Race Report - Ironman Steelhead 70.3

The Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 was my focus for the season.  The timing was perfect in that I had time to train in between school commitments and it was driveable in less than a day.  Plus, I was intrigued by the race and wanted to see what it was like with the swim in Lake Michigan.
Going into race day, I was excited and it was nice to have that feeling before a race again – knowing that you are fit and ready and not really knowing how fast you could go.  My race plan was:

• Swim
• Focus on length and the better feel/form I’ve been working on in the pool
• Maintain that form as long as possible
• T1
• Run as fast as I could up the beach and through T1
• Bike
• ~240-250 watts on the flats, ~300+ on the “hills” or hard parts (any wind); aiming to ride norm of ~250 watts for whole thing
• 400 cals EFS drink, then 300 cals EFS liquid shot with ½ scoop EFS pre-race
• Four 14-mile laps, monitoring power output for each
• T2
• Quick dismount, run as fast as I could through transition
• Run
• 4 x 5K at ~HR 157-160 for first 2 “laps” and ~160+ for last 2 laps.  Then, for last 1K, give it everything I had and stay as strong mentally as I could, leaving it all on the course

With respect to results based on that plan, I really had no idea how fast it would be.  We drove the bike course, which had some rollers, but nothing major.  And given the nice weather forecast, I expected the bike to be fairly fast, but just wasn’t sure.  Based on recent training data, I was, however, confident I could run pretty well after riding for 2+ hours at ~240 watts and so was really just focused on that process.

Race rig ready to roll.

This race does have a reputation for swims getting canceled (2 of the last 4 I believe), but that is “only” twice out of 9 total and the weather forecast was just about perfect, so I was expecting a good swim.  I had been to Lake Michigan before and love the beaches there, but having lived on the West Coast the last 8 years, I hadn’t been back for quite a while.  The park where transition is had an awesome beach and my kids LOVED it.  There was fluffy white sand, comfortable water, and a playground.  Granted, we are still removing sand from everything, but it was a great venue.

Nice beach.

Family fun.

Kids enjoying the beach.

My wave start was almost last, an hour and five minutes after the pro start, so once I got transition set up, it was a matter of just relaxing with the family.  We found a bench and sat for a while while the kids played at the playground.  Then, we started walking down the beach for the start.  They change the swim course depending on the currents, either going 1.2 miles from south to north or vice versa.  Our race had us going south to north so we headed down the beach for the start.  I got my wetsuit on and got in the water to acclimate for just a few minutes.  It felt really, really nice and after several Midwest races over the summer in HOT, bath-water-temperature lakes, I was glad to have found a wetsuit-legal race!  The water was great!

Lance is really there, I swear it's not just his hat!

The water was pretty shallow quite a ways out, so when my wave started I ran probably half-way to the first buoy.  Then I just started cruising and focused my form and just staying relaxed.  Because it was a point-to-point swim, it was fairly easy to site and it didn’t really seem all that crowded.  I had minimal drama.  It felt long to me, but I am not in great swim shape and was simply focusing on trying to maintain good, long form with high-elbows and vertical forearms.  When I could feel myself slipping out of that form, I’d try to bring it back as best I could, but otherwise, I just cruised along in a rhythm.

Power file from ride.

Upon exiting the water, I didn’t even look at my watch; I just booked it as fast as I could through the deep sand up to the transition area.  The transition area was LOOOOOOOONNNNGGGG, so I just ran through it as quick as I could passing lots of people.  Had a little trouble getting my wetsuit off, but otherwise, was on my bike fairly efficiently.  When I started the ride, I think my watch said something like 41:xx, so I knew it was time to get to work and see if I could get myself into the AG race.  Turns out I was 52nd out of 162 AG coming out of the water with a 38:xx swim.  Top third is good progress compared to where I have been coming out of the water.

Once on my bike, I tried to let my HR settle (after that hard run up the beach) --- it was 170 right at the beginning of the ride, so I just relaxed into a rhythm and went about business with my power target.  I felt really, really good through the first lap (14 miles) of the ride and was definitely holding back some to keep it at my target numbers.  2nd lap was more of the same and I was taking in my nutrition on the 15 minute alarms from my watch.  Based on the weather, I knew it had the potential to be a fast day, but when I got to the half-way point and had been through the first half of the bike in ~1:09, I was excited to keep it going and it was game on!  Also at that point, one guy caught me --- the 2nd half of my AG started 5 minutes behind me and he was the only person to catch me on the bike.  At that point, it was great, though, as it served as a shot-in-the-arm and now I had somebody to chase.  It turned out we were fairly evenly matched so we just traded pacing duties (while each doing our best to remain legal) for the remainder of the ride.  By 45-50 miles, I found myself holding back a bit much under my power target so I decided to push a little harder to finish off the ride, coming into transition a little ahead of my riding buddy and a bike split of 2:17.  I didn’t know what my split was at the time, but was excited to work on getting out of T2 in under 3 hours race time.

So my four “laps” look like this:
1 - avg power 246, norm power 251, avg HR 160
2 - avg power 249, norm power 255, avg HR 155
3 - avg power 244, norm power 250, avg HR 155
4 - avg power 235, norm power 245, avg HR 154
entire ride - avg power 243, norm power 250, avg HR 156

I don't think the drop in power for the last lap was from being substantially tired, but more that I was holding back some to stay well-behind my pacing buddy.  After looking back, I think I executed my plan really well and am quite satisfied, hitting my power target and keeping my HR about ~10 bpm below threshold at the same time.  The entire ride felt pretty good and I didn’t find myself really wanting to get off my bike until about 45-50 miles in.  After the bike, I was in 8th place AG, so I had gotten myself into the race with a solid ride, executed my nutrition plan, and was confident and ready to run.

Coming into T2, I took my feet out of my shoes and had a really nice dismount, hardly slowing down.  I booked it down the transition area as quick as I could, racked my bike, took my helmet off, and put my shoes on.  Then it was onto the run!  Glancing at my watch coming out of transition, I saw 3:00:xx for the race time and got really excited knowing that I had ridden myself into a position to PR and move up the AG race higher than I had before.  It just reaffirmed my belief that doing whatever you can to create positive experiences and thoughts during a race has a huge impact on performance and outcome.  I was positive and excited to race the whole time and it had a big effect.

