1st and 2nd at Valdese Triathlon!

Me(Teddy) and Ryan prepare to start 1-2 in the time trial pool start. It was sweet starting first, it seemed like we were the only ones in the pool. Ryan started 30 seconds before me and of course rocketed through the pool in impressive fashion.

This is a picture of me literally less than 2 seconds before I was face down on the pavement. I had some scrapes and bruises(still do), but no real damage other than my pride. I had a large audience..

The run was a nice change from the bike course which was nothing but hills and sharp, blind turns. Ryan had the better day on the bike and in the pool, but once I finally caught sight of him, I figured I would try and catch up to him and ask him if he liked his new bike and talk about the weather, which was quite nice.

What a race! I think I can speak for Ryan, we certainly had a good time. 1st and 2nd is a nice way to round out the day.

Lake James Triathlon

Perfect day for a race! And a great place to have it! Many improvements from last years race, not the least of which was about 8 degrees cooler. I had a terrible swim, my sighting was quite bad. And on the last 300 meters I couldnt see a darn thing because of the sun. Should have worn my tinted glasses, but they tend to leak...

I came out of the water fourth in my wave and jumped on my bike. After a couple miles I felt great for some reason. This was a lot of the same roads as the May Day biathlon a few weeks ago, in which I felt awful on the bike. I averaged about 2 miles an hour faster today than I did in that race. This was a very challenging course, but man was it beautiful!

I came into t2 with what I thought was a pretty good lead, and stretched it out some more on the 3.2 mile trail run. It felt like a completely different race from last year. Shady and cool. I crossed the line first, and coming a few minutes behind me were Aaron Major and Kelly Droege who fought it out for second and third, with 21 seconds separating them! Karen Brazinski took the women's race, congrats to her. Thanks to all the sponsors and volunteers, it was a great day at the lake. Also, thank you cycle wright for the first place awards! This is a fantastic course, hopefully more people will join us next year!

Shout out to Pat Rimron. Sorry you were not able to race man! I have a feeling it would have been a close race between us, as it always is!

Knoxville Rev3 Half Ironman Triathlon

Rev3 Knoxville was a great venue and I had a spectacular time racing there this past weekend. The temperature was a perfect 60 degrees and the fore-casted rain held off for both the Olympic distance and Half Ironman races.  Rev3 puts on a top-notch race & I would highly recommend their race series to others looking for a well-organized, family friendly and fun experience.

To my surprise I ended up having a fast race on the tough swim, bike and run courses and placed 1st in my Age group and 9th female overall!  To read about some humorous highlights of my race experience, visit our sponsor  - FastPivot's website, to read the article written and published by Jonathan Poston. 

St. Anthony's Race Report

May 1^st 2011, at 4am I awoke and starting moving around.  Transition opened at 4:45 and would close at 6:45 before the pro start at 6:50.  Even though my swim wave was not scheduled till 8:45 I had to go and set up transition before 6:45.  We left our beach rental for the 15 minute drive to the race site at 5:00am.  I wanted enough time to determine whether I would race with the Renn Disc I recently received.  When we got there the wind was howling and the event organizers had decided to move and shorten the swim course due to conditions on the water.  The swim course was moved half a mile north to a more protected beach and the distance was shortened to 1000 meters.  I was glad I got there early as I did not want to try and ride a disc for the first time in winds gusting up to 20 miles per hour.  I went to transition with deep dish in hand. 

Arriving in transition was a bit surreal. I had never been in a race this large. 4000 triathletes signed up for this event and were all moving in and out of transition pumping tires and readying their sites.  At that point I realized I had not brought rubber bands for my new aero bottle to attach to the aero bars.  I had to go back to the car and get zip ties to secure the water bottle in place.  When I returned and was in transition setting up my water bottle I heard the announcer over the speaker say 3 minutes till you are locked into transition.

6:45 I went to the exit of the swim to watch the pro waves exit the water.  Still 2 hours till my wave.  Andy Potts was first out of the water followed closely by Cameron Dye and Matty Reed.  It was awesome to see these guys come flying through.  By the time my wave started they would complete the course in roughly an hour and forty minutes.   After watching the pro’s and the first couple of waves exit the water I went over to the swim start area and watched a couple of waves starts.  I then went and waited in line for the ceremonial bathroom stop and proceeded into the water to warm up.  I swam inside the perimeter of the course for about 500 yards for a warm up and exited the water to see my training partner Brad Miller line up for his start. 

