Team IE Elite Blog

Season Opener

2012-03-08T08:26:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was my first race of the season, an ITU race in Clermont, FL. I did this race last season and had great success at it, it was my first podium finish as a professional. I had high expectations this year and I was feeling great pre-race. The weather forecasts leading up to the race were telling me it was going to be sunny and hot. Although the winter has been mild in South Bend this year, I knew it was going to be a tough challenge racing in 90 degree heat. I did my usual sauna "workouts" leading up to the race to try and get ready for the heat. Despite the heat, I was ready to get the season under way!!

Swim - The swim at Clermont is one of the reasons I like this race. The water is shallow and requires a lot of dolphin diving and running in the water. Last year had about 300m of actual swimming, but this year the course was changed slightly. This year we started in the water, about knee deep on me, and had about 550m of actual swimming. My swim has been getting better but I was a little nervous about the longer swim this year, I really wanted to make the front bike pack. When the horn sounded we were off and dolphin diving. As we were dolphin diving I noticed someone about 10 ft ahead of everyone at the front. I am not sure how this guy got such a fast start, but I figured it was now going to be a fast swim. I felt great in the water and got in a good rhythm to hang with the swimmers around me. The buoys were a normal battle, but I expect it now so I just stay calm and get around them as fast as possible. Once we got to shallow water again everyone started dolphin diving and eventually running in the water. Once I hit the beach Greg let me know I was in good position, but a break away was forming at the front. I raced up the beach and in to and out of transition.

Bike - The chase was on. I was in a group of 10-15 trying to catch a group of 8. We were riding stronger, so it was just a matter of time before we caught them. We caught them before the first turn around and the attacks started shortly after that. I am a lot stronger on the bike this year, but I need to learn to stay calm now. When 1 or 2 people would attack and no one from the group would respond, I would. I really wanted to win the race, so I was not going to let any good runners get away. Looking back on this, it was not my best idea. Closing a gap is one thing, but closing it quickly at the cost of high watts, is not the best route. I may be one of the middle aged athletes but this is still a relatively new sport for me. I never stop learning, I just wish the lessons were a little more forgiving. I felt great on the bike the entire time though and I thought the run was going to go well. I was excited to get off the bike.

Run - I got in my running shoes and tried to start running fast; Jarrod took off and set a fast pace early. My legs were not responding! The last time I can remember my legs feeling this flat in a race, I got lapped in a 10k on Oregon's track. I took water at the first water stop but I realized nothing was going to help this. I was going to have to get tough and just keep pushing. Jarrod was out in front, but I was still in the hunt for 2nd. On the second lap I tried to get my legs going, but they were having none of it. With 1k to go 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th moved and I had no response. It was a lonely, hot last 1000m. It was the first time in a triathlon that my run had let me down.

It is weird how disappointing a 6th place finish feels this year, but I learned a lot and there were some bright spots from the race...I had a great swim and bike! And if I can feel that bad on the run and still get 6th place, I cannot wait until I have a good run-off. I had a great cheering section at the race and I think that helped me get through the run. Also it is great having teammates in the race. It is nice to have Will and Kyle in the bike pack with me, knowing I am not alone on the road.

I would like to thank my mom and sister, Greg and Lisa, my grandparents, and my girlfriend and her two friends for coming down to the race. Also it was great to have Will's family and Robbie and his dad out on the course as well. Thank you everyone for your good words!! Sorry, I may have been a little grouchy post race! :)

Always desire to learn something useful. ~Sophacles

Kaleb

PS - Happy Birthday Dad!!

Here comes the 2012 Season

2012-02-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

This winter has been one of my best, both in my training and personally. Greg has a new building with a Computrainer studio that has been a huge help with my cycling in the off season. And we have been able to take a few trips to get outside and ride. 10 days in California and 4 days in Tennessee have given me confidence that my cycling has improved and that riding a Computrainer in the off season can really make a difference. My swim has gotten better although the changes to my stroke have made for a somewhat long winter. I can generate more power and faster times in the water, but I get fatigued faster and recovery time is a little longer. I have been adjusting and by the time the season rolls around I should be good to go. I am hoping to be a more complete triathlete this year! With the help of run drills and core strengthening, my run has improved without setting foot on a track. I am excited for what the season might hold.

Some big sponsor news in the off season has come in the form of running shoes. After posting fast runs off the bike the last two seasons Greg worked out a deal with Scott shoes. I have been running in Scotts for about a month now and I am very happy! I cannot wait to race in the new minimalist shoe Scott just released - the race rocker.

The 2012 season could be a big one!! I just found out I got in to the Mooloolaba World Cup. If I can do well in Clermont at the beginning of March and then post a good result in Mooloolaba, I might have a chance at getting in to the San Diego WTS race. If you are not familiar with the San Diego race, it is the last chance Olympic Qualifier. Any American that finishes in the top 9 automatically qualifies for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This would be a dream come true, to represent the US at the Olympics. It is still a long shot, but the fact that the Olympics are even on the radar this year is kinda crazy!! Hopefully Greg and I can muster up a little magic this season and represent the US on the biggest stage in sport!! I will try to keep you all updated as much as possible as the season unfolds.

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. ~Norman Vincent Peale

Kaleb

Swimming for a non college swimmer...

2012-02-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

This past week we had our TEAM IE training camp in California. The camp was fantastic and we did a big bike focus and had lots of fun with new and old friends; but the experience I have had recently that has been most interesting has been Greg’s new approach to my swim training this offseason. The best thing about Greg is that he really thinks outside the box when something is not working the way it should.

Last year, we did a lot of work on my swimming and ramped up my volume and intensity. The crazy thing is- I barely got any faster, if at all. It was a huge cost of time and energy and the returns appeared to be fairly small. About a month ago, Greg came to Charlottesville for a week and he was able to get a much better idea of what my swimming looked like. I believe I was taking about 22 strokes per length at the time, my kick was mistimed and it really took Greg being there for the week to start to work on it (best coach ever!) Since that time I have been doing very little conventional yardage and working on my engagement of the water and kick timing with a bunch of drills and fun crazy exercises that Greg made up. I started doing my 100’s super super slow and the idea seemed crazy but Greg told me to stick with it- so that is what I did. A month later I am still working up to being successful with this new stroke but I am almost as fast as I was with my old stroke and I am taking 16 strokes per length now and I am a lot less tired when I come into the wall.

It has been a really amazing and quick transition but a great example of how you need to trust your coach even when things don’t necessarily seem to make sense initially. I am really excited to keep reporting on this topic as I continue to work on this new stroke.

I have had a lot of great swimmers video me and critique my stroke- but somehow I think Greg not being a collegiate or pro swimmer (although he is a freaking fast swimmer!) has been better for me. He can see things differently and he doesn’t take things for granted that swimming experts often assume. Also, Greg believes that people can become good swimmers even if they didn’t swim in college- most people don’t think this is possible- but if you don’t think it is possible, it will definitely never happen for you. I’ll keep you posted on this experiment!! I like the sounds of 16 vs. 22 for now though =)

Thanks again Greg!!

Elite Race Series Finale

2011-10-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

When you think of Myrtle Beach, you probably think of spring break parties and beaches. Well, this last weekend I ventured there for an ITU draft legal race. I was a little worried when the race was put on the schedule because it could be hot there and not in South Bend in early October. Well, as it turns out, South Bend had warmer temps and sunnier skies this past weekend. The course was fantastic and UltraMax organized a great event. The course had a good roll to it which is a lot more fun than a lot of the pancake flat courses I have been on this year. This course was one of my favorite of the year.

Swim – It was a two loop swim in the intercostal waterway. The women had to fight a strong current, but that was not the case for us. This was my first race seeded in the top 10, so I got announced before the race, which was pretty cool. This also meant that I would get a great starting spot! As the top guys went to the left side of the starting line I ventured to the right hand side. I breathe to the left so I like to have the group on that side, plus the first turn was a left hand turn so that meant I would not get pinched off by people coming in on me. I got a great start and was in good position at the first buoy. I was on feet early but they slowly pulled away. I am not sure what happened. With my swim where it is I think I just lose focus for a few seconds at a time and this time it was very costly. I lost the front pack and I tried to close the gap, but I could not. I was in a small group with Jeff Helmer and an Australian guy, Tim George, so I stayed with them and hoped there were more people close, so we could get a bike pack together. But I realized this was not the case when I exited the water.

Bike – I had a good T2 and was off on the bike. I was able to get my right foot in my shoe before going up the only hill on the course, right out of transition. Once at the top I got my other foot in and commenced to chasing. Tim, Jeff and I got organized quickly and were making good time. We caught a few guys and by the end of the second lap, of eight, we were 5 strong, organized and chasing. We were all working well together, but the front pack of 15 was moving a little faster than we were. We kept the chase on and Karly was giving us split updates until I gave her the sign to stop. The time gap was getting larger and that was not helping me stay motivated. With 3 laps to go the gap was steady, if not coming down. This gave me a little more hope and started taking longer pulls at the front. At this time I could not worry about the run. I had to be close enough to have a chance to run people down. Going with the wind we were hitting speeds of 34 mph, so I was having a lot of fun with that!

Run – This race T2 went well and I was off and running. I was about 1:35 down to the lead pack, so I tried to set a hard pace to catch some guys. I knew it was going to be lonely on the run, but this is how most races have been this year. It was up to my run to get me in the top 10. I knew if I could pull off a good result I would end up 3^rd in the elite draft legal series, and take home a nice yearend bonus check! After the first lap, or four, I had not caught anyone but the announcer was trying to get the crowd pumped up – I had a shot at the top 10, maybe even the top 5 if I could keep up my current pace. The wind and the hill were taking its toll on everyone, including me though! I knew I could not quit, this was my last race, plus I hate to lose. I had to stay on the gas, for my coach, my sponsors and most importantly my family that was there cheering me on!! I was finally catching people halfway through lap 2. At the end of the lap, the announcer said I had a shot at the top 5. By the last lap I was starting to fall apart and sitting in 9^th place. I kept it together as best I could and made my way into 6^th place. As I got into the finish chute 5^th place finished, so I shut it down and handed out high fives. The crowd was small but it was great throughout the entire race.

After the race I found out I ended up in 3^rd place in the series. The two people ahead of me were Jarrod Shoemaker and Hunter Kemper. Not bad company at the top!! A big thanks goes out to my sister for cheering for me and giving time updates the whole race (except those 4 laps on the bike). Thanks to my grandparents for once again making the drive to my race. I have a great family that is very supportive!! Thanks Greg, for not only getting me ready to race, but for your words of wisdom during the race – through Karly! I could tell you were giving her things to say! And thanks to Champion System, Profile Design, John Cobb, Skip at Nytro , Look, Hammer Nutrition, and Rudy Project for helping me be competitive at races. Hard work and great coaching get you so far, after that quality products get you across the finish line quickly race after race.

I made it through my first season as a pro successfully and learned a ton! I am planning on giving updates on training throughout the off season. But get excited, next year should be a fun one!

Never, never, never give up. ~Winston Churchill

Kaleb

USAT Nationals

2011-09-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Buffalo, NY hosted USAT Nationals. It was a very well run race, and the course was great. We swam in Lake Erie and the water was cold enough to be my first wetsuit swim of the season. The roads were fantastic on the bike, and although it contained two 180s it was very fast. The run was flat and fast, like most of the run courses this year.

A big thanks goes out to everyone who made it to the race. My Mom was once again my personal driver for the weekend. I am not sure how she continually puts up with me, but I am glad she does. It was great to have my Grandparents there as well! They stopped by the hotel before the race, so it was nice to chat with them pre-race. It is always great to have Greg there cheering, he always knows what to yell to keep me focused on the task at hand. I am glad that the Housands made the trip. Tom is a training buddy, and he brought his daughters, Addison and Aubrey, with him. They brought some great energy to the race. I would have to say that I had the best cheering section of the day!!

Swim – ITU races always have a fast start. Not just the pace of the swim, but the actual start. You have to be ready when the race is handed over to the starter. As soon as he says, “On your mark,” you might as well jump in because there is less than a second usually before the horn sounds. I am now ready for this when I show up at a race, and this race was no exception. I got a good start and was in the middle of it all. I was surprised at how nice everyone was! Usually there is a lot of fighting all the way to the first buoy, but that did not happen this weekend. Either that or I just happened to be a good position. Although I did not get beat up at all, the swim was very hard. I was on feet early and I really wanted to make a bike pack, so I swam as hard as I could to stay there. The whole time I was swimming I imagined a solid line of guys from the very first swimmer to me, and I believed that if I could stay on feet I would be in the front pack. This was not the case but it kept me in a good position! By the end of the swim I was dizzy from being on the rivet for about 500 yards so I was happy to be heading to the bike.

Bike – Once I was out of my wetsuit I was around a few guys and I could see some guys leaving transition. I ran out and jumped on my bike. I got my right foot in my shoe and that was all I had time for. I was at the front of a few guys and there was a pack of 5 about 5 seconds ahead. I put my head down and tried to close the gap. Once I got close, I swung out and let someone else pull us the rest of the way to the group. Once we got there I was able to get my other foot in my shoe and tighten them down. There were small packs on the road, but the pack I was in was working well together. Hunter was in a group of 7 at the front that was moving the best, but my pack moved well and caught the 3 packs in between. I didn’t miss a turn at the front on the first 6 laps. I wanted to do all that I could to try and catch the front pack. The front pack got a max lead of 80 seconds, but it did come down on the last lap and a half. On the last 2 laps I had nothing left in the tank. I did all I could to just stay in the pack and make it to the run. Toward the end of lap 7 Kyle asked me if I was ok and told him I was fine, but I was in survival mode. Draft legal racing can be easier than non-draft, but it can be harder as well. They are different styles of racing. I am used to a steady hard pace for 40k, and this was like a roller coaster. There was a lot of easy peddling, but there were a lot of hard accelerations. I think the hard pushes took a toll on my body!

T2 – I broke this out separately, because I made a huge mistake here! Usually this is routine and simple, but something happened out of the ordinary. I missed my bike rack!! I am not sure if it was the mental state I was in or the size of the group that threw me off. For most of the season I have come in to T2 toward the back, all by myself. I ran in to transition too far and when I realized it I had to turn around and head back in to everyone coming in/going out. Not what I wanted at this point, but there is nothing I could do about it; there are no do-overs.

Run – I was out of transition almost last from my group so I tried to stay calm and tried not to get ahead of myself. I knew I had ground to make up, but I could not do it in the first quarter mile. I just tried to set a hard pace and make up as much ground as I could. By the end of lap 1 I was in the top 10, and I had caught the majority of the guys from the front bike pack. By the end of lap 2 I think I was in the top 5, but my mind was wondering, so I was not sure what place I was in. Before the race I told Greg that there were two things I would like to hear during the race, other than words of encouragement. The first thing was if Maddie won her cross country race earlier in the day, and the second thing was if Notre Dame won their football game. I think it was on lap two Addison let me know ND won. I couldn’t help but smile! It is amazing how happy thoughts keep you going. It had nothing to do with the race, but it made me happy and maybe even gave me a little extra spring in my step. By the end of lap 3 I was in fourth, moving in to third. I passed Andrew Yorke for third but he passed me right back so I let him stay in the lead and break the wind along the only stretch with wind. At the end of the straightaway, I passed him and tried to put it down. He hung on for a while but I slowly pulled away from him. I tried to speed up and go after Ritchie for second place but he was too far ahead and I was not going to catch him. I ended up in third place!! Second American!! That was the same result as I had at USAT Sprint Nationals. Not bad for my first year as a pro. Hopefully I can improve on that next year!!

Good Job to Kyle! He was right at the front coming out of the water, and finished with a strong 22^nd overall! It was nice to have a teammate in the bike pack as well!

Post race – I got the call from USADA. But since awards were coming up right after the race, I got to stay out of the tent for a while. The awards were fun, and it was the first time I got champagne. I still had some left in the bottle when I left the podium so I poured the rest on Greg! He deserved the champagne just as much as I did. He is the one that got me to the podium. Once the awards were over, I had to head to the doping tent. It still took a while for me to fill up a cup, but I think it is getting better. I just hung out with all my nice USADA friends until I was able to go.

Thank you to all my sponsors: Profile Design’s Marlin wetsuit for getting me out of the water in a great position, Look Bicycles, Profile Design for my Altair 52 wheels and bars, Rudy for my helmet and sunglasses, Hammer for my nutrition, Champion System for my tri suit and clothing, and John Cobb for the comfy V-Flow Max saddle.

