Swim-Bike-Run of Kentucky coming soon!

Lexington will soon have its very own Triathlon Training Center and Retail Store!  Please check out the website:  http://www.swimbikerunky.com  

Eric will be the new Director of Operations at the center, while continuing to coach his athletes.  I will also be involved with the store hosting workshops, seminars, education sessions, lactate testing, etc.  I am really looking forward to working with Sam and Noelle Dick, owners of Swim-Bike-Run of Kentucky.  The center will offer: computrainers classes, endless pool sessions, lactate testing, gate analysis, stroke analysis, custom bike fit, and all of your retail needs for endurance sports.  Please take a moment to fill out the survey on the website so the store will be able to better serve your needs.  Sorry it has been a while since I have blogged!  Mideast Multisport athletes had an AWESOME year. More posts to follow soon on our fabulous year!

Thanks,

Coach Beth

Reminder of Free Triathlon Clinic and Free Training Program

Good afternoon everyone! Just a reminder that we are hooking up with the Susan Bradley-Cox Tri for Sight Triathlon/Duathlon and hosting a FREE triathlon clinic this Saturday, June 20th from 12pm-3pm.  The USAT Sanctioned Clinic will be held at the Lancaster Aquatic Center at the  University of Kentucky and is targeted towards the beginner triathlete.  If you want to attend, please shoot me an email at batnip@uky.edu and let me know that you are coming. The best part of the clinic is that I will be passing out a FREE 12-week triathlon training program for the Tri for Sight Triathlon/Duathlon. I have designed a program for beginners as well as for the intermediate triathlete, and it will prepare you for the event.  We will also have snacks and drinks!  Hope to see you this Saturday!

Here are some of the topics we will be discussing:

- Training/Racing strategies
- Transition set-up
- Nutrition and Hydration Basics
- Race Day Preparation
- Useful bike tips
- Stroke Clinic (athletes will not be getting in the pool this year,     demonstration only)
- Question/Answer session

For more details regarding the clinic, please visit: http://www.triforsight.com/free-triathlon-clinic/

Thanks,

Coach Beth Atnip

IM Kansas 70.3 Race Report and Athlete Update

I headed to Lawrence, Kansas with Mideast Multisport Athletes Tony White and Eric Atnip, as well as our good friend and training partner Jeff Buhr.  We all traveled together to the race in my mom’s full size van, which was awesome! We did not even have to take off our wheels in order to fit the bikes in the van.  It ended up being a 10 hour drive to the race site.  We arrived on site about 5pm on Friday, just in time to check in and get our race packet.  We saw some people who were working the event and they gave us a description of the course, which included the statement, “this is a hilly bike course.”  This did not sit too well with me, but I waited to pass judgment until we drove the course on Saturday. 

We had a nice dinner on Friday with other Lexington Athletes, including Tim Terry, George VanMeter and John Brucato.  Saturday we ended up driving the bike course, getting in a little bike, run and swim, and then pretty much relaxing in the evening and went to bed pretty early.  I did not sleep well at all that night, and I assume most of it was race anxiety.  I had not been feeling too hot on Saturday, and was unsure if I was even going to race on Sunday.  But I ended up deciding to give it a go on Sunday.  We woke up at 4:00am, and headed to the race site at about 4:40am. we ended up getting on site at about 5:00am, and parking was already backed up.  There was plenty of parking but there was only one way in and one way out of the parking lot.  We knew we had to hustle because this was a 2 transition areas race and T1 was quite far from T1.  This was not my favorite set up as I felt very rushed in the morning. So tony took off as he had a 6:30am start time.  Eric and I got to T2 to drop off our stuff, went to the bathroom and then headed down to T1 where we were told we had 3 minutes to get in and out. I felt very rushed, and really had to hustle to get in and get out.  We were told if we were not out of the transition area before the pros got out of the water, we would be DQ.  So Eric and I hustle and got out in time to see the pros get out of the water, including teammate Tony White, who was racing his first 70.3 as a pro. The weather was perfect in the morning, cool and cloudy. I thought it might storm, but it did not. 

The swim start was in water, so I got in the front.   I felt ok on the swim, as I think I was 6th out of the water in my division.  The water temp was perfect (around 72). I finished the swim feeling comfortable and then headed into T1. T1 was very crowded and it was hard to get my bike out with all of the people trying to get their wetsuits off. There was no main isle where athletes could take their bike out of T1, so it was really congested and was not my favorite transition area.  I headed out on the bike not feel to0 confident due to a poor recovery from the Triple T event three weeks ago, but I ended up having an ok bike. It was a little slower than I wanted, but the bike course was not as hard as I thought it would be.  Some of the hills that seemed like they would be challenging were actually manageable.  There were some good climbs and some head winds on the way back in, but all in all, I felt pretty good course. I was great to see Tony, Jeff and Eric out on the bike course.  I got off the bike feeling really good, and had a great run for the first 10 miles.  I might have ran a little too fast in the beginning, since I completed my first two miles in 13:30, so I tried to slow down just a bit.  There were three “fingers” on this run and the last finger was the longest and had A LOT of turns.  It was a two loop run course with plenty of aid stations. The last three miles were a struggle for me, as it seemed like the last 3 miles of the race went on forever!  The sun did not come out until the run, and the sun seemed really intense on the run even though it was not hot that day.  But I managed to get through the last three miles and headed to the finish line.  I was so glad to be finished and was very happy to hear that Tony White had a top ten finish as a Pro, and Eric had a PR.  My time was OK, with a 5:05 and some change, but I had a 6 minute PR on the half marathon portion of this event. So I was really pleased with my effort on the run. 

 All in all it was a really good day. My nutrition was good on the bike and early on the run and I think that helped me towards the end of the run, and prevented me from bonking. I think the hardest thing  for me was forcing myself to take in gels on the run even though my belly did not want to, knowing that it would help me later in the run. I ended up 11th in my age group, but what I was most happy about was my run (1:39:59).  Jeff had a great race and ended up qualifying for Clearwater. I was really happy for Eric! He had an awesome bike/run combo and it was great to see him multiple times on the run.  Overall, it was a great venue (minus the two transition areas), and all athletes from Lexington did well.  Jeff finished third in his age group, Eric Finished 14th in his age group, and I finished 11th.  I would recommend this race to anyone who enjoys a rolling bike course and flat run! Great Race and good times with friends! Full results can be found at: http://www.ironmankansas.com/results/index.php

Two other Mideast Multisport Athletes competed this weekend at the Shelbyville Olympic Triathlon on Saturday, June 13th. Ben White and Allison Stewart competed in the race.  They both had great races!!!  Allison was first place overall for the females and Ben finished third place overall!  The both had great runs, and it was an awesome showing for Mideast Multisport.  Congrats to both!!!  Full results can be found at:

http://www.headfirstperformance.com/Results/09Chiro.htm

That is all for now.  Next up: Chattanooga Triathlon on July 12th, then Age Group Nationals on August 22nd, and then IM Augusta 70.3 on September 27th. Also, just a reminder that we are hosting a free triathlon clinic this Saturday, June 20th at 12pm. The free clinic will be hosted at the Lancaster Aquatic Center on UK’s campus. 

Thanks for reading,

Beth Atnip

Mideast Multisport Athletes: Race Results

So our athletes have been racing all over the place during the last month and a half. So far our athletes have competed in the Heart and Sole Triathlon in KY, St. Anthony’s Triathlon, Flying Pig Half Marathon (Cincy, OH), Max Performance Sprint Triathlon and Memphis in May Triathlon.  Mideast athletes have had GREAT results!

Heart and Sole Triathlon: We had a large number of athletes competing, including Tony, Rosie, Dell, Ken, Sam, Eric, Tyson, Ben, Eric, Sean, Rodney and myself, so we had a great showing at the event.  The weather for the day was a bit cool, but it turned out to be a great day! This was a 400 meter pool swim, 15 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run on a cross country course (that was not easy).  It was a time trial start and athletes started about 15 seconds apart.  The bike course was rolling, and the run was on grass andwas difficult!  Mideast has a great showing at the race!  We ended up with First place overall male, as well as 4th-7thplace overall. Tony White had the overall win, with a very impressive swim, bike and run split. Rosie H. ended up winning her age group, and will now be heading to age group nationals. Sam Dick also had a most impressive race, winning his age group.  I finished 1st place overall female, so Mideast Multisport took the overall in the men’s and the women’s overall.  Full results can be found at: http://www.headfirstperformance.com/Results/09H&S.htm

Like I said, a great day for Mideast Multisport!

Some of the Mideast Multisport Studs!

Sam Dick and George VanMeter

Tyson and Eric acting silly!

