So, two years ago I signed up for this race. It has a bit of long course mystique. Basically, you go to somewhere obscure in Ohio (Shawnee State Park), join 350 other long course triathletes, everyone is required to wear the same red/white/blue flag motif race top,
rough it by camping, staying in a cabin or the lodge (of course I chose the lodge!) and complete 4 triathlons from 5pm Friday until 3pm Sunday afternoon. The actual distance of all the races totals the length of an Ironman with a little extra swimming.
My training had been going great for this race. I had been hitting my workouts, improving my swimming and really running well. Unfortunately, the universe sometimes slaps us in the face to remind us about what is truly important. About four weeks from the race, Coach's Dad became increasingly ill. We immediately started spending our weekends in St. Louis. I am amazed at how much I was included during her family's most difficult time. I was honored to be a part of her family in her father's last moments and as we celebrated his life. Another reminder that family and friend's come first...hobbies are not even on the list! I was able to run quite a bit during this time but biking and swimming became almost non-existent.
So, by race week I knew I was not prepared and undertrained. Not a good combination. I was also going without a race bitch. Coach would be in St. Louis with her Mom and the rest of the team was enjoying a holiday weekend in Bloomington. What possibly could go wrong? The coach I have been working with, Gordo Byrn at endurancecorner.com, asked me not to race but to "train through" the weekend. I agreed and chose not to wear my watch so that I would not try to race the event. I did decide if I felt well by the last run, I would race the half marathon on the last loop.
Just an aside...Gordo has won this race. After doing it, I am even more impressed. Wow. Fortunately, I followed his suggestion and changed the gearing on my bike from a 12-25 to a 12-27. I don't think I could have got up the hills without it!
The hills/mountains are relentless. We are talking over a mile long on most of them. One hill in the race started with a 17% grade for 50 meters and then "leveled out" to a 9% grade for the next mile. The run course was crazy with 4 miles up some very steep forest fire road hills and 2.5 miles down hill.
So...the races were hard. Friday evening, the first race was an appetizer to remind us we were screwed. Totally. Unequivocally about to get our asses kicked. It was super short (250 yard swim, 3.5 mile uphill bike and 1 mile run). I was very careful to do no harm! Most people raced it crazy fast!
Saturday was two Olympic distance races. It was also very, very hot! In the 80's with high humidity. The first race was my complete and utter destruction. By the time it was over, I headed back to the lodge and totally disintegrated. On top of that, my stomach had shut down. I was nauseated and did not want to eat. Fortunately, everyone I had talked with who had done this race before said they key was to eat...constantly. I choked down a PBJ and went to sleep for 45 minutes. I felt so much better later and was relieved that I might actually be able to do the second race.
The second race is a reverse Olympic. You bike first, then attempt to wedge your sweaty body into your wetsuit, and then you run. I felt so much better during this bike. It had the longest hill I have ever biked in my life. By the time I returned to the transition, I was actually excited to get in the water just to cool down! Fortunately, a volunteer helped wedge me in the wetsuit and the rest of the race was uneventful. I was surprised how well I felt during the second race. I was even hungry immediately afterwards.
The hardest part of the races? When you were not racing, you were moving all of your triathlon crap back to your room, trying to dry your stuff, preparing your nutrition for the next race, eating, sleeping and then moving all your crap back to the next race. There was some serious sherpa work involved! Thank you again to all my previous race bitches!
By the last race on Sunday everyone looks like zombies. People are moving very slowly and have this "I really want to go home" look. I could immediately tell that there were a lot less people racing (over the course of 3 days, 12% of the field dropped out!). I was tired. Very tired. Each part of the race had two laps. I kept telling myself that I could quit AFTER the next lap. A lovely little psychological game! The only physical concern I had was that there was a little bit of soreness in my quads from the downhill running.
The swim was long...people were tired and moving slowly. The bike was incredible with this very long switch back hill/mountain. It also got very hot. Over the course of the races, I worked very hard to eat more. I sucked down to EFS 400 calorie gels (2), one Clif Blox package, two fig newtons and 8 ounces of Heed. Roughly 1200 calories over 4 hours. I also drank 3-4 bottles of water.
