1st Workout after IMWI and other stuff...

Well, I went out and rode with the Tuesday Night Road Ride group tonight.  These guys are absolute animals.  Led by a man I can only describe as a General Webb, the ride focuses on group riding skills, pacelines, and to top it all off, some fast finishing sprints (30+ mph!!!!).  I rode with these guys last summer and posted some serious bike splits at all my races back then.  This summer, I didn't get to ride with them as I've been down in IN on my final co-op rotation.  Regardless, I'm back in mid-Michigan, recovered from IMWI, and felt ready to shred some legs out on the road tonight.

Tonight was a sufferfest.  I was worried as my first pull at the front of the group was up a slight hill.  As it turns out, I have not forced my cardiovascular system to do any serious work in 9 days, so my lungs screamed at me a little bit. Well, SHUT UP LUNGS! (paraphrasing Jens Voigt).  Once the blood got flowing, I continued to feel better as the ride went on.  My Garmin 305 had the distance at 39.6mi in 1:48:26, which for those not willing to do the math is an average of 21.7mph.

Since these fine gentleman love sprinting so much and by no means am I a sprinter, I let them take the glory and I Mark Renshaw the shit out of those sprints (not headbutt style, leadout style).

I get in an excellent interval of 1-2 minutes where I'm holding 27-29mph.  If I had Watts on the road, I'm sure it would be in the 375W range.  Then, these glory-seeking men sprint past me to battle it out for the win.  Take your Tuesday Night Glory and thanks for making my 40k TT faster!

In other training news, my IT band is finally starting to feel better after the unfortunate "surprise" it gave me half-way through the marathon at IMWI.  Lots of foam rolling and stretching seems to be the only cure.  I'll try to get out and run this week, hopefully it doesn't hurt too bad.

In completely non-training news, I have been on this health-kick lately in an attempt to drop some weight.  Not that I really think I need to drop weight, I figured I should just have something else occupy my time since I'm not training for IMWI (compulsive much?)  I have been replacing processed carbs with wholesome, natural carbs (veggies, fruit, beans, etc.).  That means no pastas, cereals, tortillas, etc.  My carbohydrates have been coming primarily from black beans and veggies.  The most noticeable change is the switch from a sandwich and crackers/pretzels for lunch to a big salad (like, 3 quart sized bowl big).  I have no real basis for making this change, I just figured it wouldn't be a bad replacement.  Protein is coming from eggs, fish, beans, and nuts.  We'll see what happens after a few weeks of this.  I do still get a healthy quantity of traditional carbs post-workout when I have some sort of brown-rice veggie stirfry and a recovery drink.  Main focus is to remove pastas, breads, and cereals.

Off to recover with a full night's sleep.  Cya later.

Ironman Wisconsin Race Report - September 11, 2011

Pre-Race:
My friend Nancy and I drove from East Lansing to Milwaukee on Thursday night to stay with our friend Alex.  It worked out well since I got to sleep in a bed instead of the floor, which made up for the extra 2 hrs of driving as far as I was concerned.  Slept great Thursday night and then had some cereal Friday morning and headed out to Madison and got to another friend's place around 10am CST.  It is such an advantage not having to pay for a hotel when you have MSU Tri-Club alumni all over the mid-west opening their doors for you.

Went with Nancy to Monona Terrace around 11am to meet up with some other friends who were doing the race to swim a loop and participate in the circus that is check-in.  The swim felt great considering how choppy the water was (good practice for the first 200m of IM, I suppose).  Finished the swim, ate food, then stood in line for a long time.  If this wasn't the most inefficient manner of check-in ever, I don't know what is.  1.5 hours in a line because they only have 4 people weighing in 2500+ racers, I mean...c'mon!  Whatever, that's not the important part.  Checked in, weighed in, got my numbers, and left to pick up the girlfriend at the airport.  Hung out with a bunch of excellent MSU spectators then went to the athlete dinner later that night.  Saturday was the same old thing, early morning bike/run to shake out the legs, then a lot of lounging, water, bike check-in, and leg shaving.

