Blake Becker

12:18

:07

GOLFing in the Pool

Posted in Racing, Training by Blake Becker

I am about 5 weeks into my swim block and am making some great progress. I will share some times and number in another week or two, but first I wanted to share a great drill that I have learned and seem results using(in both myself and my athletes).

Over the course of the last 5 weeks I have learned a lot from those that have spent their entire lives in the pool. One “drill” or “game” that I have learned is called GOLF. No, there are no clubs or balls used in this game. It is easy, yet VERY effective. The goal is to swim fast with as few strokes as possible. The sets are usually made up of descending 50′s.

To get your score, you add the number of strokes it took you to complete the 50, to your time. For example, if you swam a 50 with 32 strokes in 40 seconds, your score would be 32 + 40, or 72.

The purpose of this drill is to keep you “long” in your stroke. Most triathletes have a tendency to have a short choppy stroke(especially when swimming fast) and this can be a fun way to work on improving that.

So, the next time you are at the pool, add in a set or two of “4×50 descending GOLF” on 15s rest in to your warm-up. The goal would be to get a lower score for each 50.

Try it, give it some time and let me know what you think.

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09:11

:07

Ironman Wisconsin

Posted in Racing by Blake Becker

2007 Ironman Wisconsin Race Report

Swim: 59:20 Bike: 5:18:14 Run: 3:12:59 Finish 9:38:15

15th Professional Male

Well, I had done 8 IM’s before this year’s Wisconsin and I had not made any significant progress in my running. So this year was a big step in the right direction for me. I had some really good things that came out of the day, as well as some learning experiences.

Race week was very boring and I was getting a big itch to race another IM. I even had a few butterflies. At the pro meeting we were told that we wouldn’t get wetsuits because we had a separate swim start and the water temperature was over 72*F. This was a pretty big surprise to everyone.

Race morning came and I went through my usual pre-race routine and before I knew it, I was in the water. I warmed up for a good 20min before the start and actually got cold, we all just tried to keep moving. We lined up and I started second row from the front. The horn went off and the swimmers that were around me, stayed around me. The pace was not that quick and I saw a few of the pre-race favorites in the group, so I was ok with things. My Blue Seventy Pointzero3 suit was awesome and I think it gives a huge advantage. Actually I know it does, 3-5sec per 100m. We came out of the water at just over 59 minutes.

I got onto the bike and felt great. This year I decided that I would try racing just by HR on the bike and not so much by power. I did have the Powertap on the bike for feedback after the race. Well, I was fresh and was able to push a few more watts than I could in training at my race HR. I went through 90k in 2:28 and was holding my own against the main chase group. However the watts soon caught up and I don’t think that I was able to absorb the calories like I needed to. The result was a bonk that lasted through the last hour of the ride. I just tried to stay calm and take in as many calories as I could, even though I was losing significant time. I rolled back to transition and tried to stay optimistic. “I will just run one mile at a time and see how it goes,” I thought.

I started the run and didn’t feel great. My pace and HR were low, but things got better with every mile that passed. I eventually worked my way down to my goal IM pace by mile 8 and felt ok. Nothing too exciting happened and I stayed pretty smooth until about mile 18, when the second trip up Observatory Hill really worked me. I faded a little toward the end, but still ran a solid PR of 3:12:59. I crossed the line in 9:38.

At first I was pretty disappointed with the day, I had wanted to get a Kona slot and wasn’t that close in the end. But I am making great progress and as long as I keep getting faster, that is all that matters. I will now recover for a week or two here and then build again for Ironman Florida in November. I am more motivated than ever to collect a few more pieces of that “Ironman Puzzle,” and to accomplish my goal of going under 9hrs this year.

I want to thank everyone that has supported me this year. Especially my parents, Timex, The Trek Bicycle Store of Madison, Fleet Feet of Madison, Blue Seventy and Trigger Point Therapy. You all are awesome and I couldn’t do it without you!

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08:20

:07

Double Your Becker Buzz

Posted in Racing, Training by Blake Becker

The Becker Buzz
August 19, 2007
“Pre Ironman Race Sandwich”

My last race seemed like an eternity ago and since then a lot has happened, so I thought I would update everyone as to what I have been up to as Ironman Wisconsin approaches. I have put all of my ‘eggs’ in the Ironman basket this year. My training called for me to hold back for a huge portion of the year, this was something that was new to me and was also something that proved to be move difficult than I thought. But my coach, Luis Vargas, assured me that there would be a time to go hard and that it would pay off.

Well that time came and we decided to insert two races into the schedule. The races were treated as HARD training sessions. They would follow a big training block and would be preceded by 3 easy days. Here is a results summary, with details below.