I started out on my first of four 5K “laps” and didn’t worry so much about pace initially, just worked on finding a good rhythm and the right effort level.  The run course was not killer, but it did have some hills to keep things honest.  It’s an out and back with 2 loops at the far end.  I just focused on my effort level and mentally concentrated on form (relaxed shoulders, smooth running) and motored along.  Just like I did on the bike, I was cruising past people quickly and continued moving up the field.  About 2 miles in, my bike pacing buddy came flying past me!!  Turns out, he can run, too!  I just told him “nice work” and went about running my own race.  

I felt really good and quite smooth through about mile 7 or 8 and stuck to my plan.  By the end of the 3rd 5K, I was feeling more labored, but still keeping a good pace.  Mental note, next time I do a race where the swim has a white, sandy beach, take a few more seconds to get the sand off my feet, because running in racing flats with sandy feet is like running on sand paper!

Once I got into my 4th 5K, I still tried to focus on my process mentally sticking to the fact that I was running a 5K and to try to keep it to ~21 minutes or less.  I also took another gel flask with me on the run that had ~150-200 calories of EFS liquid shot in it mixed with a half-scoop of EFS pre-race and water.  I took a swig from that about every 5K.  By the last one, I was tired of it, chucked it, and switched to Coke, still taking about a 5-second count in my head at every aid station to get in water and nutrition.  Around mile 10-11, I noticed my bike pacing buddy up the road just a little ways --- I had my rabbit back!!  So I kept the pressure on and in another ~30 seconds or so, he actually stopped off to the side of the road.  Not sure why, but I just kept going.  I was a little bummed to have lost my pacer so fast, but just stuck to my own plan, keeping the pressure on.  

Going into the race, I had something in my head that I heard recently about “racing every step” so that’s what I focused on.  I made it to the end of my 4th 5K and then hung tough as much as possible, racing every step and using some good mental self-talk to dig just a little deeper.  The 2nd half of my AG started 5 minutes behind me, so I didn’t want to get “virtually” clipped by a few seconds and kept the RPE high through the end, wanting to leave it all out there.

Getting to that finishing chute is always a thrill!  I had the whole thing to myself, so just enjoyed the crowd and looked for my family.  It was a great finishing environment and I knew I had had a great race, so I was really happy/relieved/emotional/etc.  I think putting myself in this physically-depleted-yet-emotional state is why I like racing.  Nothing like a solid-days’ effort to feel alive!!

As for my run split and my 4+1 strategy, here are the details from my Garmin and how it broke down:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/212714003

Overall, it was a 1:26:16 for about a 6:36 min/mile pace and an avg HR of 163.  And I had run my way up to 4th in my AG and (33rd OA), finished in 4:27 (a solid PR) and managed to snag the last slot to Las Vegas next year, a very satisfying result.  With respect to my process goals for the day, I hit them all.  My HR was a little higher than planned on the run, but I felt good with the effort level and decided to roll with it.  Very happy to hit my process goals and let the outcome take care of itself.

We also really enjoyed the area - SW Michigan is really quite nice. Here are some shots of some fun around St. Joseph prior to race day.

Arrrrrrrt around town.

They found a ship!

Next up is Branson 70.3. I won’t have nearly as much time to train, so I’ll just go out and have fun, laying it all out there!

Race Report - IronAbe Olympic Triathlon

When I found out about a local race in Springfield called the IronAbe triathlon, I knew I had to sign up.  After a somewhat disappointing race in the shortened Muncie 37.2, I wanted to get another race under my belt prior to 2 more half-IMs late in the season.  Plus, my sister-in-law lives in Springfield so we got to spend some time with her prior to the race.

It was a low-key, local event and very well-organized.  Having picked up my packet the day before, all I had to do was set up transition and get ready to swim.  I got in the water for a few practice strokes and to see what the water was like – again another “bath-water” like swim in the Midwest with a temp of 87 degrees.  Regardless, my entire goal for the swim was to stay relaxed and consistent, making forward progress the entire time, just to get things moving in the right direction again after Muncie.

After my little practice swim, Abe himself gave the pre-race speech, encouraging us to “continue working to improve ourselves.”  

The kids with "IronAbe"

And with that, we were off.  The swim was uneventful – I basically focused on being relaxed the entire time and attempting to keep my form long, working on the changes I have been making in the pool.  When I felt myself shorten up, I tried to lengthen out and keep focused on “length, pressure, and direction.”  The course felt a little long and I came out with a very slow 33 minute swim.  Regardless, I had made progress, staying relaxed the entire swim and not having the same issues I had in the hot swim in Muncie.

With such a slow swim, I knew I’d be ~10 minutes behind the front-pack-swimmers getting on my bike.  The bike was mostly flat with a few rollers, but there was a swirling wind that kept the effort honest.   I also attempted to get in my bottle of ~300 calories of EFS, but only got down about 100-150 on the bike.  I was too focused on trying to make up ground on the field.  At the bike turnaround, the race leader had 10 minutes on me and I was in ~19^th place overall, at least with respect to the people that started in the first wave.  Throughout the back half of the bike, I just kept working hard trying to make up ground.  About half-way back to transition we merged in with the sprint field so I could no longer tell what position I was in, but a few minutes after that one guy passed me on the bike.  It was the only person who passed me on the bike, but it was good to give me another little jolt of motivation to keep the effort up.  I made it back to transition in about an hour, missing the hour mark by ~24 seconds (avg power 265, norm 268, a little lower than expected, but the course was flat and I still have a harder time keeping the effort up when there are no hills).

On my way back into the park, I saw my family who were enjoying the play structures in the park.  They also had a tour of a helicopter...  pretty cool!

Luci and Lance checking out a helicopter while I rode my bike.

