Team Timex Blog

5430 Long Course, Boulder CO

Brian Schaning — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:22:10 +0000

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!!

State Games of the West

Brian Schaning — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:19:28 +0000

July 26 was my first actual triathlon event since moving to Colorado. It was the State Games of the West, in Colorado Springs. This being a sprint race (750m swim, 13mile bike, 5k run), I was utilizing it for some speed training getting ready for the 5430 half-iron coming up in 2 weeks. The shorter races aren’t exactly my forte, and I think it is because I actually have to spend some time warming up!!! I wasn’t expecting to have much turn-over speed but I ended up surprising myself a bit, especially in the run. I was able to get myself on the podium, 3rd overall, narrowly missing 2nd by 2 seconds in a 2-up sprint to the finish, getting edged out by ITU racer Haven Barnes.

Swim: The swim was on the long side for a sprint race, but I was happy to see that. My wave was the last wave, resulting in at least an additional 100m having to weave through a ton of people. Aside from that, I just didn’t seem to have much kick, as I struggled to stay on the leaders feet. With having to weave through the traffic and sight the bouys I felt like I spent have the swim with my head out of the water. Coming out of the water I was about 1minute down on the leaders, which is an unusual position for me.

Bike: The bike was a 4-loop affair, very nice because it was completely closed to traffic and great for spectating, but with the down side being that I again would be weaving in and out of a ton of people. The course was pretty quick with 2- tough little climbs per lap. I didn’t really know where I was positioned throughout the bike ride with the waves all mixing together and I was unable to know where the 3-4 people that came out of the water in-front of me were at. But I actually felt really good and just hammered, leaving everything out there knowing the run would be pretty short. I ended up passing 2 of the 3 leaders putting me into 2nd place off the bike. After the race I found out I had the fastest bike split of the day (by over 1 minute), 24.5mph.

Run: Onto the run in 2nd position, about 15 seconds down on the leader. I tried to mark him initially, but he was absolutely flying, and I put my focus to staying just at red-line, and holding onto my 2nd place, knowing that there were 2 other people quick on my heels. I held this spot the first 2 miles, but with a couple turn-arounds on the course I could see third place closing in. It was ITU racer Haven Barnes (http://www.havenbarnes.com/). Knowing that he was a short-course racer, I knew it would be tough to stick with him. We ran shoulder to shoulder for the last mile, and I knew I had to do anything to prevent a sprint, so I threw down an attack with 500m to go, and did actually get a 5m gap. This I held very shortly though and Haven countered with a good kick at 100m, and was able to hold it at the line. Despite being on the short end of this battle, it was great fun, and a good confidence booster knowing I could hold some speed with some quick guys. Run time:15:53 for 5k.

OVERALL WINNERSPlace Name                    Age City/state            Total      Swim    Trans1 Bike    Trans2 Run     Penalty No.   Cat
===== ======================= === ===================== ========== ======= ====== ======= ====== ======= ======= ===== ===
    1 James Bales              29 Usaf Academy CO       1:03:01.10   11:46   1:16   34:07   0:42   15:09           310 MI
    2 Haven Barnes             32 Manitou Springs CO    1:03:50.00   11:42   1:18   34:47   0:32   15:31           302 PR
    3 Brian Schaning           26 Manitou Springs CO    1:03:52.40   12:52   1:18   32:59   0:50   15:53           287 AG

1 James Bales 29 Usaf Academy CO 1:03:01.10 11:46 1:16 34:07 0:42 15:09 310 MI 2 Haven Barnes 32 Manitou Springs CO 1:03:50.00 11:42 1:18 34:47 0:32 15:31 302 PR 3 Brian Schaning 26 Manitou Springs CO 1:03:52.40 12:52 1:18 32:59 0:50 15:53 287 AG

Garden of Gods 10 Mile

Brian Schaning — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:40:54 +0000

2 weeks ago I made the move to the state I have always wanted to live in… Colorado. Unfortunately the move also indicated that I am now a member of the working force, meaning less time for training! My first week here I jumped in the Garden of the Gods 10 mile road race, www.gardentenmile.com, in my new hometown of Manitou Springs. This race brings a whole new meaning to the term “an easy run in the garden”, as this is probably the most challenging course I have ever run with it being constantly up or down. Additionally, the course elevation ranges from 6200 to 6500′, meaning a little lack of oxygen for those of us coming from sealevel. I knew I wouldn’t be in running for a top position as there are quite a few ringers going for the prize money, and the winner this year set a new record 52:30, yikes! That is smokin! I managed to pull a decent 1:07, good enought for 42nd overall out of 1600 runners. Not bad for a recent lack of training due to the big move and starting a new job (and a hard ride up in boulder the day before- whose coaching this guy??). Hopefully at my next race at sealevel I will be able to utilize the altitude to my advantage! Sorry, no pics this time… I was flying solo.

