The people you meet

I'm sitting on the tailgate in Silver City NM. It's a nice day, Jill's riding, and I came back early from a tweaked knee. Up drives a beat up older car. A guy gets out with 2 blue heelers and proceeds up the trail for a hike. Nice guy. Says "hello, nice day out." I agree and wish him a good hike. He's limping quite a bit, not walking too comfortably. The dogs stay right at his heels.

A little bit later, the guy comes back down and sparks up small talk again. Jill says something about seeing him up on the trail, and i hear him say something about having a purple heart medal. I look up and walk over, interested in hearing his story.

This guy who is now hiking daily with a limp and rough gate has quite a history. He was a combat medic in Viet Nam. He was hit 19 times and was awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded in action 5 times. He is credited for saving 119 lives in 11 months and 17 days. His job was not just to administer morphine and patch up a bulet hole. This HERO would walk Into the Mouth of the Cat when a brother soldier was wounded. He would run toward enemy fire, taking some himself, in order to save a life. I was humbled hearing his story.

It's days like this that I cherish life as an American and humbly thank all those who served to give me the opportunity to live where and how I do. My dad was one of those men, and I'll never be able to thank him enough.

And I hope those 119 families whose loved ones are here because of this man understand what price he paid to bring those guys back.

Brian

USAT All Americans

Congrats to all the GEC USAT All-Americans for 2008:

USA Triathlon awards points for all sanctioned races. The top 5% in their division are chosen as All_American. This year is GEC's best year for All-American athletes.

Brian Barrett #3 in Off Road,
Kathy Rakel #7,
and Brad Hendron, Mike Neighbors, Leo Carrillo.

Honorable Mentions: Dan Perkins.

Congrats all!

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp Wrapup

It's a wrap, friends. The 2nd Annual Grasky Endurance Coaching High Altitude Ironman Training Camp is in the books. We had a great group of 5 for this camp who got along and meshed well. They were very close to the same speed, but each progressed a bit differently during the camp. Luc was strong from the start, Shawn was a bit reserved but came on strong as the week went on, Polita showed everyone up on day 6, and Owen and Angie were steady from the gate. I think all of them will go home and (after a rest period) will realize the training this week will make their seasons shine.

Thanks to all the help from Coach Bill and from worker bee Jill. This camp would not have been possible without each of you. Bill took on the swimming and running sessions, and helped in the core strength and flexibility sessions, evening talks, and cycling. Jill cooked, cleaned, drove sag, ran errands, and took care of us while we played....er, I mean trained.

Thanks for the athletes. Awesome job to all of you!

Thanks to the sponsors:
- Hammer Nutrition
- Genuine Innovations CO2 and inflation
- Trisports.com
- Michelin Tires and Tubes
- Dr Hoys Pain Relief Gel


By the numbers:

Total Volume: 25 hrs

Swim: 4:00, 10,000 yds
Bike: 15:30, 300 miles (for those showing up a day early)
Run: 5:30, 40 miles

Rain: 1.5 inches

Flat tires: 1 (yes, only ONE!!)
Water Bottles: 25

Cans of Hammer Nutrition Product: 4
Hammer Gels: 24
Hammer Bars: 14


Some pics from the camp:













See you all next year!!! (Or in September...)

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 5 guest blogger Angie

Editor's note: Angie has been "steady Betty" all week long--solid on the rides, runs and swims, on time for everything, and always ready for whatever we handed out. She wins MVP today for being ready to go on all today's workouts. Congrats, Angie!

Day 5 by Angie...

Another cold and rainy day in Arizona. What’s up with that? I heard the rain all night drumming on the roof of our cabin. It did help make me sleep well, however, there was this prospect of swimming in the lake in the morning. Cold and wet, hmm, I only know that from the California 70.3. Certainly not from AZ.

So, sure enough, when we got started it was still raining. We drove to the lake, got into the wetsuits (which was actually nice as they were keeping as warm – at least for the moment) and then off into the lake. The water was definitely colder than Monday but still quite manageable.

I figured this wasn’t my day to drown in a lake so I opted out of the ~1.2 mile swim and instead worked on swimming straight for 30min. Felt pretty good. Once the others were done with their longer swim Owen and Bill decided to swim without wetsuits for a moment. Crazy Guys!

