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Great article on Alex Bowcut, …
Posted: August 11th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Updates | No Comments »
Great article on Alex Bowcut, one of the top Utah youth elite triathletes: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=11938494&hl=4
Wasatch Woman Pam Baumeister – Jordanelle Triathlon – Preparing for the bike
Posted: August 10th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Races | No Comments »
What you don’t know can hurt you. If you haven’t ever had a flat tire on your bike while riding, consider this your wake-up call. Over the past two weeks, my training has been somewhat halted because I wasn’t prepared for and knowledgeable about bike maintenance. It all started with a flat tire. I learned how to fix the flat (out of necessity) and what not to do.
Being prepared for a flat tire is important in a race situation where you likely won’t get help from passers-by. Your fellow triathletes are there to get their best time, not to take pity on you for not having the right materials or know-how to fix your own bike.
Make sure you have a patch kit, new tube, pump or CO2 cartridge and tire lever (or two). You can purchase these things and a handy case to go on your bike for around $50.
The best way to learn how to fix a flat is to just do it. But, if you want to read about how to do it, this website is very handy and easy to follow. http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/flattire.html Ask your local bike shop if they have a free bicycle maintenance class.
When I put in the new tube on my tire and began to pump it up, the tube popped. Luckily I wasn’t far from home. Can you imagine having that happen to you on race day? Learn from my mistakes — how to be prepared for the worst-case scenario and know how to change your own flats.
Cones, cones, and more cones. …
Posted: July 30th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Updates | No Comments »
Cones, cones, and more cones. Why is putting together a traffic plan for a race such a love/hate relationship?
3-3-1 Tri in a just a few week…
Posted: July 15th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Updates | No Comments »
3-3-1 Tri in a just a few weeks. Women’s Tri, Kids’ Tri, Adult co-ed Tri. There’s a race for everyone….
Echo is in the books. 3-3-1 Tr…
Posted: July 13th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Updates | No Comments »
Echo is in the books. 3-3-1 Tri at Lifetime Fitness in South Jordan is next. Women, Kids and Co-ed races on the schedule.
Dantley Young – Echo Triathlon open water swimming tips
Posted: July 7th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Races, Training | No Comments »
Hey All!
Not too far away from the race now, I trust everyone is excited and ready to rock and roll for this weekend! How bout’ that EPIC stage of the Le Tour over the cobbles?! That was quite the spectacle and has me wanting to roll big gears this weekend! Vive Le Tour!
As we all know, swimming out in the open water and swimming in a pool are quite different… the environment, the water usually isn’t as clean;) people swimming over the top of you, that little black line on the bottom of the pool, swimming with your head up and all that fun stuff. Also, when we swim with a wetsuit on, we tend to lose the feel of the water on our forearms and upper arms… so effectively our paddle in the water isn’t so tactile. It is very good to hop in the wetsuit as much as possible out in the open waves so you can get a feel for it and the differences that are presented. Breathing on both sides when in open water is very helpful… a lot of people struggle with this and love to breath to either the right or left side. This will do a few things for you: it balances out your stroke so you are not dominant on one side with your muscles, it lengthens out your stroke, you swim faster because your heading isn’t moving every stroke and if you have company along side you or in front of you, it enables you to catch a breath if someone is kicking water in your face or if you happen to be swimming directly into waves.
Sighting is a crucial element to open water swimming… we all know how fun it is to swim a few hundred extra meters in a race. Ha ha, seriously guys, lets save those extra meters for the swim pool;) The problem with breathing with your head up, is that your legs sink… creating a lot of drag to slow you down. It is good to practice in the pool or open water head up swimming for a consistent period of time. This will help you to learn how to feel comfortable sighting while swimming, and engaging a little bit of a stronger kick when you lift your head to breathe. You can breath with your head completely up, or with your head taking a quick look and turning your head to the side to grab a quick breathe.
I have attached an excellent link by Gatorade Endurance UK which covers everything from starts, to breathing, to sighting and turning around buoys. It starts slow with an intro to putting on a wet-suit, but after that it really takes off with a lot that everyone can learn from, no matter your level of swimming prowess: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywrXQUvUkbU
Swim Like a Fish and I will see you Saturday!
