Ironman Florida 2013 – 11:53:28

(Check back for updates with pictures)

My goal for this race was to have a good day and a strong run.   IMWI 2011 was awful for me, and after suffering through flat tires and nutrition problems I wanted a better day this time.   So, my definition of success wasn’t tied to a particular time or split but more to a feeling, which is odd for data driven Mike.  I think it worked out pretty well for me though. 

Swim

Time:  1:10:49

Pace: 1:50/100m

The swim was a mass start to Van Halen’s ‘Panama.’   At the cannon almost 3000 people ran into the ocean, and almost immediately the ocean hit back.   Three foot breakers pushed us back towards the shore.   The swim was tight, where I had seeded myself.   It was a very congested push to the first bouy, with a lot of contact.   My goggles were kicked a few times, my ankle got grabbed once.   I really had to fight for every inch until the first turn.   The first turns was very congested so I dove under some other athletes hanging onto the buoy and sighted the next buoy. 

The course was two loops in the ocean, with a brief beach run in between.  When I got to the shore the first time I saw that I was at about 35 minutes, which was great.  Better than expected.  Luckily the second loop was less stressful.  

In general, I just kept reminding myself that it was a long day, and to not be in a hurry.  I just got the swim done, and I was out in about 1:10.   My ‘best day’ prediction was 1:12 so I was really happy with the result. 

T1 12:46

The T1 run was pretty long, but not as bad as the IMWI helix run.  Things went to plan, I didn’t run but I just moved ‘purposefully’ through transition.  I noticed that for some reason my left heel was hurting, but I couldn’t really do much about that. 

Bike

Time:  5:21:19

Pace:  20.91 mph

The bike was also pretty congested.  There was a combination of deliberate and involuntary drafting going on for most of the bike.   I kept my distance the best I could, but there wasn’t really anywhere to go.  Every time I’d back off to eat/drink I’d get passed by pace lines that I’d have to again repass.  

There was a NW wind, at less than 10 mph that created a minor headwind on the way out, and a minor tailwind on the way back. 

For the most part I just tried to put my head down and do work.    That said, being in your own head for 5 hours is just a long time.  It’s hard to focus that long.  

Just like cedar point 70.3 I had problems either with my power meter or my effort level again.   My quarq said I was riding about 20-40W under goal.   My RPE said I was working hard enough.   My speed indicated I was holding right around 21 mph.   So, I road mostly by effort.   This is a big problem I need to solve though.  It might be that there is something wrong with my electronics, or my calibration process.   It could also be that I’m so mental about the run that I’m afraid to push the bike even a little, and that’s giving my RPE a bit of a false read.  A third option is that in a race there is always a pack to avoid, nutrition to eat, aid stations to go through, and turns to negotiate, and maybe I’m just not good at holding power while doing those things.   Whatever the cause, I was happy with my pace and if I left some on the table so be it.

  

At about mile 70 I hit a real mental low point, and I started singing songs from ‘The Little Mermaid’ to myself.   I remember passing this girl singing and getting a funny look.  I shot back, ‘come on, you know the words.’  I’m just about positive I heard her singing behind me! 

I saw Lana and Tam on the bike around mile 90, just when it seemed like it would never end.  I hit the century mark at 4:46 and I was jazzed about that.  My fastest century by 14 minutes. 

My ‘best day’ goal for the bike was around 5:10 and my ‘average day’ goal was 5:30.  So, 5:21 was really right where I should have been.  It also lined me up for going sub 12 hours if I could run a 5 hour marathon, which would be really neat.

T2 8:27

So, T2 was thankfully much shorter than T1.   I did what I needed to do, but still didn't run in transition.  I knew I’d get plenty of running soon enough.  The volunteer helper I had was in such a hurry he took my T2 bag away before I got to put my shoes back in it, or get my sunblock out.   So, I’m sitting there in T2, with bike shoes in hand and run shoes on.   I yell to him ‘Dude, I still have my bike shoes.’  He says something like ‘sorry, it’s been a long day.’  Yeah, funny, me too…  

Run

Time: 5:00:07

Pace:  11:27/mile

I noticed that every time I put my left leg down my heel would hurt.   Same place I noticed in T1.   Not much I could really do about it, but it was there and painful. 

I ran by heart rate, trying to stay in zone 2, for the first few miles.   That was working out really well at first.   But, then, my heart rate dropped to between 90 and 100 bpm after the first few miles.  That wasn’t right.   It wasn’t something I had experienced in training however, and had no idea how to fix it.  So, I just did my best to ignore it and run the marathon on feeling.

At mile 5 I noticed the 18 mile mark on the run course, for the second loop, and made a mental note.  That’s where the race starts, mile 18.   That’s where I’m going to have to really work for it. 