After that ”cool” swim session we made our way to Starbucks. Glorious warm coffee. So good!

The coffee was topped however by Bills’ excellent breakfast burritos that he decided to make for us once we were back at the cabin. Big thanks to Bill. Those were delicious.

Now, the last half day of camp will be tomorrow so after having all those culinary highlights we had to start packing. Wasn’t too hard for me as I did not have to take my bike apart. It fits very well into the Mini Cooper by just taking the front wheel off. So, I was done with that pretty quickly and hang out reading in my room waiting for our 2:00PM run to start. It had kinda stopped raining sometime between the swim and the burritos but sure enough it started just in time for the run again.

Bill, Luc and myself ran anyway to the Flagstaff Athletic Center . On the way there we encountered two vicious beasts. Well, actually, two Boxers not on a leash and the owner pretty far away. Fortunately, the dogs decided not to attack us after all but it was a bit sketchy there for a moment. The rest of the run was much more uneventful. Just a nice run, no issues.

We met the other guys at the gym to do our, get this, second swim workout of the day. This time in a pool. Let me just say, I enjoyed the run much more than the swim. Nice swim, no doubt, but, boy, I was hurting.

After the little swim session we got a short education in core and stability moves. Ok, so the last part of my body that wasn’t hurting yet, the abs, started burning as well. Nice job, coaches! No, seriously, very useful stuff. I’ll definitely change my core program now. First I have to get one of those funky balls, though.

Finally, we ended the day at Beaver Street Brewery for a delicious dinner. Well, not quite true. The rest of the gang is still at the Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. Hmm, think I’ll have that tomorrow after our final run.

That’s all folks. Gotta go hit the sack!

Angie

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 5

Guest Blogger: Shawn

After yesterday’s epic downpour, the campers were hoping for some better weather today. Since the lightning cut our big ride short yesterday, the call was to move a little extra bike volume today, rather than having it be a lighter day per the schedule. Unfortunately, the cool and cloudy weather was here to stay. The original plan was to swim early and ride from the swim venue, but the GEC staff made a game-time decision to ride early instead, in an attempt to beat the rain.

We loaded our bikes and run gear onto the truck and rolled out at 7. It was raining a bit and the temperature was about 50 degrees. That’s right, straight up Seattle weather, people. As we drove out of town, the temp continued to drop and the roads got wetter. Campers: skeptical.

Shortly we pulled into the visitor center at the Sunset Crater National Monument and got rolling. Within a mile of the parking lot, the roads were dry and the sky had lightened. The route was an out-and-back, approximately 30 miles each way. The ride started with some steep rollers by a moonscape of 1,000 year old lava flows (they didn’t look a day over 20, btw), then over 20 miles of steady decent down to the valley floor. A drop of well over 3,000 feet over that distance, but on almost perfectly smooth new blacktop and basically zero traffic.

Luc, Owen, and I knew not to pass this up and started rotating, doing well over 35mph for mile after mile down the shallow grade. Soon we discovered that Brian and Bill were attempting to catch us, which just wouldn’t do, so we picked it up a bit and kept our momentum. But each of us was thinking about what the return trip was going to be like after all that descending.

As always, Jill was out covering the route and picking just the right resupply points. We stopped to get more water and Brian and Bill linked up with us about 6 miles from the turn around. Polita rolled in shortly after as well, and Angie had turned back just a little before.

After 5 days of complaining about the altitude getting me down, I was starting to feel better today. One of the things Brian and Bill have been helping me work through is my ongoing saga of difficulty getting calories down on the bike. Bill had the good idea of lowering my sights a bit to 200 cals an hour to see how that went. Brian thought I should try to get more clean water down as well – versus just NUUN water from prior days. This was one of my big focuses today. So some adjustment to the altitude plus a better experience getting fuel in me really made a big difference in how I felt. The ride back up that grade was a lot of fun as we pacelined at 20-25mph into the wind, up a long hill. Awesome stuff, and the ride back went fast, with just one refuel stop.

Brian and I went off the front a bit in the last few miles, where the climbs got steeper. That guy can turn power out of the saddle for what seems like forever. Ouch. Not to be outdone, Luc managed to catch us just before the finish of the ride. What a machine that guy is.

We all made it back to the parking lot about the same time, and it was time to run. Jill had picked out a trail run for us that “started out uphill”. The plan was for an hour run. 25 minutes into it, we had gained 1000 feet on a road that had to be a 15-20% grade in some places, and run-walk was the only way to hold it together. Any energy we had left in us was left on that trail! So we headed back down and got the balance on the run out on the road. Mmmm, pavement.

A great workout and really great logistics on the part of the GEC staff on turning what could have been a rough day into an absolutely great training day in all aspects. Between training out to the Grand Canyon and today’s outstanding workout, we’ve had some great highlights.

This afternoon we went for a swim at the local pool. The pool ended up being an odd length 20ish yard pool, but we did a quick workout and then got a chance to have our swim videoed and analyzed by a truly top notch swimmer, which is a rare opportunity.

It was a great day in Flagstaff!

Shawn

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 4...guest blogger Polita

I was the lucky winner of the 'best in the face of adversity' title today, so I'm today's guest blogger. Hello web-o-sphere!

Tuesday night in the Grand Canyon ended roughly for me; I had an upset stomach that kept me from getting any food down at dinner, and my sleep was interrupted by chills and fever in turn. Wednesday didn't start much better; I was still nauseated but I got a few calories down at breakfast. The plan was to ride from the Grand Canyon back to Flagstaff, possibly with an extra climb up Mt. Humphries for the most hardy of us.

We stopped at the general store on the way out, and Shawn bought more Gatorade than he could carry, but Sherpa Owen helped out. We rolled out of the Grand Canyon together after a quick group shot at the rim. I wasn't sure how I was going to do without much food, but I wanted to try, so I hung at the back of the pack. Our first bike leg was nearly exactly 30 miles to the gas station, and I mentally committed to at least getting there before waving the white flag. It was mostly downhill with some short climbs, so how bad could it be? Twenty miles in, I had lost sight of everyone else in the group and was struggling to make the pedals go around, when Brian returned to help me get in. The company was nice, but I could hear his freewheel spinning when he coasted and figured it probably wasn't that much fun for him. Ten impossibly long miles later, I called it a day at the gas station and loaded my bike onto the Suburban. The whole group was there, and everyone else headed out for the long flat stretch before the climb over the mountains back to Flagstaff.

Jill and I leapfrogged the riders in the truck, with quick stops to get some action shots as they went by. The weather was turning colder, but the grey clouds with smears stretching down to the mountains in front of us were more foreboding. About 20 miles past the gas station, Angie called it a day and climbed in the truck. Owen, Luc, and Shawn were making great progress in their paceline. Brian and Bill looked like twins in their matching kits and were moving quickly, but not quite fast enough to catch the other three guys.

The rain started coming down, drizzling at first, then picking up. A few cracks of thunder and some distant lightning later, and we went to pick up Shawn, Owen, and Luc. As Shawn said "it doesn't seem that bad", thunder boomed above and convinced the Seattleites to climb in the truck. Luc wasn't as easily convinced, and he rode off into the greyness. Five of us in the Suburban headed back for Brian and Bill, who were thoroughly soaked by then. Bill and Brian didn't put up a fight and soon we were seven. We all worried about leaving Luc, the one camper riding a metal bike frame, to ride through the lightning storm.

As we drove on, rain turned to torrents. After driving what seemed like miles without seeing Luc, we had just about decided we must have missed him when we finally spotted him ahead. We parked the truck at the turnoff for Mt. Humphries, ostensibly to help Luc, but really to make sure he didn't make the turn to head up the mountain. Wow, Luc is tough. Brian gave him directions through Flagstaff, and we marvelled at the standing water in all the city streets and the rain that turned into sleet, then hail. Sure enough, Luc pulled into camp not long after we did, and made a beeline for the hot shower. We all have more respect for Luc tonight.

After showers, lunch, and naps (for some of us) and easy runs (for others of us), Jill made yummy soup for dinner. We talked about recovery after dinner and plans for tomorrow. I'm hoping for a solid stomach tomorrow to get through our swim, bike, and run, while everyone else is keeping their fingers crossed for better weather.

Polita

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 4

Today started out as a nice day--beautiful weather at the Grand Canyon made for a nice morning.



