The Flip Turn

I have resisted this for four years now. After reading some comments about it on slowtwitch last year, I decided to give it a try last year for a while. I had some good days and bad days but it just felt awkward so I stopped. Why does a triathlete need to do flip turns anyway? I am so inflexible in my hips and low back so it seems to be a lot of work for me to tumble in a small space, even though its in the water. Some say that it puts you in a hypoxic state (is that the right term?) or at an oxygen deficit for a split second longer, thus training your respiratory system to feel more comfortable with your head in the water for a longer period of time. Marty says that its most important so that you can keep your momentum. When doing an open turn, I sort of come to a stop, then start up again, losing some momentum.

Well, I guess its that time again to give it a try. I think I really need to commit myself to it for a few weeks on every single turn. My buddy Mark was saying that he has vowed to never do an open turn again starting this season.

If anyone has any good tips, please send them my way. I need help.

New Training Methodology

I think I just invented a new style of training. I have yet to read about it this anywhere. Its a bit progressive and would be somewhat controversial among the coaching elites. Here it is....

I seem to get into this rut where I get terribly addicted to sugar and gain a bunch of weight. Well, this might have an advantage. Alright, so you're probably thinking right now that I'm crazy. Well, if you train with an extra 10 pounds, its like training with weight vests. As you get closer to race day, you drop those extra 10 pounds and feel light as a feather. Its kind of like training at altitude and racing at sea level (not that I would know).

Just kidding....starting tomorrow I need to cut out all this sugar and get this weight off.

Indoor Computrainer Rides

One of my goals for 2009 is to improve my cycling. I got an early start on it as fate would have it. I partnered up with a local bike shop, Pedal and Pump. They recently purchased a used multi-rider computrainer system. I offered up to lead a few classes per week which I have been doing now for a few weeks. I have been training with a computrainer for a few years now so I have a really good understanding as how the technology works and how to train with the various metrics (power, heart rate, cadence). These group rides have such a greater quality to them than when riding on my own trainer at home. Having other people there keeps you honest and motivated. I'm doing these classes three days per week and feel that they're helping already. I'll find out on Jan. 4th when I do a TT to determine my threshold power. Pukefest!

Ironman Florida Race Report.....finally

Ironman Florida 2008

This journey began 4 years ago. I was in the worst shape of my life and completely disgusted with what I had become. It all changed at the NYC Marathon in 2004. My friend asked me if I would run a few miles with her in the marathon. Never one to turn down a challenge, I said sure. I had never really run more than 5 miles at one time in my life so I said that I might be able to last 5 miles. Well, that race pumped me up and its amazing what adrenaline can do for you as I ended up running 15 miles on zero training. I never thought a marathon was in the cards for an athlete like myself but the challenge of it again enticed me. I thought running would be a good way for me to get in shape. I signed up for my first marathon to take place the following June and started training that January. I got to that finish line that day in San Diego and thought I was going to die. I felt horrible and everything hurt but the sense of accomplishment was incredible. I achieved the unachievable (for me). I ran the NYC marathon months later, then the Rome marathon months after that. I started to get bored with running alone and I needed a new challenge. Triathlon was introduced to me. Actually, I was a sports fanatic growing up so I watched the Hawaii Ironman on TV and knew about triathlon. Dave Scott was my favorite but it still never interested me because I wasn’t that type of athlete and these athletes are a special breed. I couldn’t do what they do.

I bought a bike, then another, and another, and another until I found one I liked. Don’t worry, I sold them all. I started riding. No sweat. Riding a bike is easy. So far, so good. Swimming was next. I joined the YMCA so I could swim. I put on my baggy swim trunks (because I’m not about to wear those little speedo things or jammers) and start observing everyone else in the water. Okay, I got it now. I head down the pool and boy was I exhausted. I had to stop and rest at the other end. That was tough. So, I would swim about 10-15 laps and thought I was getting a good workout. At this point I realized I was not a good swimmer so I decide to enter a Total Immersion swim workshop. This helped me understand the components of a swim stroke and broke it down to fundamentals. I start stringing together multiple laps at a time now without stopping. Maybe I’m ready for a triathlon now? I entered a few indoor triathlons in NYC where you swim as many laps as possible in 10 minutes, spin on a spin bike as fast as possible for 30 minutes, then run as fast as you can for 20 minutes on a treadmill. Easy, right? Well, I became humbled very quickly. I was the worst swimmer in the race and could only manage 11 laps in 10 minutes. I would have to stop at each end and rest for fear of drowning.

Summer comes around and I think about entering my first real triathlon. I go to the beach and attempt to do an open water swim (sans wetsuit). No way…I’m not ready for that yet. I want to survive. I decide to watch it instead and wow, a half mile swim looked incredibly far. I’m so glad I decided to not sign up. I would have drowned. I start reading stuff about swimming and discover that wetsuits really help a lot with buoyancy. I go down to a local store and I buy one. I went on a practice swim and soon realize that wetsuits are the greatest inventions ever. Now, I can do this. I sign up for the next race. Out of 500 people, I was second to last out of the water while doing the breaststroke 75% of the time. I did it. I was so happy. I got on my bike and motored away passing people like crazy. On to the run and pass some more people. I’m hooked. I just need to work on my swim a bit. I went on to sign up for an additional 4 races that summer, progressively getting better.

Fast forward a few years and lots of triathlons later, I decide to hire a coach to get me on track. What a difference this made in my focus and motivation. My results showed immediately. The time to sign up for Ironman has come. I travel up to watch and volunteer at Ironman Lake Placid in 2007. Lake Placid will be my ironman destination for 2008 since its like a hometown race. It’s a 5 hour drive, the crowds are great, and I will know a lot of people racing. I trained on the course that week as I was preparing for a half ironman and the course destroyed me. As beautiful as it is up there and I love to go up there every year, the course didn’t suit me very well. The course has very few flat sections as its either up or down. As a larger rider, I struggle up the hills and after my crash I have become a big chicken going downhill too fast. I called my coach up that day and said that Lake Placid was out and what did he think about Florida. He said that was a good choice. As it turned out (as I learned the hard way), I had the wrong gearing on my bike that day and have since trained on the course another 2 or 3 times and have come to enjoy it more. It doesn’t scare me like it used to.

That day came when the signup for Ironman Florida started and I was online ready to go. The race sold out 364 days in advance within a few minutes but I got in. No turning back now. The start of the year was highlighted by a cycling trip to Mallorca, Spain for 6 days of cycling. This turned out to be a great start to my base training for the year. I had two training trips up to Lake Placid, one in June and the other in July. I mixed in a few races and had some good results. All the while my body remained healthy the whole time which was encouraging. Coach Marty is very good at understanding my potentials and limitations so I was pushed when I needed to be pushed and held back when necessary. I really enjoyed the training most of the time.

Two weeks before the race I was hit with a virus that attacked my throat and voice. I was actually happy about this as the timing was perfect. I hear a lot of people get sick days leading up to an Ironman due to high stress levels and compromised immune systems. At the time I was a little burned out and needed the rest so I took off 2 or 3 days off from training and got lots of sleep. It was perfect as I came into race week well rested and feeling great.

RACE REPORT

Sue and I headed out Wednesday and had an easy flight. We check in, head to the race site and get all the registration stuff out of the way. I did a little 10 minute swim on Thursday. The water was fabulous. I picked up some last minute supplies and souvenirs and tried to stay off my feet as much as possible. Thursday night was the carbo athlete dinner. The food was awful but it was fun to listen to some of the stories of the night and talk to other nervous athletes who had millions of questions. Surprisingly, I was calm all week so far. Friday was another quick swim, quick run, and short bike. I got these all out of the way early so I could get off my feet the rest of the day. I dropped off my bike and my transition bags. I headed to bed early not expecting to sleep but I did sleep fairly well. Up at 4am, drink an Ensure and have some pancakes. The butterflies started to kick in a bit but not too bad yet. We walk down towards the race site and the music’s blaring and the tension in the air was so thick as nervous bodies were walking around feverishly. I got body marked and head into transition to pump up my tires, bathroom break, and put my wetsuit on. The time disappeared and we were being pushed out of transition. Sue gave me a zip and I said goodbye. I jump in the water for a quick warmup. The water was calm (good sign). The air temperature was chilly (perfect for me). As soon as I walked into the corral, I saw my parents and said goodbye. I didn’t recognize anyone so I was alone among 2400 other racers and those butterflies really kicked in at that point. I decided to start on the inside (big mistake). I expected this swim to be rough but until you experience it, you have no idea. It was a slug fest. Imagine 2400 people swimming for the same space. It was rough and brutal. I got punched a hundred times. Almost the entire first loop (1.2 miles) was like this. I got out of the water along the sandbar and had to wade through the water to the timing mat. I looked at the clock and read 33 minutes. Wow, that was fast for me. I must have been pulled along in the draft. At that point I felt like I hadn’t worked much at all…..just survival. The second loop spread out a bit so I was able to swim for a good part of it. I get to the final stretch and still felt like I wasn’t working hard so I tried to push it into the finish.