Somewhere on the first loop I ran into Mirinda Carfrae, on her second loop.  As she ran by I sped up just a bit and was like ‘hey, you’re Mirinda Carfrae.’   I guess it’s sorta stupid to tell famous people who they are, because, well, they know.   Anyway, I was like ‘ok, I’m gonna let you go ahead, you got this.’  And so I let her go, since she was leisurely jogging my 5k pace.   That was cool though, we’re totally running buddies now. 

For the first 13 miles, the sun was pretty hot and it was sort of humid.  Those conditions are not great for me to run in.  I did my best running between aid stations and walking/recovering my HR as I drank between aid stations. 

Every mile I’d take a self-assessment of my condition.   How was I feeling?  In general I was less hydrated than I wanted to be.  My pace was ok, but not what I was hoping for, but being a terrible runner isn’t exactly news worthy.  From my first few splits, it looks like I had a shot at that sub 12.    Energy level was ok, all things considered.   Stomach was going between good and bad, back and forth.   I wasn’t cramping at all.  Things were all green across the board, given where I was.

At mile 13 I had a minor asthma problem and hit my inhaler.   I thought I’d walk for a bit and see if I could recover, but it didn’t get any better.   I used my inhaler again, but it still really didn’t improve.  So, at that point I just decided to run again.  Running didn’t really make it worse, so I kept back on my plan.

When I hit mile 18 I had a massive side stitch.   Self-fulfilling prophecy I suppose.  I don’t normally have issues with side stiches, so I wasn’t sure what to do.  I walked again for a bit, it eventually went away.

At mile 22 I looked down at my watch and realized that if I pushed I could still hit the 5 hour mark on the run, somehow, after all that walking.  Admittedly I was a little bummed that I had a shot at sub 12 after this deep into the marathon, because it meant some hurt was coming.  So, I made my mind up to do it.  At mile 23 I stopped walking the aid stations and just ran.   It’s funny, I was pushing so hard I felt like I was running 7 minute miles.  In reality, it was more like 10 minute miles.   I saw Lana right before I crossed, but couldn’t really do much more than try to smile.  I crossed the finish right a few second over 5 hours, and for some reason had it in my head that I had finished in over 12 hours.  

A volunteer immediately grabbed me and took me to medical because I was clearly smoked.  I sat down, drank some chocolate milk and got my head back together.  While I was in medical I heard someone say ‘these guys are right at 12 hours’ so, I looked down at my watch and realized I had finished in under 12 hours as well.   I met a worried Lana outside of medical and made my way back to our condo. 

Post-Race Thoughts

I really had a great day.  Because of the awfulness that was IMWI 2011, in some ways it feels like my first ironman. 

Of course I usually want more, and today was no exception.  I would have liked, given all the training I put in, for my run split to be closer than an hour off my open marathon.  I did the best I could with what I had though, and it was pretty good result.  My ‘best day’ prediction was 4:30, so I guess in the back of my mind I think there’s another 30 minutes in there somewhere, but that’s about as deep as my genetic well goes I’m afraid.

Our Panama City Beach ‘Vacation’

After IMWI I think I laid in bed for two days.  This time I was much better prepared in general, and I hurt a lot less the next day.   I was sore, but it wasn’t awful.

That painful heel I mentioned was the worst of it.   I had a big puncture wound on my left heel.  My best guess is that I stepped on a sharp bit of shell on the beach as I was heading to T1.

I got up at about 6am to go with Lana so she could register for 2014.   We had to get there two hours before registration opened, to secure a spot.  With WTC, it seems the 4^th discipline is standing in line.

My legs were of course really sore, but that was to be expected.   We joined some friends on the beach for drinks and that certainly took the edge off.  

Two days out I felt way better.   Most of the pain was gone.   I was experiencing some episodes where I’d go from ‘fine’ to ‘I’m going to kill someone if I don’t get some food’ in a matter of seconds, so I gave myself a pass to eat pretty well. 

The highlight of our dining experiences in PCB was ‘Buddy’s Seafood Market’ where we went in, picked some fresh seafood, and they steamed it while we waited.   I ate about a pound of fresh shrimp and some scallops, along with potatoes and corn.  It was really delicious. 

We also ate at ‘The Boathouse’ with some friends.  It was great as well.  I had grilled local grouper with a bottle of Beaujolais.  

Thanks

I have many people to thank for this big epic day, and the training to lead up to it.   

First and foremost, thank you Lana for getting me to the starting line safe, healthy, and sane.  And for keeping the house together while I trained.  And for all your love and support.  I really can't thank you enough love.

Thank you friends and coworkers, for supporting me in doing this and talking about it non stop for the last 12 months.

Thank you trisharks and fellow Epic Endurance team members for your support and well wishes on facebook!  You guys are an inspiring bunch.