By the time I got to the run it was damn hot and humid. I felt relieved to arrive at the event where I do my best. I continued the eating with a gu every 3 miles and water/gatorade. I poured ice water on my head and back. I even put some ice in my bra. Basically I put my head down, ran the first six conservatively and ran the next six as fast as I could.
Interesting notes:
1) It was very cool to do a race where everyone wore the same uniform. It felt like a team moving together. The support you felt from strangers was incredible. 2) Some people cannot possibly do something where they don't stand out. Despite the uniform requirement, there were definitely a few people that needed to be noticed. You can't help but chuckle at the lengths they go to...streamers on their race numbers, goofy sun glasses, running with a kilt...you get the idea. 3) Three days with perfect strangers and not one of them asked the standard, "Where do you work?" I loved that no one cared beyond the mission of the day. We were all equals under the weight of the task before us. 4) MIchigan St. has a very cool triathlon team. Before the last race they did the Green and White fight cheer. As soon as it was done someone yelled out, "Go Buckeyes!" Very funny! 5) Another Bloomington friend was there...Marty. It was great to have someone to cheer on in his very successful race. 6) I finished 11th out of 13th in my age group. Underprepared, undertrained and underperformed. 7) This race had the most aesthetic pleasing group of athletes I have ever witnessed. Wow. 8) This was the hardest event I have completed. Harder than any other Ironman I have completed. It really required me to climb down in the whole and get used to the darkness. Perhaps that is why the first Olympic was such a shock!
Like the St. Louis Marathon and the Chili Hilly Stage Running Race, the Triple T is now part of the famous list of "One and Done!"
I have been taking swim lessons. Serious swim lessons with Louisa (I have not asked her permission to post her last name). The lessons feel harder than my actual swim workouts and require a tremendous amount of focus. This week I learned that I can swim 100's on 1:45 IF I concentrate on not taking more than 20 strokes per length. Now I need to work on my muscle strength and my lungs!
To blog or not to blog...that is the question. My readership is well...basically me. I feel like the end might be near but haven't really had the strength to take her off life support. In the meantime, I am experimenting with new media.
I am twittering (which sounds like it was something illegal in the 20's) at fewoman and playing with facebook (which also sounds vaguely illegal). As a stockholder in Google (in the interest of full disclosure), I hope the rumors are true and it is purchasing Twitter. Combined with the up and coming Grand Central (and Android of course) and I think Google may be the communication company for the next decade.
On the tri front I have decided to enlist the services of Gordo Byrn and endurancecorner.com. Gordo happens to be a phenomenal and analytical endurance athlete. I really enjoy his blog as he interweaves business and training. Two of my great interests. His coaching service is brand new and I am very impressed with his attention to detail and service to his team. His level of responsiveness to the forum and emails is unmatched.
As I mentioned in my post IMAZ analysis, I have felt that the one thing I have been really missing is the ability to go long and steady. The Zone II endurance and speed necessary for IM success. So...Gordo, unlike Endurance Nation, really focuses on building your Steady state endurance. Specificity of exercise principle people! Lots of heart rate training which is not exciting and at times down right long and boring. I am concerned that it is missing some intensity work necessary at age 40 to hold on to my hard earned fitness gains. Having said that, I am paying the experts to provide me with the knowledge and direction to take it to another level. I am going to work hard to trust the process.
So, I am getting ready for Triple T. I had a big training week with 32 hours of swimming, biking and running. Over 320 miles of biking! I recovered really well and am back in a build phase again. I had a long run (Poker run..1/3 easy, 1/3 steady and the last third steady or faster) today and negative split as follows: 9:12, 9:09, 9:08, 8:25, 8:24, 8:22, 8:06, 7:54, 7:34. I am running really well and am highly tempted to blow out a half marathon. Patience.