10 minutes till my wave, my age group 40-44, had 3 waves of 150 athletes each.  I lined up in the coral and took a seat at the front inside and waited, 5 minutes to go we entered the starting coral.  I lined up inside and at the front.  1 minute… then the horn went off.  Running into the water I was around 3rd and immediately opened a gap on the field.  When I rounded the first buoy I was at least 20 yards ahead of my wave.  About 1/3 of the way through the swim I encountered traffic from the wave that started 5 minutes in front of me these were guys in my age group and I had already made 5 minutes on them.  Feeling good I quickly moved through them.  Before I knew it I was approaching the final turn.  As I got close to the final buoy the water became significantly rougher and sighting was difficult.  I rounded the last buoy and headed to the beach. 

Once I hit the beach there was a half mile run to T1. After passing what seemed like 100 people on the run to T1, dodging a volunteer, and running past my bike in transition this took more than 4:00 minutes.  Now out on the course I had been worried about traffic on the course and it was challenging to maneuver but it felt like it was helpful with all the wind.  Early in the bike I had one guy come around me and I moved into position 3 bike lengths behind him.  He was a strong cyclist and was accelerating hard out of every corner.  We got into some traffic in the corners and he got away from me.  This was probably just as well because I was really pushing to keep in contact with him.  I was pretty confident that I was 5:00 minutes ahead of him anyway as no one in my wave was anywhere near me on the swim exit.  For 25 miles I passed a steady stream of people on the bike course continually letting them know I was on their left.  A couple of corners were tricky especially with the traffic. I actually touched a pedal down in one corner near the golf course about half way through the course.  Additionally, I came up on a couple of cyclist fairly quickly and had to maneuver abruptly.  I settled down enough at the end of the bike to GU and have a couple of sips of water. Water had been tough during the ride; I had a hard time swallowing more than a sip or two at a time and ended up spitting a lot of water out and on my bike. Completing the bike there continued to be traffic going into T2.  I was in and out of T2 fairly quickly and out on the run.  I remembered to try and push the first mile to hopefully get my legs going.  The heat was a big factor though and I had not been able to eat and drink according to plan on the bike.  I think I was able to drink most of one bottle before refilling at the water stop, but had most of the water in my bottle entering T2. 

On the run I continued to pass many people and held my own getting passed by only 3 people in my age group. These were the people in the wave ahead of me that I passed on the swim and held off on the bike.  Coming into the finish I came up next to a guy just before the 6 mile marker and started to sprint.  We took it all the way in the final .2 miles.  When I came around the corner I was psyched to see the race clock reading under 4 hours.  My goal time was 2:05 which would have been 4:00:00 on the race clock and when I rounded the corner the clock read 3:57:00.

I crossed the finish line and was handed a cold towel and stood under a hose.  Thanks to the volunteer who took off my timing chip while I sweated all over her.  I had time to find my family and friends and then waited in line for my results.  I went to the results tent, told them my race number and they printed out a receipt.  I finished 1^st in my Age Group by: 46 sec with a 2:03:01. Other AG results 1^st fastest swim, 4^th fastest bike, 22^nd on the run.

I wanted to first Congratulate my wife Leah who won her age group in the Meek and Mighty triathlon on Saturday, and thank her for all of her support this past week. Wyatt Miller (Brad Miller's son) also won his age group at that race. Congrats to my training partners, Brad Miller 35-39,(who took 1^st place in his age group by 11 minutes) and Joe Miller 55-59, (who came in 10^th in his age group). We now have 2 weeks to claim our qualifying spots in Des Moines for the 5150 World Championships.  All in all it was still a great start to the 2011 race season and even better to get a win in the process!

Spring Fever Olympic Distance Triathlon 2011 - TN

Daphne post race - Spring Fever Triathlon 2011

Well, I ended up starting my triathlon season a little later than I had intended. The Paris Mtn. International distance triathlon set for a few weeks ago in April was cancelled due to bad weather. So I spent the last week or so scrambling to find a comparable race in the area. I really felt like I needed a race to "get back in the triathlon swing of things," especially before my Half Ironman on May 15th. 