Next up on the list is St. Anthony’s triathlon,or should I say bike/run. Race morning was really windy and the waves were really kicking in the Tampa Bay.  The Race Director, Philip Lahaye, made the call at about 5:30am to cancel the swim for all age groupers.  The pros were still going to do the swim, and the age group race would turn into a bike/run time trial start based on our race number.  I knew that taking the swim out would hurt my chances of making top 20 in elite amateur, but that was okay. I think that the race committee made the right choice for sure!  Competing at St. Anthony’s was Eric, Tony and myself.  Eric and I both had good races, andalmost had the exact same run time. There was a TON of DRAFTING going on in the elite amateur race, which really pissed me off. Due to the time trial start, there were packs of 20 guys all riding together, which really skewed the results. The female elite amateurs were bad too, but maybe they were in packs of 5 to 10. I can honestly say when that kindof stuff happens, racing is no longer fun. When people are cheating, that is where I draw the line. So that was kindof a bummer. But I was happy with my results and ran much faster this year than last year. Tony had a solid swim and bike, and decided to call it after he had some major problems breathing after mile 1 on the run. Since that time, he has been checked out by a dr. to confirm that everything was okay.  The swim was really rough out there and I congratulate him for fighting through the rough conditions!

Eric and I

Ann and I

Next up: Flying Pig Half Marathon. Tony White and I competed this year, and the weather was perfect!  There was some water on the ground at the start, but it did not rain and the weather was cool, so perfect conditions!  We both had amazing races! I had a 3 minute PR from the year before (my time was 1:33:42), and Tony had a PR, with a time of 1:14:47. Tony ended up with a 7th place overall finish!  It was a great race, and we both had great times!

On the same day, Eric, Tyson, Sean and Ben competed in the Max Performance Triathlon.  Full results can be viewed at:

http://www.headfirstperformance.com/Results/09Max4.htm

Sean ended up 2nd place overall and Ben ended up 3rd place overall, great showing guys!  Tyson had a strong showing, and even with major bike technical difficulty, Eric managed to still win his age group!  Another geat day for Mideast Athletes!

And Finally, Memphis in May Triathlon

We had another great showing at the Memphis in May Triathlon. Athletes competing there were Tony, Ben, Sam, Rosie, Ken, Susan and myself.  It was really, really WINDY and cold race morning.  The age groupers went first, and then the pro’s raced after the age groupers. Dave Kuendig and Tony White competed in the Pro Race.  Everyone had a great race!!! Ben and Sam had HUGE PR’s for the day, and Rosie, Ken andSusan raced really strong. I also had a PR, with my fastest time ever at this race, and for any Olympic distance event for that matter.  Dave andTony bothhad great races.  Tony ended up with a 4th place overall in the pro race, and won his first paycheck as a pro! He had  PR for the run course, and really did well given the condition.  You can check out his full race report at:

http://tony-white.blogspot.com/

Next up: Tyson, Rodney, Eric and I are competing in the American Triple T, which is basically an Ironman over three days and four races.  I will have another race report up after the race.  Here is the website if you want to check it out:

http://www.americantriple-t.com/ohio/ohio.html

Here are some pictures from Memphis in May Triathlon

Tony Exiting the water

Tony starting the run

Tony with the ladies afterwards

T-Bird and I post race!

FREE Triathlon Clinic Hosted by Mideast Multisport

Are you new to Triathlons?  Are you interested in finding out the basics of this sport and why so many people love it?  Well you are in luck! The coaches of Mideast Multisport will be teaming up with the Susan Bradley-Cox Tri for Sight Triathlon/Duathlon to bring a FREE triathlon clinic that is open to anyone! This is a USAT sanctioned clinic, and will be held on Saturday, June 20th from 12pm-3pm at the Lancaster Aquatic Center at the University of  Kentucky.  Here are the topics that we will be covering: -Training/Racing strategies, Transition set-up, Nutrition and Hydration Basics, Race Day Preparation, Useful bike tips, Stroke Clinic (athletes will not be getting in the pool this year, demonstration only) and a Question/Answer session. There will be free parking for the event on Complex Drive, which runs between the dorms and the Lancaster Aquatic Center. For more information about this FREE clinic and to find out how to attend, please visit: http://www.triforsight.com/free-triathlon-clinic/

Did I mention that all participants will receive a FREE 12-week training program that will prepare you for the Tri for Sight Triathlon/Duathlon! If you want to reserve your spot, please send an email to bethatnip@yahoo.com by Friday, June 19th. I hope to see you at the clinic! 

Periodization Workshop this Thursday

I will be spending about 30 minutes this Thursday (2/19) talking about periodization and planning your race season at the Bluegrass Triathlon Club meeting, which will be taking place on Ashland Ave across the street from John’s Run/Walk Shop.  I will be speaking from 6:30pm – 7:00pm and will stay around to answer any additional questions.  Please visit the Bluegrass Triathlon Club website for more details: www.bgtriclub.com 

Bluegrass Triathlon Club

Hope to see you guys there!

Congrats to Mideast Multisport Athlete Ron Shashy!

I wanted to say congrats to athlete Ron Shashy for having an amazing race in yesterday’s Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, AL. Shashy ran an unbelievable 3:00:29, which is a PR of about 6 minutes.  What a fantastic race!!! I am still waiting for the official results to post so that we can find out how Shashy did in his age group and overall. Nice job Shashy!!!

Mideast Multisport Athletes in 2009!

I am so excited for the 2009 Racing Season! Mideast Multisport has added a new coach, Dave Kuendig, and we have also added a lot of new athletes to our team!  We are also excited because Mideast Multisport Athlete Tony White has officially received his “pro” card and will be making his professional debut at St. Anthony’s triathlon in April. He will also be competing in races such as PATCO (ITU Continental Champ race), Ironman Kansas 70.3, Chattanooga Triathlon, Chicago Triathlon, Pro Nationals, Ironman Augusta 70.3 and hopefully Ironman 70.3 World Championships in November!  I am really looking forward to working with all of the Mideast Athletes. I have just completed an elite coaching mentor program with the High Performance Coaches at USA Triathlon, and I am currently completing my USA Triathlon Level 2 Coaching Certification. I have learned so many valuable “golden nuggets” and I cannot wait to start applying them to my athletes.  We are currently accepting athletes for the 2009 season, so if you are still looking for a coach, please contact us and we will be happy to help you achieve your fitness goals! Please check out our site when you get a chance, as we will post race reports for the coaches and for our athletes.  Thanks for reading! Good luck with your training in the 2009 season!

Clearwater 70.3 Ironman World Championships

I just wanted to take a quick moment to congratulate Tony White on an amazing year!  He finished up his race season this past Saturday at the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, FL.  He was 2nd amateur overall, and 2nd is his age group with a time of 3:54:24.  His swim split was 25:18, his bike split was 2:06:38 (fastest amateur bike split), and his run split was 1:18:03 (5:57 pace and 5th fastest amateur split). When you throw Tony is with the pros, he was able to hammer to a 24th place overall, not too bad for his first official 70.3 race (since the swim at Steelhead was cancelled).  It was truly amazing to watch him race, and I am very proud of his accomplishments this year. It was due to all of his hard work and dedication to the sport. Tony will now apply for his pro card and next year he will be racing as a pro, hopefully doing such races as St. Anthony’s, 70.3 Ironman Kansas, Memphis in May, Pro Nationals, Steelhead 70.3, some ITU races, and hopefully 70.3 World Championships next November.  I was so lucky that I was able to be at the race this past weekend and cheer him on during the race.  Now it is time for Tony to take some R and R! I can’t wait to see what he can do next year!  I also wanted to says congrats to Jeff Buhr for an outstanding race! He dropped eight minutes off of his previous best time and had a great race!  I am glad that I was there to witness a great performance.

Thanks for reading…Beth

Tony

Columbus Marathon Race Report

Hello again!  It has been a while since I have posted and I thought I would do a race report about a little run I did this past Sunday, the Columbus Marathon.  This is the second marathon I have completed (six if you count Ironman as a marathon, but I don’t).  My first marathon was a major learning experience, as I learned what the “wall” felt like at mile 20 during the marathon.  I also made several nutritional mistakes during my first marathon in 2003 and have learned a lot about nutrition, tapering and training since that disaster.  I felt very good about my fitness levels going in to this marathon, and actually was excited about doing it. The whole week before the race, I just wanted it to be Sunday already. I hated waiting around, not doing much physical activity that week.  I was getting so pumped. I did have some setbacks, though, the week before the race. My back was really messed up and my knee was killing me.  I spent the week icing as much as possible, borrowed a magnet from my friend Susan Bradley-Cox (which seemed to help by the way) and went to see my friend and chiropractor Mike Sullivan.  So I did a lot the week before the race to help reduce the pain.