Race Morning:
4am wake-up.  Oatmeal with brown sugar, almonds, and craisins, a banana, and a cup of coffee.  Left for Monona Terrace at 5am, pumped up the tires, dropped off the special needs bags, had an excellent pre-race visit to the porta-john.  Got body marked and watched one guy say the wrong number twice and didn't realize it until after the wrong numbers were on his arm.  Headed to the water at 6:40 and got in a short warm-up.

Swim:

Time: 58:41 - 3rd M18-24, 51st OA
Felt great after the first 200 or so.  Got inside the buoys to some open water and I only encountered traffic when I had to swing around the outside of the corner buoys.  First lap was 29 minutes, so I swam fairly steady and didn't feel too strained.

Soon to be IronSpartan

T1:
Time: 5:39
Wetsuit strippers are awesome!  Helix running is not!  Got sunscreened, got my bike, and helixed down.

Bike:
Time: 5:26:30 - 3rd M18-24, 49th OA
Aid stations are awesome! Do you always feel like such a badass when riding through them?
Miles 1-15 were rough as I tried getting my legs to settle down.  Miles 15-90 were fantastic.  Especially since I saw multiple groups pass me and get penalized for drafting...suckers.  Starting at 30 minutes on the bike, I started taking a GU on every top and bottom of the hour with large quantities of water.  On every 15 and 45 of the hour, I took an electrolyte pill with some HEED.  I had half a Harvest&Energy Oatmeal Raisin Powerbar at 3 hours into the bike, but it didn't feel too good.  No flats, no cramps, no crashes, just good steady riding within my limits.

About 85mi in.  Second time up Old Sauk Rd.

T2:
Time: 3:43
Felt tired.  The end of the bike took a lot longer than I was mentally prepared for.

Run:
Time: 4:24:07 - 12th M18-24, 153rd OA
Things started out well.  I planned on running 8:30/mi for a 3:45ish marathon and things were just about perfect until mile 13.  I hadn't had any IT band issues for 3 years and then at the turn around, my right IT band seized and I was forced to hobble for the second half of the race.  I met some serious demons out there on the run.  The worst part is that I was walking up hills to keep my HR down, but with the IT band issues I couldn't run down the other side, so I had to walk up and down some of the hills.  Saw a buddy on the second lap and we ran miles 19-23 together.  Those few miles were dark, sad, and awfully painful.  Hit the final hill and knew I was within a half-mile but I couldn't help but walk a few steps through the final aid station.  Turned the corner, saw the finish, smiled a lot, and gave some high-fives.

Start of the run - rubbery legs

Mile 20 -  Hobble city and heel strike fail.

Total time: 10:58:40 - 12th M18-24, 153rd OA.

For my first IM, I can't complain.  I executed things perfectly and I couldn't have done anything differently to prevent an unexpected IT band issue.  I don't have any regrets and certainly did not hold anything back.  It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again.  Probably some non-Ironman brand races though, shits expensive!  Looking forward to some much needed R&R - namely, pizza and beer.

Gumby's Pizza, Pokey Stix, and a Pale Ale - Ironman Recovery FTW

Can't sleep...

Well, it's late here in Warsaw, IN and I can't sleep.  Not sure why, but I just laid in bed for an hour; my mind was racing and I could not seem to calm myself down.  So, why not talk about training and IM preparations?

I'm in the middle of the third week of my build phase and I can't wait for next week's recovery.  Tonight I had an excellent 10mi trail run at an easy pace as to avoid rolling an ankle on all the rocks/stumps/roots/holes on the trails in Winona Lake.  Regrettably, the trails did not possess the same level of concern for my ankle as I did; a wicked bad roll about 4mi in caused some serious concern for my abilities to even walk home.  But after a serious dose of HTFU, I finished the last 6mi.  I'm only joking, I winced and wimpered like a child for 5 minutes before getting the nerve to even rotate my ankle to see if it was ok.