T2 was reasonably quick as I ditched my bike and helmet, put on my shoes and grabbed my hat and race belt, taking off as quick as I could.  The 10K was on a shaded road on the other side of the lake consisting of 2 out and back sections.  After crossing the bridge I passed another guy and made my way to the 1^st turnaround, keeping the effort up, but going by feel, working hard, and not paying a lot of attention to pace.  The sprint race headed back after 1 turnaround, so on the 2^nd out-and-back, I could see who was in front of the Olympic race.  The race leader was still a ways in front of me and had put a minute or two into me on the bike and first part of the run, but not much.  Plus there were more guys I could chase.  Coming back from the 2^nd turnaround, I chased one guy to the finish, but couldn’t quite catch him.  Regardless, it was nice having a rabbit while I closed out the 10K, clocking a 39:07 for the run.

My overall time was 2:15 and change.  I was hoping for a bit quicker, but when you swim 33, a 2:15 is alright.  It was a positive experience in that I didn’t have any issues in the swim.  I had a good bike and run and take it as a positive sign my fitness is coming along well for Steelhead.

I ended up 10^th overall and won my age group.  A little surprising with a 2:15, but I can’t complain.  There were some quick guys and it was good competition for a smaller race (full results here). They also had pretty nice AG awards designed by a local artist - a metal silhouette-cutout.

One of the better AG awards I've seen.

It was a well-organized and really fun race.  Plus, the kids had a good time playing in the park, checking out the helicopter and meeting Abe!  Hoping to come back next year with an improved swim.

Race Report - Ironman Muncie (37.2)

My brother-in-law and cousin-in-law are training for IM Louisville, so they both targeted Muncie 70.3 as a half-ironman race to use for practice.  So I decided to jump in and race too.  After registering, we headed out to the race venue and on the way, we found out they were shortening the race to a 1 mile swim / 30 mile bike / and 10K run.  We were all disappointed, but the conditions were pretty harsh – temps of 100+ with 80+% humidity.  Other races in the past have been that hot, but I suppose there are risks that race directors need to be aware of and the decision was one they made for the safety of all the folks involved.  We couldn’t do anything about it, so we just accepted it and looked forward to a hard race.

Then we went out to the race venue and boy was it a cooker!  We checked in our bikes and headed down to see the swim venue, where we bumped into Greg Bennett – we chatted for a minute and wished him luck... he's a super nice guy and we were all pulling for him.  

Muncie Swim Venue

Emily, Scott (brother-in-law), Catherine (sister-in-law)

Em with Greg Bennett!

We decided to forgo any riding/swimming and just headed to our hotel and went for a bit to eat and got our gear ready to go for the morning.  Everything went smoothly in the AM and we each were off on our way.  

Kendra (cousin) and Josh (cousin-in-law)

Scott and Catherine pre-race

Me and Em.

Coming out of the water...  not happy.

With respect to my race, if they give mulligans for triathlon, I think I’d take one.  I have no excuses – my head just wasn’t in the game.  Rather than a blow-by-blow, here’s my list of process goals prior to the race with scoring and comments for each:

-          Focus on not dropping left elbow during swim

C-  ///  I was focused on my left elbow and trying to keep it from dropping, but I completely imploded, physically and mentally on the swim and ended up doing about 30-40% of it breaststroke.  On the way back, I was alternating – 20-30 strokes freestyle, 20-30 strokes breaststroke.

-          Practice breathing to both sides, but focus on right side (slightly weaker breathing side)

D- /// I started breathing to my right side watching the buoys, but could not get comfortable.  The water was HOT (they measured it at ~88-89), and I just felt like I couldn’t get in enough air or get in a rhythm.  I eventually gave up and started breathing left and knew my form started fading; I was lifting my head way up out of the water and could feel my chest coming up and my hips/legs going down.  Not good.

-          Run hard through T1, but when I get to my transition, stay calm and methodical

B /// It was not a fast transition – since I don’t have a legal swimskin, I chose to swim in tri shorts and just put my jersey on in transition, which slowed me down.  However, I stayed calm and tried to put the swim debacle behind me.

-          On bike, keep effort steady, but mod-high on bike for flat course; Break it into 5 30-minute laps and check avg power at each, taking nutrition in every 15 minutes

B- /// I kept the effort going, but in looking at my average power, it was low for a 30-mile ride and was probably closer to my half-IM power output.  I did get in my nutrition, even with the modified distance.   I am content with the effort, but not overly happy about it.  Could’ve gone harder, but I am not sure I bounced back enough mentally from the poor swim to really crank it out on the bike. 

-          On run, target 3 30-minute laps, avg HR for first ~160, avg HR for 2^nd 163, avg HR for 3^rd ~166.  Pacing my HR in the heat, speed will be what it will be.

C+ /// I decided not to put my HR strap on and go by feel in the shortened race.  I attempted to keep the effort up, but the same as on the bike, I think it was more of a half-IM pace/effort.  I was having a hard time digging deeper and really pushing it, given the circumstances.  It was a flat course, but I should've been able to put out more power for 30 miles (a 1:10 split).

-          Race every step

B- /// I had what I would say is a solid effort, but I think, given the fact that I was a total headcase in the swim, I did not go anywhere near my potential, let alone get anywhere close to "the well."  I practiced managing the hot conditions, but I did not race to what I feel is my potential.

Overall, I’d give myself a C+ on my process goals and clearly need work before Steelhead.  With respect to what went well and what needs improved…

What went well:

• Stayed calm and smooth, yet urgent, during transitions
• Stuck to my nutrition plan on the bike – since the race was shortened, I modified to 1 bottle of 300 calories of EFS drink and some Saltstick caps (with caffeine).  I got all of it in on the ride in just over an hour (~1:10)
• Used my mantras on the run and kept a steady effort with decent rhythm

What needs work:

• Mental toughness in swim
• Swim fitness
• Transition speed
• Getting my head back in the game when things are not going well
• Digging deeper on both the bike and the run
• Expectations - they were likely too high prior to the race given my build up and life-stress in the last couple of months

In spite of my sub-optimal day, I had a lot of fun being out there with my brother-in-law and cousin-in-law and going along the journey with them towards IM Louisville.  Plus, we all had a nice “adult” weekend with none of our kids there!  I was super proud of my brother-in-law and cousin-in-law for finishing in some tough conditions.  My brother-in law had a flat and some navigational issues, but was able to persevere and make it to the finish.  His experience illustrates the fact that you just can't take any finish for granted, no matter what the distance.  You always face adversity, and success is more about how you overcome it and how you approach it.  I was glad to be reminded of this lesson and am really proud of how he responded!

