Kona in the Rearview Mirror...and on the Horizon.

Athlete's badge of honor during race week.

I started writing this post back in October but never finished it...just didn't seem important.  After reading it through again I decided to toss it over the fence for the world to see.

Two weeks ago I crossed the finish line at the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, HI. I assumed it would be the highlight of my season and my triathlon career but it was oddly anti-climactic.  With only 60 days from qualifying to the cannon going off I struggled to reset my body and mind.  I eventually found some focus in those last few weeks before heading off to the big island but it was barely enough to arrive feeling prepared to simply cover the distance. I didn't have any expectations for race day - this was all about taking in the experience of race week and appreciating the fact that I worked so hard to earn the right to be there wearing that athlete wristband.

My goal was to simply enjoy being out there and hopefully not spend all night out on the course.  I figured 10:30-11hrs was realistic and I was on target to be in that range through the first few miles of the run.  By most accounts the conditions were some of the toughest in the past 5 years - swells and current on the swim, wind and heat on the bike, heat on the run.  It's nothing I didn't expect and honestly, it didn't seem too bad through the swim and bike.  The worst part of the swim for me was the battle royale that ensued for at least the first 1/2 mile - beyond anything I've ever experienced - pure combat swimming.  The bike was reasonable but the winds really got angry during the 8 mile climb up to the turn around in Hawi.  The reward was a ripping descent - I averaged over 30mph for 12+ miles - but it was short-lived.  The winds had also picked up on the Queen K and that made it tough going all the way back to transition.  Despite the challenges on both the swim and run I took it relatively easy, sat up lots on the bike, and managed splits in line with what I expected - 1:12 swim and 5:36 bike.

Calm before the storm in Kailua-Kona harbor.

Heading out on the run I felt the fatigue of an already long day start to set in and the reality of a marathon still ahead of me wasn't exactly a welcome thought.  With so much wind on the bike you don't fully appreciate the heat that you are dealing with. Once I was heading down Ali'i Drive on foot I got a firm smack in the face - it was HOT and getting hotter.  I cruised the first few miles at a reasonably comfortable pace and figured even if I end up slowing down a bit I probably wouldn't be much over a 3:30ish marathon. Somewhere in the 6-8 mile range the heat and fatigue was weighing on me.  On top of that I was struggling to find a reason to suffer, even mildly. I always walk every aid station to ensure I get my fluids and nutrition but I don't doddle - typically 5-8 seconds then right back to running - but running was work and it was starting to get tough.  I actually enjoyed walking but not just because it was easier.  When I was walking I could appreciate what was going on around me - this was the Ironman World Championships and I was part of it.  From that point on my walks got longer and it became more difficult to get back to running.  It was 50% physical and 50% psychological.  I still had a long way to go and the Queen K was brutal this time of day.  I alternated walking and running but I really just wanted to walk because I had no reason to run - I had nothing to prove, no pressure, no specific goals except to finish.  The usual motivation to push with whatever I had available just wasn't there.  The only thing that kept me getting back to running was knowing that I'd be done sooner than if I walked the rest of the way.

I ended up dragging myself back to Palani shortly after sunset and with just over a mile left to the finish I was able to drop a gear or two and head down Ali'i towards the finish line at a decent pace.  I don't remember a whole lot about the finish - I was happy to be done but otherwise I felt no emotion, no real sense of accomplishment.  Sure, I finished but I never had any doubts about my ability to simply finish.  My official time was 11:30:34, my slowest IM by nearly 90min, but I don't really care what the results say - at 2 weeks after race day I still haven't bothered to look up my finishing place but I'm sure it's near the end of my age group.  After a couple weeks of reflection on that day I feel very indifferent about the experience.  It's strange but racing Kona wasn't the highlight of my season.  The highlight was actually qualifying and getting a 5th place podium spot as a bonus. I worked hard for that and challenged myself - the accomplishment was rewarding. Kona was the reward and I just wanted to enjoy the experience of being there. I thought that would be enough but there is something that feels unfinished - I didn't give it my best.

New Season - New Adventures

So it's been many months since my last post and I decided it's time to fire up the interwebs again.  I never posted a race report after Kona although I started to draft one up.  It really wasn't about the race or how I did (not great BTW - total melt down on the run).  It was all about the journey and documenting some points along the way.  I thought that maybe I'd be done with IM distance after making it to Kona but I really want to give it another go and make at least one more trip back to the big island.  last year my entire season was planned around IMNY and I never thought beyond that goal.  That left me in a not so great place when it turned out I had to keep training for another IM only 60 days out plus pay for a vacation.  I showed up in Kona prepared to make it to the finish line but nothing more.  I don't expect to ever be competitive there but I have some unfinished personal business with the course to take care of.  I just want to give it a good honest build-up and see what I'm capable of.  Then I think I'll be satisfied. But all of that is for another year - this season is much more relaxed.

