Shop ride Sundays: Hills clinic recap

We had a stellar turnout for Tempo Multisport’s Hill Climbing/Descending Clinic at the Jack & Adam’s Bicycles shop ride this past Sunday. We rode as a group out to Lost Creek, where we held a quick clinic on the physics of climbing and descending. For a reminder of the tips covered, click here to visit the blog post from our first clinic.

Remember, in order to master these skills you must now practice them! Don’t avoid hills, seek them out and challenge yourself to be better. If there is a component of climbing or descending that gives you anxiety, break it down and practice it in a less intimidating environment. For example, we noticed many riders were not comfortable riding in the drops of their handlebars while descending. As discussed, this is THE SAFEST way to descend a hill. Not only are you lowering your center of mass, which creates greater stability and better handling of the bicycle, you are also protecting yourself from your hands flying off the handlebars in the event that you do hit a bump in the road. If this is you, start practicing riding in the drops while on a flat section of road until it becomes more comfortable, then move on to small descents, and eventually the bigger ones. If this is not physically comfortable for you, chances are you need an adjustment to your bike fit, so drop in and see the fit experts at the shop! Safety and stability on your bicycle is priceless. Just as you wouldn’t dream of riding without a helmet, don’t ride on an ill-fitting bike. When you do, you compromise not only your own safety, but that of those around you.

Thanks to all who attended this clinic. We had a blast interacting with all of you. It was a diverse group this week, with some doing one repeat, having never before conquered a hill such as Lost Creek, and some taking on three repeats on this long, challenging climb before we headed back to the shop. Well done to one and all! In addition to Coach Tammy Metzger, three members of Team Tempo Multisport were on-hand to provide feedback and encouragement to clinic attendees; Shane Carbonneau, Laura Carbonneau, and Kim Barnett! Thanks again, and we’ll see you at the next clinic.

Shop ride Sundays: Hills clinic recap

Shop ride sundays: Take to the hills

a bit late for this week, but better late than never! This week see's the Intermediate and Advanced groups take to the hills. The no-drop ride will go south.

We don't just do hills, Tammy Metzger and the Tempo Multisport will take the intermediate group and do a repeat of the Hills Clinic they did a couple of months ago. You'll get to ride a repeat route and they'll ride either alongside or in reverse and offer tips on gear changes, pedal stroke, position and most of all encouragement.

For the Advanced group, myself, Zac and Lisa will take you on a slightly longer route, with a few more hills and hopefully just as much encouragement. I'll get to ride my new Guru Praemio which the shop fitted and had built for me especially for my Sierra to the Sea bike tour, hills and more hills!

As always, we leave at 8:30am unless its raining at that time.

Next week I'll be rerunning the transition clinic, this time I'll cover both basic and advanced, for those that are interested, I will cover and give you the chance to do running mounts/dismounts. We'll be on grass, so bring your transition gear and we'll go practice after the ride a short walk from the shop!

Shop ride sundays: Take to the hills

May Happenings

Here's a run-down of some the events happening in the local triathlon scene for the month of May:

May 8th @ 1pm - Tire changing clinic with Grease Monkey Wipes @ Jack & Adam's (free)

May 9th - The Rookie Tri

May 15th:
During packet pickup at Jack & Adam's Bicycles on Saturday, May 15th, the Skeese Greets Women's Tri has arranged for a series of info sessions which are free and open to the public. Here is the lineup so far:
Transition Clinic: 1PM with TriZones Training
Tire Changing Clinic: 2PM with Grease Monkey Wipes
Talk to the Doc: Women's Health & Fitness Seminar with OB JEN at 2:30
May 16th - Skeese Greets Women's Tri
May 17-21st - National Bike Week
May 18th - Splash & Dash
May 20th - Austin Duathletes Pub Run
May 22 - Tour de Cure
May 22 - Open Water Swim Clinic, Lake Pflugerville

May 31 - CapTex Tri

For even more events in the month of May, be sure to check the Events Calendar HERE on the J&A website. If you have an upcoming event, such as a ride, run or tri, list it there for free.

We'll see you out there!

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May Happenings

Storytime with Kelly Williamson

Of all the benefits of working at Jack and Adam's, hearing athlete's race stories is my favorite. Everyone - whether they are pros or newbies - has something informational, tragic, hilarious or just plain interesting to share about their experience at the different athletic events our customers paricipate in throughout the world. The weekend after a big race that I could only watch from the blurry digital sidlelines of Ironman's "Athlete Tracker," I love to peice together what it actually must have been like for the competitors.