I almost totally screwed up my training because I decided to support a local running store and I had to change my brand of shoes (another store in town has the Asics monopoly). Not long after I switched, my achilles started to ache. Back to the old shoes and it is correcting itself nicely. Close call.
What About Bob is back from his almost year long injury hiatus and running incredibly well. I missed his consistency, hard work and low maintenance style. He is the rock of my running. He is running so well, that I have to release him after our warm up. We are both thinking about marathoning in November to try and qualify for Boston (he needs an 8:30 pace which is only slightly faster than my qualifying time). It is really hard to reign him in..I am worried that he will peak way too soon and have nowhere to go but injury lane.
Race weight is close...just a few more pounds. I have upped my protein and I continue to emphasize whole natural foods. I am craving lots more fruit than normal. I have lost count of the pineapples, apples and bananas we have consumed. Time to get on the bike...because, that's just the way I roll...
So...what have I been up to on the training front? I decided this year to maintain my hard earned fitness and recover from my race. My first priority has been spending time with my family. Running is easy to work around family events and travel. It really is my best investment for calorie burn and overall fitness.
Last year I had great success with making December and January my "run focus" months. I ran most every day. 2009 has had a similar focus with some rest days interspersed once every couple of weeks. So...my weeks have consisted of 6-7 days of base running. No intervals, some harder runs and some hill sprints. When commitments allow, I bike 2-3 days a week on the trainer. I swim 2-3 days per week. How does 2009 compare to 2008?
Without going into too much boring detail, my chronic fatigue (blue line) or base has almost doubled since 2008! For a couple of training partners that have expressed concern about me not resting enough, you can see that due to holiday travel and vacation that I have had a nice block of reduced acute training load (purple line).
Why does this matter? My base fitness for 2009 is already at the same level as my base fitness IN JUNE OF 2008! This year will be a great opportunity to build upon my fitness gains of 2008. The best is yet to come.
I completed my first race of the year and my first international running race. Yes, I convinced Coach to get up early on vacation and head to Georgetown (the capital of Grand Cayman) for a local 5k. Here is the newspaper write up:
Notice the comment above on the visitors from Indiana. The race director (his email moniker is fatcalves and he lives up to the billing...they were EACH the size of a large human head) was obsessed with the ladies from Indiana! The race was small and local. We registered and were soon off on the out and back course with a police escort. This was probably the most in shape small race I have attended. Lots of fast healthy people and other Ironman participants (I can't believe how many other Ironman athletes were on the island...lots of hats, tattoos and logos). It was close to 80 degrees with a mild wind. The course was a fairly flat out and back.
I started the race towards the front. The first few minutes I found myself flying at a 7 minute mile pace and decided that might be a recipe for disaster. I backed off slightly and held 7:20's for a total time of 22:51 (only 14 seconds slower than my PR last fall). I worked hard but did not blow out the engines. I ended up finishing 26th overall, top 10 in the women and 1st in the women's 40-49 age group. Coach finished her first 5k and looked great! I was very proud of her and it was fun to cheer her on for a change!
After the race they handed out the awards. Since the race was sponsored by Cayman Camera and Fuji, they handed out disposable cameras as the prize. The age group winners got underwater disposable cameras. It was too funny, not only did he announce Sue from Indiana but also her "lady friend." As I went up to receive my camera, I had to shake the woman's hand and pose for a picture for the local paper. Embarrassing and entertaining.
So, I raced and won my first international age group award. I decided to put the camera box on my wall of shame to remember fatcalves and another fun event.
I have again spent December and January on my run focus. The last five weeks I have run 164 miles (averaging slightly over 30 miles a week). I start adding some hill repeats and interval training this week. My long runs have been approximately 9-10 miles. I will start building them over the next few weeks to two hours maximum. Unfortunately, the Caymans did not have calm seas and I missed my swimming plans. Cycling was out as well. Time to get back in the pool and on the bike. Triple T is looking damn close!
