Pro Ironman Taper Triathlon Taper For 2013 Ironman Arizona

The Ironman Taper: Keeping the fire going,
while recovering is always a delicate balancing act

In this post I will precisely outline my Ironman triathlon taper for the 2013 Ironman Arizona race. No two tapers are the same for me, but the key to the Ironman Arizona taper was that it also coincided with the end of the season. That meant there would be no races afterwards to worry about. This resulted in an adjustment to my taper to include more work just below, at, or above race pace, than I typically do. It didn't differ in any meaningful way from the taper I outline before the taper began. I have not included warm-up, or cool-down efforts, just mainsets. I always warm-up and cool-down at a very easy pace. In addition, all race pace efforts were also done at a race pace cadence which for me is about 95. Here is the that taper:

Thur (Day 10): Bike 1:38:25, 35.18 miles, 254 NP, 211 AP. Mainset as 2x longer intervals at, or just above race pace, in this case 16 mins at 283 watts, 20 min at 290 watts, then some work above goal race pace, 4:17 at 347 watts. The times were just a function of the limitations of the road I was riding on. Then 4x1 min, at or just above threshold, with 90 seconds recovery between efforts.

Fri (Day 9): 6k swim with 4000 time trial as mainset. Easy 30 mile bike to and from pool, 177 watts, 1:52:43, peak 1 min 264 watts.

Sat (Day 8): 10 mile run, midday in scorching heat and sun on varied terrain at race pace for most of it. Miles were, 7:00, 6:53, 6:43, 6:49, 6:49, 6:25, 6:49, 6:55, 6:44, cool-down.

Sun (Day 7): Swim 5K in the pool with wetsuit on. Mainset 4x(400 @ race pace, 50 kick, 50 easy), 4x400 on 6 with paddles, long interval to allow body to cool down from wetsuit, sunny and warm. Goal was to get familiar with wetsuit swimming again as it had been nearly two months since my last wetsuit swim. Bike to and from pool, 30 miles, 1:56:03, 185 watts. 5x intervals, 1-3 mins in length, at race pace.

Mon (Day 6): Run 7.19 miles, 53:20, mainset 7x 1/2 mile intervals at or slightly faster than race pace (6:23-6:43), with ~1:15 recovery between intervals. 4 strides working up to threshold pace at end of stride.

Tue (Day 5): Commute to PT, 15 miles, mainset 3x10 minutes near race pace with 2:30 rest between, 260 watts, 257 watts, and 269 watts. Commute to pool easy 5 miles, Swim 4K with mainset as 10x200 on the 2:45 in 232, 231, 229, 229, 228, 227, 226, 225, 224, 222. Easy commute home in dark. 35 miles total, 2:11:36.

Wed (Day 4): Run 5.48 miles, 41:08, mainset as 4x 1/2 mile, at, or slightly faster than race pace (6:27 - 6:46) with 90 seconds recovery. 2 strides working toward half-IM pace.

Thur (Day 3): Commute to the pool, 15 miles easy, swim 45 minutes with the mainset as 4x200, 8x100 descending on the 1:30. Wall times were 237, 234, 231, 229, 116, 115, 114, 113, 112, 111, 111, 111, 111. Bike home with 3x 1-2 min intervals at race pace, 10 mins near, but below race pace (252 watts), 5:30 near, but below race pace (243 watts).

Fri (Day 2): Rest Day with travel & pro meeting, visit Atomic and 2XU at the expo.

Sat (Day 1): 20 minute swim in Tempe Town Lake with a few efforts bridging up to other swimmers, then resting for 15-45 seconds, and then bridging quickly to the next group of swimmers and so on. After completing one lap, hopped out, and hopped back in to do another half lap or so. Biked 27 minutes, ~9 miles, with 3x3 at race pace, the rest was easy spin.

Sun (Race Day): 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run

10/28 - 11/10 - Professional Triathlete Training Log and Update - Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

These bike workshop repair units
around Tucson are a big help to bike commuting

As many have noticed, I have fallen off the pace the past few weeks with my normal weekly updates. It has been nearly two years of writing every week and although I believe in consistency, I am re-evaluating how much I want to write in the future. As I wander through the internet, and casually talk to friends, I get this incredible sense of burn-out right now in the pro ranks. I actually can't believe it. Everyone seems just to be shutting it down and I have read so many postmortems that it reminds me of the financial crisis of 2008. Contrasting that, this is the time of the year when so many "young guns" destroyed their fellow age-groupers and have decided to move to the pro ranks. They have unbridled enthusiasm, and want to start their onslaught immediately.

As I turn things back to me I can't help but wonder why I have this calm balance. I'm happy with slow, but steady growth, and I attribute that philosophy for getting me to where I am today. Patience is what I constantly remind myself. Truthfully, despite a long season, longer than probably any other athlete, I really see no reason for it to end. Yes I have my final race at Ironman Arizona in 6 days. And yes, I'll probably take a little bit of time off afterward, but I'm already excited about working on my weaknesses in preparation for the 2014 season. Simply put, I enjoy the process of being a triathlete. I enjoy the lifestyle of a triathlete. I enjoy the simplicity that I have created in my own lifestyle, and I attribute that simplicity to allowing me to train as hard as I do and race as often as I can. 

But getting back to my weekly updates, I didn't want people to think the lack of consistency had anything to do with the rest of the doom-and-gloom from my fellow peers. I had been thinking about changing the frequency of updates, especially in the winter months, but it mostly had to do with a hefty change to my lifestyle. Those changes included a heavy dose of hard swimming, while combining that with more commuting miles, and workouts strung together without the few hours of rest that I am used to. I have been figuring out a way to incorporate strength work back into my schedule and I took some time to do some other interviews, one can be found at the following if you are interested.

I'll post more about Ironman Arizona later this week. I will say that I am feeling really good despite an abundance of volume. I have tapered down the run mostly in an effort to keep the legs fresh. I have gone into almost every race this year on tired legs and I want to see how they can perform with a little rest while keeping the bike and swim volume high. On the one downside, I did pick up a little bit of tendinitis in my knees that most likely was the result of the high-load, low cadence bike work that I have been doing in excess. Although it continues to get better and better, and I have no doubt that I will barely notice it on race day, it is one of those things I will evaluate on race day.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals for October 28th - November 3rd:

Total: 223 Miles / 22 hours 46 minutes
Swim: 31,700 yards / ~18 miles / 8 hours 22 minutes

Bike: 182 miles / 11 hours 14 minutes

Run: 23 miles / 2 hours 39 minutes

Core: 0 hours 30 minutes

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals for November 4th - November 10th:

Total: 305 Miles / 24 hours 42 minutes
Swim: 21,400 yards / ~12 miles / 5 hours 43 minutes

Bike: 263 miles / 13 hours 46 minutes

Run: 31 miles / 3 hours 42 minutes

Core: 1 hours 30 minutes

10/21 - 10/27 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

My Dessert of the Week: Pomegranates and Greek Yogurt

After a week of rest, this week I got back to work in a mini-build for my last race of the season at Ironman Arizona. I don't have my tri bike back yet from Hawaii, so the Ironman Austin 70.3 and Ironman Florida double was scratched. However, even if I had my bike back and time to drive to Austin, I probably would have scratched the race to focus solely on Ironman Arizona.