I was excited to find the Spring Fever Olympic Distance triathlon this past weekend in Tennessee. I figured it would be a great race to put all the elements together before my big event in a few weeks. I signed up for the race and then realized I better find out how cold the water is, since I have a A-Fib that is effected by extreme temps and I have a sleeveless wetsuit. When I found out that last week the water was only 58 degrees, I started contacting some of my triathlon buddies to see who might have a long sleeve westuit that I could borrow. A friend of mine put me in touch with someone who works for CTS and they had a small BRAND NEW Ironman Phantom Aquasphere sleeved wetsuit that I could borrow. This wetsuit totally rocked! It was made of some incredible fabric and I was blown away at how great it felt in the water. I would highly recommend this suit if you are looking to purchase one anytime in the near future. 

Yes, this is the water we swam in...
and those are cups floating
 amongst the sludge or whatever it is...
 During the 1500 meter swim I was convinced
 I was getting ecoli, fortunately no signs of it yet!

Swim: I got in the freezin' water with my amazing wetsuit and put my face in the water and wowsers it was shockingly cold! I started the swim with the under 40 gals and we made our way across the murky lake through a cove and around to the other side of the lake. It was hard to figure out where to go, the buoys were really balloons and some girls were going inside the buoys and some were staying outside of them. I tried to draft off of two girls for a bit but they didn't seem to be going the pace that I wanted to go so I went past them. Prior to the swim, all the TN girls were talking about this one swimmer girl that was "gonna be the fastest one out of the water..." I was tickled when I spotted her and past by her on the swim too. So I kept a nice steady pace throughout the swim. I felt really good, got in a nice rhythm and just kept at it. I ended up getting to the shore first, and since I was the first female to come out of the water, I didn't have any other girls to see where I was supposed to go. So I stood up on some rocks (later to find out that in between the rocks was a small path that you were supposed to run through to get out of the water, but I didn't see it when I was coming out of the swim), and it was all I could do to keep my balance. They were sooo slippery and my feet were aching badly from stepping on them trying to get out. Finally, I reached the shore and started trying to get this wetsuit off as I was running. That didn't work out too well so I got to my spot in transition and had a tough time getting out of the suit. Then I stood there for a bit (I think a bit stunned from the cold water and my feet were throbbing from the slippery rocks) and tried to get things in order to get on the bike. I swear that transition was the longest one I probably have ever had. 


BIKE: So I climb on the bike and I hear this guy yelling to the girl getting on the bike beside me, that she is in first place. I was thinking, yea not for long chicka! So I blazed past her on the bike and never saw her again. I actually only saw one person ahead of me on the bike and that was my fellow Asheville Tri Club member Frank Melvin. I had him in my sight for the first 4 or so miles of the bike. Then we got to a spot where we made a right turn but after that right turn there was an arrow on the road going straight and then another one on the road in red going to the LEFT. I was trying to recall from the race meeting if they said what color arrows we were supposed to take... but I couldn't remember them mentioning this. So I saw that Frank went straight thru the green arrow. After a few minutes, I didn't see him anymore and I didn't see anything on the road and I just had a really weird feeling that this wasn't the right way. So following my intuition, I turned my bike around and went back to the girl that was standing on the one corner. I yelled to her, "Which way does the Olympic route go? Straight or LEFT? She said, LEFT on Butternut, buttercup" (or whatever the name of the road was). So sure enough I had made a wrong turn. I felt bad for Frank, who was long gone by that point... So I got on the "Butternut" road and high tailed it outta there. It was non-stop hills (my Garmin at end of race said 1700' elevation change), which I typically prefer and like.. but I am finding them difficult on my new tri bike. I actually let out a laugh going up one steep one... it felt like I was pulling a car up the hill on the back of my bike. The downhills were FAST and FUN but they really weren't noticeable until the last few miles of the race. I never felt like I could get in a rhythm or groove on the bike and the front of my quads were killing me!


