TYR Endurance Sport Drink

I have discovered that during any given week now, I don't have much time to write blog posts. I wake up, work out, shower, eat, work and sleep. So here I am on the weekend catching up on the week's highlights. I ran into Andrew Venrick last Sunday at HyVee promoting TYR Endurance Sport Drink. Andrew is a sales representative for Mahaska Bottling Company in Norfolk, Nebraska, and here's why it was so cool to run into him. Earlier this month Elkhorn Valley Cycling Club announced that "The folks at TYR...are committed to TYR Endurance Sport Drink and were happy to promote their product through EVCC."

How cool is this new sponsor!?!?
TYR is a company all over the swimming and triathlon scene, and I just happen to have recently started training for a very well known triathlon! I'm definitely keeping in touch with Andrew (@AndrewVenrick on Twitter) as I progress through my training so I'm well hydrated. What's more, my stop before HyVee last Sunday was at Scheels, where I found a pair of swim jammers that I was sure would be faster in the pool than my bulky, beachy swim shorts.
And a day or so earlier I had been online looking at some equipment highly recommended by a world class swimmer. I ordered a silicone swim cap and a TYR mesh pool bag. For me it's too cool that all this came together only shortly after the announcement about EVCC's new sponsorship. Oh, by the way, if it wasn't obvious enough, I am a part of EVCC. I've been with this empowering group of people since 2006, and I couldn't be more proud to wear our team colors this August in Boulder. Clearly, I'll be representing our new sponsor well too. This image is of our cycling kit; I'll be wearing a tri suit for the Ironman, but it'll look pretty much just like this.

Just a few more words about EVCC. If anyone is looking for a competitive cycling team they can be a part of that mandates strict workouts and event attendance and required purchases to support the team image, you better look somewhere else. What you'll find with EVCC is a group of people perhaps less concerned about the race itself and definitely concerned with the promotion of cycling, swimming, running...whatever you do, really. With EVCC you'll run into people like Dan Zieg, a triathlete in Lincoln, Ne, who couldn't be a more inviting, humble, approachable workout partner and handsome guy, if I do say so myself. Don't worry, Valerie, he's all yours ;) Whitney Porn is one of our mountain bikers; if you want to talk about a driven woman, she's the one to talk about. She balances being a registered dental hygienist with a family, training and I'm sure many other things. And you know what? She makes it to the podium when she races. Look her up if you have a commonality with her; I'm sure she'd be glad to get to know you.

27 weeks away

I'm going to spend a little time on the bike today just getting my legs loose and maybe watch an episode or two of Friends. Other than that I have some housework to do and a few things for my day job. Somewhere in the day, though, I intend to reread the chapters in my Ironman training book about the prep phase and its objectives; I want to refresh the objectives of some of the "Ae" and "Ss" workouts. I've come to grips with several adjustments leading up to this moment. Some have been too easy to make, while others are going to be a big challenge.

Oh the madness

On Wednesday morning this week I woke up feeling like maybe my training plan wasn’t what I thought it was. For some reason, I felt like the prep phase I was about to begin was the entire plan laid out for base fitness before the higher intensity stuff began. I have no idea what I was thinking, because I pulled out my book and found the prep phase is only four weeks, and then I have a four-week base I phase, then a four-week base II, and even a four-week base III phase to establish a foundation for the later stuff. 

28 weeks away

It really does feel like it’s been forever since I actually signed up for this daunting race. As I think back to signing up in late July last year, my thoughts immediately dwell on the amount of potential progress I could have made since then…progress I kind of lament not making even a little bit. Yeah, that’s right. I was a complete bum! The start of this 27-week training schedule is one I look upon as a definitive starting line. That said, I’ve begun my transformation from layman to Ironman…

29 weeks away

The time has come for me to buckle down and start preparing for my Ironman in Boulder, Colorado. I’m really quite excited about the whole experience, even though I know it’s going to be rough going the first several weeks as I adapt to working out again. I signed up for the race late in July last year, and I had in mind at that time a training plan I wanted to follow to prepare. My training plan is a 27-week block of time that begins on Monday, January 27.

All In

It started with a simple question from a coworker. “Do you think I need to get a new bike?” Scott was referring to his mountain bike in the context of wanting to do a triathlon. I don’t claim to know everything there is to know about such subjects, but I try to help a friend out when I can. He knew I had done some triathlons, so naturally I was a quick reference. I told him he didn’t necessarily need a new bike, and he was quick to clarify he wanted to do an Ironman. I’m not sure if I stuttered or just assumed a deer-in-headlights look, but I was definitely taken aback. That’s no small commitment – it’s an Ironman!