A big part of my decision to focus on Ironman Arizona comes down to the progression of the sport. Every day the sport gets more competitive and to have success I need focus. I am confident I could continue to race back-to-back races and put out average performances, and even have some success. However, a lot of my desire to do that in the past was predicated on gaining experience. And I have gained a ton of experience over my first two years as a professional, but going forward I am looking to travel less, have more builds leading up to races, and ultimately perform to a level my body is truly capable of.

With that being said, it was an interesting week. As I wrote before the Ironman World Championship, I decided to commit to the University of Arizona Rec Center for all my swim and treadmill work. The facilities are great, but the commute is 30 miles on a 45lb bike that weighs more like 65 with all my daily gear. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, and it is certainly my choice, it just presents a bit of learning curve. And although I struggled midweek with fatigue, somehow by the end of the week it seemed like my body had adapted to my new lifestyle. It is too early to see what is going to come of it in terms of performances, but I think it could be a good change of pace. We shall see. Till next week here are:

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 328 Miles / 30 hours 03 minutes
Swim: 29,900 yards / ~17 miles / 8 hours 00 minutes

Bike: 272 miles / 16 hours 36 minutes

Run: 40 miles / 4 hours 41 minutes

Core:  0 hours 45 minutes

9/30 - 10/6 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

DIY bike rack my roomate made for my return

It was the first week back in the Dirty-T and it certainly did not disappoint. It was a busy week of unpacking, settling in, and also cramming in a little bit of training. On paper it may seem like I got a little carried with the volume, but much of that has to do with my decision to get a membership at the University of Arizona Rec Center to swim.

Normally I get a pool membership somewhere closer to my home, but this year I decided to bite the bullet and commit to the Rec Center. The Rec Center has always been on my mind and has always looked like a superior facility, but the distance from my home in Northwest Tucson scared me off. I refuse to drive a car and all distance for me has to be covered by bike. Depending on the route I take, it is anywhere from 30-35 city miles round-trip. Assuming I swim at least 6x a week that is a 180-210 miles right there. After one week of doing the commute I think it will end up being a nice of change of pace and I'm committed to this lifestyle thru the end of the year. If for some reason it doesn't seem to be working out I'll revert back to finding a facility closer to my home.

As for the Rec Center itself, well it certainly did not disappoint. The highlight had to be doing my long run for the week on a treadmill. Normally I am used to restarting the treadmill after one hour because every single treadmill I have ever run on shuts off at that point. The Rec Center has some Woodway treadmills and as the time approached 59:59 my anticipation grew until it hit 60:00 and continued on like a treadmill should. It is a little thing, but it was nice to have a treadmill that actually expects someone to run longer 60 minutes.

As for specifics on training, I did my last long run on Thursday, 9 days out from Kona. I did it as a variability run where I work from 8-10mph with an increase of .1mph every minute. I did this 4 times thru continuously and it is a nice way to get some work at, above, and below target race pace. I did my last long bike on Friday, 8 days out from Kona. It ended up being a little over 4 hours with 2x30 minute intervals, one below and one above race pace. Ideally I would have liked to do these sessions a littler earlier with the bike coming 10 days out and the run coming 14 days out, but the travel schedule did not allow this.

Overall I'm feeling pretty good despite the less than ideal transitional period. However, my expectations for the race are still pretty low for Kona - it is simply an honor to even toe the line. When I saw Faris Al-Sultan (2005 IM World Champion) at the Rec Center this week it was a reminder of how far I have come. I didn't even know how to swim when Faris won the race that year.

Many of my peers would love nothing more than to earn a spot on the start line of triathlon's biggest day. With the new KPR point system implemented a few years back and the increasing competition that occurs every year, many pros who found themselves on the start line year-after-year are now on the outside looking in as they try to figure out how they will make it back.

I know that on Saturday the only way I'm going to exceed my own fitness level is to have the swim of my life. On paper there is no way I can have that swim. As a result I'm in for a pretty lonely day on the bike. If I'm conservative enough on the bike I should be able to make up a few spaces on the run.

Thorsten Raddle over at Trirating.com was kind of enough to send me my own personalized graphic of how things might play out. Trirating and the stats that it is based on predicts that even finishing inside the Top 40 is a stretch so my goal is to be in the Top 40.

Projected time back at finish of 2013 IM World Championship - Kona
from leaders, top 10, 20, 30 and 40

Given the fact that I'm carrying more fatigue thru racing into this race than anyone else, I would be totally happy with a Top 40 finish. Adding to the fact that my BMI is likely higher than anyone else on the start list and that makes Hawaii a tough place to race with the sun, heat, and humidity. Those who truly know me, know this talk is just myself being rational. It isn't by coincidence that I find myself on the start list at triathlon's biggest day. It is a testament to my relentless pursuit towards excellence in very small steps and I'm happy with the progress as I come to the close, almost to the day, of 2 years as a pro. Next week my update comes from Hawaii. Until then, aloha.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 258 Miles / 24 hours 11 minutes
Swim: 21,800 yards / ~12 miles / 6 hours 17 minutes

Bike: 204 miles / 12 hours 56 minutes

Run: 41 miles / 4 hours 56 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

9/23 - 9/29 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

The road less traveled

Moving week. It is a week that has become a regular tradition in my own life. I have moved so many times in my life that I stopped counting long ago. Despite having lots of practice it never seems to get any easier. I continue to pare down my possessions each time and I find moving to be incredibly therapeutic and stressful at the same time. And despite not tracking my moves, I do track the number of times I have driven more than 1,000 miles in a single day and I have now done that 22 times. All of those rides were solo, most were with a complete car full of stuff and bikes hanging off the back.

