IM Texas

I registered for IM Texas yesterday.  I'm very excited.  I believe the long course is where my strengths truly shine through.  I have so many goals for this race, it's ridiculous.  Of course I will share them here, since I am the only one who reads this, and I am prone to forget things form time to time.

1.  Qualify for Kona 2012
2.  Race sub 9 hours  -- this may prove difficult based on the weather conditions, but I want to put myself in a position to be able to do it in Kona, so I'd better try and get close here
3.   First amateur finisher
4.  Sub 3 hour marathon

I want number one at all costs.  Numbers 2-4 would be icing on the cake, but I believe with the correct preparation, focus, and toughness, they are all possible.

Powersprint Triathlon

The Powersprint Triathlon, put on by Richmond Multisports, continues to be one of my favorite races to compete in.  It was my first triathlon ever, and when possible, I like to come back and test myself on the course.  This year I had high expectations for myself, as I'm just now starting to round into some decent form.

I had my best swim ever for a 300m pool swim:  4:15.  I'm fortunate that I am able to just keep chipping time off of that standard.  I still honestly believe that I should be able to swim closer to 4:00 in a distance like that, but as long as I keep getting faster and faster, I can't complain.

I knew Dave Luscan would be tough to race against, as well as Ryan Peterson.  Ryan started way ahead of me, so I figured I wouldn't be seeing him for the entire race.  Dave, however, only started 20 seconds ahead of me, so when I passed a man wearing the same swimsuit as Dave after 150 m in the pool, I though, "could that have been him?"  That odd thought stayed in my mind all the way until I reached my bike.  When I noticed Dave's bike was already gone, I realized I had mistaken the other gentleman whom I passed.

The bike was fine.  I basically went as hard as I could, managing to pass all but Dave and Ryan by the time I got back to T2.  My split was right on par with what I was expecting, about 15 seconds off my best time there.

I felt good, got up and running, and for the first mile, things were going great.  The second mile was pretty awful, and the third wasn't much better, but I pulled myself together enough to keep it moving at a decent speed.  Luckily for me I caught up to Dave with about 200 meters to go, and we had a sprint the the finish.  Without that sprint, I would have finished second, as Ryan ended up finishing just one second behind me in the overall standings.  Dave finished a scant 20 seconds behind me.

Both athletes had super races, and I am very thankful to be able to come out of it healthy.  I believe this was the closest race for the top 3 that the race has ever seen, and probably 3 of the fastest times as well.  I know I've raced in the 50's and 49:xx a couple times, and Michael Harlow and Ryan have been in the 50's, but to have 3 guys do it on the same day was very impressive.

This was a great race for me.  It showed me that races don't always come easy.  Things pop up suddenly and viciously tear at you.  The demons were fighting against me yesterday.  Fortunately I have some demons of my own.  I worked it out and managed to overcome them.

So overall, I got some great things out of this race:
1.  My swim continues to improve.
2.  My bike is on par with where it has been in the past.  Avg 335 watts, for 27 minutes and change is pretty good for me.
3.  I was able to test my resolve and prove to myself that I am still a fighter in the midst of adversity.
4.  I have made some good strides since the Chasing Chics race in April, so my form is progressing, and that bodes well for the summer races.

Things to work on

Saw Sasha this afternoon.  Big issues with flexibility again.

1.  Knee to chest holding for 2 seconds

With rope
1.  Knee to chest, then hamstring extension hold for 2 seconds
2.  Toe up, leg up, then pull rope with straight leg hold for 2 seconds
3.  Leg up, out, and pull with rope for 2 seconds (adduction)
4.  Opposite arm and leg hip flexor stretch

Sumo Squats  (tall posture with hands on toes)
Up and down hamstring stretches

With Band
1.  Clamshells on side
2.  Hip Lifts and then spread knees

Single leg hip lifts

Chair stretch for rectus femoris  (with pillow and something to hold onto)

Foam roll
Stretch
Ice
Repeat.

Goals for 2011

Let's get it done.

1.  Sub 2:30:00 at the Shamrock Marathon/ Sub 1:09:00 at the Shamrock Half
2.  Kona qualifier at IM Arizona
3.  Sub 9 hour IM
4.  Win Patriot Half Iron
5.  Top 5 at Colonial Half Marathon

I'm Back

I've decided two things.


1.  I need to write more.
2.  I need to keep a more detailed account of my training.

Not too many know I even keep this blog, so it's just for me, although if people want to read on, they are by all means welcome.

I'm going to write a short synopsis of my 2010 racing and training season.

It was crap.