Run: I got back into transition, not sure if I was still first female in the race, with my wrong turn but as I started running I didn't see any girls pass me on the 2 loop course. I saw 2 girls come in not far behind me after the bike leg. One of the girls looked like a strong runner and I was right about that. So the first mile, as with any triathlon, I was just trying to get my legs under me to cooperate. They really weren't that shot and my quads were actually thanking me for using different muscles during the run. I started passing guys on the run and kept picking up the pace I was going along. I really wish that they would have had mile markers on the run (and the bike) for that matter... I had no idea how I was doing with pacing with my Timex watch and no markers. I was just winging it and going by effort. I got in a good run rhythm... just felt like I could keep that pace for a long time. I noticed as I did different turns and loops during the run that the "runner girl" was gaining on me. I was holding her off but her pace was definitely quicker than mine. Coming into the last 1/4 mile, I could hear her huffing and puffing and panting behind me, I was thinking to myself that I definitely wasn't making myself hurt like that... so she went past me and I hung on her heels for a bit but she kept picking it up. She ended up coming in :10 in front of me for 1st place. I took 2nd place and was pleased with that results for my 1st triathlon race of this year and with my kinks and mishaps. I feel a lot better going into the Knoxville Half IM in a couple weeks. I feel ready for it now and was glad to have had this experience as a tune up race


Just wanted to give a special thanks to Hearn's Cycling Shop (our great bike sponsor), I realized I had a 23 cassette on my tri bike on Saturday before the race and so I took my bike in and a 25 cassette and they got me hooked up for the race. Also, wanted to thank Tracey with CTS for lending me the awesome Ironman Aquasphere Phantom wetsuit, it really was absolutely amazing in the water. 


Stay tuned for more race reports from the rest of the team!

St. Anthony's race preview

So this is what a transition area for 4,000 people looks like.  Went by the race site today and they are already setting up for the event.  The field is limited to 4,000 triathletes.  St. Anthony's is in its 28th year.  I will be competing with 450 athletes in my age group this weekend and hope to bring in a top 10 finish.  I have been in races that are 450 total participants not just my age group.  The 40-44 men are divided into three waves, 150 in each wave. This is the biggest race I have ever seen much less participated in.  Driving into transition last night I felt my pulse increase rapidly.  I am looking forward to this opportunity this weekend to see how I stack up with this large age group field. 

Lake Junaluska Duathlon 4/9

First local multi sport race of the year, and I was excited! The weather was perfect and the course was beautiful. We started out the run around the lake and I tried to put some distance between me and the current long course duathlon national champion female Gail Kattouf. I had a quick T1, and was off on the bike with a decent lead. The bike was hairy at times with the traffic and the motorcycle escort I was following. Lets just say it wasnt ideal! It was difficult to keep up the pace when I was all alone with nobody in sight! Not used to that. Coming back towards the lake the escort missed a turn, but I saw the arrows on the road and made the right turn. I wasnt sure if I had gone the wrong way, so I stopped and waited for the bike to come back and lead on.

After traversing some sharp turns and steep hills I made it back to transition and was off on one more tour of the lake. I still couldnt see anyone behind me, so I was able to take it a little easier than the first run. Coming in right behind me were Andrew Stenberge and Gail Kattouf. It was a super fun morning, I wish I didnt have to rush off to Chattanooga right after I finished. 4 hours in the car isnt my first choice of activities after a race. Shout out to Mike Lahm, back in the saddle buddy!

Check out all the race photos @: http://paulchristopher.smugmug.com/
Thanks for the photos Paul!

Group rides have started!

Join us for group rides 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at Hearns 5:30pm. Rides will be 1.5-2.5 hours at a recovery pace(13 to 16 mph average). There will be climbing as this is Asheville. Routes will usually go up town mountain or elk mountain. See you at the next ride on April 11th..

