Mike's Training

Adding Value to the Team

2011-12-31T07:59:00.002-05:00

As the team I coach begins to grow, it is important to surround my crew with other advisors they can learn from. Initially, when an opportunity for growth presents itself, one needs to be careful not to focus that growth directly on the interest of the business. Having spent over a year with Endurance Corner, the first thing I learned was always add value to the team; a direct result of that is a value to the business through retention. Focus on them.

I see coaches add ancillary services, and wonder if that makes sense for NWT, but always come back to that rule before committing to a new service. How does this help them get better, and how does it develop me as a coach?

The best way to add value to the team, is to bring on advisors where I am weak. Another tip from Gordo is don't be afraid of admitted weakness....this trait is actually a strength.

When it comes to swimming, it's my belief that fitness rules, and if you don't get in the pool and swim, no amount of technique instruction will help. With that said, as a coach, technique is part of the deal. Swim video analysis is often a big add on service for coaches, whether or not they know what to look for.

This was my next opportunity for growth, and I decided to bring on another advisor to help with the process, within the athlete's current cost.

My plan was to bring on TJ Fry from the get go, as I respect him highly and he knows his stuff; but more importantly he helped me with my swim, and he was genuine about the process of helping others. I had success working with him, and knew if he agreed to help he would be a huge value to the team.

NWT is very excited to have TJ part of the crew, where he will interact with the coached athletes and help them develop their swim, and also be available for general triathlon discussion. This interaction will occur through NWTs user forum, video analysis, and swim discussion.

TJ and NWT is a partnership where everyone wins.

When seeking growth, put the team first and allow value to stimulate that growth.

Train hard.

About TJ Fry

TJ Fry began swimming competitively at the age of 6. He was a 12+ time high school All-American and went on to be a scholarship athlete at Clemson University where he was team captain and two time MVP.

In triathlons, he competed in his first triathlon at the age of 12. At 14, he was first overall at the Ironkids National Championship. The following year earned a spot on the junior national team to represent the United States as the youngest ever in the first ever Triathlon World Championships, and repeated the achievement the following year. Upon completing collegiate swimming career and obtaining a degree in Biological Sciences, he returned to triathlon as a professional.

As a pro, TJ used his swimming strength to lead out of the water, breaking some course records along the way (Wildflower, Buffalo Springs, etc). He was able to rack up victories and solid results all over the world, competing in a range of formats from ITU World Cup to sprint distance to the Hawaiian Ironman.

Injury ultimately sidelined his career prematurely, but TJ continued in both swimming and triathlon as a coach. In swimming, he coached a number of top-16 swimmers and All-Americans. In triathlon TJ coached professional and amateurs alike. He qualified athletes to Ironman World Championships as well as first timers crossing the finish line of their first race.

TJ currently races on a more recreational nature now, does limited one-on-one coaching, puts on a number of clinics and offers up any advice he can to help out. He’s also a 6 time Ironman finisher (3X Kona)

TJ is the owner of Swim Shops of the Southwest (swimshops.com), is married with two children, and resides in The Woodlands, Texas.

NWT Coaching

2011-11-17T05:48:00.000-05:00

This post is long over due. I've been meaning to properly introduce NWT Coaching to the blogging world, and have only now had the chance to do so.

At first, I was fearful of getting into coaching. Then I realized that fear was based on the criticism that is eventually going to come. I had the chance to read some excerpts from the work of a mentor, and this passage caught my eye, "put yourself out there, and let the market determine if your experiences and knowledge have value."

Wow! Great advice, and once again I see why it makes sense to surround myself with people like him.

The criticism comes with whatever we do. Don't let the fear of this fact cloud your vision of what really matters: being happy while helping those who ask. If the market responds, and you are happy in real time--go with it!

I've had the chance to speak with a few folks about where I plan on taking coaching, both from a short term and long term view. First, thank you to those that have reached out and to those who have helped take some ideas to the next level.

NWT Coaching, or NorthWest Triathlon Coaching, is a small group of like-minded athletes looking to improve at the HIM and full IM distance. Quite often when I say NorthWest, people have mentioned that NorthEast may have been a better name, geographically speaking. I can agree with the initial reaction, so let me explain....

I'm a finance guy, and in the finance world, you can plot your performance along what is known as the Efficient Frontier. I'm not going to bore you with the details of that, but basically if you plot the performance of a portfolio into a graph of four quadrants, with the y-axis being performance and the x-axis being risk, you can determine where you lie on this frontier. The further up and to the left you are, the better.

The ideal area to be in is the northwest quadrant, where you take the least amount of risk and get the most return.

I feel that one of the most important aspects of my job as a coach is to tailor a training plan that includes the appropriate level of intensity and volume (risk) to get you the most performance on race day (return). I believe that the average age group triathlete is living in the southeast quadrant--taking too much risk, and thus, consistency suffers and performance diminishes.

At NWT, the mission is to shift the focus of the athlete; to introduce them to true pace and beneficial amounts of intensity and volume, and allow performance to increase. A website is currently being developed where a user forum will be used for team interaction, in addition to regular direct contact. Look for that soon at http://www.nwtcoaching.com/

Over time, other people within the local community who appreciate our vision of team learning will be added to the group. They may not be part of the coaching team, but they can help our athletes improve. The main ideal you will discover within our group is quite simple: Everyone is concerned with making each other better, as much or more than they are themselves. As a result, that is what we become.

First Consistency, Then Specificity

2011-10-18T06:19:00.000-04:00

Eventually we learn the #1 limiter facing improved performance is consistency. I talk to lots of folks about performance within the AG ranks, and I'm amazed at the amount of people who feel genetics is the main limiting factor. Few realize you have to train nearly every day for years before your genetics begin to hold you back.

There is no "off-season." Sure, take a few weeks and re-charge, but if you want to get good (and most do!) training is a year round affair. We train to race, and we race to beat someone; that may be yourself or a rival, but make no mistake that the main reason you are training is to get better and win.

Once consistency is established, (and consistency is 1-2 hours a day, EVERY day of s/b/r), the only thing that matters is specificity to your goal event.

This past weekend I raced (participated?) in a cyclocross event. Locally, folks will accuse me of having a leg up genetic wise, which makes me smile since I know my background. Anyway, to make a long story short, I got my ass kicked. This is OK, as it showed some weaknesses. The other thing this highlights is while consistency is extremely important, without specificity to your goal event, you will get beat badly.

If you are one my athletes, you learn this really quick. Couple of my guys are training for an IM, and when I said no to a marathon in the same 12 months as their IM, I received some blank stares. Simply put, (after the recovery cost) the training for a marathon is not specific enough to an IM, and there is little bleed over. A marathon trains you to run 26.2 miles fast. If you've ever run an IM marathon, fast is not how one would describe it.

"But we do this for fun!" This is a common response when I say no marathon.

Well, you certainly do not need a coach to have fun, and if fun is your goal I suggest you consider not hiring me. Fun is a real time thing; you are either having fun or you are not. You do not train to have fun. You train to win, to beat others or yourself. So, while having fun is a very good goal and one I respect; I do not think you need to pay money to a coach to have fun.

The process of training and competing can be an enjoyable one; in fact I hope it is or you will not get very far. However, if you are going to go through a process and hire someone to guide you through it, I hope fun is not the primary goal.

Back to specificity.

If you want to be the best basket weaver you can be, you weave baskets.

To be your best, this is all that matters--establish consistency and then the closer your A event gets, the more specific your training becomes for that event.

It is very difficult to train for more than 1-2 A races per year when they are the same event, but it can be done! Imagine trying to train for multiple events within one year...! Not gonna happen (to your best ability)unless you have a genetic edge and/or YEARS of endurance training.

In order to stay sane and have fun (I do allow you to have some fun), insert some races that do not require specific training to finish without killing yourself (CX, 5ks/10ks/Master swim events). However throughout the year, what you do during the week should be based on consistent training and specificity to your goal event. So, you have to be OK with being OK at these fun events, as you will not be specifically trained for them.

Remember, there is nothing wrong with running a marathon and an IM in the same year if fun is the goal. It only becomes a problem when you are dissapointed with the result of your IM and continue to train for 2 events every year; thinking it is the solution to being faster at IM.

Consistency, then specificity.

Syracuse RR

2011-10-04T06:44:00.000-04:00

Finally posting this report on my blog; had it done a few weeks ago...thanks for reading!

From start to finish, this was probably one of my better races at this distance. This course was pretty legit this year, tough bike with a tough run….

I was in the 9th wave so had a bit of waiting, warmed up in my wet suit and hit the line ready to go. I started out mod-hard, and got on the perfect set of feet; didn't have to sight much at all. I made sure to not lose my guy as we went through the other waves, and came out sub 30 which had me pretty excited. MMs 4500 yard swim sets paid off, and more importantly I felt pretty fresh.

I knew I was in good position but was mainly unaware where I was in the AG Race. Turns out I was 5th in my AG out of the water and left T1 in 1st place...I felt I could pick up 1-2 minutes on the competition by not dressing up for the cold and was right. I put my arm warmers on at the first climb which allowed me to get in and out of the actual transition zone in seconds. There was quite a long run into T1 of an easy 1/4 mile.

I settled into a moderate effort, knowing a 10 mile steady climb of 3-6% was coming. When I hit that section, I really let lose and 300 watts felt good so I maintained that effort until the top. Once that part of the course was done, I settled into a more realistic half effort of 250-260 watts, getting as many zeros as I could when speed was high. When things got really slow, I made sure to attack and not worry about wattage caps too much--my HR was recovering very nice after hard efforts so I wasn’t too concerned.

At mile 35 or so I was passed for the first time and thought his calf said 25-29 and tried to hang with him. That brought me to 280 watts + even with a bit of benefit 4 bikes back so I made the decision to just back off and ride my race. Turns out he was in my AG and took the lead at that point; no matter-- he was simply faster than me.

256 Avg/268 NP/157 bpm

Coming into T2 I thought I was in the lead, and when I didn't see any bikes in the 35-39 racks I felt that was the case. I'm going to be honest here; I assumed I'd get run down, have 2-3 in my group pass me and I'd get 3-5 in my AG. I'd podium, goal would be met.

Looking back, that is some pretty negative thinking at mile 1. Running is not my strength, and that is just how my races go....

I completed the first loop and no one passed, and I'm still thinking it is inevitable until someone runs by. Right around mile 8-9, it happens and a guy in my AG rolls up. Just try and run with him I think...maybe he'll slow down. I duck in behind him and keep pace.

This is where I begin to concede a bit..."at least I biked well..."..."this is still a good pace for me...." "I really need to work on my run in the offseason...."

Then out of nowhere MM pops in my head, "Dude, this ain't a F-in running race, it's a triathlon...RIP off his legs...."

With that thought I just take off at pace that is way too fast and PRAY the dude doesn't come. After 1/4 mile I'm too scared to check...at 1/2 mile we make a right hand turn and I take a peak. He's gone.

Holy shit....I dropped someone on the run who was about to pass.

Now I'm pumped up and I'm running as hard as I can.

At mile 11-12 my good buddy comes up who is simply faster than me, and says, "Just stay on my feet..."

I give it my all and go...dry heaves, grunts, moans, the whole 9 yards. I think I scared a few people out there...:)

I hit the line in 2nd place, 9th OA AGer (yeah, small field....but I’m still pumped!).....

7:15/mile 162 bpm

I think this shows how mental this sport can be....you can't leave T1 thinking you are going to get run down! You gotta give 100%! You can't limit yourself!

I took my spot to Vegas, which should be interesting considering I’m doing Louisville 2 weeks prior. I told MM let’s have some fun!

She said, “You’ll be ready…..”

Cazenovia Hill Bender

2011-10-02T10:40:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I took part in my first ever bike race, the Cazenovia Hill Bender. It was a blast!

I was really excited as it was something new, but wasn't sure how I would do as you have to know how to ride a bike to do well in a bike race. In a triathlon, you can play the power meter game, stick to your race and all is well. However, in a bike race, in takes grits and smarts to pull it off, or as MM says, "you will get spat."

Coming into the day I was the leader in the Du Tri Hills race series. So, my main goal was to make sure the guy in 2nd and 3rd place didn't breakaway; and if they did I would simply hang on. Beyond that, I would just stick with the lead pack as long as I could.

It was cold and rainy all day, and the route was HILLY. Things started really easy, but within the first few minutes the pace picked up. By about mile 7-8, a few packs formed and by mile 10-11 there were 6 of us off the group with a pretty good gap.

This was the first time I looked at the power meter, and saw an average of 310 watts and was a bit concerned, no way I can hold that for nearly 2 hours. However, it's a bike race, not a triathlon so I wasn't going to allow some device manage my race. Just stick to the pack and my power is my power. If I could hang on I would, if I couldn't, I'd learn about my limits.

The hills kept coming, but I was able to keep up with the lead group no problem. As the race went on, I realized this was going to be the effort to the finish line, that would probably finish with a sprint; a gear I simply do not have.

The race finished up Route 13 in Caz, a steady climb with some great views. Sure enough, about .5 miles from the finish a couple guys went off the front and I just didn't have the gear and crossed the line in 6th OA about 30 seconds back from first. That's actually quite a bit of time in my mind since I was with the group all day, but out of 60+ riders and my first bike race, I'll take it. Something to work on!

I secured the Du Tri Hills Championship, and a nice little cash bonus that came with it. Also, I won the Speedy Gonzalez award for the first rider to cross a pre determined line in the race.

I ended up averaging 315 watts/323 NP for the 39 mile race, which was just over 1:52.

So, a pretty solid effort, and something you would never discover on a tri bike by yourself....even if you taped up the display.

An effort like that is only going to happen in a group during a race.

I'm very happy with the result, as it showed some grit and I proved to myself the ability to ride smart in a group.

Definitely see more bike racing in my future.

Syracuse 2011

2011-09-24T07:19:00.003-04:00

Jen delivers her thoughts on her race in 2011. The course changed dramatically this year with a much tougher run, and she was able to knock off 36 minutes from her previous year's time. Check the previous post here to see last year's race report.

Syracuse Now

What a difference a year makes! I did no running from mid-September through January. I tried a ton of different approaches to fixing my knees, and followed Michael Corona’s amazing plan to get back into running, which is also another topic for another day.

I started master’s swim in November and started spinning regularly in December. We started up with consistent S/B/R in January. The key here was consistency. This was the first year that I actually hit my workouts on a consistent basis, which I think has made all the difference in my having a successful year.

In addition to increased fitness over last year, I actually approached this year’s 70.3 with a plan. After completing the Musselman in July, my coach and I dissected my race file and came up with target HRs for both the bike and the run. We decided that since I felt great during the whole race at Mussel, that I should be able to increase my target HRs for Syracuse.

The swim went great! I started out in the middle, a couple rows back, slightly right. When the gun went off, I dove in between the two girls in front of me and took off. Instead of panicking in the chaos, I tried to relax and let the pack pull me out as I thought about my friend MM telling me to “embrace the sport”. It didn’t take long to warm up and get into a groove. At the second buoy, I got clobbered from the right and my goggles were pulled off a bit as I swallowed a little water. I stopped and drained my goggles, didn’t allow the coughing to get out of control, then hammered until I passed the girl who got me. I continued on buoy by buoy. I almost turned at the second red buoy after the turn, but a life guard yelled at me to keep going straight. Even though it was impossible to see the next buoy in the sun, this was the first race in a while that I actually stayed on course. So I kept on pushing until I got to the third buoy from the end. Then I noticed that I was mixed in with a rainbow of cap colors. I thought, “Sweet! I’m passing people! Shit! I’m getting passed!” Then I noticed blue caps next to me. “That’s MC’s wave, I have to motor!” I thought I could just grab onto the feet of these two guys. As I was swimming to the right trying to catch them, some dude slammed into me. Ouch! Then I saw black goggles and a Blue Seventy wetsuit. The next time this dude turned to breathe, I screamed, “Corona!!” My own husband was beating me up on the swim! Damn! Must. Go. Faster! I sprinted through the last three buoys trying to channel my inner Jonas C., as I worked to spin my arms like a windmill. As soon as I got out, I ripped my sleeves off and looked for the strippers. I lay right on my back and let them do their thing – outa there in about 7 seconds! On the run to T1, I stopped to high-five my boys, then saw the clock and realized I was under 40 minutes. Sweet!

Just like last year, I took the time to put on a long sleeve jersey. This time I added a beanie under the helmet, and topped off the look with blue gardening gloves. Lookin’ good! As I was running out to the bike, I got a “Go Jen!!” from Turbo’s dad. Great burst of energy! Just like I planned, I took it pretty easy out Apulia Rd. I tried to calm my breathing and drank some Gatorade, getting ready to start climbing. Half way up the first climb, I saw a “Team Corona” sign -another energy boost. Thank you, Aunt Linda & Uncle Mark! Now to get to work. During the first 10 miles, I didn’t worry too much about HR, it was pretty close to my target of 150-155 on its own. I ate my first piece of cliff bar at 12min, then wished I’d cut them in 1/8ths instead of 1/4s. I felt good and just pushed along, waiting for the first descent. Finally it came! My friend Paul had passed me just before the top of the last climb, so I decided I couldn’t let that go. At the start of the descent I peddled my ass off to catch him and shouted “Woooo! Hooooooooo!” and flew past! We proceeded to play leap frog all the way down the hill until we hit flat road, then he took off. Fun while it lasted! I came up to the first aid station, and I quickly tried to finish my first bottle so I could ditch it and grab another. I missed the first bottle and it crashed on the ground, but I managed to grab the second one.

From that point on, I tried to push hard and keep my HR at 150, but it seemed to be around 145-148 instead. Though I was working hard, I couldn’t seem to get it up. According to plan, I ate my cliff bar pieces every 20-30 minutes and ate my banana at mile 30. Next time, I’ll definitely cut the banana in half. I saw the mile 35 marker and was ready to hammer, but I waited until after the right turn, and took a swig from my gel flask. Then I ignored HR and just tried to go as fast as possible. It was really fun to be able to pass tons of bikers! I felt a little bad that many were struggling, but was thrilled that I felt great! I saw the yellow Team Corona shirts as I entered the park and that gave me the last burst I needed to finish strong. I even passed a few bikers in the shoot on the way to the dismount line, then slammed on the brakes and almost flipped over the handle bars. Whoa!

I ran into T2, ripped off my helmet, beanie, and shades and sat down to switch shoes. As soon as I sat, I began peeing. Seriously?? Major déjà vu! What is it with me & T2? Maybe I should call it P2??

Anyway, I threw on my visor, jumped up, and grabbed my watch. While trying to fasten the strap, I remembered that I was planning to wear the watch band from the start but forgot. Maybe next time! On the way out to the run I got a “Go Jen!” from Grandma Bea (Turbo’s mom). Just what I needed! Mentally I was ready to rip on the run, but unfortunately my knees had another idea. They ached from the start. I was so annoyed and bummed out since I did Double Mussel in July & had no knee pain on either day, but this was the third race in a row where they hurt. (I have to figure out what I did differently.)

As I ran out Apulia Rd, I wrestled with my cliff blocks for a few minutes and finally ate two of them. Then I settled into my planned 9:30 pace and looked forward to the first aid station. As I came up to the first turn at Coye Rd, I saw MC coming my way from the end of his first loop. We sort of stumbled over each other and I got a “hey!” while he got a pat on the butt. I walked the aid station as planned and grabbed water and a coke. I proceeded to eat a shot block between aid stations and took water and coke at the stations. I ran both hills on the first loop, and continued to walk just the aid stations. It was really nice to see some friends out cheering on the course – Jake & Amy, Kristin & Andy, and Sam shouting at me and taking pics. Thanks guys!! Also, I got to run with a couple of friends for a bit – Tracy, Jamie C. and John T. On the second loop, I found out they had pretzels at the aid station. I was so happy! I took a full cup and dumped them into the back pocket of my jersey, and munched on them for the rest of the run. I actually just found the rest of them as I was doing laundry today! Later on the second loop, I remembered my coach telling me that if my run pace was slower than my walk pace on a hill, I should just walk it. So I pumped my fists hard and dug in, and powered up that hill! I started running again as soon as I hit the top as Sam S. yelled, “That’s more like it, Corona!” At that point, my knees were killing me! A Phase 2 pain as I call it. My right ankle and inner thigh were killing too because I was favoring my knee so bad. There were a couple of descents on Rt 173 where I had to stop running to hobble down. Then I finally turned back onto Apulia Rd. From there on in, I just kept making deals with myself to put one foot in front of the other. Again. And again. And again. My 9:30 goal pace was out the window, and I was working hard to hold an 11:30. My stomach was starting to feel a little queasy so I thought I was done with nutrition. Then as I was passing the last aid station, I remembered my coach saying that no matter how bad you feel, just keep taking in calories. So I grabbed a coke and actually felt a lot better after drinking it. I picked up the pace ever so slightly, and thought (as I always do at the end of a race) this is it. There is no way I can speed up any more. This is my sprint. I got to the out-n-back and was thrilled to see it was not nearly as long as last year. Bonus! I hobbled around the cone bouncing on one foot and almost fell over. By the time I reached the last little incline into the finish shoot, I was full-on limping and a volunteer said, “Oh honey! You’re done. It’s right over there.” I came into the shoot and immediately saw my boys & MC & the fam waiting for me. I stopped to hive-five everyone, then went back to running as a woman was passing me. And I thought, “No Way! She is not passing me as I’m high-fiving my boys!” So I sprinted just enough to beat her to the timing mat. I was pleasantly surprised that my “Sweetie Pie” Sam C, our 72 yr old tri club friend, was at the finish line. I got a big hug and then hobbled into the medical tent to get some ice.

So that was it. Everything went pretty much according to plan. I controlled every part of my day that I could, and I adjusted to (survived) all that I couldn’t. 6:00:47. ~36 minutes faster than last year. Could I have found another 47 seconds? Absolutely! Have you ever tried putting on a long-sleeve cycling jersey when you’re soaking wet? How many seconds does it take to high-five three little boys? 47 seconds for sure! But, I wouldn’t change a thing!

Guest Blogger--Syracuse 70.3--looking back

2011-09-22T21:56:00.000-04:00

I asked my wife Jen to talk about her experience at Syracuse 70.3 in 2010 versus 2011. Below is her recap of the race in 2010 and tomorrow we will be sharing her thoughts from the race this past weekend. Enjoy!

Syracuse Then-2010

Like many others in this neck of the woods, I signed up for the 2010 Syracuse 70.3 pretty much because it was right here on my home turf, not because I actually thought I was ready to tackle that distance. So last year, it was all about survival. I don’t remember having any sort of plan . . . except for nutrition on the bike: I planned to eat half a power bar at 30 minutes, another half at 1 hr, then gel shots every 30 minutes and to drink one bottle of Gatorade every hour.

The swim went ok. However, my sighting consisted of doing a few strokes of breaststroke, or stopping to tread water & locate the next buoy. Because I am a mom first, while I was swimming, I was not focused on my stroke or race plan. Instead, I remembered that I never told my mom that my 6 yr old was being picked up at 9am to go to Church school. I was literally doing the math in my head to figure out if I was going to make it out of the water in time to call home!

Luckily, I had met a volunteer in the bathroom before the race, who told me her job was a stripper … of wetsuits. I had no idea they would have those, and I think MC even told me he ran past them, so it was a bonus to be privy to some inside info. Also, I stopped along the run into T1 when I saw Turbo Curbeau’s dad and asked if he had his phone. He didn’t, but a random spectator offered hers. So as the T1 clock was ticking, I stood there giving my mom’s # and the message that someone was coming to get Ash.

Finally at T1, I took the time to put on a long sleeve jersey, which is not so easy when you’re soaking wet! The bike was rough! I remember not be able to catch my breath from the swim as I was going out Apulia Rd. I just kept peddling. I don’t remember pushing hard or trying to go faster, or aiming for a heart rate, just biking for about forever and wanting to be done. Also, stopping to pee in a corn field was not my best decision ... after getting back on my bike, I couldn’t clip in b/c there was so much mud stuck in my cleats (did I mention it was raining up until the race start?)

So happy to be off the bike and finally make it to T2, I sat down to change my shoes and for some reason starting peeing my pants as well, so I decided to just go with the flow until I was done.

On to the run . . . the original plan was simply to walk to the aid stations. Sadly, the minute I started the run I realized how overly optimistic that was. I had been battling tendonitis in my knees for about 6 weeks or so at the point. At the start of the run, there was an out-n-back that was about a ½ mile and I had to start walking before I even finished that. So my plan quickly morphed into: run til it hurts, then walk til you can run again. This plan of attack became stale real quick. There was nothing fun about that run! Oh wait, I guess there was: when I passed a YMCA aid station along Erie Blvd, I got tons of high fives and hugs from familiar faces. Then as I was about a ¼ mile away I saw on the ground in giant chalk letters, “JEN CORONA ROCKS!” and in little baby letters, “and mike too!” That was awesome!! I’ve never had my name chalked in a race before, and it definitely gave me a burst of energy! If you get the chance to chalk the street for a friend that is racing, do it!!!

What did I learn from 2010??

First and foremost, you need to respect the distance! Signing up for a 70.3 on a whim can be extremely painful! It was definitely cool to have finished a half iron, but it was also very frustrating when comparing my time to others who I have raced along side many times. Basically, my time sucked! And the thought of people I know looking up my results sucked even more!

I realized that I needed to address my chronic issue of patella tendonitis if I wanted to continue to enjoy this sport. That is a whole other topic for another day.

The positive energy from volunteers, spectators, and fellow competitors is vital to your race success. I realized that I need to try to volunteer more often to pay it forward.

Most importantly, I realized that I needed a real plan and real training. I was not at all satisfied with just completing the race. I was ready to become a “real” triathlete and learn what it takes to improve and become competitive.

A Follow up to Pace: Training vs. Racing

2011-08-28T11:28:00.001-04:00

As a follow up to my previous post, I'd thought I'd spend a bit of time discussing training vs. racing.

The Syracuse 70.3 race is rapidly approaching, and as it gets closer you can spot more and more people out on the course. Most are quick to tell you how fast they rode the course in, and while training via speed can have its benefits, you may be able to get more value for your training dollar by focusing on some other things.

At Endurance Corner, a common theme is "Go fast when the race is slow." If you read any of Alan Couzens writings, you know all of this already!.

Yesterday I rode the 70.3 course at an average speed of about 18.5 mph. On race day last year, I rode 21.5 MPH; a significant gap.

In training, I don't like rest! It you are not pedaling while training, it can be a waste of time around Central NY. There are places where you are at least working on some skill sets; you are just not going to find 30 minute technical descents around here....most descents are quick and easy.

What's my point?

It could be a good idea to distribute your effort while training evenly. The primary concern is the amount of work done in a specific period of time. As AG triathlets with families and jobs, maximize your returns! Racing, however, your primary goal is to do as little work as possible while going as fast as possible.

Below is a chart from my ride yesterday, the bulk of it on the Cuse 70.3 course.

