Race Report - Davis Stampede

I did my first “race” of the year and boy was it a nice day to run! Love early spring in Northern California. After a season last year of two Ironman distance races and no events less than 4-5 hours, a race where you are pushing your limits for about an hour and 20 minutes is somewhat painful (but in a good way). I hadn’t been running much after last season and then started ramping it up recently again around mid-December and then even more when I added a March marathon to my 2011 schedule. In addition, I hadn’t done an open half-marathon for two years and didn’t really know what to expect. My PR for the distance was 1:22:15 and I did that on a flat, fast course (Shamrock'n) in West Sacramento in 2009. This course in Davis was also supposed to be flat and fast, so I figured I could come close to that. The X-factor was how I would respond after a couple of heavier weeks of running and a very short taper / recovery leading into the race.

Warmup consisted of a few dynamic stretches and a light jog with my friend Bernhard, who was also running. My strategy for the day was to go out at about 6:20 per mile and then try to bring it into the 6:10-6:15 range for the last 7-8 miles and see how that felt. Then in the last 2, I was hoping to really push. I really wanted to focus on learning how to run with discomfort, stay inside my own head, not focus on how long till I can stop, and not let any negative thoughts take over. The power of positive thinking can go a long way and I wanted to make sure I stayed on top of the mental game this time around. Push myself into discomfort and then hold it there and learn to deal with it. From a nutrition standpoint, my intention was to have a gel about 20-30 minutes before start and then have another gel about half way. At each aid station, I would attempt to get a swig or two of water or Gatorade down. For a race that’s less than an hour and a half, you can get away with less. Plus, I had recently had some metabolic testing done and know that at this approximate pace I burn 18-20 calories per minute with about 5 of those calories being from fat and ~15 of those calories being from CHO. At 15 calories per minute and 80 minutes, I knew I would burn through about 1200 calories of CHO. I should have plenty of “juice” for that effort, especially with a gel 20 minutes before hand and a good breakfast 2-3 hours before the race.

I lined up with my friend about 3-4 people back from the front line and we waited for just a few minutes to the start. At the start, I took it out fairly hard to try to get around some people and then tried to find a groove. The first time I looked at my watch, I was around a 6 minute pace – a touch fast, so I needed to settle in to a steadier effort. I started early on with my internal dialogue (“relaxed, calm, focused, strong”) and tried to focus on that for a while and just run at a “comfortably uncomfortable” pace. It was a bit windy, but the course has a lot of turns so sometimes you were going with a nice tail wind and sometimes you were right into a stiff headwind. For the hard sections into the wind, I was trying to get behind people as best as possible. But the 10k’ers turned off pretty early and the race thinned out. There wasn’t really anywhere to hide, so I just rolled along. I didn’t get passed in the 2nd half of the race, which was nice, and I gradually creeped up on and passed about 3-4 more guys in the 2nd half.

Mile splits are below. I'm pretty frustrated with the HR data from my Garmin – I thought I had that fixed, but I still get junk HR data, even after changing the battery. I think my HR was in the high 160s through most of it and then raised into the 172-175 range by the end. From a pacing standpoint, mile 2 was my slowest, and miles 3, 4, 5, and 6 I tried to remain steady in my 6:20-ish pace. According to my watch, I was a little fast, but the mile markers didn’t match my watch exactly, there seemed to be about a 5 second discrepancy. Mile 8 was slower mostly because it was windy and I was on my own and it was getting hard to maintain that pace.

1 00:06:06
2 00:06:21
3 00:06:16
4 00:06:12
5 00:06:16
6 00:06:11
7 00:06:09
8 00:06:18
9 00:06:12
10 00:06:11
11 00:06:05
12 00:06:14
13 00:06:11
14 00:01:22

Around miles 7 and 8, I was working pretty hard to NOT think about the finish and how long I had left… staying focused on the internal self-talk and staying positive about being “relaxed, calm, focused, and strong.” It worked pretty well and I maintained a steady pace. Around mile 10 and 11, I started heading back towards town and passed 1 or 2 more people. The last two miles were tough; I was breathing harder (although still mostly in an every two step pattern), my legs were starting to really fatigue, but I still hung onto a <6:15 pace. Last time I ran a hard half-marathon, I was doing about 6:20-6:25 at the end so I really wanted to hang tough those last 2 miles. I rolled back into town and a guy told me he thought I was about 9th or 10th overall (it turned out he missed a few people). I made the last two turns, continued to push hard, and rolled to the finish in what I thought was a little under 1:22. Turns out they had me at 1:22:05 for a 10 second PR (3rd AG and 13th OA). My watch had me at 6:10/mile and a 13.22 mile run so it is either a little off or the course was a touch long. Regardless, I was satisfied with how the race went – I think I dealt with the discomfort better than I had before and next time around I can build on this... In summary, a good experience racing on a beautiful day with a good result.

