Training Table MO-vember 2007

T.J. Tollakson’s Triathlon Newsletter

 

 

 


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MO-vember

During Movember (the month formerly known as November) I'll be growing a Mo (slang for moustache). That's right - I'm bringing the Mo back because I'm passionate about men's health and the fight against prostate cancer. Why...

v     Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America. 

v     In 2007, more than 218,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 27,000 American men will die from the disease.

 

November is prostate cancer awareness month and in conjunction with my wetsuit sponsor, Blue Seventy, I am taking part in MO-vember. That’s right, I am growing my MO for prostate cancer. Along with the guys from Blue Seventy I will be growing my MO for the month of November and raising money for prostate cancer research. I decided to personally donate 10% of my prize money from the month of November and have already made the donation from my 8th place finish at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, FL. If you would like to donate to prostate cancer research on my behalf please visit www.movember.com/donate and enter my id number 182617.

 

 

Race Report: Ironman 70.3 World Championships

November 10, 2007, was only four weeks after my Ironman World Championship debut and I knew I would be asking a lot of my body to race another World Championship. With minimal training and lots of recovery time after Kona, I was a bit uneasy about how my body would respond but I took comfort knowing that I had a huge base of training under me and I already established myself as one of the top half ironman athletes in the world. The water in Clearwater was much colder this year and thus wetsuits would be allowed for the swim. I chose to wear the sleeveless suit since I prefer the shoulder flexibility and water feel of the sleeveless to the faster but more restrictive full sleeve suit. The swim started out pretty rough but I was comfortably in the lead pack and feeling good. The course is an out and back rectangle and coming back home after the turn buoys I started swimming all over the place and lost the lead pack. I was swimming into the sun and having a difficult time sighting while swimming against a cross current. I exited the water in 32nd place for the worst swim of my season. I got on the bike and felt great. I knew I had some ground to make up but I also knew some of the big cyclists were behind me. Chris Lieto managed to pull a group of about 10 cyclists up to me just 10 miles into the race. Then the penalties started. Athletes were riding as close as they could to the strong cyclists trying to stay in contact. It wasn’t long before it broke up. Lieto and Oscar Galindez managed to pull away from me but I managed to reel in the lead pack. I went to the front of the lead pack and thought I could pull away but I didn’t quite have the energy left in the legs for the effort necessary to create a gap. So, it was back to the pace line. I exited the bike with the big group and started the run worried about having a horrible race and finishing outside of the top 10. My stomach was upset on the run and my legs did not feel fresh. I told myself to keep pushing through it and at the end of the first of two laps on the run, I was in 9th place and 45 seconds down on 8th. I gradually started to pick up my pace and I started feeling better. I was charging hard to catch the guy ahead of me. I passed an age group athlete, Vinny from West Virginia, and we ran together for 5 miles. Vinny was giving me splits to the guys in front of me and kept me honest in my pursuit. Finally with a mile to go, I saw I was going to catch Terenzo Bozzone and I made my move into 8th where I would finish the race. I was proud of my effort and despite having my worst swim of the year, I was still able to come back into the race and finish with a respectable 8th. It was not my best race of the year and I was definitely feeling the effects of Kona four weeks prior but I proved I could still race at a world class level. Congrats to American, Andy Potts, for winning the World Championships, and to Bjorn Andersen for breaking 2 hours on the 56 mile bike.

 

PL

Name

Splits

Age

Swim

Bike

Run

Finish

1

Potts, Andy

2/5/1

30

0:22:57

2:04:28

1:11:33

3:42:33

2

Galindez, Oscar

45/2/2

36

0:25:07

2:00:28

1:13:02

3:42:37

3

Johns, Andrew

13/11/3

34

0:23:30

2:04:10

1:12:04

3:43:11

4

Alexander, Craig

14/8/4

34

0:23:30

2:04:05

1:13:04

3:44:10

5

Cunningham, Richie

11/9/5

34

0:23:18

2:04:23

1:13:51

3:45:05

6

Bignet, Stephan

5/12/6

36

0:23:10

2:04:19

1:14:42

3:46:03

7

Cartmell, Fraser

4/10/7

25

0:23:09

2:04:28

1:17:15

3:49:03

8

Tollakson, TJ

32/7/8

27

0:24:27

2:02:54

1:18:23

3:49:39

9

Bozzone, Terenzo

3/3/9

22

0:23:08

2:02:51

1:20:44

3:50:10

10

Ascenco, Santiago

60/22/10

26

0:25:23

2:08:27

1:14:25

3:51:45

 

 

Off Season?

I am officially in my off-season. I will take a few weeks off from training before I slowly begin to build back into my season for next year and then take off like a snow bird for warmer weather. I can’t wait to enjoy a little down time and eat as much desert as I want, I can already taste the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. I never truly feel like I have much of an off-season but some well deserved downtime is always a perk of the job. Thanks to all of my sponsors and supporters for a great season. Next year is already in my thoughts with anticipation of even greater journeys.

 

 

Anticipated 2008 Schedule

 

Date

Race

Location

2/10/2008

Geelong 70.3

Geelong, Australia

3/15/2008

Miami International

Miami, FL

4/13/2008

Ironman Arizona

Tempe, AZ

5/21/2008

Florida 70.3

Orlando, FL

6/8/2008

Eagleman 70.3

Cambridge, MD

7/12/2008

Lifetime Fitness

Minneapolis, MN

7/20/2008

Vineman 70.3

Sonoma County, CA

8/10/2008

Big Creek Triathlon

Polk City, IA

8/17/2008

Timberman

Gilford, NH

9/7/2008

LA Triathlon

Los Angeles, CA

10/12/2008

Ironman World Champs

Kona, Hawaii

11/9/2008

70.3 World Champs

Clearwater, FL

 

 

  

 

 

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