Brian

Paper Valley Duathlon

Brian Schaning — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:04:34 +0000

The wisconsin “triathlon” season began as usual with a duathlon this year. The paper valley duathlon, 5k run- 22mile bike- 5k run, would be my kick off event. This race is part of the year long race calender put on in Wisconsin by midwest sports events (http://www.midwestsportsevents.com/) and usually draw pretty good crowds. My main goal for the race was to put in a good effort and get some “speed” training, as my main events are not until late summer/ fall, so the fitness is just starting to get going. With it being the first event (for me anyways) of the year, its always interesting to compare your fitness (or lack thereof) to everyone elses after the long winter. I would say the race went as predicted with the usual players at the front of the race. The first 5k saw a lead group quickly form, and the first mile taken out at a 5:04 pace. The course did have several short steep hills making the effort hurt just a little more. I knew I couldn’t hold this pace so I had to back off a bit, and came into T1 about 30sec down on the leader in fifth place. The bike I had to make up some time, and was able to bike into second place, but the leader was long gone and I couldn’t see him or the lead car after the first couple of miles. Coming into T2 into second, I knew first place was out of reach (about 2.5 minutes down), and that I didn’t put as much time as I needed into the third place athlete, as he is a much stronger runner than myself. I managed to hold him off until about mile 1.5, and stuck with him until mile 2, and then lost him on a slight downhill section!! That is really frustrating to get dropped on a downhill, but I just didn’t have the turnover speed. I cruised in from there to take the last podium spot at 3rd overall. Not a bad way to kick start the season.

2nd Annual Triathlon Clinic

Brian Schaning — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:31:45 +0000

Last week I gave my second annual preseason triathlon clinic at Bike N Ski http://www.bikenski.net/ in Sheboygan Wisconsin. This year we organized the event in conjunction with the Redline Triathlon Club http://www.redlinetriclub.org/. The event was a huge success, as we had almost 40 people in attendance. The audience varied from novice to experienced Ironman but I think everyone came away with at least one tidbit of information that they didn’t have before. Swimming, biking, running, transitions, equipment, nutrition, and training were all covered, which made the talk a little longer than anticipated (but I didn’t notice any yawns in the crowd). I was also able to give away a fair amount of schwag, the grand prize being a Timex Bodylink GPS system! Almost everyone was able to go home with some goodies, which is always the best part of any clinic.

The Schwag!

Male Model demonstrating Blue Seventy Helix Wetsuit

Trek Equinox TTX Bike on Display

IMWI Bike Course Update

Brian Schaning — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:11:10 +0000

The weather here in Wisconsin has made a great turnaround in the past couple weeks. We have gone from record snowfall to temperatures in the 40’s with sunshine for the past couple of days. Although the snowdrifts on the side of the road remain quite high, the roads have been great. The past 3 days I got in 121 miles, with fridays ride being a loop of the IM course. There is not much water, and very little gravel, so some early season training is definatley in order. My legs are still finding themselves after transitioning from skis to the bike, but a couple solid days and I am feeling much better. Unfortunately the next couple days look like a rain/snow mix with temperatures back to the 20’s/30’s. A great weekend of training goes a long ways for the mental attitude and motivation after being stuck inside on the trainer/ treadmill.

American Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Marathon

Brian Schaning — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:44:06 +0000

The American Birkebeiner http://www.birkie.com/ is the boston marathon of cross country skiing. A 51k point to point nordic ski race in the northwoods of wisconsin from Cable to Hayward that attracts more than 7,000 skiers from across the U.S. and world. The top finishers are often composed of World Cup and Olympic champions. This was my first year at the race, and it was a good year to race- as the snow conditions were the best in recent memory. Due to the large number of skiers, the race is split into a wave start, and I would be starting in wave 5 based on my qualification race at the Badger State Games a couple weeks ago. My one concern was the cold temps, -10deg when we woke up, then about 2deg at the start, but it wound up warming up nicely to 25deg by the time I finished. The start of the race went really well, I had a good line-up in the second row and got out really quick with another skier to take the lead in our wave. We worked together for the first 5k until we started hitting the back end of wave 4. The rest of the way would be a battle attempting to get through all of the skiers infront of us, as there is only so much room on the trail. I did manage to get through the crowds without any broken poles or skis, so that is always a bonus of any ski race. My goal time was 3hrs, and at the halfway mark, I was close to 8minutes ahead of my pace, and I was still feeling very comfortable. This time I also nailed my nutrition, thanks in no part to my bonk in the last race. Coming to the finish you are skiing right down Main street in Hayward where the crowds are unbelieveable and you feel like you are in the olympics. But only in Wisconsin will you find a cold Miller Genuine Draft waiting for you at the finish!! I ended up finishing in 2:45:17, and 363 overall out of 3219 finishers in the freestyle race. A great result considering the race traffic I had to work through. This result will put me into Wave 1 for future years so I will hopefully be able to improve on my finish next time.

The Winner of the Race was Ivan Babikov of Russia in a time of 2:07:08. Check out the finish video, and the sprint for second!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNsjv43mzzE

Badger State Games XC Ski Marathon

Brian Schaning — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:45:47 +0000

1st ever xc ski marathon: 2hrs 24min 35sec, 34th overall

This past weekend was the badger state games ski race in Wausau WI. The snow this year has been overall excellent, and this weekend was no different in the north woods. This was my first foray into long-distance ski racing, but a fairly successful one none the less. My goal for the race was to get in some good training as well as upgrade my wave placement for the American Birkebeiner http://www.birkie.com/ . Being a rookie at this distance (on skis anyways), I had to of course make a couple of rookie mistakes 1) going out too hard, 2) not enough nutrition. My average heart rate for the first half of the race was 172, second half was 143. Ouch!! Let’s just say you can’t hold it at redline for a 26 mile race, even though I know this, still tried to make some physiological miracles. This, with a combination of lack of nutrition- a meltdown occured at mile 14, at which point I fell off what I think at the time was a second grupetto #5-12 or so. I didn’t take in any nutrition the first half of the race, and in skiing when you can be burning over 1000kcal per hour, this is a necessity. I still managed to regroup by pounding some gatorade and powergel. I will find out this week if I get an upgraded wave placement for the birkie.

Turkey Trotting

Brian Schaning — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 17:54:36 +0000

Along with the annual tradition of eating turkey and pumpkin pie, is the annual Sheboygan Gobbler Gallop 10k and 2 mile road race. This Thanksgiving was no different, as my Dad and I headed to the Sheboygan lakefront for our annual tradition. I have done this race every year but once since I was 6! The one interesting thing with the Thanksgiving day run is the weather, which has ranged anywhere from a chilly 10 degrees and snow to a balmy 60degress. This year did not disappoint, with Sheboygan getting our first significant snowfall (2.5″) the night before the race. This left the roads a little slick, and a little slush in the corners, but nothing of too much concern. I was again hoping for a PR as my running has been improving every year, so a 35minute race was my goal. As of recently I had been in a small battle with my left leg, a strained quad from intervals, and a strained hamstring from squatting. But none the less I still felt I could make a PR. The first 3 miles would be tough, straight into a strong headwind off of the lake, but I was sitting with a group of 4 runners chasing a lone leader about 15 seconds up. The draft position was definatley an advantage. The pace was a bit quick for me at 5:15-5:25/ mile, but I thought I would get towed by the group for as long as possible and then fall back to my own pace. I ended up rubber-banding off the back of the group at about mile 2.5 and was sitting about 15 seconds back at the turn-around. With the group still in sight I would just hope someone else would also fall off the pace and I could catch them in the end. I also saw another 2 runners within 30 seconds back that could be a threat. But for the last half of the race I would run in no man’s land on my own. I slowed down quite a bit the last 1.25mile, as my legs were feeling the fast early pace. In the end though, I hung on for 5thoverall/ 2nd age group in a 35:41, not quite as fast as I hoped, but not to shabby. But the best part about the race: it makes you feel less guilty having a second piece of pie after dinner! Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

KONA 2007 LIVE COVERAGE

Brian Schaning — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:06:23 +0000

Follow all timex athletes racing Kona live today Oct. 13, at: