After doing light training most of December I've officially begun preparations for the 2010 season! It was rather snowy for my workout on Sunday but now I'm on my to sunny Florida for the next nine days. I have no idea what the training is like in Bradenton Florida but I do know the forecast for the next nine days
Forecast highs for the next 9 days in Greencastle, Indiana
27, 27, 34, 33, 26, 23, 28, 28, 31
Forecast highs for the next 9 days in Bradenton, Florida
65, 62, 72, 74, 68, 60, 65, 68, 70
In other news I got the waterproof video camera for Christmas that three other triathletes recommended to me. If I can figure it out I should have some video blogs up on here from Florida in the coming week.
In other other news I'm very disappointed with the Colts' decision to pull the starters this week after playing them for 60min last week. Only a Super Bowl win will change my current feelings. And right now, San Diego is the best team in the league in my mind, they scare me.
That's it for now, time to enjoy some quality training and weather!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Julie L Memphis Marathon Race Report
Below is the Memphis Marathon race report of Julie Lukachko. Julie has been a Bretscher Multisport coached athlete for the past year. While competing in triathlons this past summer Julie set PRs at every distance in which she competed and capped off the summer with a 5:18 performance at the Spirit of Racine, a 17 minute PR! Julie spent the fall training for the Memphis Marathon. She entered the race with a PR of 3:50 and a goal of running the Boston qualifying time, 3:40. Needless to say Julie was thrilled with her 3:31 finish time! Another Bretscher Multisport athlete, Dana Riederer, also competed in the same race with a similar result. Dana had a previous PR of 2:52, a goal of 2:45, and a finish time of 2:42! Julie is known for her great race reports so I asked her to submit this one for the blog. Congrats Julie and Dana!
Felt pretty excited/nervous when I woke up. Ate some oatmeal and a banana and drank some gatorade and water. I went back and forth about what to wear and finally decided on shorts, a t-shirt, headband and gloves. They were calling for it to be 28F and sunny at the race start with a high of 38F. We hopped on the trolley to AutoZone park, checked our clothes (I was so cold!) and made our way to the start line. Thank God Lauren was there to hug for warmth. We started in the 3rd corral of runners, pace 7:30-8:10.
I went through the first mile at 8:01 and settled in to a comfortable pace. It was awesome running down Beale Street with all the people in the streets! My shoe came untied at mile 3. It didn't really slow me down, it was just annoying to have to take my gloves off and stop to re-tie it. My fastest mile (7:37) was running through the St. Jude Children's Hospital campus, it was hard not to feel inspired running through there. I was feeling so good running 7:50 pace, I wasn't sure if I should try to slow down more or just go with it. I decided just to go with it. I went through the 10k at 48:14 (7:47/mi). I continued to feel awesome through the half marathon point and was enjoying the day (and the fact that I was not hurting... yet). I clocked through 13.1 in 1:41:58 (7:47/mi). What's funny about this is my half marathon time in Madison, WI back in May was 1:41:12. The course was rolling but no major hills. I felt relaxed and strong running the uphill portions.
After the halfway point, my mile pace started to slow slightly. I still felt great but I was clocking closer to 8 minute miles (miles 14 through 18). I had settled into a nice pack of 5 people who seemed to be running consistent 8 minute miles. Unfortunately, I had to pee pretty much from the start of the race. I bargained with myself to make it through mile 20 before I stopped. Well, I made it to mile 18 before I couldn't take it anymore. After a quick stop, I felt like I lost my rhythm a little and could feel my miles starting to slow. I also lost touch with the pack of people I had been running with. The next three miles slowed down considerably. I went through mile 20 in 2:38:10 (7:55/mi). I remember Daniel telling me that if I went through mile 20 in 2:45 I would still be able to run 8:30 miles and run under 3:40. I was taking water or gatorade every other mile and eating GU every 45-50 minutes.
Miles 22-24 had a downhill trend which I thought I would love but this is right about where my quads started to scream. My lateral quads, particularly the right one, started getting worse by the step. By this point I was just trying to be strong and not walk but I was hurting pretty good. I started passing lots of people walking but decided not to join them. After the mile 25 marker I started getting really excited knowing that I was pretty much guaranteed to run under my goal time. Right before the mile 26 marker, they made us run up this really steep on ramp and I....walked... ugh. It was only for maybe 15 seconds but I walked. That was the only over 9 minute mile I ran (I was hoping to have none). I hit mile 26 and it was downhill into AutoZone Park from there. I think I ran the entire last tenth of a mile with my arms up in the air, I was SO excited!! I crossed the line with an official time of 3:31:50. That's almost a 19 minute PR from my previous marathon and 8 minutes under my goal.