A recent quote by 18th century historian Jane Kamensky when asked if she would go back in time to live in the 18th century:
"I would fit very poorly... They were always too hot, too cold or in pain. They were just much closer to their own subsistence."
For me, the answer to the why is often about getting to my own subsistence or essence. Now I am not kidding myself, a fully supported and catered Ironman race is not even close to the subsistence level of survival. Despite the porta potties and catered rest stops, for those extended hours, at the end of the day, all of the layers are stripped from the surface. At some point I arrive at my essence/core and for a few moments and I have the clarity of my existence. After the race, I know I have found my center and that it is always there waiting for my arrival.
My best friend (she would rather pull off every fingernail than complete a triathlon) asked me last week what I thought about during a long race. My response was to explain that I think about everything and everyone. At some point I hope to think about nothing and no one. When I arrive at the core, I am one with my body and my mission. I am focused and I have arrived in the place I belong.
Very few of us ever discuss the WHY. However, we know, we see it in each others eyes and we understand that at the end of the day, we become what we are and not what everything else or everyone else desires us to be. At the end of the day we are no longer the parts, but the sum of our existence. At the end of the day, we have survived perhaps the hardest self-inflicted test we can face and we walk (hobble away) with a few precious pieces of truth about ourselves.
I have always thought that it is so fitting that an Ironman ends with the marathon. There is no fancy equipment and no strong current to carry you along. In the last event, we are all on our own with our body, our demons and our spirit. We are too hot, too cold or in pain. We are at our own subsistence.
The easiest assessment for me is the simple activities: swim, bike and run. The training and the results are quantifiable. Now the intangibles; body (including strength and stretching), nutrition, interior (mental/emotional). Please note, I have some different theories on some of this. The sample size is N=1. In other words, please don't try this at home and please don't give it any credibility. I love the fact that I am a lab of one. I try things I would never recommend to others!
Body: In many ways, I feel like I am inhabiting my body for the first time. I move differently, I look different, and my energy is different. The changes are noticeable to me and to others. In the last year my weight is down and more importantly since 2007 my body fat dropped from 30% to 19%. I mostly attribute this to lots of aerobic training and more importantly the appropriate changes I have made in intensity. It is not enough to "use it not to lose it" but I have learned that you have to use it hard! Gains at 41 are earned in millimeters through hard work. 2008 really was the end of long slow distance in my life. My training volume was as big as was my focus on intensity. In addition, I was injury free.
I wish I could explain the injury free part. I do think I am learning how my body trains and more importantly how it adapts to training. I can better define this year by the things I didn't do...no stretching and no strength training. Do not try this at home...seriously. I stopped strength training because it used up valuable time that I needed to improve on the bike. The only strength training my body experienced; paddles in swimming, big ring climbing while cycling, and hill intervals while running.
As a triathlete, I am very fortunate because I have a team doc...Dr. David Fletcher. He has been very successful in helping me to manage my thyroid and my asthma. I am amazed at how breathing is no longer a limitation. This year I learned that my lungs decline is so gradual I do not know it until I develop a cough or some other irritation. Instead of waiting for that to happen I am staying on my Flonase and Advair to prevent the slow decline.
Areas for improvement in my body include my neck and core. I have a tendency to keep my head down in all three events. In the Ironman I noticed some pain in my neck after the swim. Some neck work would help. I do think functional core work would help with event performance. It really is about making the time and effort.
Last area of improvement is the taper. I tapered differently for this race but I am still in search of the "sweet spot." More data analysis from this season should help.