Metabolic efficiency - are we sugar burners?

Disclaimer: I am not a sports nutritionist.

I first heard about the concept of metabolic efficiency when I went to the USAT coaching certification clinic. One of the speakers there was a sports nutritionist named Bob Seebohar who talked about this concept of how we can potentially manipulate our bodies into burning more fat during exercise. Why would you want to do this? Well, for anyone who has done a long (3+ hours) event, like a long-course triathlon or a century ride or something else where you are exercising for a long time, you may be familiar with the idea that your digestive system gets to the point where it decides it’s not happy with anything you ingest. When we exercise, our body shunts blood to our active muscles so they have the nutrients and fuel they need to keep working. However, this means we are getting less blood to our digestive system and our digestive system cannot process what we take in (very well, unless we stay at a low-enough intensity). So as our long event goes on and we take in more and more sports nutrition products, gel, sports drink, etc., the concentration of stuff in our gut just keeps going up and up while our body continues to shunt blood to our other muscles to keep powering our bodies forward. This is when things start to go south. For anybody who has done a long event, you’ve probably seen somebody doubled over along the course (particularly rampant at Ironman events) and unfortunately their nutrition is now coming back up (literally) because their body has decided to shut down. It goes like this: no fuel getting absorbed because we are exercising and taking in too much too fast resulting in a high concentration in our gut -> we feel worse and worse because no fuel is getting absorbed -> we take in more and more gel, etc. thinking that will solve the problem -> body shuts down and eventually forces contents of gut back up. Not pretty. What’s the answer? Burn more fat during exercise. Even a well-trained athlete only has maybe 2,000 calories of glycogen in their muscles and liver ready to act as fuel for exercise. However, even the leanest person has 80,000+ calories of fat to use to fuel exercise. You can see how 2K calories won’t last long if you are burning only sugar.

So how do we change all this? How can we make our bodies better “fat-burners?” In Bob Seebohar’s book, he suggests, and presents a fair amount of evidence that you can do this by:

1) Training at an aerobic intensity

2) Manipulating the macronutrients of your daily nutrition

Item number 1 is fairly straightforward – most of your training should be at an easy/moderate intensity. Do the hard stuff sparingly (for lots of reasons). Because of this, it may be easier to try improving your metabolic efficiency during a time of year when you are not racing as much and concentrating on building a big aerobic engine. Item #2 is about what you eat on a day-to-day basis MOST of the time. I say MOST of the time because I believe that if we are too black-and-white about anything, it can backfire. This is why most “diets” don’t work. If you completely cut stuff out, then it’s no good and our nature is to end up “falling off the wagon.” What you do on a consistent basis 90% of the time is key - keeping things simple and doing everything in moderation. In Bob’s book, he describes a periodized nutrition plan where the focus most of the year is on eating fruits and vegetables, low-fat protein, and healthy fats. You don’t need as much whole grain as you think. Sufficient carbs to support your training come from the fruits and vegetables (and other sources, dairy, etc.). Only when you are in a heavy period of training you supplement with some whole grains. This flies in the face of most of what has been preached to us endurance athletes for a LONG time. The entire sports-nutrition-product industry has been created to “fuel” our workouts. However, what do you think people ate prior to Gatorade and prior to Gu? Real food. Simply eat a well-balanced snack prior to your training sessions and then do the same immediately after. This is enough. During training, particularly if it’s easy/moderate intensity, we don’t need all the extra sugar. It teaches our body to be more efficient at burning sugar. And we know that burning sugar can only last so long. If we can be more metabolically efficient, we can go longer with a lot less risk of any GI distress.

Me on the treadmill (note the mask measuring RQ).