Swim: 1:11 (goal was 1:15)

I bypass the wetsuit strippers because it was crazy at this point. This is when the majority of the people get out of the water. Then I couldn’t find my bag right away so I start yelling out my number and then it appears from a volunteer. The changing tent was full so I got ready for the bike outside. I take my time to make sure I have everything and I’m comfortable. Take a bathroom break and off I go on the bike. My legs felt great. I took my time to settle into my rhythm. I race with a power meter so my plan was to stick to my numbers. They put mile markers every 10 miles and that became my race within a race. I took in my nutrition every time I hit another 10 mile marker. I knew this was every 30 minutes. It felt easy until I hit mile 40 or so and my legs hit a little dead spot. I dialed down my power a touch to allow my legs to recover and I knew special needs was only 10 miles away. I hit the special needs and grabbed a bottle of nutrition, took a pee break, had some fig newtons, and some caffeine. The rest of the ride was uneventful. I felt really solid. My back was stiff but I would sit up every 15 minutes or so to keep it loose. I made the final turn and the last stretch to see an official on a motorcycle handing out red cards left and right for drafting. He looked like he was on a mission so I made sure to be extra careful. I cruised into T2 and took my time to change into another pair of shorts, fresh socks, vasoline on my toes, some sunscreen, pee break, and off I go on the run.

Bike: 5:39 (goal was 5:30-5:45)

My legs felt great starting the run. I had my gps watch on so I knew I was running 7:30-8:00 min/mile. I knew this was too fast for me but it felt easy. I slowed down to 8:30 and it felt really easy so I figured I would just put seconds in the bank because it was unlikely I could maintain that for the whole marathon. My goal was to run 9:00 min/miles. I came through the half way point in 1:50 I think and at this point I started thinking if I could keep up this pace, I could break 11 hours. A few miles later my stomach wasn’t feeling so hot. I drank some coke to see if that might settle my stomach. Nope. I tried just drinking water. Nope. I tried chicken broth. Nope. Well, at this point, maybe mile 16 or so I had to slow down or risk blowing up or blowing chunks. My stomach just had enough sugar for one day. I began walking through the aid stations but running from aid station to aid station. I was happy to see the final turnaround point at the 6.5 miles left point. It was 5pm and I knew I could run 6.5 miles in 1 hour (in normal conditions) to break 11 hours so I increased my pace a little to see how my body would respond but my stomach just wasn’t having it. At this point I resigned myself to have a smart race and finish strong without blowing up. I made one of the final turns on the run course and I could hear Mike Reilly’s voice at the finish line. That was a nice sound. I was almost done. I took some water at the final aid station and I took off for the final stretch. I ran hard, probably one of my quicker miles to finish strong.

Run: 3:58 (goal sub 4:00)

Final: 11:04 (goal sub 12:00)

As it turned out my ironman marathon was 20 minutes faster than my previous stand alone marathon time. I was feeling short of breath after the finish so I sat down for a bit. I headed in for a massage which felt great but I was still feeling a little dizzy and light-headed so I checked into the medical tent more so to lay down and get some more fluids in me. They were nice to let me hang out for a bit as others really needed their attention more than me. After a slow walk back to the condo, a hot shower, pizza in my belly, Sue and I headed back to the finish line to cheer on some friends and the last finishers until after midnight.

I couldn’t have asked for a better first ironman experience. I executed my race plan almost perfectly and I felt really good the whole day which is just a testament to how well I was prepared by my coach. I had a great journey getting to the starting line. It wasn’t void of challenges but it was extremely rewarding and an amazing introspective experience. At this point I can’t say I want to rush out and do another one but I’m already signed up to race Ironman Canada next August so I will be doing at least one more.

A special thank you to my iron-mate and iron-sherpa, Sue, for putting up with me and helping me before, during, and after the race. To Marty, my coach, for thoroughly preparing me for the race as I went into the race with lots of confidence and constantly being available for answering my questions and providing me with advice. And to the boys at Elite Bicycles for prepping my bike and sponsoring me for the 2009 season with a new custom razor….yea, baby!

Open Water Swimming

I've always thought that I have seen my biggest gains in swimming by swimming in open water. I never put much thought to it until now. I'm listening to a podcast by Terry Laughlin, the guy that started Total Immersion. TI was my first intro to swimming. The reason open water swimming is optimal for triathletes (in my opinion and Terry's) is that you can feel the water and repeat your focal points many times without stopping. This trains your neuromuscular system to incorporate more permanent changes. The drawback to this is that you can also incorporate poor form and create bad habits. I feel that long course pool swimming and open water swimming has really helped me a lot this past year.

Terry takes about 13-14 strokes per 25 or 1 length of a scy pool. If I really try to minimize my stroke count, I can only get to 18, maybe 17 if I stretch it out.

He said the ratio of swimming to non-swimming (ie., gliding, turning, etc.) in a 25 yard pool is 2.6:1 but in a long course pool, it is 9:1. If you have a choice, swimming in a long course pool will help train that neuromuscular system to incorporate more permanent changes moreso than a short course pool. And, do open water swims as much as possible.

Huffy Toss Champion

Sunday night I became the Huffy Toss champion for the third straight year. I look forward to this event each year. It is part of the festivities at the Amity Bike Shop's annual Holiday party. This is my third year going to the party and my third year winning the huffy toss. The huffy toss is an event where they find the crappiest, heaviest, and oldest mountain bike. It feel like it weighs 40 pounds.

As returning champion I had the choice of when I would go. This year I decided to go last and what a good decision that was. Some big guy got up there and chucked it pretty far.....chucking style. Then some smaller guy breaks out the hammer spin and he looked good for a second as he was really moving pretty good in circles but he spun around a few too many times because as he released it, the bike went sideways and almost took someone out. He ended up throwing it over the line about an inch......that's not going to win.

Another guy got up and did the hammer spin and threw it past the big guy's throw....it was out there pretty far. But as he threw it, the rear wheel came off so I had the pleasure of throwing a 3/4 bike. I broke out the hammer spin, spun around 2 or 3 times and launched it causing sparks to fly getting some ooohs and ahhhhs from the audience.

Next year I might have to bring my throwing shoes :)

I won a $50 gift certificate....third year in a row. I've added some nice things to my cycling collection thanks to Amity Bike Shop.....Thanks Guy and Sue!!!!!

I'll keep going as long as they keep inviting me :)

Turkey Trot

I ran in my annual Thanksgiving tradition turkey trot. Its a great start to the day as I get to see a lot of friends I know and burn a few calories before I stuff my face with 2 plates of thanksgiving feast and a little dessert. It turned out to be 2 helpings of dessert too.

I'm 4 weeks post ironman and still in recovery mode. I had explicit instructions from my coach to run EASY....well that was my intention and I was planning on starting in the back which would force me to run slow with all the people until I ran into Gus and Laura Ellison before the race. We headed out on a warm-up run and Gus wanted to start in the front so I was just hanging with them. So the race started and there I was in the front and I just went with the flow. It wasn't an easy pace but it wasn't a hard pace either. I stayed at conversation pace the whole way and ran steady. I stayed in my aerobic zone. I've gained about 5 pounds after ironman and I could feel it. I wasn't as fleet footed as I was feeling a month ago. It still felt good and I cruised in about 35 min. and change....a little over 7min/mile pace.