It may not mean much to some but it means a lot to me. To me it defines my character. Swimming, biking, running and completing an Ironman is tough, but I know many people that have done it. I really don't know anyone that travels 1,000+ miles in a car by themselves - not even the professionals. I'm sure there are people out there, but for me it is a way to set a personal benchmark of what is achievable and to compete with myself. I'm sure a time will come when I won't be able to do such epic travel days but it serves as a slice of mental training as it stands.

Speaking of mental training. So often I hear athletes talking about reading books about mental toughness or mental training. They work with coaches, they practice what they can. I rarely pipe in an add my two cents on this topic, but my own two cents is that you simply can't learn about mental toughness in a book. Mental toughness comes from experiences where you are on the edge of complete shutdown/failure/breakdown and you push thru the mental barrier that exists. So often people think the barriers are physical but sometimes you have to free your mind and see that the barrier is really not physical and it is purely a man-made mental barrier.

And although epic travel days serves as a sort of mental training for me, every trip seems to have its own sort of adversity that pops up out of nowhere. This trip this past week was no exception when I ran into a gas station on empty. I'll share a longer version of the story but the short-end is that whoever built the Kansas Turnpike should be fired and have their pension revoked.

And now for some color. The Kansas Turnpike is one of those closed-road toll-roads giving you no opportunity to get off except at very few designated places. Services are placed incredibly sparsely, in this case 56 miles between service stations.

Map showing distance between two service station
on the closed-road Kansas Turnpike

To be fair, I guess I could have got off the toll-road, drove in to Topeka to get gas, and then got back on it. But that seemed like a pretty good detour to do so and the toll-road itself was already pricey, and I really didn't want to incur any additional fees or lose any additional time.

I also assumed there would be a service station slightly after Topeka, but we all know what happens when you assume. Well, that service station never appeared and I kept going with the dash light for gas popping on and off, on and off, and on and off. I was now heading southeast and the wind was roaring from none other than the southeast. Let the record stand that the average wind speed was 15mph SSE on the day, however looking at hourly data shows an average speed of more like 21mph SSE when I was going thru.

Historical weather data for Emporia, KS on Friday, September 27th

For those not familiar with wind speed that is a pretty good clip. And this is only compounded by the fact I was out in the middle of nowhere and not in a sheltered city. I was also towing two bikes on the bike and a loaded car. Instead of the 30-35 mpg I can get, I was getting somewhere around 15 miles.

Along the route, I was going back to all the close calls I had with gas. One of the closest ones I ever had was with my Cousin Bob driving across Alligator Ally in Florida for a New Year's Eve party. But at least they warn you in Alligator Ally with signs *Hey no gas for 50 miles, fill up now*. I was shocked I was never warned. Had I been warned I would have surely stopped. For those Seinfeld fans out there, the red gas line was so far below the E that I thought it was going to break off. For those who are not Seinfeld-aware I have posted the clip below.

Anyway, it finally came to a point where the was a chance to get off the highway. There was also a tiny sign that said next services 17 miles. The only problem was my on-board computer said I only had 11 miles left. I immediately pulled over and shut down the engine. I could get off and travel down some remote road, but services that way were not really any shorter. I could get off and drive very slowly to increase MPG but who knows what the route would be like, how many turns, stop-signs traffic, etc. Plus the time to go back and forth.

In the end I just decided to roll the dice. Worst case scenario I run out of gas and I end up getting in a ride. However, I really wanted to make it for time sake and that is where the knowledge of being a triathlete came in handy with regards to aerodynamics.

It is easy for car drivers just to push the pedal but as athletes the cost is directly felt by the required increased effort and thus we have a finer appreciation for efficient driving or at least we should. And although I don't drive with the AC and I had already shut off the audio system many miles back, I went one-step further and turned off the dashboard lights and kept the Nav system off. I further waited for a 18-wheeler in the distance and came up to speed slowly. It was a good timed effort and I grabbed the best draft I could without any punches to the accelerator. I gritted my teeth for the next 17 miles. I rolled into the gas station and naturally all the pumps were occupied, but I was able to secure a pump and turn back on the car computer systems and it said I had 1 mile left.

1 mile range as I rolled into the gas station

Besides that one snafu, everything else went ok. I even had the opportunity to enjoy a completely barren and obscure road in Texas. Over the course of 100 miles I saw two vehicles on that road - I saw more than two snakes on that road. It wasn't a route that my own Nav recommend nor Bing Maps, Google Maps, or Mapquest. But the road was a surreal experience for me. It was a reminder that there are so many ways to get from Madison to Tucson. I could have taken that highway road that so many take. The safe road, the plan... but that is the beauty in life and the beauty in freedom. There are many ways to the top of the mountain and I often choose the road less traveled. Yes, it is true that if you have problems on the road less traveled that you are often SOL. However in this case I was rewarded with a much faster route, shorter route and the blissfulness that is provided to me by a quiet open road.

As for training. I debated whether the move was appropriate timing with Kona on the Horizon. I'm not so worried about a little rest, but long-haul travel with 1000+ mile day and 800 mile day isn't easy and take something out of you in a different way. Coming to Tucson allows a little better heat acclimation prior to Kona and I still got in some decent training, but overall it was a very busy week with the move and that resulted in low volume and intensity.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 212 Miles / 17 hours 04 minutes
Swim: 13,747 yards / ~8 miles / 3 hours 52 minutes

Bike: 174 miles / 9 hours 31 minutes

Run: 29 miles / 3 hours 39 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

9/16 - 9/22 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

Theme of the week was Open Water Swimming

It is the last week writing from the summer home base in Madison, Wisconsin. Next week I'm planning to be back in Tucson, Arizona. Thanks goodness for flexible roommates who seemingly support my transient lifestyle. This past week was a good week for the Kona build filled with lots and lots of open water swimming. In fact, it has been three weeks since I last swam in a pool and I have been loving every minute of it.