How do we know or measure any of this? Do we have to just guess? I am fortunate to have a friend who actually IS a sports nutritionist and has the equipment and capability to do metabolic efficiency testing. Sheila Leard (www. MyNutritionZone.com) is a registered sports dietician and can perform this kind of testing. By analyzing the content of what you breathe in and out, you can understand the blend of carbohydrate (CHO) and fat you are burning at different exercise intensities. This is VERY powerful information. For example, with a marathon on the horizon, using this data, I can understand EXACTLY what intensity (for running pace and HR) I can shoot for and be confident how much carbohydrate I am going to burn through the duration of the event. I now know what intensity to run for whatever duration I am interested in. I can also devise a fueling strategy based on this and practice it in training. The test is not complex or intimidating. You can do it either on the bike or on the treadmill and simply involves wearing a mask while you ride or run. Here’s a link to a video of me on the treadmill during the test: http://qik.ly/BE8pH3Nk3uESI5yqf4KsQsJ. You do an easy warm-up and then progressively increase the treadmill speed at set intervals, all the while, monitoring what’s called the Respiratory Quotient (RQ) via the mask and your heart rate via a heart rate strap/monitor. The RQ is the ratio of CO2 expired to O2 inspired and tells us how our body is handling the exercise intensity, by either burning mostly fat, some of both fat and CHO, or mostly CHO. The point where it changes to mostly CHO is called the crossover point. Ideally, you want to stay below this for much of your training, and combining that with daily dietary manipulations, you can teach your body to be more metabolically efficient.

My results, zoomed in to see the range of interest.

My results were very informative. In the plot, you can see I was burning a decent mix of fat and CHO up until we took it from 8 (~7:30 min/mile) to 8.5 mph (~7:00 minutes per mile) at which point my body transitioned to burning mostly CHO. Not only that, now I KNOW how many calories I burn per minute and what the blend is between fat/CHO at each intensity. Perfect. I can come up with training and fueling plans optimized for my upcoming races! It takes out the guesswork and makes me confident I can achieve the goals and performance targets I have set for myself! I am very excited about this concept and continue to work on the dietary changes myself. With two toddlers at home and a busy life, I will admit, it is tough, but like I said, I try to do well MOST of the time. I am also very excited about this concept and using the metabolic information with the athletes I coach. Fueling in endurance sports is definitely a trial-and-error process, but this testing helps take the guesswork out of it and the athlete and I can work together to come up with a fueling strategy more specific to their race circumstances and goals.

PowerCranks - do they make you a better cyclist?

There was a study that came out recently in regards to PowerCranks (abstracts below) and it created some very interesting threads on the SlowTwitch forum. Actually, PowerCranks have always been a lightning rod on the forum with lively debates on whether or not they can make you a faster cyclist. I had read about them a few years ago and after my 2008 season, I decided to try to find a set on eBay. They are not cheap, but I managed to get a used pair for around $400 in August of 2008. I started using them in September on the trainer and gradually built up to where I could ride on the roads for 3+ hours with big hills. Now I use them primarily on my road bike in the off-season and occasionally mix in a ride in the season. It has now been 2.5 years or so and with this study coming out, I wanted to reflect a bit on whether these PowerCranks have made a difference. A little n=1 analysis of my own, if you will. I also started using a power meter at approximately the same time, so I have a decent quantitative assessment of my progress, including some tests and rough guesses at my FTP on the bike and some decent race comparisons.

In February of 2008, I had a threshold test done on a CompuTrainer and they put my FTP at 240 watts at the time. Given that I weighed about 78 kg at the time, my power/weight ratio was ~3.08, not exactly world class. In February of 2010, I was tested again on a CompuTrainer and my FTP at the time was estimated at 280 watts. My weight at that time was 72.3 kg so my power/weight ratio was ~3.83. Getting better. By that time, I got pretty good at judging where my approximate FTP was based on just riding with the power meter, and this seemed a touch low. The next interesting data point was early June of 2010, which was right after a BIG month of riding and IM training and starting to taper for IM Coeur d’Alene. I did a 10 mile TT and averaged 328 watts. This was outside on my tri bike (incidentally, the previous 2 tests were on tri bikes with the one in 2/10 being on the same bike). 328 watts over 23+ minutes equates to about an FTP of 310 watts. And I weighed about 72 kg at the time, so my power/weight ratio was 4.3. Now we’re getting somewhere.