I'd like to find a 5k maybe in the spring to give a go at breaking 20 minutes for a 5k. I think I have to maintain 6:30 pace, maybe slightly faster. The key for me to run that fast is to get lighter. 2009 will be the year of trying to get lighter and leaner. I also really want to get my bike stronger. I think my swim and run will continue to improve but I think I have to work harder to improve my bike. I feel like I didn't make much progress with my bike in 2008 so I want to make sure I make some more progress in 09.

Stayed tuned for the new bike update. I hope to pick it up sometime in December.

Functional Strength Training

I'm working on a little piece relating my work and hobby. I figure I might have some expertise and could be of value to someone...maybe. Its something that has bothered me because I read these articles written by "triathlon coaches" the most recent one saying that weight training for triathletes is a complete waste of time and a poor return on your investment. There are a lot of people in this world that call themselves a coach. They may be experts in the fields of swimming, biking, and running but a lot of these guys/gals fall short in their knowledge of exercise physiology and kinesiology, a very important element in the ability to avoid injuries which is a common occurrence in endurance athletes. Maybe I'll refine it a bit and try to have it published somewhere. See below:

The Importance of functional strength training to triathletes.

Functional strength training is essential to triathletes. As a fellow triathlete I used to believe that weight training was insignificant in my training for triathlon. If you are trying to balance a family, a career, and this hobby of triathlon, you have a finite period of time to train. If you are training for long course triathlons, your time becomes even more precious. It is easy to believe that all of your training time needs to be divided into swimming, biking, and running. There are a lot of great points and counter points out there referring to the value of weight training for triathlon as it relates to getting faster and stronger. Most of us set out to get faster and stronger so how can functional strength training help me do that?

Through my training and work as a licensed massage therapist, I see many triathletes in my office with injuries resulting from training for triathlon. The majority of the movements of swimming, biking, and running exist in the sagittal anatomical plane of the body, meaning that flexion and extension of the lower body are the main movements we do as triathletes. Most of the injuries I see from triathletes in my practice are in the lower body, the most common being things like ITB syndrome, plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, and piriformis syndrome, among others.

What happens when we constantly train our bodies to move forward in the sagittal plane through flexion and extension movements is that we over-develop the flexor/extender muscles like the gluteus maximus, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. The muscles that support these major muscles (gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, tfl, and the peroneals, among others) are not the primary muscles for flexion and extension in the lower body and become under-developed. These support muscles work in the axial anatomical plane of the body and do things like abduction and rotation. These movements and muscles are not directly related to swimming, biking, and running movements but they are essential in supporting those primary muscles and movements needed. When a primary muscle is so much stronger than its support muscle, injuries are more likely to happen.

Simple exercises like resistance band training, one-legged balancing, and side planks are just a few of the things you can do to strengthen those support muscles groups.

So, while functional strength training may not directly make us faster swimmers, bikers, or runners, if we strengthen these support muscles, we are more likely to avoid injuries and stay healthy. And don’t be surprised if functional strength training doesn’t play a pivotal part in getting faster!

Pics from IMFL

I smoked that girl. She was on her first loop :)

Still Cruisin

"Thank God its over!"


Race Report coming soon.

Reaching Your Potential

I changed the title of my blog since Ironman Florida is over, I figured I would keep this going. I'm putting the finishing touches on my IMFL race report. I warn you that its long....oh well.

I was just thinking about the concept of performance and potential in sport. As amateurs, we all come in all shapes and sizes. Take triathlon for example, while racing at Ironman Florida, I witnessed athletes racing in all shapes and sizes. Granted, elite triathletes tend to be much smaller, leaner athletes but the sport attracts everyone which is a great thing. Will I ever be one of the fastest people in a triathlon? Highly unlikely but you never know. A few years ago, I would say never. I don't fit the mold to go really fast. I have seen some great athletes who are in great shape, lean, and have trained their asses off but they get to big races and have sub-par performances. They may still be really fast but they didn't reach their potential. There are many reasons why this could be. What do you think is more rewarding? Going fast but not reaching your potential or going slower but reaching your potential? After racing IMFL, I think I reached my potential. I exceeded my expectations and that was an incredibly rewarding feeling. I just raced in Florida with a local CT triathlete. He had a good race but didn't meet his goals. He was almost an hour faster than me. One week after Ironman, he went out and ran a hard 5 mile running race. These are the types of things that prevent people from reaching their potential. Many people under-estimate the damage a race of this distance does to your body. Even though you may feel great one week later, it doesn't mean you are recovered. You need to have the patience and knowledge to understand things like recovery, taper, day off, rest, etc. to reach your potential.

I look forward to reaching my new potential whatever that is and I hope its a little faster too :-)

Just back from Florida

Will post some pics later and write a full race report soon. I had a great day out there. Felt great for most of the day and executed my race plan very well. I was very happy with the way my race went. I couldn't be happier. My realistic goal was to finish under 12 hours but I just wanted to race hard but enjoy it. I didn't know how my body would respond so I just concentrated on being in the present and sticking with my plan. Finished in 11:04:19. Broke my stand alone marathon PR by 20 minutes.

Other tidbits:
An 11 foot mako shark was caught 100 yds offshore just 2 miles away from where we were swimming.

The swim was absolutely brutal. I got punched in the head about a hundred times. Crazy. Some guy got caught using fins.....idiot.

The bike was flat and fast. Major pelotons, like a 100 riders riding together at times. Pretty comical actually.

I felt like a million bucks starting the run and was passing a ton of people on the first leg and throughout the run. My stomach became unsettled by mile 16 or so. I had to slow down to keep from blowing up.

Time for some rest.

Day 1 in florida

I registered and got that out of the way. No line and piece of cake. Walked around expo a bit. A little chilly today and it gets much cooler when the sun goes down. Bought some schwag. I did some pitching for rev3 and the buzz is getting around. I got a 30 min massage on my legs. Dinner and grocery shopping. Slept pretty well. Ill get my bike situated today and hopefully take a nap.

Crazy Day Friday

Marty is going to love this one :))) Its not less than one week to showtime. I'm ready and not nervous yet. Trying to get lots of sleep and rest and so far its working out. I have a busy couple of days on Monday and Tuesday before we fly out on Wednesday so I guess I should start to think about packing soon :)

I had an uneventful week of training. Lots of rest and recovery. I had a couple of easy swims that felt solid. I did have a bike power test that sort of failed. I went out at what I thought I might be able to hold and I was dead wrong. I went out way too hard and died. That is okay. I have a goal next year to maintain 300 watts for 20 minutes and get my power to weight ratio to 4. I've got some work to do to get there but its realistic.

Back to Friday....the goal of the day was to drive to Elite in Philly to drop off my bike. Load the car and my bike on my roof rack. I had to make a quick pit stop at the itp office and drove my car into a low covered parking garage. Oops, I forgot I had a bike on top. If it was about 2 inches higher, I would have cleared it. So I hear this thump and look out my rear view mirror to see my NEW bike go flying off the back. Sue panicked but I was calm. I was on my way to Elite so if anything was broken, those are the guys to take care of things. A broken brake lever and that's about it. A few bruises and now its battle tested to take on Ironman. Anyway, the guys will check it out closely to make sure everything is fine. I'm not worried. The guys at Elite are meticulous.

So, Sue and I leave ITP and head onto 95 and only get a few miles until traffic comes to a complete stop in both directions in Stamford. There were about 20 police cars that stopped traffic north and southbound. We were 5 minutes too late. We were a few hundred yards away from what turned out to be the end of a high speed chase, shooting, threatening of suicide, and armed suspect. Police surrounded this guy's truck and had their guns and rifles drawn negotiating with him to get out of his truck via cell phone. They brought out the swat team and even drove an armoured tank onto 95. The dude finally surrendered and we were delayed a good hour and traffic was backed up for many, many miles in both directions.

Team mossman had their annual saugatuck swim yesterday. You can choose from 3.5mi, 2.5mi, or 1.75mi or something close to that. Water temp was in the high 50's. marty....don't worry, I didn't swim. I'm not that crazy. Sue and I just went down to see some friends swim. Definitely some hypothermia going on. What seems crazy to me is that there were 3 people swimming that are racing IM Florida on Saturday. One girl is doing her first IM and had a cold. HUH???