That's really all that should be said about it.  After a really solid race at the Ironman World Championships in October of 2009, I thought that the Winter of 2009-2010 would be the springboard for some really great things.  It started off well through December and January, and then right in the middle of February I started suffering from glute/hamstring pain that didn't stop for what seemed like forever.  It was never severely painful, but it was dull and it was always there.  I ended up going through about 3 months of PT to get it settled out, and realized that I had some big limiters, namely my hip flexor and glute flexibility.  They are still things I need to work on daily.  Once it cleared up enough where I could start doing some harder efforts in training, I jumped in a couple low key races... Breezy Point where i finished 2nd (and showed off my lack of fitness pretty well, especially on the bike), Rocketts Landing where I won, and the Nation's Triathlon where I raced well in 2nd, but just got beaten by a better racer on the day in Robbie Wade.  I just did not have the top end necessary to compete at the highest of levels.
I shifted my focus at this point to running.  I planned on racing the Richmond Marathon, and 8 weeks beforehand, I raced the Mulberry Island Half just to test my run fitness.  I won convincingly, but I knew that in order to race under 2:30, I had quite a bit of work to do.  So I carried on for a few weeks, but then came down with a case of chondromalacia.  That took me out of the marathon, and I still am suffering from symptoms.

Yuck.

I guess it really comes down to a couple of things.

1.  I need to train more intelligently.  I am not a machine, and I cannot consistently drill my body into the ground and expect it to hold up month and month.  I might have been able to get away with that in high school and in college, but now, I'm getting older and I need more recovery.

2.  I need to train my limiters.  For some people, their limiters are aerobic fitness, swim form, muscular strength on the bike.  Mine are core strength, flexibility, and muscular power (in the form of strength training)

3.  I need to continue to remind myself to back off and ask for help when I need it.  I don't know everything, although I do know quite a bit.  I wait too long for things to bother me before I go to a professional, and by that time it's too late.

So for 2010-2011, things are going to change.  I AM going to train more intelligently.  I will regularly schedule easy days/ recovery workouts into my schedule.  I AM going to address my limiters more aggressively.  I will go to core fitness 2x per week for strength/mobility training and I will continue my routine of foam rolling and stretching at home.  I will ask for help when it's needed.

Here's to hoping 2010-2011 goes much better!

Overcoming Injury

So I was super sick the last two weeks of January, and I could barely manage to wake up and go to work.  So I missed 9 days of workouts in that span, and when I finally got healthy, I came back into training WAY too aggressively.  Biked 8 hours on the trainer after only 2.5 hours total the previous 2 weeks.  That was not smart.  And I'm paying for it.  I overworked my left hamstring and caught a bout of high hamstring tendonitis.

I hate being hurt.  Exercising makes me happy.  Being fit makes me happy.  Racing makes me happy.  And when I'm injured I can't do any of those things.

I think, though, that every time I get injured, I come out of it a better person and a better athlete.  Like in the summer of 2008 when I messed my right ankle up badly.  I had 11 weeks to prepare for an Ironman, and I became so focused and so on top of things that I was able to get a Kona Q.  I don't know if I'm capable to holding that intensity during all of my training throughout the year, but I do know I can do it for blocks at a time.  And now, I'm taking a serious look at the quality of my training, and I'm realizing that one thing that I am missing is regular core and strength training.  I really think that this element of training will make more so much better, and now that I've had some time to rest and think about how to approach my own training, I know that this is something that needs to be included several times a week.  

I have 9 weeks until USAT Duathlon Nationals, which is not long at all.  But I also prepped for an IM in 11 weeks, so this shouldn't be any harder than that.

Ironman Hawaii Race Report

These Boys Are Fit!

Ironman races always amaze me.

I spend my life teaching children and working with their classroom teachers and parents about the importance of becoming physically fit, staying active, and eating healthfully. Our country in particular is experiencing a continuing increase in its percentage of overweight and obese citizens. You would have no idea if you spent this past week in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The entire week there was a constant stream of people running and cycling up and down the road in front of our house. Everyone was fit, confident, and fast. Unless you recognized someone's face, you couldn't tell the professionals from the amateurs. It was hard NOT to get somewhat intimidated.

My training this Summer and early Fall was splendid. I stayed healthy enough to string together more cycling miles over a 11-week block than I ever have before, continued to progress my swimming workouts from last Fall and Winter, and kept a decent enough level of running fitness. The only hiccup I really had over my 14-week training cycle was getting sick 3 weeks out from the race....everyone in my school caught some nasty bug, and of course my body was on the razor's edge at that point, so I got it too. That week was pretty much shot, but the work had been done, and I just needed to get myself race ready. One great thing that happened to me before I left to get me race ready was a huge send-off from my family at Rawls Byrd Elementary School. I was left almost speechless as they threw a going away assembly for me Friday afternoon. The inspirational words, kind gestures, financial contributions, and rallying support really helped me to get to the starting line with confidence and even a little swagger.