If you look at a race I did in ’08 and ’09 (unfortunately I didn’t do it in ’10), my bike split went from 2:40 to 2:28. I didn’t have the PowerTap for the race in ’08, so I don’t know what power improvement there was to cause this improvement. I was probably also lighter in ’09, but my guess is, the power improvement made the biggest difference in the time on the bike. I was using PowerCranks a lot starting after the ’08 race through the off-season and into pre-season for 2009. Interestingly, my run split went from 1:39 to 1:31 over that same time, likely a byproduct of being stronger on the bike, but perhaps also from some work on the PowerCranks?

So, over the time I’ve been using PowerCranks in general, I’ve had an increase in FTP of about 70 watts or about 30% of where it was initially in roughly 2 years. However, PowerCranks are not the only thing that changed. Over that same time, I also started doing different kinds of bike workouts. A main addition to my workout repertoire was mixing in some strength. Hard intervals on the bike on my trainer in my garage (“man-cave” or “pain-cave”) mixed with strength exercises, including squats, jumps, step-ups with weights, etc. In addition, I did some work in the gym on the leg press machine, etc. Out on the roads, I also did a lot more work at threshold on the bike. I was used to this in running, but needed to work a lot harder on the bike.

And I was doing long hill repeats on the weekend (e.g. 5x the climb out of the confluence) to build more strength. So, there are a lot of variables here.

If you look at the two studies, they try to isolate out the PowerCranks as the independent variable, but that’s tough. In the Luttrell study (which is a little old now), they found an improvement in efficiency and reduction in O2 consumption at a given intensity. In the Sperlich study, they found no significant difference in any of the measurements. I haven’t read the entire studies so I don’t know what else may be different, but obviously, the Sperlich study suggests PowerCranks (or separating the cranks so you are forced to pedal each leg independently) will not make you a better cyclist - or at least not PowerCranks alone. In my case, far too many variables changed to know what made the largest contribution. My feeling is that the PowerCranks may have been part of the overall puzzle, for both the bike and the run, but the take-home message for me is that there is no substitute for some good, old-fashioned hard work.

Newest study:

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010 Dec 31. [Epub ahead of print]

The effects of 6-week-decoupled bi-pedal cycling on submaximal and high intensity performance in competitive cyclists and triathletes.

Sperlich B, Zelle S, Kleinöder H, Lochmann M, Zinner C, Holmberg HC, Mester J.

Institute of Training Science and Sport Informatics, German Sport University Cologne, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf, 50933, Cologne, Germany, sperlich@dshs-koeln.de.

Abstract

Aim of this work was to examine the effects of decoupled two-legged cycling on (1) submaximal and maximal oxygen uptake, (2) power output at 4 mmol L(-1) blood lactate concentration, (3) mean and peak power output during high intensity cycling (30 s sprint) and (4) isometric and dynamic force production of the knee extensor and flexor muscles. 18 highly trained male competitive male cyclists and triathletes (age 24 ± 3 years; body height 179 ± 11 cm; body mass 78 ± 8 kg; peak oxygen uptake 5,070 ± 680 mL min(-1)) were equally randomized to exercise on a stationary cycle equipped either with decoupled or with traditional crank system. The intervention involved 1 h training sessions, 5 times per week for 6 weeks at a heart rate corresponding to 70% of VO(2peak). VO(2) at 100, 140, 180, 220 and 260 and power output at 4 mmol L(-1) blood lactate were determined during an incremental test. VO(2peak) was recorded during a ramp protocol. Mean and peak power output were assessed during a 30 s cycle sprint. The maximal voluntary isometric strength of the quadriceps and biceps femoris muscles was obtained using a training machine equipped with a force sensor. No differences were observed between the groups for changes in any variable (P = 0.15-0.90; effect size = 0.00-0.30). Our results demonstrate that a 6 week (30 sessions) training block using decoupled crank systems does not result in changes in any physiological or performance variables in highly trained competitive cyclists.

First study:

J Strength Cond Res. 2003 Nov;17(4):785-91.

Effects of short-term training using powercranks on cardiovascular fitness and cycling efficiency.

Luttrell MD, Potteiger JA.

Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence 66045, USA.