Sue gave me a great massage yesterday and my body is feeling ready to go. We fly out Wednesday.

#720 and less than 2 weeks to go

Bib numbers have been assigned and I got #720. I like this number. Its been an up and down week for me. I was knocked on my ass for 2 days with a terrible sore throat. In fact, I lost my voice and I could barely talk. I canceled all my clients and rested and slept on the couch for 2 days. It was great and I think my body really needed it. I had a light week of training with a few key workouts. I had a great run on Saturday. I ran 13 miles with a fair bit of speed. Running sub 7min miles for 6 of those miles. It felt like a piece of cake.....good sign.

I have a busy work week ahead, catching up from last week and need to get my bike down to Philly Friday or Saturday so Elite can take my bike down for and tune it up. Its almost time to start packing and getting all my things together. Not much training this week....just fine tuning. I have one key workout...a power test on the bike which will hurt. I haven't done one in a while so I'm curious what the numbers will look like. I have worked hard on the bike but feel like my power has been suffering so we'll see.

The Countdown continues

Another week down. I had a good week of training. I felt great coming off my long run last Sunday and posted some good runs this week. I had a couple of good swims too. I had a tough bike session mid week. The weather was really nice last week so it was a joy to workout in perfect training conditions.....if only that would happen on race day :)

I was hoping to get in an open swim this week because the water temp. is still tolerable (I think) but it didn't happen.

I ran a good 10 miles on Saturday and it felt pretty darn good but I was a bit sore from a somewhat hard 4 miles in the middle. I ventured an hour to do my long ride out of Quassy in Middlebury, CT. I was meeting a friend to ride the 56 mile course of the new rev3 tri course. I knew that would only net me 3.5 hours so I got there early and biked 25 miles on my own. I was feeling fine which has always been the case after riding a few hours. We headed out on the 56 mile loop on the most beautiful fall foliage day. I was scouting out this course to give it an accurate depiction and absolutely loved it. It is challenging but fair. It has a fair amount of climbing but it also has some really fast sections of the course. I would call it equivalent to the difficulty of a loop of the lake placid course. Anyway.....the legs turned to mush after an hour or two into this ride and just struggled into the finish. I was glad this was my last long ride.

I haven't been cycling for all that long and I think it just takes years to build up this volume until your legs/body can learn to flush out lactic acid as you go. My body is also fatigued from the training so its taper time now. I have a few hard workouts over the next few weeks to dial in my power levels on the bike and to bring some intensity into my workouts.

I spent Saturday watching the Ironman World Championships online and got inspired for my race....perfect timing. I love this stuff but I wish I was there racing.

I came up with an idea for a new race. Its the anti-Kona. The race takes place the Saturday morning of Kona here in CT at Quassy. The park is closed so no worries of having to share it with the public. The water temperature is still tolerable to swim in. The jist of the race is that there are almost no rules. You can wear fins, paddles, or whatever you want for the swim. Just no motor. You can draft on the bike but there are no aid stations on the bike course or officials stopping traffic. You ride at your own risk. For the run, you can utilize wheels (rollerblades, rollerskates, skateboards, etc. ) Blank white tshirts are given upon arrival with magic marker. You design your own tshirt. There are no timing chips. You time yourself and as you finish, you record your own time and write it on the board as you finish. After the race, we drink beer and watch Ironman Kona on a big screen.

Less than 4 weeks to Ironman

I had another big week of training....14,000 yds. in the pool, 40+ miles of running, and 100 miles of biking this week. A little light on the biking side and heavier in the other two. I topped it off with a half marathon today preceded by a 3 mile warm up. I was feeling real good in my warmup as the cold rain pelted down. As the race started I ran the first 3 miles or so with a friend catching up, talking and it felt very easy. My HR was far below my target but the whole day was intended to be aerobic. I slowly left him and finally settled into my zone of HR145 as a started to pass a lot of people. I continued to pass a lot of people throughout the rest of the race and did not get passed by anyone the rest of the race. As the race went on, I got stronger....a very nice sign. I decided to go above my target HR for the last half mile to mile because I was feeling so good.

I'm feeling ready for Ironman. I have a fairly big week of training ahead of me peaking next weekend with 5 hour ride and 10 mile run the following day.....then its officially taper time. Everyone has been warning me that I will feel miserable during my taper from not training. I intend to use the extra time in the gym working on strengthening my core and improving my flexibility. Its also time to cut out the caffeine until race day. I'm sure I'll have a nice headache for the next few days. I need to watch my diet very closely too.

I had a good meeting yesterday with a new triathlon race management group who will be putting on a new triathlon in CT next year. They want me to be a part of it. I drove the bike and run courses yesterday and its a beautiful course. I'm going to ride it next weekend. Its going to be a challenging but fair course. I'm very excited about this race. I think its going to be a blast.

4th ITPMAN in the books

This is more a story of perseverance in directing a triathlon race. This is my second year as race director for the itpman triathlon. I think this is more a test of mental toughness and sleep deprivation. I have been working my ass off to make this event happen with success. With my name attached to it near the top, I have great pride in making it successful. I feel like I have 500 people depending on me and my team to ensure a great triathlon race experience.

We have consciously chosen to develop an "ironmanesque" experience to differentiate ourselves from the other local sprint triathlons. I think there is a place for the down and dirty cheap races and the more upscale ones. With the race taking place in Darien, CT it became obvious we had to go the upscale route. We work feverishly to get great prizes, food, entertainment, etc. There are many times I would love to organize the down and dirty, no nonsense triathlon.....maybe some day.

This race has taken over my life especially during the last two weeks so I am thankful it is over and that it went flawlessly. I can get back to focusing on training and life.

There was a huge threat of a tropical storm hitting Friday and Saturday and even Saturday morning the forecast was 100% chance of rain Friday and 90% chance race day. It was looking bleek. I started receiving emails after emails about the weather, canceling the race, refunds, etc.

Long story short, the rain pretty much subsided Friday morning so we were able to set up the race site all day Friday without rain and the rain stayed away for the entire race. The cloud cover made for ideal race conditions.

Of course there were a few things that I wish went better but I guess I can trade that off with the things that I didn't expect to go as well as it did.

I know for one thing that I really don't like is MCing the event. I feel like I need to turn that role over to someone else next year.

After a two hour nap, I'm off to bed again to catch up on lost sleep as I have a 4 hour training day tomorrow.

One Week Closer

Now less than six weeks away from IM Florida. Time flies. These long workouts are tough and my legs get tired but my recovery seems to be fairly good. The body is still holding up okay. The 4th annual ITPMAN has really been taking up a ton of my time, even more than ever and work has been busy. So, training, work, and itpman has me lacking sleep and increased stress levels.

I ran 16 miles on Friday and felt pretty decent. It was slow but I got it done. I took Saturday off because I had to work and do itpman packet pick up for 5 hours. Today (Sunday) we had 30 people show up for a course preview of the itpman course. This is the stuff I love. Most of these people were either new to triathlon or new to the course and they were all very appreciative of this day. They had lots of great questions and they loved the course. Phew. I rode an hour leading a 'B' group, then we set out to run most of the run course, about 30 min. My run felt pretty good as a bonus. As much as I just wanted to go home and take a nap after this, I set out for a long bike ride. I usually like to ride out for half of my goal time so I don't bail too early. I decided to take a new route which was great but I really had no idea where I was going. When you set out for a long ride, it almost doesn't matter. My sense of direction is pretty good so I went north for a while into New York, then west for a while, then South, hit the CT border, east, and back home. The human compass works pretty well.

So, I was riding along today with this xlab bottle carrier behind my seat and my water bottles must have flown off about 6 times. I need to come up with a new system for florida. Hopefully I just need new bottle cages. I had a spare tube, 2 CO2 cartridges, allen tool, and tire lever, in a 1/2 water bottle in one of the rear cages. Off it flew. I go back for it and its not there. I went back and forth along the road about 4 times. No sign of it anywhere. Where could it have gone. I look in the sewers. I never found it. Off I go and say a little prayer that I don't get a flat.