If you click on it to blow it up, you can see where I added a red line around 70 watts....little to no time with "zeros." In training, zeros are rest, and there is little to no point to zero training unless you are working on a specific skill set (descending, bike handling). IOW, if the objecting of the training day is aerobic, zero's are giving you zero return for your time.

Let's take a look at my race file for Syracuse 70.3 from last year:

This file is a completely different animal. Notice all the time spent below the first line and second line. All of this effort is below race pace, but my speed is fast! I see very little value at 250 watts and 30 mph when I can go 28 MPH and coast--in training however--tons of value in exerting some effort while going fast! As a big unit in the triathlon circle, nothing is more pleasing then passing someone on a decent while racking up zeros and they're pedaling away! I've even passed folks larger than me because I carry momentum through the climb (fast when slow) and tuck extremely aggressively when speed is maximized.

The 3rd line shows how there are very few spikes and next to no time spent above TH. If you spend too much time above TH at a race of this distance, you will pay on the run; it is a simple fact.

This is a just one example, and I've seen charts of folks that do it much better than me.

I see the exact opposite when observing my competition. Coasting in training (why push a downhill...?), pushing beyond what is necessary for the intent of the session on the hills and no coasting in racing (its a RACE...why coast?!).

Sometimes pacing in training and racing can be different, and if you look to conserve while going fast while racing, you'll have more energy for the run.

How do you execute this? It's really quite simple (not easy!)...understand the course you are racing on and where throughout the course it makes sense to put forth your best efforts! It is different for everyone! Carefull thought does need to go into the process, as you don't want to give away too much when deciding to go easy, and you don't want to push too much when going hard!!

For my athletes, this is a staple in race planning, and it takes a disciplined and trusting athlete to pull it off.

Pace

2011-08-23T05:38:00.000-04:00

Go to any race HIM or longer, and simply watch the second half of the run and you'll notice a huge drop off in pace. Some very fit folks on the all too famous, "death march." I've been there before; it is not pleasant!

Why does this occur?

First, I think we spend way too much time trying to analyze this, and it is often the ego that prevents us from seeing the truth as to why we do not finish strong. It is a fundamental understanding of pace; or more importantly the lack of it.

The truth comes through when reading an athlete's training log; running "easy 9:30's" but said athlete fails to hold 11:00's at a half iron.

Fitness is a relatively easy thing to build, especially for the typical AG triathlete....we all have very young athletic lives! What that means is simply getting out there and training a few times a week will have us faster!

Figuring out pace is the first step to improved race performance. Until an athlete discovers how to build an effort to be the strongest at the finish line, improvement while racing is going to be extremely difficult to find; even though you may be more fit than your results show!

For most, your ability to finish strong has nothing to do with your nutrition, or the heat....it has to do with how you pace. Start slow enough in 97 degree heat, and your last mile can be your best! The trick is finding the balance between too slow and too fast.

If you need help with this, most coaches will have to train side by side with you to help you understand what this is; unless of course they have the ability to figure you out through the internet. HR monitors and power meters, while great aids, give little insight into how an athlete is feeling. An athletes perception of finishing strong and how it actually looks are two different things! Also, it's very easy to finish strong on a training run at a completely unrealistic pace for race day! 9:30/mile may feel like your HIM pace at 1:20 into your training run, but what about 6 hours into a race?

Pacing is not about fitness; anyone can pace a race to finish strong regardless of how fast they go from the start to finish. Fitness dictates how fast we go--pacing is how well we manage our fitness. For most of us, our best race will be one where we finish strong; few have the ability to hobble home and win!

Pace is about emotion and how you react, your ability to recover from a hard effort, how you gauge that effort, your experience with how long you know you can hold certain feelings/emotions.

We can all go out there and build fitness--that is the easy part--especially for most reading this site. The specifics of your training means very little as anything will make you faster. Some will try and convince you a specific process is new and cutting edge; this is called sales and marketing. If you think the key to your breakthrough race is a special diet, you should know there are people out there kicking your ass eating Pop Tarts and Apple Jacks 3 times a day!

What are you doing to improve your pacing skills? I hope the answer to this question is not "training more."

My suggestions:
-Always finish strong--in racing AND in training! Start at the end, always leave room to finish your sessions strong, this means you're going to have to start easy!
-Train at true pace
-Until you prove the ability to pace, base your training on actual results! Base training on what you actually do, not what you think you can do! This one is tough, as some athletes can have trouble viewing a HIM run as their true ability and benchmark off something else.

A great test to see if you may need some help understanding pace is to compare your average run training pace to your HIM run split. If there is a large gap that is good....just make sure the training pace is the slower of the two. Most will discover their training pace to be at or near their HIM run splits--it is also very common to have the majority of miles at a faster pace!

You first have to identify this as something that needs work, otherwise you can spend years fixing a nutrition problem that does not exist; race after race.

Once an athlete understands pace and nails a race, confidence takes off and future improvement is simply a matter of time.

Getting there is not easy, but with the right thought process and a little guidance, you can make the journey much more enjoyable!

Coaching

2011-08-16T07:12:00.000-04:00

The title of the post says it all. After some serious consideration and a year spent working with some folks on a scholarship basis (as in for free), I've decided to officially start coaching a few athletes.

You will be hearing more about this new venture in the coming weeks, and I wanted to make the readers of this blog the first to be aware.

My focus will be with half and full iron distance athletes looking to improve.

Feel free to e-mail me at corona_michael at hotmail.com for more information and to discuss things in greater detail.

As always, thanks for reading!

Lake Placid Race Report

2011-08-05T18:09:00.004-04:00

This is my second attempt at a race report for Ironman Lake Placid; first time through it just didn't feel right and like a writer struggling to meet a deadline I ripped it up and started over. It's hard to convey all the emotions that occur in 10 or so hours while so much is changing; you have one option at this distance: adapt or collapse.

Truth is, that is why I love the distance; no one can get you out of a jam and you have to make split second decisions that either make or break all you have done to get to this point. It's the culmination of 1000's of decisions all day long that dictate how you do. In the end only one thing matters: Keep moving forward at all costs, no matter how slow the pace.

At the water front, I relaxed with The Team Corona support crew and the all around good people I've met along the way....

I came out of the water in just under 1:07 and was more than pleased considering it was no wet suit for me. This year I moved quickly through T1 and was on my bike in under 4 minutes.

The watts came easy, but to be honest I wasn't sure I would be able to hold what training indicated I could, around 225 watts. None the less, I trusted the work I had done and got busy. I was feeling really good, averaging right where I expected and came into town on pace to go sub 2:40 and had no doubt I could back that effort up.

Thump, thump, thump.....

What is that...? Shit, front tire is flat. Pull over, get off tire and change it. 4 minutes--I've done this in my sleep. It's not flat all the way. No way I'm going to get a tire iron in there. Deflate it. Can't get to the valve through the extender. No worries, pop the tube with one of your CO2s. Hit it. Nothing. Hit it again. Dud. Use the 2nd CO2, change the tire and hit special needs for another CO2. Hit it. POP! Doesn't deflate. Murphy's Law in full effect--I've had plenty of tubes pop when hit with CO2 when the intention is to inflate it! Two volunteers suggest I go to transition for bike tech--"can you ride it in?" Yes. I'm off, don't crash on the turns. Skip special needs. First turn, I almost crash. Pull into T2. "Bike Tech, Bike Tech!!" Blank looks return my way, "No bike tech here."

No worries, tire is flat now. Change it. Record change, done in 3 minutes. Shit. I'm out of CO2 and left my cracker at the original scene. Keep moving forward no matter what. I start walking asking for CO2...nothing. All of sudden, bike tech comes along and pumps me up, gives me spare CO2 and I'm off.

For 3 seconds ... until I drop my chain. User error. Bike tech fixes me up and I'm off. Check my watch and the above ordeal took 15 minutes, which makes me smile because it honestly felt like 45.

I feel sorry for myself for about 30 seconds and go at a pace I know I can hold for 56 miles. You have to run a marathon, chill out. It took 25-30 minutes of 250 watts to get that out of my system, then I settle back into IM pace and turn my focus to seeing if I can run off a solid effort. Don't quit, don't give in. The mind is trying to convince everything the race is over.

222 avg watts/235 NP loop one, 231 avg/239 NP loop two.

I get on the run, and can't help but think I should be 15 minutes up--everyone that passes me at the turnarounds I think, "I should be up on you!" That is negative thought, remove it and move forward, you cannot erase the past...keep moving forward--see if you can run strong.

The first 3 miles off the bike were tough, barely under 8:30s and I thought I was in for a long day. Right after I passed mile 4, it started coming easy, and I settled into pace, kept telling myself wait until mile 13, then up the effort. Came back into town and the family was decked out in the "Team Corona" shirts, cheering like crazy. I wanted to find Jen and tell her what went wrong, but when I saw her I simply couldn't; they were so happy I was running strong! They didn't care how fast I was going....poor me--get over yourself dude!

This is good, come out of town and start ripping off the miles, it's less than 6 miles to the turn around, that's the out and back down Ferguson back home. It's nothing.
I lift the effort, and I'm running sub 8s for the first time all day, and they're clicking off. I start to pass people that passed me out of T2, and I love the feeling. Suddenly, the known discomfort of mile 15-16 in the IM marathon shifts, and the body begins the onset of chills and it becomes harder to think; I back off. Why? I'll explore that thought shortly.

I settle into what is a known pace to finish the race with a good result. I hit the first hill coming back into town and I recall the exact spot I starting walking last year; it was a goal of mine to run pass this spot with the force of a raging bull. I ran over the bridge without thinking twice, back into town. At this point, I'm power walking the aid stations, taking coke, ice and water, then right back at it. I pass a spectator cheering his ass off- in a wheel chair. It really hit me with a dose of reality--a flat? That guy wishes he could experience a flat in an IM--the perspective changes my view on everything in that moment. I hit the main hill into town, run up it without thinking twice about walking. Come to the final out and back, left leg begins to cramp, and instead of fighting it, I focus the mind on the exact spot within the body, allow the body/mind to do its thing. Do not fight the cramp, simply allow the body to correct the issue. It loosens up and I continue running. Hit the turn around and I simply say to myself, "head home."

I hit the shoot and do the only thing you should do with nothing on the line at an IM finish line... Soak. It. Up.

To start an IM is a true blessing, to finish one is a true achievement....don't rush the finish chute unless there is something on the line. I see sub 10:30 is in the bag and soak it up.

A BIG thanks to my family, especially my wife Jen, without your support I do not come close to any of this!! The fact that you support me with a smile makes all of this so much fun! Thank you to MM as well; your guidance has been awesome!

110 OA, 29 AG.
96 OA, 25 AG without wetsuits

Last year I was 192 OA and 40 in the AG, and went 10:36 on the same course. So, improvement of 8 minutes and 82 people OA (96 w/out wetsuits). I'm happy with that as this race was a bit slower overall.

I am capable of better, however.

Funny stat:
Average pace per mile on the IM marathon: 8:24/mile
YTD I have run 841.17 miles in 117.72 hours, or 8:24/mile

First thing I do, and continue to do is subtract 15 minutes to see the result...it doesn't matter! But for fun, my fitness is still 15 minutes off from playing with the big boys in 35-39. At this stage, those minutes are tough to find....so I gotta work harder and keep it fun!!

My assessment of fitness pre-race was pretty much spot on, but MM points out I need to start moving away from constantly benchmarking performances and go out there and race. I agree!!

The post race...

I see my good buddy Matt at the finish line, I try and explain what happened, but I cannot talk...a simple yes or no is all I can get out. I get the post IM tingles throughout my face and hands and realize I can bring myself down this time, find a seat under the tent and begin the doses of Sprite and chicken broth until the body regains form.

All is well, Jen finds me and I can see she feels awful about the tech issues, I simply smile and explain it's no big deal. We walk back to the house, and we hear "CORONA!!!!" "Dude, you need a beer!!" I don't know this crew, but they look fun as shit, and wonder how they know my name. In a post IM haze, I explain how cool it is that they offered me a Corona by shouting out my name, and begin to explain, "Hey, that is my name!!"....then realize my wife is wearing a shirt that says, "Team Corona." I shut my mouth and drink.

So I learned a few things out there today, but the main thing that hit home was the true meaning of "be willing." It was explained to me when I went to Boulder, but this is the first race I felt what it means....If I ever want to KQ, I am going to have to learn to take it to a level of willingness for a long period of time and run with the fear of failure.

In a way the flat was a blessing, because it taught me what being willing feels like within a race:

• I upped my effort 25-30 watts over my intention for a solid 25-30 minutes post flat because in my mind the day was over and I was pissed. I wasn't willing to up the effort beyond what I knew I could do until my main goal was dead! And you know what--I didn't die!...:) In fact, I still finished strong.

• When my emotions shifted at mile 15-16 of the run and the pain in my legs and feet were no longer the front runner of fear--when it shifted to a new sensation I backed off because I was afraid of walking it in. I should have explored this to see how long I could have held that pace, or more importantly, how long I could have held that feeling.

I think that is the next progression for myself. I've proven I can finish the distance, I've proven I can hold pace on the run.

Now, can I race the distance?

There is only one way to find out...

To Live your Dreams--Keep the Love

2011-07-30T07:58:00.003-04:00

I just got done making a rough sketch of goals/racing for 2012--no training makes my mind work too much!! Though with sign ups going a year out, I suppose it is necessary!

I do need to be careful here, the longer I am in the sport, the more I get pulled to the external success. Very important I try and stay focused within. I see the dangers of chasing a spot--you start to smile less and do not enjoy those around you as much.

Having external goals is important as it sets up your entire year, but I need to focus within and how the process makes me a better person. That needs to continue to be the overriding goal--to be happy within the moment. Happiness does not await me on the Kona pier or the finish line as the top dog; if I am not happy doing the work, I need to move on.

I will say I went through a quick period of IM blues post LP, so I decided to make a list of reasons why I do IM:

-Life long fitness
-The people I meet along the way are good people and I enjoy being around them
-to chase a passion with a smile

No mention of Kona! Seeing this makes me feel better and brings back the love of doing the work. Important I remember this ALWAYS....this is what motivates me; the external goals are something we work towards as a result of doing something we love.

Keep the love, and live your dreams in real time.

(LP report coming....a bit busy this week as Jen is in Boulder living the dream....heading out camping with the boys now!)

IMLP 2011

2011-07-23T20:41:00.006-04:00

I've been neglecting my blog!

It is not my intent, and I am going to try and write some more!

It is really hard to believe I will be at the start line at Lake Placid tomorrow AM; it surely does not feel like it has been 1 year since I was last here.

I feel ready, it seems the fatigue hit at the perfect time and I was able to stay extremely consistent; more so than ever. I credit that to three ladies, Marilyn McDonald of Endurance Corner, Luck and of course my wife Jen.

I had the opportunity to train side by side with my coach Marilyn for a good week, and learned more in that time than I have in the previous 2 years in the sport. So, thank you for the guidance this past year and I look forward to reaching all the goals we have set.

Lady Luck--without a little good luck, you simply don't make it to the starting line. My father asked me a few weeks ago if I was ready, and I replied by saying, "The hardest part at this point is making it to the start line." Really, that is the truth from the day you sign up--getting to hear that cannon blast off in a state of good health is a victory in and of itself.

Jennifer--without her none of this is possible; certainly not to the level she has allowed me to take it. I consider myself to have an extremely average athletic background. What I get comes from a ton of hard work and a relentless pursuit of a dream; without her support I wouldn't be able to do one tenth of what I accomplish. I could write pages upon pages about how she supports me.

As I have bumped into people throughout the week, the most common question I get is what my time is going to be. I decided to stop talking and predicting that, as it was explained to me it may be limiting.

To a degree I agree with that and when I looked back to last years race I saw that unfold in the final miles. Once I knew I was going to hit what I had told everyone I was going to do I became satisfied, as if I couldn't fail because expectations had been met.

When I get to the root of it, that is not why I am out here. I simply want my best; and the truth is my best is always within reach, in every moment of every day. My best is not a time, a spot to Kona or a trip to the podium. It is a moving target, constantly changing as the hours move on. In one moment, my best could be finishing under 10 hours; but blink for one second, and my best could simply be getting to the next aid station without throwing up. You cannot take a single thing for granted in a race this long; it must be respected.

I have a certain amount of fitness that is fixed, and if I execute perfectly will yield a fairly fixed time; but by focusing on the time I limit my best that is available in each moment.

Life is too short to do anything but my best.

So, I can predict with a fair amount of certainty that no matter what comes my way tomorrow, my best is what I will give. As for the time on the clock....well it will say what is says; I can only control my effort.

Thank you to all that have supported me!

Triple T Race Report

2011-05-28T05:19:00.003-04:00

Few events offer an opportunity like the Triple T; lots of racing, a bit of downtime, meeting new people, and a simplistic form with few logistical issues.

The biggest challenge, outside of racing of course, was riding the 1 mile up that huge hill back to the cabin after every race—outside of that the weekend just flows—mainly because the organizers allow it to.

I had one main goal coming into Triple T—get stronger against the field throughout the weekend. The quick report:

Overall results, solo division:
Prolouge, 28th
AM Oly, 31st
PM Oly, 14th
Half, 11th

Combined ranking, 10th in division (Male, 25-39) and 10th OA solo race. Super happy as the field is always strong here, and I told myself going in top 20 would be awesome.

I told MM I’d go easy on myself and consider the race a success, even though I gave up a few spots in the AM race…:)

The long version (Every time I do a RR, I tell myself to keep it short. It never works out that way!)

Triple T is a race where a plan is nice, but be ready to throw that out the window, listen to your body and adapt. What started out as a race to see where I was at personally, turned into a really fun weekend, constantly crossing paths with a couple cabin mates; my training partner and bud Matt C., and ECer Mike C. At the end of the weekend we decided we had the fastest overall cabin, with the 6th, 8th and 10th place finishers....We have no facts to back that up, but it sounded good at the time and we'll run with it...

The Friday night Prologue was quite simple, go as hard as I can, worry not about pace as 25 minutes of hard wouldn’t throw the rest of the weekend for a loop. Due to my young racing carrier, my best half gave me a seed of 87, which still put me up towards the front, but makes it a tough go for the prologue. Mainly, once you climb the big hill towards the cabins, it’s tricky to pass people on the way down. The reward is not worth the risk passing people on the way down while others are climbing up…not a big loss of time here, maybe 15-30 seconds.

Finished in 23:05, 28th OA solo racer.

Sat AM Oly Race

My thought going in was HIM watts, cap HR around 150 and run at 160. I figured people would fly by me, and I was right. I kept telling myself to stay conservative and I would make up time after this race.

This is a hilly race, and the 53/39 with 28/11 cassette was perfect; didn’t need anymore gears at any point. The descents are tricky and one needs to be careful, as there are several turns that will end your weekend very quickly. That said, TT bike is the way to go all weekend long, IMO. When they say "slow down" they mean it. Some deadly turns out there!

I got off the bike feeling fine, and just ran steady, taking it easy on the descents to save the legs.

This is the one race I am disappointed in; just too conservative. I was talking with some friends after the weekend expressing this opinion, and one suggested, “Going too conservative at Triple T is not possible.” That made me feel better, but I should have gone a bit harder here and left about 4-6 minutes out there. A good lesson learned.

I seem to have a tendency to start out too conservative—while this allows me to finish lots of races, it seems I may be protecting a fear of blowing up and failing—something for me to work on.

PM Oly

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed in myself with my AM effort. At the same time, I was feeling good and decided it was time to step up the effort. I started racing at this point, but still kept a look at the numbers.

You bike first in this race, in TT format. It’s an out and back, and the road was freshly paved for the majority of it. This course favored me more than the others as it had some opportunity to go steady and fast. All other races were either up or down, and at 175 lbs I give up a bit.

I started ignoring power caps on the hills and pushing the flats…I just put it in a gear that allowed me to spin hard, if it resulted in 350 watts—whatever. I started caring less about blowing up about half way through this bike. I passed new friends Alaina and Ryan a bit after the turn around, who were building their lead as the co-ed team. They looked strong and were working extremely well together.

Into T2 where the challenge was to get the wet suit on and swim post bike. Plastic bags worked great, got it on and a volunteer came over to help me zip. After a bit of a struggle with that, I was on my way.

No cramps on the swim, until I made the genius move of running out from lap one and high kneeing into the water for lap 2….quad goes into lock up mode, and the brink of cramping, but I get lucky and never goes into full on cramp….note to self, don’t jump on quads heading into a swim after biking 40k.

I finished up the swim, and onto the run, where I immediately sensed the field was slowing down big time. This was a huge boost to my mental state, as I was passing several people.

This is where the event really got fun, as I was chasing Mike C. and being chased by my bud and training partner Matt C…..It would turn out I would never catch Mike, and always get chased down by Matt—but THAT is what the weekend is all about. We would always give each other a quick word of encouragement, and we were racing and having fun.

This is the race where I made a huge jump in the standings, and I went to bed confident with the half iron in the AM. Tired, but excited to go.

I actually felt good Sunday morning, and turned the day into a race, more so than “lets just finish.” Try and chase down Mike, and get as big of a lead as I can on Matt and try and hold him off on the run.

The swim was great, and Matt and I exited loop 1 right next to each other, Matt gives me his trademark grin that says, “You’re gonna have to wait for the bike to get a lead.” I think to myself, “bull $hit and swim hard.” I exit loop two, look left, and there is that grin looking right at me, I smile back, get a chuckle on our dead even swim, throw the plan of 220 watts/300 cap out the window, and get ready to bike hard—F power.

Matt beats me in and out of T1, and I stay steady…I finally catch up to him, and see it took me 15 minutes to do so.

We hit the first climb and start to chat….I quickly realize riding with Matt is not an option, and go. Honestly, I was hoping Matt would come with me, but he didn’t chase. He knew what I knew—he could wait until the run to chase me down. I’m not sure what I averaged on that first climb, but 300 was one of the smaller numbers I saw…not the cap.

After the climb, I am basically riding alone; not sure if this was smart, as riding back 3 lengths has its advantages; I try not to think much about it and keep pushing the hills really hard, taking “zeros” on the descents and hitting 220-240 on the few flats we have. Starting to get hot, and at mile 22 or so I start to wonder if I am going to be able to run. Should I back off?

No—keep pressing.

My nutrition plan was 3 bottles; I quickly realized that was not nearly enough. I make the turn into the race start where you change up bottles…coming in I see Mike leaving, and think I might be able to catch him. Hit the self support table, exchange and refill, grab about 4-5 Oreo’s and shove them into my mouth. 5 minutes after that I start to feel better and realize I’m not eating enough.

Starting lap 2—there he is, Matt and his grin, check my clock and figure I put 1-2 minutes into him….I realize I need about 7 to hold him off on the run, so I keep pushing.

I’m really starting to wonder about the run and if I’ll be able to pull it off….At the same time, there is little to lose—I’m not going to win the race, and my only chance of taking Matt was to put in more time on the bike.

I keep pushing.

At mile 30 or so I drop a full bottle, and make the spilt second decision to stop and get it. I am convinced that saved my race….I nearly kept going and would have been done.

With 15-20 miles to go I really wanted off the bike, and the body is coming in and out of feeling good, and on the edge of feeling bad—it was hot, but I was on the brink of getting chills, but they never came. I just kept eating and pushing.

The last few miles allow you to get in some zeros and prepare to run. I’m really concerned about my ability to run, so take the opportunity to recover while going 30+ mph.

I hit T2, and grab some water and infinit and realize I’m in for a battle. I keep checking for Matt and never see him. I figure I got 3 minutes or so if he kept pace.

After the first mile, I realize I’m going to be able to run. I was able to lift my HR, and was passing the field. Saw some folks walking and turned my focus on finishing strong.

As I was approaching the first turn around, I see Mike who looks really good, we exchange words of encouragement. I make the turn around, and learn I have a decent lead on Matt—about 3 minutes. At this point, I start attacking the descents, not worrying about saving the legs for another race.

Finish lap one, grab some Oreo’s (I didn’t want them, but forced them down as I had missed the infinit table and had nothing else), and my lead on Matt is about the same. I start to push and lift my HR/effort and I am able to do so.

See Mike again, make turn around (Mike is way up, a solid 10 minutes) and see Matt again; with that big grin. Lead is down to 90 seconds and he looks fresh and strong.

I keep running, it's really hot, and with about 2.5 miles to go Matt floats by me. . I let it get to me for a few minutes, than realize I’m having an excellent race—finish strong. I pick up the effort and hit the line just under 5:12—Matt went just over 5:10. Mike crushed it with a 5:02.

Right after crossing the line, we were sharing war stories and really enjoying the moment. That was this weekend was all about—exploring your limits and discovering what you are able to back up every day.

Looking at the results, Matt and I realized we would make a pretty good team. He went 8th OA, I was 10th. We swim the same, he gaps me on the run, and my strength is the bike.

We’ll be back in 2012 as a team—I have no doubt together we have the ability to go much faster than we do alone. I told him he is going to have to push me up the hills on the run—he seemed to be OK with that as long as I bomb the descents on Lamp Black Trail from the get go….

What I learned:
• I’m fit.
• I can recover and back up some solid efforts
• Eat, Eat, Eat. I ate tons of food between races on Saturday—I don’t think you can eat too much, within reason.
• Overall, I do have a good sense of pacing on feel—don’t be so married to the power meter, focus less on average watts and more on using your watts at the right time. Because of my conservative nature, I am unlikely to blow up based on my gut feel.

What I would have done differently:
• Paced the AM sat race slightly harder, probably to the same effort as the PM race.
• Bring vented helmet to all races. All I had was my aero helmet and I was hot—though I don’t think it effected me much as I was able to run. That said, I would have been more comfy in the vented helmet.
• Cooling for the run. Carry water bottle to pour on body. Aid station water was a huge relief, but only lasted 1-2 minutes. Having a bottle and wearing a cooling-tech shirt would have been huge. Run was hot.
• Didn’t go hard enough on PM swim—was afraid of cramping up…should have picked up the effort when I realized I wasn’t going to cramp.

I have to give props to the crew at EC—the wealth of knowledge here is huge—I pulled so much from the experience of all the coaches and athletes here. Thank you to everyone who shared their experience with TTT; the knowledge was priceless. Thank you to Gordo for building the community to allow the knowledge share. Really looking forward to training with the crew in a few weeks in Boulder!

Big thanks to MM—I know I always want to test my fitness and do more. Glad you keep me honest; cannot wait to see what the lead to LP brings.…..good things are ahead!

Thanks for reading!

Du The Lakes Report

2011-05-08T09:22:00.009-04:00

It's been a while since I have gone hard for any length of time; last time I raced was in February at a 5k in freezing cold temps and snowy roads. Training has been going well, the best part about it has been the consistency of it. The funny thing is, from my view, the most improved of the 3 disciplines I train has been my swim. I wasn't sure how my run was coming along; run training has been a bit different this year; learning what a true easy pace is has been difficult to swallow.

Stripping down my ego and realizing 9-10 minute miles is true easy for me is not an easy task; though thankfully it is simple! "But 9:30's is not running, it feels like a trot?!?...." I think.