And last but not least thank you to Laura Wheatley for pushing me further than I would have pushed myself.   

In The News!

Thanks to the Ottawa Daily Times for the great story!  If you're suffering from obesity, or just want to lose some weight, it's possible.  It can be done, and this is how I did it.

Ironman Wisconsin 2011 14:18:09

I woke up at 3:30am on 9/11/11, and I knew the day was finally here.  Ironman.  The race I’ve been aspiring to for the last three years, was going to happen in three and a half hours.  Even if everything went exactly to plan, I knew this race would test me. But that wasn't the case.  Almost nothing went how I planned.  

The first indication of the challenges that were ahead was apparent as soon as I opened my eyes.  The head cold I had been dealing with all week was still in full force.  It was probably worse than the day before in fact.  That was outside of my control though; all I could do was manage it the best I could with the medicine I had stuffed in all my bags. 

I ate my typical race breakfast, drank coffee, and left for the race. 

Swim

Distance – 2.4 Miles

Time- 1:20:50

It's an amazing thing to be in the water at an Ironman Swim start. Thousands of athletes were lined up in the murky but very glassy water. Mike Reilly was telling us we were all going to “be an ironman” today. The cannon went off, “Beautiful Day” by U2 was blasting on the PA, and suddenly the water erupted into chaos. 

For the first 400 Yards I went hard. In mass starts I would rather be swam over than swim over other people...

I felt really good, and I was shocked and happy to see 1:20 on the clock when I got out of the water.

T1

Time – 12:30

I carefully ran through T1, did what I needed to do, and got going. I was not going to be heroic running barefoot in T1 and screw up my day with a fall.

Bike

Time – 6:45:24

Distance 112 Miles

As the bike started out through Madison we entered a bike path that went under a city street. Unfortunately, with less than two miles in, a rider crashed her bike and was being attended to by paramedics, which stopped the bike course. It was frustrating to have my foot down while the clock was running, but the woman that fell off her bike had bigger issues. She was being taken off the course on a back board. I hope she was okay.

I made it through the “stick” and hit the first aid station, where I threw my bottle and picked up a bottle of powerbar and a bottle of water, and very nearly avoided a second pile up, when a rider went down at the aid station.

About ten minutes later, I grabbed my powerbar bottle to take a drink. It was empty. The volunteer that handed it up to me didn't screw the cap on tight, and the bottle drained out. The next aid station was water only, and the combination of those two issues meant I was going to be short about 200 calories in my first hour.  I typically eat a cliff bar in T1, but that didn’t happen today.  My stomach wasn’t feeling up to it, possibly because of the rough swim or because of my cold. 

I was still biking very well and making many passes. My bike was set up well, and I was happy to see that with the addition of my aero helmet, wheels, and removing my two training bottles + holder I was averaging about 19 mph on the bike.

At about 25 miles in I was passing someone and I hit a BIG pothole I didn't see. I was immediately worried that I damaged something. A few miles later I felt the back of my bike bouncing. I looked down to see the rear tire flat and my heart broke. I knew my bike split was ruined. If I couldn't get moving again, my race was over. I'd been training for 12 months for this day, and it was hard to think this might be the end of my day.

I got off my bike, closed my eyes for 5 seconds, and got some perspective on things. An accident, nutrition problems, and now a flat and the clock wasn’t even at 3 hours yet... I’d like to say I was totally calm and prepared, but that would be a lie.  I was a mess. 

Okay, I thought, some things are happening that I don't want, but flats and colds are completely outside of my control. Regardless, I can quit now, or I can keep moving forward...those were my options.  Walking away would have been very easy in that moment.  Quitting becomes exponentially easier when you know that no matter how the rest of the day plays out you can't perform to the best of your ability. Continuing meant suffering a lot, for a sub-par performance. This was my first Ironman though, the race I've had my eye on doing for at least the last 3 years. I've sacrificed a lot to get to this day. My wife was out on Old Sauk with my parents, cheering for me. So, I decided to keep going, and just make it the best day I could.

I pulled my back wheel off and checked for damage. It looked ok, other than the flat.  I grabbed the razor blade out of my flat kit and cut the flat tubular in half and peeled it off the rim. I pulled my spare on and inflated it. I was moving forward again, but I had lost about 15 minutes.

At about mile 32ish I finally hit an aid station that had calories. I drank some perform and supplemented with my EFS, just like in training, but things weren’t working like they did in training.  My stomach went from feeling bad to feeling awful.  My hamstrings/quads were starting to cramp. I was covered in salt and the day was proving to be a bit hotter than expected. I needed salt, calories, and water and I was struggling to get sufficient amounts of them.  I was totally unprepared for all of this, as my nutrition had always been pretty much perfect in training. 