My cousin-in-law had a good day, solid all-around on the swim/bike/run.  Things went well and he motored along, managing his nutrition, pace, mental approach, etc., tweaking his "race process" and practicing it prior to the big dance in KY.

Josh on the run.

With respect to the shortening of the race, I do not know who made the "final" decision, but I believe it was a good one.  I was likely up to the challenge to race in that heat and could've managed myself, but for a relative newbie, it could have been VERY tough.  It would have also been really hard on spectators and volunteers out there for a longer day.  My worst experience on the day was the 88 degree water.  Starting the day off with a high core body temp, swimming in 88 degree water, then riding and running for 4-5+ hours for all of the competitors in the 100+ degree heat with 80% humidity would have been dangerous.  I know many say you need to HTFU, but now-a-days, race directors face tough decisions.  While I was frustrated with the decision, I did not get bent out of shape like some folks.  Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches.  However, the way they announced it was sub-optimal.  I only found out on Twitter and otherwise wouldn't have known until they sent an email late in the day.  We were offered a $125 discount to other 70.3 events later in the year, but the way it all went down could've been managed much better.



After the fact, I am glad I went to the race.  Besides the distance change, it was well-organized, well-run and I hope to go back in the future.  Maybe the weather would cooperate and I could get in the entire half-iron distance on that course – the run has some rollers, but otherwise, it is fast and fun.

Race Report - QuarterMax Triathlon

After a cross-country move and starting a somewhat intense, 6-week session of school, my training has been a bit sporadic.  Regardless, now that my shoulder is finally back to (almost) normal, I wanted to get some racing under my belt.  Five years ago, I was visiting my in-laws in Southern Illinois and found a local race to do called the QuarterMax – a 1000 yd swim, 28 mile bike, and 6.5 mile run (at the time).  My parents were also traveling through the area at the time, so I had a substantial support crew there.  That morning, I was standing on the beach waiting for my wave to start and next thing I know I heard a scream from one of the kayakers saying that “somebody went down – we need help!”  The shorter race had some waves before mine and one of the swimmers, on his way back toward the beach about 100 yards out, went under the water.  We all ran from the beach into the water trying to find him and after 5-10 minutes a couple of guys did.  They pulled him up on to the beach and a doctor spectator tried to revive him for what seemed like forever.  In the mean time, they called for help and a helicopter showed up another few minutes later and the life-flighted him out of there.  We found out later he did not survive.

Meanwhile, we were all left on the beach just dumbfounded and gutted.  It was a surreal experience and none of us knew what was going on.  Obviously we were not all that worried about the race.  Eventually, the race director, in tears, gathered us all together and told us the race was going to happen, but the swim would be shortened.  So we all went through the motions.

 

Going back 5 years later was a little unnerving because of what had happened, but it also felt like some closure in some ways.  Nobody mentioned anything at the race, but I had the athlete in my head a large part of the morning.

As far as the race goes, this one is a good one for me with a slight emphasis on the bike/run combo.  Now that I moved to the area, I figured it’d be fun to go back to QuarterMax and get into the local race scene.  And though my wife and kids were in Florida for the week (as I finish school for the summer), my folks have moved to the area also and decided to come out to the race again.  Plus another good friend of mine that lives in St. Louis came out --- it was great to see him out there!

One thing about races in this area is that the water is warm and there are no wetsuits.  This one was no exception – the water was 81.  I decided to swim in my tri shorts and put on my HR monitor and shirt in transition.  Probably not the best decision with respect to having quick transitions, but I did want HR data from the race.  In future events, I’ll need a better solution.

My goals for this race were:

• Focus on not dropping my left elbow during the swim and continue working on correcting that bad habit / motor pattern.
• Impair myself on the bike, as if I didn’t have to run afterwards.
• Get in ~300 cals on the bike to see how my gut would do at that intensity.
• Run in search of the hurt box and crank up the RPE in the 2^nd lap.

The swim went fine.  I attempted to get behind a few people, but it didn’t last long and I was on my own for most of it.  After getting over a shoulder injury (finally), I have just recently started swimming more.  I am not fast, but I at least managed the distance OK (yes, only 1000 meters, but you have to start somewhere) and was able to focus on form and not dropping my left elbow.  I was out of the water somewhere mid-back of my wave. 

Once I got on the bike, I started hard from the beginning trying to make up as much deficit as I could.  I was watching HR/power some, but was mostly focused on keeping the effort up and getting around as many people as possible.  I had forgotten how hilly and technical this course was.  The roads in and out of the park were windy and had some short, steep climbs.  I was hoping to get near my FTP from a power standpoint, but had a hard time keeping the effort up with all the turns, etc.  Once I got out on the country roads, I was able to get into a good rhythm and start getting some calories in.  I had my watch set to auto-lap every 7 miles for 4 laps and was getting some of my EFS down at each lap.  By the end, I had gotten in about 200 of the 300 calories in the bottle and though my avg/norm power was a little lower than expected (avg 261, norm 277), I had a good ride, finishing in 1:07:xx with the 2^nd fastest split in the entire field and the fastest in my AG by over 3 minutes.

A shot of me coming out of transition - compliments of my friend Rob.

Out on the run and the hills started from the beginning.  It was a 2-looper on some gravel roads through the resort, but to get out to the loop, you ran up the park road with a solid “false flat.”  I tried to get the pace up from the beginning and focused on getting into a good rhythm and continuing to pass people.  I had auto lap set for 1.5 miles and was planning on doing each in about 10 minutes or less.  The hills slowed me down some, but I did manage a 39:xx run and really kept the effort up in the 2^nd half.  Avg pace was 6:33 and avg HR was 166, pushing up to 174 by the end of the run.  I was satisfied with the effort on a hard, hot, hilly course and it was good for the fastest run in my AG and 3^rd fastest in the field.   There were ~330 finishers and 52 guys in my AG and it turns out my 2:11 was good for 6^th OA 1st AG be a few minutes. 