Exactly. Like I was told, easy.

Running has been more, and when it comes to training, more is typically better than less, unless more leads to eventually doing less; as in less running, less sleep, less fun......

Needless to say, my main concern coming into the race was my run.

Pre-race grub, cliff bar, banana and a bagel, the standard gel 20 minutes out. Warm up consisted of 20 minutes on my bike and a 20 odd minute run. Hung out at the start line with some friends, and before we knew it we were off.

My training partner and friend, known as "Uncle Curbeau" to my 3 boys, took out the run strong; throwing down 5:30's. A chase pack quickly formed, and I "held back" and did what I knew I could do based on how I felt. I was running smoothly, quickly, not using my muscle to run, rather hard to describe...quick feet in my own little world, simply putting forth my best effort with enough left to bike hard. First mile clicked in at 6:01 and confirmation comes: running more is good.

At this point, in my head, I don't need to do anything but run my best race, I'm 17 seconds faster on this same first mile over last year. I cannot control who shows up, place is determined at the finish line, give my best until then.

After the first mile, the front pack of 5-6 are out of sight, though I cannot see more than 20-30 seconds up due to the tree lined trail run. I'm running alone, controlling my best effort, but still racing. Second mile comes in at 6:14, and I'm feeling good with one mile to go until T1, and I begin to focus the mind on transition, where I expect to make up some time, and allow the body to run.

Third mile just north of 6:00, I hit T1 like a man possessed and I'm out in 22 seconds.

Once I get settled on the bike, the effort simply flowed, and I could see the leaders in front of me, perfectly placed as incentive to chase and sling shot off of. At 8-10 minutes in, I was behind first, tucked in for 5-7 seconds before passing left.

At that moment, the bike became part of me, connected to everything yet nothing at the same time. It felt as if I was cycling on a cloud, it was smooth and effortless, as if the pain in my quads was actually a comfort I wanted more of. The only response I could give was what the body was asking for: more. I was in a state where comfort meets discomfort, no explanation or way to describe it....effortless flow. The bike came to me naturally today. As I was reflecting later in the day I felt I left some out there.....

I approached T2, and felt I was in good position as I started 6 minutes back from wave 1, and there were not many bikes waiting my arrival.

In and out of transition in 18 seconds.

As I start the run, I'm 5-10 seconds back from professional triathlete KW, whom I consider a solid benchmark. I have one goal; try and run with her. About 0.5 mile in, I make the pass, and at this point I'm running scared....I cannot see back more than 10-20 seconds and have no idea how much of a lead I have over the guys in my wave. I focus on one thing, quick running...no need to run hard and try and block out the pain; instead focus in on the pain, the feeling of it, and run quick. With one mile to go, KW makes her move and runs past, and I just try and stay on her feet; in the end she gaps me on the run by 8 seconds, and I hit the line first overall due to wave starts, exceeding my expectations going in to the day. (KW has a big race in a week at Florida 70.3). Follow her and cheer her on as she represents Syracuse as a professional!!!

Du The Lakes is a great local race more people should be coming out for. The race directors seem as though they listen to the participants. Cash prizes for Top 5 overall male/female, plus gift certificates to Bike Loft East and Head Sweats hats. (Those are NICE hats). Also, pint glass, running socks, back packs and a great race to every participant. All for $60.

From here, one day to recover with some easy stuff, then a big week before I head to Ohio for the Triple T with some great pals!

Thanks for reading!!

Truth

2011-04-13T05:55:00.005-04:00

If you hurt someone while being true to yourself, it's possible they had a lot tied up in you being true to them.

Make yourself happy, and you may learn who is close to you simply because it makes them happy; and you may also learn who is close to you because of a vested interest.

A best friend could be someone who is close to you because they are selfish; as you know the only reason they are with you is because it makes them happy.

A good exercise is to think about people who are selfish, yet still give you time. That person has a lot of good advice for you.

Time....

2011-03-30T06:03:00.005-04:00

I was reading a friend's blog the other day, and I read a comment that made me think....something to the effect, "I can't wait until I graduate so all I have to do besides work is train."

That made me look back on my own life and see how my perception of time has changed. Truth is....not all that much.

It seems no matter where I have been or where I go, there will come a day when I have more time to get things done. Is there ever more time than right now?

I think not.

You cannot quantify real time; as infinite as time is going forward, it is as infinite in the present moment. Even when your time runs out, it continues on not missing a beat....

The only thing that will ever change is what you decide to get done in the time you have got. I don't think life is a contest that rewards the winner who piles as much as they can on their plate, as if to say, "Look at me, I'm so busy...."

I think rewards come to those who create the space within their lives so they can allow themselves the success they deserve.

I firmly believe everyone already knows everything thing they need to know to do whatever they want...and we all have enough time--as time is the one constant we share.

No one has "more time" than you. As a working family man, I see myself get more things done than a single guy with no kids. To the flip side, there are single mothers out there, working two jobs who put me to shame. Not one of us has more time than the other....we simply chose to get more or less done.

You know the old saying, "Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today." I think it should say, "what you an do right now." Because "today" is meaningless and no different than 5 years into the future; what we decide to do this very moment will define who we become 5 year from now.

No amount of time will ever change that.

On a side note, training is going well. I've been witting less, and I am going to try to write more.

Thanks for reading!

Somedays Don't Need a Script.....

2011-02-05T06:51:00.026-05:00

Sometimes when you set out for the perfect day, you plan and re-plan, think some more, change plans and try and set everything up to be perfect. Every so often, a great day just unfolds, with little thought or intent, and people randomly show up into your life as if great forces are at work and you are part of a conspiracy. In the end, it's just the randomness of life at play, and some days you simply don't need a script. Friday February 4th was one of those days.

Jen and I decided to go snowshoeing, and we were going to head up to the ADKs, venture off into nature seeking beautiful views and challenging terrain. Sometimes I think too big, even if doing something for the first time. I took the effort to reach out to a buddy with experience in the ADKs, Travis, and he gave me a good response. Several bits of advice (like bring a space blanket) made me realize staying close to home made more sense; being the rookies we are.

I took a half day from work and met Jen around 1:30 or so at our house and the day began.

We stop to get gas, and as we are leaving, our good friend Jamie pulls into the same gas station, our first chance encounter of the day. I needed to meet up with Jamie this weekend to get a bike box from him. And here he is, with the bike box in his car...! Score for me, as we don't have to figure out a time to meet. Jamie just got a new Shiv...until Specialized calls with the sponsorship news, the closest I'll get to a super bike is the box that it came in....for now my Cervelo Dual will have to do...:)

Jen and I head to Green Lakes State Park, which offers great views and some good trails. Plus, there is a golf course on site that is pretty hilly and great for snowshoeing.

We started at the base of Green Lake, then headed around the lake trail, which is pretty flat:

At this point, Jen and I are getting the hang of the snowshoes, which are fairly easy. Starting out flat was good, after coming around the 2nd lake, we head into some trails that offer some good elevation.

We can start to feel the effort at this point. This is come solid cross training, and while not sport specific, I can understand how this would be good for long distance endurance training. Nothing beats S/B/R, but heading out for a few hours builds some durability, and is good for the mental mojo as well! 3 hours on the trails is all fun....3 hours on the trainer, no so much.

After climbing up through the trails, we came to the golf course, and thought this would be good to get some more elevation, plus there were not trails, so it would require more work as the snow was fairly deep.

Oddly, the sun started to come out just so we could see it set! You can see the nice blue sky in the photo below with Jen....

We started heading back to the car, as night was approaching. Since the way back was net downhill, it was much faster. Our legs were pretty tired, and just before the 3 hour mark I could see how really long hikes would be good training for the legs. You get that tired beat down feeling without a high degree of aerobic stress--reminds me of the second half of an IM marathon, but not NEARLY as painful!

We made it back to the car, and we both agreed we'll be doing more of this in the future. We can't wait until our kids are old enough to come along with us, maybe even bring a tent and do an overnight.

We then headed over to Scotch & Sirloin for dinner. This place is great, mainly because the bar has a ski lodge feel to it, with a huge fire pit. On the way there, Jen asks me how our good friend Jason is doing and how we really need to hook up with him and Katie soon. Jason is one of those friends where it always makes sense to get together with him; he's just a solid friend.

We pull into the parking lot and it's pretty packed. With no reservation and belly's that are begging for substance, we are a bit concerned. No worries, however, a little wait by the fire will be quite nice. We walk in and learn of a 45 minute wait, the perfect amount to enjoy the roaring fire. We walk into the bar, and who is there, right next to the pit? Jason with a bunch of our other friends we haven't seen in quite some time. Jen and I grab a beer, and the conversation flows just as easily as the Saranac IPA, and before we know it we hear, "Corona, party of 2." To which Jen says, "I'm going to tell her to give the table to someone else....."

Sometimes you try and plan a day like this, and it never seems to work out like you had hoped. Every so often, you just set off with very little intent and smile at what just shows up.

Get out there; you never know what is around the next turn....

Why so much?

2010-12-17T11:01:00.009-05:00

I've had some friends ask me why so much volume as of late....my first race is not until TTT. One good buddy even suggested it would make a great blog topic...since I am in Michigan, on a vaca of sorts....it was perfect timing! (Thanks DC!)

First, one can only label something as "a lot" or "a little" when comparing it to something else. So, if one compares my training to their training and establishes I am training a lot, all that means is I am training a lot when compared to them. While I have no issue with this, I think this is a mistake we all make when venturing on any sort of task. It's a danger of looking out externally as opposed to internally and what you do day to day.

I fall victim to this often. I'll look at someone, and compare what they do to what I do, and make a judgement towards their actions as opposed to my own.

Let's assume I train 12 hours per week, and I look at a friend who is training 20 hours per week. At the same time, someone who is training 8 hours per week looks at me. Am I still training lots?

In the context of our 8 hour friend, sure. From my perspective looking at the 20 hour beast, I'm not doing much.

But lets forget all these comparisons...am I training lots?

My coach at EC says to me, "Mike, training is about being able to back it up." If I can get up everyday, do my job, spend time with my kids, make time for family and "back it up," then I am most likely not training lots.

To me, training lots is not an interval of time or a score on a TSS chart....training lots is when you are training so much it takes away from other responsibilities of life. Eventually, something gives, and you can no longer "back it up."

That is training. Get up every day, no zeros, and do it over and over again. Whatever number that shakes out to be is different for us all, and "a lot" or "a little" can only be defined by how one reacts to the training itself. Not improving? Too little. Can't back it up? Too much. Too much intensity or too much volume? Who cares, doesn't really matter....you are either improving or you are not. You are either hitting it every day, or you are not. Figure out which, and add or subtract volume and/or intensity.

I would think if you have been in the game for going on 3 years, 2 hours per day broken into 2 workouts should be fairly simple (not easy!) without breaking down. 1 hour swim AM, 1 hour run/bike PM. Done. That is 14 hours per week at a pace that allows you to "back it up" every day. I don't think a 1 hour swim at 6:00 AM and a 1hour bike at 7:00 PM would impress many people. Repeating that cycle every day for years on end? That, is not a lot, it is simply consistent. And consistency is what it takes....a lot is what it takes to not be consistent. Make sense? So, the only possible way I could be training a lot is if I couldn't back it up every day!!

What is the pace that allows one to be so consistent? Well, we can put in HR caps and such, but one should be able to pin this down....it's the pace that lets you do it day in and day out, while improving (getting faster), yet does not prevent you from missing a day. Best to establish the consistency first, then look back at your training and see what HR/power zones allowed you to be so consistent.

What about motivation? One thought from Gordo at EC that struck a chord with me is "wanting the goal is not enough....you must want the lifestyle required to reach the goal."

That should tell you my motivation--I don't want the external things that await us at the finish line--I want the lifestyle it takes to earn them. Because this is true, there is little motivation required--I'm living the goal every day; I imagine the things that await me at the finish line will be pretty good. I cannot control what those things are; as long as I am happy with the lifestyle, it matters little.

I have external goals; however those external goals are established by wanting the lifestyle those goals require.

So, are you training a lot or a little? For the answer, look at your consistency, not the hours.

This and that.....

2010-12-07T05:09:00.008-05:00

I saw a friend last night, and she said she stopped by to see if I was still writing, and sadly she learned the truth!

I guess I haven't had much to say! This can be a good thing, I suppose.

This is a training blog, after all, and training is just really simple right now. All running is capped by HR and biking has been fairly easy efforts as well. My pace at my HR cap is pretty slow, like 8:30-8:50/mile depending on the day, but I'm really not concerned about pace right now. Pace matters in June, not December.

One focus over the past few weeks has been my diet; I've lost 4-5 lbs, and it was a steady loss. I have always felt I had 10 lbs of extra weight (I can see it and feel it, so I suppose it is there to lose!), but never took the steps to lose it.

In the past, I always viewed weight loss as an end goal- x pounds to lose in x days. Currently, what I am trying to do is make the right choices, without a target number in mind. In other words, eat only the right foods, eat enough, and I weigh what I weigh. If that is 165, 172 or 158 it doesn't really matter. Eating junk because I have hit a goal number is simply an excuse to eat junk. What should I weigh? Really, the only way to find out is to eat nothing but real foods for 6 months, I imagine at that point I'll have an idea.

What I put in my mouth either hurts me or helps me.....stick to the stuff that helps me and I imagine I'll be lean and mean in 5-6 months. I made it through Thanksgiving, but really the tough times are the 2 weeks starting next week through New Years. What helps is explaining to those close to me my goals. It's not about physical appearance...I'm happy with how I look. It's about discovering my potential, how good can I get? Can I become great?

So, if you see me turn away some holiday treats, it's not because I'm trying to fit into a new pair of jeans, or show off my six pack in July....it's because I have goals of self discovery.

It looks like I will be heading west in 2011 to train with the crew of Endurance Corner! This is something I've wanted to do for a while, and finally the opportunity made a lot of sense. It's 5 weeks out from Placid, similar terrain, exceptional value and a week to JFT with some of the sport's best minds. I imagine I will learn more in this 1 week than I have in the past 3 years. The day before camp is the Boulder Sprint Tri, and I jumped all over that....A great opportunity to benchmark myself against Boulder....I think this may offer more accurate feedback as to my current ability.

I hope everyone is well....I WILL write more once training gets a bit more exciting.

Have a great week!

Training Update

2010-11-07T06:05:00.004-05:00

It has been a while since I updated the blog; I've actually been filling a lot of my time that would be used for writing with reading. Crazy what I've been missing out on for so long; I used to fill this time wit TV, I'm telling you reading and writing is so much more enjoyable.

Training has been going very well, and the biggest surprise I have had is how easy the efforts have been. The biggest challenge has been accepting the patience, yet as a patient person it has been easy. A lot of running, but at such an easy pace the recovery costs are next to none. It takes 2 weeks of running to feel it.

Biking has been mainly fun biking, mountain biking, road bike riding....easy stuff with an element of fun. Swimming has been the most structured with masters twice a week. This has been great as I get advice every session; the coach has corrected several flaws in my stroke that I am still trying to correct. I feel faster in the water, though my times are around the same. I do believe my body position is much much better. Strange as it may sound, it seems as though I am slipping through the water with more grace (though still need lots of work!).

I've been putting my year together, and lets just say there is some FUN stuff happening in 2011 and a lot of exciting change!

Also, big props to my good buddy and training partner Matt Curbeau, who crushed it down at IMFL! Good work Matt! Now get home, get some rest, then lets go! You are the only person crazy enough to go for a bike ride while it is 30 degrees and raining...I need you! :)

Seriously, I was very lucky to hook up with Turbo....we did A LOT of 6 hour rides together for IMLP....Now that I think about it, most of them were rainy and cold! (This year we will have better weather!!)

Also, you need not look far to see why Matt is such a great person; his parents are legit, and they treat you like family. His mom and dad are top notch, coming in 2nd only to my parents, but when my mom cannot make it to a race (which is rare), they step up and fill the roll.

Anyway, just a quick note to update the training, and give some props to my partner in crime!

Hope all is well!!

Ready to go....

2010-10-17T13:20:00.007-04:00

The past 4 weeks have been very relaxing, and there were only 2-3 days of nothing. Two of them the Monday and Tuesday following Syracuse 70.3.

I've spent a lot of time just staying active, getting the blood moving and returning to total freshness.

I noticed fatigue builds so steady and slow, you don't realize how tired you really are until you unload at the end of the season. I haven't been this fresh in a long long time. I have lost a good amount of fitness, which is what we wanted. At the same time, I am not out of shape--two very different things. That was the danger with a big unload--it's OK to lose fitness, it's not OK to get out of shape. The one thing that didn't happen that I was scared would happen is gaining a ton of weight. I actually didn't gain much at all; I kept my diet in check, though did enjoy a few beers, and some random diet treats. Maybe I lost muscle, gained some fat, which is why I didn't gain any weight?? I don't think it matters much to be honest.

Tomorrow brings some structure with the crew at Endurance Corner, which I am excited about. Gordo offers access to some of the sports best minds; he does this at exceptional value and makes it available to AG triathletes no matter ability.

I learned a great deal while at Train-This, and I am continually challenged to learn as a result of my time spent with the team; I will always be grateful for time spent with Train-This. The growth I have realized the past 4 weeks as a result of some things blows my mind. Some core relationships I had there have and will continue and I look forward to tackling the 2011 season with the friends I made while part of the team.

I'll be keeping things pretty much in check until the TTT in May; I will probably do some running races to keep things fun.....Outside of that, I don't expect much intensity until the snow has come and gone.

Thanks for reading!

Training update

2010-10-02T07:12:00.004-04:00

Things have been really easy lately. I am simply focused on 30-45 minutes of activity per day, the less specific to the sport the better. Walking, hiking, mountain biking, elliptical machine, strength training, stretching, yoga....that is what the past 2 weeks has been filled with. Some swimming as well, and I did get on my computrainer for 45 minutes last night; 140 watts...just to get the blood flowing.

Surely I am losing fitness in all this, we'll see what happens over the winter; they say it comes back stronger; we shall see how it effects me when I get back into it.

How has it effected me in real time? It has been great! My legs feel really good, and it has allowed me to become very strong mentally. It has completely re-charged me so to speak--to think I have one more week of nothing!

I have seen the re-charge spill over to other areas of my life and allow me to focus on other things. I hope this new found balance continues when I get back into structure--good that I am writing this to serve as a reminder!

Today I'll probably get the boys outside and go for a walk somewhere....looks like it will be a decent day.

I did register for the TTT in Ohio in May today. My first stage race, and that should be a blast!

Enjoy your Saturday!!

The Truth in Light

2010-10-01T07:10:00.010-04:00

Some say there is a light out there, that one day will shine so bright, it will be hard to miss. I think this is half true. I think the light is constantly glowing, but one must challenge themselves to see it. It is always on, always there for you to follow, but you must be open to the possiblity that everything in your life that happens is a result of your actions.

Take control of your choices, of how people respond to you, and the light will find you. Challange yourself! Do not be affraid of those answers!

Only then can you follow it and realize what has been waiting for you all this time. The truth that is there, that will comfort you and allow your true self to emerge.

It is there, at all times, and the only person that can turn off it's power and go blind to its existence is you. No one can show it to you, and even if they could it would be their light. You can only be true to yourself.

You are as capable as anyone else; you already know everything there is to know.

Flip the switch and go....nothing else matters.

I have the boys alone this weekend, and I think we'll do something fun; maybe even eat some junk food.

Worth 1000 Words....

2010-09-26T20:16:00.008-04:00

"Crisis Creates Change"

2010-09-25T06:57:00.016-04:00

"How many people in the world, know what it's like to truly achieve their potential in anything? How many people in the world have even tried? Truly dedicated themselves to it -- shed all distractions, moved into a plastic bubble, spent all day thinking about it, answering questions on it, trying to learn about it, baring their whole lives to the world so that there is no question/no doubt about what it takes. We can debate about the GI of wheat germ, on drafting, on whether 85kb of code is showing off, on whether to use 10K or 5K race pace for intervals -- or we can buckle down and train all day, every day."

Coach Gordo

This quote has been tacked on my beginnertriathlete training log well over a year. I log every workout, an obsession of mine, so I read this everyday.

I used to write random things in my BT log, but one day I put this here instead, and I imagine it will always be there.

G pretty much nails it. How many bare their whole lives to the world, and do not worry about their dreams being turned into a punch line?

"shed all distractions, move into a plastic bubble." This is an interesting one....one to think about. Again he nails it....this is one of those, "Simple, but not easy" things.

"baring their whole lives to the world so that there is no question/no doubt about what it takes"

This one really speaks to me. Bare your whole life to the world, so there is no question about what it takes.

Powerful. So much in those words than what I initially realized. Think about the potential consequences of baring all, and the obstacles that could result.

One thing Gordo often says that hits home with me is "crisis creates change."

He is right on that. For example, economic crisis creates change within an entire society, some people have to move, liquidate their 401(k) or find a new job. If you are careful, within the crisis lies opportunity, you discover things you normal would not have discovered. What you are capable of, how strong you really are, and who is on your side.

I make mistakes often, say things I shouldn't, do things I shouldn't do. Through it all, those who love you stay close. Those who do not move on--and this is OK. Some will even try really hard to hold you down. Not everyone can love you!

Take someone who is extremely focused and motivated, and you can try, but in the end, you probably cannot shake them up too much, especially if they are surrounded by love. Through family, through friends, through the everyday people who touch them day in and day out.

"Crisis creates change," and those that love you always love you no matter what, they embrace all things about you. Support all the poor decisions you have made, the good, bad and the ugly. What's funny is, the ones who love you sometimes only show up in times of crisis. Stand by the fire with you, hold your hand, guide you through it. During victory, they may not be as vocal or supportive.....it's easy to support someone when all is well. You do not have to call out to loved ones, pledge for their support or justify your decisions--love just comes.

So much good can come from crisis. Loved ones step up, a new set of challenges present themselves and you learn exactly what you are capable of.

We can get caught up in the madness, or "we can buckle down and train all day, every day."

The power of choice is yours.

Enjoy your weekend. In closing, my favorite scene from, Dead Poets Society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8UL_9R_W-Y&feature=PlayList&p=12A44C72510B6D15&index=0&playnext=1

Enough is Enough!!....

2010-09-24T16:26:00.007-04:00

...It's time for some rest and relaxation!

I did an easy spin at the gym on Wednesday and some stretching which felt really good on my hamstrings, hips and ITB. I've been tight since Sunday, and the quick spin on the LifeStyle Cycle with some stretching hit the spot.

Yesterday I didn't have time for much active recovery, so I did nothing, and since nothing was on the schedule, it made doing nothing really easy!

Today I went for a swim during lunch, and it was quite relaxing and peaceful to say the least...It was more of a float then a swim, but it got the blood flowing, which is really the point over the next 2-3 weeks--keep the blood moving!

I want to rest, but don't want to be inactive either. So, if I want to swim I will, if I don't have time for anything, I'm not going to stress about fitting something in.

I believe we will be mountain biking tomorrow; Jen and I are going to hit the trails and seek out some orange and yellow leaves; then I'm going to take the boys to the SU football game. That should be fun, I may even have a beer...Dome Foam rules!

Sunday we'll probably go for a hike if the weather is nice. If not, we'll think of something else to get everyone moving a little bit!

I will say my favorite time of year is coming, fall....nothing like a little chill in the air....sweatshirt weather is among the best; especially in upstate NY.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Syracuse 70.3

2010-09-21T05:50:00.021-04:00

When WTC announced Syracuse was going to host a 70.3, it was easy for me to get excited. Trouble is, it was 8 weeks post Lake Placid and I wasn't sure how I would respond to IM recovery.

Truth is I am still not 100%, but it didn't effect my performance too much.

The weather was calling for it to be cold and wet, and this didn't bother me; I knew over-heating could be removed from the equation, and nutrition would be easier.

The Swim

I put my feet in the water, and it was a fairly cold 62 degrees, the neoprene cap I purchased on Friday was a good call.

There were 5 waves in front of me, and as the horn sounded we darted out towards the first buoy. My plan was a bit different then previous swims; take the first 100 really hard, don't sight until the first buoy. Once there, pick out a small cluster 5-10 yards ahead and latch on. In previous swims I have used the meat head approach; while this requires little mental thought, it is exhausting.

This worked well, and as soon as I felt my body slip into the draft, the effort was very easy and it allowed me to recover from the initial surge. After 3-4 minutes there, I peaked ahead, and saw another little cluster of pink caps (my wave), left the draft and put forth a good effort to get to them, latched on.

I played this game until the turn, where I grabbed on the the perfect set of feet. He was alone and swimming strong through the field. Left my comfort zone and made a push to get to him. It was equivalent to a 100 yard interval at 90-95%; once latched on it was easy. I was now at the front of my wave, probably 2nd pack, and could see no more pink caps in front of me.

I did not have the ability to go it alone and keep this pace, let alone risk taking off and trying to find another pink cap.

There were 212 people in my AG, split into two starting waves. Assuming an even split of talent, I was 9th in this wave. I wish they started us in one wave; I simply ran out of feet and couldn't go faster alone.

32:21
18/212
198/1566

To the bike, where my plan was to stay around 250-270 watts, try to average around 250 watts, but mainly go on feel. Really save it until the end to give a good final push.

In the first 5 minutes I realized I had forgotten my bib number and thought I was going to get DQ'd. For some reason I thought of Shawshank Redemption , when Andy Dufresne walked into his cell with dress shoes on. "How often do you look at a mans shoes," he said. I realized that the refs would probably only look for my number if I was drafting or blocking; otherwise they would pay little attention to me. This thought put me at ease and I didn't think of my number problem again.

A thick fog emerged as a result of the morning weather, and at the first climb we set off into the distance and disappeared as if to never be seen again. In the moment, it was as though we were biking in the heavens.

The bike started like all bikes do for those of use who are patient. Get passed on the hills at the top of my range, pass everyone who passed me on the flats at the bottom of my range.

Played this game for 15-20 miles, then finally settled into pace. I set my Garmin to display watts and HR only. I had no idea of elapsed time or speed--wanted to use less technology, for no other reason then "why not?"

File:
http://tpks.ws/w7Rw
240 watts, 253 NP, 159 BPM
2:35:05

The Run

I felt really good on the run, and my buddy from tri club, K, was right behind. He can out run me, and did so at LP by a wide margin, so I knew I would be tested here. My focus on the run was quite simple. No HR, no pace, no data. Just run, and slowly build my effort. I didn't care if my pace didn't get faster (I took splits), as long as I was raising my effort I would be happy. I recorded the file, but I could only see lap distance on the display.

I kept track of splits, and my thought was, once I hit mile 4, start working. First 4splits were 7:16, 6:43, 6:41, 6:49. I was simply steady, and miles 2, 3 and 4 were fairly downhill. According to Garmin, they had the most elevation loss by a long shot.