At mile 46 I saw Lana and my Mom cheering for me at Old Sauk. I tried to smile and wave, they gave me such a positive lift, and I didn't really want to expose them to the badness I was going through.

I was doing the best I could to ride in my power zone on the bike, which was difficult as I had a lot of slower bike traffic to pass now, but overall things were getting better. By the time I went through Verona on my first loop I was feeling pretty strong and my stomach issues seemed under control. Unfortunately I had to stop at bike special needs to get my spare tubular / co2 from my special needs bag. After flatting once, I wasn't going to ride without a spare and risk a DNF, but that meant again my foot came down, more minutes gone.

On a climb about 60 miles in I saw my friends Seth and Jessica.  I had no idea they were going to be there, and I kind of had to do a double take when I saw them.  Seth ran next to me briefly as I climbed and I told him about my flat.  I had this odd thought.  Ultrarunners talk about how they get these hallucinations after running for hours, of ghost wolves chasing them and things like that.  I wondered briefly if I was being chased by a ghost Seth, but I quickly dismissed the idea, as that would probably be the lamest hallucination ever.

I saw Lana again in Verona on my second loop, probably around mile 90. Again, it was a much needed pick up. The cramps were back again. I was now about 700 calories under plan, putting me at around 150-200 an hour.  Not nearly enough.  I was struggling to balance getting more calories and water in with not vomiting, and I was losing.  I only peed once on the bike, around mile 60, so I was dehydrated as well. I was beginning to struggle with holding power.  I’ve never had nutrition problems in a race; I can normally eat anything anytime, and be fine.  I was totally unprepared for a nutritional emergency.  I was getting really frustrated and angry, which happens when my blood sugar is low.   I was cramping badly, something else that doesn’t really happen to me, especially on the bike.  I took some of my emergency salt; it was more likely a function of my lack of nutrition/hydration.  I didn’t really understand at the time how far gone I really was though.  By now I was struggling to hold 60% power and my focus was really slipping. 

But the decision was made, I was going to keep racing. Finishing would have to be good enough. I was going to finish.

At mile 102, on my way back to town, I noticed my back wheel starting to bounce. It was low on air...I had no idea how. I still don't, in fact. My first intention was just ride it for the last few miles. It wasn't quite flat, and it was a tubular anyway, so I figured it would maybe make it to 112. Unfortunately about 107 I noticed it was getting worse.  I knew I was working harder to pedal on a flat, I was worried I was going to roll the tire off the rim, and I knew my bike time was screwed anyway… So, I stopped for a third time, and put another CO2 cartridge into the tire. Luckily, this time it held until I got back to transition, but I lost more time with a third stop.

Yeah, I was having a bad day. But, things could have been worse. There was a guy I passed riding into T2. He was carrying his bike, covered in blood, back into T2 to start his marathon.

T2

Time 11:39

T2 was a mess. There was lots of carnage, and a lot of folks looking less healthy than me. I did my thing, changed socks and shoes and went. The cramps were still there so I took more salt and drank some water.  I tried some gel but it didn’t stay down. 

Run

Time 5:47:46

Distance 26.2 Miles

I was very worried when I started the run. Scared may be a better word. Running a marathon isn't an easy thing on my best day and I knew I wasn’t in any shape to do it at the moment.   I was running very easy 10 minute miles, but my stomach was still wonked and my nutrition was worse. Every time I tried to drink anything with calories at the aid stations I'd throw up. My calves were and quads were cramping very badly. I stopped taking in calories at about mile 6 because I was worried that they'd see me get sick and pull me off the course. I was also worried that it would make my hydration situation worse.

I saw Lana, my parents, and our friends Seth and Jessica at Mile 7.5. By the time I saw them again, around mile 14, I was in the weeds. I was walking. I was totally bonked. I couldn't feel my teeth or look at the ground without it spinning. I was cramped beyond belief. I remember asking Lana if I could make the cutoff if I had to walk. I was pretty much done. Luckily, Mom and Dad went to eat, I really didn't want them to see me like that. I knew they'd be worried enough. At that point someone made the suggestion to try pretzels at the aid stations. I figured that I had nothing to lose, besides more walking and vomit. Sure enough, that did the trick. I only ate a few pretzels per aid station, but it was something and they were staying down. I was able to add bananas, chicken broth, and a little coke on top of that. Things got just a little better, and I was able to run most of the last half of the marathon. It wasn't a fast or pretty run, but it was a run.  The cramps got slightly better too.  In the end I think I probably ran the entire marathon on 10 pretzels and a quarter of a banana. 

On Being an Ironman

As I turned towards the finish, it seemed bittersweet. It was a day that had lots of downs, and very few ups.

