA” Rakita.
The US Series had a lot of inside stories: I came in with 4 out of 4 wins so the Series win seemed safe, but if I finished only one position lower than 4th at this race, Josiah would have taken the Series and the $10 000 first prize. ( I didnt know this during the race) David is a really really fast mountain runner and was within striking distance on the top the climb, but flatted and stopped to repair. Craig was having a great race, but also flatted on the top and rode the flat wildly down the mountain to try save his 3rd place in the Series. In the end, Craig and David (both with flats) drew for 3rd, but David placed higher in the finals, so he took 3rd over Craig.
Further there were some inspirational performances in the Age Group races:
The overall age group winner (and 12th in pro race) was (barely) 16 year old Neilson Powless and the overall women’s winner (8th in pro women’s) and already a familiar face at XTERRA, was 16 year old Hannah Rae Finchamp.
Read the full XTERRA race report here.
After a few beers with friends and the Specialized crew, we packed up, headed for the airport and got on 4 different planes to land in Kona. Home of the Ironman. Below is a sampling of Fine Airplane Dining a la Liezel…
Heavy XTERRA Worlds training has already erupted. But no beard growing. A beard would seriously interfere with the romance of a location like this…
STOLTZ – A DECADE OF EXCELLENCE
STOLTZ – A DECADE OF EXCELLENCE- a pre race write up borrowed from XTERRAplanet.com– race report to follow soon.
Conrad Stoltz won his first XTERRA USA Championship race in 2001, just a few days after September 11, wearing purple shorts and a blue tank top.
“I couldn’t dream of winning the series. It is my first year, I am still on a borrowed bike and I didn’t think the Tahoe course suited me,” said the rookie from Stellenbosch, South Africa that day. The victory gave him just enough points to leapfrog past Mike Vine and Nico Lebrun and win the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series title.
A month later Stoltz was wearing those same purple shorts, but sported a Specialized top for the first time on his way to winning his first of four XTERRA World Championships in Maui. More than a decade later Stoltz is still Specialized, and still the man … the “Caveman”.
Since ’01 Stoltz is the winningest XTERRA pro of all-time with 47 championship victories, and has won the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series nine of the past 11 years (Sylvain Dodet won the Series in ’04, Seth Wealing in ’06).
If Stoltz has a weak-spot, however, it could be this course.
“It’s the anti-Conrad course because there’s 3,400-feet of climbing, not a whole lot of descending, and I’m 180 pounds so it is especially challenging for me,” Stoltz has said since the XTERRA Mountain Championship race moved to Snowbasin back in 2006.
Still, he’s won here twice – in 2008 and 2010 – and at a similarly profiled XTERRA championship course at Beaver Creek Resort in Avon, Colorado in July he dominated. A win on Saturday would keep his goal of a perfect season intact and deliver his unprecedented 10th Pro Series crown.
Standing in his way is a quartet of XTERRA veterans including the defending champion Nico Lebrun from France, America’s best Josiah Middaugh, Aussie Chris Legh, and David Henestrosa from Spain.
Lebrun has won two of the last three here in Utah, and captured last year’s crown in perhaps the most-hyped XTERRA race of all-time as the world turned its attention to Utah to see how Lance Armstrong would perform in his return to triathlon. Armstrong was 5th behind Lebrun, Dan Hugo, Middaugh, and Stoltz.
This year the Frenchman, nicknamed the “Professor” for his calculated racing IQ, spent the summer in his hometown, got married, and won the XTERRA Italy, Czech, and Switzerland championships en route to his fourth XTERRA European Tour title. His prowess in the mountains – rooted in a childhood spent climbing around the French Alps – is legendary.
For Middaugh, a 7-time XTERRA National Champ, its unfinished business. He’s been in the top five here for five straight years – placing 3rd in each of the last three years since Snowbasin became home to the U.S. Championships. Despite these results, each year has come with adversity – from sickness to mechanicals – although to his credit Middaugh has never made any of it an excuse. One can only think that on a day when it all came together, he would be the man to beat on this course.
Legh – the star of the famous Gatorade commercial – has made a career of triathlon with nearly 100 professional wins and most recently the IM 70.3 Lake Stevens title in July. He did his first XTERRA more than 10 years ago, has had the fastest run split on Maui four times, and this year was 4th at the XTERRA West Championship (behind Stoltz, Middaugh, and Dan Hugo) and third at the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship (behind Stoltz and Craig Evans). This course, which rewards endurance, seems particularly suited to Legh, although he’s never raced here.
