Volume DOWN / Intensity UP–Steam Whistle Race Strategy

I went for the first bike ride in a couple of months on Tuesday.  The temperature was in the high 40’s.  Having not even really ridden the trainer or anything I was in for a wake call.  The pace was not blistering but I could really tell that my form was off.

The four of us got off of the trace and hit the biggest hills around (still not much).  There were a few surges but also nothing to write home about.  However, I could really feel the fatigue in my legs.  I never took a pull.  I never surged ahead.  I just stayed in the draft.   I enjoyed the ride but it reminded my of how far off my bike gets in the winter.  After about 35 miles I started to get cold – my feet and hands were hurting.  I also started to think a lot about food.  This is never a good sign.  I was fantasizing about a big hot bowl of soup.  I could almost taste it.  Sam also started to talk about food.  When we stopped for water he called ahead home to have a couple of pizzas put in the oven and some hot soup on the stove.  I went over to his house after the ride and chowed down.  Then I warmed up next to the fireplace.  It was a good end to a cold bike ride.  There is a big hilly bike ride on Thursday but I don't think it would fit into the training plan (I'm just not up for it).

If you remember, a few posts back I talked about how many bike rides you can have while training for a marathon PR – the answer was zero.  So what was I doing?  Well, the BIG volume portion of my training plan has come to an end.  I was able to point together a couple of 70 mile weeks and now I move into the intensity phase of the program. 

The program will switch from the high volume comfortable pace portion to a FIRST (Furman Institute) high intensity phase.  There will be 3 challenging runs each week consisting of hard intervals, hard tempos, and long runs at marathon or near marathon pace.

I did the first short run I have done in a while.  It was actually shorter than I had intended.  I want to run 5 miles at sub 6:30 pace (7 miles total with a mile warm up and a mile cool down).  When running at intensity I tend to run by pace and not heart rate or feel – just by pace.  This has been slapping me in the face the past couple of runs.  This intensity is really testing me – I should be able to run these paces but they have been putting me on the ropes.  My running course is slightly uphill for about 6 miles.  This is what has been putting it to me.  So this faster run today was cut short.  I did the warm up mile at 7:30ish and then picked up the pace.  I ran the first mile and turned around.  The mile was at 6:29 pace but felt much too hard to continue an additional mile and half before turning around.  However, the next two miles, after having turned back, were much faster (and slightly easier).  These next two miles clicked off in the high 6-teens (like 18 and 19).  I need to be a little smarter when doing these run.  I need to get the necessary mileage without blowing up.



This course that I run is also part of the Steam Whistle 12K that will be taking place on the first.  Looking at last years race I averaged 6:39 pace.  The first two miles were 6:34 / 6:35.  Then it looks like I blew up a little – the next two miles were 6:49 / 6:54.  Then the turn around and running slightly down hill brought the rest of the miles at 6:40 or less with the fastest being 6:31.  Knowing that the race is faster on the ‘back’ portion I need to settle on a hard effort on the out and really push the pace on the back.  I’m not looking forward to the intensity but I am looking for a PR.

Heat Wave 2010 - Race Report

First, I don’t have any pictures. I don’t really want to remember much about this race. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good time, but I did not have a good race. I do not like being slower than last year! I don’t like the feeling of going backwards.

Pre-Race

I rode up to Ridgeland (Jackson, MS) with Chris. We stopped at package pickup at Indian Cycles which is a really nice bike shop. They always do it well with cheese and wine and beer and finger foods. It was fun to swap race stories with all of your friends while you touch and feel all of the latest and greatest bikes. I noticed that when I was here a few years ago I could not imagine spending that kind of money for a bike. This weekend I was thinking of all the great deals to be had. Funny how perspectives change. I did not buy anything.

There was a group that met up at Ted’s house for a wonderful dinner and camaraderie. We had a good time catching up for the last year. I was better this year and did not eat too much. This is only a near Olympic race. No need to carbo load as they say.

We all got up early and I drank some coffee and had a cliff bar. The temperature was supposed to be very hot. I drank a large bottle of sports drink. I filled up another bottle with just water.

We arrived with plenty of time to set everything up. I grabbed my transition place; got body marked, hydrated and used the bathroom. I still had about 45 minutes to do a practice swim and ‘get into the zone’. The temperature was less than we expected – it had rained most of the night and it was still overcast.