It was a great feeling to run as well as I did. I spent the majority of my last marathon training plan injured but this time was different. Daniel really put together a solid plan for me to follow and gave me constant feedback. He made sure I was training smarter this time around and it certainly paid off! I think if I can just build my endurance a little bit more, I can run sub-3:30 in my next marathon.
Splits:
8:01
7:45
7:41
7:44
7:37
7:43
7:44
7:46
7:51
7:54
7:45
7:49
8:31 (1.1) Half time of 1:41:58
6:57 (0.9)
7:58
8:01
8:02
8:02
8:49 (stopped to pee)
8:21
8:19
8:28
8:42
8:40
8:37
9:07 (walked about 15 seconds up the on ramp)
1:46 (0.1)
TOTAL TIME 3:31:50!!!!!
Felt pretty excited/nervous when I woke up. Ate some oatmeal and a banana and drank some gatorade and water. I went back and forth about what to wear and finally decided on shorts, a t-shirt, headband and gloves. They were calling for it to be 28F and sunny at the race start with a high of 38F. We hopped on the trolley to AutoZone park, checked our clothes (I was so cold!) and made our way to the start line. Thank God Lauren was there to hug for warmth. We started in the 3rd corral of runners, pace 7:30-8:10.
I went through the first mile at 8:01 and settled in to a comfortable pace. It was awesome running down Beale Street with all the people in the streets! My shoe came untied at mile 3. It didn't really slow me down, it was just annoying to have to take my gloves off and stop to re-tie it. My fastest mile (7:37) was running through the St. Jude Children's Hospital campus, it was hard not to feel inspired running through there. I was feeling so good running 7:50 pace, I wasn't sure if I should try to slow down more or just go with it. I decided just to go with it. I went through the 10k at 48:14 (7:47/mi). I continued to feel awesome through the half marathon point and was enjoying the day (and the fact that I was not hurting... yet). I clocked through 13.1 in 1:41:58 (7:47/mi). What's funny about this is my half marathon time in Madison, WI back in May was 1:41:12. The course was rolling but no major hills. I felt relaxed and strong running the uphill portions.
After the halfway point, my mile pace started to slow slightly. I still felt great but I was clocking closer to 8 minute miles (miles 14 through 18). I had settled into a nice pack of 5 people who seemed to be running consistent 8 minute miles. Unfortunately, I had to pee pretty much from the start of the race. I bargained with myself to make it through mile 20 before I stopped. Well, I made it to mile 18 before I couldn't take it anymore. After a quick stop, I felt like I lost my rhythm a little and could feel my miles starting to slow. I also lost touch with the pack of people I had been running with. The next three miles slowed down considerably. I went through mile 20 in 2:38:10 (7:55/mi). I remember Daniel telling me that if I went through mile 20 in 2:45 I would still be able to run 8:30 miles and run under 3:40. I was taking water or gatorade every other mile and eating GU every 45-50 minutes.
Miles 22-24 had a downhill trend which I thought I would love but this is right about where my quads started to scream. My lateral quads, particularly the right one, started getting worse by the step. By this point I was just trying to be strong and not walk but I was hurting pretty good. I started passing lots of people walking but decided not to join them. After the mile 25 marker I started getting really excited knowing that I was pretty much guaranteed to run under my goal time. Right before the mile 26 marker, they made us run up this really steep on ramp and I....walked... ugh. It was only for maybe 15 seconds but I walked. That was the only over 9 minute mile I ran (I was hoping to have none). I hit mile 26 and it was downhill into AutoZone Park from there. I think I ran the entire last tenth of a mile with my arms up in the air, I was SO excited!! I crossed the line with an official time of 3:31:50. That's almost a 19 minute PR from my previous marathon and 8 minutes under my goal.
It was a great feeling to run as well as I did. I spent the majority of my last marathon training plan injured but this time was different. Daniel really put together a solid plan for me to follow and gave me constant feedback. He made sure I was training smarter this time around and it certainly paid off! I think if I can just build my endurance a little bit more, I can run sub-3:30 in my next marathon.