With respect to my goals above, I’d say I did fairly well on the first one and kept my left elbow up through most of the swim.  I probably could’ve gone harder on the bike, but am still working on finding that effort level and holding it.  I also didn’t get all my calories down and need to keep improving on that, too.  Finally, on the run, I was satisfied  with my effort.  All in all, good race to kick off 2012.

Race Reports and Early Season Update

I’ve had several things up in the air recently and hadn’t really dialed in my schedule.  I was planning on doing Oceanside and St. George, but I have had some shoulder issues and was not able to do either.  On top of that, I am in the midst of planning a cross-country move, so racing an Ironman was probably a little ambitious in hindsight.  Since I wasn’t able to do either of these races, I changed up my schedule a bit to accommodate.  I decided to do a bike race in March and a half-marathon in April as some early season events, just to keep things interesting and keep me motivated.

The road race was a new experience and I definitely learned a lot!  It came in the middle of March and I had been biking quite a bit in the early season via my previous St. George training and the Endurance Corner camp in Tucson.  My TSS/day was up to ~108, but I had tapered some for the race and was down to about ~95 for the event. 

PMC chart --- decent fitness for early season due to faux-St.George training, Tucson camp, and quitting work.

However, it turns out steady-state bike fitness doesn’t necessarily equate to success in bike racing.  The race was a CAT5 road race consisting of 3 10-mile laps; the route was mostly flat, but it did have one “hill” which we encountered on each lap.  It wasn’t much of a hill, but was enough to play into the tactics/dynamics of the race.  The wind would also be a factor.  I was warned that the CAT5 guys would essentially go “full gas” from the beginning; I think largely out of inexperience (although maybe that’s just my rationalization).  Shortly after we started we turned straight into the wind  so I just hid in the pack as much as possible and tried to stay with my teammates. 

We actually had 4 people in the race, but it didn't work out as planned and Cesar was the only one who made the front group.

However, the 2nd turn took us onto a frontage road with a gnarly cross-wind.  Not much of a draft and we got strung out big time – I barely hung on to the front group and we split the pack.  The next few miles were fast and furious.  Around the back side of the 10 mile loop was the lone hill on the route and the front guys really put the pedal to the metal up the hill.  I was able to hang on and stay with the group, but barely.  Through the 1st lap I averaged 304 watts with a norm of 321.

First lap of Bariani race - avg 304 norm 321.  Ouch.  And to think, some people ride an entire Ironman at this effort!

The frontage road on the 2nd lap really cracked me and I couldn’t hang on, getting yo-yo’d off the back at ~400 watts.  I was simply not prepared for the short, high-intensity efforts, in spite of my fitness level.  I got dropped like a hot-potato and spent most of the 2nd lap and part of the 3rd on my own, bummed that I was not able to help Cesar at all (not that he needed it).  Towards the back of the 3rd lap, I regrouped with 3 other guys and worked with them a little bit up the back side of the loop.  However, I didn’t want a sprint finish for something close to 27th place, so when we got to the hill, I attacked and took off.  Fortunately, none of them went with me.  Then I just kept the effort high until the finish. It was a 90 minute effort with an average of 275 watts and norm of 290, probably just a little below threshold, really stretching me for an hour and a half.

Nice action shot.

It was a fun experience and I definitely need to work on some short, high-intensity riding to hang in a road race.  Even though my power-to-weight ratio at threshold is respectable, I am definitely more of a steady-state athlete on the bike.

After the bike race, I had resigned from my job (in preparation for our move) and did a couple of ~20 hour weeks in a row just because I had the time and wanted to see how I felt doing several solid weeks in a row and got the CTL up to 114, but then started tapering some and just focusing on quality run work to prepare for my 2nd early season event, a half-marathon.  I was still planning on resting my shoulder through about the end of April, so I gave up some work on the bike, continued my swim-hiatus, and focused a bit on some quality run work.  I hit the track a few times and did some quality tempo at just below half-marathon pace.  I was interested to see where my run fitness was at this point and though I might be able to PR.  Last year, I did a 1:22:05 at Davis Stampede and thought that would be within reach.

But before I would run myself, perhaps the best thing about my season so far was another trip to Boston for the marathon!  Emily crushed it at CIM in 2010 doing a 3:29, so she registered for Boston for 2012 when registration first opened.  We had a great trip to Boston, catching up with old friends, seeing the Aquarium, surviving the heat on race day, walking the Freedom trail, catching a game at Fenway, and visiting the Children’s museum.

Here are some pictures/highlights of our adventures…

Emily and our kids as we entered the expo and packet pickup.

Sending Emily off to wait in Hopkinton.

The kids did great walking around the city and handling the heat.

We visted "Make Way for Ducklings" and the Swan Boats as we made our way over to the race!

Proud Husband at the finish ;-)

 We hung around for a few days after the race....

Starting the Freedom Trail at Boston Common.

Fenway Park with Lance!

100 Years Old.

Boston Children's Museum

 

With respect to the actual race, Emily did a great job, staying strong in tough heat.  It was not the hottest Boston Marathon ever, but it did approach 90 degrees, topping out around 88 I think --- really tough to run in, particularly for a race that doesn't start until 10 AM.  Emily started in the wave at 10:20 and would be running until around 2 or even after, so she really had to manage her pace and effort level.  I was really proud of her and the way she approached the race, knowing it was not a day for a PR.  She enjoyed the experience and soaked it all in.  Perhaps one day we’ll go back and do it again; it’s an incredible race and we love visiting Boston.  I got in a few good runs in Boston along the Charles.  It’s a great place to run and we had really good weather most of the time there.  Early morning runs in big cities are hard to beat!

Early AM run along the Charles.