For some reason the lakes around here are clearer and "appear" cleaner than anytime in the past decade. Huge thanks to 2XU for their continued support. Thanks to the them I have had the proper wetsuit for whatever the lake temps and conditions have been. Some days have been sleeveless and some have been sleeved. Some days the waters has been incredibly choppy and others it has completely flat. It has rained, it has stormed, and the sun has shined bright. Regardless it beats the pool any day of the week. For those Madison residents or people visiting Madison, here are a couple of resources for you to help plan your open water swims:

- Lake Monona Ironman Wisconsin Water Temperature Charts & Graph
- Lake Mendota Water Temperature Charts & Graph
- Previous blog post of mine with 4 different open water swims

This week is jammed back with all sorts of moving related items so I'll see you next week from the Dirty-T.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 312 Miles / 25 hours 34 minutes
Swim: 25,274 yards / ~14 miles / 6 hours 39 minutes

Bike: 252 miles / 13 hours 36 minutes

Run: 45 miles / 5 hours 18 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

9/9 - 9/15 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

Spining the cranks easy on the trails of Madison, WI

A big part of my decision to drop out of Ironman Wisconsin was to get back to work in a mini-build towards Kona. Although it was incredibly hard to pull out, I know it was the right decision, but nonetheless I still had to grapple with it. I even debated finishing the 2nd loop of the run after I wrote my post last week. Unlike an Ironman finish with a solid performance, it actually took me to Wednesday to completely right myself emotionally and mentally. Towards the end of the week I really started to feel that itch coming back and my thoughts turned to Savageman and Ironman Lake Tahoe.

I had Savageman on the calendar and it is a course that fits my strengths - the course features a 29% grade climb. The desire to do this race was only accelerated by the fact that race management was switching over for 2014 and beyond and I assumed that the Pro race may be going away under race management and it may have been the last opportunity to do this infamous race.

Ironman Lake Tahoe is another race that I really want to do. Being a first year race it is hard for anyone to come in with a real course advantage. In addition, I know with the elevation profile and cold morning temps that this race could turn into a real war of attrition - you never know if there will be a year two. The desire to do the race was only compounded further by the number of friends doing this race and it is always good to catch up with good friends.

In the middle of the week I grappled with doing these races. Sometimes staying the course is a lot more difficult than you can imagine and I had to get creative in my attempts to stay the course. This creatively included gathering up every single race chainring, cassette, chain and pulley that I had and sending them back to Atomic to be recoated. Although you can't control your actual performance on race day, the one thing you can have is a clean bike and a clean drivetrain.

At Ironman Wisconsin I was the last one to rack my bike the day before and I had the opportunity to take a gander at everyone's drivetrain. Without a doubt I had more free speed and engineered speed going for me than anyone. The attention to detail by some of my competitors was absolutely lacking. To me it is something so simple to do and the thought of racing an uncoated drivetrain was enough to turn me off racing. Why show up with anything less than the best equipment?

Once I figured out how to avoid scratching that itch, I was able to get some solid training for the week. Had I finished Ironman Wisconsin I would have never been able to do some of the work that was accomplished.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 185 Miles / 20 hours 27 minutes
Swim: 22,968 yards / ~13 miles / 6 hours 37 minutes

Bike: 119 miles / 7 hours 03 minutes

Run: 53 miles / 6 hours 31 minutes

Core:  1/2 sessions / 0 hours 15 minutes

9/2 - 9/8 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

Today I got out there and gave it a go at my 7th Ironman Wisconsin. Living only 1 block from the finish it is tough to miss this event, and it is the only opportunity all year to sleep in my own bed for a pro race. Leading up to the race I kept a steadfast line that "I was tired" and that was the truth. However, despite the fatigue, I knew with the experience and endurance that there was an outside chance that if everything went perfect on race day that I could win Ironman Wisconsin. I knew I would feel tired all week leading up to the race and crossed my fingers that I would feel good on race day.

I knew going in that I would need a season best swim to make my dreams a reality. In the warm Lake Monona water I opted to wear a 3mm thick 2XU sleeveless wetsuit. I knew the risk for my body was too high for overheating. It was a smart choice and even though a 5mm full-sleeve wetsuit may be faster in objective tests, personal experience has told me time and time again to be conservative. So with that I lined up for the race and got settled in on the feet of the eventual female winner Jackie Arendt. It was a smart decision. There was even a point where she started to go off course and I stayed on line. I thought about venturing ahead but I have made that mistake too many times this year and instead hopped back on her feet. The result was that I came out of the water ahead of guys I have come out behind all year. It was the swim I needed and I was only 4:30 back from the leaders.

Onto the bike and I made some quick progress past a few guys. I was riding ok but not spectacular. On the day it was one of the most challenging Ironman Wisconsin's I have ever done. You wouldn't know it though as men's winner Maik Twelsiek absolutely destroyed the bike course record. After about 30 miles or so I found myself in no man's land. Nobody in front that I could see and nobody in the back either. It was a very lonely ride and I kept expecting to get gobbled up by a large group of guys but it never happened. The last 20 miles or so I completely fell apart on the bike and that is when I needed the power the most as it was mostly a headwind and quite a strong one at that.

On to the run and I was in 7th. I knew the win was long gone and the plan was to run 6 miles or so to the turn-around of loop 1 and reassess. If a podium was an option then continue, if not, then continue the first loop and call it day. It was very evident at the turnaround that unless the field completely melted that there would be no podium on this day. So the result is the official record book is a DNF. I do want to thank everyone for the cheers and support!!

So although I did not finish Ironman Wisconsin I got what I needed out of the day. One of the hardest things for me to deal with is when I am completely happy with the result but others might not understand this and I know this will be one of those times. I talked early this year with a friend and well known pro about this and despite our discussion and some good advice it is still hard to grapple with it. It is even harder because I am committed to writing every week so there is no hiding from it. And it is only compounded because I smiled a lot out there and so many people acknowledged that and supported me out there. Lastly, it is only further compounded that I felt perfectly good out there.

Overall I love the sport and I am committed to my development as an athlete. However, Ironman racing is incredibly tough and finishing today would take away from my ability to do well at Kona. It would have been worthwhile in my opinion for a podium or win in my hometown, but not for 8th. I know so many people would give lots to trade shoes and I don't want to disrespect or take away from anyone's accomplishment on the day. I really do love this sport and the lifestyle, but ultimately I want to win one of these so I hope you can understand this.

Looking forward I will reassess this week for my plans regarding Kona. As of now I am planning to head back to Tucson in a couple of weeks but hope to get in some solid training before I leave. I will give some thought about Tahoe but after talking with Mike Reilly and Bryan Rhodes I will probably scrap it.
 
My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 264 Miles / 19 hours 27 minutes
Swim: 20,575 yards / ~10 miles / 4 hours 28 minutes

Bike: 225 miles / 11 hours 25 minutes

Run: 30 miles / 3 hours 33 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

8/26 - 9/1 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

You would think after my 3rd place performance last week at Ironman Louisville that I may have earned a tiny bit of rest between it and Ironman Wisconsin. However, that is not how I chose to reward myself. Truthfully, I felt better after Ironman Louisville than I have ever felt post Ironman. This came as quite the surprise as although I did have an easier time on the bike there, I still had to run 26.2 in 90+ degree heat. Although I felt good, the ramp up was pretty steep with Monday being a complete travel day. Tuesday was a struggle but I made drastic improvements Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

On Friday I felt good enough that I decided I would head down to Southern Illinois and race in The Great Illini Triathlon. The Great Illini Triathlon is one of those races I always wanted to do and I had it on the race schedule last year but it got cancelled because of a hurricane. The race has been won the last two outings by Andrew Starykowicz and knowing his travel plans I fully expected him to be there to make it a three-peat.