When people asked me how fast I was going to finish this race, I told them my goal was 16:59:59, but I knew I had a 12 hour IMOO in me.  Maybe I did, I’ll never really know.  As it turns out, my first Ironman was going to be more about perseverance than performance. 

It's cliché to say things like “well, just play that hand that you're dealt” or “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” but things are cliché for a reason. In the end, I turned down the carpet, “hi fived” the fans, and smiled when Mike Reilly called out “Michael Bernico, 34, of Bloomington Illinois, you are an Ironman!” 

There’s no question that putting together a 12 hour race where everything went to plan would have made me very happy, but fighting for a 14:18:09 where nothing went right is probably better. 

 

Almost nothing went how I planned.  I finished anyway. 

Madison IMOO Training Camp

Ironman Wisconsin is 40 days away.

This weekend I joined 110ish other folks at a training camp put on by the folks coaching me.  It was hardcore, extreme spelled with extra x's...the whole deal.  It was the kind of crazy that I imagined, when I signed up for this kind of race.  I went there expecting that, and I got exactly what I was expecting.  Here's what happened.

Thursday
Thursday morning I woke up in Bloomington.  I went to the pool and swam a 2.4 Mile time trial.  I beat my best time by about 5 minutes, which I was very happy about, swimming the distance in 1:29:00.  I showered, finished packing, and brought some lunch for Lana at work.  I offered to bring her a sandwich so I could have just one last opportunity to see her, even if it was just for 2 minutes as a sandwich deilvery man, before I left for Madison.  Granted, it was the action of a love struck teenager, but I'll gladly own that.  Lana and I have worked hard not to have to spend time apart, so we definitely don't enjoy it when we have to.

After I made it home I loaded up the car and headed to Madison.  After an uneventful 3ish hour trip, which was frequently interrupted by bathroom stops due to my crazy hydration status,  I checked into the hotel.  I ran to a grocery store to load up on some supplies, and then attended a talk put on by the coaches before we road the course on Friday.  Dinner was in my room that night.  A turkey sandwich, baked sweet potato, broccoli, and salsa were on the menu. 

Friday
Friday started at a leisurely 5am.  Most mornings come earlier for me these days and the extra sleep was nice. 

We started out on the bike at 7:30.  My goal was to warm up for the first hour at about 65% FTP, and then move up to 70% for the remainder of the day. In practice I rode a bit easier, following some  slower cyclists that knew where they were going.   The IMOO bike course is a stick and loop affair.  You go out on the "stick" do two loops, and then head back on the stick again.  The loops are marked, the stick...not so much.  I was totally lost, luckily there were plenty of other people that knew where they were going.

I was plenty willing to take it easy though.  This bike course was legendary for it's difficulty and I wasn't going to seek out the suck, I knew the suck would come to me in due time.

A few rollers, and a few cows go by, and then 16 miles in the loop starts. A few more miles, Mt Horeb goes by, which as it turns out, is the troll capital of the US.  Who knew? 

Then some more serious stuff comes up.  There are very fast descents, hard uphills, and some technical turns that come in rapid succession.  This is a thinking man's bike course for sure.  It's not just about being a careful climber and not roasting your legs.  It's about getting up the hill, and knowing if you should coast or stay on the gas.  It's about knowing when to have the balls to descent at 40+ mph and not ride the brakes, and when to slow down.  It's about all those things at once.  Conserving your momentum is key, especially for a heavier rider like myself. 

Especially interesting, was a descent with a tight left at the bottom, followed by more descent and a tight right.  Someone had taken the time to spray paint "slow" on the road, before that descent out of the many, many descents on the course.  They meant it.  Jim Garfoot, they named a twisty, hilly ass road after you.  You must have been an interesting person. 

Next up, I ran into a small town, with a VERY cool little coffee / bike shop called Uphill Grind.  I had forgotten to sunblock my neck, and they had me covered.  They also refilled my water bottles.  They sold what looked to be delicious food, coffee, and anything a cyclist could need as well, and they were super nice to boot.  Thanks guys!    On the down side, that same city had a cop camped out by a stop sign making sure cyclists stopped, unclipped, and put their foot down.  If you didn't?  Well, I saw a cop light up a chick on a P2.  You know, I kinda don't blame them.  Granted there are bigger issues that cops could probably deal with, but there are so many cyclists out training on the IMWI course, it must be an issue for the locals.

In fact, that same day several of the folks in my group were harassed by a black pickup truck, and one was ran off the road.  He suffered some road rash but was otherwise ok, or at least that's what I heard.  I also heard that they got the truck's license plate.  I certainly hope there were some consequences for that driver, but I'm hesitant to say too much since I don't really know for sure what happened.