When I got home, I started dialing it back and tapering for the half-marathon.  One of the things I wanted to work on was my mental strategy for racing.  An open half-marathon provides a great opportunity for this as I can get just below my “red-line” and stay there --- in a place that is sufficiently uncomfortable that I have to manage my head.  My strategy was to compartmentalize the race into 3 “laps” plus 1 hard last mile, running 25 minutes at a time right around a 6:15/mile pace.  With that plan, I should have about 1.1 miles to go and ~7 minutes to a PR.  My Garmin over-estimates speed just a touch, so I knew I would need to monitor the mile markers, too.  I had 3 mantras to use for each of the 3 laps, the first 2 were a couple I have used before, but the last lap, I focused on one to keep my form at the front of my mind – “strong core, floppy feet, forward lean.”  I wanted to stay relaxed, but strong and focus on turning the legs over. 

When they sent us off, I started near the front and stayed with some guys for a short time.  However, it was clear pretty quick that I was not going to run with the front or even the chase group.  I ended up in “no-man’s” land for the first 5-6 miles, running somewhere in the top 15.  I was fine with that and just stuck to my mental strategy.  It was basically an out-and-back course and just after the turnaround, one guy caught me.  I ran with him for about 2 miles, but then, when I hit the end of my 2nd lap and switched to my 3rd, I started pulling away from him and just kept rolling.  I could also see 2 guys up the road and just kept chasing.  It definitely got harder and harder and I did have a few fleeting negative thoughts towards the finish and just wishing to be done, but then I’d bring it right back to my mantra.  It hurt, but I did my best to stick with it.  The last 2-3 miles were tough and I did let my pace drop some, but I was working quite hard.  My average HR for the 2nd half of the race was 174, which is probably right at threshold.

Parkway Half Marathon - you can see the pacing was not spot on (see slight downward trend of blue line)  and I declined in the 2nd half, running it ~36 seconds slower than the first half of the race.

With about 1.5 miles to go, I caught another guy and just flew right by him.  That felt good.  It wasn't so much that I was a speed demon at that point --- he had definitely popped.  Then with about a half-mile to go, I caught another guy.  When I passed him, he tried to stay with me, but I kept the effort up (and it was also slightly uphill), and I could hear him really breathing hard and slowly fall back.  I approached the finish and saw the clock around 1:21:45 and knew it was going to be close!  I gave it all I had (new max HR of 185) and got across the line with a 3-second PR at 1:22:02.  Turns out it was 11th overall and 2nd AG.  I had managed my head fairly well and was satisfied with the effort.  I’ll have more work to do to see if I can keep getting closer to 1:20, but this wasn’t bad considering the race was not in my original plan and I only did about 3 weeks of “real” run training.  I had built a decent amount of fitness in the early season (mostly on the bike) and even though I haven’t been able to swim, it was good to “use” the fitness a little bit --- you can never take a PR for granted!

I’ve had fun so far this season with a training camp, a bike race, spectating at the Boston Marathon, and running my own half-marathon.  Up next is a cross-country move; then I’ll have to tackle some races in the Midwest, hopefully of the triathlon variety.  I will miss the local triathlon scene in California, but am also looking forward to experiencing some new events.

Endurance Corner Tucson Camp 2012

I spent last week in Tucson, training at the Endurance Corner camp. Here's a breakdown of the daily activity and some thoughts on life at camp...

Day 1 - arrival

We arrived Sunday afternoon – my flight got into Tuscon around 1:30 and Camp Director, Justin Daerr picked me and one other camper up at the airport and drove us to the hotel. It was a pretty easy-going start to camp while everyone arrived; I just watched a hoops game on TV while I built up my bike for the upcoming festivities. That night at 6 PM, we had the evening session with dinner and debriefing on logistics for the week. The camp was based at Hotel Tuscon and all meals (while not training) were served there, making for a convenient setup. I met a few of the other campers, had dinner, and then Justin introduced the Endurance Corner staff. He also had us give a brief introduction, which was nice – there are only about 18-20 campers so you do get to know people. Then it was off to my room to get organized for the next days’ training.

Day 2 – AM Swim / Run; PM Bike

The next morning we had breakfast around 6:30 and headed off to the pool for a benchmark set at the Oro Valley pool. Unfortunately because of my shoulder injury I am sitting out the swim sessions. I took my exercise band and did my shoulder exercises instead. Also, the set for the AM was a benchmark 1000 yd TT so I could help record times for that. Coaches Justin and Marilyn McDonald were on deck to guide the campers. The workout went something like this:

Easy 500-ish warmup;
Some fast 25s
1000 yd TT
8x75 paddles and buoy – easy

I didn’t get the details quite right because I wasn’t swimming, but that was the gist of it. I’m guessing the group swam about 2500 or so in about an hour – it was a pretty relaxed session to get the week started. Here’s a shot of the pool where the camp swims take place.


Not too shabby. And I didn’t really get the good view in the background because of the sun light. There were all different levels of swimmers – the guys in the fast lane did the 1000 in 12-something; those in the slower lanes were in the 16-17+ range. After the swim, we all get ready and went for an easy out and back ~10K run. People ran at their own pace and I settled into an easy 7:30 ish pace to get my week started as I didn’t want to get too crazy in my first workout – plenty of time for that later in the week. It was a touch windy, but a pretty easy effort to start off the day.

After the run, we went back to the hotel for lunch, a break, and then our afternoon bike session. The bike session was an easy ride for about 45 minutes and then an all-out TT for 5.9 miles and an easy return back to the hotel. Sound simple. But the wind was right in our faces and it was no joke. I brought my road bike to camp, so doing a TT on that felt a little strange to me, but with the way the wind was, 317 watts for 24+ minutes resulted in 14.5 miles per hour average. The return trip home in the opposite direction was fun, though!

That night, we had a talk by Alan Couzens on using benchmarks to enhance performance. Being the data junkie and analytical type that I am, it was right up my alley. He has a good way to approximate fitness using a “VO2 score” and correlating that to training load so you can start to understand how to infer performance from training. Typically, with VDOT, etc. from Daniels Running Formula, usually it’s inferring training paces from race performances, but this allows you to do the opposite, which is quite useful.


Day 3 – AM Run; PM Long Bike

Tuesday brought our first long ride of the week – Madera Canyon. But before that, we did an easy 6-mile run to a small mountain just on the outskirts of town with a big A on the side in the U of A colors. It was called Sentinel mountain and made for a great AM run.