Pre-Race

The atmosphere before the race was just like any other triathlon I've done with a few notable exceptions. I wasn't used to having guys running around with video cameras and lights everywhere. I also wasn't used to having help from so many volunteers. It was crazy, they were just itching to find something to help you with. People sometimes complain about the steep price of IM registration fees, but in my opinion, the volunteer help (before, during, after) was well worth the price of admission. About ten minutes before the start of the pro wave there were a couple Navy Seals that jumped out of a plane and parachuted down into the water by the pier. I wish I had paid attention to whether or not they were actually competing in the race (I know David Goggins did last year), but I was instead too busy visualizing my race plan and pumping myself up with tunes from my iPod.

Swim 2.4 miles

The professionals started at 6:45AM, and amateurs started at 7:00AM. I fortunately ran into my buddy Chris Ganter in the race hotel just a few minutes earlier, so we stuck together and headed into the water. For those that may not know, Chris and I shared a good chunk of the bike leg and just about every step of the marathon in last year's IM Arizona to help each other to breakthrough performances and two slots to this race. We are evenly paired and good friends to boot. We both waited until about 6:55AM to swim out to the starting line, where we ended up still treading water for what seemed like forever. Then Mike Reilly, the voice of the Ironman, said a few inspirational words, all the referees on surf boards steadied themselves, and the cannon went off.

People have tried to explain what it is like in a mass swim start. Even last year at IM Arizona I thought I had experienced what that was all about. I had no idea. I would have been wise to hire Chuck Norris as my personal trainer if I had known what it was really like here. This clip tries valiantly to explain what it's like, but unfortunately, I don't think there's any way to prepare for it besides just doing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk

I don't think I took a complete stroke for at least half a mile. I was too busy literally crawling up and over people, hitting people next to me with my arms as I tried to stroke, kicking people behind me, fixing my goggles in mid-sight as I got kicked in the face and half of them got knocked off, etc. It was actually pretty fun! I was sort of expecting that for the start, but I just was not prepared for it to last as long as it did. Every time we reached a buoy, the group would bottleneck and any resemblance of spreading out and finding some swim space disappeared and it was back to UFC-style swim fighting. I didn't look at my watch, but I'm guessing it was maybe about 20:00 into the swim I finally found some space that I could maneuver in, and started moving up through the field. The water is crystal clear, so you could see right down to the bottom of the ocean in addition to being able to see people's feet in front of you. This was helpful as it was much easier to find feet to draft off of, which for me was a huge help. Just after the turnaround, I swam up to the front of the massive pack that I had been working through, and there was about a 30 meter gap until the next large group. I made a decision then and there to put my head down and go for it to see if I could latch on. I worked pretty hard for about 5:00, and I finally caught the tail end of the group. Here I was able to get myself back under control while the group dynamic pulled me through to the end.

My goal time for the swim, 1:00:00. My actual time, 59:57. Can't get too much better than that.

Transition 1

I made pretty quick work out of getting my speedsuit off, washing down with some fresh water to get all the salt off, and getting my cycling gear. One thing I did not do which I regret VERY much is get some sunscreen from the volunteers. It was pretty chaotic, and it's hard to remember everything.

Bike 112 miles

Based on my training, I knew I could average 240 watts on the bike and still put together a great run afterwards. So I told myself that for at least the first 3 hours of the bike, I would pay close attention to my powermeter and not worry about anyone else in the race. I felt phenomenal starting out, and for the first 40 miles I was averaging 245 watts, a little high, but my effort was easy and I was drinking plenty and sticking to my nutrition plan without trouble. The first part of the ride goes through barren lava fields, and there are very few landmarks to distinguish where you are. From about mile 40 to mile 60 is a long gradual uphill to a small town called Hawi. The roads are rolling, but the hills are not what makes this bike course so challenging. The winds and the oppressive heat are much more difficult to deal with. Starting about halfway up the climb to Hawi, the winds really picked up, and the smooth ride I had been on up to that point became real very quickly. Again, I referenced my powermeter to keep myself in check, especially on the uphills. Average power increased to 248 watts at the turnaround.

The descent was much quicker, but again, very dicey with some strong crosswinds. You always had to stay alert. Once I got back to the lava fields, crosswinds turned into a steady headwind. Not only did it reek havoc on my speed, but it also very tough mentally to deal with it for 30 miles. At one point, I crested a climb, got my speed to around 23-24 mph going down, and then was going to take a small break and coast downhill and eat some food. Before I could get anything in my mouth, my speed had dropped to 13 mph. Even gravity wasn't strong enough for the winds on the Big Island! That was pretty humbling. In addition, the temperatures were soaring. It had reached 95F plus humidity, and then in addition to that, we were out in the middle of a lava field with black rock radiating all that heat and making it feel even hotter. I was drinking close to 32oz of fluid every 20:00 on the bike. My legs lost a bit of power in the last 30 miles, and by the time I finished the ride, I had averaged 241 watts, pretty much exactly where I wanted to be. I had thought that that kind of cycling would yield me a much faster split time, but considering the conditions, it was about 15:00 slower than I was hoping for. I rode 5:17:38. However, I was ready to get off the bike and run.