Henestrosa, who was featured on the front page of today’s Ogden Standard-Examiner, won the XTERRA Italy Championship back in 2004, moved to nearby Clearfield, Utah a few years ago where he now teaches at a Spanish-immersion school, and had the fastest run of anyone on this course last year. He jumped back into racing the XTERRA U.S. Series this year and has done well, most recently placing 4th at the highly competitive mountain championship in Colorado. With home-course advantage and a run that could chase down even the speediest of contenders – he’s one to watch.
There are another dozen elites who shouldn’t be overlooked, like Ben Allen – an uber-fast swimmer who’s won XTERRA championships in Guam, Saipan, the Philippines and New Zealand this year – and the U.S. XTERRA contingent featuring Craig Evans, Branden Rakita, Will Kelsay, Cody Waite, Adam Wirth, Will Ross, Damian Gonzalez, and Ryan Ignatz.
Caveman gets 2nd at 1st Rev3.
Caveman’s 1st Rev 3 road tri. Pics by Nils Nilsen/Rev 3
Gorgeous day. Our first time to the eastern sea board. Water was warm, clear & clean. Huge turn out.
Each pro has their name, number and photo at the transition spot.And you get to keep the poster afterwards.
Photo by Dave Laskey/Rev3
Team Stoltz early race morning. Liezel is the most amazing team mate I could ever dream of. My racing is definitely at another level. Life is more fulfilling too- the sky is blue-er, the grass greener, the chain ring bigger (55) – even traveling is fun. And on race day when I forgot my helmet and bike number stickers at home (it was 4am), she showed some more of her brilliance under pressure: (only had 25min while I was warming up) My number was 411, so she got a left over number- 418, and cut out a “1″ from another number, and stuck it over the 8. Hey presto, I hope our kids at least gets their moms intellect and looks.
Caveman 3rd from right in Blue Seventy suit & goggles.
I love beach starts and ocean swims. Long legs and years and years of ocean racing and playing I’ve got it dialed- too bad the surf wasnt up. I even was leading for a little while and had a great, comfortable swim, coming out with all the main players and about 30″ off the swim specialists. The Defcon 4 swimming programme I started a week before XTERRA Beaver Creek has made a huge improvement in my start speed.
Once on the bike the pressure was on right away. The run from the beach was long, I got to the bike a little winded and once on the bike, was right in the middle of the pack. No time to rest. I had to ride hard immediately to get clear and out of sight. Our plan was to ride 420 avs W, and held it for a good while, but the hard start off the run tightened my glutes a bit. After 15min I had to ease up a bit to let them relax, and free wheel a few corners. But the damage was done. I turned 20km at 413W but on the way back slightly down hill, I let it slide (and rest the legs some more) to 400W by the time the bike was racked. I wasnt paying attention to the others, but Jesse Thomas apparently rode (and swam) outside himself, hanging on like an African tick, and only lost a handful of seconds to 20km. He was about 1.15 back at the end of the bike.
Click here for the interactive Training Peaks power file:
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/6FOAXOB4KSJKIWZ3BHD2I2WQMQ
For the 39km: 52.07, 44.8km/h, 400w. Specialized SHIV. Pic by Nils Nilsen/Rev3
Yes, the wheels are “normal” sized. They look tiny. Cant wait for the 900c wheeled TT bike to come out… What does the Pharaoh of Aero think ? (Mark Cote, engineer at Specialized)
It worked great for Francesco Moser:
As per previous blog, I’m finally able to get some run training done, and felt solid all the way through to 7km. Which is ok for now. But 1min 15 is never enough to keep the fleet footed Jesse Thomas at bay. 2 years ago Jesse was borrowing a bike (when he won his 1st Wildflower as a “nobody”) and now he’s riding like a beast. He’s a real character, a fellow Specialized rider, AND a nice guy, so when he blew by me at 3.5km I didnt put up a fight. No point, as he was hauling donkeys anyway.
Luckily the 52min bike ride did damage behind and I had 3-4 minutes on the chasers, which included race favourite and Rev3 Series leader Richie Cunningham, who turned 39 the day before the race.
Go here for full results.
Not so rusty at road tri anymore. 2nd is losing, but I’m happy with my performance. It was a great experience in all- Liezel and I had never been to New England before, we ate sea food and drank white wine and had an amazing home stay in the country. Afterwards we visited good friends in Laconia, New Hampshire. Next year I’d love to do more Rev3s, in order to qualify for the $25k series money and more importantly, to get my swimming and running on standard so I can really whack the XTERRAs.