Once I hit mile 4, I felt good, so I picked up the effort, again not concerned about pace. I wanted to feel stronger then I did the previous 4 miles. Splits 5, 6, 7 and 8clicked off pretty easily for me, and I said to myself, stay strong, then lay it down at mile 10. Splits were 7:00, 6:49, 6:49, 7:06. The course was starting to level out, and even threw some rollers our way. We had a stiff headwind as well; this course was not as fast as advertised, but still fast. Mile 9 came in at 7:13; my pace was dropping, but my effort was not. I hit mile 10, and started to push. This is where I would not back off even if signs came I should. 7:14, 7:20, 7:27, 7:00. I hit the line shelled. Feet tore up from wearing no socks and completely spent. I gave it a good go.

I passed 6-7 in my AG during the run and was never passed by anyone in my group; I don't think. I passed countless others from earlier waves. Probably my strongest run off the bike.

My buddy never caught me, though each time I heard footsteps, I knew it was going to be him. I refused to look back; not once did I do it and it was never him. That is the last time I'll assume I will be caught.

File
http://tpks.ws/jf0D
18/212 AG
110/1566 OA

I looked over the results, and I out ran some guys who would SMOKE me in an open half. I was within a couple minutes of guys who I have no business running with. I finished overall within 5-10 minutes of some guys who beat me by 10 minutes in an olympic. I beat some guys who I haven't beat all year in the short stuff.

That said, I got beat by 96 people--that's a lot of people.

I think this tells me I get stronger as the race gets longer relative to those I compete against.

This also tells me although biking is my strength, maybe I should use that strength to set up my run?

All this being said, I didn't come into the event as best I could. Point blank, I gained 10 pounds since Lake Placid, and that no doubt added to my time. How much? I have no idea.

Turns out I could have grabbed a slot for Clearwater, but I told myself pre-race top 10 and I'll consider a roll down, otherwise I didn't want it. It was just a personal choice, nothing wrong with taking it. Truth is, I probably didn't want it bad enough, otherwise I would have taken it.

All in all, it was a good race, but I was capable of better.

4:44:28
18/212 AG
96/1566 OA

Time for some R&R and no structure.

Then, the journey continues.........

What I Love about Triathlon

2010-09-15T17:09:00.017-04:00

Below is a piece I wrote on the CNY Triathlon Club's message board. It apparantley struck a chord with several, and I thought I would post it here.

_____________________________________________________________________

Warning, this is going to be long, positive.....and you may not make it through the whole thing.

As I approach my last race of the year, I recently took some time to reflect on the season.

Hard to believe my first race of the year was in March--seems like ages ago!

That was the Miami International Triathlon. I was in a late wave, and my wife and I watched the pro's go off.

Jen took off before me, and I can recall to this day the excitement I had for both her and me. As she went off to swim, I thought about what she was going through. Our first swim in the ocean, how she was handling it, what she was experiencing and what I was about to experience. I remember it being dark, and even though we were in Miami, a slight chill in the air. I can vividly remember the sun coming up, and the first pro coming out of the water. I had yet to even be lined up, I had a good hour to go. I also recall how peaceful it was, and how I had the opportunity to simply reflect--I literally had no other responsibilities but to stand in my wetsuit, and think. That is a powerful position to be in...extremely powerful, as most around me did much more then that, even though all they had to do was relax and think.

I could still hear the music in transition, and I focused on what I was about to do. I thought back about a time not too long ago when this would not have been possible. I continued to focus on Jen, and thought about how much fun she must be having, and how I couldn't wait to see her finish.

It was my turn, and oddly the hour went by fast. I must have been having fun. I put down a pretty sick run split that day, after one of the fastest bikes. I simply executed what I was thinking about earlier. I was able to get 3/110 in my AG, and even out biked 1-2 male pros and several "elites".....but honestly, I could
care less about that...I firmly believe I had them beat before we got in the water.

After the race, I recall being proud, and I also recall puking under a palm tree. The line for the food was short, but I waited for Jen. Plus, my stomach was not quite ready for the food. If it was, I probably would have eaten--if I'm being honest.

We finally met up, embraced and shared war stories. It was now hot, and as I sit here and type, I can recall the feeling of salt on my body, and that good soreness that comes after a hard effort.

I remember meeting some people that day, who I may never see again. I recall meeting people who before that day I only knew through the Internet and log on IDs on Slowtwitch and Beginnertriathlete. I can recall the drive back to Jupiter, and how we continued to talk about the day, how although it was different for us both, we experienced the same thing, and as a result a bond becomes stronger.

I could share similar stories about Lake Placid, and Cazenovia and Skinnyman and on and on.

I also realize some things. One day, I will no longer be able to do all this, I don't think Sunday is that day, and most certainly today is not that day.

I realize 50 years from now, I will not remember the post race food, how long I waited in line before swimming, the rail road tracks, the race director, where I finished, if I took my spot to Clearwater, the hills, the descents, or if I am an "Ironman" or not. I also realize no one really cares how fast I go or what my time is but me.

50 years from now I will most likely remember the chill in the air, the people I met, the feeling of swimming, the ability I had to run, the hours leading up to the race, the feeling of wet grass on my toes, the burn in my lungs and the desire in my heart.

On Sunday, I urge you all to not focus on what could be better, but focus on what is fantastic in each and every moment, in real time. One day that is what you will miss. Good food is always plentiful and abundant, and you can always find a short line.

Experience is what matters.

Good luck to everyone!

How to get fast

2010-09-09T06:15:00.006-04:00

Take responsibility for being slow.

Not much to say

2010-09-07T05:58:00.005-04:00

I have had a lot on my mind lately, and was going to write about it. I then realized there has been a lot of negative thought and I have blamed it on other people.

I control my thoughts, no one else. I control what I do, no one else.

So, I'm not going to write about it.

Instead, I'm going to get on the trainer so I can get faster.

Masters

2010-09-02T05:54:00.007-04:00

I've been avoiding master swim for a while now; not sure why. Convenience probably. I've been swimming M-W-F mornings for almost 2 years, same place, same time--same people. I've slowly progressed in the pool, and it has gotten to the point where I am usually the fastest guy in there. This is nice for my ego, but it is awful for my swim....quite easy for me to take a couple seconds extra rest, maybe not push the pace....complacency sets in.

Syracuse University has a 5 day week master program that for some reason caught my eye. I've been working up the nerve to check it out, but it seemed an excuse would come up each time; you're in the middle of LP build, why change things now...typical excuses.

Well, last night I finally decided to go. I walked into the pool at the SU Women's Building, and it had an old rustic feel to it. The locker room, painted orange and blue, had that old church look, and as I stepped out on the pool deck I could tell I was the minority. Only 2 other triathletes, and the rest were swimmers.

Perfect.

I walk out on the deck, tighten my abs and get ready for my first masters swim.

"Warm up 500" says the coach. I jump in the slow lane, but I think I'll be in the fast one before practice is over.

OK, I'm all warmed up....let's go.

"20 x 25 kick"

OK, I think....that is lot of kicking, but I can do that.

Wow, is everyone else wearing fins? Nope. Wow. Hey, I'm a triathlete, wait until we get to front crawl...who needs to kick.

"Broken 500's on 2:00....ready...go!"

OK, coach gave me broken 500s before, I know this....shit.

"Um, coach...what's that?"

"4x125 on 2:00, 100 EZ then do it again."

I go hard and catch up and for my effort get little rest after the first one. At least I get to take off with everyone else on the 2nd.

"Go!"

1-2-3 breath. Nice, I'm with the girl in the next lane. 1-2-3 breath. Where the F did she go? I must have dropped her. Ha. 1-2-3 breath. Shit, I'm the 3rd slowest guy in the pool.

At least out of the 3 triathletes I'm the fastest. Stupid thought. Don't think like that. You are here to become a swimmer.

I hit the wall after the 4th one, and coach comes over.

"OK, first, you are strong in the water Mike." (I'm about to get slammed, whenever someone slams you, they start with a compliment to soften the blow.)

"First, streamline off the wall. Reach out more, rotate your shoulders more, finish your pull. Palm enters the water flat. Never let your arm come above your elbow during recovery."

Well, I got some stuff to work on. Hey, she said I was strong in the water!

We do it again, and the reality of my swimming ability comes clearly into focus.

"10*150 pull."

"Go!"

On my 3rd-4th one, my leg cramps like it never has in the pool. I go to my back and float to the wall.

"Mike, you get a cramp?"...."yeah, you'll get those here."

Truth is, this is exactly what I wanted; to be the weak guy in the pool with improvement obvious. It has never been more obvious. I'm not sure how long it will take, my guess is around 4-5 months, but I will be with the fast guys. That I have no doubt about.

They say swimming is the least needed sport in triathlon, and with a 1:02 at LP, all I NEED to do is maintain that.

Here is my view on that. I'm not getting up everyday to do what I need to do; and if I am going to swim 3-4 days per week, I may as well get the most out of it. I want my best, nothing more, nothing less.

My best is 2 lanes to the right. How much time will that save me in an Ironman?

I'm not sure I care at the moment....

It's not about the watts!

2010-08-15T15:28:00.008-04:00

Before I get to my post, I raced today at the Cazenovia Sprint Tiathlon, and decided to enter the elite wave. I was fortunate enough to place 6/40 or so, and had a great race. A few really fast athletes showed up, and I loved the elite format as it allows you to compete head to head with people you usually do not. Hats off to a few local rivals who had great races and looked strong!

If you are lucky enough to have a power meter, the fist thing you need to do is collect data, tons of it, to see trends and compare future rides. I used to ride smooth, very smooth and unfold my effort to finish strong. This is not a bad idea, in fact it is pretty good; however as you grow in the sport, you NEED to experiment with ways that get you to the finish line faster; that is the goal (for some of us).

I posted two charts above, the first is my power file from Cazenovia Triathlon last year, and the second is from today's race. The first thing you notice is how smooth my power is from last year, and it should be. I started out controlled, and unrolled the carpet as the race went on. As mentioned, not a bad idea, but works MUCH better in longer distance affairs...during a sprint race, there are better ways to go.

To put it simply, when you are going slow, hammer...when you are going fast, conserve. How much to hammer and how much to conserve depends on the distance of the race...the shorter the race, the more you hammer and the less you conserve.

Think of it like this. Imagine a line, that line is your average output for the bike. You can stay right on that line the whole leg, or you can chose to go above or below that line. In the end, you average the same amount of power. How much above or below the line you go, depends on the distance of the race. When and how you go off that line will alter your pace and get you to the finish line faster, or maybe slower (you do still need to run!). Figure out how much you should go off the line and when.

For me, I attack the hills and attack head winds, coast when going 30+ in short races, and keep a solid tempo effort that is in check on flats. You can see above how jagged my power file is, and how many times I have zero watts. You can also seed the spikes of power when I hit a hill (today there were several).

In 2009, I averaged 286 watts with a normalized power of 287 watts. That basically means I rode extremely in control and extremely smooth. In 2010, my average power was 272 with a normalized power of 289. This indicates some deviation. Normalized power simply means the amount of watts I would have averaged if I rode smooth. So, although I averaged 272 watts, had I rode like I did in 2009, I would have averaged 289 watts.

This tells me a couple things, 1-I should have been able to ride harder (I'm in better shape)--but I have literally done no training for 3 weeks. 2-This yields a faster ride. 21.3 mph in 2009, 22 mph in 2010. Conditions in 2010 were much worse...very windy today. (Full disclosure, I have a new position, and it is much lower. some of the speed is a result of that I assume).

You cannot stop learning, you have to play around and see what works best for you. At the same time, you have to be honest. If an effort like this results in a shity run, it does not work. It's not a race to T2--the bottom line is the finish line. Figure out how to get there as fast as you can.

My run today went well for my current fitness--right where we expected....I NEED to get better in the run next year. It is my weakness and is keeping me out of the top 3. Only one way to fix that...run more.

And shed the baby fat that hangs out in my mid section! Only one way to do that--stop eating shit! I have learned my diet needs to be near perfect for me to lose the last 10-15 pounds. I actually eat very well, few eat more veggies then me--I need to be perfect.

Train hard, race smart!

IM Recovery

2010-08-08T07:03:00.003-04:00

2 weeks post IM, and I feel really good, but deep down we are not recovered. I look at my next week, and wonder when we will get back into it, full speed ahead.

Though I feel good, my body is not ready to tackle 3 hour rides and 2 hour runs. That just doesn't pass the "look test." When you think about what you put your body through during an IM, especially the first time, common sense suggests the recovery time is weeks, not days, and one should take it seriously.

Gains in fitness are made during rest, not while at work. Sometimes to set up those gains, we have to take a few steps back, to allow the body time to breath, time to relax.

This part comes easy for me (mainly because I listen to coach), it just make sense. I am extremely lucky, as to a lot of people it seems the natural progression is to keep working; no pain no gain. (BTW, I think that expression should be, "no hurt, no gain," but doesn't have the same ring to it). Pain=bad. Hurt=good.

Anyway, things are going well post placid. I have a hunger to compete, yet I am calm. Last year at this time I was itching to go, "Let's go coach! LP is less then a year away! Let's ride!!!" By the time November hits, I will be fresh and itching to throw down some work.

This year I will approach the training slightly differently. Even more patience then I have in the past. Allow my body time to heal. Take several weeks completely off from structure. Remove myself from the blogs, Internet, forum discussions...recharge myself. Do yoga, hike, meditate, try something different, read more, write more....

My coach's husband does this every year. At the end of the season he won't talk triathlon for a few weeks, or maybe it's months. Does it work? Well, he's 54 years young and whops up on all the young dudes. AG National Champ. Kona qualifier. Been racing close to 20 years.

I recall me thinking last year "old man" when I read how he takes time off each year....more like "smart man..."

All this talk about recovery doesn't mean the season is over! I have a sprint race next Sunday, then the Syracuse 70.3. I am very anxious for Cuse, as I want to be in that position of hurt again, though it will not be nearly as intense this go around. I want to test the mind in those final 5 miles, push the pace. I imagine in another 2weeks we will be in full swing to get ready for that.

Short bike/run today then a party at Matt K's!

Dream

2010-08-03T06:24:00.004-04:00

The beauty of dreams is they dont have to be realistic. They only have to be possible at some point; tomorrow, next week, next month, next year; in your next life.

My suggestion is to determine if there is a law established by physics that states your dream is impossible. If not, dive in with all you have, do not seek out the best path, you only need your path, driven by who you want to be with the intent of internal growth. Do not wonder how long it will take. Do not lose sight of the importance of chasing the dream; becoming stronger within.

External goals, while important, can cloud your vision and take you away from what you really want. Ignore the skeptics, who are filled with proof and knowledge of what your limts are; they are capping you based their own limts, which they set themselves. Realize there is no map, no plan, no easy way, no secret, no book, no class, no teacher that can show you the way. The way is in the way you chase, the how is defined by the why, and all dreams are possible that are driven by pure intent; you are living them from day one.

Moving on....

2010-07-31T10:39:00.006-04:00

Time to move on, as the high from completing my frist IM slowly comes down, reality sets back in, and oddly I am energized and ready to go. Maybe the endorphins are still running free in my body, and the hangover is on its way.

Either way, now is the prudent time to change focus and energy on the now, and start a slightly structured routine. I expect on Monday to have some light workouts, but at least some structure will return.

I've been patient post race, haven't begged for any workouts, though I do look forward to Monday and feel as if I could handle some today. Experience is starting to come into play; I recall after my first HIM, I was begging for workouts, only to be limping a few days later....obviously I was not fully recovered. I learned when you feel 100%, wait longer. Though your muscles may feel fine, I am sure after the beating I took on Sunday, my system is still recovering.

Anyway, I have a sprint race August 15th and I signed up for the elite wave. Mainly to set me into reality of who I am and where I stand in the field. Hearing that a 10:36 is good for a first timer at LP is fun, but it can go to ones head. Getting my ass kicked in 2 weeks will take care of that.

Then, I'll head into my final build of the year and Syracuse 70.3. I should be able to do well at this race, I have lots of volume in me from my IM build, and a lot of that training was specific to the Half distance. We'll have some intensity to polish things off, and I imagine I am in good position to hit the line there in good form.

Then, I shall rest. I think an over-looked aspect of endurance training is allowing your fitness to go at the end of the season. Like go away big time. I'm not talking about getting fat and eating pizza, but true rest. Staying active, but no structure. Maybe some yoga and hikes, some swims in open water without a wet suit or a watch. Runs by feel, that do not cause any aerobic stress. Biking around just to bike. If I were to label these workouts with a zone, it would be "sub zone 1."

Once I let this fitness go, I'll hit November 1st ready to rock, with an extreme amount of mojo, all seasons niggles gone. I imagine after 3-6 weeks, I'll be stronger then I was in December of 2009, and in position to have my fitness come back in a big way.

Endurance athletes avoid this phase (I certainly did last year), as they fear losing the fitness forever, as if it falls over into the abyss, never to return. It is a required phase for growth, and one I will take to an extreme level this year.

I've been thinking about mental training, and some ways to build that skill. Some ideas there would be great for those reading.

I hope all are well, and thank you for all the comments on my LP RR!!

Lake Placid Report

2010-07-26T13:19:00.008-04:00

First off, thank you so much to all that have supported me. If you are reading this, you most likely played a role in me getting to the starting line in one piece. Which is the biggest challenge of IM; just get to the line ready to race. If you do that, you are golden. So, thank you. There is no way I would have come close to the position I was in without all of you supporting me. You all know who you are, and I appreciate it more then you will ever know.

What follows is long, but packed with detail. I hope you can find value somewhere in the words below, and return some advice based on your experience to help me to continue to improve. This was my first Ironman distance event, and I loved it.

I'm going to start with one thought on Ironman. A properly paced race will have you at mile 20 of the run with an opportunity to push through an extreme amount of pain . Aerobically you will be fine, however the pain will be so intense your body may convince the mind to slow down to a snail's pace. Being fit or more fit will only get you to that point faster. Therefore, durability and mental strength are an absolute must for a solid Ironman performance, and no amount of aerobic conditioning can prepare you for what awaits you at that moment.

As the race week approached, I started to feel very good, digging out of a hole I was in the week prior. Looking back, it was simply the plan, and lack of experience caused me concern. Race week was the best I felt all year, and I knew I was set up to have a good race and all I had to do was execute.

A key to my day was how I approached the week. I was extremely selfish with my energy. The town of LP was awesome, people everywhere and opportunities abound to enjoy the few days before the race. I simply tried to stay off my feet, and even meditated 2-3 times each day, which was unbelievably beneficial to my mental state. I did more walking then I would have liked, I found myself needing to go to several places, and even being in town resulted in more walking then I wanted. Next year I will bring my mountain bike to do things like register, go to the lake and grab food.

The morning of the race, I was extremely calm, not jittery at all, which was odd. But that was my plan. To take the race extremely slow, enjoy the scenery, and wait until mile 20 of the run to go. Breakfast was the same thing I started every long ride with: Bagel, banana, power bar, protein drink, apple sauce and drank a bottle of Perform to thirst. I arrived at transition around 5:15, took about 20-30 minutes to settle my things, and then sat on the curb until time to head to the swim area. I did make one last dart to the porta johns in transition since the ones by the swim start had 30 minute lines. Next year I will bring a camp chair and sit by transition until 6:40, hit the porta johns in Transition, then head to the swim start.

The Swim
My plan on the swim was to start out to the right, as I expected a bit of congestion. After treading water for 5-10 minutes, the cannon sounded and we were off. This swim was to be no effort, very easy. I was surprised at the lack of contact, which I attribute to proper seeding. It took about 10 minutes to get to the buoy line, and once there I had just enough space to enjoy some draft, but not get beat up.

Space was tight at the turn around, but I quickly found some water, and the underwater cable. At LP, it seems the best thing to do is get right over the cable, and just swim under the buoys. Most seem to swim to the right of the cable for whatever reason (probably to avoid the big buoys), and swimming directly over the cable gave me some good space.

I exited the water ahead of schedule, so took my time to T1. I expected to come out between 1:05-1:10.
swim: 1:02:30
50 AG/288 OA

The Bike
I decided to take it really easy for the first loop and see how things felt on loop 2. The goal was to average between 190-200 watts, with a cap on the hills of 250-270 and I ignored HR, as I never paid much attention to it during training. I was more concerned with how my HR responded due to my power increasing during climbs. If it recovered quick, I didn't much worry where my HR was. If it did not recover during descents and easier efforts, I would have adjusted some things. The first loop was very easy, and I took every opportunity to smile with the spectators, thank the volunteers and completely soak up the experience. What's great about the spectators in LP is if you give them an inch, they give you a foot. A simple, continuous smile up Papa Bear gets the whole crowd to look at you and go nuts. I high fived every kid I saw, said thank you to those cheering me on, and in return I got a ton of support. The energy was dangerously contagious and it would have been easy to use it to push the effort. Instead I simply soaked it all in and used the atmosphere as an opportunity to focus on just having fun. I nailed the first loop, averaging 195 watts and it took me 2:48.

I felt so good after the 1st loop, I made the decision to up the effort ever so slightly; yet would still hold back when speed was high. I was excited to see a lot of space on the 2nd loop, as I only had to change my effort to avoid packs a couple of times. I kept the effort in check, slightly raised to just over 200 watts, and decided to see how I felt on 86 and the final climb. When I got there, I felt awesome, so I really pushed the effort. I lapped my power to get a fresh average, and told myself to keep it under 240 watts by pushing the climbs (capped between 250-270), and coasting/soft pedaling when able.

This worked very well. I averaged around 235 watts on the final climb, and it felt easy. I arrived in town ready to run, and this was the easiest 112 mile ride I had all year. 201 watts (with zeros), 219 normalized power, 147 bpm. I negative split the bike, coming in about 1 minute faster on the 2nd loop. I expected to come in around 5:40-5:45, so arriving early was a huge mental boost.

Nutrition wise I took in around 8 bottles of Perform, 2 power bars (over first 2 hours), 1 gel every 45 minutes, and 1 salt stick every 1 hour or so. I made one nutrition adjustment while on the bike. I drank 2.5 bottles in the first hour, which I felt was way too much based on the conditions of the day, what I consumed during training and my race plan. I had to pee (which told me I had enough fluid), so I held off on nutrition for about 30-45 minutes to give that time to absorb. If my mouth was dry, I would just take a sip then spit it out. Other than that, the plan was perfect. I fed off the course. I kept nutrition very simple, and left T1 with one bottle of Perform in my aero drink and that was it. Did not stop for special needs.

5:36:41 total bike time.

45 AG/189 OA

the Bike in Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/105786312881440526628/LakePlacidBike#

The Bike File:
http://tpks.ws/IegG

T2 was fairly quick, around 1:30. Felt good and was ready to run.
The plan was to take the first 6 miles really easy, around 8:30-8:45/mile, then make the decision at that point to either try and hold 8:15/mile or stay easy. My Garmin didn't sync up for the first 2 miles, but the stop watch function was working. I held back big time, ran very slow, and everyone was passing me. First mile came in at 7:55 and it felt like 9:00. I went way easy, and told myself if I came in again below 8:00 on the 2nd mile I would walk. 2nd mile came in at 8:45, and that is the effort I wanted until mile 4-5 or so. I held that pace/effort, and felt good at mile 5, and decided to try and hold 8:15 for as long as I could. Mile 6 was 7:58, then 8:14, then 8:14. I was able to hold pace until mile 14 or 15, then it became harder to do so, but my body was not shutting down and there were no signs I was heading for trouble. I could tell at this point it was going to be all mental. Turning off of 73 onto River Road was a tough stretch for me second time through, and hitting the turnaround was a big mental boost. Before the race started, I told myself all I wanted was an opportunity to go balls out at mile 20. I got my wish. I was in extreme pain at this point. Everything from my waist down hurt badly.
I was also extremely fortunate because if I slowed down, it would be due to the negotiations in my head. I knew my body would not shut down based on how I felt from the waist up.

No cramping, I had a slight appetite and I could take in nutrition with no problem, though at this point the Cokes were getting old; I was just in extreme pain. I looked at my watch, and knew I could basically crawl to a 10:3X, which was awful for me mentally. My reach goal was in the bag (Next year, I may run with no running clock). However, I also knew if I just ran I would come in around 10:28 or so. Going sub 10:30 would have exceed my wildest dreams. Shit, what I was already doing was exceeding my wildest dreams. You could say I was doing the impossible based on who I was 2 years ago. It was very hard to push through that reality.
Coming up the hill into town was brutal, though the crowd gave me good energy. At this point, I couldn't return any of it, and just focused on each step.

It is at this point of the report that I really want to tell stories of how I sucked it up, fought off cramps and limped to the finish line. I cannot do that, however. The last 4-5 miles were pretty slow, some were 11 minutes, some were 10 minutes. The only good thing was the final mile came in at 8:35, while although good, confirms I had more in me. I averaged 9:42/mile over the final 10k.

Now, I didn't leave much out there. Based on my current fitness, I pretty much nailed this race. Best case/perfect scenario we expected coming into the day was 10:25-10:30. I do feel I can run 20 minutes faster based on where my fitness is just off the experience alone.

I will say I had a BLAST coming into the oval. My family was right there, and I was all smiles into the chute where I looked behind me, saw no one coming, and said to myself, "I'm walking this in." I savored the moment, as it was extremely special. Not because of what I accomplished. I did enjoy the moment, but mainly I realized what is possible if you just try. The answer is you have no idea until you just blindly jump in with both feet, and you will most likely be stunned by the result. Really, that is the only way to determine what you are capable of. There is no answer in a textbook, in a lab or based on the experience of others; have a passion, go hard and enjoy the ride.

Run time was 3:50:23, 8:47/mile. My expectation was 3:40-3:45.

40 AG/193 OA

The Run in Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/105786312881440526628/LakePlacidRun#

The run file:
http://tpks.ws/Lrz3

Total time was 10:36, expectation was 10:40, with a reach goal of 10:30's.
40 AG/193 OA

I felt good when I finished, and my coach ran over and she was going nuts, "Dude, you nailed it!!" She laid out a great plan, which at first I told her was too conservative. But it was dead on.

They walked me over to the food tent, were I had some old pizza, then all of a sudden my whole body became very tingly, and it started to get much more intense. I stayed on my feet as I didn't want to sit down just yet, and after 10 minutes it didn't go away and kept getting more intense. I must have looked pretty bad because a volunteer came over to me and asked me if something was wrong. I told her the sensations I was having, and she said, "Let's go to med." Nothing exciting here, standard routine and after an hour I was limping back to the hotel. Well, except when my bud Matt K. got the bed right next to me, and one of the nurses spilled hot broth all over his boys. Matt is a riot and he made the best of the situation and got a bunch of good laughs out of it.

I had an absolute blast. My wife said to me this was the best race she has ever watched. Every time she saw me, she said I was smiling, looking in the crowd for someone to wave to. She summed it up by saying, "You never looked like you were in pain once, all the other races you do you are so focused, when I scream your name you never hear me. At Placid, I didn't even have to call out your name, you found us." That pretty much captures my race plan. Just let the day come, don't force anything, and enjoy every single second. She got a ton of great pictures of me, and I'm smiling in every one, yet I was not smiling for the camera. I was one continuous smile from Papa Bear all the way through town on both loops. Same thing on the run up the hill back into town and through the out and back; on the first loop anyway.

