Cooper River Bridge Run Race Report

So a couple weeks after the first race of the season I have finally gotten around to getting my thoughts down on “paper”. I have run this race multiple times but had to miss the past two years due to schedule conflicts from school, but the excitement from getting to run this year was awesome. For those not familiar with the race it is a 10K road race that starts in Mt. Pleasant, SC, runs over the Cooper River Bridge and finishes in historic downtown Charleston. The energy at this race is unlike any other that I have raced before. It is run on a 4 lane highway with about 39,999 of your closest running buddies and a band playing on the side of the road about every .25 miles. Logistically this race is kind of a nightmare being that it is a point to point race with thousands of other runners that need a ride, navigating the scene can be a challenge but we had a great support crew in the form of my cousins Wayne and Sandy, actually without them the race would not have been nearly as enjoyable. I also go to enjoy the event with my brother, Justin, who we just celebrated his return from “Afghaniland” after a 1 year deployment (thank you for your service!). Also in the group is Justin’s girlfriend Ashley (brunette) and her friend in dental school Erin. 

So once they got us to the starting line about 6:30am (race start at 0800) and we had plenty of time to snap some pictures, get stretched out, do some people watching and get ready for the gun to go off. Just as I made my way to the corral I heard the announcer mention the top three seeds for the males and females. The surprising/very cool announcement I heard was that the#2 seeded female was Lexington, KY’s very own Allison Morgan and only a short 33:57 later she crossed the finish line in 9^th place.

This was the first year I got to start with the other front runners and so I was able to cross the start line just a couple of seconds after the gun went off. However my brother and the ladies were not as fortunate, they got to the line about 13 minutes after the gun. But anyway this gave me a huge advantage over previous years because I was able to get a quick start with little traffic. The first mile was adrenaline and GU fueled with a slight downhill that allowed me to clock the first mile at 5:35, also my fastest mile of the day. The second mile finished just at the base of the bridge starting an uphill mile and the third mile was finished out on the downhill side of the bridge. Once the uphill started the runners began to separate and the crowd began to thin. This is when my lungs started to burn a bit and the legs could feel the incline. Once the pain started it didn’t really stop the rest of the race. Which can be expected in such a short race, the entire thing should be all out. After the halfway point (3.1km at ~18:20) I settled into my rhythm and it was smooth-ish sailing from there. After the pinnacle on the bridge there was a slight decline to the dead flat of Meeting Street. Once the little group that I was in hit the streets they started to pull away a little bit and this is where the mental games started with just over 2 miles to go. The pain in my legs was there with the demoralizing view of runners pulling away from me but I did not want to cross the finish line just a couple seconds over my goal time (37:00) so I gritted the teeth and pushed through the final two miles in a time of 36:54.

By no means is this a blistering time but it was a personal best of mine at the 10K distance and good enough for a top 25 in my age group. I think that with some more speed work and strength training drills I can gain some speed and translate it over to my 70.3 races this year. Special congrats to the girls who both had a solid run in along with Justin who, after being away form the races for a year, came back strong with a solid finish.

Another thank you again to Sandy and Wayne for all the help with transport for the entire day, along with all their hospitability hosting me for the race. Looking forward to the race again next year!

Boston 2014

 

First and foremost I want to express my condolences with regards to the tragedy that occurred in Boston marring such a sacred event. Not only has the safety and peace at mind of our country been attacked but on a more personal level the endurance community has been attacked. For such a positive environment and the only competition in which there are no real “losers”. Finishing is a win and the most fierce competition is yourself and your desire to improve. That’s what makes this travesty so much more personal, that someone has attacked that very desire and passion that is endurance racing. The only thing that is sicker than attacking the race is that they attacked the most positive feature of endurance racing, the part of the event that we could not finish without, the family members, volunteers, and spectators. The people that have supported racers through all the training. They stand out there for hours in the heat and in the cold to make sure we can get water as we go running by, these are the people that paid the ultimate price on Monday.

Regardless of how we feel about what happened we must look into the future and, as civilians, we have to support each other, and as athletes we should do it best way we know how. Every time you sign up for an event, train harder than the week before, and get that PR you are standing up for the American way of life. To persevere and stand proud in the face of adversity, this is a task we thrive at and we look forward to on a daily basis. It is what we pride ourselves on through training and racing. The actions that occurred on April 15^th 2013 will not be forgotten, lives were taken and families were changed that day. Our response must be echoed in our performance and attendance at future races, we cannot let them scare us into staying in our homes or else we provide them with a victory, they will not take our enduring spirit.

Boston 2014 will be here before you know it, qualifying races are already on the calendar, I hope to see you there.

4 More Ways Serious Competitors Think Differently

In a recent blog post, written by fellow serious athlete Jeff Cain, “4 Ways thatSerious Athletes Live their Lives Differently” is spelled out to great, and scary, precision. Upon reading his list and explanations, my creativity started to flow and the gears started to turn.  I was actually thinking of a few more ways in which these athletes stand apart from the crowd (other than wearing spandex in public). There are many different aspects of life that the obsession of sport and fitness roll over too, actually come to think of there isn’t an aspect of life that this… thing, doesn’t spread into. Which leads me into the title of this blog post. However if you have not read Jeff’s post from February 20^th on his blog On My Way To Sparta please read.