Here comes the squirrel...right in front of me in the last few miles of my ride. It stops and can't figure out which way to go now so its dancing in the street right in front of my. I jack on the brakes and fishtail but stayed in control and the squirrel and I fend off a meeting for another day.

I got in another 4:11 on the bike so 5:11 total and :30 run. Another long training day in the books. Itpman is Saturday....Once that's over, I can't get some semblance of normalcy back in my life. How bout a vacation???

Century

Well, I blew off the Madison Triathlon last week. The weather people threatened us with hurricane hanna. As I awoke at 4am, it was pouring rain and dark. I decided to crawl back into bed and enjoy my rest. As it turned out, they canceled the swim and turned it into a duathlon. The rain also stopped in time for the race but that is okay. I had a good active recovery week.

Fast forward this past Sunday. I planned on riding with a group of people I know in an organized century ride leaving from Goldens Bridge, NY. These guys are all training for IMAZ so we're on the same page as its just a few weeks later.

As we arrive, it was raining. We gather our stuff and take off....about six of us. Great group. I watched my powermeter all day since I knew this was all about pacing during a long day. We got rained on for about the first 30 minutes to 1 hour, then it stopped the rest of the day. Unfortunately the heat and humidity replaced the rain. We did 1 loop of 50 miles and I felt fine to this point. It was after that for the next 50, that my legs decided to go on vacation or something. Long story, short, I made it 100 miles but never had a spunk in my legs all day. I tried to pace my ride but it just wasn't my day.

Good to put the miles in the bank.

I saw a "1" today.

What do I speak of, you ask. I weighed myself this morning as I do almost every morning and the scale read 203. After eating my breakfast of late (plain non-fat greek yogurt, fresh fruit, granola, and drizzle of honey), I went for a 2:15 run total 15.50 miles. I felt great for the first hour, then felt okay after 1:30, then the heavy legs set in. I actually had to purposely pick up the pace for the last 30 min. or so because I needed to get home in time to register for IMCANADA.

I weighed myself when I got back from my run to monitor how much weight I lost (so I can make corrections in my run nutrition). I weighed in at 198. I don't think I have seen that number since junior high school. I was completely dehydrated so its only temporary but its motivating to see.

I'm down almost 25 pounds since last October when I got serious (or somewhat serious) with my nutrition. I really only got serious the end of July when I got back from IMLP. Hanging around 2,000 extremely fit people has a remarkable way of motivating. I am almost 60 pounds lighter than when I first started this endurance craze almost 4 years ago. That is really hard to believe.

But it feels great to be in the best shape of my life. The crazy part is that I know I can get much leaner and fitter so there is a lot more potential.

I'm nursing a bum knee and stiff shoulder right now. After swimming 4,000 yds on Monday, I'm taking the rest of the week off from swimming.

Gearing up for a 100-125 mile ride on Sunday. Doing an organized century ride. Not sure if I'll do the 100 option or 125 option yet.

Oh yea, btw, I signed up for my second ironman today before I even completed my first. In an extremely rare opportunity, NA Sports made a few slots available for IM Canada, a very hard race to get into as its one of the most popular. My fast fingers were ready and I made it in the nick of time online. The slots were all gobbled up in less than a minute. That makes me, Sue, and Mark all registered now. We're shopping for a house now. Should be fun. So that will mean I will do 2 ironmans in one year as this race is next August.

EPIC Weekend

For all my avid readers and followers out there constantly checking my blog daily, I apologize for my lack of blogging. I have been so darn busy lately and I have a lot of catching up to do. Ironman Florida is only a short 8 weeks away from this coming Saturday. Time to start thinking about my checklist of things I may need to order soon like running shoes, spare tires, clothing, etc.

Since my last blog, my training has been going well. I have done a couple of races and some great training. I will write a separate race report of my race in RI which went fairly well.

But first, since its fresh in my mind, I'll report about my most recent training weekend. Last week I trained 20 hours. My most yet. Saturday began with a 3 mile open water swimming event in a lake. It was a race but I was treating it like a workout. I have never swum that far so I wanted to take it easy and just try to get into a nice rhythm. After getting to the event, I realized I forget a bathing suit....oh well, I'll just wear my underwear under my wetsuit. Ooops....forgot my wetsuit too. This should be an adventure. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it without a wetsuit. The gun goes off and away I went. I felt fine, not working too hard. My shoulders started to tighten up. It was 2 loops and I really didn't feel like going around for a 2nd loop but I did since I figured it would be good for IM prep. I ended up in last place, over an hour slower than the leaders.....wow, I want my wetsuit back. I stink. After putting a few thousand calories back into my body, I head out on my bike for 2 hours....so far so good. That feels okay. I don't need my shoulders to ride. After a few hour break, I head out for a 1 1/2 hour run.....finally the day is complete and I am completely spent. I took on some allergy attack that was just killing me....sneezing my head off. Off to bed. Tomorrow is another big day.

I wake up with the goal of riding 5 1/2 hours Sunday. I thought I would feel terrible after Saturday's training but I was feeling okay. I'll just take it one hour at a time. I rode with 6 or 7 other guys all training for IM and we are all fairly equal. I paced myself really well with my powermeter and I fueled up very well. That PT is really cool. Most of the group stopped after 70 miles but I headed out for another hour with one other guy and we had a good ride. My day was still not complete so I kept going as I still felt pretty good. 5 1/2 hours later and 95 miles of a fairly hilly ride, my day was complete and felt like a million bucks. Now, for IMFL, I just need to ride 3 mph faster and feel the same way and i'll be all set.

Monday was a recovery day and got to play golf (one of my favorite hobbies that I don't do very often) and played pretty darn well.

Easy week ahead as I'm recovering and racing Madison sprint on Saturday.....all out effort.

Lake Placid Training Weekend

I got back from Idaho on Tuesday night and headed to Lake Placid on Friday. After working two busy days, unpacking, and repacking, away I go again. There was a group of us heading up there with the intention of training. Dan, Mark, and Vasso were getting ready for IMLP in 3 weeks so their training was very purposeful. We got up there at a good time so we checked in and made our way to mirror lake for a swim. This lake is awesome to swim in so I was looking forward to it. The IM course was not set up but buoys were running from one end of the lake to the other. I ended up swimming around the buoys 2x which is longer than the IM course so I'm estimating I swam about 3 miles straight. My longest swim ever. My shoulders were tight but I felt good.

After some lunch and rest, I headed out for a run. My legs were sluggish and tired but I managed a 50 min. run. We met up with the rest of the gang and headed for a nice dinner. Tomorrow was a big day.

We headed out together at a very reasonable pace on the IM bike course. I had some reservations about this course because it has kicked my butt everytime I have ridden on it. This time was different. I guess I am in much better shape this year than I have been in the past. The first loop was good until finished the out/back section and stopping to refuel 40 or so miles into the ride. After starting up 86 for the final part of the loop, my legs felt awful like they filled with lactic acid but I was that tired and I had fuel so I had energy. My experience told me that this would pass so I just had to be patient. I made it to the top of the highest climb, now riding alone, I went back down the "bears" and picked up Vasso because she didn't know where to turn so I got to climb back up them again but I was feeling good at this point so I didn't mind.

After some technical difficulties with my rear brake, we stopped in High Peaks, fixed that, then off for the second loop. The rain started to fall lightly which was nice but a little slick. Long story short, finished the second loop in the rain and a bit wet but a great feeling of accomplishment and a great day of training. After a nice soak in the lake to cool the tired legs, we headed back to the hotel for a shower, a little shopping, then off to dinner with the group.

At dinner, I somehow either convinced myself or was convinced by Mark and Dan that it would be a good idea to climb Whiteface in the morning. After our usual stop at the bagel place, we headed backward on the IM course (86, I think) towards Whiteface. This is an 8 mile climb (3 miles up to the gatehouse, then another 5 to the top). We made it the 3 miles with Mark powering up ahead and Dan and I suffering from yesterday's ride and just suffering from this 3 mile ascent. After making it up to the guard house, we couldn't go any further because you have to pass the guardhouse before they start manning it because cyclists are not encouraged to make this climb. We didn't make it in time. Even if we did make it in time, I had made up my mind that I wasn't going anyway. My legs were too fried and I still wanted to run long after the ride. We made it back and I headed out on my run. It was uneventful and I didn't feel so hot. My legs just didn't want to work very well. I cut it a little short but all in all still had a great few days of training.