Du the farm Duathlon, Savannah GA

What a great day for a race! Yoko and I were down in savannah to visit her sister and I found this duathlon on the Savannah track club website. It was a 5k trail run around a really nice lake, then a fast and windy 10 mile bike, and then another 5k on the same course. I started out with a pretty decent lead after the first 5k, but local guys Ryan Williams and Brian Shreve were going to make it interesting on the bike. At the turn around I saw Ryan had made up a good bit of ground on me, but I had a feeling if I could get off the bike first I was in good shape. After following the police escort back into the farm area, I hopped off the bike and finished up the 5k. It was a super fun morning, great volunteers and a fantastic place for multi sport events. I am going to be in Charleston which is only an hour away on the date of the triathlon, maybe I can make it for that as well!

coming back from the bike. I wish I could have gotten a little more of a draft from the cop car! maybe next time..

done!

Top 3. Me, Ryan Williams and Brian Shreve respectively.

M

Black Mountain Marathon

I happened to be looking at my workout schedule for the upcoming weekend on Thursday, and was contemplating when and where to do my scheduled 22 mile marathon training run. It was going to be my longest run ever, and I was a little nervous about doing it as I have a sore knee and shin and havent run this week. Then I remembered about the Black Mountain Marathon and Mount Mitchell challenge on Saturday. I knew some people who went out to watch last year, so I was thinking about riding my bike out there and doing likewise this year. But wait! Maybe I could just run the marathon, knee and shin be damned! If I did decide to do it, it meant I could take the next couple of days off from running, which sounded pretty good to me. Maybe by Saturday morning I would be close to healed up! Great idea right?! Right?

Saturday morning rolled around and the nerves were in full force. Was I going to hurt myself really bad? Would I know when to call it if that started to happen? Could I even run 26 miles without complete and proper training?

The race was paired with the Mt Mitchell Challenge, a 40 miler to the summit of Mitchell then back down. We all started together in Black Mountain and headed up past Montreat then on some really great single track. The views were absolutely stunning! And I was feeling fantastic! Ah, 6 miles in anyway. It was great fun chit chatting with fellow runners and trying to figure out if my pace was good, and where I might be at in the marathon. After we exited that really nice section, the trail became a bit more difficult. Loose rocks and roots, gravel and standing water were mainly what the trail consisted of. More like your normal trail race, but this was a marathon or a 40 miler! The danger of twisting an ankle, or worse, doing a face plant were ever present. At an hour and a half I started to look for the marathon leaders to come screaming past me on the way back down to black mountain. It was at this time I tried to eat my first of three(I was hoping) energy gels. It was really tough getting it down, but I did it and washed it down with some water from my hand held. I was so happy I had a bottle with me so I didnt have to stop and get water. Perhaps I should have had some energy drink though...

I saw the leaders of the marathon coming back down, 2 of them, so I knew I was close to the turn around. Then I saw my buddy Mark Ledyard calling my name and I knew I was there. There were a few faces I knew at the turn around on the parkway, it was cool. I glanced up to the summit of Mt Mitchell and thought, man I am glad I am not heading up there! I ran into the turn around aid station and said, "what do I do now?". Monica Curwen said, "Go back down!". So I did. Its all downhill from here! Or thats what I THOUGHT anyway. And I was in third as of then. Feeling really good because I know I can get down some rocky trails pretty quick. I started hauling down the mountain calling out to the racer still coming up. Man I was feeling great! Well, almost. That gel I took was threatening to find its way back up on the jarring of the trail.

After a couple of miles down the trail, it leveled out a bit and I noticed I wasnt alone in third. Damn! I also noticed my energy was flagging alarmingly. Oops. Maybe this wasnt such an awesome idea after all. Me and the guy with me traded the lead for a couple of miles, him getting a lead on the flats, me pulling ahead on the steep sections. But then he told me we werent heading down the way we came up on the soft single track, but down another gravely switchback section AFTER we ran 2 miles of flat trail. And thats where my hopes for getting on the podium slipped away.

I knew I didnt have much in the tank, and definitely not on some flats. No gravity, no way. He pulled ahead and I was alone. All alone. My brain wasnt functioning as it should either. I came to the last couple of miles on the road back into Black Mountain and I started to think I was off course. There was nobody in sight either direction, and though there were flags to follow, I was thinking those were the flags for the course on the way out. By this time I was jogging at best. 9+ minute miles probably. I ran a mile or so and finally saw a guy and asked him if I was on the course, and I was. He then helpfully pointed out I had 12 more minutes to go. "Oh No! There is NO WAY I can run 12 more minutes!", I either thought or said. I put a really scary grimace on my on my face, head down, and kept going. I looked behind me, and inexplicably, there was no one there. Could I somehow still finish top 4? Yes. Barely. On the way around the lake to the finish two guys finally did come up behind me, but I somehow found enough to kick it in a little to hold them off. Right after crossing the line a had to liberate the gel that so badly wanted freedom from my belly. Whoa! A marathon! And a tough one to boot! Thank you to all the support volunteers out on the course, you guys were awesome! I had a fantastic time, for 20 miles anyway!