One of my favorite storyteller-athletes is Kelly Williamson. Her stories always have a level of drama. (And by drama I don't mean the "oh-no-you-di-int!" drama, but high drama, like in Shakespeare and Lord of the Rings.") I've included one of her race reports with this post; but you can read more fascinating and informative accounts of life as a pro triathlete on her blog. If you see her in the shop, you can also ask her really nicely to tell you a story from her many adventures, (like I do).

And if you have a good story you'd like to tell me, I'd love to hear it.

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When you live in Texas, any race within driving distance (especially a 70.3 event) is a must-do, seeing it takes a minimum of 3 hours to get out of the state itself (8 if you are going west). Lonestar 70.3 in Galveston happened to be the Professional National Championships this year, so I figured despite it being a pancake flat course, it would be a good challenge and of course it had the the added bonus that Derick (my husband) and I can pack up the car, drive 4 hours south and be back home the evening of the race.

I viewed this event as a big one, one which I wanted to do well at. While I did not go into it on a 'full rest' since Coeur d'Alene is my focus, I did allow myself a few days of recovery to go into this event feeling strong. We drove down on Friday afternoon, settled into our hotel on the 'Seawall' and later that night, about 1:00 AM, were welcomed to Galveston by 75 mph winds and what appeared to me (being from Indiana) to be a hurricane. The next morning things were still quite windy, but I made it out for a quick 30 min spin and a 15 min run, only to later find out that these winds were only weaker than Hurricane Ike's winds by 10 mph; so this was not a 'normal' occurrence for Galveston. Luckily, Sunday was predicted to be sunny and calm. I got my workouts done, threw on my Zoot compression socks, put my legs up and proceeded to lounge around our hotel room watching bad TV until the 3:30 pro meeting. We had a nice early dinner with Richie Cunningham and his girlfriend Melissa and were back to our room by 7:00 or so. I shut the blinds and acted like it was not a beautiful evening outside; just helps my body start to think about sleeping a bit, unwind and get ready for the 4 am wake up call.

Sunday morning was beautiful relative to the previous morning, and we arrived to Moody Gardens with more enough time than necessary on race morning; logistics were great for this event. It was seamless to get into the parking lot and the layout was simple, thanks to the Jack and Adams crew and Keith Jordan and his clan organizing the event. I got my transition set up and meandered over to the swim start, which was off of a pier into Galveston Bay (yes, the one Robert Earl Keen sings of).

We were off right at 7:03 AM, 3 minutes behind the pro men. It was non-wetsuit as the water temperature was 72.8, and it was actually pretty balmy. I usually love non-wetsuit swims, however today turned out to be different. I really struggled out there; this coming right on the heels of having a great swim in California only a month prior. I do not swim well in chop, and this surprisingly was extremely choppy. I knew by the first turn that I had lost the first pack, but I tried to focus on swimming strong nonetheless. Every time I looked up, it seemed I was greeted by a firm slap in the face by an oncoming wave. I was shocked out there! We were in a 'bay', wasn't it supposed to be calm? I thought to myself how tough this swim was going to be for weaker swimmers, as I am a strong swimmer and was really struggling out there (hence the wetsuit comment). I carried on, tried not to worry about the fact that the small lead women's pack was slowly fading into the distance and kept plugging away. The 'Swim Finish' banner could not come soon enough for me.

It was then out and onto the bike course, literally 28 miles out in one direction, then back. I am on my new Quintana Roo CD0.1 this year, and this thing rocked for me today. We dealt with some pretty strong headwinds and crosswinds on the way out, and I plugged away as hard as I could. I was sitting in 5th out of the swim, passed two women after the turnaround and then was passed by one on the way back in. I found myself repeating the acronym "CMAO" out there... which stood for 'cycling my a*s off'. I have found that if I have any hope of being within the top 3 of a 70.3 event, I cannot afford to come off the bike far back. So, I did all I could to keep myself with the top 5 or 6. I stuck to my regular nutrition plan, one gel flask filled with 4 Raspberry PowerGels, and 3 PowerGels taped to my top tube, all of which I consumed (along with just water for hydration). This has worked out well for me as it prevents any stomach upset mixing gels and energy drink. By the time I hit mile 45, I found myself thinking two things: 1) I am getting bored with this flat-ness and 2) My butt and upper legs *really* hurt right now. Luckily the last 10 miles went by fairly quickly, and it was time to get to the run and see what this tough bike course had left in my legs.