Idaho and Ironman Coeur d'Alene

I traveled to Idaho a few weeks ago for Sue's Ironman. This is my third Ironman as a spectator and I love them. It is so inspirational to watch 2,000 people race as I can now relate to what it takes to prepare for one of these things. I had arranged to rent a bike from a local bike shop so I could get some riding in. After getting in late Wednesday night, my plan was to head over to pick up my bike on Thursday to get in a loop of the bike course or 56 miles. I got up early Thursday morning and headed over to the lake (at the end of the street) with the girls. They scored a great rental house in an optimal location. I had my new thermal swim cap in hand and I cautiously put on my wetsuit and neoprene cap. I knew it was going to be cold but I have never swam in such cold water so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was somewhere around 53-55 degrees. There were plenty of people swimming so I figured since I have more body fat than most of these people, it shouldn't be a problem.

I put my feet in the water and so far so good. Its cold but okay. I start putting my hands in the water and its okay. I wade for a while, then decide to go. I dunk my head and it was like I got an immediate headache from eating ice cream too quickly. WOW....the cold on my face was harsh. I had to stop and wade. I contemplated the need for this since I wasn't racing and at one point I was trying to convince myself to go back. Of course I didn't but it was tough. I realized that it just took some time to acclimate your face to the water temp. I managed about 2 miles..not bad.

I eventually got my bike later in the day and start heading out for a ride. 2 miles into my ride, my front derailler cable disconnects and I lose the ability to shift from the small ring to the big ring. Not a big deal. I'll stay in the small ring since I'll be doing lots of climbing. A few seconds later, a huge pop (flat tire). Not only did the tube blow, the tire ripped apart. I call Lida for a ride. She picks me up, we head back to the bike shop, make the repairs and off I go. I decide to take an alternate route and do on this hilly scenic trip around Hayden Lake. Then, I merge onto the Ironman course and ride that for a while. My legs were a bit heavy from all the climbing and traveling. My day ends with 45 miles but it was a strong ride.

We hit the steakhouse later and pig out....yum.

Friday is another swim in the morning and I learned my lesson from yesterday and spend some time splashing water on my face before I submerge it. I got in a 1.2 mile swim. Later in the day I hit the Ironman run course for a 12 mile run. I was feeling pretty sluggish so I didn't push it.

Saturday was my day to ride 100+. This bike was really not working very well but fortunately I decided to ride a flat route....a bike trail from CDA to Spokane. It was nice scenic route and I felt fairly strong all day. I got in 101 miles, then followed it up with a 20 minute run.

Sunday was race day and so I just enjoyed watching the race all day. It was a LONG day. I did a bunch of running around and ran with Sue and Lida some but nothing formal. The girls both had a great race and was fun to be there to help support Sue and cherish in the celebration of the finish and the race.

We got up early so the girls could hit the finisher tent and I didn't last in there very long. It was crazy. Off to Hawaii rolldown just in case Sue would get lucky but no such luck.

It hit the CDA golf course for my first round of the year. It was a blast . I drove a Par4 300 yard green and hit a 6 foot putt for eagle......that was cool.....my only highlight of the day.

Off to Lake Placid next weekend for a big weekend of training......

I'll post some pictures of the trip.

Griskus Olympic Race Report

After coming off a recovery week, I was really looking forward to my first triathlon of the season. I felt pretty well rested even though I had done a few hard workouts earlier in the week.

It was a beautiful morning and the water was in the low to mid 70's....quite nice. I was in the first of 3 waves. There were only 4 buoys. After the first buoy, the next two were so far away that they were a little hard to spot. I simply followed the pack of people for the first couple of buoys then they took off and I was what seemed like I was all by myself. On the way to the first buoy, I knew I was swimming slowly when a guy next to me was alternating between side stroking and breast stroking and I couldn't drop him....not a good sign. That was a good motivator early in the race to kick in another gear. Fortunately I didn't see him again. The swim felt like it was taking a long time and when I came out in 33 minutes, I hoped that it was long because I didn't feel terribly slow.....come to find out, it was measured at 1 mile.

After a longish run to transition, I had trouble getting my wetsuit off as the zipper got stuck in my jersey, but got it off without ripping anything. Onto the bike felt good. Legs felt good as the first 5 miles are flat so its nice to get the legs warmed up before the hills came. I knew it was a hilly course but I really didn't know much else about the course. Since I sold my race wheels and have yet to buy new ones, I was on my training wheels. I took the climbs steady and felt comfortable climbing but once again I took the downhills cautiously because I am still not comfortable descending. I love cycling on flat roads but unfortunately this course doesn't have much of them. I ended up cycling 1:18 which turned out to be just okay compared to everyone else. I felt stronger out there but hills are not my best friend even though I have been getting better and better at climbing them.

Coming into T2, I felt great. I knew this run course as its a double loop with a big hill right in the middle of each loop that you have to run down, then run up. My plan was to take it easy to the hill, steady down, then pick it up until the uphill, then steady up the hill, evaluate how I was feeling, then pick it up until the downhill again, steady down, pick it up until the uphill, steady up the hill, then all I have until the finish line. I played a little game on the second loop as a few people I knew were behind me that I knew were stronger runners so my goal was to finish strong and not let them pass me which I was able to do. Ran 43--something which I am happy with as its a tough run course and the conditions were pretty humid.

Ended up third clydesdale and won myself a new timex watch......not too shabby.

Heading out to Idaho on Wednesday for Sue's race. Tentatively planning on swimming 3.6 miles (water temp. permitting...its like 52 degrees right now), biking 168 miles, and running 27 miles in 4 days.

My legs are tired!!!

The day before racing a duathlon I rode 4 hours, then 2 days after the duathlon I rode 80 miles and I was wondering why I was feeling so flat lately....duh! I haven't been recovering so well lately but good news is that this is a recovery week....yahoo. Not sure what to do with myself.

I finished up a decent week of training. Managed a 3 hour ride on Wednesday after doing a long swim in the morning. The ride felt horrible. I had no energy. I got up the next morning to do a long run and figured it would be a shuffle fest but it turned out okay. I ran 1:30 and felt pretty decent. Rode 2 hours on the trainer on Saturday, then followed that up with a HILLY 3 hour ride on Sunday and a 30 minute brick run. Felt pretty good considering.

I volunteered at the Ridgefield Tri on Sunday. It was a good race. If only every triathlete would volunteer their time at one race, it would help grow this sport even more with knowledgeable people on the course.

Lots of travelling coming up and lots of training so this recovery week will do me good. Planning on racing Griskus Olympic in a few weeks, then off to Idaho for IMCDA.....I get to watch :-) followed by a big training weekend in Lake Placid, my half iron in RI, back to Lake Placid and before I know, my ironman will be here.

I'll take lots of great pics so spice up the blog....everyone wants to see pics, right?

Later.

Shamrock Duathlon

Last Sunday I raced the Shamrock Duathlon. It consists of a 5k run, then 28k bike, followed by another 5k run. The race setup was great. The weather was perfect. They had these great bike racks that you simply place your rear wheel in so it is clean and simple and everyone has the same amount of space. I do a little .5 mile warmup, one last trip to the bushes and I line up near the front.

I looked at the results from 2007 and noticed they had a clydesdale division so I register for that division and notice the winning time and person that won. I know who the guy is and I spot him at this year's race too. I know he is a pretty fast guy for us clydesdales so my game plan is to keep him in sight.

