Overtraining

According to "the plan", I would have raced yesterday. According to "the plan" I would have biked and ran twice as long as I did today. According to "the plan", now I should be looking forward to beginning a hard three week block of training tomorrow. Well, I'm not. According to my mind, I don't even feel like trudging through the shortest of workouts, I'm emotionally on-edge, and I no longer eagerly anticipate my next training session. The truth of the matter is, I did a poor job of formulating "the plan" for my buildup to triathlon nationals and paid a high cost.
Throughout the month of May I have pushed through feelings of staleness and lethargy, putting up crappy numbers in workouts, ignoring what my body was telling me in lieu of fulfilling the sessions which I had scheduled; surely it would be disastrous if I deviated from "the plan". What ended up being disastrous was following it.
The past two weeks I have attempted to continue through overtraining. This is a state which, unfortunately, is very familiar to me. Almost every schedule which I've created has led me deep into the valleys of fatigue with no immediate escape route. However, my compulsion to go hard continually drives me even further its clutches. So what made me recognize my error? Its really pretty simple: waking up every morning this week I haven't been looking forward to training. It sickens me to realize that I'm no longer feeling a desire to swim, bike or run, whereas all of these activities normally bring me so much joy every day.
This was the last straw. I am discarding "the plan" and seeking the advice of an expert coach in Dave Williams. I am confident that he will help me to achieve my fullest potential going forward. Most of all, I have finally decided to confront the mental and physical burnout with something which intimidates me even more: recovery. The past month's training has certainly hampered my chances at nationals, as will the requisite recovery to get ready for hard training again. But there is no other way around this roadblock- believe me, I've searched for one.

White Lake Sprint

One week after nationals we packed up again and drove to beautiful White Lake, North Carolina for a weekend of Boyles family racing. My dad did the half on Saturday, but unfortunately stomach problems caused him to have a sub par day. Impressively, he pushed through the GI issues and still managed a 4:58 finish.
The next day, my brother and I raced the sprint. I woke up calm and excited race morning and came to the starting line ready to go for it. The swim went surprisingly well considering that I had only been getting in the pool a couple of times a week when I was getting ready for duathlon nationals. I found some fast feet to draft off of and came out of the water in third. After a little trouble getting my wetsuit off, I settled in to an even pace on the bike. I was erring on the side of caution since I had definitely biked too hard at nationals, so I held back a lot more than I typically would. Coming in to T2 I was in second place about thirty seconds back. After an okay transition I hit my stride and focused on the first place guy, who I could see farther down the road. By the first mile mark I had made up twenty-four seconds on the leader. Shortly thereafter I took the lead and pulled away, winning White Lake for the second time in my racing career. My brother had a great race, winning his age group despite his saddle coming loose midway through the bike. As for the TMS-IOS team, Amie Krasnozon won the female title and Alysia Lovgren took fourth. Amazingly, JoAnna Younts was second in the master's open after winning the same division convincingly in the half the day before.
Even though I had phantom soreness left over from nationals which lasted all week, I felt like I put in a good effort on the day. White Lake is a fantastic venue and the weekend always takes a festive atmosphere, which we got to experience for the first time this year. We rented a room in the lodge which is adjacent to the race venue- it was pretty cool to step right out the door and race.
Now its time to start logging some more yards in the pool so I can get ready for my first draft legal triathlon. I'm already excited for Junior Nationals in August!

Duathlon Nationals

Today I raced my first peak of the season: duathlon nationals. The junior race was a 5k run, 13k bike and 2.5k run. I knew that it was going to be an excellent race whenever my daily 'successful people' calendar, which usually involves an inspiring quote, had just one word for this weekend: "Excellence."
We arrived in Richmond at bike check in around 4 p.m. on Saturday to find 70 degree temps with ominous skies threatening rain. My race was at ten the following morning, which gave me plenty of time to get up, eat a leisurely breakfast, and basically try to control my excitement as the event for which I had devoted the past 5 months, sacrificing my track season to prepare for, quickly approached. Race day temps were around 65 or 70 without rain, but the previous night's rain made for a wet and treacherous bike course. I began the first run very relaxed, settling into a good rhythm while a let two eager competitors speed out front. Ryan Peterson, the defending champion, and I basically ran the first mile together and slowly regained the time on the two guys ahead. By two miles, I was about twenty seconds back of Matus Kriska, sitting in second place a few strides ahead of Ryan Peterson and Hunter Honeycutt. By T1, our order hadn't changed. Once onto the bike Ryan and I dug deep and pushed the pace to gap Hunter on the challenging and technical bike course. Ryan slowly pulled away from me over the next few miles, but I reeled in Matus in the late stages of the bike leg. However, he stayed close and came out of T2 ahead of me. Fortunately I didn't experience the dizziness which I had encountered at Azalea and Cool Breeze, but I did have to deal with a painful stitch in my right side and both of my shoulders. I focused on running efficiently, but my legs just didn't have the pop that I had been feeling during the past few weeks' hard workouts, but I may have gone too hard on the bike. Nevertheless, I maintained third place until I crossed the line. Unfortunately, that course took a lot out of me and my typical finishing kick was almost nonexistent. I ended up about 15 seconds back of Matus and a minute behind Ryan. Hunter finished fourth. I think that our second runs were about equal, because the time differences at the end were similar the gaps at T2. It was an awesome experience with some top flight competition, and though I would have liked to have won, I know that any of the top four guys might have won on a different day.
I have so much to thanks to give for the help, love, and support I have received on the journey to this race: to God, for giving me a passion and talent for multisport and giving me good courage and strength to race to the best of my abilities; to my parents and brother for unwavering love, patience, and first class cheering on race day (not to mention the practicals of driving me to/from training, making sacrifices to accommodate my schedule, paying for enormous amounts of quality food to help me refuel, and offering as much guidance as they can); to the TMS-IOS elite multisport team, for comping my race fees and supplying me with a super cool race suit, helmet, and training apparel. Speaking of the team, Kristin Villopoto used the age group race as a tune up for the White Lake Half, coming into it pretty beat up from some hard training, but still finished an impressive 7th overall and 1st in her age group.
Next up for Team Boyles are the Half (for dad) and sprint (for my brother Jackson and myself) at White Lake next weekend. After that, its time for me to get back into the chlorine and rediscover my inner swimmer, because I will be racing my first draft legal triathlon at Junior Nationals in San Diego this August.

Until next time,
Train smart and race hard!
Mason Boyles

Cool Breeze Triathlon

Yesterday, my family piled into the van for the drive to Huntersville and the Cool Breeze Triathlon. We arrived at our hotel around 4 pm and were putting our numbers on our bikes when my mom asked me if I had my cycling shoes…I didn't. It was a blessing that she mentioned it that night, or I wouldn't have realized what I was missing until the morning of the race. The closest bike shop was the Spirited Cyclist, which closed at five. We hurried there and walked in at 5 sharp, but there was no hurry; I ran into the perfect person to help me. Mike Harvey was as helpful as could be, and even offered to let me borrow a pair of his shoes for the race tomorrow. When they didn't fit, he stayed well after closing time finding me a comfortable pair of shoes and attaching cleats. When the cleats didn't fit, Mike tried everything he could think of- loosening the pedal clips on the bike, lubricating the cleat and pedals, brute force, but all in vain. Finally, he filed down the edge of the cleats and we were up and running. When it was alll figured out, Mike had stayed an hour after closing time to help us out. He even gave us an enormous discount. We ended up paying only $90 for a brand new pair of shoes fitted with cleats. Without Mike and the Spirited Cyclist, I wouldn't have been racing the next day. I've also got to thank my family for not freaking out about this extra excursion. They were starving when we realized that I'd left my shoes back in Wilmington. Needless to say, they were ravenous an hour later, but none of them muttered a word of complaint. I'm really lucky to have such a supportive (and forgiving) family!
I awoke Sunday morning feeling physically and mentally prepared to race. We drove to the race site and I bid my mom goodbye, wishing my brother and dad who were also racing good luck before I left to warm up. It was a chilly mid forties and fairly windy, so I was glad to have my TMS-IOS race top to keep me warm. I started 5th, pushing off at 8:00:30. As always, I thanked God for the opportunity and asked him to give me courage to race the best that I could that day before I began. After a smooth swim I pulled on my gloves while running to the bike. I pedaled away and slipped my feet into the new cycling shoes with ease, silently thanking Mike Harvey as I did so. I passed TMS-IOS teammate Chris Tommerdahl and another guy within the first mile, putting me in second position. My odometer wasn't working so I simply put my head down and hammered, seeing no one else until about a mile left on the bike. Donny Forsyth passed me as I was taking a turn very slowly, since my handling skills are pretty crappy. I passed him back on a straight stretch, and then slowed way down for another turn and he came around again. This repeated itself one more time before we arrived in transition, where my mom was screaming her head off. I get serious tunnel vision during races, so its pretty impressive that my mom cheers hard enough for me to notice her. She spends just as much energy being support crew for my dad, my brother, and me as we do when we race.
At this point my world was spinning. I have never felt so dizzy in my life, and struggled to pull my run shoes on. I dug deep and fixed my eyes on Donny Forsyth's back, gradually reeling him in. All the while my head was spinning faster and faster, as if it was riding the Tilt-a-Whirl at Carowinds. I felt like I was going to fall over any moment but just focused on running my fastest. By the time I crossed the finish line I had no energy left to supress the dizziness and pretty much plopped down on the ground. I closed my eyes and just stayed there for a long time before I tried to sit up, but my head was still spinning at a zillion miles an hour, so I lay back down again. Someone came over and told me to breathe deeply. By that time my mom had come over, too. She thought that I felt that way because I hadn't been breathing enough, and my dad later agreed, adding that the cold weather could have caused me to take shallow breaths.
I ended up second overall (again) to Zack Capets, who won by about twenty seconds. Donny Forsyth was third, another thirty seconds behind me. My teammates faired well today, too- Chris Tommerdahl dominated for the third time this season, taking the open female title by several minutes. Kristin Villopoto podiumed in the female master's open. As for Team Boyles, my dad finished a strong second in the cutthroat 45-49 division, while placing twelfth overall. Jackson, who is only twelve, finished third place in fifteen and under, behind two fifteen year olds. All in all, it was a fun weekend of racing and family time.
Until next time,
Train smart and race hard!
Mason Boyles