Hats off to Revolution 3 for putting on an amazing event:
– The organization was seamless.
– Each athlete felt valued.
– These guys understand marketing: The day before the race, video featuring pros were out on social media, shown at the venue, the event was live on the internet.
– Quality photographers, announcer, a video team, and a PR person doing FB and Twitter
– There was a pro panel for the age groupers and pros handed out AG prizes.
– AND we got our prize money on the podium. Something I havent seen since…. um, XTERRA Brazil 2007. Now I can fix our “new used” car’s differential.
Each pro has their name, number and photo at the transition spot.And you get to keep the poster afterwards.
Click here for Pre race Pro interviews
More interviews, photos and press on Rev 3 site.
Vegabonding and getting ready for Boulder Peak 5150 road triathlon
For those not in the know- Liezel and I have been traveling the USA searching for the perfect place to base ourselves for the summer. We literally crossed the country and saw dozens of places. I’ll write about the experience in a series of blogs later.
We spent most of our time in the endurance athlete Mecca of Boulder, Colorado. We know a lot of people there and they LOVED asking us: Where do you live? And “How long are you here for?” We hated those questions. Our answers about “how long” were usually counted in days or parts of weeks and usually our eyes were in the sky or on the floor. And WHERE was even trickier: Our stuff lived in Storage Unit #133. We bounced between well do-ers and ex pats like the Ratays, the De Reucks and Bobby McGee’s mother in law. She kept talking about “Malcom”. We though it was the cat, but we soon realized she does not have a cat and Malcom is actually Bobby’s real name. (His wife was his bank manager before they met, and was one of the few people on earth to know him by his first name)
Our “transport” was even more dubious. (Liezel and a backpack or 2 still needs to get on) Chris and Erin Ratay let us use their Bajaj Chetuk. The Indian version of a Vespa. We rocked Specialized helmets and cycling rain gear as opposed to the more Vespa-y skinny jeans and ‘cool helmet’ or ‘no helmet’ with trendy hair do and /or mustache and /or piercings and/or tattoos.
Most Boulder Pro athletes dash around in shiny BMWs, sponsored $60 000 SUVs, or, the up and comers would at least have a newer Subaru with bike racks. Not the Cavecouple. How we thoroughly miss our modest little Kelfords Ford in South Africa!!! The Ratays, (Guinness World record holders) I met in Lydenburg, South Africa (a small place) as they were motor biking around the world for the 2nd time. They stayed on the farm a few times and we crashed in their basement in Boulder more than just a few times! Check out their amazing blog here Ultimate Journey.
Being a hard core motorbike guy, you have to understand the desperation of the situation for me to ride with my feet and knees touching. (its akin to a cowboy wearing a skirt) I could daintily slide onto the seat and my wife would have to throw a leg over! Instead of me throwing a leg over a fire breathing, knobbly tired, rocket ship… Whether its bundu bashing on the “little” one, (450cc below)
or the big daddy packed for camping- KTM 950
But what I lost in pride, riding a scooter, I (kind of) made up at the gas station…
And thats filling it to the brim…
As for working: We were head quartered from a bookstore- “Barnes and Noble”- it has free wifi and a Starbucks inside. (The background obviously made it hard to focus on trivial everyday office work like buying flights, filing taxes, PR, blogging etc) Although this position was the perfect place to observe pros coming in to check if they made the cover of the latest Triathlete magazine. I “bust” Tim O’Donnell buying a few copies of himself. Great guy. Was just a chunky swimmer kid when I first met him “way back 2003″ at the Olympic Training Center, but now he goes long, is a fast runner, and has one of the better blogs on the block.
We also got some business done. Here my Sports Manager (Franko Vatterott) and my Bank Manager (Liezel) go for coffee Boulder style…
We also visited with Becky at the Thule luggage HQ in Boulder. Once you’ve used quality luggage like this, you simply cant go back to luggage where a wheel would squeak for a few weeks and then later fall out, zippers burst open on the conveyor belt, or you’d arrive at a swanky hotel, looking like you live in a dumpster. Or a storage unit…
I had the honour to meet Dirk Friel and Dave Criswell (actually, the whole office staff) founders of Training Peaks. A web based training and coaching software. It allows my coach Ian (in Cape Town and sometimes coaching in Mallorca or darkest Africa) to upload my daily training programme. I, anywhere in the world, can give feedback on every body function and state of mind or meal choice or weather condition imaginable. And most importantly, download the training sessions I did- power reading on the bike, heart rate, speed, altitude, temp, cadence, GPS maps, Training Stress Scores (TTS) etc. All this cleverly records on my Suunto Ambit (running and mountain biking) and Quarq power meter. (road cycling)
The training software is super complex, and Dirk and Dave took the time to personally teach me how to optimize the use of this revolutionary tool which allows 2 people at the opposite ends of the earth to exchange the right (and enough) data to keep getting faster and winning races, despite the age everyone keeps going on about. Scientific training, together with talent and determination trumps all. This training tool is revolutionizing endurance training from beginners to top level athletes around the world.