The gun goes off and he takes off......too fast for me. I tend to take the starts conservatively at first because everyone goes out too fast. It takes a few minutes for my HR to get up into my race zone, and to stabilize at a sustainable pace for me. So, I get into my zone and I start to pass a lot of people that go out too hard. That guy is one of them. I don't look back and I don't worry about him. I passed a few others that normally are faster than me. I guess I was running well. Sub 20:00 for first leg. Faster than I expected. I wasn't sure how I would feel today because I rode 4 hours just 13 hours ago. My legs were tired. Onto the bike and so far so good. I settle into my zone, steady on the climbs and push the flats, and take in some gatorade. A few guys are passing me which I wasn't happy about but I wasn't going to push too hard because I still had to run again. Here comes my guy......he passes me. I step it up a bit to keep in contact and end up re-passing him for a little bit. Then, a large downhill comes so I get into my position and all of a sudden, here comes a high speed wobble.....oh crap. I was moving at this point and my front wheel was seriously wobbling. I thought I was going down but I controlled it. Here comes another downhill and the wobble is here again.....oh crap. This stinks. I resign myself to riding the downhill very conservatively in order to stay on top of my bike and let the other guy go. There was no way I could keep the gap close. If this didn't happen, I would have pushed harder to keep him in contact. And, if I didn't ride 4 hours the day before, this would have been much easier too.....oh well. Maybe I can catch him on the run.

Glad to get off the bike and start running. I shouldn't have a wobble problem here. I start out slow to get my legs under me to see how they are going to do and so far, so good. I settle into my pace and with about a mile to go, I see the other guy and I'm closing. I finish strong but didn't catch him. I needed another mile or two and I would have caught him. He finished ahead of me by about 30 sec.

I get a massage, hydrate, and eat a bit. The results go up on the board and I look at my name and see a 2:00 penalty....thats odd. I ask the official what it was for and she tells me that I racked my bike on the wrong side of the bike rack. I laughed in her face and asked her if she was joking. She laughed too and said that a bunch of people received the penalty. This is the part of the sport that gets me angry because they have different governing bodies that have different rules and every race is set up differently. It knocks me from 2nd to 3rd in my category. I would have been 35th overall out of 254 finishers.

Overall, a good effort.

I sold my race wheels 2 days later so now I'm shopping for a new set again. Tubulars vs. clinchers is my great debate now.

Friday's Weigh-in

Well, I was happy when I saw that I lost 4 pounds which was done in only 3 days. You may think that I cut calories but I will tell you that I ate a ton. In fact, I haven't stopped eating. I have been training a lot so its important to fuel. I can really feel it when I don't have enough fuel in me. I am also planning ahead when I know I have a long workout. It really makes a difference to fuel up on carbs. If I eat fried calamari and nachos for dinner, then try to ride 5 hours the next day, I will be in for a long day.....not very good fuel.

Whenever I cut out sweets from my diet, I lose weight immediately but it plateaus and the challenge is to continue to eat right. I started eating right last Tuesday and now I'm down 5 pounds....maybe more. I'm on my way to meeting my goal. Only 21 pounds to go :-) People say to me that there is no way I have that much to lose but the numbers don't lie. If I have 15% body fat, then losing 26 pounds brings me down to 8-9% body fat which is a healthy number in males.....not too much.

Had a really nice week of training. I had a key swim training session with some friends gearing up for Lake Placid so we hammered some meters in a 50 meter long course pool. I'm enjoying these sessions in the 50 meter pool....it breaks up the monotony of going back and forth so many times. I rode 80 miles yesterday on a very hilly course and felt pretty strong doing so. This is a good 20 miles beyond my longest ride so far. I did a brick run afterwards too and my legs felt great. I really believe the loss of a few pounds makes a huge difference and the clean diet is such better fuel for these workouts. I followed this workout up with a 12 mile run today and my legs felt good. I was running really strong for the middle hour of this session so I know the potential is there to feel strong for a few hours with less weight and more training.

The spring is getting busy already. Heading up to RI hopefully in the next couple of weeks to ride the RI 70.3 bike course and coax Sue to swim some in the cold waters to acclimate to CDA water temps predicted to be in the mid 50's. Then its out to CDA for Sue's race which I'm really looking forward to, then up to Lake Placid for a training weekend. Its up to RI for my race and back to Lake Placid for Ironman (to watch, volunteer, train, and work).

Looking forward to this coming week for training, eating right and Friday's weigh in.

The 26 week challenge

My coach just emailed me and said that he was 26 pounds overweight and he had 26 weeks until his 'A' race which also happens to be my 'A' race.....Ironman Florida. So, I thought it would be good motivation for me to give myself the 26 pound challenge. That is 1 pound per week for 26 weeks.....I'm good at math :-)

I really believe I have the fitness to be a lot faster if I had less weight. I don't think I would sacrifice a lot of strength with less weight. I think for smaller athletes....<10% body fat, losing more weight verges on the side of losing speed.

I competed in a duathlon yesterday....the Greenwich biathlon.....a 2.5 mi run/10 mi bike/2.5 mi run. The race was over before I had a chance to warmup. I ran a 2 mile warmup at a fairly good pace. The race started and everyone went out hard. I held back some to allow myself to settle into a comfortable pace. It takes time for your HR to work up to that point. When you go out too hard, you risk tweeking a hamstring and dying because you go beyond your lactate threshold that you can recover so you crash (so to speak). I paced the first run very well, allowing myself to build into and as a result I consistently passed people all the way. Then I had a crappy transition and fumbled with my helmet and my shoes but not terrible. Getting onto the bike my legs felt terrible but then I realized that I had just run 2.5 miles all out.....that explains it. I eased into trying it to get a feel for my legs. The race was fairly spread out at this point. I was only passed by one person on the bike and he was part of a relay. I passed a half a dozen people or so but not as many as I would have liked. My second transition was much better as it always is. I came into transition with a group of people and I was the first or second out. My legs felt pretty decent and I settled into a good pace. I was passed fairly quickly by the eventual women's winner, then only one other guy who finished directly in front of me by 10 seconds or less. Overall I was pleased with my race and fitness at this point. I was 2 minutes faster this year than last. I missed breaking an hour by 30 seconds. I think my run pace was approx. 6:30/mile.

With less weight, running pace will be the biggest difference. With 20 pounds less weight, I should be able to run closer to 6 min miles. I could feel the weight as I was running. For every 5 pounds I feel a big difference.

I had some solid workouts last week. I trained with some buddies and we did a great ride one night and a really hard swim the following day. I followed that with an endurance 2:30 on the trainer on Saturday. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I rode the Wildflower course on the computrainer which is a really good course for riding on the training. Fairly flat...no steep climbs....just some gradual rises.

I have a challenging week ahead but not too bad. Looking forward to it and looking forward to losing a pound this week :-)

So, there it is....the 26 pound challenge. Anyone else want to join me?? Wish me luck :-)

IMFL Training Plan begins tomorrow

......or so my coach says. 6 months out or 26 weeks until IMFL. Is it too early to start counting down the weeks? I keep reminding myself to keep it fun and so far it has been.

I just got my training plan for next week and its a doozy. 11 sessions, approx. 15 hours with some hard efforts in there. My biggest challenge will be to get through these swimming sessions without cramping.

I just came off a recovery week but I snuck in a 2:45 unscheduled bike ride. It was slow and the weather was beautiful and my power was out for 24 hours......what else was I going to do?

I went to a benefit dinner tonight for a friend who is donating 75% of his liver to his brother. This guy is an inspiration. Oh, by the way, the procedure is one week after IM Lake Placid so he figures he'll give it a go and just try to finish since he's signed up anyway. Then, he's also signed up for IMFL so he plans to recover, train, then race in Florida......he's also a nut :-)

I was going to race the Bronx duathlon today but I bailed because the weather was iffy and I wasn't that into it anyway. Then I thought about doing the long sprint tri in NJ next weekend because a friend is going down to race the 1/2 but I'm going to bail on that too. Rumor is that it should be called swampman since the swim is in a nasty lake. There is a duathlon next Sunday in Greenwich which I will race instead (weather permitting). I have done this race a few times and I like it. It usually gets a lot of quality athletes and its a fun course.

The tax rebate checks are coming soon.....what should I do with it? Save it? Pay some bills? Buy a powermeter? Buy a laptop? Go to Mohegan Sun and try to double it?

Need to rest up for my double workout tomorrow :-)

A good week of training......