A few miles down the road I ran into a dude grinding very very slowly up a very very big hill.  He looked to be a wizened veteran of the course.  "Some Hill" I said to him as I rode by.  "Yeah," he said, "They call this one the bitch."  I had to laugh to myself at the notion.  All these hills were kinda the bitch...but ok.  Up I went, and then  I figured out the name.  After a long, steep climb the hill turns to the right and gets even steeper.  "Bitch Hill" indeed.

After that it was a clear shot to Verona.  I repeated that same 40 miles, and then finished up back on the stick and 108 miles later I was back at my hotel in time to brick it.   It was hot (104 according to my Garmin, but in the 90s for sure) , I was already dehydrated, and I got pretty sick on the run.  Things got kinda dark, but I walked a little and suffered through my 6 mile run.

My first ride through of the course ended up being 6:25:00.  Not impressive by any means.  I ended up about 25 minutes slower than my goal, I really underestimated how much slower those climbs would make me, and how much smarter I'd have to learn to ride the course.

Friday night I listened to a talk on how to ride the hills a little smarter, and logged that in my head for the next day.  I ate some oatmeal, a turkey sandwich, a sweet potato, and some frozen blueberries.   Then I got to bed, to do it again the next day.   I burnt about 4500 calories, and there was no way I was putting that all back, so I just did my best to keep the glycogen I had and slept as much as I could.

Saturday
 All things considered, I was feeling pretty froggy Saturday morning.  I woke up, ate a PB&Honey, mixed my bottles, and got on the road.  It was, for the most part, pretty uneventful.  I rode the stick, one loop, and the stick back to the hotel, covering about 70 miles.  In the last 10-15 miles my legs weren't willing to make Watts, and I just really let them go.  I was fatigued and I knew it. 

Back at the hotel I changed and did a 3 mile brick.  As I was running by the Allegant Energy Center I saw the sign tell me it was 95 out.  With the heat index, it was closer to 104.  It was hot.  My run was pretty slow, and I was ok with that.  My head was finally wrapping itself around the distance, the fatigue, and what this ironman stuff is all about, which is more about "not stopping" and less about racing.

Saturday afternoon I got some sleep.  That was the best part of this camp, having the time for rest and recovery.  At home I'd be taking care of William, doing chores, cooking, cleaning, life...  Here my biggest priority was training and my second biggest was making sure I was recovered to train.

Saturday night Lana was able to join me, which was really awesome.  She did a 67 mile ride earlier that day, and we were both ready to eat!  We went to a place called "Great Dane Pub and Brewery" in downtown Madison.  It was really great! I had a local grass fed beef burger with local Wisconsin cheddar on a multigrain bun, some baked beans with their beer in it, and a glass of a very dark porter. 
Delicious!

After that, Lana and I drove a bit of the bike course and got to bed.  It was really awesome that Lana drove all the way to Madison to take care of me and support me.  I'm very lucky to have her in my life.  I doubt she knows it, but She was the highlight of my weekend.  

Sunday
Sunday morning I was hurting for sure.  I did my best on the foam roller, had some oatmeal, and drove to the Monona Terrace, which is the Start/End(ish)/T1/T2 of IMWI.  After a quick talk we took off running from T2 and ran one loop of the two loop run course. 


It was a hard half marathon.  The fatigue from the two previous days and heat really caught up with me.  I had no idea where I was going, and that made it worse.  Luckily I found some people to run with, so I wasn't totally lost. 

I brought a handheld with me, and Lana brought me extra water at the State Street turn around, around 6 miles in.

We were running 9:30s and it felt quite a bit harder than the 8:06/mi I ran a few months before in the Illinois Half.  When we made it the finish I was totally spent, and a little dehydrated.   I was very very glad to be done for sure.

When I got back to the start Lana was there waiting for me.  We got back to the car and made it back to the hotel to pack, check out, get lunch, and head home. 

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday
I took Monday off to recover and get my bike in order.  Tuesday I started training again.  I ran 7 in the morning and tried to swim about 3400Y at night, but it ended up being closer to 3K.  I did an easy 3 on Wednesday morning, and realized I was still not feeling 100%.  The recovery cost to doing this kind of thing is pretty high, but I also learned alot about how to race this course. 

It was a valuable weekend for sure, but yeah, I'm pretty wiped still.  Again, this is more a "here's what happened" report and my writing is really not so great right now.  I just don't have the energy to do much more, so here it is. 

Big Day 2 7/9/2011

Disclaimer:  My apologies to all my readers.  This post is even less polished than normal.  Time is very limited, and I'm very tired.  I wanted to get this all down, but it's not pretty...


 So with that, on to my second big day "report"

My first "big day" of training occured just three weeks ago, in week 8 of my 20 week build.

Now, three weeks later, here we go again. 