My Training Peaks home page today.
Other important business I had to see to was the issue of why havent I been able to run the past 3 years. Since THAT cut in my foot in Richmond, (I’ll spare you the pictures, but you can refresh here) I havent been able to run uninjured for more than a few weeks. I spent a fortune in therapy and tried a wide variety of treatments. I really have to take my hat off to the many professionals from around the world who helped me- If I have to name names I’ll surely miss a few, but its been a humbling experience. Not being able to train running became the norm, and my coach Ian Rodger somehow kept me going fast by loading the bike and otherwise acting like a hypochondriac- working phrases like “rehab”, “prehab” and “hows the calf?” and “hows the Achilles?” into daily communication. A 30km (20mi) running week would be something of a break through. After a race I often wouldn’t run at all for a week. Actually, here (below) is what a good run would constitute: It was 5 days before Boulder Peak 5150, a 30minute easy run round and round a soccer pitch on Astro turf. (Havent run on a road or any paved surface by choice in 3 years)
Top speed was just over 16km/h (10mi/h) which is what used to be warm up pace for me. The last 7 minutes I did some low impact running drills. Feedback to Ian would be something like: “Easy 30′ run with 7′ drills. HR low (115-120-ish) Calf ok”
Considering the results I have had the past 3 years, I consider myself lucky or well coached or good or something. Frustrated for sure. Despite hardly running in 3 years, I won XTERRA Worlds by 5 min, 2x ITU Cross Tri World Titles, 3 XTERRA USA Series titles and maybe 90% of the XTERRAs I raced. But it was stressful. Knowing I have no running fitness or background, I had to build a huge lead on the bike and then cautiously run tempo and hope I dont have to do anything spectacular if I get pushed really hard. I’d deal with the injury fall out afterwards. Of course you cant hide this kind of thing for 3 years, so later on the “out of sight out of mind thing” didnt work anymore. What was most frustrating to me was I did not know WHY I was getting injured. How can you get injured if you only jog 7km a week?
On the insistence of Franko and not inconsiderable help from the folks at Specialized, I got a quick appointment with Sports doc guru, and the creator of the Specialized BG Fit shoes, Dr Andy Pruitt. He listened to my story and within 30 seconds told me it is Retrocalcaneal Bursitis with Achilles tendinosis. Basically from years and years of doing sports in tight fitting shoes, sports people get a bony growth on their heels. The Achilles tendon rubs over it, obviously the protruding bone causes much more friction on the Achilles than normal and hey presto- you have a perfect storm. A Mechanical injury. If you cut the bone away the problem goes away. Being middle of racing season, cutting bone is obviously out of the question, so we went with the conservative approach:
– Throw the minimalist (low heeled) shoes away and go with the highest heel shoe you can find. Then put heel lift in the shoes. This high heel opens the angle between the calcanius and achilles and reduces friction.
– Cut the heels of my shoes open. Material pushing onto the tendon causes more friction. All my Avia shoes are sliced open in the back. The shoes are great, its just my bony heels needing space.
– Stop stretching calves. At this point I was stretching like mad. It just drove an already inflamed (tendinosis) tendon into the bone.
This was just a few days before Boulder Peak and XTERRA Colorado the following week, but since the day I walked out of Andy’s office, I havent felt a thing.
Other than the heavy stuff,
I got some homework done with my lovely wife. Its so much fun to train together. Even if its only the warm up or easy rides. She is quickly becoming an endurance machine. As opposed to a fast twitch Netball & fitness machine.
Did the rest of the homework alone. One has to spend a lot of time hanging upside down on this thin, flat bike to get used to putting out extended, constant power. As opposed to sitting upright on a mountain bike- where you can enjoy the view and pour some serious power on the pedals. (I lose about 30W in the TT position. Muuuch better than the 60W I lost at SA TT Champs in PE just over a year ago.
A quick blog about the actual Boulder Peak race next.