Cheers and Be Blessed,
Dantley
JAH Love! JAH Bless!
Dantley Young – Echo Triathlon Run Course Preview
Posted: July 5th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Races, Training | No Comments »
Echo Run Course Preview:
Hi All! The TriUtah Echo Triathlon is only 5 days away and I hope that everyone has had great training and an excellent run-up to the event! I have an infectious case of Le Tour De France fever going and I wonder if everyone is jacked up about the ride the same way that I’am, Ha ha! I have already previewed my take on the swim and bike sections of the race, today I will put in my two cents on the run. The run up at Echo is very simple for both the Sprint and the Olympic courses… It is out and back on hard-packed dirt pavement. The fun thing about Echo’s run is that you can never see to far in front of you with the bends of the road going around the lake. It is a good thing if you are in front of your competition but can make it hard if you are behind them. It gives you that little bit of extra confidence being in front as you know that you will not be seen until after you make the turn to come back towards the finish line. Also, it gets a little jumbled with all of the athletes on the run course around about the same time so you can get your inner kharma, kharma khameleon on and blend in with the crowd, ha ha!
The finish line is all the way past transition, so this gives you a chance to run by the spectators, friends and loved ones that are at the race with you!$ For some athletes, this is the best part of their race! Chris and the TriUtah crew always have an outstanding finish line setup with a ton of different goodies, including: fruits, cookies, drinks and so much more! Take the time to enjoy your race after you finish up… after all, you DESERVE it!
I will be posting some open water swim tips a little bit later so keep your eyes peeled! I look forwards to a great race Saturday and cant wait to see you all up there!
Train Hard, Recover Harder! JAH love! JAH bless!
Dantley
Dantley Young – Echo Triathlon bike course preview
Posted: June 28th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Races, Training | No Comments »
Echo Bike Course Preview:
Hi All!
I hope training is going smooth for you and the warm weather is being enjoyed by everyone! I know I’ am loving it! The bike course at TriUtah’s Echo Triathlon is a good challenging ride… I truly believe that Echo is a cyclists paradise. It requires strength in all aspects of the race with rolling terrain, a long uphill section, a long down hill section that is normally into a strong headwind, followed by the steep rollers back to T2. If you can ride strong, you have to like your chances to stay away from your competition on the flat, out and back run.
Onto the bike just out of transition, you can expect a good hill to get the second leg of the triathlon going, followed by 3-4 miles of rollers along the lake side. After making your way through these hiccups on the road you will make a sweeping right then into a sweeping left underneath the freeway, another right and onto the long uphill section. The wind is usually at the athletes back going up to the turn-a-round… you can look forwards to a very beautiful ride up against the mountain next to you on your left. You get a glimpse of some nice red rock formations protruding out to the road, it is normally quite warm and makes for a nice ride. Once you have wound your way up to the turn, athletes tend to be treated to a pest-like head wind. It can be a bit of a mind game out there, you are looking forwards to a nice long down hill after the long grind up… but the wind takes the nice out of that equation real quick. Ha ha, it’s a good hammer session all the way down the hill as you cruise back to the lake. Once you get under the overpass again, you can expect a couple of leg-breaker hills… they aren’t long , but they are steep and tend to hurt a little bit as you have been on the bike for awhile by this point. Once you make it over these little kickers, you roll your way back to T2 for the run course.
If you are a sissy and have sensitive feet like I do, leave your cycling shoes as your run into transition. Make sure you make a note of where you racked your bike in the morning… this is a very popular race and with so many athletes competing it can be hard to remember your row and placement in transition. Make sure that you take some time to go over which way is ‘run out’ to head out for the third leg of the race. There is nothing worse than running a little extra on race day if you don’t have to, but hey, if you happen to be a runner, you may want to run just a bit more, ha ha! Enjoy your run after a good challenging ride!
If you are racing the sprint distance triathlon, you continue under the freeway as you would if you were racing the Olympic distance but your turn-a-round is a bit closer on the uphill straightaway. You will then make a quick ‘U’ and continue back to T2. You still get the leg-breakers on the way back so please enjoy them!
Keep training hard and enjoying life!
Jah Love! Jah Bless!
