Dec 1-2 Training Weekend

This past weekend marked my first serious multisport training since the Xterra World Championship. Xterra Pro Craig Evans called just before the weekend about getting together to train at the Xterra Southeast Championship venue here at Oak Mountain State Park. Although I don't plan to really hit the training hard again until in January, I figured this would be a great opportunity to start the transition to January and pick up some pointers from a veteran. I ended up getting some great work in. Saturday consisted of one strong 17 mile loop on the mountain bike, followed by a 1 hour trail run that included over 700 ft of climbing. I followed that up Sunday with 2 laps on the mountain bike. The first lap was near Craig's race pace (Note: Craig's race pace=Omar's nose bleed pace). After going hard on the first lap, we backed off on the second, and hit the pavement for the last half back to the start. It was a great weekend of injury free cool fall weather riding.

Weekend Riding Chattanooga

It's always a blast to ride new trails. This past weekend, seven of my riding buddies and I made the two and a half hour trip to Chattanooga TN for a weekend of mountain biking. We spent Friday and Saturday evening bicycle bar hopping and exploring the Chattanooga waterfront. Saturday was filled with a day of riding the trails at the Ocoee River State Park. The fall colors and colossal valleys provided a breathtaking backdrop to ride. We capped off the weekend riding Tennessee's newest trails at Raccoon Mountain. I don't remember having so much fun on a bicycle since childhood. The 16 plus miles of smooth rolling single track served up the perfect combination of technical switchbacks and fast roller coaster descents.

The only black triathlete?

While competing in Hawaii, I noticed that I appeared to be the only African American competitor. My wife Kira recently wrote an interesting post about it in her blog Brilliant Color. So, am I the only one?

Vulcan 10k

Note to self: Respect all races. This was the lesson I learned today after running the Vulcan 10k. With a relatively flat course, cool weather, and no swim/bike beforehand, this should have been a walk in the park for me. However, I failed to realize the effects of an epic race less than a week old, followed by a week of tropical vacation living, and 20 hours of travel ending two nights before the run. I felt strong for the first 3 miles, easily maintaining a 5:30 mile pace. However, leg and side cramping caused the race to take a drastic turn for the worst after the midway point. Unlike Xterra Worlds in Hawaii, I was able to keep running to the finish, albeit in serious pain. I ended up just over 38 minutes, which is still respectable for a first ever 10k race. However, realizing that there was a minute difference in mile pace between the two race halves, and barely a hint of windedness at the end, I know that was far from my potential. As my last planned race of the season, I'll have plenty of time to sort out the cramping issues.

Hawaii Part 2

I woke up two hours before the race feeling strong. In an attempt to stay out of the sun, I warmed up for the run on the treadmill in the air conditioned hotel fitness room. Next, I went for an easy 5 mile road ride on my mountain bike, and finally headed over to the race start to get warmed up in the water. As we all lined up for the start, which is supposed to be a mass run into the water from the beach, many eager racers inched 15 to 20 yards into the surf. Race officials ordered us to move back, however the race gun went off with many racers still fully submerged in the water with a substantial head start. This was somewhat irritating, but something I will definitely keep in mind for the future. The surf was noticeably rougher than the previous days, making it very difficult to sight the boys and shore. The mad dash for the first buoy resulted in a huge bottleneck of flailing arms and legs. Unfortunately I got caught in the crowd; however I was able to put the power down after the first buoy and get in a better position for the second lap. Coming out of the water, I was well positioned at #3 in my age group and thirty fourth overall. After a smooth transition, I grabbed my bike and began the most difficult part of the race. The pain started about 1 mile into the bike. Approximately 3/4 of the 19 mile mountain bike course was climbing. After spending the summer getting much stronger on my local trails and roads, I had a lot of confidence going into the bike. Most of that confidence was humbled on the first in a series of grueling climbs. While this race is notorious for a section called “heartbreak hill”, they all seemed pretty heartbreaking to me. The extreme climbing started the first of what would be some serious cramping issues later on in the race. Normally, some muscle recovery can be found on the descents. However, the descents were so steep, loose, and littered with sharp volcanic rock, that it took most of my strength just to keep my bike upright. My Gary Fisher Hi-Fi gave me plenty of confidence on the descents, as evidenced by my constant jockeying for position between the climbs and descents. Fortunately, I made it through the bike without any crashes or mechanical mishaps. After racking my bike, I quickly headed off for the run. I started off feeling strong, even gaining position. However, after about 800 yards from transition, I developed a small side stitch. Within the first mile, this turned into crippling chest and abdominal cramps, slowing me down to a walk and finally a complete stop. Although I contemplated dropping out of the race a few times, the thought of traveling over 4000 miles for a race and not finishing was enough to keep me going. The cramping never went away during the run, but the intensity wavered based on exertion. Although I was able to finish, I was forced to walk and jog for the majority of the run. With the goal of a top 5 age group finish coming into this race, I was disappointed with my 16th place finish. However, since this was my first triathlon season, and by far the hardest race that I have ever done, it served as an amazing learning experience both mentally and physically. Due to the large number of variables, there is a lot of mystery surrounding cramping. I feel as though my prerace nutrition and hydration needs were well met. However, my initial theory is that the cramping issues were more related to a failure to replicate extended periods (more than 2 hours)of race level exertion in training, and improper nutrition during the race. I plan on consulting with a doctor on these issues in the coming weeks. On the plus side, I feel that with more experience and training under my belt, combined with my speed, natural talent, and determination, I can compete on the same level as the best in the world.