I can really feel the bump in fitness and I haven't been hurting too much on any of my workouts, yet.  Last week I hit 14hrs of training and I'm shooting for 16+ this week (currently at just under 8).  I still have a good amount of sessions scheduled for this week including a steady-state bike during lunch and speed session at the track tomorrow evening.  Then Saturday afternoon will be a hammer-fest on the bike for 100mi then a short transition run followed by two runs on Sunday (13 AM, 9 PM).

Although, while my physical preparation has been on track, I am continually influenced mentally by outside factors that are difficult to avoid.  Nothing triathlon related, rather work, roommates, school, job search, moving, finances, travel plans, etc.  Usually I do a good job balancing all these aspects of my life to make sure they all stay upright.  However, it seems that if one seems to get a bit shaky, the rest start moving with it.  This time, it's the roommates.  Luckily, they move out on Saturday and I get the place to myself for two weeks!

In the thick of it

Ironman Wisconsin is only 37 days away!  It's all starting to feel very real now.  Last September when I signed up, it was on a whim because my friends were going to do it.  Now, just shy of a year later, I'm getting a bit anxious.  I'm not worried about finishing, that will happen.  The part that that makes me nervous is the mental aspect.  Specifically, can I keep myself in the correct mindset for 10 hours?  An hour in the water focusing on easy strokes, body rotation, 6-beat kicks, and a good catch.  Five and a half hours on the bike staying relaxed on the uphills, keeping a high cadence, calming my outraged ego as people pass me, gel/water/gatorade/heed/salt/powerbar every 20 minutes, and peeing on myself.  Then three and a half hours of running, counting down the aid stations, more water/gatorade/gel/salt/coke every mile, eyes up, swing the arms, high cadence, and more pee.  And that is only the list of things that I can control.  There are just as many environmental aspects that I will simply have to deal with: weather, other people, mechanical failures, etc.

Seems like a lot to pay attention to for hours at a time, right?  I find it very easy to sit at my desk and visualize that I will be strong enough to tell my self to HTFU and run.  But will I?  I will only be able to partially answer that question after a few race simulation workouts.  But even if I go balls to the wall on those workouts, they will take 6-7hrs max.  That still leaves another 3-4hrs of untested territory.

Enough with that, lets get to the nitty gritty of the training details.  I started my final build block last week and it lasts until August 20th.  12-13hrs this week and last, then 15-17hrs for the next two weeks which will include 5+ hr race simulations.

A very macroscopic view of the disciplines:
Swimming: 3x / week (1 OW session, 1 drills/stroke session, 1 speed session)
Biking: 2-3x / week (1 speed/strength session, 1 long ride, 1 easy ride)
Running: 5-6x / week (2-3 easy, 1 speed/strength session, 1 long)
Other: 1 cords session, 1 yoga session

Nutritionally, I am doing very well.  I have nearly cut out pasta from my diet by replacing it with brown rice, lentils, or quinoa.  Very limited amounts of meat and cereal, and a frozen fresh fruit & veggie smoothie is almost a daily occurrence.  Mounds of tuna, potatoes (idaho and sweet), black beans, corn tortillas, and stir fry veggies.  This morning I was down to 164 lbs before my run and hoping to be down to 160 in 37 days.

Shit's getting real...

Biggest Running Week Ever!

I am stoked!  I just had one of the biggest running weeks ever and my legs, although sore, were well prepared for the challenge.

I competed in the Great Lakes Relay with 9 other amazing friends, many of whom are former MSU Tri Club teammates.  The event is a wonderful and raw display of running in it's purest form.  A three-day relay from Oscoda, MI on Lake Huron to Empire, MI on Lake Michigan totaling 273.2 miles.  Most of the runs were along the Shore to Shore Trail and the scenery was drop-dead gorgeous.