The plan was originally to swim 1 hour, bike 4 hours, and run 1 hour, the same as week 8.  I got a better offer though.  A local charity ride, pedaling for kicks, was running this Saturday.  It topped out at 67 miles, but I talked to the folks putting it on and they said I could ride the 67 mile loop and keep going on a second loop.  It was a perfect opportunity to get some serious bike time in!  So, I changed the plan to a 6ish hour bike with a 6 mile brick.  I ran the idea past RnP, the endurance nation coaches and they said that would be an "epic" day.  I like the sound of that, and I'm on board for epic.

I was a bit worried about holding my race pace target for the entire 107 miles at this point.  I've come a long way in my training, but I have alot of fitness to build still.  So, I knocked it down to .68 IF from  .7 IF. 

Here's how it went:


Breakfast

Breakfast was coffee and a PB&Honey on wheat bread at 4am, as I drove out to the ride.  I really dig the sandwich for early morning training.  It's easy on the tummy even with intense training, and it goes together the night before.

As stupid as it sounds, I've learned a great trick for the PB&Honey.  If you apply PB to both sides of the bread, it keeps the honey from soaking into the bread in the fridge over night.  Very important!

Nutrition

I've gone through alot figuring out what works well for me.  I needed salt. I needed caffeine. I did better if I had BCAAs.  I needed sugar.  I needed LOTS of water.  I ended up with a few different plans that were all wicked complicated. 

Then lasts weekend I tried concentrating EFS from First Endurance.  It worked REALLY well.  EFS has the aminos I was after, the calories, and it has enough sodium that I don't have to take salt stick if I'm drinking it.  I'm calling out EFS here because it worked really well for me and they deserve alot of credit for making the most advanced sports drink on the market IMHO.  They don't sponsor me (although they should!). 

 Here's how I did it:

1.  I marked a 24 oz bottle at 8oz, 16oz, and 24 oz, filled it with 7 servings of EFS, and then added watter to the 24oz line.

2.  I drink 8oz of this mix every hour, which is approximately 2.5 servings.  This gets me:

240 calories
750mg of sodium
5g of aminos!

3.  I'm very careful to drink lots of water with this mix, and drink more if my stomach feels wonky at all.  I'm a 1.5ish bottle / hour kinda guy.

I've ridden with this mix twice now, including this ride, and I've felt really good both times.  I picked up a mini bagel with some PB half way through for some solids, which was nice but probably unnecessary.  It's very likely I'll use this strategy for IM.

The Ride

My typical Saturday is a 4 hour ride with HARD intervals, netting me 80+ miles, with a 30 minute brick. So, honestly, 6 hours at 68% was pretty easy, even with all the fatigue this training has piled on me.  Thats ok though, easy is good, and a huge confidence builder.

The biggest struggle of the ride was maintaining focus.  Without intervals to break things up, it was hard to stay focused.  I was totally alone the first 3 hours of the ride.  I didn't see a soul on a bike or in a car until I stopped to refill my bottles. 

After the first 67 I met up with some friends and they rode with me for 40 more.  That made things way more fun, and I was able to chat most of the time while holding my desired power level, which probably means I've earned the right to ride 112 at 70% on race day.  That's great news.  Also, BIG BIG thanks to Mark, Jessica, and Seth for keeping me company on those last few hours, that made it so much easier!

I did really well at riding steady power uphills.  Thats a good thing too. 

I did coast way too much...and I found myself loosing focus far too often.  I will have to work on that, but I also know from my HIM experience that won't be as much of an issue on race day. 

The Run

By the time we were finished the temperature had gone up from 66 to 98 (according to my Garmin, in the sun...probably wasn't that bad). 

The ride started at a country church and there was no shade.  The sun was pretty oppressive.  I decided I'd ride home and run on the trail there, and have an air conditioned car ride as T2. 

The break was nice, but maybe a bad idea.  It was really hard to get started again after I had stopped.  I ran 6 miles, very very easy, and honestly it was hard.  Can I run a marathon after 112 miles of biking?  I dunno, maybe, but not yet.  I was visiting the pain cave after about 4 miles. 

Quick Summary - "State of The Training Block"

• Training fatigue right now is VERY VERY high, I'm right at the edge of failure on most workouts.  I have some recovery coming this week though.
• Nutrition is spot on
• All things bike are going very well, but I can focus better. 
• The run...ehhh...I dunno.
• Swimming?  Well I don't sink. 
• If I can stay healthy until IMOO I have a good shot at finishing strong.  Anything can happen, so no predictions, but I have come a long way and I'm really starting to surprise myself with the amount of fitness I've put together in the last few weeks.

So, This Is What Training For an Ironman Feels Like

In one word, consuming.  It's 85 days until Ironman Wisconsin, and already it's all Ironman, all the time.  It's a good thing I have a triathlete wife, and triathlete friends.  Otherwise, they'd all hate me by now.  It's probably all I talk about it.