Transition 2

We had to run all the way around the pier to get our transition bags, and coming off the bike my legs were pretty beat up. It took me the entire transition run to loosen up. While I was getting my shoes on a volunteer asked me if I wanted sunscreen. Absolutely I did.

Run

I really thought I could average 7:00/mile in this marathon, and even though the temperature and humidity had reached a ludicrous level, I still planned on "going for it" and starting out at close to 7:00 pace. I had a lot of guys in front of me coming off the bike, and I planned on catching as many as I could. The first few miles are always way too fast no matter how much I'm trying to relax. I hit 6:31, 6:37, and 6:39 for the first 3 miles before I had a little heart to heart with myself and decided that I really needed to make a conscious effort to slow down if I wanted to stay strong at the end. So my next 3 miles were much better 6:59, 6:46, and 6:57. I was comfortable there, and I was able to get into a good smooth rhythm. The first 10 miles of the run are out and back on Ali'i Drive right by the ocean. So there was a warm breeze coming off the water, which was better than no breeze at all, and lots of people were out with sprinklers spraying athletes down. Aid stations were also located about every mile, so I got into a good routine to manage my body temperature. I would get a couple cold water sponges, douse them all over me, then stick them in the front of my jersey. Then I would take water and pour it down my front to get the sponges wet again. Finally I would take a cup of ice, put some in my mouth, then take the rest and pour it inside the back of my jersey. In addition I would drink pretty much whatever I could grab in between doing all that stuff...most of it would be gatorade and water, but occasionally I'd get a cup of coke, and that was a nice treat.

I was definitely moving past tons of people in the first 10 miles of the run, but there were also a couple of guys who were passing me at that point. Right at mile 10 there's a pretty serious climb up Palani Road to the Queen K Highway (out to the lava fields again!) This hill was the breaking point of a lot of athletes. The attrition rate from here on was simply astounding. Guys were blowing up left and right, and I felt like Usain Bolt running past them at 7:00 pace. From miles 10-14, there were quite a few uphills into the wind, and this was a very difficult section for me. I felt like I was toeing the line between maximizing my potential and falling off the edge and losing it. Luckily I was still passing guys so that was a huge motivating factor. Also, even though I was feeling miserable, I was still managing to maintain miles not too far from my goal pace. I hit a 7:45 going up Palani Drive, but then I reeled off 6:31, 7:03, 6:58, 7:07, and 7:27 miles up to the Energy Lab. I can't say the rest of the run was easy, but those miles were actually the most difficult of the day for me. I made my way through the Energy Lab and back out on the Queen K, and now I had a tailwind coming back into town. Tailwinds are great on the bike, but when you're running in 100 degree weather, running with a tailwind makes you feel like you're running in an oven. I made it back into town, continued passing athletes all the way to the end, and finally finished the Ironman with a total time of 9:27:49. My run split was 3:03:57, which I was supremely pleased with. Not only was this the first time in an Ironman that I haven't slowed considerably after about mile 15, I also proved to myself that I can do it in less than ideal conditions. I felt thankful when I finished, thankful for all who helped me get to this point, thankful that I didn't suffer from any serious problems that would have required medical care, and thankful that it was done and I could go and sit down for a while. I was proud as well, for I've been working towards completing this race for a very long time, and I stuck right to my race plan and basically did the best job I thought I could do.

When I finished coming across the line, a volunteer asked me if I needed anything. I then proceeded to go on a drinking rampage. I had 2 cups water, 2 cups of gatorade, and a cup of coke. Then a really nice volunteer had the brilliant idea of cutting a gallon jug open, filling it with ice cold water and giving athletes an ice bath shower. That felt SO good. I then proceeded to the massage tent, drank some more water, and by that time was feeling good enough to head home and clean up.

I ended up placing 94th overall, I was the 37th amateur, and I placed 11th in my age group. Out of my age group, I was the second American finisher. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed with those numbers. I honestly thought that the kind of race I put out would have placed me higher. But there were some extremely fit and tough athletes racing, and they were just flat out better than I was on Saturday. Am I disappointed with my race though? Absolutely not! I stuck right to my race plan from start to finish and executed perfectly. I had a great experience, beat a third of the male professionals that were racing, and learned a lot of things about myself in that 9:27:49 that you can't learn anywhere else but by yourself in the middle of a lava field in the Pacific Ocean.

Stats:

Total Starters- 1776

Total Finishers-1650

Finishing Place- 94

Amateur Place- 37

Age Group Place - 11