10th time is the charm - a win at St. Croix.

I've been racing St. Croix since 2002. It took a lot of tries, but I'm super excited to finally get the win at St. Croix.

Thanks Ramon Serrano for the photo.

Check out my race recap at WattieInk.com.

Recovery Pump Compression Sleeves

Recovery Pump now has compression for your arms and shoulders. Check it out!

Use Coupon Code: RICHIE for $25 Off

Race Report: A Win at TX 70.3

Photo by Nils Nilsen

I'm really happy to have a win on the board for 2013. It took me a bit by surprise. I'd been struggling a little bit with the training in Boulder. Early in the year it was good, but then we got some rough weather and it's been hard to get all the training in. I raced San Juan a few weeks ago and it was a bit of a disaster so I came back from that and restructured my training to focus more on my swim.

I wanted to get back for another warm race - I don't like the cold races so much, so TX 70.3 seemed like a good choice. I was a little nervous though because I did this race the first two years they had it and they were two of my worst races ever. The first year I DNF'ed and the second year someone threw tacs on the road and I got a flat, which made for a bad race in the end. I was hoping maybe I'd get lucky the 3rd time around.

The weeks leading into the race I tried to work on my swim a lot. I knew with Will Clark coming across from the ITU, the swim would be fast. I tried to sit with him on the swim and we got a good lead out on the bike with Allen Gardner, who came out of the water first. He was pushing the pace on the bike the first 10-15 miles. After that I took over the lead. I rode thru half way and at the turn around I realized there were 10-15 guys chasing that were only 1 1/2 minutes behind, so I tried to keep the pace high. About half way back, around mile 35-40, Allen dropped off and I was on my own. I knew there were strong guys like BigSexy and Tim Berkel chasing and I didn't want to get caught with 5 miles ago after working so hard, so I really pushed it the last few miles.

 I managed to finish the bike with a little bit of a lead. I settled in on the run and for some reason it just clicked and I felt good. I really worked mile 3 and mile 7 to extend the gap a little bit. After around 8 miles, I felt like I had enough of a lead and just focused on maintaining my pace. It felt really great get in a win in TX after a few bad years. I really wanted to get back to running fast again after my race in San Juan, so I was really happy to run a 1:12 in that race. I've been working pretty hard on my run over the winter and have been doing some long runs at high altitude, so I'm glad to see it paying off. Congrats to Tim Berkel and BigSexy on 2nd and 3rd. It was great to race with you guys.

Also thanks to my sponsors. I have some incredible sponsors and gear helping me out this year and it's really made a difference.

Podium Finish at Ironman 70.3 Panama

Getting a podium in the 70.3 Pan American Championships is a great way to start the season. I battled hard through the Boulder winter to prepare for this race. The hard work paid off. Congrats to Oscar and Bevan for first and second. The day was a lot tougher than I expected with the heat and the wind, but it gave me a good chance to test out my new Blue bike and Reynolds wheels, which were fantastic. It was the best I’ve felt on the bike in a long time.

 

Read More in the Wattie Ink Press Relase: Wattie Ink. Athlete Richie Cunningham Rocks the Podium at Ironman 70.3 Panama

 

Well said, Sign.

Source: gottoast.com via National Mill Dog on Pinterest

My Encyclopedia of Breathing Problems

In my search to figure out how to fix my breathing issues (see 2012 race reports starting in May), I've come up with a long list of potential causes. I thought this might be useful for athletes out there who struggle with breathing during exercise and aren't sure how to fix it.

1. Asthma
This is every doctor's first answer. I took a normal asthma test and was fine.

2. Sports Induced Asthma
I failed this test, so it appears that this is what is wrong. I started taking asthma medication and an inhaler before hard training sessions. It didn't really help.

3. Sports Induced Ashthma
Yea, doctors love this answer. They changed my meds to see if they worked better. I'm still not sure it's helping.

4. Vocal Chord Dysfunction (VCD)
It sounded like a good possibility. Treatment is re-learning how to breathe properly. Read more here: http://www.nationaljewish.org/healthinfo/conditions/vcd/

5. Allergies/Intolerances
I had an allergy test done and found a couple minor foods that I was allergic / intolerant to, so I cut them out of my diet.

6. Heart Problems
Some people can have some backflow issues with their heart (called valve regurgitation), which isn't all that uncommon or cause for concern. Exercise could exacerbate it though and make breathing difficult, which is a problem. So I got a stress echo done and the doctor said I was fine.

7. Muscle Problems
I've tried massage, PT, dry needling, and chiropractic work around my ribs/chest. It seems to help a little.

8. Sickness - Viruses or Parasites

9. Tumors
I had a chest xray done. It looked fine.


Well, that is it. Feel free to add to this list in the comments. Hope this helps somebody!

Rev3 FL Race Recap Video

REV3 Florida 2012 Pro Recap from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.