Here’s the long overdue conclusion to this blog.
The race went well. I paced conservatively, finished strong, and had a time of 12:32:35. I had the time of my life and intend to do many more.
Here’s a short video that Tamara put together of the race.
It’s a good thing that I’ve been far more dedicated to my training than to my blogging.
Yep, the race is Sunday. I’ve trained, I’ve tapered, and now it’s time to race. Going into the race, I’m fairly happy with the training that I’ve done, and I am hopeful that it was enough. I suffered through several 6+ hours rides, several 15+ mile runs, and many 1+ mile open water swims. I’ve put countless hours and miles into this event. I’ve trained in the heat whenever possible, and have paid close attention to what works and what doesnt work for nutrition. I am in the best shape of my life. Now all I can do now is eat right the next few days, and not forget anything when I drive up to CDA.
Here’s my plan for the rest of the week:
Wednesday: 1 mile open water swim in Boise
Thursday: drive for 8 hours north from Boise to CDA
Friday: early morning swim at Lake Coeur d’Alene. short bike ride to make sure nothing got messed up on the drive up. start low-fiber, high sodium diet. attend athletes registration and pre-race meetings.
Saturday: early morning jog, just a mile or two. check bike into T1. prep race bags. stay off feet. eat high carb meal around 3pm.
Sunday: race day. get up early and swim, bike and run like hell.
My goals:
1. Finish
2. Finish strong, knowing that my pace and nutrition were right on the money – knowing that all my hard work paid off.
This is my last post until the race. This is my last blog as an “almost ironman.”
Just over 50 days left. One race down. Two or three more before IM CDA.
The Race to Robie Creek was a couple of weeks ago. It’s amazing the difference between running it now vs. running it two years ago. My first post to this blog described my first Robie experience. Two years later, I’m almost 40 pounds lighter and 10X more physically fit. The race felt great. I was happy with my summit time 1:17, but I took the downhill easy — not wanting to stupidly injure myself and affect my IM training.
Here’s a pic of me in the final stretch before the finish line:
Unlike two years ago, there was no pain going this far. I was very happy about this.
My training is continuing to go well, despite challenging weather and a very busy schedule. I’ve managed to do a long ride every weekend, although the last two have been 65 miles and 50 miles. I need to go for another century soon. I am feeling very strong on the bike — and certainly enjoying the new ride!
As with every Wednesday, I completed my long run today. I ran 15 miles in 1:55. I set a half-marathon P.R. today at the 13.1 mile mark at 1:40. I’m happy with my running progress.
I need to swim. I’m occasionally swimming in the gym pool, but I’m getting very bored with the same lap-after-lap routine. I need to get into the open water. The local triathletes swim in clocktower pond – it’s still very cold, but I might jump in within a week or so.
Earlier I mentioned races. Here’s the 2009 racing schedule so far:
4.18.09 - Race to Robie Creek – Half Marathon run - complete – 1:54:49, rank 268/2261
5.16.09 – Famous Potato – 10K run
5.24.09 – (maybe) Onion Man Triathlon – Olympic distance triathlon – 1500K swim + 40K bike + 10K run
5.30.09 – Camel’s Back Duathlon – 5K run + 30K bike + 5K run
6.21.09 – Ironman Coeur d’ Alene – 2.4 mile swim + 112 mile bike + 26.2 mile run
7.11.09 – Spudman Triathlon – Olympic distance triathlon
8.8.09 – Emmett’s Most Excellent Triathlon – Olympic distance triathlon
early October — some kind of marathon – maybe Portland again
Weight: 163 lbs
Body fat: 19.5%
I got the bike. It rocks.
I’ve been saving for over a year for this and I finally got it. I ended up getting a Cervelo P2C Ultegra — basically the same bike that Ironman World Champion Chrissy Wellinton used to win Kona. I can no longer blame my bike for being slow — if I have a bad bike split it is because of me.
Here’s a stock photo:
My training is continuing on track. I’ve been biking a lot. Greg and I did an 80-mile ride on 4/5 followed by a 95 mile ride last weekend. I’ve been able to run an 8:15 min/mile brick for 3 miles after these rides, so I’m hopeful that my nutrition plan on the bike is working. I’ve also done several smaller 20-25 mile rides and am starting to appreciate just how fast this bike really is.
I’ve managed to get a shin splint in my right leg, so I’m taking a few days off from running. I’m hoping that it is healed by the Race to Robie Creek, my first race of the season, this Saturday. Since Robie is one massive hill (up and down) I’m hoping I dont make the injury worse by competing.
Between now and Robie I’ll spend the rest of this week on the bike and in the pool. This weekend is finally supposed to warm up so, after Robie, I might try to get in the pond for my first open water swim of the season.
Training is in full swing. I am currently in what the Ironman books call the “Ironman build phase.” This is where my workouts are specifically focused on building the endurance necessary to complete the Ironman.
I laid out a workout plan in my previous post. For the most part, I’ve followed this plan — weather pending. When the weather is poor I’ll either take it as a rest day, or I’ll move my workout indoors. Here’s are my different workouts:
Lifting:
I still do full body resistance training Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I do squats on Mondays and Fridays and I do dead-lifts on Wednesdays.