Azalea Festival Triathlon (Saturday race)

This weekend I raced Azalea, my first triathlon of the 2010 season. I came in to this week really fatigued from a really hard training block, so I knew that recovery leading up to the race would be critical- however, at first I didn't accept it. I cut my volume but did some very intense workouts in all three sports on Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon, I was absolutely cooked. I had gone just a couple days too far with the hard training and seemed to have fallen over the edge. This, along with my dad's persistence that I needed to have a real recovery week, finally convinced me to back off. And so Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were low volume, low intensity days with some brief pickups which left me feeling fresh again and excited to race on Saturday morning.

It had been raining sporadically all week, as Wilmington rain tends to come in brief, frequent bouts. Fortunately the skies stayed clear all morning and it turned out to be the perfect weather for a triathlon: about sixty degrees with partial clouds. Once I got to the race site, I met up with fellow IOS elite multisport team members Mr. and Mrs. Younts, who had brought me my race gear. I am very lucky to be a part of such a fantastic team and to have the support of companies as great as Inside Out Sports and Triangle Multisport, so I was looking forward to racing in the team uniform.

My warmup went smoothly, though I finished about twenty minutes before I was set to start. Several times I hopped into the pool and swam a few laps to keep loose before jumping back on to the deck and pulling on a jacket. My number was ten, meaning that I started at 8:02:15. When the time came, I pushed off of the wall and immediately found a smooth rhythm. Considering the current state of my swimming (atrocious at best) I was happy with how the first leg went; I was almost able to catch #9, who had started 15 seconds before me. Going down the stairs from the pool, I slipped and fell. It took me a couple of tries before I could get up, but I managed to make the other two flights without incident. The run to T1 was a couple hundred yards, which helped to get the blood flow going back to my legs before the bike. After a quick transition, I was out onto the bike course. One guy passed me right away and I stuck with him for a couple miles before he gradually gapped me. I passed IOS teammate Chris Tommerdahl about three miles in as we were going down Eastwood Road. I wasn't feeling very strong during the bike leg and didn't pass or get passed by anyone until I was on the run. In fact, about halfway through I began to wonder whether I had a flat tire (which I didn't). However, I kept thinking positively and just did the best that I could, thanking God for this opportunity to give my best effort. I finished the bike and was in and out of T2 in a flash.