Iron Abe Olympic

July 29, 2007

Swim: 22:27 Bike: 56:58 Run: 36:46 Finish 1:57:22

2nd Overall

http://www.onlineraceresults.com/pdf/5997.pdf

Pleasant Prairie Olympic

August 19, 2007

Swim: 19:13 Bike: 58:05 Run: 35:11 Finish 1:54:44

1st Overall

http://www.pleasantprairietriathlon.com/raceresults/index.asp

I found the Iron Abe Triathlon just a little over a week before I needed race. It was about a 4 hr drive south to Springfield, IL (birthplace of Abraham Lincoln…thus the name “Iron Abe Triathlon”) and I seemed like a good race. Oh yeah, it gave an opportunity for a small paycheck as well. Anyway, I stayed with a friend in the area and before I knew it I was getting set up on race morning.

The water was WARM, so there would be no wetsuits. But I had my Blue Seventy Pointzero3 speed suit. Through some testing done in the pool by myself, as well as another teammate, I knew that this suit could save a few seconds per 100m. The gun went off and I found myself gapped by a few meters, at the first buoy. I really try to build my swims to allow for me to have a few options as things sort out. In doing so, I was able to close the gap by the turn and decided to sit comfortably in the group. About ¾ of the way through the swim, I realized that there was another swimmer off the front!!! I had sworn that we were the first group, but there was another swimmer about 75m up. I tried to lift the pace, but it just wasn’t worth it.

I hopped on the bike and just tried to get into a good rhythm. The ride was flat, so I could see the lead rider just ahead. I was steadily clawing back time and the gap was down to about 40sec at the turn around. The roads were not all that smooth, but one really nice feature of the TTX is that the carbon really eats up the vibration from the roads. On the way back I got within about 20sec, when a car that was stopped at an intersection, decided to do a Y turn right in front of me. I nearly lost it, but managed to squeeze through. It was a bit frustrating, as the gap was now back to about 40 sec.

After a quick T2 I was out on the run about 30s down. I felt ok, but legs were just not there. I had only been doing speed work for a few weeks and I didn’t have the turn-over that I needed. Daniel Bretscher, a very talented short course guy, took the overall win and I cruised in about 2min back. It was a solid day, but I knew that I could do more.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In the 3 weeks after the race I put in my most intense IM specific block of training. I was a little MIA at times, but I got through it. Ironman is so much more than just how many watts you can push and what pace you can run at what HR. There are so many unknowns that need to be addressed. This was where my focus was over these weeks and while I reached new levels of fitness, I also answered all those questions. I was now hoping for a good “fitness pop” before I start to taper.

After 3 lighter training days, I felt ready to give a good effort. I awoke to POURING rain….which was beginning to feel like the norm. We have had almost 10 inches in the last week alone and it wasn’t looking like it was going to stop for the race. I drove an hour to the race site from a relative’s house and was debating turning around, just about every exit. I arrived, parked and rode my bike from the remote parking to the race site…in the POURING rain. The buzz around the race site was that they would make an announcement soon. Well, somehow the weather let up and they decided to give things a go.

After a quick set-up, I put on my Helix…aka, “Second Skin” and jumped in the water for a good swim warm-up. I jumped out and we all lined up on the beach for the downhill FAST start. The gun went off and we sprinted for the water. I went out strong to find some feet and it worked out well. I was fourth in line and we were alone. Only problem is that the two guys directly in front of me popped, one-by-one. I pulled around and worked it solo for the remainder of the swim. I held the gap of about 15seconds and hopped out in a new PR of 19:13.

I got onto the bike and didn’t feel great right away, but tried to stay smooth. My Timex HR Monitor showed that I was where I needed to be, and my Powertap SL showed good power. I knew that it was just a matter of time until I felt better. I never got into a groove, but did hit the wattage that I had hoped for.

I came off the bike with a good lead, but still tried to push the pace as much as possible. I wanted to see if I could make a good improvement in my run split from my previous race. I came through mile 1 in 5:26 and felt good with a HR of 168. I knew that my training was working and pushed, but also enjoyed the rest of the race. I crossed in 1:54:44.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I now have three weeks until Ironman Wisconsin and I feel like I am right where I want to be. I have a great team, coach and support system to hopefully let everything fall into place on Sept. 9. I will check in again as we get close. Thank you to everyone for their support. Please visit my website for more info, www.blakebecker.com

