Training Table May 2005
T.J. Tollakson’s Triathlon
Newsletter
Check out…
www.ultramaxtriathlon.com for the
latest press release and race results
Moving
On :
I decided to make a full
commitment to racing and training for my pro season debut and elected to take a
six month leave of absence from Alcoa to pursue my dream of becoming a
professional triathlete. I will be moving to the
Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs this summer and my new permanent
address will be in Iowa with my parents (they were real excited about me moving
back home after 5 years). My new permanent and mailing address is:
TJ Tollakson
14239
Ridgemont Dr.
Urbandale, IA 50323
Olympic Training Center: Winter Training Camp
I spent February and
March in beautiful Chula
Vista, CA, at the Olympic Training Center to train with the
national select team. My initial struggles with adjusting to the volume and
intensity of full time training were short lived. All of the workouts at the
training center were done between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, which
is usually the time I spend at work so no training takes place during those
hours, only before and after. My favorite part of the training center was the
food. The cafeteria (which requires a palm scan to enter) offers the best
gourmet food available and was open for unlimited visits 13 hours a day. Every
day I had cooked to order egg-white omelettes and the
freshest fish and meat around. It was truly a culinary masterpiece. The down
side to the food was the ability to pack on the weight as in only a short
couple of weeks I was up five pounds. Each day was pretty typical, performing
all three sports nearly every day. We had to bus to the pool in the morning for
a long course (50 meter) pool swim session then we would return and go for an
afternoon bike ride followed by a late afternoon run session. The order would
change on Tuesday and
Thursday but the workouts were all similar.
Training
Partners?
One of the obvious
benefits of being at the training center is the ability to train with other
elite and professional athletes while this has great benefits it also comes
with a price. There is always someone around to push you to be your best in
practice and accompany you on a bike ride but on March 3, 2005 I discovered the disadvantage. While on a routine
training ride on the criterium course (closed one
mile bike circuit route) we were practicing taking cornering descents. Each
athlete was taking turns leading the pack through the corners, and on the last
run one of the athletes, Derek Kite, lost control of his bike and took a spill,
spewing himself and his bike onto the road and into the pack of cyclist
following him. I was in the unfortunate position behind him and ended up riding
over his front wheel. My rear derailleur was caught in his spokes and I went
flying over my handlebars. I landed on my left shoulder and head, and fractured
my clavicle. Derek escaped with a broken nose and some stitches to his face. It
was a pretty nasty accident. I am on the mend and currently able to train at
full intensity although I am still lacking all of my shoulder strength.
2005
Pro Debut
Race Report: Ultramax Race for Sight, Columbia, MO
May 1, 2005, I was originally scheduled to be making my half ironman pro debut at Wildflower in California but due to the unfortunate accident at the
training center I was forced to withhold from the race. In lieu of Wildflower
came my first race of the season and my pro debut at Columbia, MO,
for Mark Livesay’s Race for Sight Formula Triathlon.
The race was a 300 yard pool swim, 17.5 mile bike, and 3.4 mile run. Formula means you do the race twice, in this case with
about 90 minutes rest in between. I led the first wave of athletes out of the
pool and the first transition but was soon passed by two athletes on the bike
since the 40 degree temperature deemed it necessary for me to wear gloves and
arm warmers which I brought along but should have put on in the transition
area. Within a couple of miles I was back in my element and in the lead of the
race. I put in a pretty good bike split and headed into T2 with a 90 second
lead. This lead however would be diminished to 27 seconds as fellow pro triathlete Ric Rosenkranz would run a blistering 5:10 pace. My lead for the second race was just that, :27 seconds, and if someone could beat me to the finish
line they would win the race. I put some more time over second place on the
second swim and this time took my time in transition to put on the extra
clothes. I was on the bike in the lead determined to win this race. I was
climbing a hill in the first few miles of the race when I over shifted and
threw my chain of the small chain ring causing me to stop on the hill and put
the chain back on. When I looked back I could see Ric
was only about 30 seconds back. I told myself this was the last time he was
going to see me in this race. I set off to hammer the rest of the bike course,
despite having other mechanical issues I had an even fast bike split the second
time around with a three and a half minute lead going into T2. My lead would
dwindle to 3:15 at the end
of the race as Ric put a little time into me on the
run again, but overall it was a very convinving win
for my first race of the season. Since this was my first race of the season and
my first ever formula race I took a couple of extra days to fully recover.
|
Place
|
Name
|
Age
|
Swim
|
Pace
|
T-1
|
Bike
|
Rate
|
T-2
|
Run
|
Pace
|
Overall
|
|
1
|
Trent Tollakson
|
24
|
3:28
|
1:10
|
0:21
|
43:52:00
|
24.6
|
1:05
|
19:43
|
5:48
|
1:08:28
|
|
2
|
Ric Rosenkranz
|
34
|
3:37
|
1:13
|
0:27
|
45:56:00
|
23.5
|
0:56
|
18:01
|
5:18
|
1:08:55
|
|
3
|
Stephen Taylor
|
30
|
4:01
|
1:21
|
0:25
|
46:38:00
|
23.2
|
0:58
|
19:30
|
5:45
|
1:11:31
|
|
4
|
Willy Pickhardt
|
16
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1:11:20
|
|
5
|
Michael Boehmer
|
25
|
4:03
|
1:21
|
0:38
|
46:41:00
|
23.1
|
0:50
|
19:51
|
5:51
|
1:12:01
|
Race #1
|
Name
|
Age
|
Swim
|
Pace
|
T-1
|
Bike
|
T-2
|
Run
|
Pace
|
Overall
|
Final
|
|
Trent Tollakson
|
24
|
3:25
|
1:09
|
0:52
|
0:43:39
|
1:01
|
19:58
|
5:53
|
1:08:52
|
2:17:20
|
|
Ric Rosenkranz
|
34
|
3:43
|
1:15
|
0:33
|
0:47:41
|
0:56
|
18:49
|
5:32
|
1:11:40
|
2:20:35
|
|
Stephen Taylor
|
30
|
4:04
|
1:22
|
0:27
|
0:47:25
|
1:00
|
20:02
|
5:54
|
1:12:56
|
2:24:27
|
|
Willy Pickhardt
|
16
|
3:40
|
1:14
|
0:47
|
0:48:30
|
0:56
|
19:25
|
5:43
|
1:13:18
|
2:24:38
|
|
Michael Boehmer
|
25
|
4:08
|
1:23
|
0:24
|
0:47:06
|
1:01
|
22:10
|
6:32
|
1:14:47
|
2:26:48
|
Race #2
Upcoming
Events
Memphis in May Olympic Distance Triathlon, May 22 2005
I won the amateur event
last year This year I am stepping up to race the best pros. US Olympian, Andy
Potts (22nd place at Athens), and last year’s pro winner Greg Remaly will both be in the race.
Training Sessions
My
current training week included 23,000 yards of swimming with Central Iowa
Aquatics swim coach Dave Joensen, 238 miles of
cycling and 50 miles of running. The total mileage volume amounted to my single
largest training week of 26 hours. I am much more focused on my training with
the added time during my day and flexibility to establish my own schedule. I
will continue to build my training volume for the my
first taper race at Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco, CA.
As always, thanks to all 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