Training Table June 2006
T.J. Tollakson’s Triathlon
Newsletter
Check out…
www.tollakson.com for the latest information about my races and
2006 calendar
The Iowa Life
I
am fully engaged in my training out of my new home base in Urbandale, IA.
I have set a pretty regular routine of training the past month. I am swimming
with my old club team, CIA, and Coach Dave Joensen four to five times per
week. I meet friend, sponsor, and ironman triathlete Doug Vander Weide a couple
times per week for key workouts on the bike and at the track. There is a great
group of Age Group Triathletes in Des Moines that I regularly meet for training and
socializing. I am proud to be from such a great area with a growing interest in
triathlon. Those in the Des Moines area keep an eye out for the July 26 showing of The Escape from Alcatraz triathlon on Fox, several local athletes
including myself will be featured in the Hy-Vee commercials advertising for the
Hy-Vee World Cup next summer. June was a solid month of racing and training for
me. I started the month with a trip to Maryland to race the Blackwater Eagleman Ironman 70.3 then
followed up with a sprint triathlon in Davenport, IA
the next weekend and raced the local Dutchman Triathlon in Pella on June 24, then competed with friend and top
amateur triathlete, JJ Bailey, at the state team time trial championships the
very next day. I am hitting the training hard right now in preparation for the
New York City Triathlon on July 16. My training volume for the month of June
was: Swim: 103,000 meters Bike: 870 miles Run: 172 miles You can view my training log at www.trainingpeaks.com/tollakson
it is also linked from my website.
Race
Report: Blackwater Eagleman Ironman 70.3
June
11, 2006, I was eager to
test myself at another half ironman distance event after leaving Wildflower
knowing I have better days ahead. This race was made possible to me through the
generosity of my friend, sponsor and training partner, Doug Vander Weide and
his Ameriprise Financial Services Company, Vander Weide and Associates. I flew
out to Washington DC on Friday evening and rented a car to drive to Cambridge where I had a homestay arranged with Cambridge local, Dave Turner. I arrived very late on Friday
night and without my gear bag, I had my bike but no gear. I was confident it
would arrive in time for me to race and was told I would have it by noon on Saturday. My bag finally arrived in Cambridge at 9 PM the night before the race. At least I would be able to race in my
own gear. I didn’t get my usual pre-race workouts in on Saturday because I was
missing nearly everything save my bike. I was convinced it would make little
difference in my actual performance. On race morning, the water was warm but
due to the jelly fish in the water they allowed the pros to use wetsuits per
the age group rule of 78 degrees. Wetsuits turned out to be a good thing for me
since I was actually stung by a jelly fish during the race. The water was choppy
and rough which made it difficult to see the buoys and I was having trouble
navigating. I was out of the water two minutes back of the leaders and with
Chris Legh. Once on the bike Chris took off like a rocket and I stayed casual
in my usual half ironman pace learning from my mistake of doing someone else’s
race at Wildflower. I gradually picked off most of the riders in front of me
and entered T2 in third place, perfect position to maintain a solid run. What I
had not planned on was getting sick on the run. Before the race I asked a
volunteer at the aid station for some Gatorade for my aero drink bottle and was
given a whole bottle and didn’t think anything of it until I was on the bike
and racing. I noticed the drink was unusually sweet, salty, and thick. I was
trying to dilute the Gatorade as best I could but it was already too late.
After the race I discovered I was consuming Gatorade Endurance 6 to 1
Concentrate, yuck. It doesn’t take drinking much 6 to 1 concentrate to make a
person sick. I made it through the first 5k of the run with few problems then
began losing the cookies. I gather it together the last 5k to finish strong and
hold onto 6th place. I gave the run everything I had and was proud
that I held on to 6th but disappointed knowing that I was 2 minutes
back of third and should have been able to hang on to third place. Another race
and another lesson learned. I won’t be making that mistake again. My race was
solid all around and I can’t really complain about my performance but it is
still not up to my ability level so I am still looking for my big breakthrough
race. Things seem to be lining up well for NYC.
|
Plc
|
Name
|
AG
|
Swim
|
T1
|
Bike
|
MPH
|
T2
|
Run
|
Pace
|
Finish
|
|
1
|
CHRISTOPHER LEGH
|
33
|
28:18:00
|
1:19
|
2:08:43
|
26.1
|
1:01
|
1:14:55
|
5:44
|
3:54:15
|
|
2
|
KIERAN DOE
|
25
|
26:08:00
|
1:47
|
2:10:25
|
25.8
|
0:58
|
1:16:35
|
5:51
|
3:55:51
|
|
3
|
LEON GRIFFIN
|
25
|
27:23:00
|
1:15
|
2:14:25
|
25
|
1:09
|
1:18:26
|
6:00
|
4:02:36
|
|
4
|
VIKTOR ZYMTSEV
|
33
|
27:00:00
|
1:15
|
2:18:37
|
24.2
|
1:09
|
1:15:00
|
5:44
|
4:02:59
|
|
5
|
SIMON THOMPSON
|
28
|
27:22:00
|
1:11
|
2:21:20
|
23.8
|
1:08
|
1:12:06
|
5:31
|
4:03:05
|
|
6
|
TJ TOLLAKSON
|
25
|
28:30:00
|
1:22
|
2:13:06
|
25.2
|
1:09
|
1:20:41
|
6:10
|
4:04:47
|
Race
Report: Quad Cities Sprint Triathlon, Davenport, IA
June 17, 2006 I made a mid week call to return to the Quad
Cities (where I spent a year working for Alcoa) and defend my title at the Quad
Cities Sprint Triathlon. Friday evening before the race I competed in the
Birdland Invitational, USA Swimming Meet, in Des Moines and went a 9:28 in the 800m Free. I made the trip the night before the race and
showed up on Saturday morning a little worried about how the legs would handle
the speed only 6 days after a half ironman. I was tired but with such a short
race I was still able to get up and go when it mattered. I was out of the water
second behind state champion Stephen Brus and right in front of Northwestern
University Swimmer Charlie Cunnick. I was on the bike and in the lead early
taking control of the race for good. The wind was strong and I was still able
to better my time from last year on the bike. I entered the run with a large
lead over second place and started the run a little sluggish through the cross
country trails over the first mile but then settled into a nice quick pace once
on the pavement and turned out the fastest run of the day. Felt good to be back
on the winner’s stand and I did it in style breaking my own course record.