There was a chop on the water but after the half ironman in New Orleans I was not fazed. I jumped in the reservoir and swan a few hundred yards. I felt strong in my stroke. I was swimming well. I had a great swim at this race the previous year and I was excited about doing well. I took a gel.

Swim –

The race starts in 4 waves – first - < 35 second 35 – 44 third > 45 fourth women. I was in the second wave. The buoys would be to my right which is my strong side in the swim. I started way right and towards the front of the swim. The horn went off and I started swimming. I still felt pretty good. Even though there were a lot of swimmers in my wave I was able to pick Robin out to my right. He was a distinctive swim stroke. I tried to pace off of him for the race so that I would not have to sight much. We were swimming at the same speed. The swim was going well. I decided that I was going to move behind him to catch the draft and just have a nice fast easy swim. Robin always is a little faster than me in the swim so why not just take a ride. Before I could get over there I ran into a pocket of swimmers that just were not moving well. There was a good chop in the water. It was more pronounced after we left the protection of the cove. The faster swimmers were plowing ahead but the less proficient were struggling. I lost Robin at the point and I had to make a major course correction. Getting in this mix up was the first time that I took on water. I missed a breath and then took a mouth of water on the next. It seems that once my rhythm is altered my swim quickly digresses. I recovered soon enough and rounded the first buoy. I had struggled a little bit and was not having the best swim. I remember this being a really hard swim for me but looking back to yesterday I am not sure why. Yes, the water was rough and I am sure that my heart rate was much higher than it should be but I have been in worse. I drank a lot of water and did not swim strong. I was very happy to be done with this swim. I finished a few seconds faster than last year – the course was long last year so go figure.

T1

I ran to my bike and noticed how many in my wave were gone. My friend Dan was in transition and heading out. I wished him luck. My transition was quick – no problems.

BIKE

Dan was a few seconds ahead of me out of transition and I never saw him on the bike. I felt okay during the ride and took it out comfortable hard. I still have a fear of blowing up in these shorter races. I need to just kill the damn thing and pick up the pieces at the end. My gps watch was beeping that my heart rate was too high. This alarm was still set from the half ironman in New Orleans – the alarm was set too low for this race. I would normally not have a heart rate alarm at all. Fortunately it was windy and I could not hear the alarm much. I just ignored it for the most part. However, mistakenly, I did stay right around that heart rate level. Chris, who started in a wave just after me passed me with authority at mile 3 on the bike. However, I passed him at mile five like he was standing still. Oh, he was standing still with a flat on the side of the road. I saw a lot of flats on the course this year. I am not sure why. It took out a couple of the faster bikers. Sam had a flat on the way back on the bike, Chris ended up having 2 flats and Mica also went down. It was windy out on the trace in several areas. I could really feel the wind. I did not push the bike hard enough – not nearly hard enough. I later learned that I got passed by Lance around mile 10 – I never saw him. Regarding drafting, I am not sure what was different but the race was much cleaner this year – good job Ben (he was the head official). I think the rough swim separated the racers more than in the past. I pulled into T2 a couple of minutes slower than last year.

T2

I was not feeling strong as I dismounted the bike. It would be okay; my legs would come along quickly on the run. I was ready to make up some time. I planned on taking a caffeine gel just before the run. It did not seem appetizing. I exited T2 in a respectable time.

RUN

I immediately noticed that I left my gps watch on my bike. Damn, I have grown to rely on this for my pacing. It has become a crutch. I do not know how hard I can push without it. I need to learn to race by feel rather than by instrumentation. I just started pacing off of someone that was running well. I do not know how fast it was. After only a half a mile I started to feel sick. My stomach was in knots. My belly was sloshing around. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN TO ME! I thought about walking back and not finishing. It hurt that bad. Once again - THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN TO ME!

I have often joked about having a cast iron stomach. I ran through the first water station. I did not want anything in my system. Right around mile one I saw Lance. He asked me how I was doing and I said not well – I was hurting. I ran past him but before long I had to stop on the side of the trail. I was making those puking noises and starting to gag a little. I bent over and a stream of hot brown liquid ejected from my mouth. It was short and sweet. I jumped back on the trail as I apologized to the racers around me. They just said do what you have to do. I caught back up to Lance and passed him again. I was able to run fast when I felt well but my stomach was like a time bomb. It felt like seconds were ticking down to another incident. At the mile two station I grabbed a cup of water and swished out my mouth. Once I had cleared the station I pulled over to the side again. This was a repeat of round one. I immediately felt better and ran a comfortably hard pace. There was a good hill up to the turn around. I was feeling better and my pace was increasing. The slow bike and run had really spared my legs. I was getting stronger. Just past the turnaround point I came up on Dan. He was struggling a little bit. I pushed past him. Sometime in the next mile that time bomb started to ring again. I was looking for some cover and found a large tree just off of the trail. I went behind it and the column of filth that ejected from my mouth was spectacular! Later I would get comments on the drama and the noise that was erupting. Once again I immediately felt better. At the next water station I grabbed two cups of water and swished out my mouth and took a drink. It felt good. I started to drink the next cup of water but it was sports drink. My stomach turned again. I quickly discarded this cup.