But who wouldn't be consumed by it.  I'm planning on trianing for this thing that is somewhere between "wow, thats cool" and "that's silly, why would you do that to yourself."  I know it's what I do today that will get me across the finish line.  Race fitness isn't going to just happen "sometime" between now and then.  Every run, bike, and swim is money in the bank for Madison.  Every time I work my life around my training so I can get both done, that's money in the bank too.  Every tweak I make to my electronics setup, my nutrition strategy, my bike fit, they're all lessons learned to help me succeed.  So, yeah, consuming, but more of the purposeful kind and less of the obsessive spinning your own wheels kind. 

And so that's part of it.  If I had to pick another word?  Exhausting.  At the moment I'm training about 15 hours a week, which is 5 under my high water mark from last year...but it's a HARD 15 hours.  I'm pretty much always tired.  And this week is special!  This week I'm doing my first race rehersal.  A real IM worth training event for sure!  Here is what the week looks like:

Monday - Swim 3K
Tuesday - Long Run
Wednesday - Bike 75 minutes with 2x20 @ 100%  with 30 minute run brick
Thursday - Run 60 Minutes with speedword / Swim 3K
Friday - Run 45 Minutes
Saturday - Swim 1 Hour @ IM Pace / Bike 4 Hours @ IM Pace / Run 1 Hour Eazy

One more word?  Ok sure, why not.  Hungry!  At this point I'm typically burning 1200+ calories a day training.  I'm constantly hungry. 

So, that's what it feels like to train for an Ironman.  Consuming.  Exhausting.  Hungry.  :)  Oh yeah, and awesome!

The Off Season

So what have I been up to this off season?  I’ve been busy!   I’m getting revved up for the final push to Ironman Wisconsin.  I’ve been building towards this goal for around 3 years now, and it seems like the pieces are all finally falling into place.

General Training

I’m approaching training in a somewhat untraditional way this year.  I’ve built a lot of intensity in and lowered my volume considerably.  I’ve been using Endurance Nation coaching to help me with this plan.  It appears that I’ll be coming into this season a good deal faster because of it.  It’s been rough though, all that intensity is…well…intense…

Medical Stuff

The intensity plus the cold resulted in the discovery that I have exercise induced asthma.  After steelhead last year I had a bit of an asthma attack, although I didn’t really know what that was at the time.  This winter I had another, more serious asthma attack.  A trip to the doctor later I’m now “fixed” with an inhaler.  It was a bit scary at the time, but it’s very controllable.  Life moves on. 

I’m also dealing with some biomechanical stuff related to the knee repair that I had done when I was huge and fell in the snow.  More on that later as it shakes out…

Bike Fitting

I recently went to visit Get a Grip Cycles in Chicago for a professional bike fit.  They spent a bunch of time looking at my flexibility, anatomy, and goals and put me on a fit bike.  Then they put me on a fit bike and did some motion capture video analysis to really get my fit dialed in.  They did good work, and I’m more comfortable than ever on Karma (my Cervelo P3).

Swimming

I’ve been working hard, and not so hard, on my swimming.  All the intensity in my bike/run training has really left me wiped out.  A lot of the folks training with EN stop swimming during the off season because of stress involved with their bike/run training, and the “return on investment” of off season swimming.  I stopped for a while myself.  I missed it though, so I made a compromise and took my swimming back to the drawing board.  I stopped pounding out yards, and started doing entire swim sets of drills.  Drills, drills, and more drills.  Now I can bilaterally breath, swim with much less effort, and swim a bit faster as well.  It was time well spent, and it helped keep the weight off this winter!

The Other Stuff

Life has been very busy, and there isn’t really much time for all that much “other” stuff, but this off season has found me a little extra time and I’ve been having some good times.  I’m cooking my way through all the recipes in the book “Food Matters” by Mark Bittman (what an awesome book!!!).  I’ve also managed to finish all three God Of War games, Heavy Rain, and a few other titles on my PS3.  I’m really working to find some balance in all of this, and so far I’m winning…but it’s a fight!  Healthy is more than just triathlon though. 

The Next Step

I just read an old post from December 2008 that was talking about a 5k I ran 12:37/mi in. Looking back, I can hardly remember being that person…but that was me. I remember when I considered exercise the biggest challenge of my day, and now most days it’s the safe place I can escape and be with my thoughts. 

Last September I changed my blog from “Escape from the Cube” to “My Road to Ironman” and announced my intention to participate in IM 70.3 Steelhead, and eventually a full distance Ironman race.

This September I’m happy to announce that on September 11, 2011 I’ll be participating in Ironman Wisconsin! 

It’s been a long time getting here, and the road ahead is still very long, but now there is a date and time. Ironman, here I come…