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” ~Jim Rohn

Kaleb

LA Triathlon

2011-09-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

LA has been a great trip because I got to hang out with my dad, brother and brother’s girlfriend- the weather is ridiculous here, I met a very cool homestay triathlete from west hollywood and I always love going to the conejo valley multisport masters swim group here.

As far as the race, I am still on the upswing after being sick for 3 weeks so I am looking forward to continuing to get stronger going into Dallas next week. LA is defiantly a swimmer’s race- the swim was very choppy and some notable surf- nothing like year but still very challenging. The majority (middle 2/3rds) of the course is only marked with corner buoys without any sighting buoys along the way so it is really hard to sight off anything in the water- this was a major issue for me and the swim pack I was in - (we resorted to breaststroke more than once)- Definitely a course for the open water swimmers…

After the swim I was pretty far behind- more so that usual - I pushed the bike and was happy to catch a few people but the swim really took me out of it and I was still way back after the bike so I decided to cruise the run and save my legs for Dallas next weekend. The run was actually fun as I got to interact with people on the course and my family who was there to watch. I am looking forward to next weekend and Dallas and continuing on the upswing from here…

The big story of the weekend was really superstar Kaleb- who was 3^rd at Elite Nationals!!! Ridiculous!! So happy for him and such a testament to both Kaleb and Greg and all their hard work this year! Kaleb just keeps getting faster in the swim- very exciting to watch!!

On other big news…very excited for Lisa’s debut at Kona- so awesome- I wish I could be there to cheer!

Looking forward to Dallas!! ~Nicole

From Hyvee to LA

2011-09-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hy-vee was one of the best triathlons and one of the more disappointing triathlons I have ever been too- all in one.

First the best part…

The event itself was like nothing I could have imagined. There was fireworks at the start and finish, great TV coverage, huge huge crowds, a great concert from the gin blossoms, and I could go on and on. The city of Des Moines and Hy-vee put such tremendous support into this race. It seems to be a passion for the city and this company to put on the best, highest quality triathlon in the world and they have succeeded in that. The way Hy-vee supports our sport and the pro athletes is tremendous, they are singlehandedly changing the lives of pros that race there and adding prestige and reward to the sport like no other event. I am just so thankful and appreciative that they are doing so much for our sport and for the pro athletes that get to go.

The other thing that made the event so awesome was having Wes, Lisa, Greg, Kaleb, Brian, Jake, and Rudy there- it was so awesome to get to share the experience with everyone. Greg, Kaleb, Brian and Jake (and Rudy- my buddy from Charlottesville) all had tremendous races and it was so great to share that with them. Greg won his age age group Kaleb crushed the run with the fastest run and being a rockstar overall too!! The whole trip was just so much fun and I was so proud and honored to get to stand on that pontoon with all those incredible athletes at such a great event before the start of the gun. Definitely something I won’t soon forget.

Then the gun went off…haha. Well. As far as the worst race goes, I will be brief. I woke up Wed am before the race was some time of viral flu and didn’t get over it until the week after the race (about 10+ days) so that more than a bit of a chafe on my race. I was hoping my body would just be able to perform well under the circumstances with enough adrenaline but my performance was certainly not indicative of my fitness at that point. I was actually happy with where I finished considering the circumstances… that may sound weird but I honestly do not think I could have gone harder that day and I actually rarely feel that way.. so in that way I was proud of myself. And I got a great preview of the course for next year- looking on the positive side.

For AG athletes, I would strongly recommend this race if you are thinking about doing a race to travel to next year. The atmosphere is something you can’t experience anywhere else, maybe Kona, I don’t know (lisa will have to let me know =) ) but it is certainly in a different universe in terms of atmosphere and quality compared to other events. Thanks so much to Greg and Lisa for being there for us, for Wes who is my #1 fan, and definitely to Hy-vee and the city of Des Moines for setting the highest standard of what a triathlon can be. As always, thanks to our awesome sponsors! Profile design, Quintana Roo, Rudy, Champion Systems, Hammer- So happy for the support necessary to get to this huge events!!

Excited for the LA triathlon this week!! Good luck to Kaleb at Nationals!!!

Racing with the Big Boys

2011-09-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Hy-Vee triathlon can be summed up in one word – Awesome! The race may not have went well for all athletes involved, but the race was brilliantly planned out. There were hundreds of people spread out over the course cheering for everyone racing, and there were grandstands full of screaming fans set up at the finish area. It was the most fun I have ever had while suffering.

Pre-Race – I went down to the river, right next to my hotel, to watch the women swim. The current in the river was pretty intense so I wanted to watch the women to know where the best place to swim was. There was a bridge support in the river coming back to the start/swim out that seemed to slow down the current a little bit, but there was no easy way up stream. This was going to be a hard swim!

Swim – The start to this race was brutal. In most races the first buoy is at least 300m away. Here it was about 25m away into the strong current, therefore 30 guys got to the hard left at roughly the same time. The action at the first buoy was total chaos. People were getting punched and kicked, and well as grabbed and pulled backwards. I took what felt like a punch straight to the eye. I thought my goggle was broke for a while, but I continued to swim and try to stay on feet. The current played a huge role in the swim, as no one wanted to break the current on their own so almost everyone tried to find feet. Josh Amberger led out the swim and put about a min on Andy Potts and the rest of the field. Impressive!! I came out of the water about a min off the back of the front pack. I will take it for the conditions. I was happy to be out of the water as I ran up the steps to T1.

Bike – As I headed out on the bike, I heard that I was ahead of David Thompson. We go back and forth on the swim so it was nice to hear that I beat him out on such a hard swim. As I started the bike I noticed my legs did not want to go. Not a good feeling in a race as large as this one! I let them relax for about 5 min and then I tried to push. They were having none of it. The course was technical and rolling so I thought I could make up some time on the down hills and turns. On the first downhill section there was a 90 degree turn at the bottom. I knew it was coming but I was not ready for it. I hit my brakes, but I was not slowing down fast enough. I squeezed down on the brake levers and my back tire locked up and started to skid out! I was out of control and heading for the crowd!! I crossed to the other side of the road, luckily there was no one coming in the opposite direction, and hopped on the curb as spectators jumped out of the way. I finally got turned and rejoined the race. After that I started to take turns a lot less aggressive!! It was a fun bike course but my legs were not cooperating with my head. I wanted to go harder but my legs were winning my internal argument. On the last lap I could see Jarrod Shoemaker. Once I caught him I knew I had to put some time on him if I hoped to beat him, I was not sure if my legs were going to be there for the run. Finally off the bike I had a respectable T2 and was off on the run.

Run – The run started on a slight uphill and then came a large downhill. It took me a little bit to get my run legs going, but I set a goal for top 15 before the race so I had to get moving. I was in 26^th coming off the bike so I had a lot of work to do. The first lap went well and I was moving through the field. On the second lap I was starting to come unglued. I went in to what I like to call energy conservation mode - I try not to use any more energy than I have to. That means running with my eyes closed for long stretches and only controlling my legs and arms. By the start of lap three I was still moving well but I could not catch my breath. I tried pulling my jersey up and down to find a comfortable position, but I could not find one that allowed me to breathe. Lap three was my slowest lap by 15 seconds. Oops! Finally in a last ditch effort, toward the end up the lap, I pulled my jersey up as high as it would go. It was really digging in to me arms and what pec muscle I have, but I could breathe!! Finally I could concentrate on running again!! I ended up with the fastest run split of the day which always makes me happy. If I cannot win the race, I at least like to come away with something.

What an amazing race. It was the hardest race I have done this year, but I will not remember any of that. I will remember the crowd and the overall competitiveness of the field. Since I don’t know any better, that is what I imagine the Olympics feeling like. Everyone in the race has a great resume and being able to compete with them was very exciting. And the crowd was unbelievable, there was constant noise and words of encouragement. The city of Des Moines was a great place for a race, if only triathlons were this big in other cities. I feel that if people could experience something like this in their city triathlons would be more mainstream in the US. There was no entrance fee and the action never stopped in any of the races, from the Age Groupers to the Pros. The roads were full of great racing all day! I truly love this sport and I hope you do as well!

A big thanks goes out to all my family and friends that made the trip. Usually I name everyone out there, but my support team was too large this time! Not a bad problem!! Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement. That run would have turned out differently had you guys not been there! And thanks to all my sponsors, I would not be as competitive without you!!

I hope Nicole gets better soon! She raced tough and hung in there all day. She will rebound! The Toyota Lifetime Series better watch out, because great things are going to happen for her!!

I only have a few races left until my first season as a pro comes to an end. It has been a learning experience, but it has been a fun ride! A little training motivation for everyone still chasing goals this season! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUEl5NKjF5c

Kaleb

Giant Eagle Triathlon RR

2011-08-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Columbus, OH- which is an awesome city. Another 2^nd place by just 9 seconds….still seeking that elusive win this year… Here is a great play by play of the race on slowtwitch that covers both Kaleb and I: http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Yoder_Parker_top_Giant_Eagle_Triathlon_2227.html

I posted the fastest bike and second fastest run- which was great. The bike was flat and super-fast with great road surfaces for the most part and very few turns at all. The run was somewhat of a struggle for me because I haven’t started my run training yet going into Hyvee and I didn’t back off at all this week from the intense bike training I have been doing. I definitely felt my training load and lack of speed workouts on the run more than anything- but I was happy to hold it together and I am excited to be where I am at right now and I wouldn’t have changed anything- I know I am in the right spot for right now. Having patience and the right timing is so incredibly important in this sport and I know Greg has me doing the right things for right now.

However, my swim was the only bummer (10^th best and 1:40 back from the leader!). It is hard to lose a triathlon in the swim but that seems to be what I am managing to do. I have seen glimpses of myself as a great swimmer during certain sets in practice and I have had races where I have been much closer to the front but I need to translate that more often. A lot of pro triathletes come from great swim backgrounds but most age groupers come from bike and run backgrounds so I know there are a lot of folks out there who can relate. I am excited for the work ahead and to improve from here…Greg and I have already talked about trying some different things out and some new ideas...I am excited because I am going to improve in this area!

Kaleb and Kyle both had awesome races…Kaleb had a killer swim and second fastest bike!!! (and obviously the fastest run because he is half gazelle) Kyle had a rubbing brake the whole bike ride and a rubbing wheel but still managed a top 10- that dude won't give up and always manages to pull off a great result no matter what!!

The triathlon was very cool. The race was a point to point that started in a park outside the city and ended next to the baseball stadium in downtown Columbus. It definitely had a great local feel to it and the race director was quite responsive to athlete concerns. They have the best road surfaces for the bike that I have seen yet this year for big city races. Thanks to volunteers, directors, Greg, Wes and the awesome VanOrt Clan for a great race!!

Giant Eagle Triathlon

2011-08-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

Nicole and Kaleb finished in close seconds at the inaugural Giant Eagle Multisport Festival in Columbus, OH. It was a fast and fun course that yielded exciting finishes. Nicole had the fastest bike split of the day and the second fastest run to come within 9 seconds of the race winner, Jenna Parker. Kaleb had the second fastest bike split and the fastest run of the day to come within 13 seconds of the race winner, Andrew Yoder. Kyle Lee had a great performance as well, finishing in the top 10. Good Luck to Nicole as she heads to New York City this weekend to dominate the NYC Tri!!

Lifetime Minneapolis

2011-07-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Lifetime Minneapolis. This triathlon is still a big deal, but back in the day, this was it! It was the largest prize purse in the sport and everyone showed up for a chance at life changing amounts of money. Although the large prize purse is now spread out over an entire series, this triathlon still had some big names. Four male athletes had participated in the Olympics and the talent did not stop there, this seems to be the norm for races this season. I have not yet found a race lacking talent. I am not sure if that is my good fortune in racing this season or just the way the pro races are. Oh well, I was ready to race coming off my lackluster performance in Munich. (I still plan on doing a write-up on my adventure to Europe, but I am still waiting on a few things that may sway my overall perspective of the trip. Plus I don’t have a race until September, so I may need some topics to fill the long drought between race recaps.) Lifetime also brought back the Equalizer this year, which is a very unique and awesome, I feel, thing at this race. The women started 10:43 ahead of the men and the first person across the line, man or woman, is awarded a $5000 prem.

Swim – I got out well as I usually do on beach starts. I think I was winning for three strokes. J Then the pack started moving. I was on feet and feeling good but then something happened, not sure what, but the pack was gone and they were 5 seconds ahead. Did I lose focus? What happened? I tried to close the gap down, but they just kept getting farther away. It is still a mystery to me how I fell off so quickly, but I was now swimming solo for the last 1100 meters. The water was rough so maybe that had something to do with it. Living in South Bend, it is hard to find anywhere to swim with waves and current. Enough of the excuses, I had a bad swim. I had to stay positive and limit my loses. I was happy when the water got shallow and I was able to dolphin dive a couple times and get out of the water.

Bike – The bike course layout is very nice. Rolling hills, winding gradual turns, and some miles along the Mississippi makes it a fun course, but the roads themselves are terrible! They are very rough and you have to ride heads up to make sure you don’t hit any hazards that would pop a tire and end your day. I did not mind it too much since I was riding completely solo, I got to pick my lines and avoid most of the hazards. Riding in a group would have gotten interesting though, trying to stagger off the person in front of you and find some smooth road at the same time. I did hit a couple good bumps that threw me around but it added some fun to riding solo. My power output was good and overall I had a good ride for my current biking ability. There is still work to be done, but it is nice to improve from race to race.

Run – I am always happy when I finally get to the run. It is possibly the most painful part of the race, but it is what I have been doing the longest, so I am usually able to keep it together. There was something in the air or water in Minneapolis, because my allergies were ramped up during the race. I noticed it mostly on the run, my chest got tighter as the race progressed. I was not going to let that slow me down though. There was an $833 run prem up for grabs, and I could see two guys running together ahead of me. I caught Limkemann and Lavalle at about 1.5 miles and continued along. I started catching some of the girls and when I caught up to Nicole I saw she had a little road rash on her thigh. I figured she went down on the bike because, 1) I should not be catching her this early in the run and 2) the road rash. I later found out she went down early on the bike, so hats off to her for fighting to the finish! (She ended up with the fastest run!! Well done!!) After the first lap of two my mind started to wander and I started to relax a little, but I was able to keep myself going for the prem. At about 4.5 miles there was a hair pin and I could see Dave Thompson. We have gone back and forth all season and I was going to give it a go and try and catch him. It is funny how different we are, but we usually finish close to one another. We are similar swimmers, but he is a stronger cyclist, and I am a stronger runner. He actually had the fastest bike split in the race. With 600 to go I had a good feeling I could catch him, but he had a large cheering section that was letting him know I was coming. With 200 to go I caught him and we both started to kick. I edged him out for 6^th and because of the chase I was able to grab the fastest run split of the day.

Post Race – I kicked my way into a drug test! Here we go again. The top 3 were drug tested as well as 2 randoms, which 6^th place happened to be one. I was taken off to a little church which was about a half mile away from the finish via golf cart. I was the first one there and the last one to leave! Once everyone was done and gone, I spent a while just talking to the USADA employees, just passing time before I was able to fill a cup. Finally I took care of business and was able leave. Once I returned I found my mom and grandparents who were relieved to see me. They did not know where I went after the race and were getting worried when they could not find me.

A big thanks to my Mom for driving the whole way there and back! I kept asking her if she wanted me to drive, but she never let me. She was a great spectator as well, she gave me updates on place as well as splits to the leader. It was great to have my grandparents at the race too! And Nicole decided to bring Wes along as well! It is wonderful to have a cheering section when racing.

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice. ~Wayne Dyer

Kaleb

Philly Triathlon- 4th place

2011-06-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the philly triathlon. This is one of the coolest race courses on the circuit. The swim is a point to point, the bike is a hilly 2 lap course right through the most beautiful parts of philly and the run is an easy, flat double loop that is mostly shaded…amazing.

I was happy with my race and effort. I defiantly need to perk up my swimming a bit though. I was about 40 seconds further down than I usually am (the lead girls got to draft off the men cause we started together and that front pack cut the last buoy- bummer for me who stopped and redirected myself around that last buoy =( ) Starting a little further back after the swim was tough on this course because it is so turny and hilly that you can’t see anyone up the road. Nonetheless, I had a similar bike in terms of watts to last week – which means I was hammering the bike- and my run was better than last week I thought. The run was cool under the shade and temps were in the 70s- perfect for a fast day. They top 3 women broke the course record so it was evident that conditions were perfect. All in all a good day putting me second in the series now- I am definitely consistent if nothing else! Now Greg has some new things to try for swimming and time to go back and work on that now… There is always something to work on when you are doing 3 sports!!