Where do I go from here? Well, nothing for 1 week at least. Thus far, walking seems to help recovery big time. So I will probably walk 2 times a day for 20 minutes or so. Maybe 1-2 walks this week at 45 minutes. Then get into some easy stuff next week. I have a local sprint race in 3 weeks, then my last race of the season is The Syracuse Half IM September 19th. After that, I will shed all fatigue and eliminate all the niggles the season caused. I will give back a lot of fitness with the understanding of building it back stronger. I expect this phase to last 2-4weeks, and this is where I could use some feedback (Gosh, I hope most are still reading this!). Then around November 1st, will start with a base phase of some sort; I expect.

I discovered I truly love this distance, something about the steady pace for 10 hours and an opportunity to beat down mental demons at the end. Though this year they won, I feel with the experience and another year of training, I will be better suited to take them on next year. Speaking of next year, I did sign up for IMLP again. A big focus for me in training (in addition to swim bike and run, and more of it) will be durability and mental strength.

A race I am looking at to simulate the pounding you take at Ironman is the Triple T in Ohio in late May. A half iron in late March and/or a big training week/camp would be ideal as well. All are placed well with regard to a July Ironman. I would consider an Ultra event as well. I need events that are extremely slow paced and have you at wits end in the final hour, aerobically fine, but in a world of hurt. I will most likely include long hikes (6-10 hours), probably 2-3, slowly building to a 10 hour vision quest to build durability. Also, I will most likely reduce or completely eliminate the short course activity next year as my time will be better focused with IM specific training. I honestly feel with the experience, more training, and more (year round) nutrition focus, sub 10 is a real possibility next year and Kona is a legitimate goal.

Thanks for reading and please share your thoughts!

The First Few Days in LP

2010-07-23T06:57:00.012-04:00

Here we go, I feel as though I am on a roller coaster, slowly climbing towards the first decent that gives the ride the necessary energy for the remaining few minutes of excitement. Harness it all I think; don't allow any of it to escape before the cannon blows.

Hard to do while at LP during race week with 3000 of our closet friends, tapered and ready to rock.

I haven't felt this good in months. Now I know what coach was talking about....now I know how tired I actually was the past three months. If you could bottle up taper and sell it on the streets, you would have a nice little profit to look forward to.

I am truly ready, now all I have to do is execute.

First timers, of which I am one, usually have one public goal: finish. Just finish. Truthfully, that is all I am concerned about.

However, to say I do not have time expectations would be a bit misleading. They are already out there to some, and I will put them here shortly. I feel I can do that as I have the ability to not alter my intent based on real time results. If I come out of the water 10 minutes slower then my expectations; no worries. I will not alter my pace. When grandma passes me on the bike, I will not even notice as I will be consumed with all that there is to see in Lake Placid. When I am no longer focused on the pine trees, it's time to slow down.

I have had an unbelievable opportunity to get to know some of the Train-This crew, and it has been awesome. Don and Chris have allowed us into their home, with their families, and have cooked up unbelievable meals. The connection we share allows us to have an instant bond, I believe.

My training partner and friend, Matt C., allowed me to crash in his hotel room Wednesday night so I could sneak up here one day early. What a great person Matt is. I've busted his chops a few times, especially while in his USA pants. Truth is, a part of me wishes I could walk around Lake Placid in blue pants painted in stars; I simply couldn't pull it off with the same flare.

Swimming with the boys Wednesday made for an interesting moment, as what seemed like gale force winds swept over the lake as we were half way through the first loop. Myself, Matt and Ken stopped for a moment to wonder what we were doing in Mirror Lake at that moment, then realized we should "just keep swimming."

I was in the elevator with a couple who is racing this Sunday as well. The husband was frustrated beyond belief. "Good afternoon." "How's it goin" I ask, trying to break the tension that I refused to allow into my box.

"Just splendid." he responds, with as much enthusiasm as I child eating his broccoli. "Unpacking...how I love to unpack the car and check into a hotel room." Explaining in great deal the aggravation that can come with that.

"How are you?" He asks.

"Enjoying every second." I say, as they arrive to their floor. He looks at me, as if to suggest, how dare you try and lighten the mood. Then realizes how silly that is, and simply says, "Have a good one."

I most certainly will.

Thus far, this week has been everything I dreamed of and more. Today, I expect the town to come alive, yet I will be selfish with my energy. Build from within, then when that cannon sounds, allow it to slowly come into form for 134.6 miles.

That is the plan anyway.

Final Days

2010-07-16T05:33:00.006-04:00

Hard to believe Placid is only 8 days away!

It feels as though I haven't done enough, but I know I have. Looking back, I missed only a few sessions. I crashed my bike, and was lucky to walk away and missed only 1 session as a result.

My Saturday's were filled with early morning rides; which I oddly kind of miss. Mainly I miss seeing Curbeau at the same seat, every Saturday AM, eating his apple sauce and playing with is Apple gadgets....

That has been a fun part of the IM process; meeting new people. Before meeting them, they are just e-mail addresses and witty log on ID's. When I finally got the chance to interact with them all, I realized just how green the grass is I walk on everyday.

Workouts this week have been really easy, which allowed me to look back and see how far I've come. I had a 45 minute bike yesterday, and I took the same 1 hour route (cut 15 minutes short) I've taken since I started biking. As I was pedaling down Beach Road in Cicero, I thought of one of my first rides. Another cyclist came up next to me and said, "Want to work together?"

I responded, "What does work together mean?" He kind of looked at me funny, then said, "you know, draft a little bit...." Of course I still had no clue what he was talking about, but I replied, "Sure!"

He proceeds ahead of me, and says, "I keep it around 18 mph, how's that sound?"

"Sounds good!" I reply, having no clue if that was in fact good or if I could keep up.

The other thing I recall, which is really funny, is my refusal to negotiate with him. In other words, I remember thinking, if I get dropped, fine, but I am not going to leave the purpose of my day just to stay on his wheel. Even before I was coached, I always stayed true to my intent.

It took about 3 minutes for him to leave me, at about 18 mph. It was rather difficult to let him go, as I knew I could hang with him if I went.

Yesterday, on that same route at the same effort I was going pretty good. The ride ended at 21.6 mph, but in that section where my buddy dropped me I was over 23...I kept wishing he would show up. This was just over 1 year ago, spring of 2009.

I'm a fairly patient man...very disciplined when it comes to this. I have no issue getting dropped, guy or girl, roadie or triathlete, age group or not; it doesn't really matter. You can't rattle my cage....

I imagine I'm going to get dropped like crazy on July 25th, people are going to pass me and I'll let them go.

I'm going to hold everything in, then at mile 20 on that run, I'm going to go.

First, I'm going to tell my coach she can go F herself...then I'm going to go; that is the plan anyway. I withhold the right to come back here with several excuses as to why I walked it in.

(Don't worry, she's laughing right now....trust me)

Thoughts about Thought

2010-07-15T06:25:00.007-04:00

I got up early today, not to workout, but to write. It is something I enjoy very much, just let out all thought without holding back. Have you ever done that? Put your thoughts on paper without editing? Without a care in the world who reads it, who interprets it, who judges it?

It's one of the most liberating things a man can do. It takes a little courage as well. Just sit down and flow, let it come out...it feels as though I am stepping out into the world, letting out a scream that would scare a lion, pounding on my chest as the neighbor looks, only to pick up the phone to tell Mr. Jones, "Corona has lost his mind!"

No, I have found it, I have allowed it to go free, if only for a moment. It is not held back by society's idea of who I should be or what I should own. The thoughts are mine, owned by me, stimulated by my actions, feed by those that inspire me, allowed to grow by following a feel known to be right. Writing, in a way, is living free, and I take pride in that because not many can do it. Very few are willing to put their thoughts in public space.

I look at what we, as people, do. Commute, work, spend, repeat. It is such a pattern, predictable, standardized, replicated, packaged.

When is the last time you woke up and did the first thing that came to your mind? What prevented you from doing it? Have you ever spent one day just living? Only doing the minimum to survive, yet smile? What would that look like if repeated every day for a week? A month? A year?

People ask me questions for answers I really do not have. Why are you doing an IM? Why do you bike so much? Why won't you drink another beer? Do you really think eating this will matter? Why don't you eat ANY carbs? Dude, you are getting way too skinny. I mean, you look good and all, but you are too skinny.

IM wasn't a whim decision, a bucket list item or a dare. It was a simple decision that resulted from 100's of other decisions based on one thing; just living and doing what feels right. I'm not out here searching for the secret of life or hoping to find an answer to all these questions. I just do it because it feels right. Simple as that. There is no more detail to get into. There is nothing to understand.

Get up today and do the first thing that comes into your head. That is why I train every day. There is no pressure to do it, it just happens; it flows just like my thoughts.

The only question you need to ask is will you let your thoughts free; if only for a moment?

Everything else just happens.

Mini-Mussle Race Report

2010-07-10T19:20:00.002-04:00

Thought I would share my results from a sprint race today, maybe in the future some will find use as they approach IM for the first time and I would love some feedback here.....

I've been feeling like crap lately, not sure if it's the heat, cumulative fatigue or combination of both...my guess is a combination of both.

Training has been solid all year, no issues. Decided to do the race as it brings out some good local competition, and had this silly thought of getting a Best of the US qualifying spot for NY to learn firsthand just how much work I have to do.....

Woke up actually feeling better than usual, thought it would be a good day.

Got in the water, warmed up, and I could tell my swim would be good....just felt easy. Started off hard, typical sprint swim, nothing too exciting...came out in good position, around maybe 15th in the wave, 25th overall out of 730 or so....

Got on the bike and wasted little time, as this is my strength. On the way out, there was a tailwind, whenever my speed was over 30, I soft pedaled or coasted as I wanted to conserve for the headwind on the way back. Passed a few riders, and was told I was in 3rd by a volunteer, and felt really good, and thought I had a shot, though with wave starts it's hard to tell. Not the position I expected to be in today as the bulk of the competition was in this wave.

Headed back into the wind, and conserving power I believe helped, as I was able to extend the gap on some folks behind me. Did get passed by one guy, a local rival of mine, however from experience I can out run him, so just tried to stay behind him 4-5 lengths. He gapped me at the end by a good 1-2 minutes, but a fast T2 on my part had him leave for the run only 5 seconds ahead of me.

Did well on the bike, 286 watts with zeros, 7/730.

I thought ... holy shit, wasn't expecting this based on how I felt... now just run, it's only 3 miles, top 5 is in reach, from there maybe I can sneak in to BOUS....

I actually felt good, and was about to pass 3rd, then out of nowhere, side stitch comes on, I think it's just like any other, and it will pass, so I push through it. Then, it feels like someone is twisting a knife into my mid section--a sensation I'm sure we've all had.

Crap. No. Not now.....6:30/mile becomes 7:00, 7 becomes 8, 8 becomes I got to walk.

What is this I think? This is a 5k in a sprint? Suck it up. Start running again, each footstep causes the pain to become more intense. I have to stop. Don't. Run. It's only pain. 15 more minutes. Chase him down. Block it out.

None of the mental tricks work. Sadly I walk again, embarrassed to look as I am being passed. Darwin Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection has never been more clear. I'm the wounded buffalo in the heard; the "inferior species."

In the end, I walk 2 times for 1-2 minutes each time, quite a bit for a 5k...but I do find a way to suck it up, and run (I use the term "run" loosely).

Hit the tape fairly discouraged; but such is IM training I suppose. 150/750 in the run.

So here I am, seeking out confirmation that all is OK, that I will come back in 2 weeks; and I think now I will. I suppose we all react differently the final couple of weeks, and maybe this is a lesson for me in the future.

End up 17/750, and the guy I came out of T2 with grabbed 5th. Sour.

I've been in the sport for just over a year, and have been so very lucky to never have a bad race. Nothing is worse than not being able to finish strong.

I guess now is a good time for it.....

We'll see what happens in 2 weeks.

Thanks for reading!

Mike

Time

2010-06-25T06:22:00.015-04:00

I often wonder about time, and what it is, or what it isn't. Is there enough, too much, just enough? When will I run out? Will I wish for more, less? Will time run out on me before I am done exploring? Should I fight it, force it, push through it... due to all the fears of it?

Maybe I should become time, fall into time: every second, every minute, every hour, every day.

Those moments when I wish for less of it, realize it's a test of mental fortitude; forcing you to make a choice of what it is you really want. I can remove myself from the situation, and use my time for something else, though it does not change my fears of time. I'm still left wondering the same things...

The times I want more time, understand that is the second I should start to enjoy every minute, embrace every single breath...capture the moment so I may visualize it in the future, when time is no longer as kind.

No matter where I am, where I go, I always seem to look back and wonder what I did with all my time.

I think people associate being busy with success; I do it too. I look back to my early days with few responsibilities, but I still had "little time."

Then I grow, mature (though still not mature) into a committed man to a beautiful girl, and suddenly I have even less time, as her needs become as important as my own. "What did I do with all my time before this" I wonder, as if an answer exists.

My life continues to improve. I grow, and as I grow, time does not change, but I somehow do more. My life extends to three awesome boys, and sometimes my wife and I will look at each other and wonder, "What did we do with all our time before this....?"

It's questions like this that make me realize the second I stop asking that question, the day I no longer wonder what it was like to have more time, is the day I don't want to encounter.

Bring it on I say. Throw it at me, take up my time; the less (time) the better I say. In fact, any day in which I am not left wondering what I used to do with all my time is one of waste.

There will come a time, when we look at each other and wonder, "Remember when we had no time?"....Those were the days....

Until then, become time before time becomes you.

With that, I'm gone for a 6 hour ride - at 4:00 AM. Man....there just isn't enough time in the day for this....which is why I'll be done before lunch. Then my oldest has a SU basketball clinic. Then, my baby turns 3 today, and we shall celebrate, with a bad ass chicken barbecue, prepared by yours truly, a "master chef." Chicken is bathing in Dino sauce and the sangria is coming to form.

Train hard, and go get it!!!

Green Lakes

2010-06-23T20:55:00.011-04:00

This past Saturday was a short sprint race that I was to train through. It was a fun day, and I thought I'd post my race report here for those interested.

I woke up at 1:30 AM, ate my typical IM pre-race breakfast, as this was a big training day more so than a sprint race day. Power bar, bagel, protein drink, apple sauce, banana, back to bed.

Woke up for good at 3:45 to be out the door for a 2 hour pre race ride. Steady zone, really felt good. Only took me about 1 hour to get to race site, so I did a couple loops of the race course. There is one stretch of road next to some train tracks, and sure enough a train comes by, and I gave the conductor a "blow the horn" signal. WOOOO, WOOOO, WOOOO, WOOOOO!!!!!!! Nice!! That was cool at 6:00 AM....I'm sure the neighbors loved it!

Got to the race site, and I placed a high priority on recovering from the ride, even though I felt fine. Drank some orange juice with some protein powder, got on my Zoot tights, and tried to fall asleep with feet up in the car.

Went to register, and the lady put what I thought was "ID" on my right arm and leg. I thought, "whatever."

Then I got my bib and realized it was not an "I" but a 1. How did I get the #1 bib? Something I never planned on or hoped for, but it was pretty cool. It didn't take long for the reality to set in...now I had to win.

Couple guys busted my chops pretty good...funny.

On to the race....

Swim was good, but very agressive until 400 yards out. One dude simply would not stop grabbing my feet...literally grabing them.

Swim felt sluggish, as all my swims have lately. Fatigued I guess...I hope this works itself out over the next few weeks.

Came out 7th-8th or so.

After a quick T1, I hopped on the bike....

I just hammered away here, trying to catch those who beat me out of the water. Finish sheet shows me as 4th out of the water, but I was 7-8, passed 2 in transition and started the bike in 4th place.

I was flying pretty good, probably one of my best bikes, which is odd, because I was not rested at all for this race.

10 minutes in I was averaging 354 watts, and I was like, wow...don't slow down now. Finally I saw two bikers ahead, and took them out one after the other, and the 2nd guy I passed caught right back up with me and said, "Go dude, 1st is just ahead....go get him..." Then he backed off....I said, "Thanks!" nice of him to do I thought.

I went strong, I knew the guy in first was a solid swim/biker, and I knew I could out run him; something I'm not used to.

I just could not get to him.

Turns out he beat me by 1:10 on the bike alone! That is smokin' fast....I was moving pretty good, and I wasn't even close!!

I averaged 318 watts...solid effort.

Came into T1 and I was told I was 1 minute down, and thought I had a shot....truth was it was closer to 2 minutes.

At 1 minute with 3 miles, I thought I would catch a glimpse of him and get some motivation to push. Problem is, this is a trail run, and you can never see more than 10-30 yards in front or behind you at any time. No one could tell me where I was, but I pushed hard...like I wanted it. My gut cramped up (side stictch) less than a mile in, and started to fear losing second place, as I knew there were 1-2 stronger runners behind me. I just kept trying to push and not slow down.

With .25 mile to go, I knew 1st was out, but 2nd all but secured, and just cruised in to the finish.

Talked to 1st place OA, who is quite simply a solid swimmer and biker. Waited for others to finish, and relaxed a bit.

Got a cool silver platter for 2 OA.

Changed out of race gear, then rode home to finish my "training day."

A great day, and I was very pleased I stayed true to the intent of the day. I kept my training rides at a strong effort and didn't back off, knowing I had to race.

Kept the purpose of the day at the forefront, even though I knew I had a very good chance to win this race.

Yes, it's a small, local YMCA triathlon. Truth is, though, even through the field as a whole is not the strongest, the top end has some good athletes, KQers and guys who are fast.

So I have not been writing as much as I want, well at least putting my thoughts on this blog. To me, writing is nothing more than sharing your thoughts with paper. Truth is, I'm closing in on LP, and I have little additional time for much else besides training, work and family.

I am going to write more once LP is concluded...it is something I enjoy very much.

Training

2010-06-17T05:48:00.006-04:00

I realized I haven't updated my training lately on this here blog...I need to try and do that more. I do have a much more detailed journal/log, but this allows me to write and share with others and sometimes I get good feedback.

Lake Placid was great; and I don't find the course "hilly." I feel it is a course that will create a perception among the athletes who compete on it. Hilly is one of those perceptions.

If you want to leave Lake Placid and tell everyone how hard the bike was, just bring the wrong gears, and you are well on your way; before the race even starts. This course is set up where you do not have to grind out any hill, provided you bring the right gears. Sadly, several will show up with their stock 53/39 with a 11/23 cassette. Those reading this, write down your crank and cassette...do you even know?

My suggestion at a minimum is to go get a 11/28; most new bikes do not come with a 11/28. Also, if I didn't have a Quarq PM, I'd be getting a compact crank. I am actually going to e-mail Quarq and see if/how I can swap to a compact.

There are two reasons not to go to LP without a compact:
1) You're a pro, or could be a pro
2) Ego

Beyond that, if you show up to LP with the right gears, you turn the hills into your advantage, and you are eliminating a battle over 50% will take head on.

There are other things about LP, but the reason I love this course is that it provides an opportunity to be strategic - it's not a go out and go go go course. You have to use your brain in addition to your brawn. Keep in mind, I say this never having raced the course, I could be wrong, and 6 weeks from now you could be reading a post about my awful day at Placid.

Moving on....

Training is going really well, and I have to give props to my coach Mary for guiding me through it. The way I see it, we have 3 more weeks for big training, then we'll start to taper. My long rides are going extremely well; I can hold 200 watts well into 6 hours, and run off that pretty strong. Most of my long rides end with a solid 90 minutes of tempo, which hurts, but I can hold it, right around 235-240 watts, and my HR steadies into a nice tempo zone.

We have three main long rides, 6 hours steady, 20/40 tempo/steady repeats, and 4.5 steady with 90 minutes tempo. They each present their own challenge; 6 steady requires patience and the ability to pace, 20/40 requires the understanding that interval 1 is going to be much easier than interval 5, along with the ability to recover. The ride with 90 tempo at the end requires some guts and the ability to push while tired. This is also a great ride to teach your body to finish strong.

So, training is going well...very well.

People are starting to ask me my goals for Placid, and I would be a liar if I said I didn't have a time goal, but really I just want to finish. Setting a time goal is very dangerous, especially for a first timer at the Iron distance. Not so much with not hitting that goal, but if you have a time goal, you start to back into it with your training. You start pushing your runs/bikes knowing you have to run 7:00 long runs in order to hit your goals. That is dangerous. I see people do it, and they have one speed...hard. These are often the people who dominate you in training, then on race day it's not even close....Of course there are those who dominate you in training and on race day. They are known as being "better than you."

Really, I have one performance goal. Show up at mile 20 on the run with the ability to make a choice. Push through the pain or hobble home...that's all I want. I don't care what my time is, where I am at in my AG, if it is still daylight, any of that. I just want to be able to push, to not have my body make the decision for me; I do not want to be forced to stop. I want to face my demons at that point and lay it down. I don't care how slow I have to go up until that point to be able to make that choice. I want to experience the pain, the hurt, but be in a position to push through it.

If I can finish, and have the opportunity at mile 20 to go, to feel like I'm pushing the tempo, I'll be happy.

I have a sprint race on Saturday...I kind of snuck it in there....coach was like, "OK, go ahead and do it, but you're training through it."

"No problem!" I think. I get my week and on race day I see:
Ride 2 hours to the race
Race
Ride 2 hours home

day after:
3 hour ride
2.5 hour run

Nice....I guess when she said, "we're gonna train through it", she actually meant it.

Well, it's time to get on the trainer!!

LP Training Camp

2010-06-11T07:31:00.005-04:00

Packing the car, about to head up to LP for some awesome training....it shall be fun.

What will make it a truly special occasion is the fact that my wife is coming as well. The two of us shall train, dine and unwind in the beautiful region that is Lake Placid.

I've never been (actually, I think I have...but I was like 5), and can only imagine what awaits us; but no rush I say. Let's take our time, each second toward our destination is our destination.

Cherish each and every moment for what it is, never looking forward to what is coming next, only getting everything that we possible can out of the present. Embrace each rain drop, each ray of light, every dark cloud, every gale; nothing shall hold us back, as there is no destination.

I've never quite lived like this, and battle each day to try and make a piece of my life as I describe above. Truly let go of all emotion and thought, let the burning passion within escape; if only for a moment. Leave all possessions behind, realize they are not what drive you or motivate you; they are not who you are. Become one with the only thing that matters....the moment.

What are you doing right now to discover who you are, to be the best you can be?

Define that, then go get it.

The Finish Line: Truth or Excuse

2010-06-06T14:17:00.008-04:00

Today I raced in Keuka Lake, but before I get into my race report, that will be like all other race reports you read, I need to confess.

Two things await you at the finish line, truth and excuse. The beauty is you decide which you want; and only you.

After the race today, a rival of mine came up to me and said, "Mike, 5 seconds." The smile told me all I needed to know. "You beat me by 5 seconds, huh," I asked, not needing confirmation.

Truth is, I was pleased because the fact that she (yeah, I have a rival that's a chic, but she'll most likely smoke you should you ever race her, so whatever) came up to tell me suggests there is a degree of respect.

What happened next is where I failed. I felt the need to explain that "I was sooo fatigued, and I'm training for IMLP, BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH...." Someone get this kid a wambulance, and some finely aged cheese for his wine.

Instead of embracing the truth, which is I got beat, I embraced the excuse. FAIL.

And that's all there is at the finish line....truth or excuse.

KW....you beat me today because you were faster than me today. Better than me. The excuses I gave you were simply that....excuses.

Take note however, next time we toe the line, I'm going up 2-1.....:)

Caged Emotion

2010-05-30T06:49:00.013-04:00

It's been too long since I've updated this here blog. I've discovered that writing is something I enjoy, though for now it is limited to this blog. Sometimes, a thought is born, and instead of immediately putting that thought into words, it moves on and it's gone, like the time within a day.

Writing, for me, is all emotion. The thoughts that come out during a bike or run cannot be held back. Most of the time, they are pure and I need to take advantage of that more and just write; raw, unedited, to the point, every time. I think I have had some good thoughts lately, but I find if I don't pen them immediately, the writing lacks emotion and has less effect on me; and maybe the few readers I have.

Anyway, moving on. Training has been going very well. I had a discussion with coach on a subject, in the end she said, "you are a caged bear."

That makes me feel good, because it says a lot on how she sees me at the moment. To me, a caged bear is someone filled with rage, who wants to unleash, but is holding back. Someone who feels the burn, the desire to eat, but understands the importance of waiting. Someone who wants to sink their teeth into the flesh of anyone or anything that comes into their way, yet waits.

Someone who understands what it feels like to want to drop the hammer on a training ride, yet holds back.

Having the wind at your back while the sun is creeping over the horizon, bringing life and energy to everything. Pure bliss, nothing hurts, the only sound is the near silent, comforting hum of the wind brushing over my front wheel. The speedometer begs me to drop a gear, my cadence is comfortable, legs turning over in perfect harmony with my body. The sun is warm, and the wind I create keeps me comfortable. There is little holding me back right now, no excuses. For some reason, I stay in the moment and refuse to go. Instead, I bottle up this emotion, this feeling, this desire to want to crush everything around me, so I may unleash it when it matters most.

I cage it.

To me, that is training. Creating emotion, to create a state of feel depending on the point of the day. Cage the emotions that result, all the pain and joy, the frustration and bliss, the rides that scream at you for more, the ones that cause your legs to quit.

Then, when it matters most, take all that emotion, and combine them into one. Forget about the power meter, the HR monitor; and instead trust your training. Remember how it felt to not be able to run after a ride. When that feeling comes, back off and go after the feeling of wanting to sink your teeth into everything. Attack the day for the emotions your training brought out, not a power number or HR zone.

Unleash the animal you worked so hard to create and be careful not to unleash her too soon; she only has so much fight.

Train hard and whatever you want, go get it!

Long Ride

2010-05-15T17:02:00.013-04:00

Not much to say on this one; I think I nailed this ride. The yellow line above in the graph is my watts, and we wanted it steady....that's pretty steady.

Me and my partner Matt C started early once again; 3:30 this time...T-ball parade and game to get to at 12:00!

There were some decent steady climbs today, plus we faced a pretty good headwind, and I didn't let if effect the point of the day; 200 watts.

After 4.5 hours of that, we hit a tempo block to bring it home. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to hold it, but I did, and though I surly felt it, I was able to complete a decent, although fatigued, 30 minute transition run.

Speed matters little in training, more so on the bike. You can manipulate your power on a course to go faster, or slower if you wish. How you distribute your power will result in a faster or slower time. In training, you don't want to manipulate it...you want to bring it all day, consistantly.

Resting on downhills can be an example of this; why exert energy going 30 mph? I think this applies more to IM distance racing where conserving energy is so important, but can still apply at all distances to some degree.

This is one aspect of training with power that I love. While it makes sense some days to go out, ignore the data and just ride, applying a specific load, extremely consistently over a long period of time, is a great workout. Looking close at the chart, you can see there are no spikes in power, and no spikes in HR, even though there was ample opportunity to push some grades early on in the day. Without a power meter, this would have been the case.

