TJ Tollakson Professional Triathlete: 2014

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Millimeters of Gain…and Millimeters of Pain

Life as a professional triathlete is all about incremental and compounding gains. Often viewed as millimeters of gain, compounded over time, these gains are like bricks stacked on top of each other. While small and insignificant is each lonely brick, together they build the most brilliant and sturdy structures. I’ve been busy stacking bricks over my career as a professional triathlete for the past 10 years, and while the bricks of an athlete are never permanent and you must constantly stack more bricks to replace the ones that disappear over time, you become more proficient at stacking bricks each year. I have a huge base (pile) of bricks and the knowledge and experience to quickly and intelligently stack them. Even the best laid plans can result in one brick being just a millimeter off and causing the entire stack to come crashing down.

The Dimond on the Rocks in Kona

Saturday, October 11, 2014 was the Ironman World Championship and I was entering the race with a full stack of bricks ready to race. I knew I was fit and had the confidence of winning my last Ironman race, the North American Championship event, by a large margin of victory. The 8 weeks between events was far from ideal, and with all the crazy things I have going on in my life, sometimes the far from ideal is a bit too much to surmount. My workouts the past few weeks were all on target and I was feeling fresh and ready to go. I made the difficult choice to travel with my employees, family, and a nanny. Since I have two young children under the age of two, having a nanny with us was important if I was going to even attempt to have my children with me. Looking back, I loved having my children there, but it was probably a bit too much for me. Just as the positive bricks of fitness and improvement benefit the athlete, the bricks of stress and distraction deter the athlete. I was a bit too over confident in my ability to deal with the stress and distractions. On Friday morning before the race, I was bent over my bike adjusting my rear derailleur when I had a sharp and sudden back spasm causing me to collapse on the ground. I've dealt with back problems for a very long time and have two bulging discs in my back. I’m no stranger to this type of pain or occurrence I was forced to retire from an Ironman in Los Cabos in March for the same reason, with numbness and tingling down the back of my leg. I know how to treat the pain, and I work very diligently to make sure my back is strong and healthy so it never happens at an inopportune time. Having a back spasm with nerve pain the day before the Ironman World Championship is definitely an inopportune time. Immediately I was pissed, but then told myself, I've dealt with this so many times before that I knew just how to deal with it. I stretched on the floor, the sat with my Compex activating my back for the next hour. I went for a short 30 min ride and felt awesome, so I had little to be concerned about. I repeated my Compex session and the stretching at night and I was ready to go.

Dimond Group Ride in Kona, 19 Dimonds all together

The morning of the race, I never even thought about my back. It felt fine, so I had no reason for concern. I went through my normal morning routine and made sure to stretch my back as normal and felt nothing out of the ordinary. The swim start was chaotic as usual but I was on Freddie VanLierde’s feet for a while and felt great. Soon my back started to ache and I could feel myself not pulling as hard on my right side (where my back was hurting). I was instantly distracted from the task at hand and found myself swimming all over the place. Trying not to panic, I told myself to stay calm. I’m still in a great position and swimming well. Soon there was a fracture in the main group just ahead of me, but I wasn't even cognizant of the break until it was too late. I just wasn't paying enough attention. I sat in my little group of swimmers and it was very easy. Towards the end of the swim, the pace slowed so much I decided I needed to charge to the front and minimize the loss to those in the lead and pulled the group to shore. Not ideal, but not the end of the day. I was still out of the water with a large group of great cyclists.

Signing Cards at the Compex Booth

I was the first in our group through transition and on my bike, but immediately my back and glute were a problem. Within the first mile, I was all of sudden last in the group then dangling off the back. I was trying to push hard, but just could not muster the power. Seems odd for how low the power requirements are for an Ironman. My HR was never in a danger zone, but I just couldn't keep up. I was soon dropped and riding solo. I gradually started picking off riders who were falling off the pace in front. At the turn around I was passed by Bart Aernauts and one other guy. I couldn't stay with them. I was passed by Michi Weiss about mile 88 and stayed close enough to see him all the way into town (even though he was a ways up the road). My back was causing so much pain, I was only able to stay in my aerobars for about 10 minutes at a time before standing up to stretch. Not ideal, but I tried to be smart about my efforts and make the most of them. I found myself riding on the left side of my saddle unintentionally trying to produce more power from my good side while easing off my right side and the nerve pain. I was dreaming of the finish of the bike so I could start my run and end the nerve pain in my back and leg.

I had the pleasure of sitting next to Richard Melik of Tri 24/7
on the flight to Kona!

Once off the bike, it was apparent (especially to anyone watching me run in transition) that I was in a whole lot of pain, but I had a lot of confidence in my run training and was thinking with a very easy 112 mile bike ride, I could possibly have one of my best runs ever. The nerve pain was more severe on the run and sent shooting pain down my right leg with each right foot strike. I told myself in a few miles I probably wouldn't even notice the pain so just continue. Much to my dismay the pain just got worse and at the run turn around I decided to call it quits. I stopped and chatted to my support crew. Told them I would jog back to transition and turn in my chip. I had a few miles to debate the decision in my head and walk and ran my way back towards Ashley. When I got there the decision was made. I was retiring from the race. I was in enough pain that it hurt to walk and had I been in the lead of the race or even having a good race, I probably would have pushed on, knowing it would cause more damage and pain, but having a bad day and causing my body more pain and possibly more problems by continuing, just doesn't make sense. 8 weeks ago, I felt invincible and my body felt amazing as I won the North American Championship.

What a difference 8 weeks can make and one small millimeter of a difference and my sciatic nerve is impinged, sending shooting pain down the back of my leg. One millimeter of a shift is all it takes, and as professional athletes we are always on the verge of pushing that limit just one millimeter too far and disaster strikes.

Ethan Davidson, COO of Ruster Sports with
my son, Theo in Kona!

I had an amazing time in Kona and there were some great takeaways including these highlights.

· Being with my family in Kona
· Catching up with friends, athletes, and sponsors
· Two of my best friends since childhood were at the race
· I was certified by Clean Protocol
· I had a blast re-enacting an entrance from my favorite movie
· 21 Dimonds raced in Kona placing us 16^th in 2014 Lava Magazine Kona Bike Count
· Maik Twelsiek led the race while riding a Dimond bike
· Celebrating another successful season of racing with a finale in Kona

· Getting to know all 21 athletes who raced a Dimond in Kona
A special thanks to all my sponsors and supporters for making this all possible!
TYR Sport and TYR Endurance Sport

Yurbuds Sport Earphones

Rockin’ Refuel Milk Protein Beverage

Ruster Sports and Dimond Bikes

Compex

Foster Grant Sunglasses

HMB

Cliff English Coaching

Hassel Family Chiro

That’s The Spot

YMCA Healthy Living Center

The North American Ironman Champ, checking in his Bike!

Friday, September 5, 2014

Media and Such from Ironman Mont Tremblant

Local Des Moines, IA CBS affiliate: KCCI video: http://t.co/dXQrdnvgtN

Local Des Moines, IA NBC affiliate: WHO TV video: http://whotv.com/2014/08/29/new-triathlon-bike-made-in-des-moines/

Best Bike Split Case Study: http://www.bestbikesplit.com/case-study-tollakson?eid=082714B1

Awards Speech Video: http://youtu.be/zd3sExdwBXY

Awards Speech Text Article from Ironman.com: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2014/08/inspiration-tj-tollakson.aspx

Pro Video Recap from Ironman: http://t.co/ff0s4C3uXU

Power Analysis From Hunter Allen: http://www.srm.de/news/triathlon/ironman-703-north-american-championships/

Friday, August 22, 2014

Ironman Mont Tremblant Race Report...The Road To Victory

North American Championship

I knew I was taking a big risk waiting until August to race an Ironman in 2014. My 20^th place finish at the 2013 Ironman World Championship didn’t leave me many points, so if I wasn’t going to race two Ironman races in 2014, I was going to have put all my chips on the table for the North American Championship race in hopes of grabbing one of the last 10 qualifying spots for Kona. It was a lot of pressure, but at the same time it really wasn’t all that different than the old system of slot allocation (the current system Age Groupers follow). Regardless, it was still a big task. Battling a back and hip issue late last year and early this year set me back a little - and I knew I wasn’t as fit as I needed to be heading into St. George 70.3 or Kansas 70.3, but I still thought I was fit enough to have good (not great) races. After Kansas 70.3 I took the entire next two months to train and prepare for this event. No racing, just proper preparation for an Ironman. My daughter was born on June 17, and my fitness dropped to a season low three days after her birth, but then I started my build. I always tell myself, 99% of life comes down to one simple axiom, “Never Panic”. Patience would be extremely important as I would have to methodically build fitness for the next two months to put myself in a position to win the race. My coach, Cliff English, came up with a game plan, and I spent the next two months dedicated to preparing for IMMT.

I arrived in Montreal on Wednesday August 13. I traveled with one of my aerospace engineers, Matt Cymanski, who would serve as my Sherpa and personal bike mechanic. We had a homestay with the Alix family in town. Pauline Alix was working with the race organizers and they graciously hosted both Matt and myself, but also fellow professional and dear friend, Mathias Hecht. Luckily, I took a few years of French in school and have spent time in France, so I was able to crudely speak with the French Canadians.

My race prep while in Mont Tremblant was pretty low key, but I was sleeping about 10 hours a night. Having gone from a house with a newborn to the homestay made a huge difference on uninterrupted sleep. I had Matt take care of my Dimond while there. He packed and unpacked it from my Hen House, changed my race tires, and did some minor fine tuning.

The night before the race I cooked a nice dinner of an 8 oz beef tenderloin (filet mignon), brown rice, pasta with pesto, bread and butter, and my mom’s wonderful carrot cake for dessert, washed down with water and an Ensure Plus shake. Plenty of calories for tomorrow, but not too much.