Congrats to Kaleb, Kyle and Greg for also dominating this weekend- Kaleb had a great race in Munich and Kyle showed his running prowess in his first continental cup!!! Nice work guys!

Washington DC Triathlon- 2nd Place

2011-06-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Washington DC Race Report

Maybe it is all about the bike?

So this weekend I came 2^nd behind a formidable Alicia Kaye by 30 seconds even. I was really pleased with this result and even more pleased that I learned a ton about myself and about strategy. Greg has been telling me to hammer the bike but I am not quite sure I understood what that meant before this weekend. Greg has had me swimming and biking a lot more in the past two weeks and it really paid off during the race. Unfortunately I still ended up swimming alone for most of the 1500m but I emerged only about 1 minute down from the leaders. Getting on the bike I was quite far back in about 15^th place – this field seemed to be very heavy with super-swimmers and I passed only a few people in the first lap of the bike. Then I had this moment of revelation- about ¾ of the way into the first bike lap I thought to myself, “What if I tried to pretend this was a 40k TT all out with no run afterwards?? Maybe I should just see what happens?”

I have never really bonked on a run in triathlon before- I actually think this is my race strength. When it is hot or freezing or I drop my water bottle and have no water or lose my nutrition or it is terrible conditions- I can always hang on in the run while a lot of the field falls apart. This strength has caused me to probably over-perform in several races already (like 3^rd at USAT elite nationals last year behind Laura Bennett and Sarah Groff in my first ever ITU race- of course I wasn’t at that level yet but it happened to be 95 degrees when we started the run….so the entire field came back to me) How can I leverage that strength in races when it is not 100 degrees out? I think drilling the bike may be the answer for me and a unique asset of my physiology? Or maybe this is what everyone does in Olympic distance racing and I just caught on for the first time last week..? Either way- it worked.

Anyways, so I took the risk and went really hard on the bike. My husband Wes knew exactly what I needed to hear and kept yelling split times down from the leaders every time I saw him which was super helpful. I posted the fastest bike split by 30 seconds and put myself right behind the leaders going into the run. My run was probably 30-45 seconds slower than it has been but I still had the second fastest run split and I know Greg is waiting to train up my run until we get closer to big races later in the season. I still ended up way ahead of the game at the end of the day with an awesome result for me at this point- I didn’t bonk on the run and I finally learned how to utilize what I have known for a while is a strength in a race. I just can’t wait to put all the pieces together when the time comes…how exciting!! Greg has been telling me to drill the bike and now I understand why. Having a great race and learning something that you can use in future races is the best feeling ever!!!

I think the take away point that everyone can use is: Try to identify your strengths. Maybe they are a little unconventional and a little more specific than, “I am a good swimmer.” Maybe they seem situational and difficult to leverage but then keep thinking about it and brainstorming creative ideas to use your strengths. It wasn’t obvious for me at first. Just keep thinking on it and it will become clear eventually…

Kaleb is racing in Munich this weekend- how awesome is that!!! Good Luck Kaleb!!!

Top 5 at MIM

2011-05-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

Since I met Greg, he has talked about doing the Memphis in May Triathlon. Last year my sister, Karly, got married the weekend of the race so I was unable to make it. This year I finally got my chance to race there, although the race was held at a new venue in Tunica, MS. Lucky for the athletes, the race took place on the other side of the Mississippi River levee. The race was very flat and very fast. The area would have been great, but a lot of the restaurants and casinos were closed due to the Mississippi flooding. As long as Mother Nature cooperates in the future, this race will become a must! Even with all the weather related problems this year, it was a great experience and I am glad I got to race. A big thanks goes out to the race organizers at start2finish for allowing the race to go on!

Pre-race – Kyle Lee, who is now part of Team IE, was here so I was excited to have a teammate in the race. Our race was supposed to start at 10:30 so I woke up at 7 and ate my normal prerace breakfast. It was pouring down rain, so I did not venture out early to watch Greg, Lisa, John, and Enrick race. I felt bad, but at the rate it was raining I wanted to avoid getting soaked as long as I could. At about 9 I headed to transition to set up my area. After I finished setting up transition I headed out to get a jog warm up. On my way out Greg was finishing so I stopped and talked to him. About 5 min into my warm up, I saw Lisa on the run course so I yelled some words of encouragement to her. After warm up I stretched in the hotel since the rain was still coming down hard. At about 10:15 we had a meeting to see if we were going to get to race, since the lighting had started up about 9:30. They said we were going so it was into the water for a little swim warm up. About the time we were going to start they decided conditions were too bad to let us swim. They were going to postpone the race up to 1 hour, after that they were going to cancel the swim and have a ride-run, not even a Duathlon. They decided on this since they only had the police and volunteers until 1:30. With all the waiting around I was starting to get hungry but I did not want to eat solid food so close to the race start. I found Greg and he was able to get Hammer Gels for Kyle and I. Greg saved me once again!! Finally at about 11:15 it was race time!

Swim – Memphis in May is a unique race, in that the race starts in a time trail fashion. The pros went off in alphabetical order, alternating men/women, every 10 seconds. I went off about 6 minutes after the first person. A time trial start for the swim was a very hard thing for me. I am a very competitive person and I like being able to race head to head, but here I just had to swim hard and hope I could stay focused for 1500 meters. I caught a couple people and I was happy that no one passed me! I had a great swim and I ended up catching David Thompson at the end, he started 20 sec ahead of me. I was feeling good and I knew I had just put together the best swim of the season!

Bike – Once out on the bike, Thompson went around me easily, and I knew there was no way I was staying close to him. I used watts as my pacer and just settled in to my usual race pace. I caught Michael Poole after he got a 1 min stand down penalty at about 5 miles. I wish I was faster because putting up with him on the road was a hard task. He swerved a lot and was very inconsistent with his speed. This would not have been a problem, but the pro rules on the bike are very different than the age group rules. At no point can you be directly behind the person in front of you, even if they are ½ mile up the road, and everyone has an imaginary draft box that you can only be in for 15 seconds. This is where his swerving became a problem. I did not want to get a stand down penalty because of someone else’s inability to hold a line. I just road my pace and tried to stay a legal distance from him. Coming in to T2 I had a great bike dismount and when I entered transition Greg was in there cheering me on!!

Run – Starting out on the run I could see Kyle so I figured I was doing well. He started well ahead of me and he is a very strong swimmer, and a good cyclist. The run was very painful!! Greg and I have been messing with my position on the bike, to try and get more speed at a lower effort, so my back was not happy and it took a little bit for my legs to come around. I had no idea how I was doing since everyone started at different times, so I just had to push to the finish.

Post-race – It was a tense few minutes waiting on results. I felt like I pushed hard and had a good race, but it was so close, I was not sure where I ended up. When the results came out, I ended up 5^th!! My highest placing as a pro in a non-draft race. I was very happy with the result, but I later found out I missed 2^nd place by about 35 seconds. Things are getting better and I am satisfied with the fact that I am continuing to improve throughout the season.

A big thanks goes out to my mother and my grandparents for being at the race!! And thanks to Greg and Lisa as well for cheering me on. Greg’s booming voice and constant race updates always make it easier to compete at a high level! I always have a great race when you guys are there! My mother also drove Greg, Lisa and I down to Tunica, so she was a saint for putting up with us for the weekend!

Congrats to Lisa for winning the sprint on Saturday and the Olympic race on Sunday!! By winning both she ended up winning the amateur challenge by about 3 min! And Congrats to Greg for winning the masters title and ending up 5^th overall! Kyle had a great race as well, in his first ever pro race. It is a big step up to the pros and he will only get faster as he gains experience. Team IE once again had a great weekend! Good Luck at CapTex Nicole!! You are gonna rock!!

“Constant dripping hollows out a stone.” ~Lucretius

Kaleb

St. Anthony’s Race Report

2011-05-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Kaleb and I just got back from St. Anthony’s triathlon this past
weekend in St. Petersburg. Wow! What an amazing, world class field. I
have never been in such a deep, competitive field before. With a
bunch of international folks and some of the fastest WCS racers on the
ITU circuit, it was certainly going to be a competitive day. The
men’s race was even more ridiculous, with olympic medal winners and
ITU world champions in the mix- crazy!! I guess that is what happens
with St. Anthony’s becomes double points for the Hyvee triathlon
qualifying process.

The swim was cut short to 1K because of bad wind and there was
certainly a bit of chop in the water. The short swim was compensated
by a long 800m+ run to transition and we were off on the bike. Only
one word to describe the bike- windy!!! Now I realize why cyclists
have tended to win this race in the past. Wow- it was a challenge! I
am pretty sure I pushed higher watts on the bike than I have yet this
year in a race. I knew I had to push the bike more than I usually do
in this race and so I did it and tried not to even contemplate the
run. I made a bigtime amateur mistake at the dismount and couldn’t
get my shoe off before the line- I ended up unclipping the shoe as I
practically fell over on the bike standing still on the dismount line,
running for a while in the shoe and then stopping to take it off and
carry it- must have been hilarious for spectators to see this from a
pro- but, oh well- it is good to be humbled sometimes!! The bike ended
up as a 1:02:07 which I was very happy with considering the wind. I
think my new profile 80 Altair wheels were the secret to keeping my
set up super aero on this bike.
http://www.profile-design.com/profile-design/wheels/wheel-category/carbon-wheels/altair-full-carbon-clinchers-80.html
My friend Allison (hey Allison if you read this! =)) just purchased
these wheels too after I told her how great they were and we both
loooove them- I am sure Kaleb is super happy with them too, they feel
extremely fast and I am so happy that profile design is entering the
wheel market. Anyhow, the run was HARD, I think because I had pushed
the bike a bit more that I usually do – the start was rough for
me….slooooww…but the funny thing about me is I always speed up as the
run progresses. I am pretty sure I am always getting faster and this
is unusal because most people are slowing down as they get to the end
of the run. My 5k splits were 18:30 and then 17:35 according to the
chip- pretty dramatic- for a 36:05 10k that was only 10 seconds off
the fastest run of the day and the $1000 run preme- bummer- but I had
the fastest run in south beach by only 2 seconds so I cant complain
too much- you win some/you loose some. Overall I got 7th and 5th
american behind some tremendous performances from the competition. I
was very happy with the result and considering I am now second in the
hyvee point series I think I will hopefully by ok for a spot for the
big race come september after a few more 5150 events =))

Kaleb was an absolute super star, he finished 12th is a ridiculously
competitive mens field. Pretty awesome for a first year pro. Way to go
Kaleb!!!!!!! Great day (yet again!) for Team IE!!

Lisa Mueller and Jake Rhyner also deserve some huge recognition for
their 3rd and 4th place finishes at Duathlon Nationals on a super
tough course…wow!!!

I thought St. Anthony’s triathlon was really a top notch event and I
understand now why it is so popular and has such a storied history.
Althought I know everyone would have liked a 1.5k swim, I admire the
race directors for putting the safety of the age group athletes first.
I know they will figure out a way to hold a 1.5k swim in the future
that will be safe no matter what the wind conditions. After
paricipating in a race last year where an athlete passed away in the
water, I admire and respect those who had to make tough and unpopular
but right choices. The race personal seemed great and I know they will
have a safe and creative solution to this issue in the future. Great
race in everyway- definitely going back next year now that I know
where the bike dismount line is =))

Stiff Competition at St. Anthony's

2011-05-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

The best of the best showed up at St. Anthony's to gain much needed points for the 5150 series. Nicole and Kaleb had great races on the biker friendly course. A shortened swim, due to high winds, helped Nicole and Kaleb come out of the water closer to the front. Nicole ended up 7th overall and Kaleb finished in 12th - securing valuable points toward Hy-Vee! It was a great weekend for TEAM IE!!

A big congrats goes out to Lisa Mueller, who made the podium, with 3rd place, at Duathlon Nationals!! And Jake Rhyner had a great race as well to finish 4th overall!! Congrats!

Making Strides at South Beach

2011-04-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

PRERACE – It was a 6:55am race start so I was up early to eat breakfast and get my stuff around for the day. I got into transition around 5:30 and I felt like a freshman on the first day of school! With a couple of the big names from the Ironman circuit here and a handful of the usual suspects for the non-draft Olympic scene I felt a little out of place. I just went about my business and got my transition area set up and headed out for a jog warm up. The swim was about 1200m away from the swim exit/transition, so I did a little shorter jog warm up because I was planning on running to the swim start after stretching and doing swim cords. After a few last minute transition checks I did swim cords, grabbed my Profile Design speed suit, and jogged to the swim start. The beach in South Beach has a “road” running down it so I jogged on that. It is very hard packed sand, and I felt more comfortable running barefoot on that versus the concrete path. I did a 5-6 minute swim warm up and then waited on the beach for the start of the race.

SWIM – It felt like they held us on the beach forever, but finally the horn sounded and we were off. I am starting to enjoy beach starts more and more! With my height and natural bounce in my running stride I am able to run a lot farther out into the water than everyone else. This time around, that meant I was winning the race when we started dolphin diving/swimming!! My lead only lasted a few seconds but it was fun!! After we rounded the first buoy, I was still in a great position so I tried to stay on the feet of some of the best swimmers in the sport. It did not last long, I quickly found myself swimming solo so I just set tried to set a solid pace for my current swimming level. The water was rough and I was getting tossed around but it was fun to be swimming in the ocean as the sun was coming up! A couple people went around me and I tried to draft them but I could not hold on. Finally a pack of 4-5 caught me and I was able to stay at the front of that pack. Coming out of the water there were sprayers since it was a salt water swim, but I think I was the only one to run through them! Oh well! I also noticed I had lost my chip!! This was the first time this has ever happened to me. I did not know what to do but so as I ran into transition I yelled “Number 14. No chip!” I think I was hoping that would allow them to record a time for me and mark that I was not cutting the course in any fashion.

I had a great swim for the conditions and I knew I was doing well when Wes (Nicole’s husband) yelled at me that I was 30 seconds down. I did not know if that was to the front or the next pack, but I was feeling good! I think the Profile Design speed suit played a huge role in this and I was happy to have it on! With no results posted for me I believe my swim time was somewhere around 21:10. I’ll take that!

BIKE – This was my first time in a large race riding a disc. I just got a Quarq on my bike, so I am able to ride a disc now and have power data. I have heard a lot about how a disc is faster, but I had no idea! I felt like I was flying and the sound it makes as it rolls down the road is one of my favorite!! If you have ridden a disc, you know what I am talking about, but if not, to me it kind of sounds like a quiet jet engine. Hence the feeling I get that I am flying!! I felt great as I started out on the bike but a few guys went around me pretty fast so I just kept myself calm and rode a tempo I thought I could handle. There were two 180 turns on the course so I was able to get time checks on the guys ahead of me. At the first flip I was about 4 minutes down to Cam Dye, who was leading the race, and about 2:30 down to a group of 5-6 guys. At the second flip I was about 4:30 down to Cam and about the same down to the group. I knew I was doing well!! I have never been this close to the top 10 at a non-draft race!! With about 2 miles to go on the bike I started to feel the power leaving my legs. This is a normal felling for me at the end of a 40k but I was doing well so I fought it off as long as I could. I was around 13^th coming off the bike, and I thought I could get in the top 10 with a good run. I had finally put together a swim-ride that would allow me to be competitive!! I was very happy with my wheel combination of a disc on the back and an 80 deep Profile Design on the front. Profile Design just entered the wheel market and they make some very good wheels! I think my ride was around 57:10, which is by far the fastest split I have ever had!!

RUN – My legs were not happy, which is normal coming off the bike, but I had a shot at the top 10 so I had to push. I hit the first couple miles hard. At most races the volunteers do a great job and overall they did at this race as well, but I had issues at the aid stations. At each aid station they had accelerade and water and not only did it change what cup each was in from station to station, but the volunteers where mixing it up as they were telling me. This would not have been an issue, but accelerade is similar to Gatorade, and contains too much sugar for me!! I am a Hammer Nutrition man and I cannot handle anything else during a race. I did not want to bonk on this run, so I did not get any fluids at the first 3 aid stations. At the third station I tried to grab both color cups to be sure, but I just knocked a white cup straight to the ground. Of course, that was water at that one! Finally at the fourth water station I slowed down and made sure I grabbed 2 water cups! It was hot and I needed a drink! I am not sure if it was the lack of water during the run or the fast pace I was running early but with 1 mile to go in the run, I was cramping up but gaining on Andrew Yoder, who was in 5^th. I tried to push and catch him but my body was out of energy. Had it been 11k I would have caught him, but I did not have enough speed at the end this time.