Long run tomorrow, than an easy week!

Moving along!

2010-05-14T07:29:00.004-04:00

Well, the first week after the crash went well. My hip and left rib cage is a bit sore, but it didn't effect things too much except make it uncomfortable. The good sign was pain did not intensify with the activity. In fact, in most cases it felt better as the workout went on. The lone exception being swimming; just cannot get a good pull without the left rib cage hurting.

Being the cautious person I am when it comes to things like this, I went to get an opinion, and was basically told to suck it up. The doctor said it's most likely a bad bruise, nothing broke, you cannot increase the healing process too much and you cannot delay it too much. Breathing alone causes the ribs to move, hence the constant pain. You just cannot mobilize them.

To be honest, if I was going to be limited in one sport it would be swimming. Relative to my competitors, swimming is a strength. Even though between the 3 sports, that is where I am ranked lowest, the drop off is not nearly as much as most. I'm fairly level throughout all 3 with biking having a slight edge.

We did notice in two workouts this week some indicators that would suggest a rest week is needed; mainly getting my ass dropped from the front pack in a training session I normally have no issue keeping up with, and a Z2 run that just felt off, and HR/pace confirmed it. That works out well because a recovery week was on the books anyway!

This was expected however, and is good news in my eyes. Time to give a little back, have an easy week, race June 6th, then head into my final build.

Ironman training is funny, because you never feel like it's enough. It seems the start line is gonna sneak up on me; especially when you break down the time left. Really, 4-5 more weeks of hard training, tops. Throw in taper, race weeks and a couple more recovery weeks, and it's race day!

Have a great weekend and go get it!

"Crash, burn, when will I learn?"

2010-05-09T07:42:00.010-04:00

Yesterday's long ride, though wet and cold, was going very well. Probably my best long ride to date. Watts were extremely consistent, holding 200 watts through 4.5 hours on the nose. Little deviation, and I didn't even allow the climbs to effect the effort. We just wanted nice and consistent; little else mattered during those first 4.5 hours. Eat, drink, 200 watts, repeat. Final 1.5 hours was to be a tempo block, but we only got in 18 minutes and 48 seconds worth......

The day started in the dark, and along with my boy Matt C., we headed into the darkness that awaits you at 4:00 AM. The rain came down hard throughout the night, and left the streets wet and slick. We dressed for the day, several layers thick. We reviewed the safety matters that were important, and included our coach in on the discussion. The route was printed out, a detailed map given to each of us. The day was planned.

"Careful on the downhills, it's slick today." "Call out objects in the road." "Let's stay out of each other's draft...it'll force us to both work, plus it's safer."

Off we went, into the darkness of night. As we approached the hills of the Syracuse back country in the distance, a fog slowly emerged through the trees, and made us appreciate the beauty only a cold, rainy day can bring.

That was our view for a couple hours, and it made the ride enjoyable. As we descended back to the city and its neighboring towns, I glanced to the right and clouds packed with weather only a drought could love awaited our arrival. I said, "Matt, look right...., that's where we're headed."

"Oh crap."

I had a slow leak in my rear tire, I hit it with some CO2 and thought that would get us home and at least delay the inevitable. An hour or so later, I could tell it was still losing air, but not that bad. We were going pretty good, 25-30 MPH, into the wind downhill. I thought, "be safe Mike, pull over and change it." So we stopped, took the 7 minutes to change the tube, and were back on our way. Of all the sections of the course I thought were more risky today, this was it. No place to be stupid.

From that point on, we were of the state of mind "it's time to be done." In about 5 minutes we were to hit some tempo and make the final push home. Rain started to come down, the "sideways kind" that hits you in the face and reminds you water can be hard if it hits you the right way. Clearly, it was time to hammer - go and be done!

We hit the final 10 miles of the Syracuse 70.3 course, which is fast. It's about 10-12 miles long, a rolling decent; it's not steep, however. You can still put out 230-250 watts at 90 RPM consistently the whole way.

The "route" ended, and we had about 1:20 left until home. It was basically flat with some small hills, through the major suburbs of Syracuse.

Then, we came to the final rail road crossing, one I've crossed several times in rain before. I approached how I always have, picked what appeared a good line. Eased off the gas. I could literally see my front tire go into the groove. After that, I was done.

I had two thoughts in those few seconds, "I'm screwed" and "Please don't take out Matt." Someone or something ignored me on both.

I go down hard, and create a yard sale for poor Matt to try and dodge, while crossing a two-way RR crossing. That's not happening. You have to cross tracks at a T, otherwise, well, we all know what happens if you don't. Matt has few choices.

We're both down, like wounded soldiers seeking cover and unsure what to do next. Both moving, crawling trying to get out of the way, in slow motion like a dream where you're trying to run, but cannot even walk.

At that point, it appears we're both going to be OK, and I have no idea how. How I fell sideways on my hip, and not over my handle bars on my neck is beyond me.

The fogginess that hits you after a crash slowly evaporates, and we are able to stand up and collect our thoughts.

Matt, who originally had a 5 hour ride planned says, "Well, I got my 5 hours in." We both laugh, and I say, with a serious tone, "I don't think I'm going to be able to ride home."

Matt says, "Um, yeah....I think we're done."

After all the assholes we passed today over 83 miles, honking at us on back country roads with no traffic, one even splattering Matt with some fresh road kill, a very nice guy stops literally 3 minutes after we crash. "Everyone OK?" A look of concern is in his eyes; not the typical, "Oh gosh, I hope helping these guys doesn't change my day." This guy wanted to help.

After some small talk, he asks, "You need a lift...where you headed?"

"Cicero," I reply.

"No way! Me too!" "You want me to bring you home?" This dude was so happy we were headed his way.

We put our bikes in the bed of his truck, and he drives us the 25 miles or so to my house.

They say there are two types of riders, "Those that have crashed and those that will." Well, we're now in the former group, and blessed to walk away like we did. We're fortunate the accident didn't involve a car or a train. No matter how much you plan and prepare, accidents happen and come up when least expected, even in familiar areas. You just cannot avoid them.

My hip is bruised, but actually feels better today. Matt is going to be OK as well.

This is part of the journey, I suppose. It makes the bond between teammates stronger and when we cross the finish line together July 25th, we will look back at this day and realize its role.

The Mountain Goat

2010-05-03T08:44:00.005-04:00

Was gonna write a "report," but instead I just wanted to write down and share some thoughts…..keep in mind these thoughts come from my crazy head, and any practical application may not exist.

Humid day. Several people taken away in an ambulance, 60 people treated on site. The course ran out of water. In the end, this race takes place in July, no issue. It was just a very humid day in early spring and people have been training in snow and on treadmills in AC'd gyms for the past 6 months. The heat and elevation of the course combined with Saturday's 6 hour ride drained me pretty good.

Here are some thoughts:

1) The sensation of running faster than the actual pace was good to experience. Very good. I imagine the last 6-10 miles of IMLP will feel this way. It is not often we will be able to mimic that sensation, and even if it was just for a few miles, it was good for my body to feel it. Racing is about feel, I think…..and to experience that feel was very important. To experience the different phases of that, how to pace yourself through that based on how much longer you have to go. I think that is why it's important to push through these races/workouts and avoid the temptation to slow down and just get through it.

2) Doing this race after a long day was key. Fitness wise, few improvements were probably made, but again, I think going hard after 6.5 hours of steady work allows us to hone in on that feel. Sure, IM marathon will be 100 times worse, but incorporating some suffering throughout training is a good thing as it gives us exposure.

3) It's hard to plan for this type of stuff. You cannot go out and say, "I'm gonna suffer today." It just doesn't work that way. Throughout training, I think you'll come across some workouts/races and you will find yourself in that position, and you need to recognize it as the opportunity it is. You need to be smart while there, but none the less use it. Some days, the right call is to bag the workout. Some days, the right call is to push through it. No one can tell us when that is; only one person has that ability. A coach can only put us in a position to succeed; we all need to recognize each and every opportunity for what it is, and when it shows up; jump on it.

My time was 1:10:08, with was 77/2060. Less than 1 minute faster than last year, where I went 168/1918. So times were surely slower overall.

Long Ride!

2010-05-01T19:04:00.004-04:00

Long ride today. No graphs, no details.

6 hours, and killed it. Steady as ever. Right around 200 watts, even the whole way, very little deviation only for climbs, which there were a few. 6300 feet of elevation gain.

HR was steady as well, only climbing slightly towards the end of the ride. At the 5 hour mark, I was shocked how good I felt; I never faded like I thought I would 3 hours in.

Ran out of nutrition at 5:15 in, should have stopped to refill as I felt it on the run. A good lesson learned. Always keep eating.

Left at 4:20 AM. Early rides are where it is at. Hearing birds awake and begin to sing was quite the experience, something I cannot wait to hear again. The moon setting, the sun rising, images typically viewed through a picture or on TV more often than in the flesh. This is better.

With a 30 minute run, I was done by 12:00. With 2 flats.

Solid work today.

10 mile road race tomorrow, "The Mountain Goat"....will the legs recover? They better, because as the name suggests I'll be heading for the hills!

"The Du" race report

2010-04-26T11:19:00.000-04:00

Here it is in all its glory....:)

We got to the race site around 6:30 and registered, then I racked my bike right by the bike exit. Since running is not a strength versus my bike, I thought if I could get in and out of transition quickly, I would move up 2-3 spaces in the OA. I kept this very simple, shoes in my pedals, sunglasses strapped to my bike. So all I would have to do is kick off my shoes and put on my helmet. Walked around and said hi to a lot of people we know; haven't seen most since last summer.

The run pace started out slow, and a few of us were waiting to take the lead, which I really didn't want. I knew my mark, and stuck with her, letting her dictate the pace. I let two other guys go and just kept thinking to myself, "keep them in your sights, pass them in transition." At the first mile, I was very surprised to see how easy it felt, same thing at the 2nd mile. It was around that time the pace picked up, and I just focused on keeping everyone in my sights ahead. As the run was ending, I felt really good, and held back slightly, but I felt that was the right call as I have never done a duathlon before, and I wanted to be able to pull away on the bike.

Looking back, I would have pushed the pace slightly right around the 1.5 mile mark and try to get to T1 20-30 seconds sooner.

Hit T1 hard, and I did awesome. There were 4 people ahead of me on run 1, I passed them all out of T1. A Duathlon does make for easier transitions. 1st OA

I got on the bike, and this is where I was to separate myself. I basically just hammered away, using the wave in front of me to legally draft as I passed, each time it would give me a few seconds rest with no loss of speed. Things were going well, then I came to a turn, that I KNEW was the right turn, but no sign, no volunteers, and every other turn up until now had volunteers. The guy ahead of me passed it, and I thought, which way?!? In that split second, I thought they may have announced something at the meeting, which I missed...course change? When I passed the turn, it just didn't feel right, so I kept looking behind me, and sure enough, everyone else was turning. SHIT! I turn around, and get back on course. This was a .4 mile mistake, or around 1 minute. After getting back on course, I was pissed. However I didn't allow such a small mistake to effect my effort, and just kept pushing without trying to get back time that, no matter how hard I pushed, was in effect gone.

I completed the second loop, then made the turn back into the park and towards the hills. I was in and out of the saddle, just hammering up. The decent is technical, so you cannot pedal much, so I knew I would be able to rest my legs. Made it up the first climb, quick decent, then hammered to the turn into the park where the main climb began. Shifted down to the easiest gear, and spun as fast as my legs would go. Shifted to a harder gear, and got up and hammered. Kept switching up and out of the saddle every 10-15 seconds, knowing the decent would provide some rest. Quads were burning, lungs were screaming, but I kept on pressing. Soon I hit the top, and the decent allowed my legs to come back.

This was a good ride, but slightly disappointing. Not with the result, but knowing I could have gone harder. I averaged around 289 watts, which is low for a 53 minute effort, really low. Should have been closer to 305-310. However, this includes zero's. Also, I need to examine my bike fit, I think. Also the power distribution, did I ride it smart? I'm really not sure, and will discuss with my coach. At 170 pounds, on this course, 290 watts should be faster than this. Also, my time without going off course would have given me the fastest bike split of the day, but even still, I should have been faster. What cannot be lost in all of this is the fact that this was my first duathlon. I have nothing to compare it with and I'm used to getting on the bike with fresh legs, so that could have something to do with the slower than expected bike. I'm sure it does.

In the end, I should have trusted myself on where to turn, not the guy in front of me. That cost me some time, but luckily this time I still held onto 2nd place; by 2 seconds! And no matter, I never would have gotten first.

I should have pushed more. In the end, it matters little, as no amount of current potential would have gotten me 1 OA.

Another great transition. 2nd OA. (actually, if you take out relay's, it was 1st) Was in and out extremely fast. The guy from Score-This told me I was 4 minutes down, minus the 3 minute head start he had. Right then I knew it was going to be a tough battle. I could MAYBE make up 10-20 seconds total, but 20 seconds per mile...no way. Plus, little did I know at the time the leader was Randy Hadzor, who is a local running stud.

I came out of transition hard, then came under control and settled into pace. Looked behind me and saw Rick Cote who appeared :30-1:00 back. I knew he would catch up, and used that as my carrot as 1st place was pretty much long gone. I just ran, screw the Garmin, just go. I was hurting pretty good by mile 1 and I lost sight of Rick behind me, but being a trail run, no clue where he was. My vision back was only 10 seconds or so. I swear I could hear footsteps coming, and kept expecting to see Rick Cote or Kristin White fly by me. I kept telling myself I'd never forgive myself. Finally I could see the finish off in the distance, it wouldn't be long now. 4 more minutes of this pain. Got to the bath house, looked behind me, and here comes Rick, charging HARD. I just went....I hit the line, and Rick crossed 2 seconds later. Wow.

Nothing to do different on this run, I gave it a good go. The only way I could have gone faster is if I came out of T2 and I had 1st in sights, or if I was being chased by a dude with an axe. Otherwise, I left it all out there.

I walked around and chatted, and waited for my wife, who got FIRST in her AG. My brother also completed his first multi-sport race, and he had a blast! It was fun sharing the day with him. Then I just reflected a little. Mainly, how far I've come in such a short period of time.

Missing a bike turn hurt, and not enough power on the bike. hmmm. need to think more about this.

I'm happy overall.

This was a really good local race in its first year. They did a great job for the first year. I got some $$ for placing overall which was cool!

Duathlons hurt more than triathlons!! A lot more!! Your legs are already tired when you get on the bike. Not even close to coming out of a wet suit swim where you barely have to kick! I'll stick to triathlons, but I will certainly "Du the Du" next year!"

In the end, to be honest, I expected to win today. Yes, this is a small local race, that reality is not lost. Coming to a race and expecting to win is a rather interesting feeling. First, it is extremely uneasy and it's a lot of pressure. But, as soon as the horn sounded, it instantly vanished. Kind of strange. Also, there is positive that I lost by 3:24, a good margin in a race this short. It shows me both how far I've come, and how much further I need to go at the same time. For some reason, that reality deeply motivates and excites me.

Also, my coach, Mary Eggers, nailed the plan for me at the go....I wasn't clear how to attack that first run, and she nailed it!

Oh, to "anonymous" requesting the link for results, here you go!

Du Results

2010-04-25T17:39:00.001-04:00

More details to come, but I was able to get 2nd overall, even though I missed a bike turn.

My first pay day in the sport as well, as the race paid the top three overall.

Oh yeah, my boy Matt C. got some M-Dot hardware down in Texas at the Memorial Hermann 70.3 placing 4th in his AG!

Looking Back

2010-04-20T10:23:00.000-04:00

http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2010/04/100-year-old_reader_shares_mem.html

The link above has little to do with triathlon. Well, nothing actually.

I just found it interesting, at the age of 100, what this person recalls, quite vividly I might add.

Anyway, read and take from it what you will....

Have a good day all!

No Data!

2010-04-18T07:46:00.001-04:00

This week has been a week of "no data!" Coach has me focused on pacing, finding the pace by feel and not by the gadgets that can sometimes take over and control workouts. I will say, I have enjoyed my time, running especially, without the gadgets holding me back or pushing me forward. It allows you to find and feel the internal clock we all have, and each pace should have a certain feel to it.

It seems this skill is crucial for IM racing. While I will surely have the PM and HRM with me at IMLP; I will constantly monitor how I feel along with the feedback from those devices. Comparing that to how I felt during training, how I ran after those feelings. When I start the run in IMLP and my Garmin won't sync up, what does our pace feel like? What should it feel like at mile 1 and at mile 3?

Saturday was a 3 hour ride on feel only. I went out with my buddy Matt, and we went 1.5 hours out, then back. It was fairly calm on the way out, and we left around 6:45. It started out cold and wet, and ended cold, wet and windy.

At the turn around, I thought the final stretch wouldn't be too bad, but when we hit the final 18 miles, it was headwinds the whole way. Matt had a tempo block, and dropped me like a brick. He looked strong. I was going to give chase, but kept things steady and tried to enjoy the day. I don't have many Saturday rides where the instructions are, "3 hours, I don't want any data, go by feel. Find your endurance zone. Have fun." Plus, Matt looked strong, and I'm not sure I wanted to give chase.

I have a 1 hour run today, all by feel, and next week we're back at it . . . and I get to race on Sunday! An inaugural duathlon, which is also my inaugural duathlon. I'm wondering what it's going to be like to bike after a run, mainly how it will feel. My prediction is, pain....but the good kind.

Tired!

2010-04-14T20:51:00.000-04:00

I have an easy week, and I'm fairly tired. Sometimes that seems to happen on recovery weeks; I feel more tired than I do on normal weeks.

Interesting, not sure why.

All in all, things are really well. Fitness seems like it's in a good spot, and I feel like I'm getting stronger. I have a 400 yard TT Friday at the pool, and I am excited for that to see how I do.

Tomorrow just nice and easy bike and run, and a long ride on Saturday.

Short and quick tonight....I'm going to bed!

Trust

2010-04-13T06:08:00.000-04:00

Trust is a funny thing. To earn it, give it, accept it is not an easy task. You can work years on building trust, and in an instant it can be gone without even realizing you lost it. You can know someone for years, speak with them eye to eye hundreds of times, go through life changing events together, yet a degree of trust could be lacking. On the other hand, you can know someone for months, barely see them, and trust is established.

They say you earn trust, which suggests it is built over time, through experience and getting to know someone; this is not entirely true.

An easy way to establish trust is to put someone's interests in front of your own. What else says, "I'm in this for you" more than that? This is easier said than done, of course.

I would hope my kids and my wife could say that, I would put myself in front of anything for them, they know that and understand that, so it's easy for them to trust me; in the end they know I'm in it for them.

With other relationships, it's not as easy. We cannot expect people who are outside of our immediate circle to put everything into us before them, nor should they. Therefore, trust is harder to establish, and sometimes you need to have a little faith and fall back blindly into it. Trusting yourself and your gut, before trusting what it is you are leaping into.

Eventually, confirmation comes, and you were either right or wrong. More often than not, your gut is correct, and the trust gives you a higher degree of confidence.

We all have these relationships in our lives, every day. People we know we can trust, people we know we cannot, people we wish we could, people we are glad we don't have to.

So, to those who occasionally put me before them, even if it's just a fraction of your day, thank you. Though I sometimes may not always do the same, I see your efforts.

Long Ride

2010-04-11T08:21:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's long ride was a much better experience than the week prior. While the wind was fierce and the temperature chilly, it didn't prevent me from getting all I could from the day.

The one thing I keyed on the most was a feeling more than anything. My legs were pretty shelled at the end of this ride, but it felt different than last week. The difference between how I felt last week and this week, though small, is actually huge. That feeling is the key of being able to run after, and I'm pretty confident I know how I should feel at mile 40 and than mile 90 at IMLP in order to run after. Perhaps more importantly, how I shouldn't feel.

The ride yesterday was to be an hour Z2, followed by 4 x 20 minutes tempo/40 minutes Z2. I kept things in check, right around 200 watts, for the Z2 activity, and was pleased to be able to keep it around there with my current state of fatigue, which is quite high. The tempo efforts were right around 244 watts and I was very pleased to be able to hold the same wattage for each interval.

The wind was pretty brutal, at one 30 mile stretch, it was head winds the whole way, and 250 watts would get me 12-16 mph.

I was expecting to get my first century ride yesterday, but the winds had other plans, and I came up about 5 miles short.

After the ride, I hopped on a 30 minute run, and I was happy to see I had to hold myself back to hit the prescribed pace of 7:30/mile.

So, a great day yesterday, I have a 2 hour run today then a recovery week. The past 3 weeks have been some big weeks for me, and I'm excited to take the opportunity to allow the fitness to build. I also look forward to future weeks and the continual building process that is Ironman.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

1 stroke, 6 eyes

2010-04-10T07:01:00.000-04:00

I had my coach look at my video and she said I made huge improvements since December, which was good to hear, and we soon picked up on some things to continue the improvement. The one thing that stood out to her was my forearm during the pull. As you can see in the picture, my pull is too wide, but at least my elbow is high. She feels we can get a stronger pull by moving my forearm in as the blue line indicates.

Some other things as well, but that is the main point right now.

I also have a swim coach looking at this, and he will work with me one on one during swim sessions to hammer home the areas we need to improve upon. It will be fun to have someone on deck barking at me as I swim. I've swam alone ever since I started, and it seems swimming could be easier when you know someone is watching the clock with you.

In addition to the two of them, I sent the clip to TJ at badig.com. When I first got into the sport a little over a year ago, I was often on BT seeking out those that could help me. I'm not sure how, but I came across TJ and he is a great swimmer who is extremely eager to help. His advice early on got me very focused in the pool.

So, I really think that is the key to improvement. Taking an honest look at where you are at, understand where you want to go, and seek out those that already do what you want.

Today I have a 5 hour ride with 30 minute run, THAT I WILL NAIL. It's going to top out at 42 degrees today, and it's windy...and the weather says it "feels like" 10 degrees lower than what it is. What's up with that? If it's 42 but feels like 33, why not just say it's 33? I mean, does it really matter what it really is, if what it really is is wrong?

Swim Video

2010-04-07T19:38:00.000-04:00

I decided a couple weeks ago to get some swim lessons, and got a video done this morning as part of the process. I'll follow up as to what I need to improve upon based on the video, the drills and sets we use to improve as well as progress I make. The clip above is right around my current t-time pace of 1:20-1:25/100.

This is a good time to get me out of the water FOP locally, but I feel when we get that down to 1:15, or a a 5:00 400 yard TT, that will put me in decent position no matter where the race.

Now, if I could only throw down a 35 minute 10k run leg......it's gonna take more than a video and lessons for that......:)

The Education of Little Mike

2010-04-03T15:50:00.000-04:00

I recall reading a Gordo post not too long ago, and he was discussing how it can be difficult to learn from the mistakes of others; and he said something along the lines of, "I disagree with how you are going about this, but I can appreciate your desire to want to learn for yourself."

Well, I've certainly been schooled the past two weeks as the season of long rides is upon us. This is a little strange, because I am fairly patient and do have a good ability to pace myself for being so new.

Today, I simply let my balls do the riding, and I paid the price in the end, not being able to run my prescribed transition pace of 30 minutes @ 7:30/mile. Last week, this run was easy, today not so much. Couldn't even do it. I stopped after 20 minutes, as walking every 3 minutes and running 9 minute miles was pointless. I said, go home Mike, so tomorrow you can actually run.

How did all this happen? Pretty simple, I don't have a lot of rides over 3.5 hours; I have two. One last week and one today.

To put it simply, holding a pace for 3 hours and holding a pace for 4 hours are two entirely different things.

Today started out really really well. At about 2 hours in, I was settled in to a good Z2 pace, and was holding fairly steady. However, around 2:10, my HR started to creep up, and with 1/2 the ride left to go, with 1 hour of tempo, it was at that moment I should have backed off. And when I say back off, I'm talking like 5 watts. Nothing major at all. Even RPE wise I knew that was my moment to nail the ride.

But NOOOO....I kept going, 'cause I was humming at a nice pace, and I'm the man, so clearly I can hold this for another 1.5 hours, than drop some tempo.

So, I go on, ignore a few signals that I should probably back off (more on that in a bit).

Than my tempo block comes up, and I'm gonna hold 250 watts, "No matter what!" Because I'm the man, and I train to win, and I hold 250 watts in my sleep. The run after you say?...Pa-lease, it's a 30 minute transition run...Big. Freakin'. Deal. Plus, did I mention I'm the man yet?

So, after like 10 minutes at 260 watts, my HR is much higher than it should be, and I feel OK, but there's this voice inside my head, "Michael, you are pushing too hard....OK, you only have 30 minutes to run after this...but when it counts, you gotta run 26.2 miles."

Who invited this guy to the party? My response, "F off. I'm having fun here, I'm throwing down some sick tempo. I'm the man as well. I'll slow down when I'm 80. Bitch."

Yeah, try telling that guy to slow down. Clearly this guy is, "gonna learn on his own." After 20 minutes of that, I have no desire to drink Gatorade. I blame the fact that my gut is starting to lock up on the fact that it is warm. Even though I am thirsty, I have no desire to drink warm Gatorade, but it has nothing to do with my pace, and everything to do with the fact that it is warm. Sign number two it's time to slow down.

But I'm no fool...I have the solution (slow down says the voice in my head), "slow down?!?!...slow down?!?! Clearly I need an ice cold Cherry Coke." As SOON as I think that, BOOM, a gas station comes up on my right. See! That's a freakin' sign right there.

So, I stop, and slam my Cherry Coke....better now. For like a good 3-4 minutes at least.

So, after 20 more minutes of that, every time I come to a stop sign, I feel like I have to puke; Finally! Both guys in my head are convinced I should slow down, and then another ass hole shows up and says, "you came this far douche bag, 20 more minutes of this and you're done."

OK. Makes sense.

So, my hour tempo is done, and I'm so gonna nail my 30 minute run.

Yeah. Right. I was done after 20 minutes, which included about 3-5 of walking.

Lesson learned; slow down when you know you have to slow down. If this was race day, I would have walked over half that marathon--easy. My bike split would have been sick though.

Now, I'm really not that upset over this workout. Hopefully those reading this can follow the post, and it makes some sense.

I e-mailed coach, and promised, PROMISED I would nail this next week. And every week until race day.

Today's Ride

2010-04-03T09:18:00.000-04:00

Here's the route for today. 4:30, with the last hour tempo. I went with a flat route as I prefer to hit tempo on flat area that allows me to hit a groove and just go. This *should* get me home between 4:20-4:30...we shall see.....

Chasing the Sun

2010-04-01T06:16:00.001-04:00

Today is going to bring some great weather, before we ever would have expected it no more than 2 weeks ago. 70 degrees today, 79 this weekend. How nice it shall be to bike in shorts and a jersey; to feel the sweat drip down your forehead. To chase my son down the street as he learns how to ride his bike, to hear the crack of the aluminum bat while the smell of baseball consumes my senses.

As the weather transitions from a cold gray blanket into a welcoming blue sky, it reminds me of the journey. How the dead of winter is necessary for one to appreciate the beauty of life.