Dantley
Dantley Young – Echo Triathlon course tips
Posted: June 25th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Races, Training | 1 Comment »
Echo Triathlon: Pre-Race Planning, T1 and Swim Course
The heart of the local triathlon racing season is upon us, and vast approaching is a Utah classic triathlon… It seems that everyone and their dog always shows up to coalville whether it be an A-race, mid-season training or a final blow-out as part of a taper for a major event this season. Each year this race continually turns out a full field of athletes ready to test their mettle in our beautiful sport of triathlonJ TriUtah always does an excellent job with organizing the event and having it run like butter on race day! It is a superb course that is very challenging on the bike, a plenty warm swim and an off-road dirt trail run that goes out and back. Depending on your strengths, weaknesses and aspirations, this is a great course for athletes of all types and I look forwards to seeing you out there July 10th!
There are always a few important things to remember when planning to have a successful triathlon on race day. I think the first would be getting to the event venue plenty early to setup, and be able to enjoy yourself before starting the race. The last thing anyone wants to do is be stressing about time before their event wave, expending energy and likely forgetting something important in transition . Most of us are guilty of this and remember that day didn’t end up being as much fun as we intended it to be. To get to the race site for Echo, it takes a short ride to get to transition from the parking lot, be sure to double check your race bag before you leave the car and make sure you have everything with you. Once you ride in, take your time and thoughtfully setup your transition area in a neat order so you don’t have any time losses in T1 scrambling to find something. T1 is usually done on gravel/dirt area so if you have sensitive feet it may not be a bad idea to have an extra set of shoes with you to throw on after the swim, since T1 is a jog away from the water exit.
The time of year presents plenty of time for a swim warmup, since the sun is rising so early. Make sure you get in the water and warmup for a few minutes to get those shoulders and lats warmed up for a fast swim. The water is usually quite warm at Echo, if you have a sleeveless wetsuit, this may be the day to use it. Once you have had a go getting the shoulders loose, step out for a few minutes and let the excess water drain out of your wetsuit before the gun goes for race wave. This will help the wetsuit feel tighter to your skin and you wont be carrying any extra water with you through your swim leg. The swim is usually two anti-clockwise loops for Olympic distance and one loop for the Sprint distance… you will be swimming into the sun after the second turn buoy heading to the finish, it may be wise to bring a set of tinted goggles so you don’t have to strain your eyes looking in the rising sun, or just hop on a fellow athletes feet and follow them… just hope they are going in a straight line! Ha ha, once you finish your respective swim take a couple of deep breathes as you are running towards your bike to help get some oxygen flowing back to your brain, this will help you think clearly when you hop on your bike. I have found for this event it is easier to have a smooth transition by putting your cycling shoes on in T1 rather than once you are on the bike. The road is a little rocky and it would be a bummer to get a cut or stub a toe, that would put a damper on the day in a hurry! There is also a slight hill just out of transition which may make it hard to put your foot in the shoe as you are riding up the hill. Once your clipped in, enjoy your ride!
These are a few key points that I have noticed the last two seasons that I have raced the event and thought this may be beneficial for you if you are going to have a go up at Echo in a few weeks time. I will be writing a bike and run course preview over the next few days, so be sure to check back in for my half accurate course descriptions, ha ha! Enjoy your training for the event with smiles on your face and I look forwards to racing with you next month! Good Luck to those of you who have events coming up between now and then, I wish you nothing but the best!
Happy Training!!!
Jah Love! Jah Bless!
Dantley Young
Dantley Young – Cache Valley Classic Tri race report
Posted: June 15th, 2010 | Author: Chris Bowerbank | Filed under: Races, Training | 1 Comment »
2010 Cache Valley Race Report: A Long Journey Back Into Racing
What a day and a race to make a comeback into triathlon! It may have been a bit on the chilly side with some nice wind on the bike but at least it didn’t rain… there is nothing like finishing up a triathlon water logged, so I was plenty glad to see, ‘the rain, rain go away and come again another day!’. I recently spent the last eleven months on the couch with a blood disorder that put a quick halt to my triathlon career mid-july of last year, so I was very happy to be back to the swim, bike and run again. The morning started with friendly hello’s with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time before setting up transition in the new T1 and T2 area which I happened to like very much. After getting my gear all ready to go I went for a quick warm up run with my team mate from The Bike Shoppe Nate Baldwin… we went out to the lake to check out the swim course and back towards the damn to see the new dirt road turn off for the finishing section of the run. After getting the shakes out it was time to get the wetsuit on and head for the water for a warm up swim. The water was mighty cold and it was my first open water swim in almost a year so it seemed pretty Brrrrrr when I put my face in. Ha ha, I swam about 200 meters and was noticing my wetsuit was a bit tight on my shoulders since last year as I was unhealthy skinny when I received the suit from Orca last June. Being more at my natural weight I filled the suit out a little tighter and suffered the consequences of making a rookie mistake, lesson be learned to all the first time and triathletes newer to the sport… make sure your wetsuit fits you well and try it on in the shop where you purchase it where a wetsuit fitter can eye you up and make sure you are good to race in it. Any athlete who has made this mistake previously, I feel your pain! My shoulders are pretty sore today, ha ha!
