A Night with the Pros

It isn't every night that you get to meet the 2x Ironman World Champion. It is even rarer that you get to take him to a bar and have beers. Tuesday night, I had the opportunity to do both.

As part of their new push to become more community oriented, all3sports, hosted a fundraiser for the Tri-Kids program. The group works in conjunction with the East Atlanta Kids Club to provide triathlon opportunities to 7-12 year olds who reside in inner city Atlanta.

To help the profile of the event, all3sports enlisted the help of a few professional athletes. In addition to their outreach efforts this year, all3sports has ramped up its sponsorship opportunities and snagged a couple of the highest profile athletes in the sport. Joining the event was Craig Alexander, the Kona winner the past two years and 70.3 series winner prior to that, Mirinda "Rinny" Carfrae, 2nd place Kona last year and women's marathon record holder in the event, and Heather Gollnick, 5x Ironman winner and race director of the Rev3 series. Needless to say the event was stacked.

The program was billed as a group run, q&a session and dinner. And it lived up to the hype. The group of attendees were split into three groups and went running through Piedmont Park with one of the pros. I was selected to run with Heather and had the task of trying to navigate the hyper woman through the running paths of the park. While it was supposed to be an easy run, it was amazing to see what tremendous shape these athletes were in. Craig and Rinny were both coming off 70.3 victories the previous weekend. Their easy running...was at 8:15-8:30 pace. I kept trying to slow Heather down because we were dropping our group. Rumor has it that Craig didn't even break a sweat in the Atlanta heat despite wearing a long sleeve shirt. (rolls eyes)

Afterwards, the pros gathered at the venue and answered audience questions for about 45 minutes. Fortunately the topics were light and ranged from training to diet to their backgrounds. The tri-kids were also able to ask a number of questions to learn what the pros were like as kids. Then we ate. The pros made themselves completely available to everyone there. They were gracious enough to talk triathlon all night and take as many pictures as needed.

The best part of the night is that after the event the pros were persuaded to join about 10-12 of us at the local watering hole for a few more hours. A couple of drinks later and the conversation became really candid about the sport. They were free to talk about things they wouldn't otherwise say on the record. Better yet, it showed exactly how human they were as they discussed the struggles of a pro athlete, how to balance the travel with their family needs, in sport competition and just cut up with everyone. They are human after all!!!

Rev3 Anaysis and Thanks

The timing and race results for Rev3 aren't in a standard format so conducting solid analysis wasn't as easy as downloading the results. It took more research and I am unable to produce the typical table that I enjoy using.

	Swim	t1	Bike	t2	Run	Total
Top 10	0:29:05	0:02:34	2:32:29	0:02:13	1:29:49	4:36:12
Andrew	0:31:57	0:02:27	2:40:31	0:02:12	1:45:40	5:02:49
OA place after leg	27	23	15	14	23	27
AG place after leg	10	7	5	4	7	7

Looking at the results, I feel even better about the race. I am very happy with my swim. Definitely a PR and I assume that I had some help from a short course or current. However, the leaders times don't strike me as super fast. Hopefully, my swim is in a better place than before.

I am always amazed with transition. It seems that in the races where I slow down, I get out of there the fastest. I felt really slow in transition as I took my time. But comparatively, I was in an out. However there is an anomaly in the Top 10. One guy took a nap, so their average is just under 2:00.



I was a little surprised to see such a margin on the bike. But clearly there were some strong athletes at the top. I know I rode it conservatively but even still, I don't know I could shave 8 minutes off my time on that course. I think realistically I could have shaved 5 by riding a bit more aggressive. Not that I am second guessing myself.

The run was about what I expected. I didn't quite get mowed down but there is a clear distinction between real runners and what I attempted to do. It was a solid run for me but I am still out of my league in this area. My open HM time was only better than one person in the top 10.

Retrospect

A lot of people have asked me why I didn't try to squeeze out that final 2:49. I know I could have done that easily. If I was to have the same race again, then I would make a few adjustments that would have saved me at least 3 minutes. But that wasn't the point of the race. I wasn't trying to go sub-5. I actually didn't think it was all that possible for me on that course.

As I mentioned, I knew when I started the run it was possible. But when I began to bonk I saw it slip away. But I was not willing to give up on an otherwise great race. I kept trying to push. So I definitely don't regret not pushing at times to save another 2:49. I think I executed like I want in races. Plus it still leaves a small carrot in front of me. I know sub-5 is achievable for me on a number of course so I am not overly worried about it.

I am however, slightly mad at myself for not pushing harder on the run. I let a guy in my age group pass me on the final hill. I let another pass me with about a mile and half to go. I shouldn't allow this to happen that late in a race. I need to remember that it is a race until the finish line. I don't care that I would have been 5th rather than 7th in my age group. I care more that I let down my guard.

Kudos

I need to provide a few kudos to people that helped me along the way. First, thanks to all3sports for believing in me and providing me the gear and technical expertise to perform well. It is a different feeling when you know you represent a notable brand out there. Second, I want to thank Dan Arnett and Endurance Concepts for his coaching and guidance. I have trained with Dan for two years and there is no doubt that I am a better athlete today from the experience.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my loving girlfriend, Jessica. She continues to show me unbelievable support in my racing and goes far beyond what is expected of her. This marks the second straight year that she sacrificed her Mother's Day to tend to my needs. For that and the countless other things she does, I am a very lucky and grateful person.

John Tanner Results

First race of the season is under the belt and it did not disappoint. There were thrills, chills and some downright ugly weather. Despite the beautiful weather of the week, Mother Nature brought her scorn upon Georgia Friday night and Saturday morning. Many of us questioned still participating in the race.