Nutrition: This was a great year for me to make some significant body composition changes. My weight dropped to 135 before the race (a 13 lbs. drop for IM Wisconsin and a significant reduction in body fat percentage). It did get to the point where people started to comment that I looked too thin. Fortunately, Coach would gently let them know that she did know what I looked like without my clothes and I was doing great. How did I make the changes? Monique Ryan's book was a great assistance (Nutrition for Endurance Athletes). Some changes I made were:
50-100 calories before my morning run
a big breakfast (OJ, cereal with soy milk, english muffin with jam and spread)
increased protein intake (lots more eggs!)
morning snack and afternoon snack
even less sugar intake (I am not a big sugar consumer but it is surprising how it adds up!)
small dinner
150-250 calories per hour for any workout exceeding an hour and a half
Some of my favorite foods this cycle included:
apples
eggs
greek yogurt with honey
cereal and soy milk
bagels
rice krispie treat at end of long ride
coke at end of long ride
Focus area for next season is to resolve side stitches (they can come and go in training) and nausea issues (twice in training and twice during IM AZ). I have been doing some research after Arizona and I think that I had some dehydration/electrolyte issues. I stopped salt pills this year and that may be part of the problem. I am also going to start looking for a new drink during in activity or just stick with Gatorade (preferable Endurance formula). I am becoming burned out on my Hammer Product.
Interior Management: This has been a challenging year emotionally (see previous post). Thanks to the support of my friends and family, most of my long training days had some type of support. There are still dark times out there...especially 3 hours into a six hour ride. Ironman training and the race itself peels back the layers to reveal so much about who we are. Often the answers to who we are can be much darker than anticipated. Towards the end of the year, I struggled with the long training required but I eventually found the light at the end of the tunnel. A nice Ipod playlist helped at moments. The hard days emotionally were great training for Arizona. Most of the race felt like a struggle but a manageable struggle. Most importantly, I was able to see through the struggle and constantly assess how to improve my current condition. I think that was a huge break through as a competitor. I am not wired to give up but I am now wired to find the solutions.
Having a sports psychologist, Dr. Jack Raglin has also been incredibly helpful. Jack finds the studies that will impact my training including; the use of caffeine, supplements, ice cold drinks, apple sauce and the impact of association while competing. He is always reading the literature and attending conferences with lots of helpful data. When I think about all of my improvements over the last couple of years, I have been amazed at the "team" supporting me. A physician, sports psychologist, trainers, fitness consultants, exercise physiologists...wow...it is amazing to live in Bloomington!
What I missed in this last race was more of the "Flow." I had it for about 1/3 of the bike and the last hour of the run. Perhaps the nature of an Ironman (11+ hours) prevents the amount of "Flow" time I can feel in shorter distance races. Only racing will tell...
Reflections on 2008 training. I started the year off with the Intermediate Endurance Nation plan with power for all courses. I ended up deviating slightly from the plan for a few reasons. The first was that I am not a young person with lots of testosterone. The plans are designed to push hard and recover quickly. As a 41 year old woman, I came to realize that I do not recover as quickly. I turned down the effort on some of the workouts but extended the time. The second was the lack of consistent running in the plan. I knew to run strong in Arizona I needed to run more (increasing durability). Third was the nature of our terrain. I would love to hold 45 minutes at 85% power on the bike but we have too many hills and not enough flats. When possible I did cycling time trials and added lots of intervals with big ring pushes up hills.
Swim: Swimming remains my weakest event. I have learned that the average Ironman Age Group swimmer finishes the swim in 1:15-1:20. My 1:34 in Wisconsin was much too slow. There had to be a better way to improve in the water. I have tried coaches, video, drills etc. At some point I read about an unorthodox and very successful triathlon coach named Brett Sutton. In one of his interviews or marketing materials he mentioned the lack of strength some women have in the water and how he helps his athlete's improve their swims. Basically, they do lots of strength work in the water with pull buoys and paddles.
I learned from Wisconsin that I have had strength and form issues in my wetsuit. In my wetsuit, I felt like uncomfortable because I was swimming downhill. I should feel this way all of the time but I am doing a poor job getting my hips up. I also knew from a video clinic that my power could improve as well as some simple tweaks on my form. Like don't hang your head into the water below your body. I refer to this as my anchor effect. Armed with this info I applied these principles to my training. By half way through my training cycle I was using the pull buoy 100% of the time and the paddles on anything 100 meters or less. By the last 8 weeks of my training, I could do 3700 meters comfortably averaging 1:55 per 100.