Hawaii Part 1

The trip to Maui started out well. After arriving Wednesday evening and taking two nights to get used to the 5 hour time difference, I felt in top form. Luckily I was able to get a room at the Mau Prince Hotel (the host venue for the race). I originally planned on swimming Wednesday evening to loosen up after a full day of travel. However after talking to the valet, who happened to be a recreational swimmer, I decided that the risk of encountering a tax collector in the dark beach waters was too great. Waiting until Thursday morning, I went for a 20 minute ocean swim on the race course, followed by an easy loop around the 4 mile practice course set up for the bike (no pre-riding of the mountain bike course allowed), and an easy 15 minute run. The choppy waters, extremely hilly terrain, and a noticeable lack of shade, summed up my initial impressions of the course. After repeating the previous day’s routine in the morning, I went on a sightseeing tour of the Road to Hana. This is an infamous 37 miles of road with more twists, turns and elevation change than I have ever seen. My wife, Kira, started out driving with me riding shotgun. However after a few miles it became clear that I was going to either get car sick or go crazy, so I took the wheel for the rest of the journey. Beautiful mountain top ocean views, waterfalls, black sand beaches, caves, and roadside banana bread and breadfruit combined to make this trip worth the journey. I spent Saturday relaxing, hydrating, and putting the final touches on our costumes for the post race Halloween Party. We went to Maui Tacos in Kehei, so I could chow down on a prerace Burrito (favorite prerace food). It turns out that I wasn’t the only Xterra racer that enjoys a good Burrito. I met age grouper Rife Hilgartner and pro Ryan Ignatz from Colorado. They gave me the tip to run slime filled inner tubes to combat the huge thorns that line parts of the race course. This turned out to be great advice. I ended up racing passed a number of competitors suffering from flats on race day.

Basic Dieting & Training Theory

On my way out for an easy road ride today, I ran into the father of one of my neighbors. The decision to start getting in shape for triathlons early in the year coincides with the last time he saw me. He remarked that I looked a lot slimmer than the last time he saw me and inquired about my training and diet. I told him that the weight loss is kind of threefold. For starters, I currently weigh 175 pounds. This is equivalent to my freshman year of college swimming weight. The weight came off over the course of a few months, but it's a noticeable difference from my 200 pound starting point. At the start, I was lifting weights 3 times per week, averaging about 4 hours of cardio per week split between swimming and mountain biking, and proudly carrying my clean plate club dining card. I elaborated on my basic training schedule in an earlier Blog, but I'm about 3 times more active than previously. I also eliminated weight lifting from my routine. My weight room time is generally limited to stretching and core exercises. I find that for me, the negative effects of extra muscle mass on my swimming body positioning cancels out the strength gains found from weight lifting. Also, with little serious running or cycling training under my belt, and a finite amount of training time, actual cycling and running is more beneficial. Anyway, the elimination of weights from my routine combined with the sharp incresase in cardio, accounts for the majority of my weight loss. I love to eat, so I don't get too carried away on the diet. However I do have some basic guidelines. First, I turned in my clean plate club card. I now try and eat until I feel the first signs of being full, rather than until all the food is consumed. Second, I replaced all soft drinks with water. Third, I eliminated beer and limit wine and spirits to about one/week on average. Fourth, I limit the sweets/pastries/doughnuts to special occasions (birthdays,graduations, and weddings). Fifth, I avoid deep fried foods. This is probablly the most difficult (those fries and nacho chips are always tempting), but there is almost always a tastey alternatve. Finally, sitting out on wing nights, avoiding the cheese sauce and multiple meat topping pizzas, and replacing the vending machine chips and candy bars with dried fruits and granola bars, are all daily healthy choices that go a long way without sacrificing too many of the enjoyable parts of life.