Abstract

Powercranks use a specially designed clutch to promote independent pedal work by each leg during cycling. We examined the effects of 6 wk of training on cyclists using Powercranks (n=6) or normal cranks (n=6) on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and anaerobic threshold (AT) during a graded exercise test (GXT), and heart rate (HR), oxygen consumption (VO2), respiratory exchange ration (RER), and gross efficiency (GE) during a 1-hour submaximal ride at a constant load. Subjects trained at 70% of VO2max for 1 h.d(-1), 3 d.wk(-1), for 6 weeks. The GXT and 1-hour submaximal ride were performed using normal cranks pretraining and posttraining. The 1-hour submaximal ride was performed at an intensity equal to approximately 69% of pretraining VO2max with VO2, RER, GE, and HR determined at 15-minute intervals during the ride. No differences were observed between or within groups for VO2max or AT during the GXT. The Powercranks group had significantly higher GE values than the normal cranks group (23.6 +/- 1.3% versus 21.3 +/- 1.7%, and 23.9 +/- 1.4% versus 21.0 +/- 1.9% at 45 and 60 min, respectively), and significantly lower HR at 30, 45, and 60 minutes and VO2 at 45 and 60 minutes during the 1-hour submaximal ride posttraining. It appears that 6 weeks of training with Powercranks induced physiological adaptations that reduced energy expenditure during a 1-hour submaximal ride.

Race Report - Resolution Run

The first race of the year for me was one of my favorites - the Resolution Run in Auburn, CA. They have a 5K, a 10K, and a 10M race and the trails are always like slip-n-slide's because of the weather. This year was particularly wet and muddy since we have had a large amount of rain in December. I've done the 10K a few times and last year I tried the 10M for the first time. I decided to do that one again this year.

However, for a little extra challenge this year, I worked in an interesting "warmup" ...

The last 3 years, a group from Team Revolutions (a cycling group I am involved in) has done 10+ repeats of a notorious local hill up Beatty drive. It's a pretty tough little climb that takes me about 7-8 minutes to get up and tops out at around 15% I think. To kick-start 2011, I did 11 repeats. And to top it off, it was raining the whole time. The profile of my ride looks like this:

It's hard to see in the image, but the climb is less than a mile, but goes up about 380-400 feet in about three-quarters of a mile. About a 10% average for about 7 minutes. I was averaging about 280-300 watts for the climbs so it equated to about 75 minutes at just below threshold. The TSS for the ride was 130 - a nice little "warmup" for a hard, hilly, 10-mile trail running race!

The run was fun. The first 2 miles are basically downhill into the canyon, mostly on access roads. Then you hit a trail and turn around to climb right back up a bit. I was running in about 10th overall going down the hill, but had 3 guys ahead of me to chase. I caught the first one and passed easily. The next 2 I caught on the uphill portion of the access roads before you go down even further into the canyon. One guy stuck with me and we dropped the other guy easily. The one who was running with me was strong with a very quick turnover... he was just behind me until about mile 5 and then passed me on an uphill portion of trail. My legs were feeling the effort by this time and I couldn't go with him. The next part of the race goes on another out-and-back section of trial with lots of up and down and one really big climb on the return part of the loop. The guy I had been running with slowly pulled away, but we both gained ground on another guy. Approaching the turn-around point at mile ~7.5 I started seeing the 10-mile runners headed back the other way and could count to see what place I was in. At the time, I was in 8th and had 7th in my sights. I caught him at the turn-around, but from there, he put on the gas and I just didn't have a lot left for the final climb up to the finish. The last mile is on really sloppy, wet, muddy single track and mostly uphill. Profile of the race looks like this:

I just couldn't catch that last guy and finished in 8th overall and 3rd in my AG. I did it in 1:10:05, which is about 45 seconds or so slower than last year, when I was 7th overall and 4th AG. However, last year I did it fresh. So I was happy with the effort after the ride on Beatty and the legs were cooked the rest of the day for sure. A great kick start to 2011!!

Emily ran the race, too, and improved on her 10K time by 3+ minutes over last year. She won her AG last year, but got 2nd this year with a significantly faster time. Here's Emily on the trail:

And here's me on the trail:

I don't have any better pictures of us after the race, which is too bad, because you get pretty dirty. It's a really fun race and a great way to start the year.

Next up will be a half-marathon in early February. Bring on 2011.