I woke up 2.5 hours before the race start and had a breakfast of a whole wheat bagel with PB and J, 2 Ensure Plus drinks, half a bottle of TYR Endurance Sport, and Red Bull. Forty-five minutes before the start I had the other half bottle of my TYR Endurance Sport and a packet of PowerBar Cola Gel Blasts. Twenty minutes before the start I had another Red Bull. Mathias I are were fortunate enough to have Jerome Alix (brother of our homestay), drop us off in the morning with our bikes, right next to transition. I setup my transition, added my items to my transition bags and headed over to the swim start. I spent some time stretching and relaxing in the grass before the start, slammed that last Red Bull and headed into the water for a warmup. I felt great in the water and decided to use the full sleeve TYR Freak of Nature wetsuit for the swim. It is always a tough choice for me unless the water is really cold because I love the freedom of a sleeveless wetsuit. The water was cool but not overly cold at about 68* F.

I loved that the start was a beach start because I feel it is one of the few fair ways to start a race, even though I believe a dive start is the fairest. I started on the left side of the swim next to Andy Raelert and Eric Limkemann and felt the pace was solid, but comfortable. It was pretty cool to have 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist, Simon Whitfield leading us on the paddleboard. I quickly noticed there was a large front group swimming to my right inside the buoy line. I kept an eye on them and made the jump to bridge over once I found myself leading the small group I was swimming with. I did most of the swim next to Mathias but kept making sure there were no gaps opening up ahead. The water was shallow for quite a ways when exiting so the gaps stretched out a bit, but not much. I had a quick transition and was on my bike and ready to hammer.

I had aero shoe covers on my bike that I practiced with before and took the extra few seconds necessary to pull them over my Sidi T3 Air shoes (I wouldn’t need the extra ventilation). I felt amazing on the bike for the first 10 miles or so, then suddenly started to feel really bad. My HR was a bit too high so I let Andy Raelert pass me on an uphill. He coasted in a tuck on the downhill so I just followed suit and it happened to work wonders for me. It seemed to work as my HR dropped from 169 to 140 bpm. Suddenly I was back and feeling like a million bucks. I knew I needed to keep my HR under control the rest of the race. Andy passed me a few times on the bike, but he was the only one to change positions with me as the rest of the competitors were content to sit behind and let us dictate the pace. My plan was to be patient but keep the pace honest until the short steep hills around mile 45 or so. Once I was on this section, I hit it pretty hard on the Dimond (putting out 340 watts for 14 minutes), but it was very short and punchy so I had a one minute power of 414 watts and peak 20 second power of 504 watts. This was enough to fracture the group and only Raelert made a valliant effort to stay close. I held between a 90s and 3 min lead on Andy for the rest of the bike while the rest of the competition continued to fall back. I stuck to my plan of one PowerBar Gel every 20 minutes on the bike with a packet of PowerBar Cola Gel Blasts at the turn around. I started the bike with a bottle of Limao flavored TYR Endurance Sport. The remainder of the bike I consumed only water as a beverage. On the last hilly section of the bike, around mile 100, I hit it pretty hard again, but not near as hard as before. At the finish of the bike, I had around an eight minute lead on Andy.

I started the run with a big lead, but knew I had one of the sport’s fastest runners chasing me. I trained to race a 2:49 marathon and knew I needed to hold 6:27 per mile to get there. I concentrated on holding that pace and maintaining my cadence around 92 steps per minute. I told myself to focus on my race and make Andy do the work to try and catch me. At the first turn around I had put about another minute on him. Things were looking good, but I could tell he was still mentally in the game and chasing. At the second turn around (back in transition) I extended my lead to over 13 minutes and Andy was suddenly looking behind at 3^rd place instead of ahead at me. I kept the pace as solid as I could. I consumed one PowerBar Gel at mile 3, mile 6 and mile 9. I drank nothing but water until mile 10 where I switched to coke and water and a few RedBulls (when available). There was RedBull on the course which was new to me, but a favorite to have. Sadly, it was not available at every aid station. Everything was going as planned and my pace was solid and steady. Around mile 21 I saw Andy for the third and final time and he was more than two miles behind me. I quietly smiled to myself and thought “You just won this race, now just don’t lose the race.” We’ve all seen some of the epic fails of the past where an athlete with a big lead collapses and can’t crawl to the finish line for the win. So, I slowed my pace and walked through the last aid stations. My HR dropped considerably and I focused on getting my nutrition and hydration. There were several fans who wanted to high five me and celebrate as far back as 10k to go, but I told myself not to celebrate until you can see the finish line. As I came into town, it was an unbelievable feeling. I was elated and overjoyed. Finally I was back racing at my ability level.

It has been a long journey since my race at Ironman Lake Placid where I felt like I was racing to my potential and I have struggled with injuries and setbacks since then. It feels amazing to be back in the winner’s circle.

A special thanks to all of my sponsors and supporters, I couldn’t race without your support.