|
PLC
|
Name
|
Swim
|
Pace
|
T1
|
Bike
|
MPH
|
T2
|
Run
|
Pace
|
Finish
|
|
1
|
Tj Tollakson
|
7:50
|
1:19
|
0:50
|
34:19:00
|
26.2
|
0:36
|
17:06
|
5:31
|
1:00:40
|
|
2
|
Jj Bailey
|
8:20
|
1:24
|
0:48
|
35:26:00
|
25.4
|
0:38
|
17:49
|
5:45
|
1:02:59
|
|
3
|
Brad Zoller
|
8:05
|
1:21
|
0:36
|
37:41:00
|
23.9
|
0:33
|
17:44
|
5:44
|
1:04:37
|
|
4
|
Mark Simons
|
9:14
|
1:33
|
0:57
|
36:53:00
|
24.4
|
0:37
|
18:10
|
5:52
|
1:05:48
|
Race
Report Dutchman Triathlon, Pella, IA
June 24, 2006 One week after my victory in the Quad Cities I
set out to test myself again at the Dutchman Triathlon in Pella, IA. Dan Vande Lune is the race director; good friend,
personal physician, and supporter of the University of Iowa Triathlon Team were I began my journey as a triathlete. I
traveled to Pella the night before the race with Doug Vander Weide
and his two youngest kids and we stayed at his Aunt and Uncle’s Bread and
Breakfast. I will attribute my performance on race day to the lush steam shower
in the bathroom of the B&B the night before the race. I woke up early and
started my feeding routine then headed over to the race start on my bike with
my transition pack. I got everything set up and put the wetsuit on for a little
warm-up in the water and got the race going. I started out wide and took a more
direct and personal route to the far turn buoy on the course. I knew the swim was
a little long during the event but in this race it was just helping me put more
time on my competition. I was out of the water first with a comfortable lead on
second. Once on the bike I was back in my element and putting time into the
competition. I started the run with a big lead and felt awesome on this run. I
was cruising this run knowing I had more left in the tank and if I needed to
dig deeper I could have but I’ll save that for New York. I finished the race just off my course record
but disregarding the slow swim my bike and run were considerably faster than
previously. I was pleased with my results and very optimistic about my fitness
and outlook for my next Olympic distance race. The following day JJ Bailey and
I headed out to Columbus
City, IA for the State Team Trial Championships with a
mission to defeat the Iowa City team. It was a 100 Kilometer race with a team of four and the third
man across the finish line stopped the clock for your team. Gerald Johnson and
Collier Schofield were our third and fourth men. We started out great and had a
25 second lead on Iowa
City after
two of three laps but we had just dropped Gerald and we were down to 3 riders.
Collier was hanging tough but eventually blew up with about 10 miles to go and
we ended up losing the race by 1:20. Close but no cigar, maybe next year. It was a solid cycling workout
for me the day after a race.
|
PLC
|
Name
|
Swim
|
T1
|
Bike
|
MPH
|
T2
|
Run
|
Pace
|
Finish
|
|
1
|
T J Tollakson
|
23:29
|
0:44
|
54:51:00
|
27.2
|
0:28
|
35:19:00
|
5:41
|
1:54:50
|
|
2
|
J J Bailey
|
25:25:00
|
0:59
|
56:10:00
|
26.6
|
0:38
|
37:59:00
|
6:07
|
2:01:10
|
|
3
|
Ric Rosenkranz
|
25:01:00
|
0:45
|
59:59:00
|
24.9
|
0:29
|
35:51:00
|
5:47
|
2:02:03
|
|
4
|
Mike Morrison
|
28:08:00
|
0:46
|
58:27:00
|
25.5
|
0:25
|
38:59:00
|
6:17
|
2:06:43
|
|
5
|
Steve Pyle
|
28:06:00
|
0:51
|
58:00:00
|
25.7
|
0:36
|
40:47:00
|
6:34
|
2:08:19
|
|
6
|
Doug Vander Weide
|
28:25:00
|
1:16
|
59:32:00
|
25
|
0:48
|
40:22:00
|
6:30
|
2:10:21
|
Upcoming
Events
July 16, 2006 New
York City Triathlon, NYC
A new non-drafting pro race in 2006 this will serve as one of the
classic big city Olympic Distance Races in future years
July 30, 2006 Vineman Ironman 70.3, Sonoma
County, CA
A classic half ironman distance race through beautiful Sonoma County wine
country; now part of the new Ironman 70.3 series
Blackwater Eagleman 70.3
As always, thank you to my sponsors and those who support
me. You make my racing possible!
In the meantime…don’t forget to
visit my web site at www.tollakson.com