Consistency in Endurance Sports

Emily ran CIM today and posted a 3:29:44, easily qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which was her goal. She is proof that consistency is the key in endurance sports. 2 years ago, after having our 2nd baby in April, she ran CIM in 2008 and did a 4:14. Then, the following year, she did a 3:41 and just missed Boston. This year, she rocked it and easily qualified!

And the key to all this progress - consistency. She has had a few bumps in the road with a tender right leg for a while, but overall, she has trained very consistently for the last 2 years. It has obviously paid off by taking 45 minutes off her marathon time in 3 attempts on the same course. Here's a shot of her around mile 19.5 or so.

Bottom line is that the key to endurance sports is staying consistent and training day in and day out, listening to the alarm clock every day, and not missing key workouts. This is a good lesson and one that we all need to learn.

Also, another athlete I've been working with taught me a different lesson today - Jen Allen had been fighting several nagging injuries, but decided to give it a try today and toughed out a BQ time herself. I'm really proud of her for her toughness, for sticking it out, and getting across her first marathon finish line. The message to me is that if you aren't willing to put yourself out there and give it a go, you won't accomplish your goals. And sometimes when you are not sure, you may just surprise yourself.

A great day today for Vitality MultiSport athletes!

IM Branson 70.3 - Spectator Report/Pictures

Two of my athletes decided to take on one of the hardest 70.3 courses I've seen - Ironman Branson 70.3. The bike course was really tough and although the run was flat, it was 90+ with high humidity. So the hills took it out of you on the bike and the heat just beat you down on the run.

Nonetheless, Josh Wells and Scott Sivills did their first half-Iron distance races at this venue and both toughed it out like champs!

They came out of the water within minutes of each other - both have made huge strides in their swimming. Going from nothing to 1.2 miles in open water is no joke!

Once on the bike Josh was hammering and Scott was powering his 6'7" frame up and down those hills. It took Scott a little longer, but both got off the bike with no issues and ready to give it their best.

It was a 3-lap run through the Branson Landing area along the river so it was very flat with really good spectator support. The run was brutally hot, but both of them toughed it out and made it through their first half-IM races!

And just a little while after the race, both were already thinking about what was next...

It was a beautiful venue and a well-run race for a first time event and I highly recommend it to anyone. A great time with my family and a great experience spectating.

Race Report - Ironman Wisconsin

This was my 2^nd time at Ironman Wisconsin since I did the race in 2007. Last time was a great experience – it was my 1^st Ironman and I got to do the race with my friend Justin. My whole family was there and I had a great day. It got me completely hooked on the experience and the journey, both during the training and during the race. You learn a lot about yourself in the process. Since then I have done two other IMs – one went fairly well and one did not. But you learn more from the bad races than you do from the good ones and I intended to use what I had learned in this race, roll the dice, and see what happened.

Just Emily and I made the trip up to Madison this time and our kids were staying with their Grandparents in Illinois. The days leading up to the race were very easy and very relaxing. On Thursday, I rode the 42 mile loop (well, almost all of it – when I got back to Verona, I made a wrong turn and cut off a mile or two) while Emily did her long run. Then Friday, Emily and I went down to the Monona Terrace for a nice open water swim.

Oh boy was it CHOPPY!!! In 2007 it was not bad at all, but we were both getting tossed around and slapped in the face pretty good. We went for about 25 minutes just to get the feel of the water.

Practice swim on Friday AM

Saturday I checked my bike and gear bags in and then settled in for the afternoon to watch the Buckeyes whip up on the U of Miami! It was a nice, relaxing afternoon. We had gotten plenty of sleep the last few nights and I was feeling very ready for the race to come. That night we had a relaxing dinner and attempted to go to bed early. Still didn’t get a lot of sleep, though – too excited about the race.

My bike in transition

Transition area

T2 Bags

The alarm finally went off at 4 and I got up and got ready. Rinsed off in the shower to wake up, made my pre-race meal and got everything ready. I was feeling pretty relaxed even though I didn’t get much sleep at all. We drove down to the Alliant Center and took the shuttle over to the Terrace. I pumped up my tires and put my nutrition on my bike first.

A shot of the lake from the top of the terrace

Emily and I before the start at the top of the terrace

Then I went into the Terrace and put my Fuel Belt bottles in my T2 bag. Then body marking and I was ready. I had some time with Emily so we wandered down the helix and towards the water. About 15 minutes to go and I got in the water. I stood by the edge for a bit and soaked in the environment. Then the pros were off and we had 10 minutes to go. I moved up a bit but stayed towards the outside.

Then, without much warning, the canon went off and the day had begun! From the very beginning, it was must a mass of humanity. You basically have to swim with your head up for a while and just try not to get too panicked. There were 2500+ starters this time around and you could tell! It was crowded pretty much the whole time. I tried to get into a rhythm and just swim, but it was tough. Nonetheless I kept plodding along and the 1^st turn buoy finally came. At the turns, it gets REALLY crowded, so I tried to stay wide and out of the scrum. Then I made my way back towards the start of the loop and was hoping it would thin out some, but it never really did. Even on the 2^nd lap, it was still crowded basically the whole time. I kept going end eventually came around the corner of the 2^nd lap towards the finish. I was hoping for a swim in the 1:12-1:14 range, but came out in 1:16 something. It’s a very short part of the day, so I wasn’t too worried. I saw Emily, got my wetsuit yanked off and started the run up the 4 levels of helix. I didn’t want to mess around and kept moving quickly passing people. I went into the Terrace, grabbed my bag and went into the changing room. I put my socks on, put my helmet on and headed out. I just carried my shoes because it is a VERY LONG run to get through T1. I made my way towards my bike, stopped and put my shoes on and a volunteer unracked it for me. I grabbed it and headed down the helix on the other side.

Coming out of the water

Swim: 1:16:21 (138/352 AG, 918/2550 OA)

T1: 7:35

Coming down the helix to start the bike

Once out on the ride, my focus was to “just ride” and soak in the day and all the support. I felt great from the beginning, but did already have to go pee. Probably a good sign actually. With my all liquid fuel plan I knew I’d have to pee a lot and did not want to stop 6-7 times, so I started early and just let it go. I had tried it in training before and it actually isn’t that bad if you can rinse off with water afterwards. Once I went I felt better and continued on just cruising. My focus was on just easing into it for the first 40 or so miles and then riding strong for the last 72. I started my nutrition plan about 15 minutes in and started sipping my sports drink mix of CarboPro and EFS and chasing it with lots of water – I wanted to make sure I didn’t repeat any issues in training where it didn’t absorb well and I had a sloshy gut on the run. The course is a “stick and loop” so you ride out to Verona, then do 2 loops of 42 miles each. I made it out to Verona in like 42 minutes and was making good time. In fact, I passed the 20 mile mark in just about an hour and knew I was doing pretty well because I felt great. I didn’t wear my HR monitor at all and taped over my bike computer speed and power and just went on feel. Thus far it was working very well. I made it to Mt. Horeb and allowed myself one pee stop to just take a short break. I felt great afterwards and then started into the hills after Mt. Horeb. They didn’t feel bad at all and I kept motoring on. Some of the climbs have an incredible amount of support and you feel like you are in the Tour de France. Just tried to soak that all in and enjoy it. The weather was beautiful and I was having a great ride! The 2^nd lap was much like the first. I had finished my first bottle of nutrition and moved onto the 2^nd about 2:30 into the ride. Everything was going very well, although I did get a little irritated at the wind when heading back to Mt. Horeb again on the bottom half of the loop. It wasn’t that bad and tried to just keep riding. I went pee several more times on the bike, but did stop again to use a port-o-potty in Mt. Horeb. I went in exactly the same one. I figure I lost about 3-4 minutes on my bike split from pee stops, but if I had stopped every time I had to go, I would’ve lost like 10-15 minutes. Once I got back to Verona again and started on the way back to Madison, I was feeling pretty tired. I had finished all my sports drink and was just sipping water by that point. I didn’t think I had over-cooked it on the bike, but we were going to find out. In training, I had ridden long, hard 5+ hour rides and then run well afterwards for 2+ hours at ~7:45-8:00 pace. Seeing the Madison skyline again felt great and I headed back towards town and eventually up the helix and into T2. I saw Emily again in T2 and felt pretty decent getting off the bike. I grabbed my bag, changed socks and put my shoes on. On the way out, I stopped to pee again in T2 and so lost another minute or so (really had to go). Then I headed out onto the run.

Bike: 5:41:03 (59/352 AG, 309/2550 OA)

T2: 4:12

Starting the run after a quick pit stop

I was going to treat the run as a 2-hour easy jog and then see what pace I could maintain for the 3^rd hour. If I could make it to 21 or 22 miles at 3 hours, I knew I would have a great day and a good time and could finish it off with whatever I had left. So I started off very easy and started ticking off the miles. I wasn’t paying any attention to pace and just running on feel. I had done this in training several times and it worked out well. Running on the course again brought back a lot of memories for sure. Heading down around the capital and then over towards the stadium and through the stadium. Then you spend some time on a nice, shaded bike path. I got through the first 5-6 miles pretty easy and then kind of hit a turning point. I decided to attempt to pick it up a bit and just see what happens. Although I wasn’t watching my pace on the Garmin, I knew I wasn’t running that fast because I was watching my time vs. mile markers a little and figured that I’d get pretty frustrated to run slow and then crash and burn so I might as well give it a go and see how I held up. I needed to trust my training. It was also great to see Emily so many times. I saw her at transition and then again at mile 6 or so on State Street. Then again at miles 12 and 14 and 19. Anyway, I got through the first half and I think I was in the 1:50-1:55 ball park for the first half. Not nearly what I was capable of, but I also knew that I felt different than I had before in Louisville and CDA. I also asked Emily (per Coach’s advice) to leave me a note in my special needs bag and it definitely was a big pick-me-up! I would not be able to indulge in triathlon or do any of this without her support.

With respect to nutrition, I had used gel at miles 4 and 11 and nutrition seemed to be going well. I had no sloshing in the gut at all so I knew whatever I was taking in was absorbing (many thanks to Sheila L. for her ongoing advice and help). I didn’t know if it would be enough, but I knew it was at least going down OK. My legs weren’t completely shot, either – I wasn’t running fast, but I was still moving.

On the run

I headed out of town the 2^nd time and away from the capital and through the stadium. Running through Camp Randall is very cool… there was a game there the very day before. Once out of the stadium, I headed over through campus and got out towards the bike path again to mile 17 or so. That’s when it got really tough. There is always a line in these things where you are dying to stop running and just give in. Well… I finally gave in and walked for a few minutes. I didn’t let it last or get me down too much and tried to pick it up again. I saw Emily again at mile 19 on State Street and it was another huge lift. I had about 7 miles to go in an hour to break 11, but I knew that would be really tough. On a regular day, I can do that piece-of-cake, but I was 10 hours and 133 miles into the day. I managed to run along the bike path for a while and continued to get water and coke down at the aid stations. My nutrition was going pretty well, but I did end up at one aid station where they had Root Beer instead of Coke and nearly hurled!!!! Nonetheless, I trudged on and then headed out to the turn around. Once past the turn-around and headed back to town, I stopped to walk for a few minutes again. I think overall, I lost at least 10 minutes and maybe 15 by walking. I approached mile 23 and decided that even though I wasn’t going sub-11 on the day, I was at least going to PR on one of the harder courses in North America (St. George is definitely harder, but not many others can be considered harder than Wisconsin). I ran the last 3 miles at sub-9 pace and finished the thing off!! I didn’t quite break 4 hours for the marathon, but I was close, but more importantly I felt stronger in the 2^nd half than I have before. I still gave in and walked, which is my next area to work on – the mental toughness needed in the 2^nd half to race these events.

Approaching the finish

Run: 4:00:52 (46/352 AG, 278/2550 OA)

Overall: 11:10:01 (42/352 AG, 260/2550 OA)

Lots of positives to take away from this race… one is that I moved up from 77^th in my AG in L’ville last year to 42^nd this year. Another is a PR. It wasn’t huge and not what I had hoped, but it was on a really tough course. I am also satisfied that I was able to regroup and finish off the last few miles in a relatively strong fashion. What this tells me is that I had something left physically and it really is the mental toughness you need to get through miles 13-23 that I need to work on. It is a journey of continuous improvement and I am determined to race one of these IMs how I know I can!

Refueling after the race

And the bonus was, since we were kid-less for the weekend, we went back to the finish line at midnight and watched the last finishers – what an incredible experience! The people that finish close to midnight have been out there going at it for 17 hours and are some of the toughest, most determined folks around.

Next is the fall running season (assuming my little aches and pains go away) and then CDA again next year!