Triathlon Training Clinic this Thursday!

Our Hearn's Triathlon Racing Team was featured today in a Mountain Express Blog for our upcoming Triathlon Training Clinic this week. Check it out!

If you would like to attend the event, you can sign up here on our Facebook page.

16 mile marathon training run/2nd place at Asheville on Bikes(AOB) tourist trap alley cat! (best day ever!)

Easily one of the top 5 days in all my life. No kidding. Lets start with the weather. It was 50 by 10am! When I started my run at noon it was near 60! Shorts and shirt sleaves weather, which is what I wore. I met my buddy Jeff Hope and we headed up the trails above UNCA, then down to Beaver lake and around. We parted ways at Jus Runnin where I stopped in to get some water and thanks Norm for my new Nikes, which are working out great. I then headed up town mountain and finished off the run with 35 minutes at marathon pace.

Now the real fun began! 10 minutes after returning from my run, Yoko and I got our town bikes out(mine is a viscount converted to a fixed gear circa 1976 I built up at hearns a few years ago) and headed downtown to the asheville on bikes alley cat bike race. The weather was absolutely unbelievable! Mid 60's by this point. We got there with not quite enough time before the race started to get food. Yikes! I need calories! But its all good, I had a gel on my run, and we were going to have to drink a beer somewhere for points I was sure. So there are about 20 or 30 teams all decked out as tourists on all different kinds of sweet bikes. It was amazing. The organizers give us our packets containing all of our destinations and bonus point possibilities and we were all off in different directions! We had a good plan from the start, or should I say, Yoko had a good plan. My mind wasnt working so well, I needed food! Long story shortened, we had an absolutely great time riding all over the city and beyond on such a beautiful day. People were out everywhere enjoying the weather. There were a couple of brain teasers that I had no chance of doing given that my brain works sporadically to begin with, and less so when I am bonking hardcore. But Yoko did an amazing job with those, and we got all of the bonus points! All told we raced around for over 2 hours and did nearly everything on the list. I even went up to the Grove Park Inn and got a picture at the big fire place. We just kept looking at each other and exclaiming what fun we were having and how great the weather was! We came on back to Asheville Pizza and had a nice dinner and waited on awards. What do you know? We got 2nd place! Thank you AOB, keep up the good work! Look forward to the next event you guys put on..

Double Brick 2*(30 min bike + 3 mile run) by ryan.madamba at Garmin Connect - Details

Double Brick 2*(30 min bike + 3 mile run) by ryan.madamba at Garmin Connect - Details

Yesterday was my first day on the track at Amboy Rd for 2011. It was a good one, did a double Brick workout. Starting with warm up then going into 15 minutes at 140 HR, 15 minutes 150 HR, then transition to 9 laps on the track about 3 miles of running. The run was supposed to descend or go faster each mile (3 laps). Then we did it again this time the run ascended pace each mile.

The graph on the Garmin link shows HR and speed over time. You can see the transition from bike to run and run to bike when there is a dip in speed, HR also goes down during transition.

I was happy with this for the first one of the year, and I am looking forward to doing again in the coming weeks to analyze the data. Essentially this was the bike, run leg of an Olympic distance triathlon broken. With about 12 weeks till St. Anthony's I will plan to do this about 8 times before the race it helps with transition and getting the legs ready to run off the bike.

Working out all the kinks with Myers Chiropractic

As a competitive athlete, I am constantly having various aches and pains from training and racing. Today I was fortunate enough to have a much needed chiropractic appointment with Brent Myers at Myer's Chiropractic in Asheville, NC. 