Beyond Clothing

I came across a pretty neat contest sponsored by Beyond Clothing. Check it out here: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=339980

Xterra Worlds Training Update

Two weeks from today I'll be duking it out with the worlds best at the Xterra World Championship in Maui. I'm really happy with my overall training for this season. In my first year of training for triathlons, I've completed three major goals: staying true to a consistent training regiment,showing measureable improvements in all three disciplines, and staying realtively injury free. There was a bike crash in mid July, and some shin splints from running early in the season, but nothing that kept me away from any one sport for more than a few days. The ability speed injury recovery by replacing one sport with another is a great benifit of triathlon training. In my first year, I still have lots of room for improvement in all disciplines. My basic schedule for the last 3 months has been the following: AM - PM Mon: Swim Tue: Run- Road Bike Wed: Swim- Mnt Bike Thur: Run- Road Bike Fri: Swim- Sat: Swim/Road Bike Sun: Mnt Bike/Run This schedule has worked to give anywhere from 12 to 15 hours a week of solid training. I have varied the running between treadmill,track, trail, and road in order to minimize joint impact and try and maximize leg conditioning. I've also mixed in some spin classes with the road cycling in order to minimize my exposure to cell phone wielding motorists. With two weeks to go, I plan to taper with the basic formula of scaling back the amount of time spent doing each discipline, and then scaling back the intensity. More to come on the road to Maui...

DOUBLE WHAMMY WEEKEND July 7-8

As a test of endurance, I entered two triathlons in one weekend. The Wet Dog Sprint Triathlon in Decatur Alabama came first. I treated this race as a warm-up race to the Lock 4 Blast Xterra the following day. I came out of the 400 yard swim feeling strong going into the bike. Until this race, I hadn’t ridden a road bike in over 10 years, so I was naturally a little nervous. Without a road bike of my own, I borrowed a friend’s steel frame road bike for this race. Despite my lack of road riding experience, the strength developed from mountain biking was enough for me to hold position. I completed the 5k run, achieving my goals of keeping a controlled pace and keeping my heart rate out of the red zone in respect for the next day. My efforts were rewarded with an age group win and second place overall finish. Next up was the Lock 4 Blast in Gallatin Tennessee. Gaining more experience with each race, I started the swim focusing more on staying in a straight line between the buoys. It’s much easier to make up time by swimming a shorter distance than swimming further and faster. The bike course consisted of two laps of the best marked single-track that I have ever ridden. During the first of 2 loops on the bike, a slight inattention allowed my handlebar to catch on a tree and catapult me over the handlebars. Luckily, the tree didn’t inflict any damage to me or my bike and I was back up and rolling in less than 30 seconds. I completed the two loop run without incident and went on to an age group win and 6th place overall finish. Not bad for rookie season two races weekend.

Panther Creek Weekend Aug 5th

I went up to Morristown Tennessee a day early to preride the course Saturday afternoon. This was classic east coast riding with some steep climbing and plenty of tree cover. After a season of little rainfall, the race kicked off with a swim in a lake that was so low, that most athletes, including myself, were scraping the bottom for parts of the race. Despite this, I felt very strong during the 800 yard swim and emerged from the water in second place. Unfortunately, the remainder of the race didn’t go as well. After gaining the lead in the early part of the mountain bike, I was misdirected off course. This wasn’t made apparent until entering the transition area to start the second of two laps. After a heated exchange with race officials, I was allowed to continue. I finished the bike still in the lead, but was assessed a time penalty. Going into the run, a leg twitch turned into a cramp at the halfway point. This sidelined me for approximately 5 minutes and was another mishap in an overall disappointing race. After having great luck in my first few races, this was my first introduction to some of the things that can go wrong in a triathlon. I took two big lessons from this race. First, you can never ask too many questions concerning course layout. Second, despite what happens during a race, its imperative to stay relaxed. I have yet to completely figure out a pattern to cramps, however since all other variables, such as outside temperature, nutrition, stretching, and hydration were consistent with my other races, I can only assume that the leg cramp was due to the additional stress that I put on myself after learning that I went off course. I’ll be experimenting more with cramping during my next few months of training. My next race will be World Championships October 28th, 2007 in Hawaii.

WHY I TRI

Alot of people ask me this, so here it is. My first taste of Xterra came in June of 2006. After being out of the water for almost 6 months, I hesitantly agreed to do the swim leg of a relay race at the Xterra Sport Race in Pelham Alabama. Halfway through the 750 meter lake swim, my arms fatigued so much, that I turned over and started doing backstroke. Even with the fatigue, I still emerged from the water with over a minute lead on the main field of swimmers. It was so exhilarating that I was ready to keep going on the bike. I was hooked at this point. The adrenaline rush from that race was enough to re-awaken the competitive spirit from my earlier swimming career. With the encouragement from local Xterra veterans, I decided to get in better overall condition to tackle a full Xterra triathlon. Similar to many swimmers, I avoided races longer than 200 meters like the plague. However, I’ve found that a strange thing occurs when cycling and running are added to the equation; a one mile swim suddenly becomes the least of concern. With the thrill of the mass swim start, the rollercoaster effect of mountain biking, and the amazing scenary and terrain varieties found trail running, its hard not to get a thrill out of Xterra triathlons.