I'm already at my mid-season break for 2013.  I raced Rev3 Williamsburg 1/2 this past weekend with mixed results - looks decent on the surface (12th OA and 4th AG) but I kind of crashed and burned on the back side of the run dropping 6-8 places and out of the top 5 overall amatuers.  Shit happens and I'm not really upset about it...plenty more races in my future.  I'm going to take a week or two easy and then shift gears a bit for some Oly distance races through the summer.  I've also just registered today for the Beach 2 Battleship 1/2 to cap off the season and maybe score a new PR if everything comes together.

Between now and then I'll try to post fairly regularly about whatever seems interesting.  I already have at least one topic from the race this past weekend that I need to document here where it can't get censored by others - details to come soon.

I'll end this post with a shout-out to two of the athletes I coach for both being rock stars this past weekend.  Julie Lestyan finished her first IM at CdA.  She absolutely crushed the swim in 57:xx (with "pedestrian effort" according to her) and had a very solid bike but then dealt with terrible stomach issues for 20+ miles of the marathon. She pushed through and finished under 14hrs.  Then there was Rosalyn Singer who was also racing Rev3 1/2.  Unfortunately we swam into a nasty strong current coming down the river from heavy rains - swim times were as much as 20min or more slow - and then had pretty bad heat and humidity along with a challenging run course.  Despite a slow swim she managed to PR both the bike and run as well as the race overall.

Julie Lestyan finishing IMCdA and Rosalyn Singer after Rev3 Williamsburg 1/2

Hurry up and wait

Friday, October 12 - Noon Hawai'i time.  It's 17 hours till the cannon blasts from Kona pier and a long day begins. Right now I'm sitting in my air conditioned room with Blue Crush on the little 20" TV.  I check my bike and gear bags in at 2:30pm.  After that there is nothing left to do but wait patiently for morning (actually, 4:30 AM doesn't qualify as morning as far as I'm concerned).  The heat and wind on the Queen K are no joke.  I rode about 25 miles on Wednesday and while it didn't feel all that hot when we were cruising at 20+ mph, you could tell how brutal it was when you stopped at an intersection - felt like an oven.  Well, nothing I can do but keep the pedals turning and try to enjoy the journey out to Hawi and back.  Then we run.

It's been a great week so far - Lava Java, Underpants Run, floating coffee bar, riding the Queen K, running Ali'i - taking in the entire experience.  I've been adding to a Facebook album each night but here are a few shots covering the week so far.

Traveling koozie meets Kona

Doesn't suck

Stay hydrated

Refueling with a Mai Tai

Finish line construction in progress

Riding the Queen K Highway

Dig Me Beach

Underpants Run with Mike Riley

Underpants run with hot chicks (built for speed)

Katie Bell in paradise

Katie meets the fastest female in the world

Getting ready to rock

Coffees of Hawai'i floating coffee bar

Relaxing at Lava Java

The Big Dance

I'm sitting on a plane somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, headed to the Big Island – Kona. I've been to Kona before, run down Ali'i Drive, put my feet in the sand at Dig Me Beach, and walked the asphalt on the Kona Pier. It was a sleepy time of year in the little town and nothing like what I'm about to experience this week. Kona becomes a circus for one week in October each year. Thousands of athletes, family and friends, and industry professionals converge for the Ironman World Championships. With a few exceptions you have to earn the right to subject yourself to the heat and winds of the lava fields for anywhere from 8 to 17 hours. It's a grueling day for sure but the suffering is something many triathletes dream of and few actually get to experience. And that's what this first trip to Kona on race week is all about for me – the experience.

If you've followed my blog this past year you've caught glimpses of my journey. I've worked hard and invested a lot of time, energy, and money with the goal of some day earning myself the right to swim, bike, and run 140.6 miles with 2000 of the best long course triathletes in the world. I qualified less than 60 days ago at the one-and-done Ironman US Championships in New York City. I knew I had a good shot at qualifying but wasn't prepared for the reality of it happening. The excitement of a podium finish and Kona slot was quickly replaced with the stress and anxiety of having to do it all over again in two months. Not just the training and racing but the expense of a week-long vacation to HI (which conveniently became a one-year anniversary present for my wife) and time away from work that I didn't have saved up. 2 weeks after IMNYC I forced myself back into some training but had ZERO motivation. I honestly dreaded getting out of bed every morning. On top of that I needed to work 50hr weeks to stockpile enough comp time to cover the week I'd be taking off. It was the toughest month or so I can remember having to deal with in a long time but I managed to pull through it with the support of my wife.

Eventually I was enjoying training again, although definitely on a minimalist schedule. I only needed to do enough to maintain basic endurance so I focused on a weekly long ride and long run. If I felt like getting anything else in that was a bonus. I had a couple of good long runs and a really strong 70 mile ride in Pensacola Beach during a road trip to DeLuna Fest a couple of weeks back. I also had a blast running 38 miles over 6 legs of the Colonial 200 Ultra Relay with Team 2 Boobs, 5 Dudes Sept 28-29. I averaged about 6:40/mile and we crushed the previous course record. I haven't run a step in the 10+ days since. Otherwise, I've done a couple of 25 mile group rides and had a couple ~30min open water swims in the past 2 weeks. That's the extent of my training and I feel completely at ease with it.

So if you are going to follow my progress online (I'm bib #1383) Oct 13 don't worry if I'm a little slow out of the water and my bike/run splits seem a bit off. I'm doing just fine – sitting back and enjoying the day. It's going to be a really nice cap to a great season and a fun week in that sleepy little town on the big Island. We're planning to take in the whole experience. We're staying in a condo apartment right on Ali'i behind the famous Lava Java within 5 blocks of the pier and all of the race week action. I'll be swimming out to the Coffees of Hawaii floating espresso bar, partaking in the infamous underpants run, attending both the welcome dinner and awards banquet, looking for glimpses of Macca and Crowie, meeting up with friends, and visiting the Kona Brewery on several occasions – need to stay hydrated. I don't have any specific race goals except to enjoy the day but I'm thinking a 10:30-11hr finish is reasonable – 1:15-1:20 swim, 5:30-5:45 ride, 3:30ish run.

Stay tuned through the week for a daily photo blog update.

View from below - Ironman World Championships

On-On Indeed

On August 11, 2012 I rolled out of my Hampton Inn bed at 3am and began a long day that included a ferry ride from New York City to New Jersey, swim in the Hudson River, bike tour of Palisades Parkway, and a jog over the George Washington Bridge back to NYC. It all totals up to 140.6 miles powered by nothing but my body and a lot of sugar and caffeine.  The cut-off to be an "official" finisher is 17hrs and some use every minute of that to reach the finish line.  The guys who make a living off doing this can make it under 8hrs.  I'm equally impressed by both extremes.  The natural talent, hard work, and dedication it takes to be an elite professional Ironman is difficult to comprehend.  Likewise, the determination it takes to show up race morning knowing that you will likely be out on the course for over two full work days is amazing. 

Back to my own personal quest, if I cover this 140.6 miles fast enough I earn the right to do it all over again in 2 months - be careful what you ask for.  The Ironman US Championships was my 3rd Ironman.  I raced IM Florida in 2007 and IM Coeur d'Alene in 2009.  Florida was a great first IM and I learned some things from my mistakes.  CdA also went fairly well and I had a particularly good run.  Still, even my 9:34 at IMFL fell short of earning me a slot to the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i.  Actually, it wasn't even close - 14th in my age group and 103 overall.  NYC is a much tougher course than IMFL and I figured it was going to take something in the 9:45 area to have a good chance at at Kona slot.  I didn't have a specific finish time goal but I felt confident that I was about as prepared as I could be.  You aren't just racing the clock in IM like qualifying for the Boston marathon.  There are limited amount of qualifying slots available at each event and you are competing against the rest of your age group to earn one.  So even the best race of your life - everything perfect - could leave you at home watching the live internet feed of the World Championships in October.

The day started decent enough with a quick swim down the Hudson.  We had a strong tidal current pulling us back to transition and just about everyone there must have had a PR swim.  I've gone 1:03-1:06 but this day it was a 44min swim - insane. Now it's time to get to work - 112 miles in the saddle.  I ran my bike out of T1, jumped on and then...disaster.  Every triathlete's worst nightmare is a flat tire in an important race and THAT - JUST - HAPPENED.  I'll never know what went wrong but somehow between setting up my gear at 6am and grabbing my bike at 8am my rear tire went mostly flat.  Long story short - I struggled through a miserably slow change while hundreds of people streamed out of transition past me but I finally go rolling and had no issues on the bike from there on.  The run was challenging and it got the best of me. I was feeling good through the first 16 miles or so but then the wheels started to fall off and I suffered through the rest of the marathon. Did I mention how challenging the course and conditions were?

My #1 athletic supporter and wife

In the end I crossed the finish line in 9:38:19.  Once everything shook out I ended up 5th out of 330 in the M35-39 age group and 45th overall, including pros.  I honestly never even dreamed of an IM podium finish and certainly didn't feel like things went well enough to be close today.  It was apparently a tough day for everyone and I managed to suffer better than most by just putting one foot in front of the other until I saw the finish line.  That run turned out to be the 33rd fastest on the day, including the pros. And guess what else that 5th place age group podium finish got me - KONA.  The next morning I was at the awards ceremony giving my AMEX a $795 workout with plenty more to come when I booked a week-long trip to Hawai'i. 

I've been working for this for years and finally pulled it off with a little bonus hardware for the trophy shelf at home. I need to thank my wife for understanding my need to be out every weekend riding my bike until noon and making dinner at 9pm most week days because I'm at the pool, or out running, or working on my bike, or logging my training online, or...shaving my legs.  It just so happens that we leave for Kona the day after our 1-year anniversary so she's getting a little reward for being such a great athletic supporter :)

If you have time and want to read the details you can check out my race report post on Slowtwitch. 

All the small things

I'm just over one week out from my single important race of the season - Ironman US Championships in New York.  I've race 2 IMs and can't complain about my preparation or performance at either but I've yet to nab the elusive IM Kona qualification slot.  It's tough because you can only control your race but the slots go based on finish position within your age group as opposed to something like qualifying for Boston Marathon where there is a set benchmark time - you hit the mark and you qualify.  So back to qualifying for Kona - you can have the race of your life, crush the course, drops PRs on swim, bike, and run - and not make the cut.  It all depends on who else shows up and how well they race.  So with so much out of your control how do you get an edge and bridge that gap from a good personal performance to a top age group performance?  For me in the M35-39 group this year we'll likely have the most slots allocated because it's one of the biggest groups - potentially 300+ of us, which means 7-10 slots.

Nailing the basic S/B/R training has never been a problem for me. Not to say that I don't have room to be more fit but the potential return within a season is relatively small and there is a limit to how much training you can fit in amongst the rest of your life.  This season I decided to make a point of doing a bunch of small things that might not have a measurable effect individually but I know collectively they have to make me a better, stronger triathlete on race day.  Over the past 2-3 months I've made a concerted effort to consistently get these "extras" into my routine.  With the exception of one, everything is small but making the time for an extra 10-15min here and there can be really challenging when you've already knocked out your primary workout or it's getting late and you're tired.  So what have I been doing?

1.  Run form drills - these are things like strides, butt kicks, skipping, and high knees.  The point is to develop neuromuscular coordination and improve efficiency with short duration quick movements.  I've been doing 2 sets of 3-4 different drills twice a week after my shorter run workouts.

Check out TrainingPeaks and Running Times for some running drill ideas.

2.  Plyometrics - these are similar in concept to the form drills but are more focused on maximizing muscle fiber recruitment and developing explosive power.  Research has shown that explosive plyometric movements benefit endurance athletes even though we rely predominantly on aerobic slow twitch fibers.  At some point in an endurance race those slow twitch fibers fatigue and fast twitch fibers begin to get recruited. So even though there may not be an explosive component to running a marathon, optimizing your entire suite of fiber types definitely has benefits. I focus on things like squat jumps, box jumps, single leg hops, bounding, and depth jumps - typically 2 sets of 3-4 different moves once a week.


Check out Plyos to Boost Your Bricks and Ultimate Plyo to learn more.

3. A coach for the coach - sure, I coach endurance athletes and even do swim stroke assessments but I still need some feedback on my swim stroke.  I know what I'm supposed to be doing and what it feels like I'm doing but unless you can watch yourself swim you don't know for sure if you have it right.  So I invested in a couple of sessions with a local coach who gave me some good feedback and some drills to work on. It took about 6 weeks but I got to the point where the changes are more or less natural - and hopefully will pay dividends when I race.