I was always reluctant to use chiropractic care because of a bad experience when I was a pre-teen. However, one of my super, fast runner friends encouraged me to give Brent a try last year when I was battling with a hip injury. Brent has quite the knack for working with the most "hesitant" patients.  He puts patients at ease with his down-to-earth, easy going and fun personality.  His ART therapy (Active Release Therapy) and adjustments have done wonders for me staying healthy and active in my triathlon sports. Brent not only knows how to treat athletes with adjustment and ART, he also has a wealth of knowledge about supplementation that I am always eager to hear when I meet with him. If you are one of those "on the fencers" when it comes to seeing a chiropractor, I would recommend coming tomorrow night to this free party at the chiropractic office. Hope to see you there! 

Wine and Wellness Party at Myer's Chirporactic in Asheville, NC

10 Foods to Fight Inflammation and Keep You Healthy this Cold Season

Start the Year off right, learn how to eat and be healthier 
Come enjoy yummy food, prizes, and a brief talk on foods to fight inflammation, Oh, and a little wine too, heart healthy red of course.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161869593849476

Hot chocolate 10k

Hey, cant win em all. I thought I had a good game plan and was in good enough shape going into this race, but the weather and the course both had a little something up their sleeves. It was cold! who would have guessed? January in the mountains? It was somewhere in the teens at the start I think. Had a good time warming up and chatting with my fellow landscaper Seth. Maybe I would have gone a little harder on him during our warm up if I had known he was going to beat me out of an award even though he wasnt near running shape. Runners...

I feel like I went out very easy, first mile downhill at 5:30, and settled in to what I hoped would be controlled 6 minute miles. Through 3 miles all systems were go, 17:30, but I guess the head wind coming back took a toll on me that I didnt feel. Still not sure where I lost the time, had trouble at the start with my watch, but I had enough to have one of my better miles between 5 and 6. Then came the hill. I had recently passed some of my contemporaries, and gave it all I had to keep them at bay, but was saddened to say the least when I rounded the last STEEP turn and found the clock reading 38 minutes. I mean, really? Well, it was fun, and I gave it everything I had. Felt good and think I raced smart, just didnt reach my ultimate goal of 37 minutes. Another day Mr clock.

Intensity!

Total intensity! Loved it!!

 INTENSE! Is the first word I said after I finished this first race of the 2011 season. I am typically a distance athlete and haven't done just a 5k race for a long, long time. I decided this past week that since I was already going to be doing a long training ride in Greenville, SC on Saturday, that I might as well add a 5k race to the training plan for that day. I thought it would be a good kick start to the season for me and would get those fast twitch muscles moving again.

 

Downhill finish, sweet!

 The Downtown Greenville 5k race was a perfect choice for my race season opener! The race was very well-organized with almost 1800 runners. It was so cold, in the 20s, at the start of the race, that I took as much time as I could just running back and forth to stay somewhat warm. Unfortunately, I placed myself behind about 1000 people in the starting line... and really regretted that as I tried to run my first mile. My first mile was the slowest at a 7:22 pace. I had a difficult time trying to get around people, there was just so many of them! After the first mile, I was able to pick up the pace and get in a nice groove for my 2nd mile, even thought it was uphill I was feeling strong and great. After I saw the 2nd mile mark at 13 minutes, I was thinking, wow, I only have one more mile left... I gotta get going here. I picked it up as much as possible but the headwind and cold was quite challenging to keep a flowing rhythm.

Everything is frozen! Brrr! 20s at start of race!

Almost 1800 runners lining up for race start!

After we rounded the corner at the top of the Main Street, I saw that it was going to be a downhill to the finish line. Yippee!  For this time of year, I was pleased to come out with a 2nd place AG win out of 134 girls in my Age Group. The distance athlete in me really had a hard time getting going til that 3rd mile, but it was so intense and fun and I was so glad that I did it. Immediately after the run it was time to really get some good training in, so I joined in with the good folks at the Carolina Triathlon shop and did the Winter Bike League Ride. We rode a good, steady 63 miles in the blustery cold. I felt great all through the ride and am glad I was able to get all that training in especially in January! My base training is coming along and I am getting excited that I get to start racing more and more!

