Posts by Ohx803T

The Mighty Moraine Man multisport event is this upcoming weekend. I have athletes racing in the Aqua Bike, Sprint Triathlon, and Olympic Triathlon. It’s gonna be a very exciting weekend! I won’t personally be racing…but I’m very familiar with the area. I ride/run out there quite a bit, especially because it’s only 15 minutes from my house, and over the course of a couple hours it’s really “easy” to get some nice elevation. Okay onto the good stuff, I rode the course this morning a couple times and some tips/reminders came up that I felt were worth sharing. Have a read and please share this with other athletes who you know are racing!!

1. There seem to be NEW potholes on the course. I’ve raced in a handful of these events. They’re fantastically organized and the course is consistent. However this morning I did notice a couple new potholes. Some old potholes are repaired! But there are a couple new ones entering/leaving Transition, as well as a few other places. Thankfully, the newer potholes are all on inclines, with exception of heading back down into Transition. Something to be mindful of.
2. If you’ve NEVER raced this race before, you NEED to be careful with your bike handling. There are a lot of sharp turns that are easy to miss if you aren’t fully paying attention. At times I was going between 30-35mph around some turns that I’m familiar with, and this popped into my mind. Please be careful with your bike handling.
3. Calibrate your effort going up the hills. There are a lot of rolling hills. Be mindful of that. The “biggest” one is likely at the turnaround past the marina. But honestly it’s short enough that you can probably just give it some juice to get it over with. After a quick turnaround, you’re back to 35+mph, so be careful on that descent.
4. It was kind of buggy, to be honest. Make sure you’re wearing sunglasses on the ride and run, no doubt.

A couple race morning reminders…

1. Bring a flashlight or headlamp! When you arrive it will be dark for awhile. Plan for that!
2. Be early. This race is packed. Saw Joella this morning while riding down to transition and she had mentioned that this is a big one. So please be early.
3. Read the athlete guide. You did not get a bib in your packet because you will likely need to pick it up race morning at check-in. Plan for that.
4. Put your stickers on your bike properly. If you don’t know how, ASK SOMEONE.
5. Mark your body or have someone mark it for you. I think I heard this is happening again at this race, so when you show up, there should be some volunteers there to help you mark your age and race onto your body. In any case, ask someone for help and how to do this. Maybe even bring a sharpie to make sure you have what you need for this.
6. Prepare your transition area simply. Don’t make this complicated. Rack the bike, put your helmet/glasses on the handlebars. Place any fuel inside your helmet. Have a towel sitting out, maybe another one close by to dry off. Have socks/shoes/sneakers all close by and ready to slip on. Make sure your bib is ready to go for the run.
7. Get a race bib belt. You can get one delivered by Saturday from Amazon here Amazon Racing Bib Belt
8. Consider getting lock laces. If you DO choose to get them, run for a few minutes on Saturday in them so you know they’re good to go. This might help save some time in T2. You can get them delivered by Saturday from Amazon here Lock Laces from Amazon
9. Give yourself time to warmup in the morning if you wanna swim a bit and get loose.
10. When you get OUT of the water, unzip your wetsuit and pull it down to your waist while running to T1. Goggles off the eyes and leave them on your forehead. Get into T1 and grab some fuel while stepping out of your wetsuit! Move quickly and efficiently.
11. Make sure you’re carrying what you need on the bike. That means fuel (if you need it), water bottles, mechanical things like extra tube (or two), co2 canister with valve, bike tool and/or kit, etc. Carry it on the bike. If you DON’T know how to change your tire…that might be a problem. At the very least, even if you have never changed a tire/tube, you probably know how to, or understand how to. Have everything you need. If you find yourself on the side of the road replacing a tube, TAKE YOUR TIME. It is what it is. If it happens, don’t be flustered. Just get it done and get back to it.
12. Strap your helmet on BEFORE leaving T1.
13. Do NOT mount your bike before the mount line! When you do mount, get off to the side and let the crazy people fall over in the middle of the road. Take your time. Clip one foot in, give a push off, off you go.
14. Make sure your bike is in an appropriate gear for the bike start. The initial portion of the bike right out of T1 is uphill. Plan accordingly for that.
15. Unclip one of your feet before you get to the dismount line. Take your time and lean to that side before unclipping your other foot. Let the crazy people fall over in the middle of the road. Take your time and do this right. Not worth risking injury and the rest of your race/season by trying to do this too fast.
16. In T2, get your sneakers on and take off. Put fuel in your kit if you need to and get running.
17. Grab a water at the aid stations, if not to drink, at least to throw in your own face.

Those are the thoughts that came to mind. Although I won’t be racing, I’m going to try and bring my oldest daughter and come support a lot of you! Best of luck. Race safe and have fun! See you this weekend.

#HillPursuit

4 miles every 4 hours over 48 hours…

I will begin this ultra challenge tomorrow night; Thursday March 9, at 10pm. The final run will be on Saturday night at 6pm.

I got exposed to this Goggins challenge for the first time last year around this time of year. Apparently this is something that David Goggins does, and he invites anyone and everyone to join him while he’s doing it. At least that’s my understanding. Last year I was hoping to do it, but had some family plans. This year I was intentional about finding the time to attempt this challenge. Since I’m technically on Spring Break this week, I’ve made the effort to find the time in my schedule, so I’ll be giving this a GO beginning tomorrow night.