My Coach Luis Vargas: www.luisvargas.com

Saris Cycling Group – www.saris.com

Timex Team Site: http://teamtimex.timexblogs.com/

Madison Trek Bike Store: www.trekstoremadison.com

Fleet Feet Madison: www.fleetfeetmadison.com

Blue Seventy Wetsuits: www.blueseventy.com

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07:09

:07

The Becker Buzz

Posted in Racing by Blake Becker

The Becker Buzz
July 8, 2007

Lake Stevens 70.3
Swim: 26:51 Bike: 2:21:20 Run: 1:21:17 Finish 4:11:36
10th Overall

I headed out to the Northwest on Thursday before the race to hopefully see a little bit of the course, as well as the beautiful scenery. The northwest is beautiful!! The city of Seattle itself is a bit crowded, but does have its draws. The city is comprised of “hills,” or neighborhoods that overlook various waterways and other geographical features. The backside of the neighborhood where I am staying has a view that will raise a few hairs on anyone’s neck. If you look to the left, you see Mt. Rainier. If you look right, you look across the Puget Sound at the Olympic Mountains. Definitely a “WOW” factor going on here.

Ok, onto the race. I was able to drive both the bike and the run, which was good, but it would definitely have helped to have ridden the loop before the race. No worries at all however. My race plan was to try to swim with the pack, ride my own race and then have a good run.

Race Day:

The weather was cloudy and cool at the start, with temps around 50*, so I made sure to get in a good solid warm-up. I tried a longer swim warm-up of 20-30min, just as I would in the pool, and after this race I will make sure to keep it in my routine.

I racked my red rocket (the TTX) and thought I was ready to roll. However, halfway through my swim warm-up I realize that I forgot to lay my socks out for the run. I cut across the course, cut through transition, got them out and thought I was set again (more to come on this a bit later in my report).

I adjusted my Full Sleeved Blue Seventy Helix and before I knew it, I was on the starting dock. As the National Anthem played, I looked around. “Where did all of these guys come from?” I wondered. There were over 20 male pros at the start.

My plan was to find Chris Legh and stick to him like glue. I somehow managed to lose him right before the gun went off (only to later realize he moved behind me). Gun goes off, I find feet and we are cruising. About 800m into the swim I look to my left and there is Chris. “Great.” I thought. “This is right where I want to be. We zigzagged all over the place (the pack does NOT swim straight) and things were good until about 1600m into the swim. Somehow, the notion popped into my head that I had forgotten to put my Power Tap computer on my bike. I spent the remainder of the swim debating what I should do. To add to things, the pack was going left and the exit was to the right. I decided to break off, which proved to be a bad idea. It is MUCH faster to sit in the group, no matter what! I only lost about 25sec to them, but it would have been nice to have gotten pulled through entire swim. Still, I exited in 26:51 a big PR for me.

I got to my bike and decided to leave the computer in my bag. I didn’t know exactly where it was and I was supposed to ride by HR anyway. I got on and just couldn’t get things rolling. I was cautious about going too hard on the first of two challenging loops, but the legs were just not there and my HR was beginning to fall. I had a few cyclists go by and just tried to keep my head in it. At about 25 miles, things started to feel a little better, but my HR was still low. Then I just decided to DRILL the first 10miles of climbing on the second loop to re-pass and pull away from a few others. I got back to transition less than happy about my ride, but I did manage to negative split the loops by about 3 minutes.

As I headed out on the run, I was told I was in 12^th. I could see a few guys up the road, but didn’t make any progress as I the first two miles were a bit slow. Then at mile 2, Jordan Jones, a great runner from Boulder, came by. I made a decision to stick to him and to my surprise I did. We were clicking off miles just under and just over 6min pace. My HR was not as high as I would have liked, but I just focused on hanging tough.

I managed to pass Jordan back and catch Adam Jensen, who was just sixth as Ironman Coeur D’Alene and Brent Lorenzen in the final miles. I came across with a solid run of 1:21 and in 10^th overall.

I was a bit tired from all of the IM training, as was indicated by my low HR’s, but I was satisfied that I went as well as I did. The main focus is September 9^th. Now I am taking it easy for a few days, before starting the next block of training.

Thank you to my great host family, my friends and family, as well my sponsors who believe in me. Congrat’s also to Gabriela and Laura on their 8th place and 10th place finishes! Here are some related links as always:

Lake Stevens 70.3 Results: http://www.pem-usa.com/racedata/ls07/LS07elite.html

My Coach Luis Vargas: www.luisvargas.com

Timex Team Site: http://teamtimex.timexblogs.com/
Madison Trek Bike Store: www.trekstoremadison.com
Fleet Feet Madison: www.fleetfeetmadison.com
Blue Seventy Wetsuits: www.blueseventy.com