As for the race itself, well Andrew was a no-show but that turned out to be welcome blessing because the Midwest heat wave was still in full force and we probably would have killed each out there. The temperature of the water was bath water, and although "officially" 82 degrees it was still legal to wear wetsuits in this no age-group awards race. Although many opted to wear wetsuits I went without it knowing full well that the greatest enemy of the day would be dehydration from both the heat and the sun.

The loose plan for the race was to find some feet and swim their pace or just swim easy. Then bike hard until I could figure out what kind of time I was putting into my competition. The bike had 24 turns and 5 out-and-backs all with 180 degree turnarounds. I would know exactly where I stood on the bike. Then run whatever pace it took to run for the win.

Execution of the plan was no different from the plan except for a little snafu during the swim. During the warm-up ride I thought the swim course looked a little short, but it wasn't until 60 seconds to the start that Chris Sweet informed me this was a two loop swim and that we don't go around all the buoys. Some additional buoys were out for a longer 1-loop Olympic swim. I really wasn't sure what to think at the time and I didn't know if he was joking, but good on Chris for being a true gentleman of the sport and letting me know.

Not fully understanding the course I decided to hop on Chris Sweet's feet until I could figure out what the true course was. I'm color blind and I already have a really tough time sighting buoys, so I was comfortable swimming his pace until I could get things figured out. Midway thru the first loop I got tired of the pace and moved ahead only to take a wrong turn and have to swim back to a buoy. It is a reminder that I need to be prepared to know the swim course. To cut myself some slack, I don't have a lot of experience leading swims, actually I have no experience, but I will certainly be more prepared in the future.

I exited the water with a solid 1.5 minute lead and headed out on the bike. It was about 12 miles or so to the first turnaround and I would get my first time check.  The lead was already up to 7 minutes. Another 8 miles later and it was up 9 minutes. At that point I was already getting concerned with the temps. The Garmin read 86 degrees and it was only 8am. Knowing that it would be impossible to make up a significant amount of time on the bike and run, and with Ironman Wisconsin coming up, I did the smart thing and just shut it down early. I would bike the remaining 36 miles at or below IM watts.

United States Weather for 8/31/2013
Look at that Southern Illinois Heat Index

On the run and I opted for socks in this 13.1 mile run. With the feet already tore up I didn't want to risk any further injury to the feet. I started the run at solid IM pace. My only incentive to run was to get out of the heat. Tony the race director came by and asked how I was doing. I asked him what the temp and dew point was. He knew the temp had risen to 91. Running thru the cornfields of Southern Illinois provided no relief from the heat and the sun. It was getting unbearable and I could feel my skin burning. Not sunburn, like actually burning. I was taking handfuls of ice at each aid station and wiping the body down - the ice was completely gone in 10 seconds or less. Six cups of water, gels, 2 cup of cola, ice and finding some relief under the tent of each aid station is what it took. It was pretty miserable.  My first time check came at mile 4.5 or so and I had a 17 minute lead on second. I soldiered on from one aid station to the next and took the chance to cool off at each one. It wasn't pretty, but in the end I got it done.

Ridiculous 75 degree Dew Point @ Race Site

Overall it was a great race and my first ever wire-to-wire win. It is always good to be back in Southern Illinois where my triathlon career started way back in 2006. The feel of these small town events is great and I love being able to park right next to transition, register, and do packet pickup on race morning. You also tend to get a lot of lifestyle triathletes and you can still learn a thing or two from people who have been doing triathlon for 20+ years.

Learning Something New - Great Little Way Of Organizing All Those Small Items 

As for Wisconsin, well the Men's list has some 30 pro males with only 6 finishing in the money. Earlier this year I remember talking with former Ironman World Champion Michellie Jones at Wildflower. We talked about lots but one thing we specifically talked about was how too many pro's log too many run miles in high heat and then tend to get "baked" for late season racing. Well in the last 3 weeks I have logged 100 miles in 90+ degree and high-midday sun. 40 of those miles came while racing, and 13.1 came with a heat index well over 100. I could be over-cooked for this weekend's race but it is what it is. I'm going to try to let up a little this week but with Kona on the Horizon I have to continue building as well. With all that being said, I don't think a win is out of the picture, however I'm going to need a season best swim to make it happen.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 178 Miles / 19 hours 17 minutes
Swim: 28,981 yards / ~16 miles / 8 hours 37 minutes

Bike: 141 miles / 8 hours 04 minutes

Run: 21 miles / 2 hours 35 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

8/19 - 8/25 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

2013 Ironman Louisville Pro Podium
 #1 Chris McDonald, #2 Patrick Evoe, #3 Thomas Gerlach
#4 Jonathon Sheron (not pictured) #5 Ryan Bates #6 Mike Hermanson

The most important weeks for me to document are the weeks after Ironmans and the weeks before. This blog has been my own sort of repository I can look back to when I am on the road traveling or out and about and I need to reference something quickly. I encourage everyone to write even if it is not in the public space. It forces you to take a closer look at your training, your body, and your recovery. I haven't wrote a more in-depth race report in quite some time so I will write a more lengthy Ironman Louisville race report later on this week.

The short and skinny from Ironman Louisville this past Sunday was that I had another great race. The race for the win was pretty much out of the question with Chris McDonald putting the race out of reach early on the bike. It ended up being the same podium as last year just in a different order for Chris and Patrick Evoe, and myself still taking third. In the end I went 8:41:11 with a 51:52 swim, 4:36:28 bike, and 3:07:12 run.

For those interested I will be doing a live show on the podcast "In The Big Ring with Ben and Lindsey". We are shooting for a 9pm central start but you can always watch it later as it is recorded. I'm sure we will talk a little about Ironman Louisville, Ironman Wisconsin, and a few other subjects.

If you have been following along you will know that my taper basically started last Monday morning. Here is what I did this past week leading into Louisville for that taper:

Monday: Bike #1, 18.5 miles, 59 mins, 2x8 min intervals at race pace, 1x5 min interval at race pace. Bike #2 easy cruise to Masters swim practice.  We swam a varying set of 200s. Feeling pretty terrible in general today. Last 200 was 2:38 LCM.