Number one: Spontaneity is considered nightmare.

These athletes know that there are things they can control going into the event; sleep, food, the amount of training they finely tune their body with, the amount of air they put in their tires and the precise amount of nutrition they will carry during the race. They do all this keeping in mind that there will be things far beyond their control; the weather, heat, humidity, flat tires, an uncoordinated cyclist going through the field, and even last minutes changes to the course as the starting gun goes off. These unknowns haunt the minds of serious athletes and foresight has become the normal way of thinking. This is not to say that a serious athlete has to have control over every aspect of their lives and the people around them, but don’t expect them to go out for unplanned drinks after work, they may need a week (or two) heads up.

Number two: Serious athletes do not consider themselves fun.

This is not to say a serious athlete unbearable to have as good company, in fact in the right situation they can be quite fun. However they do not classify themselves as the “fun-one” of the circles the find themselves in. A serious athlete will not brag to you about how hard they partied the previous weekend, and the very serious ones wont even brag to you about the amount of training (no matter how many miles they put in) they did this morning. They will however tell you about a nagging injury discuss a schedule conflict with you that interfere with the hours of the pool. If they want to have ”social time” they might go on a group ride or do burpees at a gym with some other athletes, not chat around the water cooler about who won at the Oscars.

Number three: Serious athletes will waste nothing.

This goes not so much for material things (though some athletes can be very frugal) but rather time and energy. These people will find something to do almost every waking minute, because they know there are only 24 hours in a day to get done 26 hours worth of workouts, chores, work, and family time. Each hour represents 4.16% of the day, now that you have a number to quantify each hour maybe think about your time in that sense. Let me know if that changes the way you go about your day… Serious athletes think of energy in terms of a zero sum game. They only get out of something the energy that they put in. So if it a situation or a project where the outcome does not seem to justify the energy spent doing it they simply wont or better yet find a way to make it more efficient. Wasted energy on project is still wasted and could be directed somewhere else.

Number four: They embrace the pain of the work.

Many people who go the gym will find any distraction that gets them to forget or not notice that they have been on the treadmill for 27 minutes. Weather it be an iPod, a tv or magazine that they choose for a distraction, chances are that if it were not for that outlet the 27 minutes on the treadmill would have been a much shorter 0 minutes. The serious athlete embraces this challenge to get through the 2 hour dreadmill session regardless of entertainment options. If they head to the gym to discover their iPod is out of batteries they’ll find a treadmill closes to the window and occupy themselves with an internal motivation that they rely on to fuel their dreams. As Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack said one time “Embrace the Suck” To serious athletes this means that they take the pain and turn it into something useful, maybe the energy as mentioned in number 3 or maybe even the thought that this pain will get them to the finish line faster in race season. Whatever it may be they understand that the work has to get done and will not let the absence of a distraction or the pain or boredom to stop that forward motion. These are little things they have learned to overcome and will not let them stand in the way of progress.

So this is my addition to Jeff Cain’s 4 ways and I encourage you to think about any ways that make your life different to accommodate sport or some other passion in your life. Because it is only a true passion if it is something that you can change your whole life (hopefully for the better in a positive direction).

Until next time keep training

-T

Take Over, The Breaks Over!

Even though spring is only making few appearances in Lexington, training has been revving up and getting on track. With school winding down and the race schedule coming together we may see the perfect storm for a good quality season of racing. I couldn’t feel more prepared coming off a couple months of unstructured training and just enjoying life for a while. It was the perfect break both mentally and physically so now its time to ensure that the proper work gets done and I stay focused on the quantity and quality of the workouts are increasing.  That being said my main focus on this season will be the Half-Iron distance, so most of my training days will be designed with that distance in mind.

As far as my schedule is concerned it’s panning out quite nicely. The schedule page has been updated and my first two races will be in some sunny places, very motivated about a good showing in the first tri of the season.

In other news I have an exciting announcement…  Late in 2012 I applied for sponsorship from TriSports.com, a multisport retailer based in Tucson, AZ. Well as of early January I am part of their Champions Team. The team is made up of about 60 athletes from all over the country. WE will be racing in the red white and blue kits this summer so look for a Trisports jersey at your next race and ask them about how to get some good deals on some great gear.

If your in the market for some cool stuff you can head on over to their website by clicking the link on the right side of my page. Use coupon code TALBRECHT, this will be good for 15%off

Since the training is winding up and the season will be starting soon check back for some more frequent updates.

Until next time, keep training!

-T

The Off-Season Un-Done

With this just being the first month of about a 10 weeks of some unstructured training in the Bluegrass I decided to cruise some popular triathlon websites for a little off season training advice. Something that would keep me in some sort fitness and wouldn’t allow me to undo the entire summer. What I found was actually quite different than what my mind and body needed. There were pages and pages of very intense very structured workout and training plans for the extreme athlete who after a long season of racing says “What off season?” In my humble opinion, however limited of experience that may be, this sounds like a recipe for burnout disaster.