Basically, I applied the priniciple of specificity of exercise. I purely trained to swim well in my wetsuit. I felt like a cheated a bit! Now that the race is over, I need to learn how to swim well all the time especially without the wetsuit. Focus for next year is to develop as a 1:15 swimmer without my wetsuit. Yesterday I did some 100 repeats (sets of three) at 1:53 on the 2:00.
One problem I developed in AZ was neck pain after the swim. The water was pretty murky and I had to sight. Probably means time to swim straighter and hope for clearer water to draft. We may have a coach on Saturday's for our Master's team. I hope I can get some consistent help and video to improve.
Time to gain: 5 minutes
Bike:
Objective number one this year was to get faster on my bike. I decided to approach each ride as an opportunity to push. I ended being tired quite a bit. My training group, each in their own way, pointed out that I needed to become better at hill climbing. Not only did they each tell me that directly, but they would also pick routes with lots of hill climbing. Bastards. I think my training on the bike still has the greatest potential for improvement.
Areas to spend time on this year include lots of hill repeats (especially big ring for strength) and extended intervals. My bike comfort is still lacking and I need to video a bit and adjust my bike for a better and more aero fit. During Arizona, Katie was sitting next to a Coach who noticed my knees were sticking out. I am going to put some zip ties on my bike to mark where my knees should be on each revolution.
Part of the key may be consistency in bike training. Adding another focused cycling day (moving to four days instead of three) is something to consider. Increasing my rides to four-six hours really helped my endurance. Another area of focus is the swim to ride brick. As my swim fitness improves, I hope this transition can improve. This summer I need to practice this transition on a regular basis.
My Powertap gets a lot of the credit for improving. I am not sure I could train without it!
Time to gain: 30 minutes
Run: Objective number one this year was to improve my running strength through frequency. After a crappy running year in 2007 (achilles), I spent December and January completing 30 runs in 30 days each month. December was 30 minute runs and January was 1 hour runs. By the time the season hit, I was running consistently 6 days a week 30 miles per week minimum. I had tempo days on Wednesday, long days on Thursday and very few bricks. I run very well after I ride and I was the least concerned with developing that skill further. On brick days, I would run first thing in the morning to have a quality run and then ride later in the day.
This year I am going to apply some new principles to my running that will complement the Daniel's principles I applied in the last year. I am reading Hudson's new book, Run Faster and I think it has some great application to my running.
I should give lots of credit to my running improvement to my Garmin 305. Wow. It has been huge. I run easy on easy days and hard on hard days.
Time to gain: 20 minutes
If you happen to be one of my training partners reading this assessment and have some other thoughts on areas I need to improve, please add a comment! It takes a Village...
Next up...assessment on the other pillars: Nutrition Mental Strength & Stretching Training Plans/Coaching
Our fifth annual Turkey Trots was a success. Over 200 people participated in my favorite race of the year. We had our first participant show up in costume. As usual, BARC was tremendous in helping to host the race. It was eye opening to complete an Ironman with a huge crowd of participants/spectators (strangers) and then come home and race casually with friends and family. Did I say casual? I mean really casual. No timing chips, no clock and no volunteers on the course. Most people come out to participate with family and friends. Every year I reflect on this race as an opportunity to get back to our roots. Before all the technology and marketing. I smile with the joy of sharing something I love with the people I love.
Some of the "racers" use the opportunity to do something they never do in actual races...not care about the outcome. Lots of people use it to accrue some spousal/child approval units. These can be hopefully exchange at a later date for extra long training sessions. We had dogs in costume, baby strollers and lots of walkers.
I did not know if I would be able to jog the race until the race morning (I still had some residual soreness in my quads). Fortunately, my quads were only mildly sore. I was able to jog but running was out of the question! I still felt some residual fatigue and was damn hungry (I forgot to eat before the race). Despite it all, I still had a great time...
Just in case you wonder what happens after the race starts and the crew waits for people to finish...
Run, Bike, Swim, Live, Laugh, Love