The Swim:
After the Star Spangled Banner the gun went off and it was off to the races! I was with Neal and BJ to the first turn buoy but just before the first turn my shoulders started to seize up in the tightness of the wetsuit and had to stroke a little crazy to get to the end of it… Passed the third buoy I finally remembered who had my QR wetsuit that was bit bigger from a previous sponsorship. My coach Scott Browning had borrowed it for the Echo Triathlon relay last year as he was doing the swim leg for his team. I just smiled and let out a laugh heading into the second lap finally realizing where it had gone. I came out of the water in 24 minutes about 4 minutes behind the leaders… I made my second mistake by taking so much time putting shoes on at the boat ramp and lost at least a minute or two before heading into transition. I got to my rack and rolled my bike out of t1 onto the pavement with a smile on my face 
The Bike:
Onto the bike course which is very flat for the most part minus the hills on the north side where there are a few steep rolleurs… and we had a rare full blown headwind from the east before making the second right turn for the southbound section of the course making the hills that much tougher. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of myself in a 40k effort having been training for only 5 weeks before the race… my brand new Cervelo P3 from The Bike Shoppe treated me right to the fastest bike split of the day as it felt super stiff and fast. The wind made the second lap of the course much tougher before heading out to the run… The CacheValley Classic bike course is one of my favorites because it is so flat and fast which makes it easy to roll big gears. I entered in t2 in the 3rd place off the bike behind Weston Woodward and Neal Legler… I had some work ahead of me!
The Run:
I couldn’t feel my quads, calves and feet as they felt a little frosty coming off the bike so it took about two miles to get into a good stride and rhythm, but that little hill headed out from the dam didn’t help either, ha ha! I got to the second aid station and could see Neal and Weston up the road and I was starting to gain on them just before the turn around… I was able to run Weston down just before the steep descent down by the dam but just didn’t have enough real estate to run down Neal on the day. Congratulations to Neal and Weston for a great race!!! And to everyone else who finished!!! It was great to see so many people out with smiles on their facesJ
After the race it was great to catch up with so many friends who I hadn’t had a chance to see in quite some time… It was such a fun day out there and I was so pleased to finish up in second place and having a great race after only a month or so of training. I’am very motivated to keep improving and for the racing aheadJ I will definitely make sure to have a better fitting wetsuit for the next race so I can swim a little bit faster, and keep working to improve faster transition times. I guess you can never transition too fast, right? Ha ha!
Big thanks and congratulations to Chris and the TriUtah team for putting on another great race!!! Outstanding job guys!!! You always put on a great show with great pre-race snacks, schwagg with a friendly atmosphere that is always buzzing! Thanks to all of the volunteers who got up early and braved the cold weather to make sure that we could all have an enjoyable experience on race day, you guys rock!!! I cant forget to mention Carl Horton who always taxis me to the races… thanks again, you’re a stud!!
See you at the races all!
Jah Love! Jah Bless!
Dantley Young
-2008 Silverman Full Distance Champion-
-Top 15 at both 2009 Flordia and Boise 70.3-
-Top Twenty 2008 Ironman Canada in 9.09-
-2009 Echo Triathlon Champion-
-2009 Rage in The Sage Half-Ironman Champion-
-2008 Half-Max Half-Ironman Nat’l Chamion-
-2007 Silverman Full Distance 3rd place-
*racing triathlon since fall of 2007*