HOWLS
There were two big accomplishments down at IronMan 70.3 Texas. The race in Galveston is an effort to get off the bike before the wind picks up so much that you get blown into the ocean and off the run before you get so hot you implode!
First, Conner "Van Wilder" Franke has been challenged with balancing his job with finding time to train. Back in the day when I was in a consulting role before I was managing my projects and owning my calendar, finding adequate time to train was very difficult. What Van Wilder and I discussed (similar to conversations I had with many of you) is that you can trade volume for frequency and Conner has been on a workout streak that has lasted over 150 days. Some days he gets the quality in and some, he squeezes in a mile or two on the run. Finding time to do something. What this effort resulted in was a 5:03 and change finish which was a massive PR! I was so excited to see this result as it included a sub-2:30 ride on a road bike in the wind (which if on a TT bike, would have been the equivalent of nearly 15 minutes faster which would have put him in striking distance of the podium). Being so close to going sub-5 is a huge motivator! And, of course, on the way back home, he started seeing what TT bikes were available. Knew that would happen. When folks start to further scratch the surface on their potential, there is an air of excitement in his voice and what follows is the finding of more time to get the quality work in. With that, he gets a new nickname -- Farm Boy!
Jason "Magnum" Smith figured the reference out in less than a minute and the 45+ crowd on the Team should get this one pretty quickly. :)
Second, on the other end of the spectrum was the day of Tara "Yes I Can" Corduan. Tara sent me a picture the day before. I glanced at it quickly and thought, "who is that"? Is that a picture of a former pro or something before it dawned on me, it was her. Yes I Can was so ready for this race and after coming out of the water in 5th in F50-54 was excited to see what happened. Tara deals with an autoimmune disorder which, when it comes on, radiates pain throughout the body. I saw the bike and run splits and, given what numbers she was putting up in training, knew what was going on. The thing about her day was that, despite the pain she was going through, she finished out the race. Sometimes it becomes about the Finisher Medal and that day was one of them as she easily could have bailed. You never know what will happen on race day. Obviously, translating great training to a self-defined "winning" day is the goal, but it doesn't always happen and mentally handling that is hard. I have many stories of race failures, but the mentally filing away of it into the dustbin while you consider "never racing again" is very hard. The conversation I had with Tara after was similar to other ones I've had with myself and so many other Wolfpack members. It is about the effort that goes in for being ready for the Start Line, not about the Finish line. Personally, as I have been migrating over to more bike racing more I went from a guy that lines up for a triathlon start with the mindset that I'll be one of the fastest guys in my age group out there (except Kona or 70.3 Worlds where I just was happy to be there) to a guy that will, outside of Time Trials, likely get dropped and limp across the finish line. Getting my head around that is hard. But, Chris always reminds me of something I always say, when you line-up on the start line, remember one thing "Racing is Fun", smile, say hi to your fellow competitors and just enjoy the day.
At the Time Travel 10K in Colorado Springs Taylor "Warrior Princess" and Eli "Lethal Weapon" Madden had great races. Taylor was 5th Overall Female and 1st F25-29 and Eli took 7th Overall and 1st M30-34. Rumor has it they both put on Sparkle makeup for race day and crushed it!
At the Karen Hornbostel Memorial Time Trial (KHMTT), congratulations to Josh "Colossus" Hoeft who took 3rd Male Cat 4 for Weeks #02 and #03. I showed up late for KHMTT #02 so added 70 seconds to my time and took 4th (TT - M55-59 Cat 4) and 4 minutes late for Retro Cat 4/5 which dropped me to 13th, then KHMTT Week #03 took 2nd (TT) and 5th (Retro - Flatted in last mile and had to ride in on rim). Then, Week 4, tied for 1st TT - M55-59 and had a very poor showing for the Retro. I also did my first bike road race in a long time at the Lake Cobb Fort Collins) Circuit Race. Finished with the main pack, but dropped chain on final climb and came across the line in 12th.
YELPS
Yelp out to Kaitlin "The Dolphin" Buckley who competed in the Boston Marathon!
VOLUME PODIUM
Howl out to this week's Volume Podium!