We took off toward Flagstaff, but the weather got worse as we got closer. Bill and I found ourselves playing catch up again (Ugh) but we worked well together. From the Grand Canyon, we drop 1000 feet, then climb 2000, before descending back to 7000. Lots of climbing makes for a tough day. Luc does a better job talking about the weather, so read his blog. Basically (except for Luc) this became our recovery day.

Overall, how are things going? Very well. We're having fun with a good group. Tomorrow will be a good day--we'll see how the weather holds, but we have some good stuff planned in all three sports.

Oh, the plugs...
- 6 people on PowerTaps in the rain...no problems.
- Zoot rain shell...awesome.
- GEC cycling gear...top notch.
- Cannondale System Six...fearless.
- Zipp 606...no problems with 200 miles in 3 days.
- Michelin Krylions...no flats.
- Dr Hoys pain relief gel...no sore muscles.
- Rudy Project Noyz and Actyum...solid.
Thanks!

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 4...guest blogger Luc

Day 4: Guest Blogger Luc

Today started out as a nice day. We had a walk along the South Rim at sunrise – sunshine was unfortunately only for half of the day.
Shawn, Owen, and I headed out at a good pace from the Grand Canyon Village back towards Flagstaff. As we got closer to Flagstaff, the weather conditions gradually worsened. Up ahead, we could see a few lightning flashes over the mountains. Fortunately, it was only light rain and some wet roads, things were not so bad.

Eventually, Jill came with the van and suggested we call it a day. I really wanted to finish the ride, was in a good mood to finish and had fresh legs, so I decided to continue on alone for the remaining 30 miles of the ride. As I got closer to Flagstaff, the rain was getting much heavier, and the temperature was dropping, but it wasn’t too bad - I’ve ridden in worse before. In Germany and Switzerland, my wife and I did 10 days of rain riding in a row, so a little while in the rain didn’t bother me.

Things went fine until I got into Floodstaff, I mean Flagstaff, where riding through town was just about impossible. The heavy rains were creating rivers in the roads, and I was forced to ride on the sidewalks, and getting drenched by passing cars.

But finally I made it back to the cabins – wet and cold but having completed the full ride. We even managed a short run after the ride.

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 3

Any day is a good day in my book when a swim in canceled or replaced with a bike ride. Today the weather forecast called for some afternoon showers and thunderstorms, so we elected to skip the swim and ride earlier. We left near 7am and headed north. The scenery in Flagstaff is amazing--pine and aspen forests, snow on the mountain, open meadows filled with wildlife. We got to ride through all of that and some high desert on the way to the Grand Canyon.

On the way, though, we had to endure 85 miles of pain. We started from the cabin and rode together through town, then we split up a bit. Shawn, Owen, and Luc were off the front, Polita was in the middle, and Angie steady at the end of the train. Bill and I rotated through, then decided to catch the leaders again. We put the hammer down for over 20 miles, and could not catch the train on the front. They were flying. We did what we could and got closer, but could not catch up. It was fun to try, though! Luc, the bike powerhouse, won today's MVP award for riding everyone off his wheel at one point or another.

The group rode steady all day. When we reached the Grand Canyon, we were all relatively close together. As we entered the park, Owen and Polita turned our attention to 4 elk grazing just off the road, then we saw deer grazing near our hotel that evening. We went straight to the rim of the canyon, gazed, awed, and shot photos, then went to the hotel.

After a short break to clean up and get some food in, we walked back to the rim. We couldn't check into the hotel right away, so we had some time to kill. Once we did check in, it was run time. I got some down time since my ankle is still tweaky, but the group ran an hour or so along the Grand Canyon rim. After that ride, I was impressed.

Then, dinner and bed time. Strong day for everyone today. The group meshes well and gets along great. It's great when they do. Shawn is strong here and I expect great things. Angie is steady and will get stronger as the week progresses. Owen and Polita are really showing improvement since we started working together and will have great seasons in front of them. Luc is a joy to have at camp, and although an accomplished cyclist, he's relatively new to triathlon.

Tomorrow, we ride back to Flagstaff, stopping along the way to climb up to the ski area (110 miles, over 5000' climbing), then a short brick run. This will be the mental toughness day.