I came into T2, racked the bike, threw on the Zoot Ultra TT2.0's, grabbed my gel flask, Jack & Adams visor and was OFF. I was sitting in 5th place and from what I was being told, about 5 minutes out of first. That would come out to 1+ minutes per lap (a 4 loop run course) that I would have to put on the top women to come out with a win. It would be a challenge, but I sure as hell would try.

I do not get my splits as I like to mostly race by feel, but I glanced down at my watch and noticed I was clipping off a few 5:45 to 5:50 miles right off the bat. I was pretty surprised, knowing how much I had left on the bike, but I tried to just relax and settle into a rhythm. It was so awesome being here in Galveston, because I was hearing so many people cheering for me and yelling my name! I guess that I know more people in Austin and Houston that I realized! It really got me fired up and I cannot tell ya'll how much it helped. I slowly put time on the leaders, moving from 5th to 4th to 3rd, which was where I would settle. I started to feel the race by about mile 9, at which point it started to get 'hard'. I tried to stay relaxed and make it look like I was not hurting; which Derick confirmed, he said I never made it 'look' hard. I think this helps you mentally if you can try to mask the pain. Unfortunately, I ran out of real estate, as I crossed the line only 36 seconds out of 2nd place, however I later found out that I had run a 1:18.18, which for me was a phenomenal run time and nothing to be upset about. I celebrated a bit going into the finishing chute, knowing that I had laid it ALL out there and when you do that, there is absolutely nothing to be unhappy about. I pushed my body to its limits, as I feel I always do when I compete. I was 3rd overall in a strong womens field, and I have to commend all of the other women in the race today as they all raced well and made me work hard for the finish.

I have to give a HUGE THANKS to my sponsors. PowerBar nutrition and gels have become a staple for my races and training, and I know that when I stick with PowerGels in a race, I will make it from start to finish feeling strong and my stomach feeling happy. Quintana Roo, a new sponsor for 2010 has been amazing; not only do I love the CD0.1 for it's comfort and my ability to produce good power on it, but QR has great people working there and they have been nothing but supportive. I feel like this bike was made for me! I have been with Zoot Sports for a few years now, and their clothing and racing shoes are second to none; the shoes always keep my feet happy both during the race and after. Additionally, Jack and Adams, Xcis Software, Advanced Rehabilitation, 3 Cosas Massage, Hill Country Running and Go with the Flo Accupuncture have all been nothing but supportive and I thank you all for that. Finally Chris McCrary at Katalyst Multisport, thank you for believing in me. And of course my parents and my husband Derick, words cannot describe how much your endless support means to me.

To wrap it up...I never really race for 3rd, I am always racing for 1st. Sure, I may or may not get it but that is always the goal; why shouldn't it be? Just as my blog title says, I live by the motto 'Aim High'. That said, when you know that you get up and give something all you've got, there is no reason to hang your head down. Don't ever be afraid to try something; whether you do or do not achieve it, I guarantee that you'll come out better, stronger and knowing a lot more about yourself after the fact than had you of never tried. It's not easy, but it's not supposed to be easy. That's the beauty of these things; they make make you see what you're truly capable of, whether you realize it or not. Thanks for reading, and see you out on the race course, I hope!

Storytime with Kelly Williamson

Shop ride Sundays - Pay back time!

Good to see a big advanced group leave the shop on Sunday, apparently split later in the ride out to Decker Lake and around the Tri bike course. Big-up to the ever present Zac for hanging back and helping people fix tyres; Zac is over the moon this week having got a slot for LOTOJA 2010, at 206-miles the longest 1-day bike race in the US! Thanks also to Rafael and Team Velossimo for coming out and riding, as well as Tammy Metzger from Tempo Multisport.

A BIG WELL DONE TO also to all the no-drop riders, especially the first-timers! With thanks to Hugo we got everyone out to Decker Lake and back without incident but with some tired legs! Go Team! - Decker is a great skill learning ride for the no-drop, providing a mix of in-town, traffic, hills and flat roads, it's also further than we'd normally take you, everyone seemed to agree is was a good challenge.

This week it's Rookie time, or as Billy Harlee calls it, the "Sprint World Championship Triathlon"! So the no-drop returns to the regular South route down to Atkins High School, and any other rides will be pick-up rides, decided on the day.

Oh yeah, the pay back? Last week the advanced group got back first and demolished 50 Taco Deli breakfast tacos before the no-drop ride returned ;-)

Shop ride Sundays - Pay back time!

