Black Becker

The Trek Store EAST- Madison, WS

July 3rd at 6:30pm (approx. 45-60min)

Free

Well, I have been benched for the season. At least I am going out on top after my victory at the Boulder Beer Mile, which despite popular belief, is not responsible for my poor health….at least I dont think so…

So, for the time being, I have returned to my true calling in life- asking cool people silly questions. Today’s victim was Mark Van Akkeren aka Marky V. Marky is a rookie pro in Boulder, Colorado. He is the fastest swimming man in the sport, having recently led Matt Reed and Simon Lessing out of the water at Boulder Peak. In 2007 he was the top swimmer in Kona, and continued to lead the age group race through the bike. Currently, Mark is gearing up for next weekend’s Ironman Canada. I feel a special closeness to Mark since I once lived in Nebraska, and he once spent, like, 10 minutes there.

LT:  Have you ever run over a prairie dog while riding your bike?

MV: Not yet ;)  They’re cute aaaand annoying, squeak squeak squeak

LT:  If you could repaint the bottom of the pool with something other than a black line, what would it be?

MV: Hmmmm a coral reef in 3D?  And then wear 3D goggles!  It would be just like Kona and all those laps would just quickly pass by. 

LT: How much would someone have to pay you to race in a speedo?

MV: Probably nothing… but a speedo doesn’t have much billboard space.  ;)

LT:  What is your best dance move?

MV: Staying in my seat!!! 

LT: When was the last time you went skinny dipping?

MV: 2006

LT: Are you related in any way to Chuckie V?

MV: Veylupek ≠ Van Akkeren… but we both like hiking!

LT:  Have you ever worn tinted goggles any where because you didnt have sunglasses?

MV: At summer swim meets growing up if I didn’t have my glasses I’d loosen up the straps and just wear the metallics.  :)

If you haven’t seen the September issue of Outside Magazine, you need to stop whatever it is you’re doing and go get it. They have an article that features the Fittest (Real) Men in America and our very own, Tim Hola, is one of them! You’re such a stud Timmy, we love you!!!

My “A” race of the season was the 5430 Long course http://www.5430sports.com/ in Boulder this past Sunday. This was my first time at this race and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to come and race in Colorado. The race organization is top notch, and the course is fantastic (the bike course in particular). I enjoyed not only the race itself but just going up to Boulder, as it might be the best community for triathlon/ outdoor activities ever. If you are ever wandering through Boulder’s 29th street mall, there is a huge stone globe that sits and spins in some sort of water-fountain. It is really fun to spin it and “scrape” the water off of it as both my cousin Matt and I found out, and kept us occupied for a good 5 minutes. I’m sure most people looking at us either thought we were drunk or complete losers!! Whatever, it was fun :).

You can’t ask for a much more scenic setting to start a race:

Swim: 30:21

The swim is in the famed Boulder Res. A nice lake for Colorado (still not quite Wisco though). The swim starts going directly east, or straight into the sun! Making metalized goggles a necessity. I felt bad for the guy starting next to me with clear goggles, I”m thinking are you out of your mind? Unfortunately my wave was again towards the end, making me have to swim throuigh atleast 1000 people. I was a little disappointed with a pretty slow swim time, no excuses, but I attribute it to going slightly off course on the east-bound first stretch of the course, and losing the leaders of the wave through some of the crowd. The timing mat was also a little ways out of the water.

 Bike: 2:17:46, 24.4 mph

The bike is on the fantastic and perfectly smooth roads in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Despite being in the mountains, there is no big climbs on the course, although the first 10 miles are very deceiving and a long gradual uphill climb. Because of looking at my watch in T1 I knew I was behind pace of where I wanted to be so I pushed the pace pretty quick, rather than easing into the ride. I would end up paying for this later in the ride as I started losing some gas around mile 45. When it came to that point I just tried to not blow up and save myself a little for the run.

 Run: 1:33:46, 7:10/mile

The run was quite a mixed bag for me. I was actually feeling superb coming off the bike and opened up the run with a 6:27 first mile. I was hoping to hold 6:30 avg for the race, and this had me thinking that I could be close to my best 1/2 iron time (4:11). The legs were feeling good but I did feel a a little low on energy, so at the top of the first climb I slowed to a walk briefly to get in some calories. Calories in… and I was off again. I was checking my pace throughout the run and was varying btwn 6:28-6:40, so I was staying fairly consistent. Luckily, the day had turned out to be overcast and only in the mid 70′s making for great run conditions on what would otherwise be an unforgiving run course with no shade what so ever. My consistent pace would be blown apart at mile 9, both literally and figuratively. At about that time my lower GI decided that it no longer liked me, and luckily for me (and others) there was a port-o-john nearby. After becoming close friends with the pot (sorry to those that needed to use it after me), I had to hobble my way to the finish over the last 4 miles feeling not so good. I calculated I lost a little over 10 minutes in the last 4 miles. Needless to say the finish line could not come soon enough.

Overall: 4:24:03, 33rd overall, 16th amateur, 2nd age group

Not a bad result, but I was hoping to go sub 4:20. This “disaster” has happened to me several times before, and I really need to figure out the 4th discipline of triathlon (nutrition). It is frustrating because I utilize the same general nutrition plan prior to every race and it seems to sometimes work to perfection and others to fail me miserably. One way or another something needs to be adjusted. Just a little frustrating knowing that your legs can go full effort, but your stomach can not. A little more adjustment for next time….

KEEP ON TRIATHALONING!!

Wow what a few weeks! I have been up here in Bend Oregon and have been training like a woman possessed. I have been on an IM program which my coach wrote for me a few months back. This is VERY new for me as in the past I have been doing what ever I put together or whatever Luke wrote down for me. Over time Luke and I realised that I was just not capable of doing what he does. He has had years of training and I have really just did not have the miles in my legs to follow suit. After IM China this year I made the decision to get a coach. Some people can be coached by anyone but I am a little harder to find a good fit. I can be a little stubborn and I travel a lot so I needed to find someone that was a little more flexible and understanding.

I had already had a bit of a chat with Kristian at IM Australia earlier in the year. His wife Charlotte is a pro woman and a killer runner so I knew he was onto something. I had to procrastinate a little and I wanted to be sure that I would actually be committed. I have a tendency to start things but not to finish them. Along with the fact that I had a hard time following direction.
After a long chat with Luke I finally realised that if I wanted to become a good athlete with the hope of one day becoming a great athlete then I needed to take this step.

So here I am 6 weeks later following the program and you know what….. Kristian is a genius! Not only have I made massive improvements but I actually love running now. He has managed to take the mystery out of how to get better. He has broken it all the way down and has built me up. Now I find it weird if I do not run off the bike , I look forward to 2.5 hour runs and find efforts totally rewarding. Who would have ever thought that they would ever hear me say that!!!

I am a realist and I know that this is just the beginning of my IM journey. I have a long way to go and a lot of time time make up on the front of the pack. However now I can actually see how I might actually be able to do it. With the help of Luke and my new coach Kristian of TriSpecific I now understand that a plan…. a really good plan is the other thing that you need to get all the way to that podium one day. Just remember that you along with that your plan you must always BELIEVE and follow the dream that no one else can see.

Stay true , train hard

Memphis