Tuesday: Run 6.5 miles at 7:30 pace middle of the day, to acclimate to heat. First hot day we had in Madison in a long time. 90 with humidity and wind.  Bike, 27 miles, 1:30 min, road a trail where I road race pace from one intersecting road to the next, then did the next section of the trail at recovery pace, and repeat. Ended up being about 10x race pace intervals for a total of about 20-30 mins of race pace work. Swim 2000 meters, 38 minutes. Just swim easy. Still feeling terrible.

Wednesday: Run 5.5 miles with race pace intervals. 3x .5 mile, 1x 1.5 mile.  Goal was to burn the race pace into the legs and to continue heat acclimation. Scorching mid-day, midwest heat-wave run. Easy bike to the pool. Swim 3000 meters in 59 minutes. 5x200 LCM descending. Still feeling terrible.

Thursday: Travel Day

Friday: Swim 1800 with ms as 8x100 desc on 1:30 in 1:16, 1:15, 1:14, 1:13, 1:12, 1:11, 1:10 1:09.  A perfect descending set just to get the body going. 1.25 mile run from where I parked to the Galt House for the pro meeting. 13 mile bike, 42 mins, I biked the out and back technical section of 1694 twice. Feeling ok.

Saturday: 8 mile bike ride 27 min with 2x3 min intervals at race pace, .5 mile run. Basically ran from my car to transition to pick up my run and run special needs bag that I was missing. Feeling ok but not worried about it.

Sunday: Race. Felt fine all day. Made a crucial swim mistake early. Biked pretty easy, but back tightened up around mile 100 or so. Ran easy but I was very tight.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 242 Miles / 18 hours 28 minutes
Swim: 15,032 yards / ~9 miles / 4 hours 08 minutes

Bike: 193 miles / 9 hours 22 minutes

Run: 41 miles / 4 hours 57 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

8/12 - 8/18 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

Hay is in the Barn

Looking back at my training logs I can't believe how different the training has been in the lead up to Ironman Louisville for this year in contrast to last. Last year I was battling Achilles Tendinitis for the majority of the summer and that was really hampering my ability to get in the run miles. The same injury worked wonders for my bike as I focused on lots of lactate threshold intervals and V02 max intervals. This year I haven't worked so much on moving that red line. Instead I have focused more on getting more run miles and longer bikes. In addition, last year I went into Louisville after two weekends of racing at Rev3 Wisconsin Dells and Ironman Steelhead 70.3. This year I had two free weekends off.

Although overall I am feeling pretty good, I have no idea how the race will go this weekend. I have built up a good amount of fatigue with 4 century rides in just the last 10 days and a long run on Friday. I know it is very aggressive taper just leaving a short 7 days, but I remain cautiously optimistic about the race.

Regardless of my feelings on the day, I am at a point in my career where I know I can contend for the win in the right field. Looking at the race, the smaller field size suits me and the challenging rolling bike of Louisville suits me as well. It has been a terribly cool year in Wisconsin and I can't remember the last time we had a 90 degree day. This could potentially leave me unacclimated if weather presents itself like it did in 2010 and 2012 but nonetheless I'll take the day in stride. However, whatever the day brings, if I find myself in a position to make the winning move I will not hesitate. The days of me racing and people congratulating me on my consistency are behind me. I'm going to Louisville to win. I don't need anymore 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place trophies, I want the big one. Next week my update will come from Louisville and we will see how the chips fell. Until then here are...

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 285 Miles / 23 hours 03 minutes
Swim: 18591 yards / ~11 miles / 5 hours 39 minutes

Bike: 234 miles / 12 hours 18 minutes

Run: 41 miles / 5 hours 04 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

8/5 - 8/11 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

Sign I Came Across At End Of 200K Ride

Since Ironman Texas (May 19th) there has been two weeks where I did not have a race scheduled on the calendar. They were the weekends after Ironman Texas and Ironman Coeur d'Alene. This weekend made it now my 3rd free weekend and I took every advantage of it to get in as much training as I could. Truthfully, I'm feeling a little bit like a zombie right now and that is something I haven't felt since my Cabo build earlier this year. Fortunately with Ironman Louisville in less than two weeks there isn't much more punishment I give my body and still gain from it so I have no choice but to lighten the load. I'll likely hit it hard over the next few days and then start a short 10-day taper for Ironman Louisville.

As for specifics on this week, well I got right back at it after my appearance at Ironman Steelhead 70.3 last Sunday. Because I pulled the plug on that race at Mile 48 of the bike, I was able to get right back at it on Monday and set a personal record for a 1 hour "power-hour" time trial in the pool. I had a few other good swims as well with a collegiate swimmer I have been swimming with, but the real focus was to keep building in the bike miles. It was one of those weeks where every pastry was starting to sound good and I had quite a few cookies, muffins, donuts, and pancakes on my way to my highest weekly mileage since the Cabo build. Power wasn't great but I attributed that to so many hard & long "race" bikes and I am hoping that the increased endurance miles will help me run to my potential at Ironman Louisville.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 368 Miles / 30 hours 47 minutes
Swim: 24,825 yards / ~14 miles / 7 hours 02 minutes

Bike: 302 miles / 17 hours 09 minutes

Run: 52 miles / 6 hours 35 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

7/29 - 8/4 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

2013 Ironman Steelhead 70.3 Bike

The late season endurance training has began as I try to do some crash training for Ironman Louisville, Ironman Wisconsin, and Ironman Hawaii. Yes for those that had not heard, I am proud to say that I was able to secure enough points to secure my spot in the big dance in October on the big island of Hawaii. In total there were 580 pro males that had points for the World Championship and the top 43 were given their slots at the end of July. 10 more males will receive their slots at the end of August.

As for my plan, I don't have a lot of time to train for Louisville so the loose plan is to go into Louisville fatigued and see what happens. If it doesn't go well I always have Wisconsin as a back up and I would hopefully be more rested for it. I'll deal with Hawaii after Wisconsin but the whole point of going to Hawaii is to get some experience. I know given my swim and the group dynamics of triathlon that I stand no chance of success without the front pack swimming ability. After much debate, I have been mostly convinced that the honor is too great and the sport is just too strong to forgo the spot. Here are the other 43 qualifers.