POST RACE – I found Nicole who was 2^nd overall!! Amazing!! She is a rock star!! I congratulated her and we got some photos together. What a great day for TEAM IE!! With extra points and money involved with the fastest run split, I went to the timing tent to see if they could get a run time for me. I was not sure if I had the fastest run or not, but I at least wanted to make sure! They ended up being able to calculate my time based on when I left transition and when I crossed the finish line. I did it! I outran the second fastest run by 13 seconds!! We later found out that Nicole had the fastest run for the woman!

I believe Greg is the best coach in the world, and results don’t lie! All TEAM IE athletes get faster, but it still amazes me on how well they continually do!! There will be ups and downs in life, especially as an athlete, but there are far more ups than downs on this TEAM!! Thanks Boss!!

And a big thanks to Wes! It was great to have you on the trip! It was a lot of fun to hang out with you and you were a great spectator, with your strong words of encouragement and split updates.

“The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.” ~ Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Kaleb

TEAM IE Posts Fastest Run Splits

2011-04-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

Nicole and Kaleb had a great start to the Toyota Lifetime Triathlon Series at the Nautica South Beach Triathlon. Nicole had the fastest run split for the women to end up 2nd overall!! She ran strong to the finish line to have the fastest split by 2 seconds!! Kaleb posted the fastest run split of the day on his way to 6th overall!

Checking in with Kaleb!

2011-04-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

Check out Kaleb's interview with Slowtwitch HERE

Adventure down South

2011-04-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

I wouldn’t be giving my South American adventure justice if I only write about two hours of my trip (the race). I was a bit nervous about traveling to Lima alone especially with the language barrier. A good friend of mine who lived in Lima last year helped me find a cheap hostel to stay in which was next to the host hotel. I highly recommend the Dragonfly hostel to anyone who is planning on going to Miraflores. It was so much better than I had imagined. The best part was the delicious pan con fresa marmalade (homemade rolls from the bakery with strawberry preserves) in the kitchen waiting on us every morning. I recruited Joe Maloy, Chris Lutz, and Harry Wiltshire to stay in the hostel as well. We made a great group and it was quite entertaining listening to Chris pretend to know fluent Spanish, Harry’s British vocabulary and Jersey Joe. There was this awesome café/bakery underneath the hostel and we ate pretty much every meal there. So many tortas….I think Chris and Harry ate at least 3 desserts a day!

The fabulous four with our waiter at dinner

I was there for a few days before the race so I had to get some training in. Luckily, the guys got there earlier in the week so they had already found a pool to swim in at a private health club a few blocks away. I got to get in a swim with a Pervian club team. It was interesting swimming with a group who does not understand anything you say. The running was beautiful. We stayed right next to the beach and there was a running path along a cliff that overlooked the sea. Cycling was pretty nonexistent which I would regret later in the race.

The running view

The pool we swam in

The race was about 45 minutes away by bus from where I stayed. I was very thankful that the race director organized a bus to take the athletes and bikes to the race site. The weather was pretty strange…it was not really hot but it was. That makes no sense at all but needless to say I got a wicked sunburn L The swim was wetsuit legal and the water was quite freezing. The swim was a beach start, but the beach was made out of large stones. I was kind of nervous that I would slip on a rock at the start but when the gun went off I just forgot about it. Swimming with the boys gave me a little boost of confidence so I decided to go out hard on the swim and see what happened. I ended up swimming alone the whole time leading and it was SO COOL! It was really hard to site because the sun was in my eyes but I made it through and was first out of the water. I have been struggling with swimming in races so it is very rewarding to see hard work pay off. The bike course was 8 laps with 10 speed bumps (or sleeping policemen I was informed) per lap. I rode the first lap by myself not really knowing what I should do. There was a huge group and I knew I would probably get caught so I decided to just ride and not kill myself because I knew I could probably outrun the field. On lap 3 my seat fell down and made it really hard/uncomfortable/painful to ride. Note to self #1 -always make sure the seat and handlebars are screwed in tight enough. The ride was not very challenging but it really took a toll on my quads because of my awkward bike positioning. I told myself this would not ruin my race so I just kept going. The run was pretty technical. There were some round abouts, sharp turns, slippery pavement, children and their toys, pets, and steps! It made things interesting to say the least. I went hard out of T2 and I got a minute lead and decided to just chill out for the last lap.

My bike seat position--yowzers

Start of run

Four goals were met at this race: won the swim, got to grab the tape, sprayed champagne, and got a cardboard check! Note to self #2- champagne smells REALLY bad and I thank Joe and the boy from the Netherlands for the way my bag currently smells.

I love racing abroad. At the end of the day a race is just a race. The important thing is the people you meet and the memories you create. This trip to Lima was one I will never forget and I am so happy I got to spend time with other great athletes from across the world. Thanks for making my experience a great one :) Next time I hope I know a bit more Spanish!

Now I am on my way back to South Bend to get recovered and start training for my next race. I am retiring Miss Green Machine and starting a new relationship with Snook the Look. I am SUPER excited to get on my new Look 596 and go fasst! I am also excited to see Nicole and Kaleb dominate this weekend in Miami!

2011-03-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

The Half Full Triathlon
http://www.halffulltri.org/

Doug Ulman, CEO of Livestrong, and Eric Shanteau, 2008 Olympic Swimmer - at the Inaugral 2010 Half Full Triathlon...

Both these guys are Cancer Survivors...

Before Lauren dominates in Peru this weekend, I wanted to get a quick post up about the Half Full Triathlon Oct. 2 in Ellicott City Maryland. The Wassner twins and I are the current head spokes-athletes for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Yound Adults, which runs the event. UCF is a young adult alliance of Livestrong and is one of the largest advocacy, patient education and research funds in the county benefitting young adults with cancer. Young adults are a really marginalized population within the cancer community because there are relatively fewer young people with cancer. This can make their battle with cancer even more challenging. Young adults with cancer face unique issues with regards to fertility options and just finding other people that are going through the same thing. UCF was founded by Doug Ulman, the current CEO of Livestrong and multiple-time cancer survivor, and is headed up by Brock Yetso and Brian Satola- both former elite college athletes with strong connections to cancer. I want to encourage anyone out there looking for a late season half or olympic triathlon to think about doing this race. 100% of race registration goes to UCF. Last year, the inaugral even was a huge success. The Half Full is the most top-notch, professionally run event you can find and the atmosphere is really special. Watching young cancer survivors cross the finish line last year was a moment I will not soon forget. There is so much hope and humanity tied to this event- it is not just a triathlon, it is something much more.

The site for the race:

http://www.halffulltri.org/

The Wassner Twins and I have an article coming out soon in ESPN W magazine covering the event and life as professional triathletes- I will be sure to post..as well as coverage in the REV 3 event series literature. Laurel Wassner is the first professional triathlete ever to have survived cancer....

Buenvenidos A Miami!!

2011-03-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

Miami International Race Report

Last weekend, Kaleb and I went down to Miami for the Miami International. First off, Miami is actually a really nice place. I was really surprised- the water was green/blue Caribbean style, the sand was white- there was a lot of traffic- but out on Biscayne Bay it was really nice. We are going back there for the first race in the Lifetime Fitness Series in 2 weeks and I am really excited about returning.

As far as the race, there was some really great competition and I was happy to be in the mix for most of the race. My swim went really well- for the first time ever I figure how to draft most of the way. Last year, I would lose the main top swim pack after about 400m- this race, I made it to about 1000 m before falling off the back- a huge huge improvement for me! I had tons of endurance and felt very comfortable the whole way- totally a new open water experience for me. I came out of the water only about 25 seconds down off the main lead group- which is not a huge deal in a non- draft race. The best part of the swim was our really incredible new speedsuits from Profile Design. These things are AMAZING- and I think they might have been a big factor in my swim. They fit perfectly, came off easy and just felt really comfortable and fast compared to other speedsuits I have had. http://www.profile-design.com/profile-design/wetsuits/wetsuit-category/all-wetsuits/mako-speed-suit.html I highly highly recommend this suit. I am a huge fan.

The bike went great as well. I have to figure out how to not grind in a low gear during a race. In training, I am able to maintain a cadence of 90rpms + for harder efforts since I have been with Greg. In the race I reverted back to my old ways of grinding in the high 70s and low 80s…I definitely need to fix that and just have the confidence in my cycling to know I can catch people with a cadence of 90. I caught everyone on the bike except the top two girls and backed it down a bit coming back towards transition because I was trying to spin a higher cadence. Most of the girls I caught stayed up right behind me so we all came into T2 together. I am really really excited about my cycling this year, I think I am going to have huge improvements in this area this year! Miami was a great indicator of that considering what we have done on the bike so far. Greg has a very long term vision on the season so we are building slowly with everything and I am happy to be where I am already. The other great product that came out of this race that I have to share is the Rudy Wingspan TT helmet. This helmet has been getting a lot of buzz because it is supposed to be more aero, according to wind tunnel testing, than the long tails for anyone who does not stay in perfect aero position the whole race (ie most triathletes). The helmet was incredible. It is the lightest on the market, comfortable and fast- huge huge different from my last helmet. Practically all the pros were wearing this helmet so the best in the world have really bought into it and I think for good reason- this is an incredible new product: http://www.e-rudy.com/index_inner_detail.php?group_id=3&cat_id=79&item_id=HL506961US

The run- felt terrible. I thought I was going soooo sooo slow. My legs felt heavy and my cadence was so slow (I think because of the grinding bike issue). I got outkicked in the last 100m by a college miler and just felt blah. I knew I might not be super fit yet for this run and I was disappointed when I finished- but then I saw my time and how close I was to the fastest split and I was pumped. I ran awesome! Especially for not doing practically any run workouts yet this season- I was in absolute shock! Goes to show you the benefits of a slow build and a long term vision of the season. I know I have tons more fitness to gain yet on the run this season and I am already in a great place. This is all Greg- I was a little nervous when I started with him last December that I would not be ready for race season given his model- now I am a total believer. Because of my background as a college running coach and athlete- I know that you start a limited window on your running season when you start working out hard- you can only get faster for so long, and then you just get slower or kill yourself trying not to. Greg really understands that and I am shocked that Lauren, Kaleb and I are doing so well right now given what we have done so far- but we are! I can’t wait to see what happens later in the season because I know what we are doing is outside the box, but I think we are seeing that less might be more sometimes. I am so happy where I am for many different reasons right now. =) Best of luck to all early season racers!!!

Final results: 4th place pro female: 19:24 swim, 1:02 bike, 35:10 run for a 1:59 finish time...

Miami International Triathlon

2011-03-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Nicole and Kaleb fought hard in the Miami heat and were able to secure valuable points toward a spot at the Hy-Vee Triathlon. Nicole competed with a strong women's field to finish in the money with a 4th place finish. Kaleb ended up just outside the top 10 in a competative men's field, 12th place, but had the fastest run split of the day. Check back in the coming days for results and further info.

Strength in numbers

2011-03-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

The inaugural USA Sprint National Championships have come and gone and I am left feeling not only ready for the season but also thankful. My only goal going into this race was to have a good swim. I had not yet done any running faster than long endurance pace or out of the snow so I must say I was happy with my 8^th place finish and a new 5k PR!

I have pretty much settled down finally in South Bend, IN and have gotten on a routine of training, working, and grocery shopping. Often times I am so caught up in “swim, bike, run” and I overlook those that are making my dream a reality. I am so fortunate to be able to do what I love and not have to worry about outside stressors. My family has been extremely supportive of me achieving my goals and taking chances. Hands down, I have the best mom ever. So many times I have called her complaining about my bad workouts, financial situations, or the cold frigid weather and she listens and talks some sense into me. My coach, Greg, has poured many outside hours of his time into getting us sponsors, planning races and travel, finding me a job, and helping me mature as an athlete. My friends back at school and at home stay in touch and keep me updated with what is going on back in South Carolina. They are also cheering for me and it motivates me to train harder and perform well. Finally, my teammates, you guys rock and are such an inspiration. I have never been a part of a group with such hard working and driven athletes. Without these people in my life I would not be able to race to my potential---so THANK YOU!

Also, a young guy on the US Junior team, Kevin, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma this week after placing 10^th in the Elite National race. Please pray for him through his journey of becoming cancer free.

Front Pack!!

2011-03-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

PRERACE: I am new to this sport, so I am still trying to find a nutrition plan that works for an early afternoon race. I may have found it! I woke up on my own in the morning and went for a short shakeout run. After that I enjoyed a very normal breakfast of eggs, fruit, cereal, and a biscuit. I figured whatever I ate in the morning would be out of me by the time I race. I wanted to watch Greg and Jake Rhyner race in the age group draft legal race, so I made my way to the park about 9. The race took place at Lake Louisa State Park just outside Clermont, FL. Jake is a new athlete to Team IE but we have known him since the race and clinic at the OTC in Colorado Springs last season. Their race was about 3 hours before mine so I ate my normal prerace meal during their race. It is a lot of fun watching a draft legal race! Greg came out of the water with the front pack, so Lauren and I went crazy when we saw him come through transition. Then Jake came though just a little off the front pack. The bike was fun to watch and Jake ended up winning the race!! He had a great run and was able to start the day off well for Team IE. Greg ended up 9^th in the race, not bad for a Master!! After their race I got away from everything and relaxed for a little bit before I headed to the elite tent to get checked in and set up my transition. I went for a jog and caught some of the women’s pro race while I was warming up. Lauren came out with the front swim pack, but was not able to hang on to the lead pack on the bike. My confidence just grew with this news. If Greg and Lauren could make the front pack in their respective swims, I started to believe I could too. It was a long shot, but I was excited to get my chance. After a run warm-up I stretched and headed to the beach. I did some swim cords to get warmed up and then swam the course once. The water was a little chilly, but it felt good.

SWIM: There was a quick “on your mark”, and then the horn sounded! We were off and…running! The swim was supposed to be 750 meters, but I was able to run out for about 150m and then I started dolphin diving. The water was shallow and slowly got deeper. The first buoy was about 400m out and the water there was about 5 feet deep. After dolphin diving for a bit I started to get out of breath. I knew this was going to happen, since dolphin diving takes a lot out of me, so I started swimming. I alternated a few dolphin dives with a few strokes of swimming until about 300m. Then the actual swim started. At the first buoy, there was utter chaos!! I was shoved under water and came up gasping for air. When I tried to start swimming again I had a hard time since people were all around me and on top of me. I finally caught someone’s shoulder with my arm and I was able to finally propel myself forward. I was off and swimming again. There was about 100m between the turn buoys and then the mayhem was back at the second turn buoy. As we headed back to the beach, I started to fall off the pack a little bit. I thought I was in trouble until I started dolphin diving again. Coming back to the beach I was able to dolphin dive at a relaxed pace while keeping up with everyone around me swimming. Once someone finally saw me dolphin diving, he started and then everyone else did too. About 150m from the beach everyone stood up and started walking/jogging out of the water. This was my shot at making the front bike pack so I ran full out to the beach and down the board walk to transition. There was no way I was missing this!!

BIKE: I left transition and went straight VO2 with my feet on top of my shoes. I bridged halfway to the group and then swung out to allow someone to pull though. I needed to get in my shoes if I was going to make the pack and stay there. Will Huffman pulled though, so I got on his wheel. I knew he was a strong cyclist so I had good company! I was still nervous the pack would get away, but Nic Tautiva pulled up beside me and said, “We’re in, you’re good!” Finally I was able to relax a little bit and enjoyed the moment that I finally made the front pack at a triathlon. It was a good feeling, but the swim “conditions” were a huge advantage for me. On the first lap of four, everyone was antsy and two guys crashed at the first time around the 180 turn. They got up quickly but one guy flatted. He was not happy!!! After going through transition the first time, everyone finally calmed down and I then started to move toward the front of the pack. Being at the back is harder, since the whole pack is like a whip when you are at the end. I knew where I needed to be, I just had to get there. The bike was a lot of fun! I felt like I was in a stage of the Tour de France!! As we came into transition I started to get excited. This is what Greg and I have been working on for about a year!! I was finally going to get a chance to win a race with my run!

RUN: As we left transition Ben Collins got out first, and fast. We were all chasing. Once we caught him, there was a large pack moving down the road. I could tell by the way my legs felt I was not going to be able to kick at the end. I was going to have to shed the group if I was going to win. At 2k I started pushing the pace and tried to draw the kick out of everyone. At 3500m it was Greg Rouault, Jarrod Shoemaker and I. Greg went to the front and started pushing the pace. I responded by going back to the front but the only kick I killed was my own! Jarrod kicked first at about 500 to go and then with 200 to go Greg threw it down and pulled away from everyone!! I looked back to make sure no one was going to catch me. I was across the line in 3^rd, 2^nd American! Not too bad for my first USAT Elite National event! I was happy; I did what I could to place among the top athletes in the race. That was the hardest I have run since graduating college, and I loved it!!