With only 2 miles to go I was ready to race. About time! I picked up the pace. I felt fresh. I ran with authority. People were telling me to “go get’em”; telling me that I was looking strong. I don’t think they realized that they had probably passed me several times. In the last mile I came up on Raland. He was running strong. I told him to not let me pass him (I had forgotten that he had started in a wave prior to me). I ran past him (he would end up with third place Clydesdale – Lance got fourth by a few seconds).

I was now running like I know I can run. I was running hard and feeling strong. I finished very strong – after all I had only really run the last 2 miles of the race. I was glad the race was over. I finished and grabbed a bottle of water.

FINISH

After the finish I was able to wander away from the crowd and find some seclusion. I was able to purge the rest of this vileness from my system. It is hard to throw up fast during a race. It seemed like another gallon came up. I later looked at my one water bottle on my bike. I had drunk maybe 10 ounces of water during the bike and so very little during the run. I am having trouble believing that I swallowed that quantity of water during the swim. It boggles the mind. I would have liked to know what my paces were for the 10k run. Sure, my total run time was longer than last year but I finished strong.

RESULTS

Overall of was 4 minutes slower than last year. My swim was slightly faster. My bike was off by 3 full minutes (23.1 MPH compared to 22.0 MPH). My run was off by 90 seconds (7:27 pace compared to 7:42 – I must have been running pretty fast WHEN I was running). I don’t know how this happened but compared to my age group I was 8 places better than last year in the swim, the same for the bike and I improved by 1 on the run.

Overall I placed 4 better than last year in my age group (but that is not saying much because I was not stellar last year either). This could have been a strong race for me but it just did not happen.

For triathlon, for me to get better on the run I definitely need to get better on the swim. I have often said, “I will not win the race on the swim but I sure can lose it!”

Heat Wave Pre-Race Report

I have a race this weekend, the Heat Wave, which I have raced the last 2 years. The temperature was cooler last year but the swim was longer. The previous year the swim must have been short – my much better swim was 3 ½ minutes longer. I still improved my time by about 5 minutes. You can read the analysis here  or last year’s race report here .

Last year I had a huge improvement on the bike (9.3% faster – 2 MPH) and an okay improvement on the run (4.3% faster – 20 seconds per mile). I am not sure where I will come in this weekend. I have talked a lot about following race plans but I have not been diligent this year. The half ironman in April was an afterthought and I did not even look at a race plan for this weekend’s race. It is like I have just been exercising since the Mardi Gras Marathon. I truly believe that if I had put together a challenging training plan and followed it for the half ironman in New Orleans then my sub-5 hour goal would have been easily achievable. Now this race, like I said, it will be interesting where I finish this year.

Past performance is a pretty good predictor of how you will do in a race. Experience plays a huge part in this. A rule of thumb for half to full ironman performance is to double the time and add an hour. Last year I completed my first half ironman in 5:30. I judged a lot of my pacing for my full ironman off of this time. If you double that time and add an hour and you get 12:00 flat. This was my fantasy goal for ironman Louisville. However, I did not factor in all of the hard training that I would do over the summer in the Mississippi heat and I got lucky with a cool year in Louisville. I actually ended up blowing that goal out of the water. I finished my full ironman in 11:18. What is more telling is that my swim and run pacing’s were faster in the full ironman than in the half ironman. Go figure.

I was thinking about this the other day. How does this equation work in reverse? Well, my most recent race was the same half ironman in New Orleans and I finished that race in 5:08. Let’s see – if I half my full ironman time and deduct an hour what do I get? 5:09 – wow. That is uncanny (full in 2009 11:18 – half 2010 5:08). I can’t believe how close that is.