John Tanner State Park is located an hour west of Atlanta in Carrolton. We departed around 5:30 to make the drive and thankfully we left in time. It poured and poured and poured on the way there. In fact we encountered three different wrecks...two involving flipped cars. I again questioned my sanity for the day.

I arrived in plenty of time and took the opportunity to spend a few extra minutes in the car relaxing. I headed to transition only to find myself one of the first people there. The rain had slowed to an annoying sprinkle, just enough to get the gear wet. I found my way to body marking, the bathroom and back to the car.

I didn't see much use in warming up that morning. It was cold, I was wet and I just hoped for the best. I slipped into my wetsuit and made my way to the water for a brief warmup. The race combined the M30-34 & 35-39 into one wave. I was feeling pretty confident in my swimming so I seeded myself in the second line of people.

Swim (600m):

Hands down this was the most physical swim I ever encountered. The first 200m were a melee of punches, pulls and kicks. I can only recall one other race where I seriously grew concerned about being trampled. I was concerned. The fight was intense as we made our way to the first turn buoy. It finally spread out a bit. I was exhausted. I felt spent after fighting through the mess. I focused in on long smooth strokes and finding feet. Unfortunately, the idiot in front of me couldn't swim a straight line to save his life. I tried to get around him a number of times and if I didn't know any better he was trying to block me at every turn. I finally went over the top of him as I felt it was my only opportunity.

I came out of the water in worse shape than I wanted. My watch read 9:40. I was thrilled with the time and it was a solid minute faster than normal. I did however feel like I drank half the lake. I carefully made my way up the hill toward transition.

Total time: 10:42

T1:

I wasn't feeling so hot making my way to my bike. I took my time getting out of the wetsuit and few extra breaths before grabbing the bike. I wasn't trying to make up any time right here.

Total Time: N/A Est: 1:45

Bike (11.4 miles):

I set out to hammer this course. My plan was to make up all my time in the straights but take every turn extremely slow. The roads were soaked and the rain was still slowly falling. Immediately, I got up to speed but was still feeling the effects of the physical swim. I tried to push but the body was pushing back a bit.

The course was rolling fast with only one sustainable climb and maybe two shorter ones. I knew I was being aggressive in my pace but my watts were much lower than where I anticipated. Plus I got passed by 4 people which I didn't expect.

I took each turn at a snails pace. I didn't see any need to wipe out at the first race of the season. I ended up pulling 3 guys for the final 10 minutes which didn't make me happy at all. I did see a fair amount of drafting in the race.

Overall, it was an ok bike for me. I felt really flat. I took 3 sips of my nutrition and spit it back out. It took a solid 20 minutes for my HR and stomach to stabilize. I knew I had made up some time but it wouldn't be enough.

Total Time: 30:30 ish

T2

Good dismount and it took an extra second to find my bike rack. I hopped in my shoes and came running out in no time.

Total Time: N/A est :45

Run: (3.1 miles)

As usual, I knew I was in trouble here. My run has not been there since ING. In fact, this past week was the first week in a month where I was actually able to hit my running targets for the week. I knew I was in a good position and didn't have the opportunity to slow.

The first mile was a painful 7:06 but I was pleased. The next mile of rollers knocked me back down to 7:30s and I was getting passed left and right. This continues to be a humbling feeling each and every race. I managed to hold on for the last mile at a rate of 7:15. I had the course just short which pleased me.

Total Time: 22:02

Overall Time: 1:05:35

In retrospect, I am pleased with the race. It wasn't good but it was far from bad. I came out of the water slightly ahead of schedule. I wished I had more oomph on the bike. My run, while still dismal, is able a minute faster than last year. So there is a line of good news somewhere in there.

Results:

	Swim	T1/Bike/T2	Run	Finish
Andrew	10:42	0:32:50	22:02	1:05:35
Top 10	9:06	0:31:20	18:48	0:59:15
Fastest	7:46	0:30:28	16:47	0:56:37
AG Rank (40)	11	5	15	6
OA Rank (492)	56	26	116	43

Finding Nemo

My transition back to the pool this week took a different turn. After years of talking the talk, I finally walked the walk. I attending my first masters class. This has been a goal for years. No longer can I rely on physical strength to power my way the water. I need a strong focus on becoming more efficient and faster. It is time to train my weakness.

Masters carries with it a very intimidating vibe--the notion that dozens of great swimmers will engulf you or workouts that are so convoluted that you are the one asking dumb questions. It kinda felt like the first day in a new school. Fortunately I had visited the center before so at least I didn't go looking for the pool on the roof.

Alas, I set my alarm for 5 am. It came early. Hmpf. I rolled out of bed and got moving. I am was the early bird, arriving at the facilities 20 minutes before class. In fact, only three cars lined the parking lot. I decided to stay in the warm car until closer to time.

I nervously made my way into the pool area and introduced myself to the coach and explained my situation. She seemed eager to tackle a new project. I then made my way to the pool deck looking all the people who clearly knew what they were doing and had all kinds of fancy toys. I waited patiently to be told what to do. Fortunately, I found another swimmer that was relatively new so we jumped into the lane together.

It was really nice to work with a coach and begin to understand how to improve my stroke. It was even better to be in a nice, cool pool as opposed to the sauna of a pool at the gym. In the end, the workout lasted about an hour and only covered 2500 yards.

It was much more difficult to get out of bed this morning. I think my body is in shock from the sudden schedule shift. The swim went great. I am definitely working hard in the pool and training much different than before. Hopefully a few months of this will really pay off.

Special thanks to Dynamo and all3sports for their partnership.