HIt the wall

Last weekend was a monstrous weekend of training.  Without a doubt it was my biggest so far with about 10 hours and will pretty much be the scenario for the next couple more weekends.  I swam for just over an hour Saturday morning and then ran 15 miles that afternoon.  The next day I started early by officiating my daughters swim meet, then doing a brick of 90 miles on the bike with a 4 mile run. I was definitely tired.  On Monday I had another hour and a half of running.  I got about 35 minutes in and could just go no further.  I walked back home.  I was just out of gas and wondering what the hell I have myself into.  I chatted with my coach a little later that night and he understood.  He said I had hit that point that nearly all do.  That point in the last few weeks when the workouts are brutal and long.  But I had to find the strength to get through them as they will be the difference in a successful race and just finishing.  I want a good race.  I am there to compete not complete.  He assured me this was natural and to keep perspective.  Focus and finish the long workouts for sure and do the rest as you can.  They are good but every minute is not crucial.  I was rejuvenated a bit by our conversation.
I am still wary and weary though.  I figured I had run about 50 miles in the last 8 days.  I will be running a half marathon every weekend for 4 weekends straight.
Fast forwarding a bit.  I had to travel this week for business.  A long car ride was at hand.  I got my workouts done before I left.  I have to say the 5 hour drive felt good.  It was nice to do nothing for that amount of time.  I awoke yesterday in that locale to a brisk cool morning.  An hour run was planned.  I did it and it felt really good.  The best I have felt running for a while.  I had a good day of work, drove home, and even got in a group bike ride at home.  It was an intense ride with hard effort.  I again felt good and the long ride home seemed to rejuvenate me even more, as crazy as that sounds.  I am due a swim this evening and then my recovery day.  The next couple of weeks will be straight out crazy.  I have many personal commitments, more monstrous training weekends, and a family vacation out west.  I will know more once I get through another weekend to see if I can get through that wall or just run straight into it again. 

Wow!

Last Saturday was my second half Ironman race of the year.  It was my first to race under the umbrella of the actual Ironman organization.  This was a very different experience on many levels and very impressive on each of those.  First thing that stands out is the pure size of the event.  My largest event yet was with about 300 participants across multiple distances and activities.  This race had 1500 people all doing the half ironman distance.  This included professionals and people from across the county.  You can see in the picture below showing just 2 of the 10 racks in transition.  The next portion that was impressive was the organization.  This began at packet pickup through the whole execution of the event.  Everything ran seamless, on time, easily processed, and readily informative.  An example of this was that just on race morning it ended up being wetsuit legal.  In that short amount of time they rerouted volunteers to be made available for wetsuit removal assistance as you came out of the water.  Lastly was the marketing.  I am not sure I have seen anything better marketed other than maybe the NFL.  There signage was everywhere, The brand was prominent and placed perfectly.  They have developed a premier race series that performs equally to its reputation.  I so look forward to seeing Louisville where its is even raised to another level.

The race itself went well for me.  It was a beautiful summer morning in the low 70's and slightly humid for Indiana. I finished with a 5:24.  Placing 374/1500 overall and 66/200 in may age group.  It did not better my previous half as I hd hoped but it was a different race.    The swim was wetsuit legal due to a water temp of 75.6 which I will gladly accept anytime.  The race was a wave start by age group.  Therefore you go about every ten minutes or so with about 200 people at the same time.  This was my first mass start.  That was a different experience.  It definitely has a level of physicality that you must be aware of and at times participatory to be sure you have a decent swim.  I came home with a couple nice  fingernail scratches otherwise unscathed.  My sighting was good and I was  fairly happy with  this portion even though it was about 4 minutes slower than my previous half.  I felt this was a result of the wave swim.
   


I knew going in to the bike that it would be fast.  The roads were mostly smooth wide and less any real hills.  My performance was just that.  I average nearly 22.5 MPH over the 56 miles. This was 1 mph and 9 minutes faster than previous. I felt good and fresh despite the pace. 
Coming out of T2 I felt pretty decent but I knew there was a lot of meat on the bone and that this run course would not be easy.  I also got to see the pros coming to their very impressive finish under 4 hours. Wow! The first 4 miles were pretty decent.  The only real challenge was that my watch was not set properly so I was unable to gauge my pace.  I spent some time fiddling with it as I ran getting it reset.  I had it rolling by about mile 2.  At about mile 6 I began to strain.  I had a slight side cramp develop that was compromising my breathing and my stomach felt overly full.  At the half way point I was at a 9:20/mile average.  This was about on par with my previous.  The stomach and fatigue crept in more in those final 6.5.  I took a few walks and continued to walk the aid stations.  I rerouted my fluid intake that gave some relief for brief stints but I was in a tough place.  I pushed on.  I knew my training buddies were behind me.  I kept going so as to not be passed.  I needed that motivation.  It was getting warm and I was getting tired.  I pushed through the last two tough hills just before the finish and brought it home with a 10:30 average for the second half and 5 minutes behind my previous. It was a little disappointing and my real downfall for trying to get a new PR.

It was a good race.  Again, as I came to the end of the race, I questioned how do I do twice as much. I know I have got to focus on my running and dial in my nutrition more.  The past months or so I know I have not pushed as hard nor gone as far as I could in my runs.  It show'd.  I am now at the biggest, longest, and hardest parts of my training.  This week I have over 17 hours of activity with a big weekend of nearly 3 hour runs and 5 hours of riding.  To add to this is work the current heat that decided to show up.  We are in the low 90's with high humidity.  This what I need. Odds are this is what the race will be like.  I continue to learn and develop to put the pieces in place for a successful ironman tri. 

Second Half

 

As I sit here writing I do so with some nervousness.  First, I am now 45 days away from Louisville.  With 2 weeks of taper (lower workout intensities to increase performance), I have 30 days of full training left.  Albeit they will be monstrously tough as some of these include 5 hour bike rides and 3 hour runs.  It just seems hard to believe its only 30 days away.  Next, I am two days away from my second half ironman distance race.  This one is a bit different from the first.  First is the size.  This will be roughly 10 times the number of participants at 1500+.  Secondly, this will have actual pro's racing.  Not that I will be right there with them but the fact that you can actually compete alongside someone doing this as their profession carries some intimidation. Lastly, this is an Ironman governing body sanctioned event.  Therefore all the pomp and circumstance is elevated drastically.  Thus it gives a higher level of intensity which translates to anxiety.

With all that said, I feel good.  My training is per plan.  My spirits are high.  My body is reacting well.  I had a brief cold earlier in the week that went away almost as quick as it came on.  Knock on wood, I have no real injuries or ailments other than a bit of a slight heel bruise I got from a barefooted step on a rock.  It shouldn't be an issue.  I even got a chance to ride the course while I was in the area earlier this week.  This gave me good insight to my plan for the bike.  I have also run much of the course in prior events at the same site. I have swum nearly the identical course in those same events as well.  Therefore I am well within a range of familiarity that should help me in the race.  The swim has a potential for wetsuits since the water is pretty cool with all our cooler temperatures and rain.  To use a wetsuit that water temperature must be below 76 degrees. I am good with either wetsuit or swimsuit but I will take the wet suit any day as they give you more buoyancy.  The bike course will be fast.  The majority of the ride is on smooth roads with few turns.  The run will not be easy at its pretty rolling and temps will be in the mid 80's or so when we get to it.  I hope and believe I can improve on my time from my previous half but you just never know in these races.  Lastly, I will have a good support network.  I know about 15 fellow competitors for this race of which many of their families and friends will be there for support. It always helps to have those faces you know there for words of encouragement when you need it most. 

Lastly, a neat aspect of this Ironman events is that you can follow me in next to real time as I do the course.  They post splits and summaries of each of the events as I go. 

You can either go the IM website at: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=muncie70.3&y=2013#axzz2YkUSG700

Just put in my last name or others you may know or my bib# which is 1115.

Or you can download a 99 cent app here:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/irontrac/id489168542?mt=8
Its called Irontrac you may need to google if not on an iphone device.
Its pretty self explanatory but you select the race distance then the location which is Muncie for this one and then you search athletes by name. 

Both of these can be used for the Louisville race as well.

Well, I am off to continue my final race preparations and carb loading. 

Trial run

I am a little behind on my posts due to the holiday which was a holiday week for me.  The weekend prior I was able to go down to Louisville and do some practice/training. It was an invaluable experience  in preparing myself for the race.  We drove down very early Saturday morning to participate in the Iamtri  group training.  As part of this group, a wonderful and selfless guy named Bob from Lexington, Kentucky hosts about four of these events each year before the race.  These vary from 1 to 2 day sessions with up to all three disciplines being supported.  For us, it was a one day session with a brief swim in the Ohio and then a ride on the course. Bob started us off by taking us right to where the actual start will be race morning.  These are a set of docks just east of downtown Louisville.  He sat a group of about 70 of us down for a brief description for the plan for the day and then a discussion of how the start works.  This included a brief q & a that some IMKY veterans gave input as well.  It was such good information and a great preview.  We then concluded this session by jumping off of the starting point and completing an informal 1/2 mile swim up the channel inside tow head island that will be our course on race day.  We did not go into the main channel of the river for safety reasons as it was still open for full boat traffic.  The swim was nicely supported by kayakers and on-lookers to assure our safety.  It was so wonderful to get the feel for this swim.  I was able to gauge sighting and the river flow.  Some anxiety was lessened.

This is the view back towards the start, inside of the island, where we will loop around and then head back down the main section of the river going under the bridges you see in the distance.

We then headed over to ready our bikes and to hit the road to ride the course.  This was definitely a slower transition time than what will occur on race day but I did keep the cloths on that I swam in so I could test my comfortability over the long miles. The ride course is somewhat of an out and back which means you ride one direction out from the start and then back on the same road. However it does contain few segments on the course that include another out and back along with a 2 lap loop in the horse country near Lagrange, Kentucky.  We were only going to do one of these laps.  Thus we would only ride 80 miles of the 112 but would actually cover all the roads.  

This is a map of the course that shows what i have tried to describe along with the elevation.

The ride went fairly went.  My first issue was that I tried to pack too much nutrition and items with me since we would not have the full type of support as we would have on race day.  Bob does set up stops with a lot of drinks and nutrition but I was trying to focus on my particular plan which did not exactly match what he had available. Also, since this was more like a practice ride I was carrying my cell phone, money, ID, etc.  I did this wearing a tri jersey and shorts.  They do not have the number of pockets nor large enough pockets to hold all of this type of stuff well.  A normal cycling jersey does and I normally use those on regular rides.  So, about 5 miles down the rode my ziplock bag with my phone and ID popped out and onto the road.  Turnaround 1 was complete.  Next about another  5 miles in I dropped a water bottle out of my rear bottle cage.  This was another turn around and a race back to my riding partners. I did finally settle in to a good riding rhythm.  We were moving fast.  The first 10 miles is relatively flat along the rivers edge. Then comes the hills.  There are a series of rises and subtle drops as you move easterly.  These increase in intensity as you go.  Then you take an out and back that goes south.  That was some serious hills.  Again, we had a good rhythm and were moving at a quick pace.  These were definitely some steep climbs that can eat you up. We proceeded through the course and a previous comment replayed in my head over and over.  When you go down you go right back up.  This was so true.  There were no flat segments to be had.  It seemed like I was either flying downward at nearly 40mph then climbing at 12.  The constant undulation actually begun to wear on me mentally.  Also, I found it hard to eat and drink safely as we progressed.  This cost me near the end as I was running short or energy and nearing a bonk.  At the end I was way short of how much I should have drunk and ate.  A mistake that on race day could cost me dearly.  Lesson learned.  Second lesson learned was a 20 mph average like we had done is probably not achievable or wise when faced with a marathon when done.  When we finished I was so pleased to have seen the course and its nuances, learned much about my race plan, and gained a huge respect for what is a very hard bike course.  A course which lived up to its reputation as one of the most difficult of all IM courses. My uneasy feeling has grown on how I will do a full marathon after riding this beast of a course.  I have since talked to other finishers who know its difficulty but insist if you stay to your plan you are fine and it will all come together despite what may seem insurmountable now.  I continue to train to put those pieces in place.  I also continue to try and build my confidence for those pieces.  A unique aspect of ironman compared to nearly any other sport is that you will never be able to a full practice race or scrimmage due to the toll you put on your body would derail your training.  Instead you do increments and portions that with proper planning allows you to have them all come together on race day and get you to that finish line.  This unknown is hard to comprehend.  I plan to go back down one more time and ride with a better focus on my nutrition and race pace.