I thought I’d pass along this link to an article written about our family. It was posted last week on Ironmanlive.com. Nikki and I were interviewed about our work, family, training, and balancing it all together. Hope you like it!
The following is a brief race report from my dad, Ken. He recently upgraded his bike from a steel frame 1990 Schwinn Paramount Series 5 to a 2007 Trek Madone SL 5.2. It was his 1st new bike in over 17 years. As you can tell, he is loving his new Trek!
-Saturday, August 11, 2007- I completed the Turtleman Triathlon in Shoreview, MN using my new Trek Madone SL 5.2 for the first time in a triathlon. I have two words for the bike: fast and smooth. I was fourth overall in the 60 -64 age group. My speed of 21.8 mph was the best in my age group and 131 out of 715 for all participants. Thanks to Tim, Team Timex, and directly to Trek for making the arrangements to get this bike. I have attached a picture of the bike and me.
Thanks,
Ken Hola
Ironman Revisited is happening this weekend on Oahu, combining the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the 112-mile circle island road race, and the Honolulu Marathon as originally done in 1978. The event raises funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. On Sunday thirty athletes, each with their own support crew, will set out on the original journey. In conjunction with the event, six-time Ironman Hawaii Champ Dave Scott put on a two-day clinic in Waikiki. He won on Oahu in back in 1980 prior to the race’s relocation to the Big Island. Twenty athletes, including participants of Ironman Revisited, showed up to suck all the knowledge possible from the legend. Dave left no question unanswered, covering topics ranging from whey vs. soy protein to how to get abs of steel like those on Bob Babbitt. (Whey wins and Bob wasn’t giving up his secrets, or posing for pics) In 6h of clinic time my IQ quadrupled. While doing drills in the ocean, I learned that I swim all wrong. And how to fix it – here’s Dave showing us how not to swim:
Dave shared the formula he uses to calculate calories required for recovery. Using Friday’s 18 mile run and my ~700 cal/hr burned at a 7:15/mi pace, he helped me calculate that I had spent nearly 1500 calories on the run. I had taken in 500 calories while running, leaving me with a 1000 calorie deficit upon completion. Dave recommends consuming 60% of that deficit within 45 minutes to an hour of finishing – and finishing means the minute I stop running, not after I stretch, shower, make the kids waffles.. Ideally, recovery calories should come in a 3:1 or 4:1 carb:protein ratio. Which left me with a goal of consuming 600 calories in the 45-60 minute recovery window, with 125-150 of those calories coming from protein. Now, I may swim all wrong, and apparently my run form is appalling as well, as I found out during the run drills, but if there’s one thing I’ve got down, it’s the recovery drink. Dave asked what I had after my run – and I told him the same thing I always do – a little gatorade endurance on my way down to Jamba Juice, where I order the Protein Berry Pizazz with blueberries instead of strawberries. What does Dave have to recover from a two hour workout? A Jamba Juice Protein Berry Pizazz with blueberries instead of strawberries. And he has them add a scoop of peanut butter & a carrot. I’m doing one thing right! Dave also emphasized that while 30 min is often recommended for optimal refueling for recovery, the range varies greatly from person to person, and many will gain benefits from eating up to 2-6 hours after very long or intense training.
Another scoop straight from Dave: He’s not quite ready this year, but look for him on the starting line in Kona next October. When speculating on his time, the numbers that came up would put him in the top 10-20, easy. 50-54 is in for a shock.
If you get the opportunity to attend a clinic with Dave, take it! But know that if he tells you to go underwater and hold your breath before he has you demonstrate something for the group – look out – he’s not saying nice things about you while you’re under.
Clinic attendees Stephan Reinke, me, Dave Scott, Raul Boca & Amy Bennett shortly before making the man ride around the park on Amy’s 15 year old Dave Scott bike, which she paid thousands for on ebay (or might have found at Goodwill). 
Stephan is coming off a 51 minute swim at Ironman Austria and Dave didn’t like his form either – somehow that comforted me a little.
I really like pancakes, especially on Saturdays after long rides. Here is the recipe I’ve been making recently which is delicious. I usually eat the entire batch, but it would also probably be enough for two ”normal” sized servings…
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbls sugar
3 tbls butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Walnuts (optional)
Blueberries (optional)
Pour dry ingredients into a bowl and mix. Then do the same with the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, making sure to warm the milk up a bit so the butter stays melted. Pour the wet into the bowl with the dry and stir until all the lumps are removed. Let the batter sit for a couple of minutes while heating a large pan or skillet to medium-high heat before adding a bit of butter to grease the pan. Pour batter onto skillet and add walnuts or blueberries to the cakes on the skillet if desired. Let the pancakes cook until the bubbles on the top are no longer disappearing and then flip and cook for another minute or so on the other side. Remove from skillet and serve with syrup on top and a glass of milk on the side.
I am now two weeks and three days out from my first Ironman race. My entire racing and training season has been focused on Ironman Louisville. This weekend was my last tune-up race and it will forever more be a memorable one.
Here is a list of my key 2007 races up to this point:
Vineman 70.3
Over the last five months I have been contemplating what my limits are. I have been racing competitively since the age of 10. In all those races I have never felt like I have pushed it to my absolute limits. Since I started doing triathlons three years ago I have been even more conservative because of my unfamiliarity with the swimming and biking portions of the race. So on Sunday, June 22, I decided to throw it all down and give it my all. What did I have to lose?
On the beautiful foggy morning I had my typical swim, but on the bike I rode like the wind. At least for most of it. I averaged between 21 and 22 miles per hour for the first 40+ miles and felt great (although my Timex Bodylink was telling the truth – I was pushing my limits). It wasn’t long after that point that I fell apart. The next 16 miles took me over an hour to complete, ouch! The run started out well and I thought I might survive this race in pretty good shape, but by mile six I knew I was in trouble. By mile 10 I was shuffling, drinking flat Coke, swallowing apricots without chewing and looking for a shady spot to throw up. I was laughing by the time I finished and I had a great big smile on my face because I did something I had never done before – pushed it to my ultimate limits and learned how to blow up in a race. www.vineman.com
I now know I am mentally ready for Ironman Louisville. All my questions have been answered.
