Race reports since our last late May update are below. 21 races and a 48% PR rate!

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Races on 6/2/12

Chris Hardbeck raced in the Rock & Roll Man half-ironman distance tri with a finish time of 5:33.  Members can read his race report here.  He also said “First time I’ve ever hit all 13 miles with even splits.  No ‘blow up’ miles.  Have to attribute that to learning how to train with power and how to execute on race day with the EN strategies.  Though it wasn’t a PR, I’m excited to see where it goes from here!  AG results – 7/35″

Christopher Souza (photo at left) competed in the international distance race at Mooseman and finished in 2:48:28.  He said “This was probably the hardest races I have done since getting involved in Triathlon, the weather was completly miserable.  I had only did 1 other Oly and it was a shorter, completly flat course so PR’ing here was a little out of reach.  I did however manage a huge PR on the run which was the same distance at both races, with Mooseman having a large amount of elevation change.  PR’d my 10k by 7 minutes.  I should probably note that the 7′ PR was done using HIM pace since I was just using this race to practice pace and transitions for my HIM “A” race on the 16th of June, I’m confident I could have run to at least a 9-10 PR, but I stuck to the training plan for the day to make sure I had proper recovery for the up coming weeks WO’s.  I continue to see huge inprovments in my run, and as much of the credit I know should go to myself for putting in the time and effort to work on it, a ton of credit goes to coaches RnP for the plan they have put together.  Work is still working!”

Jason Smith raced in the Hawaii 70.3® for a finish time of 5:43:47 and said “I had a great race yesterday. No PR’s but I feel my bike was the best I have ever done. A 2:50 on the Kona coast route from Hapuna Beach park to Hawi. I went from 1361st in my AG in the swim, I will explain that later, to 81st after the bike! I was hauling butt! Cranking out a overall 19.7 average. Granted it was no Lance effort of 27 average, but I feel that this program set me up mentally and physically to hammer! My run was a 1:47, I developed a huge blister on my left foot at mile 3. The course is on a golf course, lots of ups and downs, turns, u-turns, grass, pavement, golf-course path. Very rough to get a rythym down, and still gusty winds. I still pushed the run the best I could with the pain. I have never had that happen. I think it was from hard braking on a steep run decent. The swim, well, physically and mentally I was prepared. Took off, cruising in the pack to the first buoy when all hell broke loose! It was more of a u-turn, than a right turn and the whole group bottle-necked around, then tried to get reestablished. It turned out that I was on more towards the left as this happened, and got pushed outside and could never get back across. Looking back I should have just took a straight line across when I hadn’t reached the second buoy but, thats a lesson for next time. The water got rough as most of the weaker swimmers now got pushed to sea, and then the winds picked up minute by minute during the swim according to the wife. Water was spraying from the left, and waves from the right. Nothing like I heard in IMSG, but for me a little rough. I ended up cramping which subsided, then a 56 minute swim. Going by my course, I went about 1.6 miles! Oh well! What a taste of what to expect should I ever qualify or get a Lottery spot! wow! I was in awe of the Bike route. I paid attention to every person ahead of me watching the 30+ winds, watching the leaders coming the other way. I did some extreme leaning! I really stuck to my nutrition schedule and finished everything on the bike. “

Tri Shark Classic

Brian Comiskey PR’d in this sprint distance race with a time of 1:10:30 and had the 3rd fastest bike split at 24.4pmh!

Melanie Neumann also PR’d with a finish time of 1:20:18 and said “I finally podiumed! I placed in my AG for the first time in a triathlon! Thanks EN! I also raced an Olympic tri the very next day and I PR’d that race by FIFTEEN MINUTES!!!!!”

Races on 6/3/12

Mike Joyner (photo at left) competed at the Keuka Lake Tri, but DNF’d due to mechanical issues.  You can read his race report on his blog.  He also said “Had another great race day EN style! Corrected some major issues with my swim, and enjoyed the swim leg. Bike was going well as planned until I flatted out after two flats 2/3’s the way through the bike course. Kept my calm, regrouped and had a quality run session after turning in my timing chip. Not all was perfect, but I finished out enjoying the race! Thanks EN!”

Joel Bell competed at the Blackwater Dualthon and PR’d with a time of 3:08:08.  He said “USAT National Long Course Championship and World Championship qualifier    I finished 15 OA and 2 AG – good enough to qualify for Worlds.”