I just finished up a good, solid week of training. My swimming sessions continue to be a struggle due to severe cramping in my calves. My next test is to really work on my ankle flexibility to see if that will make a difference. I'm determined to figure it out and once I do, I think I might go for my doctorate in exercise physiology and do my dissertation on cramping.....just kidding. Actually, I came to find a woman at Indiana State University that did her disseration on cramping. She had a lot of ideas but no real solutions. I've come to find out by talking to a lot of people and reading a lot about the subject that it is a very mysterious bodily reaction.

The weather was gorgeous this week so I got outside 3 days and over 6 hours with a 3:15 ride on Saturday. My legs definitely felt tired but not terrible. I followed that up with a 1:45 solid run on Sunday, my fourth run of the week. My pace was approx. 8:30 and I got in 12 miles or so.

On to a recovery week. After 3 solid weeks of training, I'm due for some rest. I'll spend some more time in the pool in the coming week to do lots of drills.

A little update.....

Haven't had much to say so that is why I haven't written much. My training has been consistent, averaging approx. 12 hours per week. With this nicer weather I am enjoying getting outside and riding my bike. I have done a few rides of 3 hours which seems to be just fine. That would have been a bit of a struggle last year at this time. I am doing more sets and intervals at threshold pace which hurts but will make me stronger.

My swimming has gotten better as I'm swimming my 100's almost 5 seconds faster but my endurance isn't there yet. When I try to push it my form gets bad. So for now, I continue to drill a lot which I'm enjoying and I think it will really help me in the long run. I'm doing about 1,000 each workout of drill 25/ swim 25 which I like.

I have about 9-10 pounds to lose in the next 11 weeks, which is my race in RI. Shouldn't be a problem but I need to stay focused. At that weight, it should set me up for a good race. I'm excited about going home to race. I will know a lot of people racing so it will be fun too.

I might do the bronx duathlon next weekend which I hear is fun because they close a lane of the hutchinson parkway for the bike. This will be a good chance to test out my bike and give me a benchmark of where my fitness is.

I applied for the Kona lottery for the third year in a row and of course I didn't get in again. I'll keep plugging away. Its probably a good thing since I wouldn't have been able to compete at Florida but I would give up any race to go to hawaii to race.

Gotta go and get outside and enjoy this nice weather....ciao!

Back to Reality!

Back from my trip to Spain, it was tough getting back to reality. The first week was hard but now I'm back into my routine again. I have been reading a lot about core lately from 2 books I just purchased. It talks a lot about activating the core and specifically your glutes (by far the largest and strongest muscle group in the body). I'm finding out that often we don't activate our glutes enough so we rely on other muscles groups and put a lot of stress on our joints. I'm also experiencing this first hand in my training and in my practice. I have a few clients right now that are experiencing a lot of joint strain from overuse. I'm working with them on this concept of core/glute activation.

I'm heading outside on Sunday for 3+ hours so I'm excited to get on the road. I had some good run and bike workouts this week that consisted of beyond lactate threshold pacing.

My swimming has gotten better too. I have decided to slow things down. I am drilling a lot and focusing a lot on my balance. It is paying off.

I canceled my last few sessions with my nutritionist. I wasn't getting anymore out of him and it takes up 3 hours of my day and lots of gas. I know the program and now the trick and next challenge is to stop my sugar cravings........hypnosis is next :-)

Mallorca, Spain Trip

A group of 5 went to Mallorca, Spain for a training week. We organized this through Stephen Roche cycling camps. If you don't know about Mallorca (which I didn't until this trip), it is an island of Spain east of Valencia. It is known to be a popular destination for professional cyclists to train there because of the challenging terrain and outstanding weather. Mallorca has over 315 days of sunshine per year so it is a very popular vacation destination and has become a popular place to cycle. This time of the year was a perfect time to go and train because the tourist season hasn't started yet so there are not a ton of people on the roads. The weather got up into the mid to high 60's during the day. I rode in shorts everyday and started the day with arm warmers but quickly took them off.

Stephen Roche has set up a terrific camp with group leaders each day at varying cycling paces, a very nice hotel with buffet breakfasts and dinners. As we flew over the island, you can see the vast mountain ranges on the island and soon realized we were in for some challenging days ahead.

I was immediately in awe of the terrain as soon as we ventured on our first ride from the hotel. We passed beautiful pastures of green grass, herds of sheep with their little bells on, and gorgeous views of the countryside. Day 1, the group set out at a moderate pace to warm up the legs. I had not been riding outside since the fall so I didn't know what to expect. I had some technical problems with my bike for the first 25 miles of the ride so it was frustrating. I didn't want to stop to slow the group down so I put up with it until we stopped at the halfway point to make adjustments to my derailler. The climb to Soller was beautiful with over 20 switchbacks and was immediately in a great place. My legs felt strong and was just happy to be there. After 50+ miles, I went out for a transition run of 3.25 miles, then a cold plunge in the pool, some stretching, then lunch, and a good nap. Dinner followed and back to bed for the night.

Day 2 was a shorter day of just 30 miles but a few harder climbs. I felt really good still and followed the ride with another transition run of 3.25 miles, then a long stretching session, then in town for some lunch, then off to the pool for an hour swim session. Shower up and head to dinner for a traditional Mallorcaean dinner and entertainment.

Day3 was a shakeout day to determine riders abilities. It was supposed to be about 44 miles but since I decided to ride with the faster group, we added some additional climbs and mileage and it turned about to be 58 miles. It was a much harder effort than the previous two days. I was sore so I stretched, napped, and walked into town for lunch.

Our little group ventured off from the big group and ventured into Palma for dinner. Palma is the main city in Mallorca and it is beautiful. We discoverd Old Palma which contained these quaint shops and restaurants and really old architecture.

Day 4 I am up early for a 30 min. swim session on my own then off to the ride. I am brave enough to stay with the fast group especially because its "supposed" to be a flatter ride with "only" 2 climbs. We were led by our group leader Jean-Sabastian (or as I nicknamed him "quadzilla"). I knew I was in for a long day when my HR got up to 166 within the first 5 minutes of the ride. The 2 climbs turned into 4 and we were hitting 36 mph on the flats. I clocked 67 miles and was officially destroyed after this ride but was happy I was able to keep up. I managed a transition run of 3.25 miles at a nice pace. Surprisingly my running legs felt good. A good stretch, cold plunge, lunch, and nap. We venture into Magaloof for St. Patricks Day after dinner at the hotel. We have a pint, then go for some Chinese food, then back to the Irish Pub where it heated up with some good crowds and irish fiddler/singer.

Day 5 I needed to take a day off but I move forward again. I decide to ride with the slower group today but the ride was to include 6 climbs. My legs were shot but I hated to miss any of the rides so I plowed on. After someone broke his chain, I happened to be up front and I ventured off down this road which happened to be an 8km steep descent with approx. 40 switchbacks....one false move and I'm dead. I get to the bottom and realize no one followed me. Ooops :-) I realize there is only one way back which is back up the hill. Did they know I was down there? I eat a bar and start heading back up with trashed legs. In a strange way I was looking forward to the challenge. There was good reason you didn't see any other cyclists on this road. I make it half way up when the SAG wagon picks me up.....a welcomed sight. After we catch back up to the group, I hop out (stupid move) and complete the last climb of the day and stroll into the hotel. Later on, a few of us head into Palma to check out some favorite spanish clubs......another late night.

Day 6 I was still shot but this was our last day of riding so I go out for a shakedown ride. It was so slow, I questioned why I was out there. I only went out for an hour or so, then showered up and head back to Palma where we rented a 54 foot powerboat to chill out for the day on the water. It was a gorgeous day. We hung out in this little cove for a while then into a cool little port for lunch. Back to Palma for a stop for coffee, lots of walking/shopping, then a hunt for a nice restaurant. We finally found one and it was worth it. A great last evening in Mallorca.

Day 7 I got up for one last swim, pack my bike, my luggage and off to the airport for the long flight home.

Last Thoughts: Mallorca is beautiful. The trip was amazing and better than expected. I received an amazing level of cycling fitness and strength. The Stephen Roche camp was extremely well run and service was exceptional. I can picture myself coming back next year for sure. It is a great way to get away from the cold New England winter and to jump start your fitness for the year. Would be great to get a larger group next year which I'm sure we'll get. I already have some early commitments.