Splits:
8:01
7:45
7:41
7:44
7:37
7:43
7:44
7:46
7:51
7:54
7:45
7:49
8:31 (1.1) Half time of 1:41:58
6:57 (0.9)
7:58
8:01
8:02
8:02
8:49 (stopped to pee)
8:21
8:19
8:28
8:42
8:40
8:37
9:07 (walked about 15 seconds up the on ramp)
1:46 (0.1)
TOTAL TIME 3:31:50!!!!!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Another Year
I'm happy to report that I will be back with Team Sport Beans/National Triathlon Training Camp for the 2010 season! The contract is signed, sealed, and delivered. Looking forward to it. We will have five of our team members back from the 2009 season and three new members.
Sponsorships will remain unchanged except we will have a new apparel sponsor come January 1.
Valdora is set to release a new TT bike, the PHX2, in February. I saw the computer animations of this bike while I was out and Phoenix and I cannot wait to see it in person.
I've begun light training and will ramp things up when I head to Florida for a 10 day training trip at the end of this month. I'm considering taking another trip to Arizona at the end of January and possibly turning my 4 days in California for team camp into a 2 week California trip culminating with the California 70.3 in Oceanside on March 27.
Sponsorships will remain unchanged except we will have a new apparel sponsor come January 1.
Valdora is set to release a new TT bike, the PHX2, in February. I saw the computer animations of this bike while I was out and Phoenix and I cannot wait to see it in person.
I've begun light training and will ramp things up when I head to Florida for a 10 day training trip at the end of this month. I'm considering taking another trip to Arizona at the end of January and possibly turning my 4 days in California for team camp into a 2 week California trip culminating with the California 70.3 in Oceanside on March 27.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Memphis Marathon Success!
Bretscher Multisport-coached athletes Julie Lukachko and Dana Riederer competed in the Memphis Marathon this morning. Julie and Dana have both been Bretscher Multisport coached for a year now. Both came away with huge breakthroughs.
Julie came into this race with a marathon PR of 3:50 and a goal of qualifying for Boston, 3:40. Julie executed a great race strategy, and finished in 3:31, over 8 minutes under her goal! What makes Julie's performance even more remarkable is that she came down with a nasty case of the flu less than two weeks from raceday. Thankfully she managed to recover in time to not allow it to affect her race. Check back in a few days for Julie's own race report!
Dana, coming off of a breakthrough triathlon season in 2009 where he improved every single PR, was the 4th overall age-grouper at the Muskoka 70.3, and improved his 70.3PR ten minutes down to 4:10 decided to see how his multisport fitness would translate to a marathon. Dana had a marathon PR of 2:52 and 'claimed' all along that his goal was to run sub-2:50. However after some of the workouts I was seeing I think I managed to convince him that he should aim more towards sub-2:45. Dana too, executed his race plan very well clicking off 6:10-15 splits the first twenty miles. Amazingly Dana did not slow down the last 10k, in fact he sped up. His fastest splits of the entire race came during miles 19-24 where his was clicking off 6:05 miles and even had one at 6:01. He crossed the line in 2:42, a few seconds short of a 10 minute PR and over 7 minutes under his initial goal! I have not heard official splits yet but I think Dana may have negative split his race. And he described himself as feeling "pretty good" at the finish. Based on that I think he has a 2:40 performance in him!
Congrats Julie and Dana, you make your coach look good!
Check results here
http://www.stjudemarathon.org/past_results.htm
Julie came into this race with a marathon PR of 3:50 and a goal of qualifying for Boston, 3:40. Julie executed a great race strategy, and finished in 3:31, over 8 minutes under her goal! What makes Julie's performance even more remarkable is that she came down with a nasty case of the flu less than two weeks from raceday. Thankfully she managed to recover in time to not allow it to affect her race. Check back in a few days for Julie's own race report!
Dana, coming off of a breakthrough triathlon season in 2009 where he improved every single PR, was the 4th overall age-grouper at the Muskoka 70.3, and improved his 70.3PR ten minutes down to 4:10 decided to see how his multisport fitness would translate to a marathon. Dana had a marathon PR of 2:52 and 'claimed' all along that his goal was to run sub-2:50. However after some of the workouts I was seeing I think I managed to convince him that he should aim more towards sub-2:45. Dana too, executed his race plan very well clicking off 6:10-15 splits the first twenty miles. Amazingly Dana did not slow down the last 10k, in fact he sped up. His fastest splits of the entire race came during miles 19-24 where his was clicking off 6:05 miles and even had one at 6:01. He crossed the line in 2:42, a few seconds short of a 10 minute PR and over 7 minutes under his initial goal! I have not heard official splits yet but I think Dana may have negative split his race. And he described himself as feeling "pretty good" at the finish. Based on that I think he has a 2:40 performance in him!