(I've got some great photos. Check back when i have a good connection and i'll have them posted)

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 2 by Owen

Grasky Camp – Day 2

Guest Blogger: Owen

I found out tonight that Brian has a policy of rotating who blogs from camp, and tonight I’m the lucky winner due to my perseverance through some bike “issues”. I brought my Guru on the plane with me on Saturday and all seemed well on assembly. About 30 mins into our bonus Sun AM bike ride to Sedona (camp officially started Sunday PM, but Shawn, Polita, Luc, and I were eager to make the most of our time here), we stopped at an overlook and I took a look at why my front derailleur was rubbing in some gears. Sadly, I realized the front hanger was half broken. We had the bright idea of trying to adjust the clamp over the fracture, but the hanger ended up snapping off completely. Called Brian to see if he had an extra bike just laying around – and luckily he did. At this point, P and I headed back to the cabins to setup Brian’s Kueen K for me to finish the days ride. It’s a nice bike and I got it fitting me pretty fast. Only problem is it had serious shifting problems. Was good for the day, but not great for the big days ahead. As luck would have it, Bill was coming up that day and brought 2 bikes. He was kind enough to lend me his race bike, so 3rd bike in two days! I’m still tweaking, but I think I’ve got it just about dialed in for the big ride to the grand canyon tomorrow. Anyhow, enough about that – what about day 2!?

Breakfast was at 7:30 today, then we were on the road by about 9. We loaded up Bill’s suburban to avoid some road construction and started our ride from Lake Mary. We did the bike from a half iron race in Flagstaff - 2 loops around Mormon Lake and back to Lake Mary. Nice quiet roads, great weather, and good views. We’re all riding power and you can see the impact of the altitude on the power you can sustain, but it seems like the reduced air resistance makes up for it, because we were averaging 20 mph. The group rode well together, tho I could tell Luc was itching to put the hammer down on some of the short climbs :-). Brian was rockin a road bike with Zipps and he really loved those downhills. Back to Lake Mary and we took a few minutes to fuel up and relax before putting on the wetsuits and hitting the water. The water was pretty nice, probably in the low 60s. Did some swimming back and forth along the shore and got out as we heard some thunder (and a few people spotted lightning). Piled in the car and headed back for some down time. Great first full day of camp.

Back for the evening, we had a great home cooked dinner thanks to Jill. Lot’s of time to relax and then we talked swimming with Bill (did I mention that guy can swim!). Tomorrow we get an early start and head to the Grand Canyon. Looking forward to the ride, and I think everyone is excited to run along the rim.

Owen

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 2

Day two in the books.

Breakfast was followed by a 50 mile ride around Mormon Lake--rolling hills, scenic pine trees, 80 degree temps, and good company. There were two stop signs on the route, and I think 3 cars passed us all day. No kidding. Perfect. Owen was on a new bike as his broke on the trip up--he had a great attitude about it and just tweaked Bill's TT bike and rode it all day. No complaints to be on a new bike for the week. I'm just glad we had a bike for him. And on it, we had a hard time pulling him back.

One thing I noticed, was that everyone was on PowerTaps today. Nice!

We followed that with a nice swim in Lake Mary. The water as about 62 or so, so very nice with a wetsuit. My Zoot Zenith is perfect--a great wetsuit and kinda cool looking, if I do say so myself. We did sighting drills and straight swimming drills, but mostly just enjoyed the cool water after the ride. Then the people down the beach with the jet skis tried ruining the day by stealing my Zoot sandals. Those are the best sandals I've worn, so I wasn't about to let that go. I got them back. Some people. Grrr.

We had some down time as the thunderstorm rolled over, then Jill made a great pasta with Butternut squash and shrimp for dinner. After that, Bill spoke on the ebbs and flows of swim training for triathletes. Bill's a life-long swimmer and is the first out of the water wherever he goes, so he's definitely one to listen to.

Those here seem to be enjoying the weather, scenery, routes, and training. You guys not here...you're missing out.

Tomorrow: Ride 90mi to the Grand Canyon and run at sunset along the rim. Where else can you do this and call it "training?"

Brian

GEC's High Endurance Ironman Training Camp--Day 1

Year 2 for the GEC High Altitude Ironman Training Camp in Flagstaff, AZ. It's only at 7000 feet--no big deal, right!?!?