Apparently Goggins is too busy to solidify a date for the challenge this year, so he informed his faithful followers that they should complete it whenever they want to, regardless of whether or not he completes it this year. That was about a month ago, so I found time in the schedule and I’m up for it.

It will be a tough challenge, no doubt. I have ZERO experience with ultra running. I do, however, have a full Ironman under my belt. So I’m somewhat familiar with the mental and physical challenge this will present. There are a few things about this ultra event that I love…1) there is no barrier for entry. Anyone anywhere can complete this event. There is no entry fee, there is no fitness requirement, etc. That makes this an easily accessible (relatively speaking) ultra event for the everyday athlete. 2) I love that this event requires a significant amount of preparation. Part of endurance sport is developing the fitness, no doubt. But for an event like this, waking up and running every 4 hours won’t be enough, even for the fittest of the fittest. 3) I love that this event includes the element of sleep deprivation. This is a hard one to really prep for. I like that this poses a challenge in itself. And lastly, 4) I love that this event pushes people to new levels of their mental capacity. With minimal sleep, running in the dark, running during the day, needing to fuel, supplement, sleep, shower, recover, etc. will NOT be easy. I imagine this will be just as much of a mental challenge as a physical one.

I am planning to start at 10pm because I want to have a normal night sleep Saturday night into Sunday. Selfishly, I don’t like missing Sunday church, so I’m hoping I’m well enough to get up for church on Sunday. I’m lucky I’m able to even attempt this. Since I’m on spring break, I have the luxury of starting this on a Thursday evening. Lucky me, I guess…

I don’t have too much of a game plan to be honest. I’m very prepared mentally, and I have a routine in mind. But I know I’ll need to adapt on the fly. I’m hoping to run the 4 miles in just under an hour for each of the 12 runs. During the 3 hours of recovery, I will sleep during the night sessions, and try to maintain some normal circadian rhythm throughout the day sessions. I will rehydrate immediately, use my hyperice for at least 5-10minutes, put my feet up for at least 1 out of the 3 recovery hours, and make sure I’m eating enough. I won’t be too picky with WHAT I’m eating. I’ll simply make sure I’m eating enough. I also plan to take an ice bath after my run in which I WON’T be heading to bed right after. That will probably be after the 10am run on both Friday and Saturday. I’ll take more ice baths throughout the day if I feel like it, because the cold bath typically wakes me up in an instant. That’s why I won’t be taking a plunge after EVERY run. One of the difficult logistical aspects of this event is the clothing. I’ve done my due diligence to ensure I have at least 7 full outfits ready to go and lined up. I will do laundry ONCE during the event so that I am able to refill my wardrobe. Having everything laid out ahead of time is one way I hope to reduce the number of things I need to remember. Lastly, since I know this will be a crazy mental game, I am planning to read a short devotional for runners before and (maybe) after each segment. This should hopefully keep my mind on the right track and help me stay focused.

So here we go. 12 separate 4-mile runs, every 4 hours, for 48 hours, totaling 48 miles. This is my first dip into the world of ultra running and sleep deprivation. I’ll do my best to document as much as I can so I can provide a full report after the event.

See you on the other side.

Today we have the pleasure of formally introducing Coach Ashley from Case Specific Nutrition. Ashley has recently joined HillPursuit in a collaborative effort to provide nutritional services to our athletes. She is a highly decorated athlete and coach, who has a ton of expertise in the Nutrition space. As a registered dietitian, she is able to work with any and everybody, ranging from those with metabolic diseases to individuals trying to qualify for Kona. Ashley is a huge asset to our team and we’re lucky to have her! I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about Ashley in today’s podcast episode. Enjoy!

– Meet Coach Ashley from Case Specific Nutrition

– Athletic Background

– Dealing with Injuries

– Unique introduction to Sport Nutrition

– Own Personal Race Goals! Big ones

– Building a Nutrition Plan TOGETHER

– Expertise with diseased populations, Ironman athletes, and everyone inbetween

– 1-on-1 Consults

– Stay tuned for Nutrition Shorts from Ashley

– ashley@casespecificnutrition.com

– @beaming_dietitian_

– Contact us on Facebook and Instagram @hillpursuit, and email at hillpursuit@gmail.com

– Check out our STORE, COACHING, WEBSITE, and YOUTUBE here!! https://linktr.ee/hillpursuit

– Kenny is feeling GOOD (still)

– Should athletes worry about their body weight???

– Importance of PERFORMANCE vs WEIGHT

– It’s okay to gain weight during different sport seasons

– Leave vs Fat Mass

– HUGE congrats to Sky for FTP improvement!

– Having Blind Faith

– Kenny shares nutrition/performance client success stories

– Athletes are built in the off-season

– Cold-Water Immersion … Bro-Science or Real Science?!

– Sauna and Cold Plunge Benefits

– Nutrition Short Clips are coming

– Find Kenny at Progressive Strength Project on Socials

– progressivestrength12@gmail.com

– Contact us on Facebook and Instagram @hillpursuit, and email at hillpursuit@gmail.com

– Check out our STORE, COACHING, WEBSITE, and YOUTUBE here!! https://linktr.ee/hillpursuit