2013 Ironman KPR Males

As for racing this week... I packed up and headed over to Michigan to race at Ironman Steelhead 70.3. This was my 4th time at Steelhead, 2nd as a pro, and I did it 2x as an age-grouper. Last year it was my first 70.3 event as a pro, and despite a poor swim I was able to TT solo back up to the lead pack and came off the bike second to race winner Daniel Brestcher. Because last year Steelhead fell the Sunday before Louisville I ended up just cruising the run, but this year I had different plans, and I really wanted to run hard if I was in a good position to do so.

Coming in to the race I had a good amount of fatigue built up in the training days leading up to the race. The shake-out swim, bike, and run on Saturday before the race went terrible but I attributed this to normal travel day fatigue from the previous day. On race morning, I felt pretty good, and although the swim appears slow based on time, I was actually really happy with it all things considered and it was much better than Ironman Racine two weeks prior.

Onto the bike, and in rare form, I asked Chris Bourdeaux if he wanted to work a bit with me on the bike. He agreed and we set sail on reeling in the guys from the front swim pack. After reeling in a couple of guys we caught up to a pair. It was clear that the larger and stronger athlete (Josh Seiferth) was simply just bringing his tailgater along for the ride and when it comes to riding I hate to give anyone a free ride.

After a few failed attempts at shaking the rider I had to draw on good old problem solving skills. It was one of those "get the sheep, hay, and wolf" across the river but only take one at a time kind of problems. In the end I was able to shake the rider off my tail and I regrouped with the two that were now ahead. The three of us continued ahead and we working pretty well until a side wall blowout at mile 48 effectively ended my day of racing. Luckily for me I actually learned something from last sidewall blowout and brought a tire patch along with the normal supplies. Unlucky for me was that I didn't realize it was a sidewall cut until I had already wasted my spare tube and CO2, but I am very grateful for the age-grouper who stopped and gave me his spare tube and C02.

I rode the bike in for the final 8 miles and the half patch held up fine and I was off the bike. I was well out of the money at that point but I still needed the miles for my Ironman training so I ran the half marathon. I was planning on running every mile at a different pace to work on contraction rates of the muscle fibers at different speeds, but halfway thru I got suckered into running a few miles at a more constant pace with long time friend Mark Vermeesch. I also got in a bit too much socializing in the first couple of miles, but overall I got the miles needed for my Ironman training.

2013 Ironman Steelhead 70.3 Run

And that brings me to my moral of the week. Often times I will tell people "to get what you can out of the day". I am not one of those "finish by all means" people, but I do expect people to give it some thought when things are not going their way. There is always something to be salvaged. If that is a finish then so be it, if that is some fitness then so be it, if that means stopping to live to fight another day then so be it. Regardless some thought is required.

And lastly a couple more thank yous are in order. I wanted to thank the Lear family for having me as a guest at their home this weekend. And thanks to Ali Engin for his great photography work and providing the pictures for this weekly update.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 284 Miles / 21 hours 42 minutes
Swim: 13,290 yards / ~8 miles / 3 hours 53 minutes

Bike: 222 miles / 11 hours 19 minutes

Run: 54 miles / 6 hours 29 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

7/22 - 7/28 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

2013 Chisago Triathlon - Swim Exit

Every year I train all winter and it seems like it takes forever before you can test any fitness gains. It can be quite frustrating as the the time creeps by ever slow slowly as you gut it out day-after-day fighting to grow faster than your competition. Without the constant feedback of racing it can be tough to know what you should be focusing on. That stands in stark contrast to my summers where the routine is basically train, eat, sleep, pack, race, unpack and repeat. Racing this summer has definitely continued to reiterate the importance of a great swim, but it can also be incredibly difficult to make solid gains mid-season. Now another week has flown by and the routine is complete but here is a little insight to the week:

After Ironman Racine last week, I got right back to work. There are no off days, only easy days. And as I get to the later part of the season I am switching the focus to build some late season endurance. Many coaches like to add the speed at the end of the season in preparation for their key races, but I find it works better for me to work on it early season and see how that new speed translates to the longer distance. Ideally you make efficiency gains with speed that can directly correlate to holding the same pace at a lower level of effort. With that being said I didn't get in the necessary volume I would have liked but that is ok and will make up for it in the coming days.

2013 Chisago Triathlon - Run Finish

As for racing this week, well I decided to head up to the Twin Cities to race in a great little local race put on by Midwest Sports in Chisago City. They offer both a sprint and half and both draw the local pros in the area and it is always very competitive. Last year I was signed up for the half, but fell ill earlier on in race week. After starting the Z-pak a few day priors to the race I decided to switch to the sprint but had a terrible result and was still feeling quite sick on race day. Needless to say I didn't have the best race I could produce and I was disappointed with my 2nd place finish to Minnesota pro Devon Palmer.

This year I wanted redemption and I also wanted to do a little recon of Devon for what is being dubbed "The Great IronGopher-Badger War". Devon will be the lone pro triathlete from Minnesota competing at this spectacle on September 8th at Ironman Wisconsin. From the Badger's side we will have a strong contingent of pro athletes including Blake Becker, Chris Wichert, Paul Eicher, Will Smith, and myself. Devon was fortunately signed up for the sprint again and I am happy to report that I reversed the results of last year as I captured my 3rd win of the season, and career win #23. Results below:

Overall Results - 2013 Chisago Sprint Triathlon

Lastly I want to thank Trijuice for providing the photographs for use in this weekly update.  I also wanted to thank my cousin, his wife, and son for coming out and cheering me on.

2013 Chisago Triathlon - Bike Finish

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 200 Miles / 17 hours 54 minutes
Swim: 21,1106 yards / ~11 miles / 5 hours 52 minutes

Bike: 168 miles / 9 hours 41 minutes

Run: 21 miles / 2 hours 20 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

My Cousin Mark and his son Matt

7/15 - 7/21 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

Ironman Racine 70.3 was the race that started it all for me way back in 2006. Back then Ironman Racine was called the Spirit of Racine and I can still remember vividly how inept I was at triathlon on that day. I can remember trying to put on wet socks and sitting down in transition. I can remember how fast the winner - David Thompson - looked on his bike as I headed out as he headed in. And I can remember how my legs felt like jello as I started the half marathon on a warm and cloudless Racine day.

Fast forward to today and I think about just how far I have come. No, it was instantaneous success like some athletes seem to have. Over the past numerous years I have been a true student of the sport, grinding away day-after-day as I make the tiniest of gains. I have made tremendous sacrifices along the way, but have also met some wonderful people. Needless to say it has been a great journey, but one that is far for complete.