Train Easier For Your Next PR

by Derick Williamson, M.Ed.

It’s in our nature, we’re triathletes, we like to run bike and swim, often times we like to do these things fast or hard because it feels like it’s providing us the greatest benefit. During the week we can find ourselves strapped for time and the time we have to train turns into a race effort instead of a well thought through workout. Sure it feels good when you are done but are you really getting the most out of your time and is your fitness really going to improve? Moreover this practice could lead to an overuse injury, staleness or unnecessary fatigue leaving you in a cycle of never training hard enough to really get better because you never really train slow enough to optimally recover. Many triathletes can better prepare themselves for this season by training slower, that’s right I said it, train slower.

Sounds too good to be true, eh? Train easier and get faster, well it’s only part of the equation (but it’s a big part) as by training easier on those recovery days you can then train faster on your hard days. It’s that ability to push harder on your key workout days and then adequately recover, that will push you beyond a plateau and onto a new fitness peak.

Begin to look at your training weeks as a series of overload and recovery days. Overload days are what we consider to be those hard workout days, these are the key workouts that we do such as long runs or rides, hard masters’ sets, tempos, Fartleks, hill repeats, threshold intervals, etc. Even the most elite triathletes can only handle about 2-3 of these type of overload blocks in a week. For the most part, the remainder of the week should be centered around maintenance of volume and recovery, both from the previous workout as well as in preparation for the subsequent workouts. If doing double workouts, try making both of those workouts an overload workout so that the next day can be devoted to a recovery session.

Overload may come in several forms, you may overload the duration such as increasing a tempo run from 2 to 3 miles while maintaining the same pace, the overload may come from intensity such as doing cycling intervals at a power or heart rate higher than before, overload can also come from frequency such as altering the amount of recovery time between intervals or it can be a combination of all of three. The idea is that you always want to be inducing a stress on the body that will create an overload in a progressive nature; this gives your body enough time to make adaptations without getting injured.

Recovery can be classified in several categories active recovery, full recovery and even recovery weeks. Active recovery takes into account those workouts that are done at very low intensities and shorter durations. These workouts are designed to help maintain your training volume while at the same time providing an increased blood flow which delivers oxygen and nutrients to the muscle and facilitates recovery. Active recovery can be done as easy runs, rides, swimming or even as cross training such as XC skiing or aqua jogging. Full recovery, as the name implies, is the day entirely off of training and recovery weeks entail a reduction in intensity and volume through the week.

The reason this concept of overload and recovery goes back to one of the most common mistakes triathletes can make and that is they train to hard on their easy workouts. Thus really make sure to do the recovery sessions at an intensity that truly allows recovery. Do not let yourself spend too much time in the “gray” zone plodding from one workout to the next and never really getting the most out of your training. The best way to keep yourself from getting into this routine is to set up a 7-day training cycle and identify 2 days during the week that are going to be devoted to overload workouts such as intervals or a hard set as well as a long run and ride on the weekend. The other days should be devoted to recovering from these workouts. Give yourself 24-48 hours recovery between the overload days by either cross training or training at low intensities. As a good rule of thumb you should finish a recovery workout feeling better than you did when you started it, if this isn’t the case you were going to long, to hard or both. Often recovery workouts are done at about 60-75% of your heart rate max and they should feel about like a 6 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being an all out race type effort. The duration of recovery workouts should be between 20-90 minutes of training. Those that have a greater amount of mileage in their legs or are cross training on their recovery days may find they recover well with a workout that is upwards of 90minutes, others will want to begin with shorter durations.

Try incorporating more structured recovery into your training program, it just might let you train slower to that next PR.

To learn more about training programs, check out www.duratatraining.com.

Train Easier For Your Next PR

inseason bike maintenance

Since we are now in the busy part of the Tri season, I want to make sure that everybody that needs work on their bikes gets it done when they need it. We do all of our repairs on an appointment basis. Usually this time of year we are scheduled about a week in advance with appointments, so if you know that you have a race or event coming up go ahead and call us so we can get you on the schedule. If you need a tune up but do not want to leave the bike at the shop just come by and we can do a couple of quick adjustments to keep you going so you do not have to suffer with a poor working bike while you wait for your appointment( try that at a car dealership ). We have a couple of new mechanics at the shop now so come by and meet Geoff and Bryan and get to know the guys that will be working on your bikes.

inseason bike maintenance