A good friend, Eric, running the first leg of the weekend.

Great shot of Scott finishing his leg and Monica about to start hers.

This is a picture I found online.  The trails looked exactly like this, but without the fall colors and horses.

All team members are "required" to run at least 24 miles over the weekend.  But you don't actually turn in any forms and no one really checks all that closely because I don't think there are any prizes for being in first place, so who cares?  Anyway, I was slated to run 33mi, the most of anyone on the team: 13mi Friday, 12mi Saturday, then 8.5mi Sunday.  I learned my lesson last year when a few friends tried out-running eachother on the first day and then were trashed for Saturday and Sunday.  So, I figured I would add extra distance on Sunday if my legs were up for it, which they certainly were.

I stuck to my assigned legs on Friday and Saturday and they were wonderful.  Sunday was the hottest day, which would making running extra distance harder.  But both Lauren and Iris had shorter-distance legs early in the day, so I decided to run with them, adding an additional 7 miles to my already assigned 8.5 for the day.  It was tough, but I managed to run with Iris and Lauren and still run my legs at a respectable pace (7:40/mi for 6mi of sandy hills, then 6:18/mi for 2.3mi on road).  I emphasized that last run because it was miles 40-42 in three days and I was shocked at the pace I was able to hold.

I've taken the past two days off to take care of a bad case of Chiggers that the team got Saturday night by camping in a field (oops).  But they're significantly better now, so I will be returning to my workouts tonight with a 4mi run and an OW swim in this 108 degree heat index day.

Ironman Wisconsin is only 7.5 weeks away, so I have time to recover this week then do a serious 3 week build before I begin a 3 week taper.

Long Day

Today was a long training day 90 mile ride on the CompuTrainer and then a 10 mile run.  I had never bricked that long before (6hrs total).  I felt like Ethan Hawke being mentored by Denzel Washington...

You wanna go to jail or you wanna go home? Huh? 

Except, that while I was biking I watched today's stage of the tour and Denzel Washington looked more like Phillipe Gilbert and Ethan Hawke was one of the Schlecks (pick your favorite in the picture).

Good luck trying to catch me you ninnies!

This is probably too long of an analogy to get to what I'm trying to say.  Basically, my 90mi ride and 10mi run schooled me just like Denzel did to Ethan and PhilGil did to the Schlecks.

My 90mi ride took me 4:40:00 (19.3mph), which is quite a bit slower than I want to ride in IMWI.  My 10mi run was wicked hot (~90deg F) and I ran out of water/heed fast.  I had to stop 6 miles in to fill up at the gas station because I had already drank 24oz of fluid.  I definitely needed more access to water/GU/food/Coke on the run.  The good news is that I think I'm a lot closer to nailing my nutrition on the bike.  I was at about 200 Cal/hour for the first 4 hours (1 scoop heed and 1 GU each hour).  Then I had a 210 Calorie PowerBar Harvest Energy bar at 3:45:00, which sat very well.  I didn't have any GI issues on the bike or run.  I had nearly 80oz of pure water and 56oz of HEED total.  I could have probably used a bit more fluid.  

Final race before Ironman WI!

So, just a few short weeks ago I raced the Warsaw Optimist Sprint Triathlon.  A dinky little race in the bustling metropolis of Warsaw, IN (where I have spent quite a bit of time for my co-op rotations).  I raced in 2010 and came in 2nd overall so I got free entry to the 2011 race.  I was excited to race as I thought my main competition from last year was on vacation in Italy and wouldn't show up.  Apparently I was wrong :(

The race was a 400m swim, 13.1mi bike, 3.55mi run.  Not ideal distances for me.  But I held my own I think.

Here are the splits:

I didn't get a good swim warm-up in, so I felt slow for the entire thing.  The bike felt great!  And on the run, my legs were gone.  However, this is the exact same time I had last year and I have been training in a completely different way this year as I'm preparing for IMWI.

Here are some quick pictures from the race

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