"Wine & Wellness" at Myer's Chiropractic - Thursday, January 27th

One of our 2011 sponsors - Myer's Chiropractic, is going to be talking about foods to fight inflammation next week at this local "Wine and Wellness event." Come meet our awesome local chiro - Brent Myers!  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161869593849476

Coffee Time

Anyone need a great coffe or amazing pastry.  Filo in East Asheville has joined Hearn's Tri Team as the latest sponsor.

Thanks Maria

Marathon training run-17.4 miles

Really nice day today in Asheville! It has been a pretty tough few weeks with snow and chilly temps. Up in the 40's today was perfect for a long run. Made sure I had plenty of rest and good nutrition this week after not doing such a good job of that last Sunday. Left the house about noon and headed around Montford and then down to Riverside drive. North on Riverside where the traffic was busy but only had to do about 3 miles north there before heading up Elk Mountain rd toward Beaver lake. Some pretty good climbing up elk, but then it leveled out and I took a right to the lake. The track around the lake was a muddy mess, but I soon left that behind and headed up Kimberly then up to Charlotte St.

It dawned on me that my plan to run miles 12 to 15 on the track at UNCA at my marathon pace was not going to work out as the track was probably covered in snow still, so I headed to the YMCA where I hopped on the treadmill and got it done there. It was really hot in there, and I was working pretty hard to stay relaxed and not overheat. My heart rate got up a little high(179) before I was able to get back outside and cool off. It took a mile or so to get back in a groove after that. The pace on the treadmill felt fine, but the heat was a killer. Looking forward to the track becoming an option again.

I toured downtown for a couple of miles after eating a GU energy gel, and started to head back home. This was my longest run in quite a while and the first where I added some marathon pace miles, and I think it was a success. After returning home I took a very hot shower and a nap. Totals for the run are 17.4 miles in 2 hrs 10 minutes(7:28 pace) with 3 miles on the treadmill @ 6:44 pace.

Taking it a little easier this week on the running to get ready for the Hot Chocolate 10k this weekend. First race of 2011! Plenty of swimming and biking though... Thanks for reading!

Teddy

1-13-2011 Press Release

Hearn’s Cycling and Fitness

28 Asheland Ave  Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 253-4800

Press Release

Contact: Ryan Madamba Phone: (828)273-8559

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9 A.M. EDT, January 13, 2011

Hearn’s CyclING and Fitness announces Triathlon Race Team

Asheville, NC January 13, 2011:  Hearn’s Cycling and Fitness announces a new Triathlon Team in Western North Carolina.  Hearn’s has partnered with Run Buddies, a national athletic mentorship program matching adult running mentors with aspiring young runners at risk for childhood obesity. Asheville based team members Daphne Kirkwood, Teddy Park, and Ryan Madamba, will be racing, raising money, and awareness to help treat childhood obesity locally. 

Current figures from the CDC put North Carolina at close to a 30% Obesity Rate with a youth rate for 10-17 year olds at 18% (CDC 2007).  The CDC Data gives North Carolina a ranking of 11^th in the country behind Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, and others at a 20% youth obesity rate.  The Hearn’s Triathlon Racing Team will be racing in Western North Carolina and the Southeast Region.  Other local area team sponsors include Jus Running, FastPivot, Myer’s Chiropractic, Nine Mile Restaurant in Montford, Ultimate Ice Cream, Affordable Bedding in West Asheville, and Eblen Short Stop.  For more information about Run Buddies visit www.runbuddies.org. For more information about the Hearn’s Triathlon Team view regular posts at http://hearnstriathlonteam.blogspot.com/ or contact a Team member at hearnstriathlonteam@gmail.com.

 

FastPivot 2011 Sponsorship of Hearn's Triathlon Racing Team

Fastpivot, a brand new 2011 Hearn's Triathlon Team Sponsor, has just published a new blog post about us on their website - check it out here! FastPivot is an Asheville, NC based E-commerce company specializing in Yahoo! Store design and development. Thank you FastPivot for being a team sponsor!

Newest Sponsors

We have two more sponsors to add for the 2011 race season, Eblen Shortstop and FastPivot have joined the team.  We want to thank the folks at Eblen and FastPivot for their support in 2011.  We will be putting together our team uniforms this month and will post proofs when they are completed.