On Saturday I did not do much walking at all. I ran an easy 2 miles in the morning, and basically spent the rest of the day lying around, hydrating and eating.  I had dinner around 6:45pm, as I like to be in bed by 9:00am on nights before the race. I woke up on Sunday feeling good, had my normal Panera bagel, but skipped the coffee.  I knew I was not going to be using caffeinated gels so I decided to do the whole thing without caffeine. I went out for a short 6 minute run to get my stomach churning, and then made one last visit to the bathroom. I met up with Rodney (my client) and we jogged to the start line.  I had on a lot of clothes since it was cold, and took them off just before the start. I had lined up with the 3:30 pace group (goal race time was 3:30-3:35), and George was our fierce leader. He has paced over 40 marathons so I felt pretty confident that he would get the job done.

We finally started the race, and our first mile was almost perfect, 7:53 pace. I knew that George was aiming at 3:28:00-3:29:30 for our finish time so I assumed so of the miles would be under 8:00 pace. I felt good when we started. I was very comfortable, not breathing hard, etc.  I did notice at mile 7 that my right calf was already tight, but I tried to ignore it.  I tried my best to stick to my plan of walking every 10 minutes, but it did not work out as well as I wanted it to.  I probably walked every other or every third aid station for 10-20 seconds and then got back right after it. I took a small bathroom break around mile 7, and that was it.  So our miles through 13 looked like this:7:53, 8:03, 7:53, 7:54, 7:47, 7:46, 8:00, 7:58, 8:00, 7:54, 7:52, 7:59, 7:37 (oops)!  We were always on pace or slightly under, so I knew that if I had a bad mile later in the day it would still be ok.  I refueled around mile 14, and yes I did run with my Nathan fuel belt and it was awesome! Because there were so many people with the 3:30 group, if I did not have my fuel belt, I would have missed a lot of aid station.  It was hard to get over to the side to hit the aid stations if you were stuck in the middle of the running pack.  So at mile 14 I noticed my foot and my right calf were feeling not so good, and I feared the worst.  And right around mile 15 I started to cramp.  My toes, arches and right calf were as tight as could be.  I tried to run through it, but it got so bad at some points that I had to stop to stretch. Other times I was able to run through it by pushing off of my toes and stretching my toes out.  This cramping would shift back and forth from right to left foot for the remainder of the race, which was very hard to deal with.  Miles 14 – 18 were still pretty good, with a 7:51, 7:55, 7:48, 7:55 and 8:05.  Miles 17.5 through 20 were up hill so I knew that was going to be a struggle, and it was.  My quads were getting tired and the cramping was getting worse.  Mile 19 was 8:43 and mile 20 was 8:34.  I was still drinking my Gatorade Endurance, taking my gels, and drinking water with the gels.  When I got to 20, I tried to visualize a 10K; that was all that I had left.  I started to get a second wind and at mile 22 I yelled to myself, “I am going to f*cking do this!!!”  I felt pretty good through mile 23 (21-8:24, 22- 8:17, 23-8:09).  I still was cramping at this point but was able to manage it.  Miles 24-26 were a different story. I mentally was hurting, as well as physically hurting and I started to play that game where you try to determine “what is the slowest pace I could go and still go under 3:40.”  I was trying to focus up the road ahead of me and really try to not walk unless I absolutely had to.  Mile 25 was mile slowest mile, with a 9:02 pace.  Once I hit mile 25 I knew I just had one mile left, but it did not matter. My legs hurt so bad, and I was so ready to be finished. I dug deep within myself and told myself that if I started walking I could only walk for 20 seconds, no matter how I felt.  So that is what I did. I think I walked two or three times during the last mile, and ended up with a 9:01 pace for the last mile, not too bad considering how I felt.  Once I got to 26 I knew that I could make it. I turned the corner and headed to the finish line.  I crossed at the finish line with a time of 3:34:29!  This was over 20 minutes faster than my last marathon, and was good enough to qualify for Boston (although I do not think that I am going to go next year). I was very happy to be finished, and just wanted to find Eric after the race. 

I was overall happy with my result and realized just how hard marathons are!  I think they are harder than the Ironman, although some would disagree.  My quads have been very sore this past three days, but I am starting to feel a little better after swimming a couple of times.  So my season is now over for this year, and I have next year to look forward to: St. Anthony’s, Triple T with Nikki Ditsch, maybe a 70.3 race and some others.  Until next time…Thanks for reading.

Beth Atnip