At this point, I was feeling very dizzy and lightheaded. I have no clue why, but I was very unsteady on my feet and had tunnel vision from the late stages of the bike on. This wasn't goint to stop me, though. I just settled into a fast cadence and focused on running with grace and power. By the turnaround I had reeled in four guys and was in third position. I dug deep and tried to get all of the speed that I could from my stride. I finished in 45:40, 44 seconds behind the winner, Matthew Wistoff, and 1:02 ahead of third place overall finisher and IOS team member Brad Perry. I was gunning for Mr. Wistoff, but he is a fantastic athlete who has won many races in his career. Even though I didn't get him, I dropped 2:53 from last year and felt like I performed well for this time in the season.

The two major triathlon series in North Carolina, FS Series and Inside Out Sports North Carolina Triathlon Series, offer an unparalleled race experience. I am truly lucky to live in a state with such a thriving triathlon community and strive to never take their service for granted. In short, FS Series and Setup Events are awesome!

Another great thing I took away from this race was meeting my fellow Inside Out Sports teammates. We nearly swept the race, with team members earning 2nd and 3rd overall male, (myself and Brad Perry, respectively), and taking 1st (Chris Tommerdahl), 2nd (Tara Flint), third (Joanna Younts) overall on the women's side. Kenneth Younts placed 10th overall and 3rd in for masters open males.

My other 'team' also had great showings. My dad and brother both won their age groups, my dad placing 12th overall in a time of 50:24, and my twelve year old brother finishing in 1:02:48. As for my mom, she definately won the biggest fan award. I love it when we all go to race. It makes for a really exciting day. Now I get to look forward to Cool Breeze Triathlon on March 28, where all of the Boyles Boyz will toe the line together once again! After that, its all about Duathlon Nationals at the end of April.

My splits today were: swim-3:54; T1-1:19; bike-23:38; T2- :42; run-16:10, for a 45:40 finish.

Train hard and race smart!

Mason Boyles

2 mile TT

Yesterday was the 2 mile time trial for the Hoggard track squad. I'm not running track this year, instead focusing on peaking for duathlon nationals, but I came out anyway to test my fitness and check in with the team again.

My first mile was a little [read: a lot] fast and it certainly showed in the second half, but I still ran a pretty decent 9:55 without any competition. I seem to be on track for February and look forward to putting in some speed work over the next nine weeks to come to nationals fully prepared. However, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that I didn't go sub-9:50, and thoughts like 'you would have gone faster if you didn't go out so hard' keep nagging at me. This is pretty typical of any endurance athlete; we are never satisfied with any performance. Even if I had run a P.R. I'm sure that I would have found something about my race to be disappointed with. Fortunately, this is one case where pessimism can be good- an insatiable drive for excellence has spurred a plethora of the moderately talented to achieve great things and rise to the pinnacle of their field. Until next time...

Train hard and race smart

Mason Boyles

Cape Fear Soccer Association Scholarship 5k (Phew!): Recovery From Off Days

Well, that was disappointing. First, the Winston Salem duathlon was cancelled for inclement weather (ice covering the roads!), so I decided to race a local 5k instead. Bad choice! I had a pretty serious off day. You never know when one of those is coming; a bad race can creep up on you with the skill of an unwelcome FBI agent. I felt fine going into the race, but it just lasted about a minute longer than it should have! Regrouping your confidence can be tough, and its easy to let a bad day mar your perspective, but getting it back together is critical for future success. So, despite running over a minute slower than I'm really capable of, I'm trying to leave the baggage behind and move on to the next step toward duathlon nationals. I just have to remind myself that my training sessions are on target and trust in my fitness; if I do that, then race day performance will come around eventually. At least the race was for a good cause.

The CFSAS 5k was held to benefit the Cape Fear Soccer Association's scholarship program for families with low income. In today's economy, many household providers are either laid off or facing salary cuts. The scholarship program gives kids from low-budget households the opportunity to play in the Cape Fear Soccer league. In fact, there are two refugees from Haiti playing on scholarship while their dad recovers from injuries sustained during the earthquake. In just a few months, they have been forced to leave the place where they had spent all their lives and move to thousands of miles a foreign country, not to mention losing most of their material possessions along the way. If nothing else, that should put a single bad race in perspective.