Now this doesn’t mean that you have to totally abandon the sports. I have been recently taking the trail bike out more than I ever could during the summer months of highly specific training. In fact this time of year is great to just play it by ear and explore different types of outdoor fun such as kayaking, mountain biking, some trail running, or snow skiing. The point is that you can still be active and stay in shape but try to take the stress out of a strict schedule for all your workouts and just have some fun and involve as many friends as you can.

The off-season is something that you should cherish as a triathlete. This can give you the opportunity to catch up with old friends, make some new ones, travel (without a bike) and maybe get that project at work done that’s been sitting in your inbox for the past couple of months. The off-season is also a great time to sit down and develop your goals for next year. It can provide a great learning point where you can evaluate where you are and where you want to be, giving you a couple of weeks to self evaluate the important things in your life, how you have handled challenges in the past and how you will manage the challenges faced in the future.

There are times in our lives when we feel like we are the forgotten and left out to dry. We can easily see how we want the things in our life to pan out however we also see the work that we need to do in order to get ourselves into that life, this is were your character come out. You can fold and just try to make the best of a bad situation and let that situation define you or you can turn that bad situation into a turning point that you define and capitalize on and grow to make yourself stronger and better prepared to deal with adversity. In order to really appreciate the hard work and the little victories in life you have to have been in dyer straights. You have to be in the loneliest place, down overwhelmed, and feel completely defeated in order to really appreciate success, victory, and unconditional love

So drink a few extra cups of coffee while you enjoy not having (but rather wanting) to run 10 miles this morning or enjoy a beer by the fire tonight, hang out with some loved ones, and do all those little things you usually give up in order to be in peak performance. The structured workouts and racing season will be here before you know it.

Season Recap

Contradictory to the schedule page, I decided not to race in the Rev 3 South Carolina this past weekend due to time constraints, lack of training, and just some overall fatigue. I can only figure that it’s a mix of over training for Louisville followed by not enough time off making for a very sore triathlete. So with the exception of the Thanksgiving 5K my season is winding down and I am enjoying some rest and relaxation.

Overall I am very pleased with the season, I had a finish at IM Louisville with a PR and did really well (despite a timing chip error) in Rev 3 Knoxville. However the achievement I was happiest with this year was the 70.3 distance race at Taylorsville Lake in KY. I’m not sure if it was the cool temps, the proper race prep, or the fact I got to sleep in my own bed the night before but the entire race went smoothly. A 4^th place finish and a PR at that distance I was pumped. Sadly I was not able to replicate or really build off this finish later in the year but the next season will not include an Ironman so I will be decreasing the volume a bit and making the workouts more focused and specific rather than just going out for a ride

But before I get into the things I need to improve on and positive notes from the season I would like to say thanks for all the support that I have received over the season. It would not be possible without the support of my parents, family and friends along with everyone who volunteers at races. I recently got the opportunity to support one of my friends at a race (drive to the race, carry gear, tune up the bike, take pics…) It was a very fun experience, getting to get up early, go the race, and then when the gun goes off I get to drink some coffee. If you ever get the opportunity to support a friend or loved one I highly suggest it, especially if you’re an athlete or just a fan of the sport.

Positive Notes

Swim has improved greatly; I’m talking 10-20 seconds improvement per 100meters over last season

The bike is coming along with a 2mph average gain over the ironman in 2012

The run was consistent… (but not fast enough)

Things to improve upon

Continue to improve on the swim, there ahs been great strides but challenge myself in the pool, maybe move up to another lane in the masters class

Nail the nutrition early in the season, devise a plan that works in training and carry that over to the racecourse

Start a weight/resistance training program in the off-season

Speed Training

Have some fun/unstructured/ social workouts during the off season and have some of these days in the regular season as well

Proper taper period; proper rest is just as important as proper training

Stay Focused- Make Every Workout Count!

Looking Forward

The season next year is already starting to take shape. The “Rock & Roll” half marathon people have already set a date for a race in March at Keeneland along with another staple in my season will be the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston SC. I have run this race before due to some wonderful family in the area and I have missed the past couple of years due to blocks. Well not anymore, I will make it down for 2013 run (10k foot race across the Cooper River Bridge and then through beautiful down town Charleston).

Following these races will be graduation, May 3^rd, then either St. Croix 70.3, not really sure if the logistics will allow so Rev 3 Knoxville will be my alternative. After this the rest of my season is pretty open with a few other staples such as the Bourbon Chase.

I am very excited to get into a new training format and will post any useful tips I come across during the winter training.

Bourbon Chase

 

Hey Everyone!

I know I just posted my report from last weekend but I also wanted to let everyone know that they can follow the Drug Runners this weekend at the bourbon chase. For those of you unfamiliar with the chase it's a 200mile relay that goes through the heart of bourbon country. All you have to do is gather 11 of you best running buddies, get 2 mini-vans, and a taste for bourbon and you are on your way. As you can probably guess my team, the Drug Runners, is made up mostly of classmates and professors form the College of Pharmacy.

Follow the link below to track our team

Bourbonchase.com and click the rundwn link, were team 445

Then when you see our projected finish time come down the finish line at Triangle Park for plenty of Bourbon samples!!

Hope to see you there!