Congrats Julie and Dana, you make your coach look good!
Check results here
http://www.stjudemarathon.org/past_results.htm
Thursday, December 3, 2009
More funny
A friend sent me this video from a make your own movie site. It's pretty funny how stubborn endurance athletes can be.
If you are or know an endurance athlete chances are you can relate to something in this video.
If you are or know an endurance athlete chances are you can relate to something in this video.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
RIP UGA VII
Yesterday Georgia Bulldog mascot Uga VII passed away. A wreath will be placed around his doghouse at the Georgia v. Kentucky game tomorrow. UGA VII was known to be less energetic than his predecessors, but especially friendly with people. There has yet to be an announcement on when the new UGA VIII will take the oath.
Whatever your feelings are on the University of Georgia, there's no denying that UGA is the greatest mascot ever. I'm not a Georgia fan myself, but look at that face! Actually I'm mostly just messing around trying to figure out how to get video to my blog and thought this was worthwhile. But UGA is the greatest mascot ever! RIP
Whatever your feelings are on the University of Georgia, there's no denying that UGA is the greatest mascot ever. I'm not a Georgia fan myself, but look at that face! Actually I'm mostly just messing around trying to figure out how to get video to my blog and thought this was worthwhile. But UGA is the greatest mascot ever! RIP
Saturday, November 14, 2009
2009 Finished
Wow, amazing race this morning. People can say what they want about having a World Championship on a flat course, and I agree to a certain extent, but you can't deny that having a lead pack of 20 guys off the bike together makes for a very exciting race. Blazing fast out there. 15 guys ride under 2 hours on the bike, a 69 minute run to win the race, winning time of 3:34, and a woman breaks 4 hours for the first time ever. Pretty amazing. And the woman who won today crashed earlier in the year and broke some ribs, just goes to show that you can't call it a season and give up when things don't go the way you plan. Lesson learned. My time which placed me 19th last year would have gotten me 44th this year. 70.3 racing seems to direction the sport of triathlon is headed in right now. Oh yeah, my predictions were way off.
Off to Blackstock Stadium right now to tailgate and then headed to the DePauw/Wabash Monon Bell football game! Already beginning to look forward to 2010.
Off to Blackstock Stadium right now to tailgate and then headed to the DePauw/Wabash Monon Bell football game! Already beginning to look forward to 2010.
Up Early for Clearwater
Up before the sun to watch the World Championship 70.3 online and reminisce about the experience a year ago. Race goes off in 8 minutes, here are my predictions.
1. Matty Reed
2. Greg Bennett
3. Richie Cunningham
4. Joe Gambles
5. Tim O'Donnell
6. Start Hayes
7. Brent McMahon
8. Dirk Bockel
9. Terenzo
10. Brian Fleischmann
Women:
1. Julie Dibens
2. Jodie Swallow
3. Rebeccah Wassner
Last month I correctly named 6 out of the top 10 in Kona, we'll see how it goes in a few hours. Looks like great coverage and should be a very exciting race.
1. Matty Reed
2. Greg Bennett
3. Richie Cunningham
4. Joe Gambles
5. Tim O'Donnell
6. Start Hayes
7. Brent McMahon
8. Dirk Bockel
9. Terenzo
10. Brian Fleischmann
Women:
1. Julie Dibens
2. Jodie Swallow
3. Rebeccah Wassner
Last month I correctly named 6 out of the top 10 in Kona, we'll see how it goes in a few hours. Looks like great coverage and should be a very exciting race.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Website Finished!
BretscherMultisport.com is now complete! A website is something I've been meaning to do for over a year now so it feels great to finally have one online.
I'd like to give a huge thanks to Paul Asay for all his help with this project. And when I say "help" I really mean "doing all the work". Also a big thanks to photographer Christine Wood who snapped the great shot of me on the homepage and was kind enough to donate it for the site.
I'd like to give a huge thanks to Paul Asay for all his help with this project. And when I say "help" I really mean "doing all the work". Also a big thanks to photographer Christine Wood who snapped the great shot of me on the homepage and was kind enough to donate it for the site.
Monday, October 19, 2009
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