Stan Skolfield competed in the half-ironman at Mooseman and finished the race in 5:23:54.  He said “Completed my 1st race at this distance and was very pleased with the results.  Committed myself to staying with my EN strategy.  Held back during the swim and tried to be smooth and came out of the water feeling pretty good.  During the bike I let folks go by me and saved energy for the hills.  I probably went a little too easy during the bike, but I was committed to having a good run.  Got off the bike and legs felt pretty good-passed a lot of folks on the run.  The EN website was a HUGE reason I finished the way I did.  Here are a few of the takeaways that I implemented during the race:  1.  Bought a 11-28 cassette-thank god cause some of those hills sucked.  2.  PreRace nutrition-yes I did the midnight feeding session and I felt great at the start of the race.  3.  Race nutrition-really paid attention to was i was taking in and tried not to over fuel on the bike. 4.  Staying within 80% of my FTP on the bike-if I didn’t learn about this I guarantee I would have blown up on the bike given the hills on this race.  Thanks Patrick and Rich-I am a believer!!!!!”

 

Races on 6/9/12

Russ McKelvey raced in the Boise 70.3® field for a finish time of 3:33:29.

Ebe Boettcher competed, and PR’d, at the Holiday Lake Sprint Triathlon with a time of 1:18:31.  He said “This is my 2nd race this season on the Shortcourse plan. 1st race was a sprint distance PR of over 5 minutes, followed by a 6:40 course PR this past weekend. Went from MOP to top 15 finishes in both races.”

Sue Chapman run the Ragnar Chicago relay and the team finished in 35:46:48.  She said “Ragnar Chicago w/EN team member Mary Larson and 9 other 30+yo women – what a blast – everyone should try one (so what if you only get 1 hour of sleep during a 30-36 hour race)!  Hot, hot, hot last weekend – used the EN philosophy for heat pacing to get through my four legs – including the finishing leg.  Thanks EN!”

Races on 6/10/12

Craig Heigerick finished the Chattanooga Waterfront Olympic tri with a new PR of 2:55.

Eagleman 70.3

Carol DiFazio (photo at left) raced to a PR time of 6:06:10.  Members can read her race report here.  She also said “Great race, despite the heat!  Volunteers are the best ever.  Lots of ice available on the run, which was SOoooo necessary!  Happy to have an 11-min PR, even if it was mostly because wetsuits were allowed.  Having low expectations going into this HIM, I was thrilled to have done so well, thanks to Team EN, Coaches Patrick and Rich, and the EN training plan!”

Greg Bassett earned a new PR of 5:43:48 and said “I executed my plan and the race came together pretty well.  I went in with a plan, executed the plan based on what was in my control, and executed the plan well.  I wasn’t expecting a PR, especially with the heat, but ended up with a nice little 12 min PR!”

Ken Smith also PR’d with a finish time of 5:13:26 and said “I have listened to so many podcasts, and read tons of reports.  EN was in my head the whole race.  I passed a EN athlete about 3-4 miles on the run and said as I was passing him with a smile ” the measure of a good bike split is…..” and he smiled and said he was having a good run so far.  Love EN.”

Kortney Ringel finished with a time of 5:41:03 and said “It was great to meet other Team EN members!  Team EN is great!”

Patricia Rosen earned a new PR and finished in 5:42:09.  She said “Great race.  thanks RnP!  it was fun to meet everyone!   Fast, flat and windy!  I loved it!”

Kansas 70.3

Greg Babb finished his race with a time of 7:28:54.  You can read his race report on his blog.  He also said “I could not have survived the choppy water, heavy winds on the bike, and heat on the run without the race execution guidelines from EN.  The material found inside the Haus allowed me to focus on what I could control rather than what I could not.  After a short time, EN has raised my game and I can’t wait to see how far they take me going forward!!”

Matt Aaronson (photo at left) finished with a time of 4:55:09.

Randy Pickard crossed the finish line in 5:55:25 for a new PR and said “I went into this race ready willing and able to PR by 32 minutes. Mother nature decided different. Swim was 5 minutes faster than 2011 T1 was 1 minute faster than 2011 Bike split was 9 minutes faster T2 was 30 seconds faster but the heater tore me up on the run and I did it 10 minutes worse than in 2011.  PR by 7 minutes overall. More importantly I learned a lot about my self and Mother Nature. I could not of done this without the tools from EN and the awesome EN athletes that helped me along the way!!”

William Jenks finished in 5:16 and said “My goal for this race was to qualify for the Championship 70.3® race in Las Vegas and I knew I was going to be on the bubble, based on who was entered and their previous times on this course and other courses I knew something about.      With EN, I knew I was physically prepared, but being smart about racing turned out to be even more important.  I knew the conditions on the day were going to be very difficult – both windy and quite hot.      I had a mishap on the swim that cost me several minutes and perhaps my chance at qualifying.  However, having participated in conversations about racing in the heat and learning from the community about sound strategies, I had a plan for the rest of the day.  I managed my energy, pace, and power such that I moved back up through the field up to where I needed to be.  Despite a mediocre-looking run time, no one in the AG passed me on the run, whereas I passed about 9% of the field…because I knew how to think about running in the conditions we faced and I held it together.       I checked my times and those of the finishers around me against those from previous races, and I know full well that I placed as highly as I did because I knew how to race.  And that I learned from the EN community. And now I get to race in the World Championships.  Not bad.”