Does this mean that my race fitness is similar right now to when it was last August? It is the same but it is different. Let me explain. I do not have the same endurance that I had last year. Sure I can go out and ride 50 miles or go out and run 15 miles but I would have trouble going out and doing a brick at those distances. I could do that last year – or close to it anyways. Reading my post race report from the Heat Wave last year I actually got home after the race and ran a 5 miler. What? And the next day I did a 50 mile ‘recovery’ bike ride. That is crazy.

I wish I could say that I have traded endurance for speed and in some respects that is true. However, last Friday’s 5k Pump and Run race shows me that my top end is off. I would have liked to have been much deeper in the 19’s for that race (in the back of my mind I wanted high 18’s). I am not going to judge too much on this 5k race since I effectively blew up – but still I wish I had been faster. I need to go out and run an all out 5k in training just to see where I stand.

My strategies for the race: I am going to have a solid swim, push it hard on the bike – just short of implosion, and run hard.


I guess that is every race plan. Simple stuff.

Heart Rate Recovery - You don't get that back!

Earlier in the week I did a 6 minute all effort on the bike trainer. These workouts are killer. My legs were burning, my heart rate was sky high (sky high for the bike anyway) and my breathing was very labored. The last time I did this workout was way back in November. I increased my average wattage by 8 or 9 percent.

But back to the workout. The protocol was as follows: 15 minute easy warm at a set wattage (150 watts – this is very easy), 6 minutes all out (the trainer is set a given slope – I just push as hard as I can) and 15 minutes easy cool down at a set wattage (150 watts – identical to the warm up).

So I did the easy warm up and loaded up the 6 minutes. I went all out for the 6 minutes and alternated between looking at the clock, my instant wattage numbers, and just staring straight down. This is very hard for me. When I finished the 6 minutes of fury I set the trainer back to the easy cool down wattage and pedaled at my usual cadence.


The cool down effort was still easy but not as easy as it was during the warm up. After the work out I noticed how my heart rates differed from the warm up and cool down. My heart rate average was 20 beats per minute higher during the cool down! That is more than 13 % higher after just 6 minutes of hard effort.

When I do hard intervals I notice the trend of a rising heart rate at the same efforts, but this got me thinking about endurance racing. And all triathlons are endurance races after all.

So, have you ever been in a race where someone just blew your doors off in the bike? And you second guessed your efforts – after all this is a race – you need to go hard. So you pick it up a notch or two and let your heart rate start to rise. The adrenaline is pumping like nobodies business. You are feeling strong! You are racing hard. You are passing people left and right!

What happens next? You end up dipping your toe into the red zone. Maybe you are just in it for a few minutes. Maybe you are pushing just a little bit too hard. That might be okay in a shorter race, but remember, you do not get that back.

When you are into the run is where you will feel those minutes in the red zone. You will be running at a hard effort but you might not being going as fast as you should. After all, you blew up a little earlier and you just can not fully recover back to normal. Twenty beats per minute in the run is an entire zone for me – almost a zone and a half. This translates into minutes per mile. I was very surprised too that my heart rate was having trouble recovering after only 6 minutes of very hard effort. My heart rate will generally drop back in line quickly after hard intervals. I guess the 6 minutes was overload.

In longer races I am overly cautious. I do not want to blow up. I do not want to be the one who is giving up tens of minutes in the run because they gained a couple of minutes on the bike. There is a fine line when pushing the bike. I am still working on how hard I can push on the bike and have a solid run.

In the short stuff you have to push hard but in longer races you have to let your ego go. You can flirt with the red zone but you can not get into it for long. You will not get those resources back – they are already spent.

70.3 New Orleans - 2010 - Lessons Learned

Cool down!

I know that I am beating a dead horse but I do think about these things.  They allow me to race better next time. My lessons learned from 70.3 New Orleans 2010 are as follows:

1. PRE-RACE: Plenty of time this year. There was no long walk to the swim start line. My start time was also nearly an hour later than last year. Pre-race set up is an experience that you learn. I am much better after having a lot of races under my belt. I was even able to assist a few people in transition prior to the race. I have made lists of what I need in transition (I will follow up with this in another post) and this takes much of the anxiety out of the situation.

2. SWIM: I watched the conditions worsen for more than an hour. Last year I do not think I would have had success. This was the first open water swim that I have done this year. Once again I had to draw upon experience. I have had bad swims. I have had good swims. I have learned that I need to swim my own race. I have built up a comfort level (confidence level) with swimming. I might not be the fastest swimmer out there but I will complete the swim and be able to contend with any situation that might arise.