Coincidentally, both Taylor and RJ had the week off and, interestingly enough, both went to the warm weather in Arizona for vacation and amassed a ton of volume! Nice to see the jump in fitness!
1) Eric "The Butcher" Gutknecht 14:06
2) Andy " The Hammer" Solomon - 11:03
3) Tara "Yes I Can" Corduan - 10:49
4) Adam "Kaiju" Smith - 10:42
5) Sub "The Torpedo" Tripathy - 10:11
Do please keep the Wolfpack 2024 Schedule.xlsx (and Training Peaks) up to date with races and events!
UPCOMING RACES
Get ready to Howl for this weekend's racers which includes our first iron distance of the season!
IronMan Texas - Josh "Colossus" Hoeft, Jason "Magnum" Smith, and Ytizay Sontag
Jim Thorpe Marathon - Andy "The Hammer" Solomon
Xterra New Jersey - RJ "The Boogeyman" Boergers
NEW PLAYLIST SONG
Here's my new song to add to your playlist to pump you up if you need it -- "I Beg to Differ" by Billy Talent.
The Wolfpack is a mix of folks across several generations which, as a coach, poses different challenges. The older folks focus is on maximizing training volume and quality against a backdrop of family challenges and injuries where as the younger folks are working to balance the challenges of career growth and young families. Regardless, it all boils down to carving out time within your calendar to bring your very best to the Start Line. Whereas conversations with the younger folks is around taking advantage of the opportunity to be at the peak of their athletic capability (Josh often hears my comment that I am glad that, with him, "Youth ain't wasted on the Young") whereas the older folks need to keep racing for, you can't just "take a year off" anymore, you either keep at it or your done. The "I Beg to Differ" song is a reminder to me of that. Note that, after Tara's Texas 70.3, she put in a massive training week. At-a-girl!
2024 Personal Record (10) and Podium (21) Counter = 31!
Conner "Farm Boy" Franke (M19-25) 2 - PR: Spring Fever 13.1 / IronMan 70.3 Texas
Taylor "Warrior Princess" Veranth (F25-29) 1 - PR: Time Travel (Colorado Springs) 10K
Eli "Lethal Weapon" Madden (M30-34) 1 PR: PR: Time Travel (Colorado Springs) 10K
Josh "Colossus" Hoeft (M25-29) 1 - PR Spring Fever 13.1
Matt "Jiffy" Lubiak (M50-54) 1 - PR: NYC 13.1
Jason "Magnum" Smith (M40-44) 1 - PR: Time to Paddy 13.1
Tara "Yes I Can" Corduan (F-50-54) 1 - PR: Murray Todd 13.1
Adam "Kaiju" Smith (M35-39) 1 - PR: That Dam Run 13.1
Eric "Charlemagne" Charlebois (M45-49) 1 - PR: Myrtle Beach 13.1
Josh "Colossus" Hoeft (M25-29) 4 - 2nd Overall: Spring Fever 13.1 / 3rd M Cat 4: KHMTT #01 / 3rd M Cat 4: KHMTT #02 / 3rd M Cat 4: KHMTT #03
Conner "Van Wilder" Franke (M19-25) 1 - 3rd AG: Spring Fever 13.1
Jason "Magnum" Smith (M40-44) 1 - PR: 1st AG: Time to Paddy 13.1
Tara "Yes I Can" Corduan (F50-54) 1 - 3rd AG: Murray Todd 13.1
Nat "Legolas" Pitts (F35-39) 1 - 3rd F30-39: That Dam Run 13.1
Christine Kachinsky (F50-54) 3 - 3rd Overall Female: Polar Prowl 13.1 / 3rd F50-59: That Dam Run 13.1 / 1st AG Spring Fever 13.1
John Bye (M55-59) 10 - 1st AG: Polar Prowl 13.1 / 4th M50-59: That Dam Run 10K / 1st M50+ Cat 4: Frostbite TT / 1st M50-59: Spring Fever 10K / 1st M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #01 / 3rd Retro M Cat 4/5: KHMTT #01 / 4th M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #02 / 2nd M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #03 / 5th Retro M Cat 4/5: KHMTT #03 / 1st M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #04
コメント