This last weekend I headed down to Rockford, IL for the second straight year for my final tune-up before Ironman Coeur d’Alene in 2 weeks. Chip, the race director, is turning this race into one that is going to be around for a long time. It is a very well run event and this year, there was a pro field, as well as a $10,000 prize purse.

“The boss,” Kurt, and I decided to go into this race with a little less rest than California 70.3 earlier in the year. The idea would be to get a little more quality training in before Ironman Coeur d’Alene in a few weeks. As last week rolled along, I was tired and didn’t start to feel better until Friday night before the race.

The weather forecast looked sketchy and did not disappoint. Hot temps, humidity and high winds were forecast, along with severe weather. The day before race, there were winds gusting to 60-70mph, humid temps in the high 80′s and storms with tornadoes in the area.

Our plan was to dial back the watts on the bike and pay close attention to electrolyte intake. It is one thing to have someone else beat you, but it is another thing to beat yourself.

Race morning came around and it looked like we might be able to get the race in without incident. With about 30min to go until the start, I checked over everything and started to head down to the water. I took about 10 steps, stopped and decided to go back and look at the tires on my bike, just to make sure I was ready to roll. A little OCD I think :), but I was glad that I did!! The front looked good, but as I looked at the rear I noticed a tiny lump in the rubber. I poked around and found a nail stuck all the way into the tire….WOW, this would have given me a flat for sure. The little things do matter.

I quickly headed down to the start and got in a very solid 15-20min of swimming. I really wanted to make sure I started the day off well. The gun sounded and I swam HARD. There were 15, 10, then 5, then 4 of us. I was determined to stay in the group and drilled myself. My HR monitor told me that my HR was between 180-186 for the first 12+ minutes of the race. BUT, I did make the group. With about 200m to go, the sprint began for the swim prime, which I didn’t want any part of. I was 4th out of the water and 2nd out of T1.

Once on the bike, I just used my Powertap to guide my effort. I dialed back the watts and focused on getting low/aero and just rode steady. It was windy, humid, but thankfully not sunny. I upped my electrolyte intake by about 50%, using Saltstick tabs. I got to the turn around, where I had about a 4:15 lead on the next athlete, Zach Ruble, who I know is very talented, so I still didn’t feel very safe. I rolled along, taking advantage of free speed where I could and arrived back to T2.

A quick transition and I was out on the run. The run course went out for about a half mile on the bike course before turning off. I didn’t see another cyclist, but anything can happen in long course racing. With 3 turn arounds on the run, the plan was to run hard, as long as I had to.

I turned after the half mile and all I could see was a black sky. I was HOT and actually rain didn’t sound that bad. I went through the first 3 miles feeling good with a solid pace/HR. Then the sky opened up. You couldn’t see anything!!! The path turned into a river and there was lightning everywhere.

I got to the first turn around and knew that I had a good gap, but still didn’t know where everyone else was. Since it was early in the race I decided to push until the second turn around. I headed across a wide open field and over a hill and was literally scared for my life. There were lightning bolts everywhere and I couldn’t see anything with the rain. At least I wasn’t hot anymore, right???

I got to mile 7 and the second turn around where I would get a chance to see everyone else. I was very happy to find out that I had a 12min lead with 6 miles to go. I thought, “As long as I don’t get struck by lightning or crushed by a tree, I am ok.” I eased off the pace, thanked the volunteers who stuck it out all day in the horrible weather and enjoyed all of the hard work that I have put in over the last 6 weeks, as well as what would be my largest paycheck to date.

With 2 weeks to go, I still have a few key workouts left and have to stay healthy, but feel very confident for June 22. Thank you to all of the family, friends and companies that believe in me. Timex, Blue Seventy, Twin Six Clothing, The Trek Stores of Madison, Coffees of Hawaii, Salt Stick, Berkeley Running Co. and Personal Best Multisport.

I hope to report back soon with more good results.

Full results for Rockman can be found here.

       “The Becker Buzz”
California 70.3 Race Report
March 29, 2008
 

This last weekend I raced the first important race of the 2008 season at the California 70.3 Half Ironman.  I came into the race with 5 days rest as I started my taper for Ironman Arizona on April 13^th.
Training has been going well and I hadn’t been below 20hrs of training per week since the middle of December.  Needless to say I was anxious to see what I could do.
Race morning brought cool temperatures in the low 50’s, but not as cold as they could have been.   The water was also a chilly 60*, which hurt the face a little bit upon getting in.  I had my new Blue Seventy TST Wetsuit which is much improved over last year and I felt ready to go. 
We only had about 5-8min of warm-up before the gun went off, which I don’t think was enough for me.  I moved to the second row of athletes and keyed off of a few others who I thought were slightly faster swimmers.  Today, they were more than that.  The horn sounded and the effort was not hard, but I couldn’t get the arms to turn over like I needed.  Within 300 meters I was off the back and I thought I was in “no-man’s land”……until the turn buoy when I flipped on my back to check out the situation and saw I was pulling a group of over 20 athletes.  As I rounded the second turn buoy, I had NO idea where I was going and proceeded to turn 90* the wrong direction (sorry guys).  This actually ended up benefiting me.  Lewis Elliot took the lead and proceeded to sit in on his feet, as I had no idea where we were going.  We exited in a little bit over 27 minutes.  But about 2:30 back from the first pack.
Out of the water and onto the bike.  My Trek TTX 9.9 SSL and  Wireless Powertap SL was showing me the wattage that I was hoping for.  I rode steady out to hills, passing 10-15 athletes on the way.  Once through the tough climbs, I was greeted with a stiff headwind back to transition.  Normal Power for the ride was 308 watts.  This is 28 watts higher than I have seen in the past and a huge jump for me.
I took off onto the run with a few other athletes and found the first few miles a bit tough, but at mile 3 things got better.  I was still off of my goal pace, but not by much.  I ran the next 5 miles at about 5:55 per mile, but soon I had a few twinges and had to back off a bit.  I managed to pass a few more athletes to finish with a run of 1:20 and a finish time of 4:15.  It was good enough for 17^th place overall.
This was not a bad way to start the season at all and I have been able to gather a lot of confidence from this race in knowing that I can compete with almost any athlete on that start line. 
After the race I attended my Timex Team Camp is Carlsbad, CA and had a great time catching up with old teammates and meeting a few new ones.  We have a great support team this year which includes great managers and new sponsors including Trek, Powerbar, Bontrager, Powertap(Saris), Rudy Project, Timex and TP Massage Rollers.
I also want to thank my homestay in Cali, Sergio Gurrieri.  Your hospitality was much appreciated.  Now I had about 10 days to Ironman Arizona.  Be sure to check out live coverage at www.ironman.com on April 13^th, starting at 6:45am Pacific.

We are now well into the colder months here in the northern hemisphere, or what some call the “off season.” It provides an opportunity to work on our weaknesses, which for a lot of us is swimming.

Ok, that gets us to the next question; How do I improve my swimming? Do I just do drills? Do I swim long….or hard? Do I swim more frequently? Which one is it coach?

You will talk to some who will tell you that swimming is 70%+ technique and 30% pure fitness, so most of your time should be spent perfecting your technique……ok.

Then there are those that like the phrase “more is more.” They will tell you that if you want to swim faster, you have to swim MORE. More meaning; longer, faster, more often…….ok

So which one is it? BOTH

I argue that to swim faster, you need to do both. You need to include drills at the beginning of your workouts, you need to swim hard during your main-sets and you need to swim more often.

You hear it all the time: “The best way to swim faster is to swim like a pure swimmer.”

Do you see swimmers excluding drills from their training?….no. Do you see them just out there drilling and swimming steady?…..no. They do both.

Here are a few ideas for you:

1) Swim as often as your schedule allows, but don’t forget about riding, running and your strength work. Keep these other disciplines in maintenance mode.

2) Structure your week around 2-4 key swim workouts, these workouts should have a warm-up with drills, a transition set(prepare you for main-set), a main-set and maybe a pull-set.

3) In your key workouts, ALWAYS include drills in your warm-up. Then focus on speed and strength. This includes HARD intervals(sprinting), pulling and paddle work.

4) Focus on drilling and aerobic sets during any extra swims that you add each week.

5) Get your stroke looked at every few weeks by a GOOD swim coach. When you are swimming easy, at race pace and fast (sprinting). Most people’s form changes significantly.

So if you are looking to bump up your swim this coming season, you need to keep the drills mixed in, but you also need to JFT…or SWIM HARD!

Off to the pool…

 BB