POST RACE: Since I finished 3^rd I got the call from the USADA doping team. I was dehydrated and I was going to have to stay in the holding area until I finished my business! Chris Foster had a plane to catch so he came and got me for the awards. I had to be escorted by someone from USADA since I had not finished my testing yet. The awards were not ready yet, so it was back to the USADA holding area. I pounded a lot of water and Gatorade, but was not able to do my business yet. One of the USADA guys in the holding area told a story about the table tennis world champion that took 8 hours to finish testing!! This was not words I wanted to hear at that moment. Finally I was able to fill a cup, but then I was worried it was too diluted since I drank so much water!! It had to have a specific gravity of 1.05, and mine was about 1.06 or 1.07. Squeaked by!! I was free!! I was finally able to celebrate with my family and teammates. A big thanks to my Mother, my Grandparents and some of my extended family for making the trip! It is always easier to compete when I have a large cheering section!!

I may not have won the race but Greg and I are on a great path and I am happy with the result this weekend! Stay tuned, this season could get exciting!!

There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
~Henry Ford

Kaleb

Clermont Sprint Nationals

2011-03-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

Kaleb runs his way to third in his first Pro national champs!

Jake Rhyner, also on Team IE, wins the draft legal AG race and gets his pro card!

Kaleb VanOrt- 3rd overall, 2nd American

Lauren Goss-8th overall, 5th American

Jake Rhyner- 1st AG draft legal
Kyle Lee- 2nd AG draft legal

Greg Mueller- 9th AG draft legal

More to come....holiday now :) cheers!

Team IE Mountain Holla

2011-02-24T17:06:00.000-08:00

As I sit here on the foam roller, unable to apply any pressure to my quads, I am thinking about what a great trip we had last week. It was simply awesome to have 10 Team IE members in the mountains together training for a week. The real focus of the camp was to get everyone together in a warm location and get some base miles in our legs. Over four days we did almost 16000 feet of climbing! There were some profound moments for coach over that week! Seeing Nicole and Lauren ride down a 15% graded dirt road, everyone out for a run and seeing peoples breath as we march through an all but desolate city in the cold of the morning, watching my wife descend a 14 mile mountain at 11 % grade in her aerobars, pushing each other hard over steep climbs to prepare for the onslaught of Nationals in 2 weeks. Right then and there, at that moment, we are winning races. We are doing things that no one else sees or judges, the World is totally unaware and yet we are making strides toward being the best in the World. On that trip I saw determination in Laurens heart to bridge a gap, I saw power in Kaleb's legs to drop the pack and I saw pure strength in Nicole's body. In the end all these body parts are working together for one goal,but in retrospect I learned one thing again by suffering and watching and that is that the mind is the most powerful tool we take into battle. There was a moment, a long moment where we were in a pace line for upwards of 3 min and well above 400 watts and you could hear nothing but deep breathing and grunting and see nothing but white knuckles and pain. It is in that moment that I am deeply happy that I can pass on something I love to someone that wants it more than me. In that moment, even though we are still a team we are battling for position and hanging on to pride and ego and suffering for no other reason than that we are alive in that moment and that tire in front of you is your whole awareness. Total focus as they try to take whats mine, something I offer freely in words but they know they can only really have by suffering. 1 mile later you are totally unaware of what you passed or who was watching and you don't care. Its those moments I wont ever forget,but winning is the only thing the World will get to see, these experiences are ours!

G

Training hard and seeing results is nothing compared to training hard, seeing results, and being a part of something. The sport of triathlon tends to attract athletes who are individualistic and are really concerned only about themselves. Often times it is easy to get lost in training and complete every workout on "auto pilot". The training camp this weekend opened my eyes to how beneficial training with a TEAM can be. The group was very diverse; we had people who went to olympic trials for cycling and we had people who ride once a week. Regardless, everyone finished every ride with determination and a smile. I love training with positive people because it takes the focus off of "what were my average watts, what was my time, how far did I go" to noticing the unthinkable things members of the team are doing. This week I was able to push myself above and beyond because I was motivated by the great efforts of my teammates. I did things I never thought was possible and I saw my teammates excel in ways they never thought they could. It is clear now how important it is to simply live and preform in the moment in order to be successful. Thank you so much to Hammer nutrition for helping me survive the insane climbs and aggressive attacks from coach G! Recoverite does wonders...so do great people ;)

LG

After a week of training hard with the team, I am tired but have a new sense of what my body is capable of. I am used to hard, week long, training camps from collegiate running, but nothing can compare to this last week. With four days straight of riding hard in the mountains my body was worn out each day as we started but I was able to make it up each climb with good power and energy. This may be because of the numerous naps I took or the help from Hammer Nutrition every step of the way, with the gels and HEED while riding and Recoverite and whey protein post. Or the combination of both! A big thanks also goes out to Cobb Cycling for my SHC 170 saddle and Rudy Project for our helmets and glasses. I was comfortable all day! There is a lot that can be said about how the body can rise to the occasion when called, but I think what makes Greg such a great coach is his knowledge of how the body will respond after hard efforts. In college, after a hard week, it was back to the same old schedule. I would always come out of the week stronger but would seem to get sick a few days later or injured. I never realized what caused this, until now. Coming off the week Greg is taking it easy on us and letting our bodies absorb the training. I think this will be very important not only for Clermont, but for the rest of the season as a whole. What a great experience it was to be able to ride in the mountains with some of my best friends.
~ Kaleb

How was the camp...AMAZING!! I have forgotten how awesome it is to do nothing but eat, sleep and train with people you love to hang out. I do a lot of my training on my own in cville and I felt so so thankful to have Greg, Lauren and Kaleb to drill me for the week...crazy fun! I love greg's blog here- because it really captures something special that happens when other people are driving you to explore your physical and mental limits as an athlete. There are very unique bonds created in those moments and snippets of memories that you will come to fall back on in future races and training when the task gets tough and you have to make a decision about which way to go...these moments in time help you know more instinctively that you can make the right decision and fight back when it comes to that. I have one memory I will revist a lot in the future of kaleb dropping the hammer on the bike in a massive surge and greg yelling at me (in a nice way =) ) because he knew I was about to give up. He could sense it, he knew I was bowing out. I didnt think I could go but he knew I could- so he yelled- and I went. No way you can do that on your own. It was also incredible to see Lauren become a cycling rockstar on the trip, I realized she has made a huge jump from last year when she was hammering me up hill..dang- amazing what happens in a few months. I also second Kaleb's appreciation of Rudy Project and Cobb cycling- the Rudy Project line helmets are incredible this year and I highly recommended checking them out if you havent yet. It really does make a big difference in training when you have the best quality gear and the best quality people to train with. Thanks to everyeone!! Cant wait to go back!!
-NCK

Next up: Sprint nationals in Clermont, FL! Coach is racing....should be FUN!

Baby Steps for Years

2011-02-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

The last month has been an outstanding build toward our 2011 campaign. The whole team has been pouring themselves into training and recovery. Every week someone or everyone does something that shows our progress. Whats amazing is how much energy it all takes. In this case its a village for sure! between sponsors,clothing design,workouts,jobs,marketing, racing,life,fun, you name it and working our way towards our long term goals takes a lot of energy. I love the analogy of marbles on the table. Every goal, every relationship, every workout,every trip is a marble and keeping them in place is no less than a challenge! I do believe though that with the team we have in place we are creating great development that will lead to success. When I say team, I mean family, sponsors, friends, and coaches. This week I brought in Sheila Taormina to do a 2 day workshop with our pros and work with Team IE amateurs as well. Sheila has the most profound energy! Its like Red Bull but alive. I feel so motivated by her no bullshit approach. She challenges each one of us to set a goal and be honest about stepping up and grabbing a hold of it. Whats important is that we own our own goal, success and failure. No excuses...NONE! NO not ONE! Sheila excelled on so many levels and over came so much adversity,hearing her speaking and watching her passion was energizing.I highly recommend her book "Call the Suit". One thing that we discuss and she hit on was baby steps. We all need to focus in on success and then start moving in that direction. For me its unlikely that most of us truly take "big" steps. I find that at any level, consistency of small steps results in success. Sure 2012,2016, and 2020 are a long way off, but if we are closer today then yesterday because of our hard work then we made ground. What I see in these athletes day in and day out is a deep commitment to do things that will result in success. What I see accepted in society is an inability to commit and justification that discomfort or sacrifice is somehow unnecessary. Whats incredible is that driving hard right behind these athletes are layers of amateur and Pro IE athletes working to dominate the 2011 season. Team IE has at least 10 other athletes that could win any race at any give time. Look out for them at races near you. At Team IE we are striving to develop every level of athlete to the best of their ability. This is done patiently and slowly but I assure you that it will happen. Thank you for honoring us with your time and please feel free to leave comments and make the site more interactive.

Slow down.

2011-02-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

Training properly is a mystery. What defines overtraining? How fast is “too fast?" Lately I have found myself looking at other athletes’ twitter accounts to read detailed descriptions about their hard sessions and even times they are dropping in practice. I suppose it is just the nature of the sport. Everyone wants to one up each other and let everyone else know how fast they are in the off season. Yes, I am guilty for reading these things for entertainment; however, since moving to South Bend and training with Greg and Kaleb I have learned quite a bit about this mystery. When I talk and train with others I sometimes get the vibe that every workout is a race regardless if it is a track session or an easy spin. Before being coached by Greg I would get caught up in the “lets go as hard as I can every session” mentality. Yeah, I was happy at the end of workouts because I went fast, but at the end of the day I was not getting much faster. So many triathletes get injured midseason or start slowing down and they cannot figure out why it keeps happening season to season. It is simple, train smart. Patience is hard to come by in triathlon, everyone wants to see results now. Trust your coach, listen to your body, and nose breathe on runs!

Happy training,

Lauren

Mountains In The Carribean Sea

2011-01-27T18:43:00.000-08:00

TRAVEL/DAY 1

Lauren and I got to Chicago around 5 and decided to get some food before we headed to the hotel to catch a nap. We booked a park and fly at a hotel near the airport so we could offset the high cost of parking at O’Hare. We went to a little Greek restaurant called Squabs. We got some really good Gyros that hit the spot. After dinner we checked into the hotel and caught a nap until 11:30 and then headed to the airport. Our flight out of Chicago was at 2:10.

I was in and out of sleep until we got to San Salvador, El Salvador. When we arrived there, they had wifi in the airport so I was able to give my mom and Greg an update on our travel. After a one hour layover, we boarded the plane for Roatan. Greg had told us that the Roatan airport was one of the most dangerous airports in the world to fly in to. I did not mention this to my mom before the travel because I did not want her to worry!! Upon approach and landing I was scoping the area for something that would indicate a dangerous airport. I did not see anything. It actually looked like a nice airport for a Caribbean Island. Once we landed, customs was not very difficult to get through. All we had to do was present our passports.

Lauren and I with our waters!

After we got our bikes we got in touch with Leslie, the race director, and sorted out where we were going to be staying. We were signed up for a home stay so we were excited to see what it entailed. Once we had that squared away, we found some water! Leslie’s husband and Jessica, one of Leslie’s helpers, picked us up from the airport and dropped us off at our homestay. It was in Sandy Bay and had all the amenities of a small cabin in a third world country. Valerie was a very nice host but very upfront with everything. She runs a shelter for women and children with AIDS and she has her likes and dislikes of the Roatan/Honduras culture and let us know her thoughts. She is originally from Canada but has called Roatan home for 9 years. She plans on staying here when she retires. She got us a few groceries to start us off and then took us to a grocery store to allow us to buy food we liked. She also allowed us to use her shower since there was no shower or hot water in our cabin. It was not what I had in mind leading up to a race, but it got the job done.

The neighbors

Once Lauren and I were settled, Harry, an athlete from Great Britain, arrived at the homestay. Valerie took us all to the market to get food and then we stopped in to a little Honduran restaurant for some ethnic food. I enjoyed it, but it was a little on the shady side. The best restaurants are basically a family’s kitchen that you go into and eat. There is no menu, only what they have prepared for the day. After food, we jumped in the car and drove the bike course. HOLY CRAP! The “flat” part is not flat at all and “The Wall” made me think twice about the race, and I enjoy climbing!! I figured while driving the course that it was going to be a tough race so I had to mentally prepare myself for “battle.” Once back at the cabin we all put our bikes together and headed out for a short spin to loosen our legs from traveling. Lauren and I rode for about 25 min and then went for a 20 min swim in the ocean. I am not sure how long Harry rode but he found out firsthand how quickly it gets dark once the sun starts to go down

Lauren and I share a room with bunk beds

DAY 2

After going to bed early the night before we were up and at ‘em early. I went for a 30 min run while Lauren and Harry went to explore “The Wall.” Lauren was a little nervous about descending so she wanted to check it out. After my run I did some run drills to help loosen up my legs and then rode with Lauren while she ran for 20 min. I felt a little weird running solo down these roads so I did not feel right sending Lauren out alone. Two days before a race Greg and I like to back down my training and let my body fully recover for the race, so my day was full of eating and relaxing. About midday we went for a swim. Once again we headed to the ocean out back of our homestay but this time we went a little farther out into the coral reef. Roatan has the second largest reef in the world. Second to only the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The water gets very shallow over some spots of the reef so we had to be careful not to touch it, but I did catch my foot on a bit of it.

Jasmine, Nicholas, and I

After the swim, we showered up and went to a little brick oven pizza place. The food here is surprisingly good, but I think the sausage on the pizza was closer to a hot dog then actual sausage. For the remainder of the day we chilled outside in the shade since it is cooler outside in the tropical breeze than inside. We hung out with Valerie’s kids and they kept us quite entertained. It was fun watching them play sports and just be children. Valerie made us dinner, which was a delicious mix of chicken, coconut shrimp, rice with black beans, and fried plantains. I was a bit weary of the fried plantains until Valerie said they were good with ketchup. I love ketchup so when someone says something is good with ketchup I never miss an opportunity!! I am starting to get the feeling that green vegetables are not a normal menu item. After dinner we sat on the deck and chilled until bed time.

Sausage Pizza

DAY 3

Lauren, Harry and I woke up around 6:15 and were riding by 7. The roads were a bit more crowded than we were expecting for a Saturday morning, but the ride went well. I did some openers to get the body ready to race including riding up “The Wall.” The mood after the ride was pretty much what I was expecting after driving it. I was thinking this race will not be about who is the fastest or best triathlete, it will come down to who is the best cyclist in the mountains. After the ride we checked our bikes in with Leslie and she locked them in a closet so we could get them on race morning. When we arrived at the water the ocean was angry! The description on the website stated very little waves and minimal current. On Thursday that was true, but not on this particular day. There were some decent swells and the current would push you if you let it. We swan for about 30 min total in which I inserted some openers and worked on water entrances and exits. My body was doing whatever I told it, so I was hoping the same thing would occur on race day! We taxied back to the homestay and had some lunch.

After lunch we relaxed and napped before our run. Valerie took us to the race site to go for a run and attend the prerace briefing. We decided to run one lap of the course, since it is a 2 lap race. WOW! The run course does not lack hills, or hill in this case, one bit! It is an out and back 2 laps and in the middle is a giant hill that you have to run up and down going each way. Just when I thought I had this race figured out, another mountain is thrown into the mix. I started thinking that this race really was going to be more about survival than racing. The only way I could think of to describe this race as I prepared myself the night before would be a heavy weight boxing match. I knew I was going to have to take some heavy blows and I was going to have to hit hard when I needed to in order to conquer this! It sounds crazy but it is what I train/live for!!

Valerie’s daughter, Jane, made us pizza as a prerace meal! It was amazing! The host family had friends over and it turned into a real pizza party. I got carbo loaded and had a good mix of protein, so I knew I would be ready to go the next day. As we were getting ready for bed, music was blaring and we learned it was an all night party!! Not what I was looking forward to on the night before the race, but oh well, stuff happens and you have to deal with it. It was like a dorm party next door the night before a race in college.