We've got a great group:
- Owen and Polita are a couple from Seattle. Their 'A' race is Ironman Canada in Aug. They've been GEC athletes for 1.5 years, and are doing well. Their sense of humor is a great asset to camp.
- Shawn is a friend of theirs from Seattle and is racing IM Canada as well. Shawn's coached by a great friend, Jonser, and is a solid athlete.
- Angie is a repeat athlete for the High Altitude Camp. She had a solid week and season last year, and is looking for the same this year. She's being coached by GEC's Bill Daniell and is aiming for IM Cozumel. Talk about a destination race!
- Luc is our Canadian. He's the oldest athlete but that's not fooling anyone. Strong on the bike, Luc is ready for the long days.
- Add to this our coaches: Bill is a solid triathlete and a world-class swimmer; Jill is the camp cook and hostess; and yours truly tries to hang on and act like i know what I'm doing. I surround myself by good people so they make me look good.

The week will include about 30 hours of training, lots of recovery, and a tens of thousands of calories. We've got great support by Hammer Nutrition, Trisports.com, Genuine Innovations inflation, Zoot multisport wear, Michelin tires and tubes, Dr Hoys pain relief gel, CycleOps and PowerTap, and Zipp wheels.

Tonight was simply a meet and greet and dinner. Holy Cow Shawn can eat. Based on his caloric intake, he's going to be on fire on tomorrow's ride.

The Tour of the Tucson Mountains

One of the local Tucson races is the TTM. Like most tours, the TTM is either a race, a tour, or a fitness challenge depending on your approach to it. My approach? Race. Surprise, surprise.

Equipment: Cannondale System Six, Zipp 808 rear wheel with PowerTap SL+, Zipp 404 front, Zipp Tangente tires. The goal was to make “Platinum.” This allows for a front line starting spot on all subsequent tours and, really, bragging rights. Sub-3hrs for the 72 miles to make Platinum.

Not apparent by its name, the course is mainly flat with a few shallow climbs. It circles the Tucson Mountains on the west side of Tucson from Marana, winding up and over Ajo Way made famous by the Tuesday Shootout ride, out to Ryan Airfield, then north up and through Saguaro National Monument before finishing in Marana again. If you choose to look at something other than the guy you’re drafting, you won’t find a route with more towering and flowering Saguaro Cactus in the world. If you are drafting, don’t look around, please.

I started in the middle after being too much a wimp to stand the cold of getting there any earlier. At the gun, the group moseyed off as I bobbed and weaved more than Rocky to get through the packs of rides and onto the lead pack. In this tour, like any other, if you’re not on the lead pack, you’re out of the race.

For the next 70 miles I sat in the lead pack, moving around here and there to avoid the occasional crash and get around those looking like they’re about to pop off the back. I made it into a good position before the Ajo climb and the turn onto Sandario, the two major breaks to split the field. Looking at my PowerTap files, I was averaging a very sustainable 180-ish watts, with sprints up above 1500+ watts when needed at the corners and accel points. (Yes, that’s approaching 2 horsepower)

Nearing the end, the speed was slowly dialing up. I decided since I’m not a sprinter, I needed a little help, so move out and up toward the front. One more right turn, then 1.5 miles before a left to the finish line. I’m sitting 3rd wheel in the pack with only 2 off the front. All’s good. Just then, a line of others come up the right side, moving me over to the left—slam!—right into a huge pothole. Good thing the Zipp wheels and tires are strong. Rounding the corner, things start to feel squishy, and soon I’m riding on the rim. The pothole had caused a puncture. 1.5 miles; my time is ok for Platinum; I sit up and decide to ride it in on the flat. Being the first real ride on the Zipp’s I’m nervous, but they did fine. No problem. Thanks for making a strong wheel, guys! The Zipp tire is even fine.

I finished 68th out of the 600 or so. Time: 2:47. Platinum. Sweet. I replaced the tube to ride to my car, and found out my spare was flat. Riding it in was a good choice!

Congrats also to GEC athletes Leo (in the main pack, Platinum) and John (3:47, finished) and TriCats Neil (3:05, Gold), Lee, and David.