But before I go on I wanted to delve into a topic I have been meaning to write about and that has to do with "race" purpose. Every time I toe the line I toe it with purpose. Unlike many athletes, I am not necessary out there to win the race, set a PR, or even to finish. In fact, I think too often, people lose sight of their real goals and why they got into the sport in the first place. For me it comes back to a common problem that exists in American culture - the need for instant gratification. Personally I like to the think of myself as someone who invests for the long-term, but I also disagree with people who take it to the infinitum. What is long-term and short-term is different for different people, and where people fall in the spectrum is really not important - it is all personal choice.

My Commuter and "Group Ride" Bike

To further paint a picture of my personality I will use my choice of bike for group rides. It is a 50lb bike, with some of the beefiest prototype Powercranks you have ever seen, with rear baskets, and rack, 42mm bullet proof tires and thorn proof tubes, and rims that would stand up to downhill mountain biking. Needless to say it puts me at huge disadvantage on group rides, and especially so in the attacks. But I am not out there to "win" these groups rides. I am not in search of the fastest equipment out there to make these group rides as easy possible. No, I am out there so I can work at being the best cyclist I can be. And I work at being the best cyclist so I can run as close to my potential as possible, and this is all so I can be the best triathlete I can possibly be, but no, not every day is a race.

Today was definitely not a race for me. Sure there was a finisher's medal and results that are tabulated. And this is not to take away from anybody's performance out there. Also, this isn't some sort of explanation or excuse. It is simply a point in time where I thought it would be appropriate to explain a little bit more about me and what I am working towards. I know there are all sort of readers to the blog and I get all sorts of feedback from you. I know everyone has different backgrounds and some people are not yet participants of the sport so it may be impossible to explain it without being exceedingly verbose but less I try.

Simply put, I am out there to be the best triathlete I can possibly be. I am out there to push the boundaries of how far I think I can take my own body. Along the way, if that happens to be a world champion than so be it, but I am not there, not even close, and I may never be. I do have an immediate goal and that is to win an Ironman. I know a lot of that comes down to the right race, with the right field, on the right day, but it is a realistic and achievable goal.

Ironman Racine 70.3 fits into that plan of winning an Ironman. On paper with results it might not be easy to see how. And I would by lying if I had a set of blueprints to exactly how the day would go. I don't, and although I believe in having a plan, I also believe that the enemy of good is perfect. So I went to Racine, WI because it is sort of like a hometown race for me. It is close and gives me experience without expensive travel and downtime away from my training base. And there are many more benefits to list but the list is endless and I won't bore you with any more.

A Canoe Division Takes Off @ The Paddle & Portage

As for race week, well the lead up to the race was difficult. After my double last weekend I laid on the accelerator all the way up to Thursday night doing V02 max intervals in the arb. The high temps, with high humidity, and running in dew points above 70 just added to the difficulty. I was absolutely torched on Friday and Saturday, but that was quite alright, and expected. I did get chance to get the race juices flowing a bit on Saturday by watching my brother-in-law race in the Paddle and Portage in Madison, WI, but needless to say I wasn't really sure how I would feel on race morning. As I wrote last week this was a low risk, almost no reward race, but the loose plan was to swim hard, bike hard, and cruise the run.

Crossing the Isthmus At Paddle & Portage

So race morning came and I felt ok. I was a little tight which is kind of weird because usually I wake up pretty loose regardless of how much sleep I get. After starting the swim I quickly realized the arms were still torched so there would be no hard swim. Normally, I do ok in chop, and this race had plenty of it, but it also requires a high-turnover which I seemingly didn't have today. Onto the bike and I was planning on doing a nice 20 minute warm up before hitting the gas for a good hour, but the legs felt absolutely awful. Watts were terrible, like below IM, and by mile 2, yes mile 2, I could already feel a burn in my quads. I decided to sit in for a bit and let someone else dictate the pace as I fell into base training watts. I thought at 30 minutes in that maybe I would do a hard interval to the next competitor, recover, and repeat. This would keep the intervals shorter, but harder, but in the end I decided just to keep it easy for a bit longer. Then at some point I found myself with a group of 4-5 and fellow pro Ryan Rau was leading the charge. After a nice pull, he looked back and was looking for help so I moved to the front and that was it.

I was planning only pulling for 5 minutes, but the boys were gone by 5 minutes so I made it 10. Then boys dangling in front made it 15 and more boys in front made it 20 and I kept advancing until I caught up to a bonking Olympian Brad Kahlefeldt and Brandon Barrett. This was after 40 minutes of hammering and my general rule is when you hammer and gobble up Olympians that you ease up. It was at mile 48 this happened and I figured it would be a good time to ease off the pace, but the pace was awful and I quickly grew tired of it so I put in another solid effort heading into town.

Head Down - Watts Up - Thanks Ali!!

Onto the run and it was going to be run a mile, stretching routine, and repeat. That was going pretty well until Angela Neath caught me and she was completely gassing it as she was running for her life and the win. I always admire people who can dig so deep and Angela sounded like she could collapse at any second. Simply out of respect for her honest effort I went with her stride-for-stride. I was reminded tonight by a friend that it wasn't the initial plan I set and it is true that I didn't stick to that original plan, but I love to watch winners and how they react. I learned a lot from Angela in the process and so I consider it to be a worthwhile deviation. And although the 6:15 mile pace was a little faster than I wanted to do the last 4.5 miles in, I'm sure Angela would say I ran well within my limits at that point.

In the end I had great time at Racine and I got a nice little block in on the bike. Although it may not seem like much, knowing what watts is required to break clean and free of a group is important. This is especially important on a flat course like Racine where it is notoriously hard to drop weaker riders. Although my 40min power effort was 321w (5 feet 8 inches, 155 lbs), I will not say what 5 min power was required to create that initial gap, but I will thank my 50 pound commuter for helping to give me the power to make it. Considering the whole ride was a measly 271w I think that should give an idea of just how weak the ride was when I wasn't pushing.

Lastly I also wanted to thank a couple of people. I wanted to thank AJ Baucco and Daniel Bretscher for both loaning me helmets for the race - I left mine in Madison, WI in a flight of panic to make the Pro meeting in time. I wanted to thank Cole Braun, race director of the Pewaukee triathlon for meeting me in transition with my 2XU wetsuit that I left at his race the week prior. I wanted to thank my Aunt Kathie for the great homestay. And Ali Engin for his photography.

My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:

Total: 222 Miles / 20 hours 17 minutes
Swim: 21,1106 yards / ~12 miles / 6 hours 32 minutes

Bike: 168 miles / 8 hours 36 minutes

Run: 42 miles / 5 hours 08 minutes

Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes