Dave’s Triathlon Journal

So my taper has started. I’m going from 20+ hour training weeks to 1/2 that. That leaves 10 hours of additional time to obsess about nutrition, transitions, the weather, etc. etc. etc.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m pretty much useless at work. I’m realy trying to focus but I find myself on Accuweather’s 15-day forecast, the Ironamn Lake Placid website or the Ironman forum, mile141.com.

Or I’m thinking about my next training session and why it is taking so long to get here. There is 10 days to go and hopefully I don’t drive my office and family nuts over that seemingly extrememly long period!

If you have read early posts on my blog you probably saw that I’m participating in the Janus Charity Challenge in Lake Placid raising money for Southeast NH Habitat for Humanity.

As race day draws closer and we put the word out about the fundraiser, I’m amazed at how people are responding by being so generous.  If you ever get frustrated that society in general is all going down hill, hold a fundraiser, I can guarantee you it will rid you of any frustrations you have!

We have just crossed the $115,000 point thanks do a few large donations and a ton of smaller donations.  All important in helping an awesome cause!

This past weekend was the last with the big workouts before one long workout on race day!

I had a couple of near perfect days for my final big weekend. My family was away for the weekend so I was on my own and had two beautiful days of weather. Saturday started out with a 3 hour ride followed by a 20 minute run. I maintained a good pace on both the bike and run and I left early so I was finished by 10AM.

From there I launched into my recovery drink (Hammer Recoverite) and some stretching and flipped on the Tour. While watching the tour I continued to have my typical breakfast of a fruit smoothie with Hammer Whey protien power, a bowl of oatmeal and two slices of whole grain cinnamon raisin bread - YUM.

I continued to watch the tour on Tivo (No Commericials!) and then proceeded to have a great Saturday afternoon nap. Just to be safe I set my alarm for 3 PM as I would be heading into the pool to put in 3000 yards when lap swimming opened up at 4.

Sure enough I was awakened at 3 from a deep sleep and drove into town to get my swim in. Next was another recovery drink on the drive home followed by a nice big dinner.

Sunday was to be my last long run with 3 1/2 hours scheduled. I wanted to leave early so I got all my nutrition prepared Saturday night so I could just get up and go on Sunday. I made up one fuel belt flask of about 700 calories that was a 2:1 mix of Hammer Sustained Energy and Perpeteum. It ended up being very think, almost like a pancake batter consistency, but this worked out well because even when it the mixture got warm toward the end of the run, I was only taking in 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce at a time and washing it down with water. I also brought a gel flask with 4 servings of Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel just to give myself a different taste if I needed it. I also packed up 20 Endurolytes planning on a worst case of 6 per hour as it was supposed to be pretty warm and humid, even early in the morning.

I was up at 5 on Sunday and out the door at 6. I felt good on the run and did an out route of 1:45 from Newmarket to Dover along Rt. 108 and turned around to head back finishing in about 3:32. I was only a couple of minutes slower on the way back and even though I felt tired at the end, overall I thought my nutrition worked and I took in just about enough fluids. I stopped three times along the route to buy water and refill the other 5 fuel belt bottles with water.

After the run I had a four scoop serving of Recoverite, did some stretching and watched some more Tour before having my usual breakfast.

I then proceeded to have a great nap until my family came home early in the afternoon.

When I can’t spend the weekend with my family. This just about describes my perfect weekend….

My epic weekend is over, and I’m actually feeling better than I expected. Granted I’ve spent most of the day taking it easy but I expected to be more worn out than I was.

I covered 140 miles over my 8 hour ride on Saturday and went over some challenging terrain. I rode from the seacoast, up around Lake Winnipausaukee and back to the Seacoast. Afterwards I did an easy 30 minute jog which was a big mental obstacle for me. A couple of weekends ago I rode 100 miles on the Lake Placid course on a very hot day and was supposed to run afterwards but couldn’t. So, to feel so good after 140 miles and be able to get a run in was a huge mental boost. Especially given it was a warm day in the mid 80’s.

When I woke up Sunday morning I was definitely fatigued and had a few sore muscles but overall I good. I ran for 2 hours with the last 45 minutes just below AT.

So, only three weeks to go, my biggest weekend of training behind me and one more long run to tackle next weekend. Then, as my coach has told me, my work will be done and I’ll just have to let my body recover until the big day.

Well, there are 22 days until race day and this is the biggest weekend of training to date coming up. It started this afternoon with a 5,000 yard swim. Tomorrow I’ll venture off on an 8 hour bike ride followed by a 30 minute run and top it off with a 2 hour run on Sunday.

I felt good after the swim but I’m a little concerned that tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty warm day. This could make it a long day in the saddle, but only time will tell. Hopefully I’ll have enough energy left at the end of the weekend to report back on it all!

My family was kind enough to come to Lake Placid with me for Father’s Day weekend while I got a training weekend in.

We all had a great time. My wife was able to scout the area out so race day will be easier and more enjoyable. We were all able to see some of the Lake Placid sights including the 1980 Olympic rink where the U.S. won the gold in Hockey and the ski jumps.

The training part of the weekend was tough but necessary. On Saturday morning I did about a 90 minute run on the course. I got through most of the course. In the afternoon I did two laps on the swim course. The water was pretty chilly at first but after the first 1,000 yards I was comfortable.

Then came Sunday…..

I knew it was going to get warm so I headed out as early as I could, about 7 AM. My coach had put on the training schedule a six hour bike on the schedule followed by a 30 minute run, both on the Lake Placid course. The day turned out to be a very tough one. I finished the first lap without too much of a problem. I stopped at the hotel room to refill my water and headed out for lap #2. The 2nd lap went a bit differently. As much as I tried to hydrate myself and stay on top of it, the low 90’s temperature and humid condition caused me to fall behind.

I was able to get the six hours done and do 100 miles however, the end result is that for the last 15 miles (which also happen to be mostly uphill) I went through a couple of dizzy spells and was very thankful to finish. As a result, I decided to hold off on the run and spend some time rehydrating. After about 45 minutes of lying down I felt pretty good, but by that time we needed to check out of our hotel room.

The day made me a little nervous about race day as I wondered to myself, how the hell am I going to run a marathon? But after having some time to reflect, I realize I still have three good training weeks to prepare and the a few good weeks of rest before race day.

The day will be quite a ride! Stay tuned……..

It was a little daunting to

Since I started working with a coach I’ve experienced a sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always a learning experience. That experience is the day the next training block comes from my coach.

She sends me a new one every four weeks. The first one was kind of exciting. I had never worked with a coach in triathlon before. My training experience in the sport up until that point had been a disjointed guess at what I should be doing next. I usually planned out the entire season in terms of weekly training hours but it didn’t get much more detailed than that. But, I figured if I was going to tackle Ironman I should get serious.

And serious it was, that first block had me doing things I never had before like bike intervals, hill work, weights and track workouts. It was early on and the volume was pretty reasonable. Then came the second block. It was still very manageable in terms of volume and the variety of workouts made the week interesting. I rarely got bored with a workout because they seemed to be either new or a variation on something I had done previously.

Then things started to get serious. My first five hour ride was in the next block and the 3000 and 3500 yard continuous swims started to show up. The giddy excitement of recieving the next block had moved to a nervous anticipation. My thoughts ranged from what new challenge would I have, to how many hours will it contain to how am I going to fit this into my and my family’s schedule?

This is particularly true for the one I just received. It is my last full block before I start to taper which means it is the most intense in terms of volume. I knew things would get serious when I got involved in this crazy race, but when I saw eight hours for a saturday ride duration with a note next to it by my coach that said it was not a typo, followed by a long run and swim the next day, that this was going to be a long four weeks.

Now I really can’t wait for the next one. For one it will have the Ironman race day on it, however, it was also say “day off” for more days than I’ve seen in a long time.

It has been a while since I checked in. I thought of plenty of things to write about over the course of the last week but between the workout schedule and the actual works schedule I haven’t been able to put my thoughts down. So I’ll apologize in advance for this entry probably being all over the place.

Last week was a recovery week after the Mooseman. That is at least until I got to the weekend after Mooseman. I think I mentioned that I’m working with a coach this year and it has been an awesome experience so far. To have a direction in training and a resource for questions has been very helpful for me. However, when I read last week was a recovery week I figured that the WHOLE week I would be recovering. The work week was a breeze, I did a couple of 30 - 45 minute swims, a 40 minute run and an easy bike. Well, then I got to last weekend.

Saturday was brick consisting of a 4 hour bike on what my coach said should be a rolling course and 30 minute run. Now, I must admit some of the pain and anguish I experienced on this ride was my own doing. First of all I did a bike route that I had never been on. I knew there were some hills but I didn’t realize how many or how steep they would be. I don’t think this is what the coach meant by rolling. To top that off I ended up missing a turn on the unfamiliar area and before I realized it the quickest route home would eventually make my total bike time 4:40 instead of 4 hours. I still trudged out there for the run but it was a struggle as I hadn’t planned on the extra 40 minutes on the bike nutritionally so I was starting to feel pretty weak.

Then Sunday rolls around and the schedule calls a 3,000 yard swim, which by itself wouldn’t be so bad but that was followed up by a 2 hour 30 minute run, in the rain, with a pretty stiff wind the whole way back on the out and back course. Needless to say I was happy to see Monday come as that is my typical day off.

What a difference a year makes. One year ago I crossed the finish line of the Mooseman 1/2 Iron race….and promptly passed out. After a trip to the ER, several tests on my heart, follow up doctor visits, an OK to race and plenty of training hours under my belt, I was back to tackle this course again as my last race prep before Ironman Lake Placid.

I’m on the Granite State Triathlon Club and through that had volunteered to help out at the 1/4 Iron race on Saturday. I had intended to go do some body marking first thing and maybe help out for a couple hours. 6 hours later I finished up working the bike mount/dismount line and realized that standing from 6 AM until 12 PM the day before a 1/2 IM probably wasn’t the smartest choice! Particularly since the weather was not good…50’s and raining….all day.

After finishing up my volunteering duties I picked up my packet from registration and went back to where I was staying to get off my feet. By 2:30 or so I was able to take a nap for a couple of hours before getting up to have a small bowl of pasta with my wife’s awesome sauce and a couple of slices of french bread for dinner.

Next I was on to packing my transition bag and preparing my nutrition. The forecast for Sunday was pretty much the same as Saturday, 50’s and rainy, though a smaller chance than Saturday. In talking to a couple of other Granite State Tri-Club members who raced on Saturday I did find out that they were comfortable in a tri-top and the arm warmers weren’t necessary. Though that didn’t stop me from packing both the arm and leg warmers. Better safe than sorry, right?

After getting my clothing together I moved on to my nutrition. Since passing out last year I have forced myself to become pretty knowledgable on endurance nutrition. I now use Hammer products exclusively and have tailored my caloric and nutrient requirements so that I’m very comfortable with them. I made up one 24 oz. bottle with 900 calories consisting of 2/3 Sustained Energy and 1/3 Perpeteum. I’ve been trying to keep my hourly intake at a max of 300 so I planned to sip this bottle over the anticipated 3 hour bike and use water from the aid stations. I then made up two fuel belt flasks, with the same ratio of Sustained Energy and Perpeteum. I also filled a five serving flask of Hammer Gel (Apple Cinnamon, yummy . Next I made up five mini zip lock baggies with the nutrients I’d be taking. I included one Mito-R cap, two Race Caps Supreme, two Anti-Fatigue Caps in each baggie and 1 Super A.O. in the two and four hour baggies (I marked each bag so I knew what hour I’d take each one). Next, I packed three coin purses with Endurolytes. It wasn’t supposed to be hot, or even warm, but I wanted to make sure I had enough. Lastly, I mixed the Sustained Energy drink I would have for breakfast. I’ve had great luck staying away from any solids on race morning as it has kept me out of the port-a-potties later in the day.

The alarm went off at 4:30 and I got up to have my Sustained Energy breakfast drink. This was about 350 calories and other than a shot of Hammer Gel about 1/2 hour before the start, this is all I had in the morning. When I brough my bike out to the car I was pleased to find the ground was starting to dry out though the overcast clouds still looked pretty threatening. My wife and I got to the race venue at about 5:30 and ended up in a line outside the transition area along with a couple dozen other racers. We soon learned that because of the previous day and night’s rain, much of the the transition area was under water and they were in the process of pumping the water out before letting anyone in. Once they opened up the transition area, all of us were anxious to see our area as they announced that anyone who needed a new transition area because of flooding could see one of the volunteers. As I walked to my space I found that I had a good size puddle right next to where my area was. The race director had a huge delivery of wood chips delivered and there were athletes dragging trash barrels full to their spot to soak up the water and help create a somewhat usefule transition area.

After getting my area setup I went for a short swim. The water was 66 on Saturday but the overnight rains had dropped the temp down to 64. Both of these were still better than last year’s 60 degree water temp. My first few breaths in the chilly water were short and forced as I got used to the cold water running over my face and down into my wet suit. But, after a few strokes I began to feel comfortable and strong. This would be my first open water swim of the year so I tried to spend some time practicing my sighting.

I felt ready. I was in the fourth wave and was actually feeling very comfortable about the upcoming swim. I spent a lot of time in the pool over the winter and spring and my stroke was much improved. So much so, that I decided to try out starting in the front of the 100 or so that were in my wave. I’m glad I did as I had pretty clear water to swim in for most of the first leg. The first five minutes I did have trouble getting into a rythym and I found myself veering off course periodically. But after that I got into a great rythym and before I knew it I was catching up to the blue caps that started three minutes ahead of me and then a few yellow caps that started six minutes ahead of me. When I finished I checked my watch to find that it read 29:30 and by the time I crossed the timing mat I was at 30 minutes. This was three minutes faster than last year’s time.

T1 is where it got interesting. When I left my transition area it was looking pretty good, however, by the time I got to T1 the traffic of other athletes had gotten to it so I was trying to get my bike shoes on in about 3 inches of water. This led to a much longer than desired T1 time but once I got out to the road my legs felt pretty good.

At about mile 1 on the bike, my bike computer decided to die on me.  At the time I didn’t think it would be a big deal, after all there was nothing I could do about it.  In retrospect it may have affected my time a little.  I think not being able to see my cadence or speed affected how hard I pushed over parts of the course and how efficient my cadence was (It shows how much we depend on the technology!).

The bike course was two loops and I had almost identical times on both loops.  There are a couple of good hills on the course.  They were mostly short but steep, a long gradual ascent and then a lot of rollers.  There is also a long downhill right after the steepest hill which helps out on the average speed and to flush out any lactic acid build up that occured on the tough hills.  Almost everything about the bike felt pretty good.  My caloric intake and energy levels felt good, my legs felt good also.  The only issue that I ran into, which was small but enough to have me thinking about it almost the entire ride was a cramp in my right hip just above my quad.  It wasn’t even a cramp so much as just a pain that increased when I was in the aero bars and going over any good bumps in the road.  The end result was a bike split of 3 hours which was a couple of minutes slower than last year.

T2 went a little smoother than T1.  One of the best decisions I made in T1 was to change socks.  While it wasn’t actively raining very hard there was enough water on the road that my feet were pretty cold and wet by the end of the bike.  Starting the run in dry socks, at least psychologically, helped me feel pretty good.

The run was the best part of the race for me.  Last year I finished the run in 2:15 and it was more of a run/walk survive until the end strategy.  This year I clocked off the first mile in 8 minutes, the 2nd in about 8:05 and kept it pretty steady through the entire run.  I had a goal at the beginning of the day of breaking 5:45 for the entire race but when I started the run I realized that there was an outside chance that I could break 5:30.  The run course was a two loop out and back course which I found nice to break up the distance and to know what to expect.  My nutrition worked out pretty well also.  I’m glad I had filled my gel flask because that is all I ended up having on the run.  I tried to have some of my Perpeteum/Sustained Energy mix but I got a sharp pain in my stomach for a couple of minutes after the first sip of the Perpeteum/Sustained Energy mix so I nixed the rest of that and stuck with the gel, water and endurolytes.

After the first loop I felt great still and felt much more confident that I could hit the 5:30 mark.  Then at the last turn around I knew I had about three miles to go which meant hitting a 7:45 - 8 minute mile pace for the last three miles.  That was something that my mind was having a hard time comprehending.  I had never felt this strong at the end of an endurance race, whether it was a half-marathon, marathon or 1/2 IM.  When I hit mile 12 I got estatic because I still felt great and knew for sure I could hit the 5:30 mark.  So, I ran just about as hard as I could and ticked off a 7 minute mile at the end to finish in 5:29:05!  A full 20 minutes faster than last year’s time.  I was so excited after crossing the finish line and looking at my watch with amazement that I pumped my fist which had a wet slippery gel flask in it.  The flask slipped out of my hand’s and hit a spectator!  I apologized profusely as I took back the flast from her and proceeded to have my timing chip removed, get my medal and water bottle.  I then saw the beautiful sight of my wife and shared my excitement with her with a hug and kiss.

When I passed out at last year’s race my then 7-year old son witnessed it and we as a family had a difficult couple of weeks as we dealt with not knowing exactly was wrong and the effects on my son of seeing his Dad go limp into the arms of an EMT.  The first thing I wanted to do after seeing my wife was talk to my son and tell him that not only was I OK but that I just PR’d by 20 minutes!  Because of the rain my son stayed with his Aunt, Uncle and cousin for the day so, as I felt a lump in throat and the tears starting to come, I asked her to call our Son.  I’m not sure which one of us was more excited to talk to eachother, him or me!  We had a great conversation and I hung up with a huge smile on my face.

This race was a huge boost for me psychologically.  Even though I’ve been putting in the volume to get ready for IM Lake Placid I’ve still had the question going on in my mind - “Can I really make it through 140.6 miles?”  After Sunday the doubts are gone.  I certainly won’t be ticking off 7 minute miles but I’ll hit my goal, which is to cross the finish line with a smile on my face.

The reality of competing in an IM has hit me square in the face several times over the past few weeks as the training sessions get longer and longer.

This past weekend, Memorial Day weekend I might add, I had on the schedule a 5 hour bike followed by a one hour run. Each of these individually I’ve done many times, putting them together…this was the first.

I did a century ride at the beginning of this month and found out rather unpleasantly how many calories I can’t take in on an hourly basis. So, for this session I kept it to 300/hour using a mix of Hammer Sustained Energy and Perpeteum. What a difference. Yes I felt tired after the bike but I was able to do a 9:20 mile for an hour on a pretty warm day and after pushing relatively hard on the bike (I ended up averaging about 18 MPH over a pretty challenging ride). For me, this was pretty good.

What I was even more impressed with is that I went to a Memorial Day party right afterwards until 11 that night!

That day for me was a mental barrier that I can get my running legs after a long day in the saddle. And, from what I have heard and learned so far, Ironman is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one.