4.  Dryland stretch cord work - Swimming is so much about moving efficiently through the water and minimizing drag by being balanced and streamlined.  You simply can't power your way through the water with poor form without quickly becoming exhausted.  With that said, swimming still requires fitness and conditioning, particularly in the shoulders, lats, and arms. Basic strength work for swimming is pretty simple with a set of stretch cords.  A couple sets of 30-50 reps twice a week is a nice supplement to your regular pool workouts.

5. Recovery - Training creates muscle damage that is repaired when you sleep.  More sleep = better recovery.  I've never been good at getting to bed early or getting enough sleep.  My typical evening might be training until 7:30ish, dinner between 8 and 9, then somehow I find myself still up and wasting time on the computer or doing something else unnecessary for 2-3 hours before I finally get to bed.  Then of course I need to decompress for a while with the TV.  I'll usually get to sleep around midnight or later.  So for the past 2 months I've made a point of trying to get to bed even just 30min earlier.  I even managed to mostly stick to it through the Tour de France.  Unfortunately the Olympics have kept me up past midnight more often than not the past week.  I'm looking forward to a couple days of sleeping later this weekend.

6. Last but not least, I've invested heavily in optimizing my bike and position.  Aerodynamics make a huge difference in triathlon and your position on the bike and gear you choose can easily mean 10-15min difference in your bike split for the exact same effort.  I'll cover the details in another blog post but the quick version is that I took my bike out to FASTER in Scottsdale, AZ a couple months ago for a position assessment and to spend some time in their wind tunnel optimizing my gear.  It wasn't cheap but I'm completely satisfied with what I got out of it - I'm way more comfortable on the bike and found out that I can save about 8min over a 112 mile Ironman bike by switching to a different aero helmet.  I ended up with new shoes, insole inserts, new saddle, tweaked cockpit, new helmet, and I learned how adjusting my head position slightly makes a significant aero drag difference.  The pic below is the final product.

A trip to Scottsdale, AZ to visit the guys at FASTER and optimize my fit and position.

Go hard or go home

This is just a quick impromptu post inspired by my workout tonight.  I'm in the midst of a solid training block starting last week and extending through this Saturday.  Last Thursday I nailed an 18 mile long run averaging a comfortable 7:25/mile and feeling good start to finish.  Saturday I did the Ride to Montauk - 110 miles from Babylon, NY to Montauk point lighthouse.  It's a dead flat route aside from a few rollers at the very end but the wind was pretty stiff a lot of the day.  The first 20-30 miles have relentless stop signs, and intersections as it weaves through neighborhoods but eventually it opens up and I was able to settle into a steady effort and get some good cruising. I ended up with 5:45 total ride time @ .81 IF and had a 3.5hr block at .85 - solid work. Sunday was a day off to travel then a good 10 mile tempo run Monday (5 miles @ 6-6:10/mile).  Tuesday was hill sprints and plyometrics.

That brings me to today - a 42min max effort power test on the bike.  It was over 90 today but I don't think that impacted me much since I wasn't out riding until after 6pm.  This is an extremely challenging workout that is very tough to motivate for.  Basically, it hurts like hell and you may not like the results.  This one turned out to be pretty rewarding though and worth the suffering.  After a good warmup I got into the test - 2X20' with 2' rest between intervals.  The objective is to go as hard as you possibly can for that 40; with only a very short rest period.  The average power for the entire 42min sets your reference power for all workouts over the next 6 weeks or so.  I thought I was right about 270W for my threshold power but hadn't formally tested to confirm (I tend to put this test of at every opportunity).  I set my Garmin display to show me nothing but the timer and dropped the hammer.  For a test like this it's best not to have any feedback aside from the effort you feel.  Seeing your actual power in real time can lead to either chasing some number that you think you should be able to hit or maybe even getting discouraged and losing motivation if you aren't meeting preconceived expectations.  So I had no idea if I was near what I thought I could do or completely bombing it.  Either way 2X20 is always a very good workout, so I had that going for me.  I gave it everything I had, paced fairly well, and finished on the verge of tossing my afternoon snack all over Shore Drive.  Turns out I did 277W and 264W and logged 268W for the entire 42min - exactly on target with what I thought. 2 thumbs-up for going hard and proving whatcha got!

Here's the power file -  CLICK ME

On tap for the rest of the week - 2hr run tomorrow at 6am, 4hrs riding on Skyline Drive Friday, and 100 miles riding with Bike Virginia out of Berryville, VA.  Sunday is reserved for sitting on the beach with some cold beverages.