It was flat for the first couple miles, then we did the loop up and back down the mountain for a good 400+ foot climb with a beautiful view from the top. After the run, we had breakfast, a short break (with some more shoulder rehab for me) and we headed out for our long ride.

The long ride was to Madera Canyon – a park south of Tucson with a steady, long, gradual climb and then a short steeper grade to the top. The group ride was fun, it has been a while since I’ve ridden in a bigger group and it definitely teaches you some good riding and bike handling skills. About 5 minutes after we rolled out, I realized my powertap computer wasn’t reading anything, which really bummed me out because this was a big ride, but I figured, I’d just go by HR and RPE and see what happened. Turns out that power meter is quite useful in preventing yourself from digging too deep too early! The pace seemed pretty moderate for the first hour or so, but then we picked it up and my HR was already up over 150 and pushing 160, which isn’t quite threshold for me, but I knew if I kept that up, my legs would pay for it later. Here we are regrouping at an aid station on the way out to the canyon.


Once we made it into the park, it was a gradual climb – the grade wasn’t much compared to what I’m used to in Northern California, but there were 2 pro triathletes and some other-worldly age-groupers pushing the pace at the front and I decided I’d best drop back some. My legs were already tired and I knew I still had more work to do up the steep part. I just kept rolling at my own pace and kept the work rate at a reasonable level – didn’t have power, so I just watched my HR. The climb was nice; I probably really would have enjoyed it had I not ridden at such a hard effort (am guessing close to HIM-effort for me) for an extended period leading up to it. My legs were really tired and I just grinded the best I could up the top. It was nice and cool at the top and the descent down was a bit chilly, but fun. We regrouped at the bottom for a nice rest stop and refuel and then headed home. It ended up being a 5:50 ride on the clock and we covered about 100 miles (my 310XT always measures distance a little short). Garmin data is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/153546458.

That night after dinner, a local athlete named Paul Thomas gave a talk on his recent experience in the Leadville 100 mile mountain bike race. If you haven’t heard of it, check it out on Google. It’s all above 10,000 feet and it’s 100 miles on a mountain bike. He is a crazy fast athlete in his early forties that still beats pro cyclists in races. He was 23rd in Leadville and had never really raced mountain bikes much before.


Day 4 – AM Swim / Run; PM Ride

Wednesday brought another “easy” day. Although after the previous day, I’m not sure anything would have felt easy. We went to the pool in the AM and while I was relegated to my shoulder exercises, the group did a solid 90 minute swim with an emphasis on strength. The main set was something like 500, 400, 300 with paddles, buoy and band and then 5x100 hard. I think the fast group did 3x500 and the slower group did 400, 300, 200. Either way, it was a solid main set. Then they did some head-up swimming to work on keeping the front end of the stroke flowing and not over-gliding. Although I haven’t been able to swim with the group, I am still learning bits at the sessions.


After the swim we regrouped and got ready for a great run session led by Justin Daerr. He walked us through his dynamic warmup, an easy jog, and exercises he uses to get ready for key runs. Some are things I am quite familiar with, but he showed us some other good stuff I had not seen before. He also has a great perspective on running in general and running in triathlon. After the warmup, jog, and strides, we did a short 30 minute run with some pickups. It was easy, but my legs were definitely tired from the previous days’ effort.

After the run, we had lunch and a nice break prior to riding at 3 PM. On the docket for day number 4 was going up and over Gates pass and then returning back the same way. Here’s the group getting ready for the ride…



The back side was actually steeper than the front which made for a nice climb. Justin Daerr and Chris McDonald were leading the ride and although my legs were fatigued, after I warmed into it, I felt pretty decent. I didn’t think to get a good picture from the top, but here’s a shot looking back at the mountain.


One of the excellent camp staff, Gail (a.k.a. Justin’s mother-in-law), managed to find me some batteries so I had my powertap again. Avg for this ride was 169, but norm was 221 for a solid effort.

We rolled back to the hotel and regrouped for dinner and another evening presentation, this time by Dr. Jeff Shilt, an orthopedic surgeon and also very good athlete. He gave us a talk on his thoughts on minimalist running. The talk was most excellent -- I’m somewhat interested in this topic and have read up on it, but he had a great perspective and I did learn a thing or two.

Day 5 – AM Ride / PM Run

Thursday at Camp was Mt. Lemmon day! It is a well-known ride and provides a great opportunity for some solid work on the bike with a ~21 mile consistent climb up to ~9000 feet. The plan for our group was to commute across town over to the park at which we would regroup with the other folks and ride over to the base of Lemmon. Here’s the group round-up at the park before we headed over to the mountain.


Once we got to the “mile 0” marker on the climb, we gathered again and Endurance Corner coach Chris McDonald gave some pointers on descending.



Once we got rolling I dialed in my target effort and just tried to stay there; I was thinking a 2-hour climb should be in the 80-85% FTP range for me – I could probably do it harder than that, but had never done it before and wanted to be conservative. I followed this group up the hill for awhile.


We had picked up a random cyclist heading up to marker 14 so we rode behind him for a while, too. I just stayed as comfortable as possible and watched my target HR and power for the whole ride. It’s a long, steady grind so every few minutes I would stretch just a bit, but kept on rolling. Here’s a shot from about half-way up at a point where it levels off for about a quarter of a mile or so. As you can tell, it was a great day to be riding a bike up a mountain.



As we rolled on, the group got a little smaller and eventually there were 2 of us sharing the load heading to the top. We were pretty evenly matched so it worked out pretty well. Only a short stop at the van for a quick gel and then back to work. I kept a steady tempo and Randy eventually fell off my wheel a bit around mile 18 or 19. I made it to the peak in about 1:54 and rolled up to our turnaround point in 1:57. I had an avg power of 247 and norm 251 – a little conservative, but solid effort for 2 hours. As an aside, Chris, Justin, and one of the stronger AG athletes here did the climb in 1:35 working together.

I refueled at the turnaround and got my warmer clothes back on for the long descent. 21 miles on the way up took about 2 hours, but on the way down it was 40-45 minutes. I did stop at one point to get a shot of some of the rocks.



After getting back down, we regrouped into a team of 4 and made our way back over to the park for a quick lunch prior to commuting by bike back across town, through the University of Arizona, and to the hotel. Once back at the hotel, I changed into some run clothes and went for an easy 30 minute jog through town. Then it was a quick shower and a 1-hour massage, which was quite awesome after a few days’ of hard efforts.

That evening after dinner, Alan Couzens presented again, this time focusing more on how to use TSS and CTL as a target for Ironman training. I really enjoyed the discussion and have some new ideas how to use these tools for myself and those that I work with.

Day 6 - AM swim / longer run

Friday had us up at the usual time and headed to the pool at 7:30. The group did a long-ish aerobic set, but I decided to do an easy jog and some shoulder exercises. I’m hoping to be swimming again soon, but am not quite ready yet. I went for an easy 40 minute run and then we regrouped and headed over to the “river” trail for our longer run. The river is dried up, but there is still a nice path to run on. Justin took us through his dynamic warmup and strides prior to the run and then the main set was a 3x12 minute effort at 10-20 sec faster than target IM pace followed by 3x4 minutes at a “hard” pace. I decided to ease into it and did the first one at around 7:30, but then wanted to explore my pace/HR relationship a bit so I pushed it to 6:45 on the next one and 6:40-ish on the last one. My HR was relatively low for these paces, so I know I’m fit, but my legs are also pretty tired so I don’t think I can get my HR up there quite as easily. All-in-all, between the two runs, I ended up with about 15 miles total with some good quality mixed in. Friday afternoon was off and a much needed break to get us primed for the Kitt Peak ride on Saturday.

Day 7 – AM bike

Saturday brought the epic ride to Kitt Peak, which is an observatory at the top of a mountain (http://www.noao.edu/kpno/). The ride consisted of a ~41 mile trek to the base of the mountain and then a 12 mile climb at an average of about 8%. The 41 miles was pretty flat and on the way over there, we had a group of 8 working together in a rotating pace line pretty well. It wasn’t a huge effort, but I could still tell my legs were really fatigued already from the long week. Once to the base of the climb, you could see the white observatory up above; we regrouped and then got rolling.




The first bit wasn’t that steep, but it didn’t take long before it turned upward. Here’s a shot of what the road looked like as the the first two guys up rode away from me.



My climb didn’t go as well as Lemmon in that I couldn’t really hang with the group I rode most of Lemmon with, but I still did fairly well, making it up the 12 miles in 1:10 and an average power of 268 for the effort. The descent was cold and windy and gave new meaning to the idea of an “ice cream headache.” Once back down, we regrouped at the van and refueled – I grabbed just about anything I could find. A bagel with Nutella, a cookie, a baby snickers, a coke, etc. I was pretty low on calories and knew I needed them. We rolled back across the desert towards Tucson and not long into the ride, the paceline got really aggressive. Next thing I know I’m surging to 400+ watts just to try to hang on. After the long weeks’ effort, it just wasn’t happening (in spite of Justin literally giving me a boost a few times). In any case, we dropped back and let the group go. After a few more miles 2 more guys came back and then we had a nice group of 4 to make our way through the tough headwind. On top of that the road was gnarly and more than once I almost ate my handlebars. Even though the ride was more tame, we still were rolling around 200-220 watts for the most part. It was a long hard ride and I ended with 106 miles in 6:30 overall time (about 5:45 ride time). Avg power was 195 and norm was 224, a legitimate effort for me over 6.5 hours. I topped out over 4000 kJ for the whole ride – substantially more than I would produce for an Ironman bike ride.

Once back to the hotel, we ate “lunch,” and then I packed up my bike. We had a brief gathering at the hotel and then headed to Chile’s for dinner (turns out one of the campers is actually the President of Chili’s). It was an excellent cap to a great week.

Overall, I had a most excellent time at camp – I met some great, like-minded people, and was pushed outside of my comfort zone several times. Totals for the week were:

Bike – 350 miles in 22.5 hours
Run – 35 miles in 4.5 hours

My TSS for the week was 1419 and my average TSS for the 3-week mini-build I did to lead into camp was 828. On the bike alone, I did almost 10,000 kJ (a “normal” Ironman ride for me is ~3300-3700 kJ)

I also spent a fair amount of time rehabbing my shoulder, so I put in 29+ hours of “training.” It is the most I’ve ever done in a week and I wasn’t sure how things would go for me with that much time on the bike. I did really well overall, but the ride home from Kitt Peak on Saturday really was a mental test. I was fatigued and it was a long flat grind back to town on roads that were not in good condition. But I made it with some help from the group and was satisfied with the weeks’ effort.

After the experience, here are some observations about the people and life at camp:

- Sleep – This is always important in triathlon, but when you are pushing yourself for days in a row, it is critical that you try to get good sleep. I did not sleep well all week and not surprisingly I ended up with a small cold at the end of the week.

- Nutrition – With the amount of calories we were burning, we definitely had to fuel, not only during workouts, but immediately after.

- Group Training – Triathlon is mostly an individual sport, but training in a group can help stretch us in new ways. After the hard, hard ride on Tuesday, I was pretty shelled, but by Thursday, even though I was tired, I could still muster some amount of energy for the climb up Mt. Lemmon and I think a large part of this is due to the “group” effect.

- This is a Hard Sport – The stronger athletes at camp have lives conducive to training. They either have some amount of flexibility in their lives or are younger and have fewer life commitments.

- Hard Work Pays Off – Having said that, some of the people are evidence that hard work pays off. It is a sport that requires some talent, but persistence, dedication, and commitment can take you a long way, it just takes consistent work over time.

- This is a Fun Sport – It is GREAT to be out in nature riding your bike up a mountain. There is nothing like the smell, the hard breathing, just you on your machine riding in a steady rhythm to the top of a mountain. The endorphin high is well worth it.

If you ever are interested in a training camp, I highly recommend it. Spending a week with like-minded people, doing a sport you love, with no other commitments is hard to beat.