Swim:
I swim 5:30 am – 6:30 am Monday through Friday. MWF I swim right before lifting.
Bike:
Greg and I have been doing 1.5-2 hour rides on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When the weather isn’t cooperating I move my bike workout to taking a 60-minute spin class after swimming. I try to do a quick 1/2 mile jog after every bike ride to make leaving T2 easier.
Greg and I also started our long rides last weekend. For ride #1 we biked 66 miles in about 3.5 hours. As luck would have it I got a flat less than a mile from my house on our way back — Greg just finished and got the car to pick me up. During this ride we learned, just as we do the first long ride of every season, that we need to bring more food and water — we ran out and it was a painful last hour.
Run:
Two seasons ago the run was my weakest sport. I didn’t much care for running and I was constantly getting injured.
Now I love running, and my body seems to enjoy it as well. I finally found a pair of shoes that, so far, has kept me from getting injured. I’m packing on the miles and getting noticeably faster every week.
I have three run workouts a week:
Monday – tempo run. 1 mile warm up, 4-6 miles tempo, 1 mile cool down.
Wednesday – long run. currently at 15 miles and adding a mile a week.
Friday – Yasso 800’s. 1 mile warm up, 6-8 Yassos, 1 mile cool down.
I’m also focusing on getting to my ideal race weight of 160 pounds — yes, that’s lighter than I’ve been since before college. A careful combination of the above workouts combined with eating well seems to be doing the trick. I’ve lost 10 pounds the last two weeks and still have the energy to perform well in these workouts. I just have a couple of simple rules that I follow to “eat well”:
1. No junk food. This means no crap, no fried food, and very little sweets.
2. No mochas. I allow myself a small one once a week.
3. No food after 8pm.
4. Eat healthy food — tuna, chicken breast, fruits, vegetables
5. Limit the beer to special occasions, and only drink the lights — beer is just empty calories
That’s it. 10 pounds in two weeks.
Oh yeah, and I bought a new time trial bike. It’s currently in the mail. I’ll have to blog about that one later!
Weight: 169.2 lbs
Body fat: 20.8%
Twenty days later.
Training continues despite a recently horrific work schedule and a few days off due to a cold. Training “base” phase is nearly complete and I’m starting to formalize my workouts.
I recently purchased three Ironman training books. I’ve read quite a bit from each — looking for common training philosophies and ideas. I’ve found they all share the following:
1. Ironman is tough — consistent training is the key.
2. Two endurance workouts a week are required – one for bike and one for run
3. Several smaller workouts a week are also required
4. Healthy eating is very important — how you fuel your body is just as important as how you train your body.
5. Every workout should have a purpose. Don’t deviate from the plan.
So what does my training program look like? I’ve given this a lot of thought. I have roughly 100 days of good quality training ahead of me, so how can I maximize my results?
To summarize:
Monday – swim, lift, tempo run
Tuesday – rest
Wednesday – swim, lift, endurance run
Thursday – 60 minutes on bike
Friday – swim, lift, Yasso 800’s
Saturday – olympic distance brick
Sunday – endurance bike
*Bike rides will consist of indoor spinning classes, mountain bike rides, and road rides depending on weather and sounds most interesting that day.
I have three primary goals in mind with this program:
1. Stick to the program so I don’t get injured by pushing too hard.
2. Stick to the program so I stay motivated and do not get frusterated.
3. On race day, be ready to race hard and complete an Ironman knowing I gave it my all.
That’s the key. Give it my all.
I am sad to say that the Yasso 800’s didn’t happen yesterday. I could blame the weather, I could blame work, I could blame my crappy shoes that I need to replace, but in the end it was me. I could have run but I didn’t.
I’ve always had issues running. I can run, and I am getting better — but it seems that I get injured running far more often than any other sport. First it was my IT band. Then it was my ankles. Then it was my feet after the Portland Marathon. I’m constantly pushing the edge of injury and I have made a rule for myself that has helped — NEVER run 2 days in a row. Sometimes I really want to — but I know that my odds of getting injured are dramatically increased if I don’t take a day to heal.
So yesterday I lifted and that was it.
Today I made up for it. I woke this morning at 6:00 am to swim. That’s right — this season I’m actually practicing swimming! The past two seasons I’ve relied solely on my natural ability to swim well and I’ve spent 95% of my time focusing on running and biking. The difference this year is purely distance. Turns out that I, with little training, can swim a 1.2 miles without even thinking — and I can do it in a decent time. Unfortunately, natural talent will not get me a solid time in an Ironman — 2.4 miles.
I have two types of swim workouts — distance focus and technique focus. Ideally I would combine the two — but as I’m still in my “baseline” training, I’m working on trying to nail the fundamentals — something that even the pros constantly focus on. My distance workouts are currently at 34 laps — increasing by 2 laps per session. My focused technique workouts are just as intense, but only about half the distance.
It seem the key to triathlon swimming is a technique called Total Immersion. This is the technique I’m attempting to master.
This afternoon I also took a break from work and did an 80% effort 5K around the HP campus — trying to keep my heart rate below 160.
Total workouts:
Swim:
10 laps @ 10:31
10 laps @ 11:02
Run:
3.38 miles @ 27.34
Weight: 177.8 lbs
Body fat: 22.7%
Jason, my lifting partner, and I started to lift regularly at Gold’s Gym about 2 months ago. We have been very good about lifting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and have only missed a couple days due to the holidays.
Mondays and Fridays are squat days. Wednesdays are dead lift days. Every day we lift we do a full body workout — chest, biceps, triceps, core, lats, and legs. I’ve lost a significant amount of my muscle mass and strength over the last three years due to all of my cardio work, and I’m attempting to get some of that back. When I graduated school I weighed about 190 lbs, and could bench just over 275 — doing multiple sets at 225. Two months ago I was couldn’t complete three sets at 185. Through our training I’m back up to sets of 205 — not that bench is any kind of useful exercise, but it is useful to generalize strength.
I intend to continue to supplement my tri training with strength conditioning. I’ve read literature that suggests this can be detrimental to endurance sports — but this doesn’t concern me. What good is being able to run a marathon if you can’t still move furniture?
I skipped my tempo run yesterday to go to a concert, so I made up for it today by going for a tough tempo run during lunch. Here are the results:
1 mile easy pace
1 mile @ 7:32
1 mile @ 7:34
1 mile @ 7:16
1 mile easy pace
Total: 5.22 miles in 44:16
My heart rate was very good today and I didn’t fatigue. I need to increase my volume for this workout. Next week will be 4 miles at tempo pace.
Tomorrow is Yass0 800’s day if the weather holds.
Weight: 182
Body fat: 23.8%
It was still cold — as were my muscles. The plan is to do an out and back — 40 minutes each way. We start on 10-mile creek and head toward the interstate. I’ve done this before, many times. I start out in the aero position — averaging 300W — that didn’t last long. But I pushed, watching the beautiful winter scenery fly by. The trainer has nothing on this. The winter winds were crisp, and slowed me tremendously, but I didn’t mind – last time I was on this course I was fighting 90+ degree temps — this will be a good ride.
Ask me four years ago and I’d tell you I’d never be on a road bike. I was a non-competitive mountain biker and that was it. I was very content. Roads seemed boring — too repetitive and lacking in the technical, rush-packed downhill. My opinion hasn’t changed — road biking is a very different sport than diving down the foothills — but I do it for the sport.
My legs burned. When I stood off my seat my quads stretched like an old rubber band — the only thing I could feel was that they were somehow both burning and numb at the same time – I assume that’s a good thing. I check my Garmin – heart rate is just under 150 bmp — I’m not working very hard. Time to start pushing.
The pain increases. Inevitably the question always filters to my brain — why am I doing this? My brain always has a clever answer — “because you are an idiot.” The sport seems so simple – swim, then bike, then run. There isn’t a destination – most races you end up where you start — or you have to drive back to the start anyway. For ”age-groupers” like myself there isn’t any money — in fact it will cost way more than you’ll ever get back. I manage to be injured more now than I ever did in my mountain biking days. So what is it? swim – bike - run – swim – bike - run – train train train. The time, energy, money, and dedication that it takes to compete literally changes your life. So, why?
We reach the half-way point and turn around. The wind is with us and there is a slight downhill. We start flying back, full aero-position.
Boise brags that it has the “toughest half marathon in the Northwest.” Around here it’s known as the “Race to Robie Creek” — 8 miles uphill, five miles down hill. I didn’t run three years ago — I didnt even know if I could. But I was about to find out.
I had a few beers at a work celebration and I told one of my buddies that I’d run the race with him. The only problem is I only had two weeks to train. I weighed just over 200 pounds, was in what I would call “average shape” and in no way was ready for this monster of a race. I went on two training runs before the race – and I managed to injure my left knee. I learned later that it was my IT band and I ended up doing physical therapy for a month after the race.
I showed up to the start line. I had no idea what I was doing — I ran with my mountain biking camelback on my back — probably adding 5 additional pounds to haul up the mountain.
Race to Robie Creek 4.21.2007 -- at the start line
I suffered and watched mile marker after mile marker go by. I made it to the summit and even took the time to take a picture.
The downhill is tough. At mile 11 the course turns flat and you are left with two miles to suffer to the finish line. Gravity is no longer on my side. My knee wasnt on my side. At this point I realized my camelback was completely unnecessary because they gave us water every mile. My legs are cramping – my stomach is burning — I hurt everywhere. I push forward — and then I see it. The finish line, the people cheering, the giant LED clock, the announcer screaming, I’ve never felt such energy. I crossed the finish line at 2:26:29. Never in my life have I felt so bad, and so good at the exact same time.
I was addicted. This is why I’m here. This is why I do triathlon.
My Garmin says I’m flying down 10-mile creek road at 27 mph. I feel fast — but gravity and the wind are on my side. Greg, my training partner, is a couple of minutes ahead of me, but I won’t catch him. He’s still a much stronger rider than me anyway.
Total workout: 25.41 miles @ 1 hr 25 minutes.
Weight: 184 lbs
Body fat: 24.1%