The sun has powerful abilities; it can instantly change your emotions and jump start your soul. Walking outside and taking a deep breath on a beautiful day is as uplifting as the worlds best cup of coffee. At first, it warms you from within, eliminating the need for artificial warmth, than jolts your spirits and urges you go tackle life. The sun allows you to go a little further when it comes out in true form; going home early rarely happens. Instead, you chase the day, as if heading west will extend the day; extend the warmth.

Eventually the sun rests into the horizon, only to awaken other sleeping emotions of seasons past. The sweet smell of the neighbors grill lighting up, the sounds of an intense game of kick the can and a crisp chill that your favorite sweatshirt can fight off like a champ.

Yes, good weather has awaken in upstate New York, and we finally get to enjoy it. The main reason we shall enjoy it so much, is because the dead of winter allows us to see the alternative.

Much like training each day; those that suffer the most, who spend the most hours in the dark alone, spinning on a trainer gaining no ground, shall be the ones who enjoy the days to come.

Long Ride and Lessons Learned

2010-03-27T18:49:00.000-04:00

Today I was to venture out for a 4 hour bike, all endurance based, then follow up with a 30 min transition run at a prescribed pace. It seemed simple enough, and I thought it was going to go great. It was a little cold, but deceiving as it was very sunny and clear, with little wind.

I had a little cold before I left, but felt more than fine to go through with the ride. I had Jen drop me off at Jamesville beach, where I would ride the Syracuse 70.3 bike course, then head home. The route I planned was around 80 miles, which I thought would take right around 4 hours. Yeah....right.

The ride started out well, the first 10-15 miles of the course is basically a gradual climb, nothing major. The first hour I traveled around 16.5 miles, which is not what I expected, but didn't want to push too much, and kept both watts and HR in check; both were lining up pretty nice.

I never quite warmed up, which was the start of problems to come. I would do a climb, warm up, than hit a decent and get fairly cold; repeated this for a good 2 hours.

The 56 mile course actually went well, and I "headed home" to complete the 4 hours. This is where there was more climbing than I expected; turns out long rides will level out an elevation chart. Things were still going fairly well, but I was still cold and wanted to be done right around 3:00-3:10 and at this time I knew the ride was going to take a little longer than planned.

Then, I missed my turn, and proceeded to go 2 miles, into a pretty nasty climb, the wrong way. This is when the mental battle began, and I come pretty close to calling Jen and having her pick me up where I would be around 4 hours. I was cold, my head was starting to congest, and I just realized I went a good 10-15 minutes too long on a ride that was already too long.

On I pressed, found my turn, then looked and saw what I had to climb, and was none too pleased. I was in my easiest gear, and had to leave my saddle; couldn't even spin up it at this point.

Once I got to the top, things settled down, and I started making my way home. I finally made it to the home stretch, about 5 miles, and had no clue how I was going to run for 30 minutes.

4:22, 84 miles, 5200 feet of elevation gain.

I made a quick change, and hopped on my run at the prescribed pace, and was surprised I was able to hit it fairly easily, so I got that going for me...:)

This was the first time I wanted to quit a ride. It's never happened in a race before and certainly never training before. I just wanted it to end, and it wasn't like my effort was through the roof. My HR averaged 140 the whole time, and was basically level after I warmed up. I averaged 138 BPM the first hour and 140 BPM the last hour. Watts stayed consistent as well.

Now, I think I learned couple things out here today, and the main thing is durability. It doesn't seem I will slow down at the Ironman distance because I'm not doing well aerobically. This is kind of funny I experienced this today, because my coach just wrote a blog post on durability. It seems once you get up to 70, 80, 90, 112 miles, then to be able to run off that, you better have some time in the saddle. Like lots of it. Because it seems your HR and power can be fine and level, but mentally you may want to quit, and your body will feel fairly banged up, even though all data shows everything should be good.

I could be reading into this wrong, and it's only one workout; but to want to quit when all vitals point to a good ride, tells me otherwise. Also, it could have been the weather as well; if it was 70 degrees, maybe this never happens? I also cannot underestimate the effect of the head cold on my mental state today.

I'm anxious to see how I absorb this day, and look forward to going out again for 4+ hours to have a comparison.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Saturday Long Ride

2010-03-27T07:04:00.001-04:00

Here is my ride for today, which is 4 hours steady aerobic work. Going to go out to the Syracuse 70.3 course then will ride home, which is 83 miles and should take me around 4 hours. Going to be around 40 degrees, but very sunny and little wind today, so it should make for an excellent ride.

I'll be back to talk about the details of the ride.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Track Workout

2010-03-24T09:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had a track workout, first time I went to the track in over a year. We are about 4 weeks out from my next race, so we are adding the "final layer" as coach would say. We were able to get a lot faster in the off season with no speed work at all, and just a handful of tempo efforts. So, the thought is we can get that final push into the Duathlon on April 25th and get some extra speed.

It was cold, rainy and windy, not fun conditions for the track, and I didn't have gloves or a hat, but got through it.

The workout called for 8*400 meter intervals, with a 200 recovery, between 1:26-1:32. In the past when I have done track workouts, (which is maybe a whole 2-3 times), I've never been able to hold the intervals. In the end, my pace would always drop. There could be several reasons for this, but it's probably because I just started out too fast.

Yesterday, though, they felt really good. I was able to hold the effort throughout, and each interval felt like a good push, yet didn't blow me up. I came in at 1:24-1:26 on each one, and could have pushed harder but stayed at the prescribed pace, as it still gave me a good burn.

I'm a huge believer in a lot of steady state work based on my goals, however some speed work like this makes sense as races approach to get that little extra. It's also good just to see how my body responds to this and use that experience in the future.

Learning to Bike

2010-03-21T16:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I took the training wheels of my son's bike. He did great, and today compared to yesterday was night and day; no issues, except for braking on the downhills.

I explained this to my wife, and she said, "how do we get him better at braking."

Without even thinking twice, as if it was instinct, I said, "Lets just have him bike more."

If he was 10 years older, I would have designed a plan, gave him some drills, worked up a special diet and enrolled him into bike braking school.

I need to remember this when he asks me one day, "Dad, what's zone 2 mean?"

Back at it...

2010-03-20T14:37:00.000-04:00

After an exciting week in Florida, I'm back at some sort of normalcy, and today's ride was a simple 2 hour effort, capped at zone 2 HR and I was to record the power, but not ride based on it (power). I decided to go 1 hour into the Syracuse 70.3 course, then turn around, to check it out.

This is a great course, and good training ground for my outside rides this year. There isn't much elevation around my house, and this provides some good steady climbs, nothing major and the scenery is great. This course is going to be awesome in the fall.

I was excited to be able to hold 239 watts at 158 BPM, fairly steady and consistent, without my HR jumping into a tempo effort. My last half, on September 13th last year, I held 233 watts at 158 BPM. So, improvement is clear. I cannot wait to do some tempo work on this course.

That's about it, tomorrow is a 1:20 run, then next week we jump right back into IMLP prep, and I have been warned that I better be ready to work.

Let's go....I'm ready!

MIT Race Report

2010-03-17T14:56:00.000-04:00

Overall, this was a good race, that in the end built a ton of confidence; mainly in my training and to trust the ability I have. They seeded my wave towards the end, so there was some waiting, and I was ready to go.

The swim, 23:09, 1:24/100 yards, 6/110 AG

This was my first salt water swim, and I enjoyed it. The 35-39 AG was late middle wave, so we had some waiting to do. As we got closer, my heart started to pump, and my teeth began to chatter. I wasn't nervous, just excited. My feet hit the water, and I positioned myself in the front to the right. When the horn sounded, I took a few running steps, then just dove right in. The first few hundred yards were a little tight, but as soon as I hit the first buoy, I was clear of my wave. Each time I would site, I saw no more lime green caps (the 35-39 color), and began to catch the other waves. The swim was quite nice, and I was never really pushing the pace at all, but perhaps should have. Just kept telling myself: reach, pull, extend..

Bike, 1:03:15, 23.6 MPH, 3/110 AG

Very good bike, I just hammered away. Last year, I descended into my bike efforts, as I just wasn't sure how I would hold up throughout. This year is going to be a more consistent effort, and this worked much better. I made the decision to shoot for 300 watts, as based on training that was very attainable. However, I would also make the decision on the fly to ease off or push more if it felt right and resulted in more speed. There was definitely some wind out there, as the course was flat and my speed would change big time when we changed direction.

Run, 41:37, 6:42/mile, 3/110 AG

A good run, though I left some out there. To be honest, I didn't know I could hold 6:40's for this....I mean, I've never done it before. We were just going off training numbers, and we expected 6:30-6:45. After racking my bike, I knew I was in good position. I came out of the water and saw no green caps in front of me during the swim, and only one person passed me on the bike. So I knew I was in a very good spot in the AG race. So I just ran, slightly holding back, but mainly just went. The trail was very tight, and traffic was going both ways. I just kept passing people, and each person in my sights in front of me was my enemy. Mentally, it was my job to catch them, and if I couldn't, there would be consequences. The first mile came in around 6:48 or so, and I knew I could go faster, so I did. The next few were high 6:30s. Final two were around 6:40s and I was just holding on. I looked at my watch, and set my carrot of 2:10, and just pushed for it. I could hear the chips ringing off in the distance, and knew the finish was close. I gave the final push, and hit the line at 2:11:07. One person passed me on the run.

I finished and got some water, and walked around. After 10 minutes, all of a sudden, BOOM...threw up. Luckily there was a palm tree and I just tucked under it and let it go. I smiled to myself...I had given it a good go. My body had been defeated...and that's the goal. To beat yourself.

This is a good race that can test your ability early on in the season. Also, this is very early in my training, and now I know that I am hitting race targets based on training. Huge confidence builder. In the end, I can look at the results two ways. Age group results. 3/110 in my AG and 13/965 Age group overall. Or 72/1112 including everyone, guys like Matt Chrabot, Chris Lieto and Matty Reed. Elites who have been doing this for years. The AG results give me a sense of accomplishment, like I achieved a lot. The overall results force me to see I actually got my ass kicked. For a day, I allowed myself to enjoy the AG finish of 3/110. It's good, but no where close to great. I want great.

Now, the 72 becomes the focus. Can I chip away at that?

There is only one way to find out.

I posted this on BT a few days ago, and have since received some messages stating I should be proud, and some got the sense I was not satisfied. I just want to be clear I was satisfied. The second I hit the finish line, I knew I had a good race for where I came from. I am grateful, thankful, satisfied....I just want more. Not in a greedy sense; I want to earn more.

Thank you for reading.

MIT Results

2010-03-15T08:30:00.000-04:00

2:11:07

3/110 Age Group
13/999 in Age Group overall
72/1112 including pros and open amateurs

Race report to come....

Getting Up

2010-03-04T05:47:00.000-05:00

What gets you up in the morning? Everyone has something that nudges them up in the morning, some earlier than others. It wasn't too long ago time got me up, slowly convincing me it was "time" to start my day. I got up because you had to get up, though I'm not so certain I was truly getting up; for the moment, that very second...what am I going to do now, to "get up."

The past couple years, something has allowed me to rise at early hours with little concern. It's been easy.

I see numbers in my training, lately bike watts and Z2 run paces, improving, and I seek out justification that those numbers may not play out when it counts. What's missing coach? What can we do to get better coach?

But I keep getting up, because deep down I know they will. I don't need some prediction table to tell me what I'm going to do on race day, I don't need a person on a forum to cap my potential. I get up every day and put forth the maximal possible effort required for me to improve that day; no more, no less. Count on that. Count on me hitting the starting line ready, and while my chest may not be the one to hit the tape, count on me getting up that day. I will not sleep in. I haven't slept in for years. Though today you have the ability to beat my hours, you will not beat my consistency. You will not beat my motivation. You will not beat my effort.

You may even beat me when it counts today, but tomorrow I will get up before you, and some day you will wonder how the fuck I caught you.

As the saying goes, I'll sleep in when I'm dead....until then, you better get up before me, stronger than me, with more intent than me; but word of warning....even if you do, I'm coming.

New Ride

2010-02-27T06:25:00.000-05:00

My wife and I aren't big on Valentines day, birthdays, Christmas and all the other holidays where gifts are expected. We celebrate those days, but it's seldom we exchange gifts. Jewelry is not a concern of my wife's, though she deserves the world's biggest diamond, she has little desire for such things.

It works out well, as I find the best gifts are those things that bring a big ass smile to your face when least expected; and if they shed a tear, even better.

My wife is a true supporter, my biggest fan. She never slows me down, and often provides the precise amount of support, never seeking credit for it. She enables every ounce of success.

We both found this sport together, and it was time for her to get a tri bike. So, we did a little shopping at Geneva Bicycle Center in Geneva, NY. Jim Hogan at Geneva has service on the top of his mind, and he makes sure you get what you want. Walk into Jim's shop and tell him you want to buy a bike, and chances are it will be close to an hour before you even get on one. The first 30 minutes are spent finding out what you will be using it for. Then, he will discuss your history, both injuries and results. He will talk about fit, speed, safety and pretty much go over what you need to know about the bike buying process. He will not yes you to death, and will only tell you what you need to know. If you see a bike you love, and that might work, that he knows is sold, he won't sell it to you. You will only walk out of his shop with a bike that will work for you, and that makes you "jump up and down."

After going through this process with Jen, it was clear there were few choices in regard to bikes. Trek Project One was a no go, smallest trek was still too tall, and though we may have been able to cram her on it, that was not going to happen. A 48 Cervelo was our best option, and red/white makes my wife cringe. So, we have a problem.

Now for most, especially guys, color is of little concern. At least for me, give me a bike that is fast, fits well, and will get me to T2 safe. For Jen, and probably most girls, it's gotta have some degree of coolness. I understand this; I don't agree with it, but I understand it.

She was OK with the blue/gray P2, and from there the plan hatched in my head to give her what she wanted....to make her "jump up and down." Because OK is simply not good enough.

Long story short, Jim and I devised a plan to custom paint a P2 with her favorite colors, build it up from the frame and surprise her with it. On February 25th she walked into Geneva Bike expecting a blue/gray P2, and got a green and black P2.

Her reaction was quite priceless, and I imagine the sting from the premium we paid will quickly vanish, yet the experience will be around forever. I envision 20 years from now, we'll look back on this and smile.

On Valentine's day, my wife doesn't expect chocolates or flowers; on her birthday little is exchanged (well, I do make a mean chocolate peanut butter banana cake, her favorite), and I never ask her what she wants for Christmas.

I find the best gifts are given when absolutely least expected, and most often they just come up when least expected. Sometimes we seek out things we don't necessarily need or want on the days when we expect to receive things. It takes away from the experience, and experience is the best gift of all; it is what you cherish years from now.

Some have said, "Dude, your wife has a better bike than you!! That's not how it works!" I just smile and laugh. In my head though, I cannot help but think, "it's not about the bike," it's about the ride, and on February 25th we both got a whole lot faster.

The bike? Well, it's much like her; perfect.

key sessions

2010-02-21T14:43:00.000-05:00

We do our key sessions back to back Saturday and Sunday, mainly for time concerns; as a working father, it would be hard to do a 2 hour run in the middle of the week.

Saturday's ride was 3:15, with 2:00 at Z2 and the final 1:15 at tempo pace. We used the IMAZ course, and it resets at 56 miles. I need to figure how to have the CT automatically continue on with the workout and start over, yet keep the file going. The chart above shuts off at about 2:35; it would be nice if the course just started on a 2nd loop and the data was one solid stream. I only put the first 2:35 above, and I felt really good during the Z2 effort, which came in at 219 watts. Tempo felt great for about an hour, the last 15 minutes was a true mental battle. Those 15 minutes felt longer than the previous 30. I was OK aerobically, I think I just wanted to get off. I held about 249 watts during the last 1:15, at a steady HR of around 155 bpm. Solid effort, and followed it up with a 30 transition run.

Sunday brought an easy 1 hour recovery spin, and a 2 hour long run. The run was 1:40 Z2 and the final 20 minutes at tempo. I shocked myself during this run. I was able to maintain 7:47/mile over the 1:40 at a pretty steady HR, all at mid Z2 or lower.

The 20 minute tempo came in at 6:57/mile. This is good improvement for me. The first time I ever ran in a race was in May 2008, a 5k, was 23:30 or 7:35/mile. That 5k felt like all other 5ks I have done in my life; pure hell.

How I just ran 2:00 at 7:39/mile, with 83% a steady Z2 pace, is beyond me; I guess you just keep running, and it gives the crazy dreams in my head life.

So, I'm in a good place right now. I have one more week of about 14 hours, then I imagine a rest week, then I get ready for Miami, which is March 14th. My expectations for Miami? None, except to put it all out there, which I haven't done in 6 months.

Long Run

2010-02-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

Today's long run was pretty basic, 2 hours of zone 2, nice and steady. I'm a big fan and believer of descending into workouts. Especially on runs this long, as early on it is very difficult to gauge how you will feel on the way home from a 2 hour out and back; nothing blows up a run like fighting down your HR as your pace is dropping 10-20 seconds per mile. Its awful, been there, don't like it.

Instead, I like to finish runs strong, push or maintain the pace, and keep my HR in check for the day. Finishing in the zone, within the zone.

I was able to hold an overall pace of 7:45/mile over the last hour, all in zone 2, and it felt really good. The last 20 minutes was around 7:38.

I started out a little conservative, and probably could have done the 2 hours below 7:50 and kept the HR in check, but I'm not going to let that bother me. I'll ease into the 2 hour run over the next few weeks, really honing in on how I should attack it.

This weekend turned out very well for me. 4 hours of biking and 2.5 hours of running; and they all felt awesome.

Feeling really strong right now.

Daemons from Friday are dead, destroyed by the previous days work, however, when least expected he will come back; only stronger. Recognize it, realize it's OK to lose a battle or two, but the war is mine.

Saturday long ride

2010-02-13T17:21:00.001-05:00

Quick recap on today's session.

It was a really good one, and felt great. Bike was 3 hours, with 2 at a pretty steady endurance zone of 215 watts, followed up by 1 hour of tempo at 255 watts.

I followed it up with a 30 min transition run, 10 minutes endurance at 7:54/mile, 10 minutes of tempo at 6:50/mile and 10 minutes of zone 2 at 7:46/mile.

I wasn't sure how I was going to respond, but it felt really good today, and I really didn't want to stop.

Birth of Regret

2010-02-13T05:52:00.000-05:00

I was going to "write" a post, but not much time here. Still wanted to get some things on paper.

Yesterday was plain awful. I had to quit a swim workout; first time I had to walk away from a workout in months.

I left that pool questioning if it was the right call over and over, beating myself up. I was off more than 30 seconds for a 500 set that should have been easy. I was tired, not the kind of tired where you want to go back to bed, the kind that was you drained. Fatigued.

I still couldn't help but wonder, "did I quit?" "Is staying in the pool the difference between me and those that kick my ass on race day?"

I explained the way I felt to coach, she agreed.

I asked a respected athlete, who's performances are above my potential, and he said I did the right thing.

Still though, it leaves an unsettling feeling in my stomach; like I gave up, and regret takes life and attempts to kill the optimism within.

Well, it's time to drown this regret; this daemon that always seems to find its way back.

Chilly Chily 5k RR

2010-02-07T16:27:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in my previous post, we have testing every so often to see fitness gains, and to allow us to set pacing/realistic expectations for races. For running, we use a 5k.

Today was the Chilly Chili 5k in Cazenovia, NY. Driving up, I was glad to see the wind calm and the weather was actually pretty good for this time of year. Once we got to Caz, however, snow started to come down, though thankfully it wasn't building up on the roads. Wind picked up before the start, but died down just before we started the race. It was 18 degrees and wind was 10-11 mph.

The course had two hills, the first one was actually pretty brutal, was .8 miles long, and my paced dropped :54 seconds per mile over the climb. I have never done this course before, so wasn't sure what to expect. For the first 3-4 minutes, I was solidly under 6:00/mile, and felt really really good. At the time, I knew I wouldn't hold that pace for 3.1 miles, but also knew it wouldn't drop off by much over the next 15 minutes. Once I saw the first hill, the thoughts of 18:xx were immediately put to bed.

I was able to get my pace to 6:15 or so after cresting the hill, and settled right back into that range until hitting the second hill, which was nothing like the first.

The second hill was only 0.25 miles long, but still forced my pace down to 6:51/mile. The top of this hill basically marked the 2 mile point, and I was able to settle into a 6:0x pace the rest of the way as we finally had some flat ground ahead of us.

At this point, it was "just hang on" mode, and I knew the finish was close. This is where I look for motivators or "carrots" to get the last few seconds out, like sub 20, or sub 19:30. With the finish line in sight, I knew I was between 19:30-19:40, so it made it hard to push. I hit the line at 19:38, a PR by 20 seconds over my last 5k. I think I had another 3-5 seconds, nothing major. My lungs were burning at the end, so overall I gave it a good go.

The best part is, run training really hasn't been a focus. Mileage has been slowly building up, but I haven't run more than 25 miles in a week, and at that everything is z1-z2. I have not seen tempo pace since my HIM in September of 2009.

I honestly feel I can get this well under 19:00 by June, and that will set us up well for IMLP from a pacing perspective.

Of course, executing the expectation is what matters!

Thanks for reading!

Failed 400?

2010-02-06T07:08:00.000-05:00

We have three tests we hit every few weeks in each sport, for swimming it is an all out 400. Rest a minute, and do it again. The average is our T-time, that is used for all training swims. This time can also set an expectation of when I'll pop out of the water on race day.

I tested this past Wednesday, hit the wall at 5:33 and was immediately disappointed. I wasn't sure how I was going to get up for the second 400, but somehow convinced myself to do it and truly go all out. The second 400 came in at 5:46.

A couple months ago I went 5:33 and 5:46. Yeah, that's no typo, exactly the same time. No improvement.

I left the pool that morning pissed. I wanted to do it again; convincing myself I would do better. My expectations going into that swim was 5:25-5:29, I knew I was going under 5:30. Fail.

On my way into work, I needed to turn my perspective on all this, and went through every excuse in the book as to why I did not improve, but eventually I think I figured out why. Still though, I needed to change my attitude.

I simply forgot about it, though blocking it out gave me little clarity, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

Towards the end of the day, I decided to clean out my inbox, and was going through the several e-mails from/to my coach, and came across one from October 2009:

Hey Coach!,

OK, 1st 400 was 5:55, 2nd one was 6:12. Felt good. With some hard work, I really think we can get this to 5:20-5:30 by June."

"Let's Go!!!"

That was the perspective change I needed. No more than 4 months ago, I made it clear a 400 of 5:20-5:30 would set us up well for IMLP; and it will. Here I am 3 seconds away from a June goal in February, and I'm pissed.

Though that changed the perspective on the result, I still wanted to find out why there was no improvement.

Simply, I was not working as hard in the pool these past couple of months. From October to mid November, my 400 dropped 33 seconds. Apparently, I thought it was going to be easy, that every test I would see my time drop, as long as I did the yards.

That is just not how it works. My time dropped 33 seconds in 6 weeks because I got in the pool and worked hard. I didn't swim just to swim, or to hit some time goal or some yardage goal for the day. Each lap I gave it my all. I didn't do that over the past few months. Some days I did, but some days I swam just to swim. I went through the motions.

I'm not just saying this, looking back on it, and looking at my personal logs, things changed. I used to time each set and record them in my logs; I haven't done that in months. I used to leave the pool and my lats had that good hurt. I would get done with a main set that had a lot of pulling, and want to throw my paddles into the woods. When it said easy, I went easy. When it said main set, I worked. The past few months, my swimming was meshed into one big workout of just, "get it done." This was NOT a conscious decision, I believe it was a sub-conscious result of seeing big improvement, and thinking that would happen every time.

This is the value of writing this blog and keeping logs. I was a victim of my own early, relative, success in the pool. I got comfortable with my time. Hey, a 1:25 t-time is not bad for someone who's been swimming 16 months. I was comfortable with it, therefore it become comfortable with me.

No more. Time to start recording each set. Time to start hating sets when I am done with them. Time to leave the pool and have my body hurt, not because it is in alarming pain, but because I left my comfort zone.

A Brisk Long Run

2010-01-31T12:55:00.000-05:00

The sun outside suggested the weatherman was mistaken, but it didn't take long to realize he was spot on. Though the air was cold, I was prepared today and tried my best to not allow the elements effect the run too much. I filled 3 fuel belt bottles with extremely hot tap water, expecting by the time I needed it, they would be at a good temperature. By 45 minutes, they were a slush puppy consistency.

I really wasn't into it for the first 20-30 minutes, and wanted to go home. I don't think it was the temperature, and my legs felt fine, I just wasn't "feeling it." I kept telling myself that this would end like it usually does; in 5-10 more minutes, I would be fine.

Sure enough, that was the case, and by the time the 8*30 second strides came into picture, I was happy to be outside.

Then came the turn around, and it was at this point I realized there was a little bit of wind. For some reason, I didn't feel it against my back for the first 50 minutes or so, but I was fully aware on the way home.

This is when I wanted to quit, and the value of running outside on days like these came into effect. The wind slowed my pace down dramatically, and my HR told me I was within a good effort, but eventually I just ignored it. I wanted to experience the thoughts of wanting to quit due to elements outside my control, and push through it. The only way to end the misery was to get home, slowing down would only extend it.

This, I expect, is what I'll experience at some point on July 25th, though I imagine at a much more intense level.

I think it's good to want to quit in training, not because you can no longer keep up aerobically, but because the elements are annoying you. And perhaps more importantly, step into a situation knowing full well, at some point, you would rather be somewhere else, yet quiting does not put you back into your comfort zone.

Now I just need to step it up and have the balls to get on my bike on a day like today and stop cowering to the CT in the basement.

Man up

2010-01-31T08:32:00.000-05:00

Man up. 1 hour, 45 min run, 1 degree. This should certainly get the blood flowing.

Good Day

2010-01-30T13:46:00.001-05:00

Nice day today. Did IMNZ 70.3 course, which has one climb to start, and a second climb at the end, other than that it is fairly flat and gave me a great opportunity to just hammer away at a nice endurance effort.

I was able to sustain 223 watts @ 144 bpm, which is pretty good. My HIM in September 2009 was at 233 watts @ 158 bpm. Obviously, conditions were much different during the race than in my basement, but a solid effort and improvement has been steady.

Following the 2:45 CT ride, I went for a quick 30 min run, which came in better than expected. It was bitter cold, though from the inside looking out I thought it was going to be beautiful. Very sunny.

If the run was any longer than 30 minutes, I would have had to get a third glove, if you catch my drift. I was getting nervous there for a minute.

Note to self, for tomorrows long run, dress more appropriately.

Sitting in my compression garments, gonna make a big ass salad and the 'Cuse is on in 7 minutes. So, ignore all the spelling errors, because I got to go tune in!

Compression Tights and Recovery

2010-01-24T14:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my first experience with compression gear, and really my first time going through an active recovery process following a key session. My impression of using them? I am a fan.

Lets first back up and discuss what lead me to compression, but really more importantly the process of using them. We all go out for 3 hour rides and follow it up with a run. For IM training, this is just the beginning, soon I will be building up to 4-5-6 hour rides, then I will be at it again the next day for a long run. If I place the two sessions out well, I can get a good 36 hours between the two to rest and make that run as good as possible. Is that enough?

Probably not, but as an AG athlete that balances work, a family, training, what else can we do and more importantly when?

One of the best technical blogs out there is Alan Couzens blog, and I referenced a post yesterday titled, "Recovery For Serious Athletes."

So, I went through the process, kind half of assed (due to my first time doing it), and I got to say, my legs have never been as fresh as they were today on my long run.

I'm not going to rehash the process, as you owe it to yourself to read the blog post linked above, but it is something that will be added to my routine once per week, more if time allows.

Last week I had a 2:30 CT ride on Saturday than a 1:30 run on Sunday. At the 60-70 minute mark on my run Sunday, my legs were heavy and tight, and it felt like I wasn't ready for that type of distance yet. That didn't make sense, though, because based on my previous 3 months training, the run should have been fairly easy. So I thought maybe I could improve the quality of my Sunday long run, by improving my recovery from my Saturday session. (this really isn't my thought, surely it is the thought of people smarter than me that has crept into my brain).

This is where the compression gear came into play. I purchased some Zoot Recovery Tights and Zoot Active Compression Socks. I didn't run in the socks after the CT ride Saturday, but when I came home after the short transition run, I went through the steps outlined in Alan's blog post, which included slipping into the tights. I worked in some self massage and some stretching and did my best to include some supine yoga positions. Ate some good food, and even got to close my eyes for 45-60 minutes.

The result? Legs never tired during my run today, and yesterday's ride was one of my hardest rides in a long time, for those interested it registered a TSS score of 180 and was 3 hours of computrainer bliss, so I definitely put my legs through some work.

I wore the active socks during my long run today, and again, it felt really really good.

When you research training enough, you eventually come to realize most successful coaches and athletes agree success comes through consistency in training, and taking recovery seriously. Some even suggest recovery should be held in higher regard than training. I'm not saying we all need to drop 2 bills on compression gear to recover, I'm just saying you should have some recovery plan. What plan should you use?

The one that works.

I imagine over the next few months I will tweak what Alan Couzens wrote based on my reaction to it, and thus far I can tell there will be little tweaking.

Oh yeah! I should mention...how do I know if any or how much of the improved recovery I experienced this week versus last week is due to compression? Maybe I would have felt the same if I just did the contrast baths, diet, nap, self massage, stretching, yoga, etc, but wore no compression gear?

This is the part of the equation that I really don't care about, and I'll let the guys and gals in the white coats figure it out. All I care about is how I react to it, and does it make a difference for me.

If you find yourself sacrificing the quality of key sessions, maybe it is the recovery from previous efforts that needs more attention, do not ignore this. Take it seriously.

For those wondering when you do this and how to squeeze in a 2-3 hour recovery period? This is the easiest part; you start 2-3 hours earlier, by waking up 2-3 hours earlier than you normally do on Saturday. Oddly enough, the 45-60 minute nap after working out feels like it has more value than the 2 hours you lose prior to working out. Again, that statement may need to be validated by the white coat people

Happy training, and got get it!

Good Day

2010-01-23T12:41:00.000-05:00

Just got done with 3:00 on the CT followed by a 30 minute run. CT ride was good, but not sure if I executed it correctly, I don't think the interval times on Tpeaks were right. I went 30 minutes Z2, 5 x 20 minute tempo, with 10 minutes Z2 in between.

The intervals just didn't add up to the total time, so, not sure what happened, but it felt good. HR died out after 2 hours, freakin Polar POS....been having issues with it since I got it; constantly losing signal. Time to call and see if they will replace it.

Run went well, but Garmin lost juice after 5 minutes.

Oh well, tech wise, just a bad day, but if something is going to go wrong, may as well be the gadgets!

I've moved over to the dark side, and got some compression gear, and currently wearing them. They feel pretty good, we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Volume and bigger days are coming, so trying to incorporate some active recovery after key sessions like today. Did some contrasts baths, some self massage and some light stretching, as suggested here. Going to try and close my eyes for 45-60 minutes, than the 'Cuse is playing at 2:00. Oh yeah, going to eat too!

Train hard out there!

Kick Sets

2010-01-18T15:47:00.001-05:00

My swim today included around 600 yards of kicking, a lot for me. One thing I picked up on is how it may have aided in recovery. My legs were pretty heavy, which I think was because of Saturday's CT ride and Sunday's long run.

After the swim, my legs felt much more light, as though I just had a massage. Something to note in my head. Next time the legs are heavy, it could make sense to jump in the pool and do a few 100 yards of kicking.

That's all folks; just thought I would share the random training thoughts of this N=1 experiment.

Big game tonight for the 'cuse....3rd away game in 3 days as the Basketball Orange take on Notre Dame. Go 'Cuse!.

Take care!

What I look for

2010-01-16T20:14:00.000-05:00

Itunes going, got a nice cold beer, and gonna write a quick post.

Nice ride today on the CT, 2:30 on the IMLP course. Today's ride was funny in that I really wasn't feeling it for the first 1:30, just kind of blah. Then, all of a sudden, I was in a groove and the last hour was really fun; I didn't want to get off.

If you read this blog, you know I train with power. I'm not sure I could be of much help to those who are looking to learn, because I ignore a lot of the data, like TSS, VI and such. Honestly I'm too lazy to learn about it, but it is on the list of things to do, and I should get busy on that list to get the full value on this expensive gadget.

I do have a coach who reviews the files, so all is not lost. For me, I use power for two main reasons; pace myself in the race, and to use the data to see simple, steady improvement...mainly watts at the same effort over time.

The two charts above show two identical workouts, the Ironman Lake Placid course on the Computrainer; basically 1 month apart. The first chart is today's ride, which was 2:30, and I drew a red line at the 2 hour mark to have an apples to apples comparison. Today I averaged 216 watts at 142 BPM, which is a solid aerobic effort.

The bottom chart shows the same ride about one month ago, 2 hours of the IMLP course on the CT. I averaged 206 watts at 141 BPM, another solid aerobic effort.

To me, this is what we are after; slow steady improvement.

To be honest, I really don't care about TSS....have at it coach.

Tomorrow I get to run 1:20, and it's over 30 degrees so it should be great!!!

Quick Thoughts

2010-01-14T06:21:00.000-05:00

Training has been going well lately, and volume is slowly moving north of 10 hours a week. Running is still aerobic based and I have one long ride on the computrainer between 2:30-2:45 right now, and those will be slowly increasing in length. Once spring hits, we'll be ready to hit the road with 4+ hour rides.

Health wise I am feeling very good, no kinks or anything like that, and my fitness feels strong, but at the same time there is room for growth. Mentally I'm in a good place right now, and am "ready to go" as they say. I had my annual physical exam, and the doc wanted an EKG for the file for a base line number, and he said it was great. In fact, he said I was the healthiest person he has seen in 3 months! That was good to hear, based on where I came from.

My swim is ready to breakout, and I'm looking forward to the next 400 test. I've been working on a wider extension and a stronger pull, keeping my elbow high. I feel faster in the water and the pace clock confirms my sensation.

Running pace is dropping per HR, and I've had a few runs sub 8:00 at zone 1-low zone 2. That is pretty good for me and I'm anxious to see how this aerobic running effects the next 5k, which is February 7th. Last year I was doing 9:00+ minute miles at the same effort.

Hard to believe its only 8 more weeks until my first race in Miami.

So, for January, everything feels as though it is in place to hit the spring strong.

Have a good one!

Quick, go Run Slow!

2010-01-09T06:47:00.000-05:00

A post is long overdue; but not much writing has been going on lately...at least anything worthy of putting out there in the public eye.

Usually, my writing occurs while I have time to think and I am typically inspired when least expected, which normally occurs during multi-hour runs or bikes. This week, volume has been low as we allow my body to absorb the training that has taken place the previous few weeks.

There is one piece of training "advice" I wanted to touch on; but be warned now: Any advice you read on this blog is based on a sample size of 1. Me. It is the result of a great plan from a great coach that is executed to the T, but bear in mind the translation of that plan into words by myself should not be taken as gospel. It is merely how I interpret it and its results.

Anyway, since the full disclosure is out there, I shall continue. A topic came up on a forum yesterday about base building and the effort required to see improvement while running. The question posed was running "slow" to get faster, the old LSD principal....mainly does it work, and is it normal to get frustrated while capping our pace based on HR.

I'm going to tackle the second part of that question first, the frustration side of it. Look, we as humans, at some point, have been programmed to expect instant gratification. It seems to progress with each generation. I look at my kids, and how they can watch whatever they want with two clicks of the remote, how everyone gets a trophy and we have taken the concept of "no one gets left behind" to a whole new level. So, if you are getting frustrated with no results while running "slow" in a base period it is because your expectations are all screwed up. You expect it now, and are unwilling to be patient. So step one, is to realize your quest to get faster is going to take a little time, and time is what makes all rewards taste sweeter in the end. When you look back 12 months from now, it is the journey you will most likely cherish, not the 32 seconds per mile you dropped at 144 BPM.

How do you reset this expectation? For one, stop looking at other people's paces and stop defining what is "fast" and what is "slow." Train within yourself, not message board chatter. Stop looking at last years race results of your competition and stop chasing some pace as if it is a number you magically hit after 3 weeks. Your pace is your pace, appreciate the fact that you have a pace, that you can run and that you are blessed with the opportunity to improve it. Each time you step outside to run, realize some day you will no longer have this opportunity. Run for the day, not to get faster, but because you can. Clear your mind of any idea that going above and beyond what is necessary is necessary. Run to feel alive. Run to take the road less traveled, and enjoy the path that yesterday was unknown. Drown your frustrations of seeking improvement with the positive thought of seeking enjoyment every day through what you love.

A few weeks of thinking like that will erase all frustrations, but this part is up to you. Now. Today. Do. Not. Delay.

Now, the first part of the question, does running "slow" allow you to get faster at the same effort. YOU ARE NOT RUNNING "SLOW." You are building your volume through a base period as opposed to adding intensity to improve your fitness. To sit here and state you need to build to 40 MPW or 50MPW with a LSD approach is absolutely crazy. You need what you need, not what some dude on a message board in Tupelo, MS needs. You will improve at the effort your body requires to improve. Nothing more, nothing less. That is the key, IMO. Do not give your body anything more, or anything less than it needs to discover steady improvement. When you plateau, you add intensity or volume. If time allows, keep adding volume until time no longer allows, at which point you add intensity.

That is it. I'm not even going to get into HR and zones and all that crap, mainly because I don't want anyone to base their zones on what I say here. There are plenty of resources out there to set your zones, and all are simple. If I was looking for a place to start, I would go here where you will find a 6 part post on Chuckie V's blog, "Hadd's Approach to Distance Running." Print it out and read it 3 or 4 times. Go do it.

The main point of this post was to tell you that running slow to get faster works if you give it time and execute. It is frustrating because you are not willing to wait for results.

With that, I'm gonna go run. "Slow."

2009 Volume, the Year to Come

2010-01-01T09:05:00.001-05:00

Well, 2009 is officially over; no more season end dates, or training period transition phases...the official end date has hit, and a new year is upon us. I took a look at my volume for 2009, and was very happy with what I was able to accomplish training wise. This time last year, I figured that around 400 hours for a first timer coming off 8 months of running 10-15 mpw was a good start. In the end, I logged 428 hours and 49 minutes of swim, bike and run.

What I am extremely proud of more than anything else is the consistency of said training. The yellow background in the above graph shows my planned training volume for each month, and the blue bars show what was accomplished. I missed 2 workouts since hiring my coach in June. Before that, although I had a plan, I was kind of shooting from the hip, which made consistent training slightly more challenging. Now, I just do what she says.

Waking up each day and lacing up the shoes is half of the equation; execution of the intent of the day is what allows growth. This takes patience and discipline to do, and it is what defines your consistency at the end of the year.

Out on a training ride, and a group of guys want to attack the last few miles? What do you do? In the pool, and the guy in the lane next to you is ahead of you ever so slightly, do you ignore your heart's passion to chase him down and stay within yourself?

For me, on Wednesday nights in the summer, we have a weekly triathlon training series with 50-100 other CNY triathletes. I attended 10 times or so, and coach only allowed me to unleash everything I had a few times. Staying back as others passed me was difficult, but it was part of the consistency we were after.

Everyone's definition of consistency is different. For some, consistency can be as simple as each sport twice per week. For me, it is much more than that...to say I am anal about it is an understatement.

Take this week for example; my schedule was: Monday swim/weights, Tuesday bike/ run, Wednesday swim/weights, Thursday bike/run, Friday off, Saturday Bike /run, Sunday run. Some things got shuffled and I was forced to push Tuesday's run to Wednesday and Thursday's run to today. No big deal, I will still hit everything, right? In my mind, no. It is not the consistency I am after.

Consistency to me is the flawless execution of the plan you chose to trust and believe. Doubt does not exist and if it does you remove it immediately through confirmation of a trusted adviser (someone other than your coach). The weekly routine is so standard it becomes a part of you, the same way breathing is. Once committed to a task, you never question its reason or purpose.

My New Years resolution? Keep being consistent, keep growing and learning from my mistakes. Don't look back at 2009 and seek out flaws to eliminate in 2010. Rather, avoid the actions that caused unhappiness, or doubt in 2009, and discover new talents or tackle fears. Seek out mistakes by not attempting to fail, but by traveling over new ground. Look for the success that exists each time and the hidden growth within each failure.

Good luck to all in 2010....Go get it!!!!!!

Hitting the "Sweet Spot"

2009-12-22T20:27:00.000-05:00

Coach introduced a new workout today, which she refers to the "sweet spot," which is a couple tempo effort intervals. The workout is watts based, but I pay attention to HR to see how my body is reacting. The chart above shows the effort. It is a great trainer ride (as opposed to an outside ride), as I can control the wattage easily, plus it goes by much faster than an hour steady due to the breakups.

The time spent in the tempo effort will help us raise my FTP, which should make me a better biker. The really interesting variable I wanted to point out in the chart is my HR during the 5 minute recovery and the final 20 minutes zone 2 effort. Notice how my HR drops immediately, then stays steady as my effort stays constant. This is good, as my HR and watts remain "coupled," which is a good sign of aerobic fitness. Joe Friel talks about de-coupling often on his blog, and it was good to see my HR recover very quickly and then settle in during the final 20 minutes. A sign my aerobic base needs more work would be my HR increasing or remaining high as the effort decreases.

In addition to introducing a new workout, part of me thinks coach wanted to make sure where our aerobic fitness is before we move to some new stuff?? Not sure, I just do as she says...

I've been noticing some nice improvement in all three sports, and to be truthful it wasn't something I was interested in this time of year. My main focus was and continues to be keeping all efforts aerobic based, steady training, any improvement would be a bonus. Oddly enough, by paying no attention to improving day to day, and focusing 100% on the "right effort" through consistent training, allowed us to improve. The most improvement has come in the pool, and I feel like my next 400 is going to come down 10-15 seconds.

The key with all of this improvement is how do I feel? Truth is a feel caged up, as if I can unleash more very easily. I feel held back while running and biking and sometimes while swimming. Swimming is the one area where I need to work on pacing a better effort. I'm not sick or hurting anywhere.

The combination of improvement and how I feel tells us we are in a good spot right now. Chuckie V mentioned this in his post today, which was quite timely for me as I just sent coach an e-mail on the subject 2-3 days ago. I basically said, I love that I am improving, but is it too much? Well, how do I feel?

I think this is one area where the science and art of training merge, and it's up to us to keep focused on both aspects. The numbers is the science...our FTP, 400 yard swim, how is our run pace and HR reacting to each other?

The art of it all...how do we feel?

Be honest with it all, trust my coach and advisers, and come spring when coach unleashes me, and allows me the opportunity to give it my all, we shall be ready.

Go get it!!

Tale of Two Tests

2009-12-16T20:40:00.000-05:00

For our bike benchmarks, we use a 20 minute, all out TT and note the average power and HR. Really, we're looking for the ability to pull more watts as our training progresses. The first chart above shows the whole sequence for the test, a 15 min warm up, 5 minutes all out, 10 min easy, 20 minutes all out then 10 minute cool down. This first chart was a test done on 11/19 of this year, and resulted in 319 watts for the 5 minute portion and 294 for the 20 minute test. As you can see in the first chart, the 20 minutes started out a little conservative, and I was probably capable of more that day. I did finish very strong, over 320 watts for the final few minutes. Based on this, my FTP would be around 278 watts, which made sense at the time based on race results and maximal 1 hour bike efforts.

The key of course is to improve upon this number. As my last post stated, we had a team training session at a local triathlon store on Sunday, that had a pretty nice multi-rider CT set up. Within the first 2 minutes, I knew the watts were way off, as I was pulling over 340 fairly easily, and I knew my average would end up over that. While it felt great to have a FTP of 333 watts, it just wasn't right, and when I told coach the results, I said, "It'd be great if it was true!!" Should have kept my mouth shut; when I logged onto training peaks the next day, Tuesday said, "20 minute test...we have to KNOW."

Fair enough. Truth is, I don't mind the 2o minute test, it's minutes 14-20 that truly suck. I seem to be able to push pretty hard during these efforts. When my calves started cramping at 18 minutes, I knew I was giving it a good go.

The 2nd chart shows that effort. It is much more smooth because I am only showing the 20 minute effort. The 5 minute average was 351, and the 20 minute number came in at 305. Decent. Not 350, but pretty good for a former chub rock. Gives me a w/kg FTP of 3.6. We should be able to get over 4 by season start, and considering I was well under 3.5 last year, a mass improvement on the bike is expected in 2010. 11 watts over 4 weeks is more realistic and in-line of what I expected.

Main point of this post is make sure whatever you use to test, that the numbers are right...and deep down we all know if something isn't making sense. Also, make sure your power device is calibrated and check it often. There is a pretty good blog post here on testing for FTP and the top 10 sins. #2 is not using an accurate power meter. Granted, #6 is using the 20 minute test, but I don't agree with that 100%, and it's not so far off. My 20 minute number actually gelled quite well with a 1 hour maximal effort. Exactly to be honest.

Also, try and keep everything consistent; what you eat, time of day, temperature....everything. More consistent the better the comparison from test to test.

Have a great weekend...I'm off to Michigan to see the wife's family!!

Training at the Tri-Spot

2009-12-13T20:40:00.000-05:00

Today we had a team training day at Tri-spot in Buffalo, NY. Tri-spot is a triathletes dream, complete with a multi-user computrainer system, endless swimming pool, two treadmills, spin bikes and of course, awesome merchandise. I came close to buying some stuff, but I promised myself a little layoff until next year, and even than no big purchases for me in 2010.

I got to tri-spot early hoping to be able to get in the pool before my bike so I could have some time to chat before heading home to the 'cuse. It worked out well, as Mary asked if I wanted to jump in the endless pool while the first group got on the bikes. The endless pool is pretty cool, and I would love to have one for the convenience of it and for steady swim practice. I think I would miss the pool, and I still believe lap swimming is where you become a strong swimmer. That being said, I think the endless pool is perfect for what were doing here. It is absolutely awesome for coaching, as your coach can just stay in one spot and check out your stroke.

Mary said what I hoped she would; basically you can swim relatively fast for such an awful stroke...except she said it much nicer than that. This means we can get a lot faster fairly easily...a couple tweaks here and there, and we'll be at 1:15/100. Once you go sub 1:15 in the world of AG triathlon swimming, your in solid FOP territory no matter the race, so I was glad to hear that. Of course, what we can do potentially and what we can do in reality are two different things. Time to work and fix what we discovered to be limiting my swim.

After the endless pool, we moved to the computrainers and did a 20 minute TT to get a max power and HR number. Really, the only number I feel comfortable using was the HR average, as the watts were just too high. Not a big deal, as the day was fun and I really had a blast using the multi-rider set up!

I wish the store was in Syracuse, or maybe I don't...I think my lunch hour would be spent there every day.

Oh yeah, hats off to Mary who sat in the endless pool for what must have been 2 hours, teeth chattering, recording countless hours of tape to review....smiling the whole time. Thank you Coach!!

Miami!!

2009-12-11T18:08:00.001-05:00

We booked a vaca in Jupiter, FL for the second week in March to visit nana and papa with the boys. Oddly enough, the Miami International Triathlon is occurring just 1 hour south in Miami, FL while we will be there. When fate strikes, who am I to ignore the call?

So, I signed up, not worrying about logistics and such; that stuff works itself out as it's really all minor, and since I control none of it in the end (like airlines losing my bike), why even worry about it?

The race should be a great season opener and allow me to get my ass kicked as I expect the field to be quite strong. The pro field will be stacked, as last year the likes and Andy Potts and Matty Reed took control. Who knows, maybe I will place well in the AG race?

I'm excited to race early in the season and it will give us some early indications of my race fitness and leave plenty of time to improve what is necessary. I should do well on the bike, as the course is nice and flat, but the wind is the question; the area is known for some pretty nasty winds. The ocean swim will be interesting, as I never have done a race in the sea, but am not nervous at all. I hear the run is flat and on a shaded trail, so my northeastern roots should not handicap me too much in the heat. I'm trying to convince my wife to do it....and I think I have...;) She will absolutely rock it!

Base Training and Patience

2009-12-08T18:50:00.000-05:00

Training has been going very well, and we've settled into 8-12 hour weeks, depending on what is going on. Right now, I am in a recovery week, or "absorption week" if you will. Allowing my body to take in what we have done over the past few weeks while providing rest.

The most interesting variable this off-season has been my run progression. After taking a few weeks off from running, we started at 15-20 min runs, slowly upping the volume. I was at 8:20/mile between 150-152 BPM or so. Last year I never ran easy, I would always be at the top end of Z2 on easy runs by the time the run ended. This year, I've taken a different approach based on what I have read and discussions with my coach. Mainly, run easy to get faster; I'm not exactly sure on the science, so I will not attempt to define how it works, but basically build a very very strong aerobic base. My A races next year will all be aerobic in nature, so it makes sense.

What's been interesting is how my pace is dropping like a rock along with my HR. Currently, an hour run will be between 8:00-8:05/mile at 144 BPM or lower. That's pretty good for me. Last year, I was close to 9:00/mile at that heart rate. Today, I ran 7:59/mile at 141 BPM for 30 minutes. I just see no reason to push things at all right now, as improvement is occurring. Patience is a strength of mine when it comes to this sport; I have little problem holding when others want to take off. The down side to patience is in racing, where I could hold back too much and leave some out there. The only way to get around this issue is experience, and I learned a lot about this at my half-iron, where I did in fact hold back slightly.

Biking is a lot of the same, with the exception of some hill intervals once per week, everything else is a steady effort, and I can notice my wattage increasing at lower HRs. All my biking is on the Computrainer, and I have little difficulty getting up mentally for 3 hour rides on the CT.

Swimming has been progressing as well, and I feel smoother in the water, and feel as though my swim will improve a lot this off-season. We have a team training session at Tri-spot in Buffalo Sunday, and we will have the opportunity to have our swim stroke analyzed. Hopefully I will be able to post it here for everyone to critique.

So, that's about it right now. A lot of steady work, 7 days a week that has me feeling good, improving and motivated. I feel like I can push the effort, but don't have to; this is a good feeling to have, and it makes me look forward to the day I can drop the hammer.

Flashing Back

2009-12-02T19:13:00.000-05:00

This week one year ago, I didn't even own a bike and had signed up for the Keuka Lake triathlon, in Keuka, NY. I recall the anticipation as if it was yesterday, I was so excited, yet it was 7 months away. Looking back, the time flew by, as it always does, and I recall little of the event itself.

I vividly remember how great the town of Keuka is. I can instantly recall where I was when I meet with the founder of beginnertriathlete.com, and how we spoke about the race. I remember staying at the Keuka College dorm rooms with my wife and 3 sons, and how that experience alone was a blast for them. I remember the days leading up to the race and how anxious I was to enter the world of triathlon. I remember eating dinner with my family on the water. Walking into transition for the first time, taking it all in. Oddly enough, I can recall the anouncer saying, "Here comes Curt Eggers, former AG National Champion." Little did I know at the time his wife would be my coach....

I remember checking the results list, seeing I qualified for AG Nats, and asking my wife, "Wanna to go Alabama?" "Sure!" She replied with more excitement than my question. True support.

The race itself? A blur at best. All the little things is what I remember, leading up to the race and the day of the race itself, that is what made the day what it was and how I will remember it.

What triggered all of this? Well, the race opened for registration yesterday, and though there is little risk of a sell out this early, I signed up and it felt great. The anticipation of going back to where it all started.

This time my goals are quite different, however I imagine the experience will be the same. What happens on route is what I will remember and crossing the finish line, though extremely rewarding, will pale in comparison to the memories 20 years from now when I sign up again to head back to Keuka Lake.

Iron Thoughts

2009-11-22T09:36:00.000-05:00

I haven't updated the blog in a few days, truth is it's been a little difficult to write lately. Not sure why, some days it just flows and other days my thoughts are not easily translated into words. I guess you just have to write what you're thinking (within reason), and ignore the urge to edit.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about 2010 and what is possible, mainly at IMLP. I think this has a lot to do with the unknown of the event; I've never experienced anything of this magnitude and I am unsure of how my body will react. So why do it? Why think about what is possible and what isn't, when you have never approached such a task? Truth is I probably shouldn't.

Keep your eyes on today, the task at hand, not where you want to be in a month or years from now. Stay consistent in training, do everything my coach asks me to do and listen to my body when it speaks. Recover. Swim, bike and run. Eat. Repeat.

Training has been going well, everything is smooth and consistent, nothing above a zone 2 effort, with the exception of hill work. My 400 swim time dropped 22 seconds in 3 weeks, my FTP is increasing and my HR on my runs is dropping while pace is increasing. I feel rested and fresh. I have quit coffee and caffeine 100%, and it has been almost 1 week. My diet is slowly coming back to season form, and come February, my mind, body and soul will be ready to take on the challenge of building to IMLP.

That's all I can do, focus on the day and squeeze everything I can out of it, don't try and understand what lies ahead when the path you are traveling is unknown. The destination is the journey and sometimes we only learn that upon arrival. Then, we are standing at finish line wondering, what is next?

What's next is today, here and now. The only thing awaiting me is the cumulative result of what I do in the moment. Thinking of what is possible, while sometimes beneficial, can clog your vision and limit what will be possible when you finally have the opportunity to discover your potential.

Don't limit yourself, go out and chase the day, then in all likelihood you will exceed all predictions and projections of what you thought possible months earlier.

Go get it.

coffee update

2009-11-18T14:40:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm dragging right now.

really want a cop of Joe...I didn't feel like this yesterday at all...hopefully day 3 is not as bad.

Just very tired right now, I could curl up under my desk and fall asleep....sadly, not an option.