RACE DAY

Prerace – I woke up 3 hours before the race start to eat as I normally do. I did not sleep well due to the party but I hardly ever sleep well the night before a race. Valerie dropped us off at the race site and then drove back home to watch, since her house was on the bike course. Transition opened at 6 and we got there before it opened but no one said anything to us as we started to get our bikes around. I wanted to check the air in the tires and get the chain lubed up. The numbers for our racks were put up around 6:15 so we set up our transitions after that. I went for a short jog at 6:45 and got ready for a swim warm-up around 7:05. Introductions were supposed to be done at 7:15, but they did not have the buoys in the water at 7:20. The race was delayed! I am not sure what time we ended up starting, but it seemed like we were stuck on the beach forever. The swim was supposed to be one lap, but problems arose and they decided to make it two laps as the buoys were being put out. They had a debate on how the swim would work, but finally settled on two straight laps, no beach run in the middle. They also decided to make it a water start so the guys that got to pick first chose to stand in waist deep water, while the guys at the end, I included, had to tread water for about 3 min before we could start. Oh well, I was ready to race so let’s just get this thing going!!

Lauren's Bike with Rudy Helmet and Hammer Gel

Swim – The horn sounded and we were off! I got out well, but for some reason I always find myself on the outside next to someone who also wants to be outside. The water is cleaner outside so for a strong swimmer, that is where they like to be. But I am not a strong swimmer yet, so I like to be inside on some feet so I can get pulled along. So I was stuck outside this guy while we repeatedly smashed our arms together. Finally it calmed down, and I was able get on feet! We were all strung out in a line for the first lap. The ocean was calm, but it still had a lot more waves and current then I am used swimming in. As we rounded the buoy for the second lap, someone got spit out of the pack. As he was coming back through the pack to me, I lost contact with the feet ahead of me and was not able to close the gap. So there I was, pulling myself through the ocean. I kept trying to go faster to close the gap, but they just slowly pulled away from me. This was not what I was looking for in the race, but my swim has gotten faster so I just stayed positive and swam hard for the last 750m.

Bike – I came out of the water with Chris Foster. He was the guy that got spit out of the pack and took me with him and he swam on my feet for the second lap. I had talked to Greg before the race and that is where I wanted to be. I knew he was a very strong biker so if I could grab his wheel I would have a shot at getting in a solid bike pack. I beat him out of T1 and was ready to move with him up the hill. Then I found out how strong of a biker he really is! Going up “The Wall” he rode away from me and could do nothing to stay on his wheel. I was trying to close the gap down but I did not have the legs for it. I was riding solo! Not a good place to be in a draft legal race!! After about 8-10km I caught Lukas Siska. He is coached by Barb Lindquist, head of the Collegiate Recruitment Program, so I knew his name but had never met him before. We were going to get to know each other well on for the next 50 min. I was still trying to ride hard, but I don’t think we were gaining any ground. The ride was an out and back 2 loop course so I got to see how far down we were three times. It was great to see Valerie and her kids out on the road while biking. It is easier to go fast when someone is cheering. The course was taking its toll on my legs and I was having trouble riding a solid tempo while breaking the wind, and we still had to get up the back side of “The Wall!!” The last time I could see the only large pack on the road riding away from Lukas and I, Chris had bridged the gap to the front pack. Chacon and Fleischmann had broken away, but Chris had made it into a great position. If only I could have held his wheel!! Oh well, it gives me something to work on for next time! This is a learning experience and sometimes the hard lessons are the best! At the bottom of the back side of “The Wall” Lukas starting riding hard and put some time into me. My legs did not have the pop so I rode a steady tempo and made it up as quickly as I could. I ended up getting into T2 ahead of Lukas and took off running as he was getting in.

Run – I headed out of T2 and wanted to run hard to finish off the day, but it did not feel like my legs wanted to cooperate. I stayed calm and just tried to keep moving forward. I could not see anyone ahead of me, so it was all up to me to set a respectable pace. The first time up the hill on the run it was hard but I did not think about it too much. Coming down I did not want to get too far ahead of myself and fall because the hill was somewhat steep when running fast. I finally got a look at someone while they were going back and I was still heading to the turn around. I had a large gap to make up, but I kept going. It was hard to stay focused running solo so far behind, but I did not want to give up in this race. The second time up the hill hurt a lot!! And going down my legs started going a little too fast and I thought I was going to bite it! Finally the hills were over and I gave it one last push to the finish. I could finally see people as I ran down the beach to the finish line but they were too far ahead for me to catch. I finally hit the finish line and the pain was over!! At least until the next day when I could hardly walk!

Post race we went to an American restaurant down the road and had burgers and beverages. I thought it was a good burger! Then we went back to the homestay and hung out with the family for the rest of the night.

DAY 5

We slept in after a late night and made our way to the airport to drop off Harry. Jane took us and we had to run some errands along the way. We stopped by a little café in West Bay that had great sandwiches and a nice little market. We took a little took long and we had to rush Harry to the airport. Harry thought his flight was at 11:40 but when we got there we found out his flight was at 11:20. He was lucky to get his bike on the plane, but he did make his flight. It was a good thing it was a little island airport that only had 2 gates.

After we dropped off Harry we went to the mall! It was the only mall in Roatan, and it was nice, but it was more like a strip mall in America. There was a Honduran department store, a store called Malibu which offered American clothing such as Abercrombie and American Eagle and a lot of cell phone stores. They had an Apple Bees and a Wendy’s, and we went to a Super Jugos, a little smoothie bar. I went with strawberries and banana in a milk base. It was delicious!!

Once we got back to the house it was time for Lauren and I to enjoy our one day of vacation. We suited up, by that I mean put on as little as possible, and went to the beach! In Honduras they have sand flies so we did not want to lie in the sand. No one is allowed to own a dock in Honduras, so we just found a dock on the beach to lie out on. We relaxed on the dock for about 2 hours and we both took a little nap. It felt great to lay out in the sun and just be warm after coming from a South Bend winter. After that we did a little recovery swim in the ocean and headed back to the house. We had dinner and packed and got ready to leave the next day.

TRAVEL/DAY 6

We woke up early due to the roosters and dogs in the area and packed the car to head to the airport. On our way to the airport we stopped for baleadas, they are a local dish that is commonly eaten in the morning. It is smashed beans on a handmade flour tortilla. Chicken or pork can be added to it and island cheese adds great flavor as well. Once we were finished with breakfast it was off to the airport.

Roatan as we were flying away

We had no problems getting through security and we made out flight with plenty of time. Our flight was a little late but we did not mind sitting in the airport waiting to leave. Once we arrived in San Salvador we found out our flight to Chicago was delayed. We were going to have to spend 5 hours in the airport! It was a long time to spend in the airport but they had free wifi and we had a few movies to watch so it was bearable. We passed the time and had an interesting adventure at Subway before we boarded the plane. When we got to Chicago we had little trouble getting through customs at 11:30 pm. Once through customs I called the hotel to get a shuttle to my car. It was a frustrating situation that took a little over an hour but it finally showed up and we made our way home. We finally got home at 3:30 am and fell into bed exhausted. It was a great trip and I am very happy I attempted the race. I am excited for future races and ready to get back to a normal training schedule.

“Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.” ~George S. Patton

Kaleb

VanOrt named 2010 USAT Triathlete of the Year

2011-01-26T02:09:00.000-08:00

We have one race down in 2011 and great things are still coming out of 2010. Lauren and Kaleb are currently traveling back from their first race and while I have had a lot of requests for race updates, I will leave that to the athletes. I will say that they gave all they had on a very tough course in Honduras and ended with World rankings of 105 for Lauren and 306 for Kaleb. Meanwhile Kaleb was named Triathlete of the year! I will simply say that great things happen to great people. I think back to our first ever conversation 16 months ago and I can still hear him say " I don't know what I am getting into but I want to make a run at this and see what I can do". The truth be told, the World has not seen what he can do yet. We feel very honored to receive this award and hope that 2011 will be even better. Thanks to all of our sponsors and people that have helped us get to where we are.

Race Time Already!!

2011-01-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe it but the race season is already here for some of us. Lauren and Kaleb are making the trek down to Central America this weekend and I am so incredibly excited for them!! I know they have been training so incredibly hard and are in serious shape right now. I cannot wait to hear the reports! It is truely inspiring the dedication they have shown in developing themselves as athletes in the sport. Lauren is down in south bend training full time and kaleb is pushing her (and himself!) everyday. A few weeks ago Lauren wrote on her facebook, "If you want something you have never had, you have to do something you have never done." I think that is a great foreshadowing of how this season is going to develop for our team.

I believe all three of us have taken new steps this year to committ to the sport on a professional level and I am excited for the outcomes of those committments. With great coaching and great sponsors on board (I know "The Wall" in the race this weekend is no match for Lauren and Kaleb's computrainer training!!) we have all the resources necessary for breakthrough performances this season. Make sure to track Lauren and Kaleb as they will be starting us off this weekend!!!

-Nicole

Team IE Heads South

2011-01-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

With less than a week until our first race of the season Lauren and I have been backing down a little to get ready. There is a delicate balance between getting ready to race and keeping the training up since we are still 8 months away from Nationals! Lauren has traveled far for a race before, but this is my first time flying out of the country for a race. It is a little crazy to think that I am going to be racing in Honduras in January. While in high school I did not run much over the winter and certainly did not race. In college I did indoor track so I am a little familiar about racing during the winter months. The only difference from that is I had three seasons and two weeks off from January through the end of November. Greg is a great coach and there is no doubt in my mind that we will be ready to race Sunday as well as Nationals in late September.

The race is in Roatan (Honduras Bay Island), an island north of the Honduras mainland. It is a relatively new destination for tourism, but that does not matter. We are not going for a relaxing vacation on the beach, although getting out of the South Bend cold for a few days will be nice, and we will have one day of “vacation” since we are staying there through Tuesday morning. We are going there to take care of business and see how we match up. This could be an indicator on what races we focus on this year, ITU draft legal or large non-draft races. The course consists of a beach start, a one lap ocean swim with minimal waves and light current, a very challenging bike course and a road/off-road/sand run. The bike course consists of a hill known as “The Wall,” a 16-19% incline hill of about 1km long, 3 more hills, 2 laps of a rolling hill circuit, and then over the back side of "The Wall" into T2. The website states, “This is surely one of America’s most demanding courses, with great views of the island’s shores, and luscious tropical forests along the way.” I will be sure to check out those great ocean views while suffering up “The Wall!!” J

Profile for the start/finish of the bike course.

I hope everyone is well and staying warm, if you are located in a cold climate. Check back shortly after the race for recaps and photos.

"Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage." ~George Patton

Kaleb

Radio Show Interview- Sports Talk Radio AM 1400 - Click this link to hear interview

2011-01-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I had a great radio interview with Mac McDonald on am 1400 sports talk radio Charlottesville/Richmong and Central Virginia. I loved being on the show and it was great to represent the sport of triathlon on a station that primarily is football/basketball focused. Although I have to say, it is very odd having a conversation with someone in which they can only ask questions about you. The whole interview, I really wanted to ask the host a question to make the conversation balanced! I guess that is not how radio works though!

I am so happy to be a part of the team IE family and although I am not in south bend to train- I love seeing the great pictures on this blog of all the intense hard core workout sessions going on there in every condition imaginable!!! When Mac, the radio host, asked me who I train with, I thought of how tough my teammates are training in south bend! I know my teammates are going to be really really tough come racing season. Training in a cold place is often a blessing in disguise- I learned this running in college up in New Hampshire. Your are never too fit too early- you are sharp at the right time in the season, and it makes you really really tough mentally and strong physically!! Keep posting those great pics!!

Happy Training- Nicole

Blizzards & Burritos

2011-01-08T17:14:00.000-08:00

Breaking records before the season even begins--32.4in of snow in 24 hours in South Bend!

So in the 10 days I have lived in South Bend it has been the hottest it has ever been this time of year and it has snowed the most it ever has at this time of year. The run this morning was epic! I am in awe of the energy the members of Team IE have even when conditions are far from ideal. This morning we all woke up to 3ft of snow and terrible roads. Two of our guys, Craig and G-How, got stuck in the snow in their cars on the way over and they STILL ran! Man I love this team.

Post run

Today was quite an adventure. The drive to the pool was crazy! Unlike the south, everything does not close when it snows so thankfully the pool was open. Our pool is very unique. Most elite triathletes have the luxury of training in large 50m pools. Team IE trains in a 4 lane 25 yd pool and we love it. It is much more challenging to swim in a shallow small pool as opposed to a large 8 lane pool. We are okay with it though because we know the hard work will pay off on race day!

Pool!

Before I moved here Greg always raved about the burritos after Saturday morning workouts. Today I finally got to experience the magic! We picked them up before the trainer session because we knew the snow was not stopping. I highly recommend "Tacos and Burritos" if you are a local.

Bob the burrito builder

A car covered in snow in the parking lot of Tacos and Burritos

The last workout of the day was awesome. Thanks to Computrainer we rode a challenging course to prepare for Honduras. I love riding with the team; we have so much fun jammin out to the ipod and pushing each other at the same time.

Team IE always having a great time!

Blizzards and burritos...fun day in South Bend. Being snowed in is fun after all : )

Lauren

Base to Race

2011-01-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple months I have been building a base for the 2011 season. With 2 weeks until my first race of the season, my training is getting ramped up so my body is not in shock when it is time for a race effort. Greg and I are jumping the gun a bit as I am still in the middle of my build phase, but it would be more dangerous for my body to go straight from base to race. With the help of Hammer Recoverite and Whey Protein I have been able to train at a high level and recover! With two tests down, a 500 TT swim and a 20 min. watt test on the bike, only one remains. I have made great strides in the water and on the bike, but with Greg in my corner there is still more to come!! The final test is tomorrow when we head to Notre Dame’s indoor track for a 4k. I am most excited for this because running is my first love and it is what got me into triathlons. Hopefully my legs remember how to run fast!

I am excited and nervous to be heading to Roatan for my first race as a professional. It is time for me to step up to the plate with the big boys and play their game!! I am not sure if the nerves are from the thought of racing as a pro or racing in a draft legal race. The swim is very important and I am hoping my progress in the pool shows in the open water. The only downer at this time is that I will not be able to wear my new ITU suit from Champion Systems. I could use a fast suit for the swim, but I have been hard at work designing our suits and they should be ready for the US Sprint National Championship in Clermont in March.

As you may know from previous entries, Lauren recently moved to South Bend. It is nice having her to train with, but Nicole is missed from our daily workouts! Hopefully someday the whole elite team can be together. Lauren and I are a great match in the water and it is fun having someone pushing me in the pool again. But don’t get me wrong, Greg can still bring it for 25-50 yards!! Maybe someday I will beat the coach in a sprint!

This week we received 2 pairs of Vibram Fivefingers! They are amazing shoes that I am looking forward to wearing around as well as some light jogging eventually. I have always loved walking around barefoot and these are as close as I can get where shoes are required. I will give you updates throughout the year as me feet and lower legs get stronger!

I hope you are well and enjoying the new year! 2011 is going to be exciting!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” ~Aristotle

Kaleb

540 Watts of RAW POWER

2011-01-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

Today I was thinking about all of the athletes that are heading south to train. I was wondering, is that where we should be? Is there something wrong with this picture? So that caused me to think more about what I have always said about Indiana. There is something wonderful about the beauty of a season and the beauty of forced rest and change. If we were in Tuscon for instance, it would be more of the same. Sure its beautiful but doesn't it satiate a part of the mind that needs to be hungry? How great does it feel to ride on that first 50 degree day in March ! What you see here is what I will call the 540. That is 540 watts of combined power for our 20 min test. That is a lot of watts! Watts more, we did that right there in that facility. Riding no mountains, only our Computrainers. So what is the cost of being cold and training here? I don't see a cost, what I see is an opportunity to separate our selves in a way that few are willing. The sacrifice is actually an investment. The investment of going to the pool in the snow, running through snow on ice and riding in the basement. For these two the value was three National Championships in 2010 and yet to be determined in 2011 but I have a great feeling. The same feeling I had in 2000 when I was a lone wolf pack of one but have now grown to a lone wolf pack of 70. It was said that if you build they will come and I have been building and they have been coming. Whats coming next will blow every ones mind because the lone wolf pack will finally have a den!

Looking forward to 2011 with some lessons from 2010...

2011-01-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

A month and a half ago concluded my rookie season as a pro triathlete. The Princeton web dictionary defines a “rookie” as- “an awkward and inexperienced youth.” I get that. I learned a lot of things this year and I hope some of them can help someone else’s transition to triathlon be a little less painful than it is supposed to be……

*"I don't believe in the danger of overtraining, but I do believe in the danger of under-resting”

-Deena Drossin Kastor

The debate about overtraining aside, I think Deena makes a great point here about how the training benefits of rest are often dramatically undervalued. Building rest days into your program is just as important in preparing you for your race as building in hard workout days. I would put myself out there to say that appreciating the value of rest is the single biggest factor that helped me make the jump from age grouper to professional. It is incredibly ironic, but to be faster- you have to learn how to rest more.

*Don’t give into intimidation

Before my first professional race in Philadelphia this year, I thought my guts were going to explode from nervousness before the gun went off. I thought I seriously didn’t belong in a field of athletes ripped right off the pages of Triathlete magazine. I didn’t have a professional looking uniform- I was wearing a sports bra and some tri shorts that didn’t match- I even looked like I didn’t belong. My goal going into the race was just not to get last by too much. The gun sounded, I raced within myself and ended up on the podium. All that worry for nothing; I should have been enjoying the race from the start.

*You can’t be successful if you are not having fun

Self explanatory. For most of us, triathlon is supposed to be a source of enjoyment, fun and friendship. When triathlon becomes stressful and a burden- it is really hard to be successful. Keep it all in perspective and have fun!!

Going into 2011, I am so excited because I feel like I have learned so much in one short year already. I know there is still a lot to learn and improve on; I am so excited to be moving into 2011 with some great coaches and teammates in Team IE and amazing sponsors in Champion systems, Cobb saddles, Finis and Rudy Project.

New year, new home, new sponsor!

2011-01-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I finally made it to South Bend to train with my coach and teammates for the next few months. I have had to adjust a lot to the weather, but I really think that the icy cold will only make me a tougher athlete. Kaleb and I have had an awesome time training together; not only is the company great but we also are able to push each other in workouts. Unlike most, we are racing in a few weeks in Honduras so I am more motivated to push myself during workouts with someone who has the same goals as me. I am looking forward to racing this season---only 21 days!

We recently received some new suits, clothing, and equipment from our new sponsor, Finis. Finis makes great suits for training and very warm thermal gear to wear pre and post swim!!

Finally, I want to thank Dave at Metro Run and Walk for giving me the opportunity to work for him!! I never knew selling running shoes could be so fun :)

Hope everyone is keeping their new year's resolutions....

Lauren

2011 and Beyond

2010-12-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

As of today, 2/3 of the team will be in one location and while we will miss Nicole, it will be so great to have Kaleb and Lauren in one spot. With the support of Computrainer we have a full training center in my basement. With the help of Cobb saddles we can ride for hours in comfort and with the help of Hammer Nutrition we can go and go and recover quickly. I feel lucky to be working with such talented and dedicated athletes. I wont say exactly what our goals are but I don't feel restrained at all but their abilities. I have huge hopes to shock the world and take Team IE to all new heights in 2011. There are so many new opportunities to race in North America this year that I am hoping they don't cannibalize each other. It would be great if all the race series succeed and our team could actually make a good living doing something they love. We already have requests from promoters to commit to their series.With races starting in January it could prove to be a long season but we are already pr'ing at testing solely on base work. I want to thank all of our sponsors and all of the athletes that make Team IE what it is. A good friend once said that South Bend was the least likely place to ever make a coaching company work. As of today we have some of the most promising talent in the country!Coach G

How to beat the holiday sweet tooth?

2010-12-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I just graduated from Clemson University with a BS in Biological Sciences. I think my parents are more excited than I am, but I must admit it is nice having the stress of studying lifted off of my shoulders.

Now that I have so much time to train I automatically think it is OK to indulge myself with all of the Christmas goodies. Kaleb and I will be racing soon so it is probably a bad idea to gain the holiday pounds. Unfortunately, I am a woman. Today I was running with 2 local guys and they were asking me why women loved sweets. Hmm.. I do not know guys, probably because we were born that way! Anyways, instead of diving into the cookie jar I made a delicious shake post run/ride today. Here is is:

1 scoop of Hammer Chocolate Whey Protein
1/2 of a nice yellow banana
1 table spoon of PB (gives it a nice thick texture-so you think it is a milkshake)
1/2 cup of Plain Greek Yogurt
Ice cups (personal preference)
Splash of 1% milk

Blend these up and enjoy! This drink is loaded with protein and really takes care of the sweet tooth. Enjoy!

Team IE- Thank you for welcoming me!! -Nicole Kelleher

2010-12-14T23:16:00.000-08:00

Last summer I had the privilege of attending an elite development camp at the olympic training center where I met some seriously awesome athletes and coaches who I now call friends. Upon meeting Kaleb and Greg, I was so impressed by the relationship they had- it was so obvious that Greg genuinely cared about Kaleb as a person, not just as an athlete, and had Kaleb’s best interests at heart. It was obvious they were having fun- a simple yet elusive dynamic in the elite triathlon world. Throughout the camp I got to know Kaleb, Greg and especially Lauren (my roomie!) better and I was honored to have the opportunity to meet such great people.

Greg has such a great relationship with his athletes and makes the sport exciting and something to be passionate about- an indispensable element to success in my opinion. Greg is a fantastic coach and I can’t wait until next season because I know it is going to crazy fun!

I am so excited about having Lauren and Kaleb as teammates, they are both ridiculously talented and pose genuine future Olympic Team threats. Lauren is a time-bomb of young talent on the brink of exploding into ITU domination. She is also kind of insane and fun- which is good for me as I am a bit of a stuffy, retentive medical student type. Kaleb is the man. During my final race last year at the US open Toyota Cup, I was all alone on the bike and Kaleb came whizzing by me- he knew the perfect thing to say to me, “Keep on it Nicole!!” I was so thankful he took the effort to yell at me despite being in the middle of his own racing (a race he would go onto win.)

I will write more about myself soon enough, but I wanted my first blog entry just to express how excited I am about the upcoming year and thank everyone for welcoming me to the team!!

Some serious pre-run walk training in Colorado Springs...it is clear from this picture-
Lauren is very tan. I am very pale. But she still lets me be her friend.

Ride The World Indoors

2010-12-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

RacerMate has supplied us with two CompuTrainers!! This will be a huge benefit for us this winter. Living in South Bend produces many challenges while training in the winter, but getting good workouts on the bike are one of the largest. This will help us get the most out of training inside. CompuTrainers not only take the boredom out of riding an indoor trainer, but they allow us to train on courses we will race on throughout the summer. They really are amazing, and we look forward to using them not only in the winter, but also on some race prep throughout the entire year.

Champion System

2010-12-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

Team IE Elite has a fantastic clothing sponsor for 2011! Champion System has agreed to supply us with clothing for the upcoming season. Champion System offers the best tri suits on the market and top of the line clothing for training. Their clothing can be sublimated so logos will not deminish over time. We are very excited to have them on board and look forward to looking great while we train and race!!

Tis the Season!

2010-12-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

Who knew running races were so much fun!? I never got to do any in college because I did not run XC or track. My family lives in Charleston, SC and there is a huge 5k on Thanksgiving that usually has around 6,000 runners. I thought I would go out and do it with my cousins so that I would not feel as guilty when I stuffed my face at Thanksgiving dinner. I ended up winning the female division with a time of 17:33. I was SUPER excited considering it is the off season and I have done 0 speed work...well 0 tempo work too.

There was another 5k today called the Reindeer Run in Charleston. I decided to come down for it since there was a pretty nice cash prize. I felt awful when I woke up and I was late because I had to go all the way back home and get my race chip and number (yes, I forget them on my bed). After talking with Greg, I decided I was just going to have fun. But then I got to the start line and of course I immediately switched to race mode. I love racing. I started right in the middle of 5 Kenyan men. It was awesome, ran the first 400m with them. Why? Because they made me feel like I was in the Olympics or something. If you want to be the best you must be surrounded by the best. Well needless to say, I fell off that pace and just settled into my own. For 3k I heard someone breathing heavy on my shoulder but I did not want to turn around and look. I tend to turn and look back too much in races, so I really wanted to try and avoid that. I never could shake the mystery person off so with 800m to go I looked back...and it was a woman. A very fast Russian woman. I decided it was now or never and took off but she had a wayyy better kick than me. Oh well, got 2nd place and finished with a 17:02! That is an awesome time for me. I am so excited to keep running. I will be united with Kaleb in 24 days. Running with him is pretty much like running with a Kenyan so it should really help me get to where I need to be.

Happy Holidays everyone!!! Eat drink and be merry.

Workout Wednesday

2010-11-29T17:15:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to spend some time with Karly, my sister, during her kindergarten class’ Workout Wednesday. One Wednesday a month she talks to her kids about exercise and diet to promote a healthy lifestyle. I arrived at her classroom as her class was returning from recess. I brought in some of my gear to show them and explained how I have to do two transitions as part of a race. After that we went outside to do 4 laps around the tennis courts to get warmed up. It was cold out so everyone had to wear their jackets and hats, and limited the amount of time we could spend outside. I then went through some simple run drills with them. As we were going back inside I showed them a flying bike mount and Karly asked them if that is how they get on their bikes and they all yelled “NO” and laughed. Right before we went back inside Karly had them line up on the sidewalk and I rode fast in front of them. They thought it was fast but I could only get up to 25 mph in the short amount of room I had. Once inside I went through a simple core routine with them. The final activity of the day was for the kids to have a transition race. The boy and girl champions both received water bottles. They had to run across the room, put their shoes on, and then run back and give me a high five. There were two heats for boys and three heats for girls. The winners of each heat met for the championship. It was a great experience and I am glad I got to help Karly with her Workout Wednesday. I hope the kids enjoyed it as much as I did!

Karly's Kindergarten Class

Nicole Kelleher

2010-11-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

Please welcome Nicole Kelleher!! We are very excited to have Nicole on the team. She is an outstanding triathlete and person. She finished 3rd at USAT Elite Nationals and 3rd overall in the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series. She is currently balancing a career as a professional triathlete while attending Medical School at the University of Virginia. She grew up in Seattle, Washington and excelled in Cross-Country and Track at Dartmouth College. She finished out her collegiate eligibility while attending grad school at Southern Methodist University.

Nicole currently has her own blog at http://nicolekelleher.blogspot.com/ so you can read about her adventures from last season. Nicole will be focusing on non-drafting races in the future, and we hope you enjoy following her as well as she dominates some of the largest triathlons in the US.

Nicole on the podium at USAT Elite Nationals

Twenty Eleven

2010-11-09T05:40:00.000-08:00

This year has been such an awesome experience. I have got to travel to places that I never thought I would have the opportunity to go to and I got to race some of the best athletes in the world. Someone asked me the other day why I do triathlon. I sat there and thought about it. Was it because I want to stay in shape? Or because I needed to fulfill the competitive drive in me? After racing as a professional for half of the season this year, I would have to say I am doing triathlon because of the truly amazing people you get to meet, race, socialize with, and connect with. Not everyone has the opportunity to travel around the US and even the world to do something they love. I am so lucky to have the support of my sponsors, family, friends, teammates and coach. Without them I would not be able to do what I do. Thank you!

2011 has just kicked off. This week last year I randomly signed up for a marathon with no training and just did it for fun. I think of that race and laugh about how crazy it was and how I had no idea then where I would be a year later. I wonder what I will be doing next year this time? Well, what I do know is that Team IE will be dominating the triathlon world. So excited! And most importantly--welcome Nicole Kelleher to Team IE!

First ride back!

Good Luck to Lisa racing this weekend at 70.3 Worlds. Represent!

Exciting News

2010-11-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

Greg has been hard at work locking up sponsors for next season and Hammer Nutrition and Nytro Multisport have agreed to pair with Team IE Elite. Hammer Nutrition offers the best endurance nutrition on the market and was already a part of our race day nutrition and training recovery. Nytro Multisport is a fantastic online multisport store offering great products for all your triathlon needs. We are excited to bring these two sponsors on board and look forward to a long successful partnership.

Racing is a learning experience

2010-10-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

A week ago I raced in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in the Pan American Championships. I was happy to get a spot in the race and I was looking forward to finishing the season off well. The race did not really go as planned, and I did not end up finishing. Sometimes I forget that I am a young college student just starting in the sport. Looking back I should have ended my season with Nationals, but I thought I could do it all so I held off for one more race. It is easy to get caught up in the triathlon scene and want to do every race so you can get points and gain experience. It is challenging to take 18 credit hours at school in Biological Sciences, train, travel to races, and figure out how to do it all on a tight college budget. At races I compare myself to girls who only train-no school, no work, no outside responsibility. I cannot forget that I am just starting and I need to have patience. This race I was just too busy thinking about everything else going on in my personal life and at school that I did not focus on what I came to do-race. Oh well, we live and we learn. I am looking forward to 2011. Hopefully I will be in South Bend this off season training with the IE crew! Good things to come :)

Final Amateur Race

2010-10-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

What a great way to end the season! I pushed hard, I had fun, and I was able to come away with the elite amateur win. The Toyota US Open Triathlon took place just outside Dallas, TX in the city of Rockwall and the swim was in Ray Hubbard Reservoir. Since I have no vacation time left at work, and I have had about a week total unpaid so far, I fit my travel and race into a single weekend. I hope I never have to do it again, but everything worked out alright this time.

PRE-RACE – I enjoyed being early at Age Group Nationals so I stuck to a similar routine for this race. I got to the transition early and got all my gear positioned just the way I like it. As I was finishing up, Gavin Anderson came walking into transition. Gavin is a very strong triathlete and I know it will be a battle whenever he shows up. I chatted with him for a little bit and we scoped out transition to find swim in, bike out, bike in, and run out. We were in the same area as the pros so we had a little transition area, which was a nice change from the previous races. Once I left transition I went for a short jog to get warmed up.

SWIM – I did not get a very good swim warm-up but when I got to the starting line I was ready to go. It was a wet suit swim so I was booming with confidence. Wetsuits are supposed to be a big help for skinny triathletes like me! It was a pontoon start, so we all dove in at the sound of the horn. I started out hard and found myself on feet early. I was on Gavin’s feet and feeling the hard pace (he put 2 minutes on me in the swim), so I backed off a little bit and let a pack go around me. I got on their feet and held on like my life depended on it. The water was very rough and it was one of the more difficult swims I have done. I started to get hot in my wetsuit so I let some water in as I went around the final turn buoy at about 1000 yards. I did not feel that great in the water, but there was no way I was backing off and letting the pack go. I held on until we exited the water. As I was coming out of the water, my little sister, Karly, let me know I was 7th and 2 min down to Gavin, who was leading the elite amateur wave. That was about what I was expecting, so I felt good going into the bike. The run from swim out to transition was about 400 yards but it felt like a mile. I wanted to get on my bike to start chasing the athletes ahead of me.

BIKE – Coming out of transition was a monster of a hill. I practiced bike mounts and getting in my shoes quickly the day before, but it is always different when I am tired from the swim. I was able to get one foot in, so I drove hard with that foot and just pedaled a little with the other. Karly told me after the race that there were numerous people falling over trying to get up the hill, and a lot of people just walked their bikes up. Once I got up the hill I got my other foot in and I was off. It was a little cold starting out on the bike so I stayed as aero as possible to keep the wind off my chest. The bike course was technical at the start, so I tried to stay calm going around the turns so I would have some power left for the latter part of the race. The race officials were out on the course and they were throwing out penalties like crazy! I saw two people in front of me get standing penalties; they had to stop and wait instead of just getting two minutes added to their final time. After getting through the technical start to the course, the race went out on country roads. Overall it was a nice course, but there were some sections that were in terrible shape. I caught Nicole at about mile 7 and yelled some words of encouragement at her as I went by. At one point I had to sit up because the road was throwing me all over the place when I was aero. There was a hard left off the bad road and that is what I was waiting for. I had marked this area on the day before as a good place to start hammering the bike. It was about 10 miles into the ride, the roads got a lot better, and there were very little turns until you got back to the first/last 4 miles. As I was approaching the turn Hunter Kemper was getting loaded into an ambulance, so I took the turn very easy. The flip was at about 14.5 miles so I took the opportunity to get a time check on Gavin. I was 2 min down so I started to feel good about my chances of winning. With about 2 miles to go I rode into a pack of 4 pro women. The pros have to stagger in a non drafting race so things got interesting when I tried to pass them. I finally got around them and I was on my way to T2.

RUN – I started the run in second place and Karly let me know I was 2:30 down to Gavin. The first half mile was up a different section of the monster hill and it was a little shock to the body after getting off the bike. Also my toes were numb from the bike and I thought I had something in my shoe. I almost stopped to see what it was, but I was on a mission to go out on top in the last race of the season so I decided to just run though it. Once my toes regained feeling I realized it was just the numbness in my toes that made it feel like something was in my shoe. At about 2.5 miles I caught Gavin. Before I could sneak up on him he heard me coming and turned around. I ran with him for a minute or so and we had a little chat. It was a fun experience; I have never done that in a race before. Most of the time I am really intense during a race, but it helped remind me why I do this crazy sport. The people and the whole lifestyle really are wonderful. The run flipped at about 3 miles and headed back to the finish. I saw Nicole on my way back in so I gave her some more words of encouragement. I gave it all I had in the run but it was nice being able to relax and enjoy it a little. It was a lot different than Age Group Nationals, where I had to keep pushing all the way to the finish. With 400 to go I saw Karly and she was yelling with excitement. It was nice to see her as I was coming into the finish and I was able to grab my Rudy Project Noyz Sunglasses and my Team IE visor from her, so I would look good as I crossed the finish line.

The race was a lot of fun and the venue was great. I hope I am able to make it back there next year to race in the Pro race. Karly was a great spectator!! She kept me updated on what place I was in, how much time I was down, and always had positive words for me. I truly am blessed to have such a great support system behind me. My family, coach and teammates mean the world to me. I would not be able to do this alone. Karly and I stayed for the awards and then relaxed in the hotel until it was time to go to the airport. It was a good weekend, even though it was short. Congrats to Nicole for finishing 3rd in the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series!!

I am excited to get back to training but I know I will enjoy the next two weeks as I take some time off. After that I will be hitting the swim hard. Next year’s success hinges on my ability to get out of the water with a good draft pack on the bike. It will be hard but I am ready for the challenge.

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty... I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well."
- Theodore Roosevelt

Kaleb

The Season Flew By

2010-10-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

I can remember most of my seasons throughout my running career, and in most of them I could not wait for the end to come. I got sick a lot and in a few I had to cut my season short because of injury. This year I trained hard all season and did not burn out at the end. It seems like I just started training with Greg, but that was a little over a year ago. I have one race left and I am looking forward to it. I hope my body responds one last time this season when I tell it to go. It was a whirlwind of emotions over the last week and a half, coming down from winning Age Group Nationals. My body was pretty beat up and it took me a little bit to get back into training. I am heading to Dallas this weekend for the Toyota US Open. It is the finale of the Lifetime Fitness Race to the Toyota Cup. Nicole Kelleher, a friend of Team IE, is racing for the overall series victory. Good Luck Nicole!! There should be strong competition in the elite amateur wave, so I am looking forward to racing the best head to head. Plus my little sister is meeting me down there, so it will be nice to see her and spend the weekend together.

I recently found out that I was third place overall in the Rev3 Series. This year it was three races, an Olympic in Knoxville, TN, a 70.3 in Quassy, CT, and an Ironman in Sandusky, OH. When the series was first laid out early in the year, they had stated that an athlete had to do 2 of the 3 races to be in the overall series standings. I only did the Olympic race in Knoxville, but I am guessing they did not have enough amateurs participate in 2 races. This is good news considering the top 5 in the series get a cash prize. Every little bit will come in handy when I start chasing ITU points next season.

After the race this weekend I will take some down time and I will start working hard on sponsorship stuff for next season. Hopefully Lauren and I can get some help to lessen the burden of gear costs and traveling all over the world chasing ITU points. If all goes well I am hoping to become a full time Triathlete!

I hope life is treating you well,
Kaleb

Oh hey, its really hot outside.

2010-09-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

The race this weekend was by far the most challenging race I have competed in both mentally and physically. The Elite course was different than the Age Group course. Two days before the race I rode a lap of the bike course and immediately called our coach ,Greg, after to complain about how hard the hill was that I had to climb eight times on race day. Greg told me just to take the race second by second and I would be fine. Draft legal racing is so much different than non drafting. If you are mentally out of the race for just a few seconds the bike pack can drop you and your race is over. We raced at noon on Saturday. The day of the race everyone was complaining about how hot it was outside and how bad the run was going to be in the sun. I tried to stay positive and continue to chug water. The swim felt really fast. The pace was a lot faster than it was at worlds but thankfully I came out of the water with the girls I thought I would come out with. The bike was very hard for me. After the second lap I knew my legs were already trashed but somehow I still had to ride six more laps and run a 10k. Well, I made it to the run....I felt like death the first lap. I was thinking how nice it would be to pass out so I did not have to keep running. I had the cold lips and dehydration chill bumps...it was crazy! A U23 athlete passed me on the run on the first lap and mentally I really did not think I would be able to catch back up. However, I wanted to win the U23 National Title..for myself of course, but especially for my coach. We have worked so hard this past month to get me ready to race the best in the nation and I needed to win this for him. The second lap felt the same as the first...hot, miserable, and painful. As I began the third lap I actually started feeling good. How? I do not really know. It must have been from all of my awesome friends yelling at me "DON'T YOU DARE SETTLE (thanks Brian)". My immediate goal was to get top ten, which meant I would have to pass two more girls. The U23 athlete was three girls ahead of me...29 seconds. I had 2.5k to make up 30 seconds. I passed two and then I sprinted up and passed the third to see her reaction. She did not sprint back, so I just carried my speed right into the finish line and became the 2010 U23 National Champion! This is a huge accomplishment for me. A year ago I just started toying with local sprint triathlons and now I am racing as a pro and won the U23 race. It is so awesome to see how much hard work pays off. Thanks to all my friends, my coach, and my mom for supporting me! Next up is Puerto Vallarta Pan Am Champs in Mexico. Too bad the race is on Sunday...no margaritas for this chick.

Lauren

The swim...so fast!

U23 Podium

Jessica Jessica

Age Group Nationals Recap

2010-09-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

"We did it!" This was the first thing to go through my head as I crossed the finish line. I was thinking about all the time and hard work my coach and I have put in over the last 8 months. I was not sure if I had won or not but I knew I had to be close. I felt great the whole day and I caught a lot of the 20-24 guys, who started 6 min before I did. I don't like to compare race to race or even the same race year to year, but I was 10 min faster this year than I was last year. It is amazing what a difference it makes to have a great coach in your corner! Thanks Greg, this victory would not have been possible without you!

PRE-RACE - Usually when I travel alone I get to transistion at the last minute and to the starting line a few seconds before the gun goes off, not this time. I was with Greg and Lisa and they like to be early. It was nice to be able to take my time setting up transition and I was even able to lay down for a few minutes before getting into the water. Greg and I have a little saying that goes, "If you can stand, sit. If you can sit, lay down. And if you can lay down, sleep." I got to the stating area about 10 min before my race start and they let us in the water 5 min before, so I found a place on the sidewalk, to avoid laying in a mound of fire ants which are very common in Tuscaloosa, to lay down and relax for a few minutes. It was the first time in 3 days that I was not nervous anymore. The bright lights were on and I was ready to roll.

SWIM - It was a chaotic start in the water. The pontoon was full of people so I found a spot just off the end to tread water for the start. I had practiced starts the day before so I knew there was little advantage to starting next to the pontoon. It did not go deep into the water so you could not really push off. The gun went off and I started out hard for about 100 yards. I wanted to get in a good swim pack so I tried to place myself toward the front. Finally the group settled down and I found some feet. About 200 yards into it, I realized I was on the wrong feet! This guy was slowing up and the lead pack was getting away quickly. I had to go around and try to bridge the gap. As I was sighting buoys, I was looking for a green cap, a guy in my wave. I finally caught a guy about 400 yards later.  The pace was a little slow but I had just used a lot of energy to bridge the gap so I sat on his feet for a little bit to gather myself. I touched his feet twice and each time he would speed up for about 4 strokes and then slow back down. It was time to go around this guy! With 400 yards to go I went around him but he did not want to get passed this late in the swim so he started going stroke for stroke with me. As we were fighting through earlier waves he kept running into me, but I was too close to transition to worry about him. I was doing my normal thing and thinking about transition, where my bike was and "Helmet on first!" Thank you Blue Seventy for sending me a PZ3+, I had a great swim split and I am sure that saved me a good amount of time. As I exited the water, Barb Lindquist, who runs the USAT Collegiate Recruitment Program, let me know I had lost 1:45 to the leader out of the water. Things were going well!! Last year I lost almost 6 min to the leader out of the water. My swim has come a long way but I still have a long way to go to be competative in ITU racing.

BIKE - I got out of my PZ3+ quickly and blasted though transistion. I hit the bike mount line and went down! It was a line of red tape that got slippery when wet. I planted my left foot squarly on the line and it just washed out. I caught myself with me left hand and knee. In the process I slammed by bike to the ground. I picked myself up and looked at my bike. The bars were a little crooked but I couldn't see any damage. Sorry to the officials and spectators standing right there, a few words slipped out in the heat of the moment. I mounted my bike and started rolling. As I was getting in my shoes I could feel my hand throbbing as I gripped the bars. I also noticed a nice scrape in my left shin and knee but I could not feel that yet. When I went aero there was no pressure on my left hand so it did not hurt as much, I stayed aero as much as I could for the next 40k. It was getting warmer so I made sure to drink before I got thirsty. About 6 miles into the bike my knee started to get a little sore, but I was on a mission and this was not going to slow me down. I squirted some water on it to try and wash off some of the dirt, and that made it feel a little better. Either that or my quads were starting to feel the hard pace and my mind switched to that pain instead. Overall I was very happy with my bike split. It was difficult in some sections to pass since there was such a large number of people out on the road. A few times I just had to sit up and wait, to avoid gettting a drafting penalty. Thank you Rudy Project for hooking me up with a new Wingspan TT helmet and Noyz sunglasses. The Wingspan TT is a great helmet, it is very aero and has large vents in the front that kept me cool as the temp went up.  I worked hard on the bike and I felt like I was going to vomit in the last 2 miles, so I backed it down a little to get ready for the run.  I took it easy at the bike dismount, I did not want to go down again.  As I ran through transition my legs were feeling the bike, but they felt better than they did in Chicago, so I was ready to run.

RUN - Starting off, my knee was aching with every step but Barb let me know I was 40 seconds behind the leader, and all the pain went away and my mind turned off to allow my body to run. The leader was in the earlier age group so I would not see him unless I could take 6:40 out of him on the run. I was running against the clock. I thought I could take 40 seconds out of the leader so I relaxed and just allowed my body to find its natural pace. I did not want to press too much too early because it was hot and the run course had 3 good hills to climb before a net down hill the last 3 miles. The hills were a swift kick in the pants, but I was passing people going up so I just kept pushing. Once I knew the hills were over, it was on! At around 4.5 miles I caught Nic Tautiva and asked him what place he was in his age group. He did not know but I knew things were going well.  I had taken 6 min out of the Elite Amateur champion at St. Anthony's and I still had about 1.5 miles to go. My confidence grew and my pace quickened with every person I passed. With about 1 mile to go I saw Lisa going out on the run course so I yelled a few words of encouragement.  With less than a half mile to go Ben Weaver yelled for me as he was going out on the run course. It took me a second to figure out where it was coming from and who it was, but then I yelled back and pushed to the finish line. I gave a few high fives as I came toward the finish line but was careful because Age Group National races can come down to seconds. I did everything I could in the race against the clock, now I had to wait for final results to come out.

I went to the med tent and got my shin and knee cleaned up. After that I found my mom and my grandparents and gave them huge hugs. They are great fans and cheered loud for me. I wanted to go out on course and find the rest of the Team IE athletes, so I got my printout and headed out to the run course. I saw Jason Smith finish so I did not get to yell for him. As I was heading out on course I looked at my printout - 1st overall!! There were still a lot of age groups that needed to come in, but I let out a small sigh of relief. I found Greg out on course first so I yelled for him and then ran after him to catch him as he left the finish area. I had to let him know that we did it!!

After the age group race was all over it was time for the pros to go after their national championship. We stayed around to watch and cheer for Lauren. Lauren won the U23 National Championship by showing how much of a fighter she truley is. With 2k to go she was down 20 seconds, and went on to win by 50!!! AMAZING!!

The awards were a great time and it was awesome to see so many Team IE athletes go up on stage. Results from the races can be seen here.
Christina Person - 20-24 Champion
Lisa Mueller - 9th place 25-29
Adreinne Hengels - 19th place 30-34
Jason Smith - 6th 30-34
Greg Mueller - 3rd place 35-39
Ben Weaver - 24th place 40-44

Female Amateur Champion Mandy McLane and I with our hand made awards.

A big thanks goes out to my mom for driving Greg, Lisa, and I to and from Tuscaloosa. She was a saint for driving, putting up with all the pre-race emotions, and getting anything we needed. I love you Mom!

Kaleb

Age Group Nationals

2010-09-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

All the hard work and preparation over the last 8 months comes down to one race. With less than a week to go and the last hard workout over, I am already a bundle of nervous energy. A big thank you goes out to Dr. Jerry of Hofferth Chiropractic. He met me outside of work last night to work on me to get me ready for the race.

Greg, Lisa and I sweating it out on the pool deck Sunday morning to get ready for the Alabama heat.

Age Group Nationals is an interesting race, in the way it is set up. It is the only large triathlon in the US that does not allow the best amateurs to go head to head. Wave starts are arranged by age group and alternate men and women every three minutes. The majority of the people in the race are after a top 18 finish in their age group so they can represent the US at the age group world championships next year. For them the race is set up perfectly. But for the people looking for the overall victory, it becomes a race against the clock.

A good thing to remember is to never make last minute changes in gear or bike adjustments. Whatever you are going to use at the race needs to be determined at least one week out. You do not want your emotions for the race to determine what gear you use. Stay with your old trusty flats and never wear a new pair of goggles without wearing them in a workout first. Having your gear selected ahead of time will take some of the stress out of packing as well.

Good Luck to all those competing and go TEAM IE!

If you are interested in following the race, there are two links below that should offer coverage.

http://www.usatriathlon.org/refresh/events/47/page/10485

http://www.usatriathlon.org/events/47/page/10484

Kaleb

Nationals

2010-09-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend I will be competing in my first National Championships...as an Elite! This is somewhat overwhelming but it doesn't get much better than toeing the line with the best women competing in the sport in the nation. I have just gotten my feet wet with draft legal racing and I am still learning how to be competitive in these races. I have done three races and each one gets better and better.

So here are some things I have learned that can help others who are just starting to race:

1. BE CONFIDENT; someone once told me there are three parts to a triathlon, the mind, the heart, and the legs. Without confidence in yourself, you have nothing. This took me some time to understand, but now after Worlds I am confident going into Nationals, of course this is a process! It is so odd how it just takes one workout session or one small part of a race to get your mind right.

2. EAT; often on race morning I am a ball of nerves and I do not feel like eating much. Bad idea. Food is fuel for the body and it is so important to eat just the right amount the race demands. This takes time and trial and error. I have yet to figure out exactly what works. The best race I had I ate eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast. Most people would frown upon that, but hey, it worked!

3. Prepare for your race in transition; it is so important to have 0 stress on race day. Therefore, make sure your shoes are loose enough, helmet is tight enough, sunglass lenses are clean, bike shoes are rubber-banded properly, gels are properly taped, and water bottle is filled. The last thing you want is to be swimming and worrying about your transition area. This is something so simple to master, but people so often overlook these minor details. This is what separates 1st from 2nd.

4. HAVE FUN! If you aren't having fun then there is no point in competing. Bottom line.

5. The most important...look good. Here is a picture of the U23 team in Budapest, Hungary before the race.

I hope to fix the things I did wrong at Worlds at the race this coming weekend. I am so excited to race against the best and see what I can do. Kaleb will be racing in the amateur race. I am sure the Elite Men are happy he is not racing in their race. He is such a talented athlete and I am happy to have him as a teammate. Go IE!

Lauren

Hello World

2010-09-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the website for Team IE Elite. Current members include Lauren Goss from Charleston, South Carolina and Kaleb VanOrt from Waterloo, Indiana. Lauren is a fifth year senior at Clemson University, finishing up her last semester. She got started in triathlons about a year ago and has quickly become one of the best U23 triathletes in the nation. Kaleb graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2006 and now resides in South Bend, IN, where he trains with Innovative Endurance head coach, Greg Mueller, and other Team IE athletes. He got his start in triathlons about 2 years ago and has become one of the best amateur triathletes in the nation. Both athletes will be chasing ITU points next year, in hopes of becoming a USAT funded Project 2016 Athlete, and one day maybe even representing the United States of America at the Olympic Games. Lauren just missed a place on Project 2016 on September 11 in Budapest, Hungary. With rainy conditions she was unable to take on calories on the bike and fell 4 places short of the top15 - automatic spot on Project 2016. Still placing a very respectable 19th at the U23 World Championships.

Check back periodically for race recaps, training updates, and general happenings of Team IE Elite. Hopefully you enjoy following these gifted athletes as they enjoy the highs and endure the lows in this amazing, sometimes crazy sport of Triathlons.