3. BIKE: I was able to stay within my heart rate zones. I was comfortable. I was tempted to push the pace (and I did when the wind was at my back). But overall, once again, I raced my own race. I still need to determine where that fine line is on the bike. Did gaining a few extra minutes on the bike cost me 10 minutes on the run?

4. RUN: I am a better runner than last year. I took a minute per mile off of last year’s pace. However, I wanted 2 minutes per mile. Maybe I was naive in my run goals. The heat was a factor. Maybe I should have run more at the hottest times of the day to build some heat acclimation. The heat from this race will feel like a winter’s morning in two months.

5. ENJOY THE RACE: Once out of the water I had a good day. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to reach my goal. I was able to keep positive even though I knew that I was not going to have a 4:59. At the end of the race I did say (and it is on video) that "I never want to do another long distance race again". I think I say that at the end of every race! I still want to break 5 hours and I am looking around for another race.

All races are different from year to year. In this race the swim was rough, the bike was faster and the run was about the same. Well, the run was hotter but only because I started it an hour later than last year.  And the tranistions were much shorter.

By the numbers:

Improvement 2009 – 2010

SWIM----4.9%
T1-----15.1%
BIKE----2.0%
T2-----18.6%
RUN----12.9%
TOTAL---6.6%

I 'lost' 3  minutes in the swim (from my projected time).  I 'lost' 90 seconds from a bathroom break.  I wonder if I could have pulled that extra gear knowing that I only needed 4 minutes (instead of 8 minutes) to reach my goal?  I knew that I was not able to run 30+ seconds per mile faster but could I have willed myself to run 17 seconds per mile faster?  I just don't know.

Recovery: Last year there was a tri team that had a kiddie swimming pool filled with ice water that their athletes were using to cool down. I wanted that last year but it was only for their athletes – I asked. This year, they had this set up in the medical area. Once I discovered this I made a bee line for the water. I definitely did not need an IV or anything by I wanted to cool down and start my recovery. The medical staff was awesome and I submerged myself for about 5 minutes. It was painful on my feet but so refreshing everywhere else. I highly recommend the ice baths!!!

Checking Race Results

Race Report - RUN - 70.3 New Orleans - 2010

T2: 1:54

The run – TIME: 1:46:08 SPEED: 8:07 RANK: 218

I stopped just short of the dismount line. I unclipped from the pedals and put weight on my legs for the first time in two and a half hours. The legs were strong. There were no wobbles at all. This gave me confidence for the start of the run.

I ran with the bike through the transition area. I passed several people that were walking. One person was walking with their bike in my transition row and I politely said on your left. He moved over and I sprinted to my bike. I quickly racked the bike and took my helmet off. I also sat down to put socks on for the run. I did not want my feet to be the limiting factor on this run. I removed the gps watch from by bike and carried it in my hand. I would put it on my wrist while on the move. Socks on, shoes on, visor on and a gel stuffed in the back pocket of my unitard. I was off.

I looked at my watch and did some quick calculations. My stop watch indicated that I was 3:22 into this race. In my fantasy world I wanted to run close to my marathon pace – that is about 7:10 – which would be just less than a 1:35 half marathon time. I had a couple of minutes to spare.

As I had planned all along, the run is where I was going to “WIN” this race.

I thought to myself, “You have put yourself in position. Now just execute!”

And execute I did. I ran out of transition at a solid pace. Everyone seemed to be running well. In many races, at this distance, there are people walking and cramping right out of T2. This did not seem to be the case this time. Everyone was running well. Everyone was running right around my pace. I could feel the heat. Looking back I did not notice the temperature on bike at all. The bike was not like some of the middle of summer rides were you are dripping sweat on the top tube. I did not even wear a head band or anything on the bike. But at the start of the run I could definitely feel the heat.

Feeling strong

I started to slowly gain on some of the runners but it was slow going. I looked at my gps watch and I was a little faster than I wanted to be – I was running at a 7:05 minute per mile pace. I also needed to pee. I saw a single port-a-loo at the 1 mile water stop. I ran up to it and it was occupied. I knocked on the door and someone said just a second. Thankfully they were quick. I jumped in and unzipped my unitard. Let me tell you – using the facilities in a unitard is not the easiest of endeavors – but I managed. I have never needed to use the bathroom in a race except for the ironman. I guess I had drunk enough water during the bike (and probably some during the swim). It felt like I was in there forever. Actually it was only a minute. Yes – I timed the break. From stop to start it took almost a minute and half for this pit stop. I ran out of the port-a-loo and grabbed a cup of water at the water stop.

From that point on I never saw low 7 minute miles. I knew that I still had a shot at sub-5 but it was going to be difficult. I tried to draw from my training and dial back the run, but only a small amount. I was not going to give up much. Mile two clicked off at around a 7:30 minute per mile pace. If I could maintain it would still be close – real close.

The heat was now really starting to be a factor. I was not sure why I was not able to maintain my paces. After all, I had run a low 7 minutes per mile pace for an entire marathon only a couple of months ago. That is when it hit me. I had run that race when the temperature was in the 50’s. Not only that but I had finished that race by about 10AM. This half ironman run did not start until noon.

I was drinking ice water at each water station to cool off. I saw a lot of people dumping water over their heads. I was already starting to hear squishy shoes as I passed people. I never douse myself with water. I cannot stand water logged feet on a long run. To me that am just asking for trouble.

At this point, I guess from all of the water my stomach started to ache. Once again, I have never had these kinds of issues during a race. I was still very hot by I tried to limit the amount of water I was taking on. I was still drinking but not as much. I did discover a solution. At first I was holding the ice in my hands as I ran. From experiences training during the summer I know that my hands act as radiators for my body. It really has a cooling effect. However, the ice in my hand was not lasting long. It was melting fast and dripping all over the place.

Sprinting it out

The solution that I settled on was to run with the cup of ice and hold it in a claw like fashion. I put my fingers inside the cup and clamped the outside of the cup with my thumb. The ice lasted longer and I still got the cooling effect. It is kind of gross but, if necessary, I was also able to drink while running.

The ice was still melting fast as it pulled heat from my body but it would almost last until the next water station. Now, I was only drinking when I was taking gels. The stomach was still hurting but I knew that I had to continue to fuel my body. Last year I was doing walk breaks later in the run. I was stronger this year. I kept up my revised pace and I would not allow for myself to let 8 minute miles slip away. In the end it did but …

Over and out.

Running down Esplanade I only had a few miles left and I thought to myself, “There will be no walking during the last 3 miles of any race!” When crossing the mile twelve marker I made the decision. I picked up the pace. This was the fastest mile since mile 6. I knew I had a little bit in the tank and I wanted to tap it before it was too late. I was not able to run as fast as I wanted to but I did see improvements in my physical and mental abilities.

TOTAL TIME: 5:08:32 RANK: 235/1655

Race Report - BIKE - 70.3 New Orleans - 2010

T1: 2:37


The bike – TIME: 2:39:34 SPEED: 21.1 RANK: 403

Immediately following the swim, there were wetsuit strippers inside transition. However they were located in a sandy / grassy area. I did not want to start the bike covered in grit. I thanked them as I ran past. I did the foot stomp method and it was fast and efficient.

I thought my postion was a little more aero.  I have some spacers I might removed.

I set up a few alerts on my gps watch. I have never used these so why not try it on race day. I set a lower limit on my heart rate at 150 and an upper limit at 165. I know that this is a huge range but I wanted to stay just below 160. I guess I should have fine tuned the alerts. In a shorter race last year I averaged 171 BPM for a 27 mile bike (The Heart O’Dixie). So I know I can maintain a higher heart rate. But that race had a shorter run (7miles).

I also set an alert for every 7 miles (56 / 7 = 8). The watch would take a lap and remind me to take a gel. In addition I was going to monitor the speed for each of these 7 mile laps and how they compared to my overall average. This worked out well except for the differences in time it took to cover 7 miles. I knew the wind was in my face after the first 7 mile spilt. I hoped that I would be able to make up the time.

The bike was uneventful. That is a good thing. Starting so late in the race there was always someone to pass. I was able to constantly reel riders in and benefit from the few seconds of draft. I don’t know if it really makes much of a difference but I tried to take advantage of the situation.

I also know that I could have gone faster. And, I know that I would have gone faster if I would have been near racers of the same speed. They would have pushed me. This was actually a good thing. The bike portion of the race for me was simply to put in a measured hard effort so that I could put in a good run at the end. I am still not sure where this line is located.

The race started out in a residential area with several sharp 90 turns. Everyone was taking this easy. Then the race opened up on as you rode along the lake shore. You quickly came to a large draw bridge that is the steepest hill on the course. The only other hill is a large overpass. After that, like I said, the bike was uneventful. I successfully procured water bottles at each stop and consumed my gels. I also had some power bar pieces from one of the aid stations. Towards the end of the bike I made myself take some more water into my system. I had only had 3 bottles and I am usually a big drinker.

One of those 90 degree turns

I had 8 gels taped to my top tube. I consumed a get immediately after the swim in T1. I left 4 gels still attached to the bike. I think the power bar pieces made up for the calories that I missed. I think that a gel every 20 minutes is not necessary. However, I have read that you should take in as many calories (within reason) that your body will allow. I can definitely take in the calories.

In the last leg of the bike I let the intensity drop. I wanted the legs to recover. At the end, I came to a full stop just before the dismount line and I unclipped. I jumped off of the bike and my legs were solid! In the past I have had that shaky leg feeling but it was not present today. That let me know that the legs were in good position to take on the run.

SPLITS (every 7 miles)

1. TIME - 23:40 SPEED – 17.7 HR AVE - 157
2. TIME - 20:41 SPEED – 20.3 HR AVE - 156
3. TIME - 21:36 SPEED – 19.4 HR AVE - 155
4. TIME - 19:28 SPEED – 21.6 HR AVE - 156
5. TIME - 19:12 SPEED – 21.9 HR AVE - 157
6. TIME - 18:06 SPEED – 23.2 HR AVE - 157
7. TIME - 19:16 SPEED – 21.8 HR AVE - 153
8. TIME - 16:59 SPEED – 21.6 HR AVE – 150 ***

*** 6.12 miles by my watch – a little short

Race Report - SWIM - 70.3 New Orleans - 2010

The swim - TIME:  38:21 SPEED 1:49 RANK 500


What a difference a year makes. Last year the lake was as smooth as glass and I was terrified. At this point I had never had a “good” swim in any race – ever. The 1.2 mile point-to-point swim looked like miles and miles. I had a rough swim last year – read about it here if you like.

If it had been these conditions last year I am not sure if I would have even started the race. At the race briefing the day before the officials repeatedly said that you could skip the swim if you were uncomfortable – you would just not be eligible for an age group awards, etc. I understand but then that really is not a triathlon is it?

Anyway, I had an hour and twelve minutes to watch wave and wave start. At the start of the race the water was a little rough but it progressively got worse. I was watching the flags and they were getting whipped around. The conditions changed in that hour. I saw a few people call for help before my wave was even lining up. Their race was over.


To make matters worse there were four 90 degree turns on this course. And I am sure you know how everyone bunches up at a turn buoy. And in these conditions it was even more congested. I liken it to riding on the bike – you know how everyone is spread out pretty good and then you hit that big hill and the better riders pull away. This leaves everyone else struggling up the hill and bunching up. This is what was happening at each buoy – times 4.

From ernestov on garmin Connect (not my swim - I was probably all over the place)

I like to breathe on my right side and this was into the swells. It took me about a quarter of the race to get the timing down so that I could take a breath without a mouth full of water. While I appreciate all of the safety boats and such the smell of diesel was in the air. This was not very pleasant.

It was very difficult for me to sight in these conditions. I was way out to far into the lake and had to angle back hard for the second buoy. Even in the best of conditions I am not very proficient at sighting. I stick my head up and lose momentum. In these conditions I had to come to a complete stop and really look hard to see the line.

Drafting during the swim – yeah right - this was just not possible for me. I did bump into a number of people but being able to benefit from better swimmers was not going to happen.

After making the turnaround I once again veered of course and was closer to the shore than I should be. There were a lot of people off course with me. The swells were pushing us towards the shore and I drifted to my right. I had to make another hard correction to get around that last buoy.

As I neared the swim exit I saw people walking and I stood up. I could barely touch and had to do that tip-toe walk thing. I should have just swum a few more yards before I stood up. Once I got my footing I was able to run out of the water and into transition.

I was really not prepared for the swim this year. I have not done any open water swimming since last August (IMKY) and I have used just about any excuse to skip the swim workout. Don’t get me wrong. I am not making excuses – I take full responsibility for the lack of training. I could have done better.

All things considered I would not say this was a bad swim. In fact, not long ago this swim would have been a disaster. I can now look back and use this race as a confidence booster. With that I am pleased.

Larry Fuselier State Championship 25K Race Report

I got up early this Sunday morning following a wonderful Saints playoff win. I went over to Jim’s house and watched the game. Charles was there also. Jodie made a kick ass Saints cake for the game. I ate too much and drank a couple of beers.


For the 25K race in New Orleans I had to get up at 3:10 AM. I thought to myself – Who’s idea was it to do these races. Such an early morning after a Saints playoff win – remember, you have to celebrate these – this has only been the 3rd win in history.

So, we got to New Orleans at 7:00 AM about an hour from the start of the race. I was definitely not feeling good for the race. I was a little scared about the distance. Sure I had run 15 miles before but I have never raced the distance. I was unsure of my pacing.

I decided to set the GPS watch for the same time as last week – 6:55 minutes per mile. This would be a challenge. This 25K race (15.5 mile race) is on a levy along the Mississippi River. This means that there will be a wind – a strong wind. I started out and tried to follow the virtual trainer and I was successful for the most part. The wind was brisk but tolerable. I soon found myself in a group of strong girl runners. I tucked in behind them to break the wind. I kept with them for several miles. They started to break up and slow just a bit and I had to take the wind on by myself. This was brutal. I got caught up in no man’s land. I trudged along. As I neared the half way point the wind got even stronger. It was in your face. Another runner caught up with me. He was wearing a 70.3 New Orleans shirt from last year. I started to get chatty. We talked about the race for a couple of miles. I asked him his age to make sure that I would not get beat out – he was 30 – 34.

As we rounded the turn around the wind just stopped. There was no wind on the way back – the air was still – it almost got hot. As we talked he said he was from Hattiesburg – we had not really looked at each other but I quickly realized that this was Chris S. – a local triathlete – I know this guy. This is a small world.

I had been chasing a guy in a purple Louisiana shirt for all of the race and he was a few hundred feet ahead of me. Chris and I had run along for a couple of miles but I picked up the pace with 4 miles to go – Chris fell back a little bit.

I was on my own but my pace quickened. I was making good time and gaining on the man in purple – just not gaining quick enough. According to the virtual trainer guy I had lost 200 feet to him at the turn around but I was making time now. At mile 11 or so I broke even with the virtual trainer guy. And I just tried to put more time into him. I never caught the guy in purple – he finished 15 seconds ahead of me but I did put 300+ feet into the virtual guy. I finished 10th overall with a 1:46: xx time for the 25k averaging 6:53 minutes per mile. I saw one of the girls after the race and thanked her for breaking the wind the on the way out – she got a kick out of that!

Jim was not happy with his run at 2:01 but Charles beat his time of 2:20 by a minute. These races have been hard but they are paying off!

First Light Half Race Report - PR

My legs were tired on Saturday. There would be no running prior to the race on Sunday morning. I did, however, jump on the bike trainer for 45 minutes. It was cold in the house (good for the trainer) and I did not turn a fan on me. This was a mistake. Even at a comfortable pace I was dripping sweat within minutes. I took off my shirt and continued to spin away.


For the First Light Half Marathon I left the house at 4:00 AM and picked up Jim at his house. It was COLD. I brought 2 large mugs of coffee with me for the 2 hour drive and even picked up a third cup during the drive. At packet pick-up I even topped off my mug. I picked up a couple of extra race packets for people that were not able to make the race. The race people asked me if it was because of the temperature – I’m sure it was a factor. It was in the very low 20’s at the race start. I ran a few warm up miles (a couple of blocks – not miles) to determine how much clothing to wear. I had compression socks (knee highs) on my legs, compression shorts covered with tights, a compression shirt covered with a long sleeved zipped shirt, some old socks with the toes cut out for arm warmers and an ear warmer type headband thingy. Although my feet were frozen – and would stay frozen for a couple more hours – I decided to ditch the tights and put on shorts. This would work out well. Prior to the start we ran into Neil and Aaron. They were both at the Ole Man River race. At that race I tried to hang with Neil (who went out at a 6:35 pace) and I blew up at about mile 2. That was a tough race – a PR but a tough race. Today I would race my own race!

This race does not use timing chips so I inched my way towards the front. I had set my gps watch for 6:55 minute miles (for 13.15 miles – just to be safe). I was going to try to follow my pacing as close as possible. I started off and made my way through the crowd. There were people passing me but I was working the plan. I did not see Neil or Aaron at all. So the weather was cold – and it was also very windy. Working my own pace, it soon left me in no man’s land – and into the wind. I saw a group of runners a couple of 100 feet ahead of me but it would have been too hard to close the gap without blowing up. At about mile 3 I could hear foot steps behind me. I was pleased that someone was passing me and I jumped on their shoulder and let them carry me to the pack ahead. In this pack I got a little chatty – I was running at my goal pace and I was still chatty. One of the guys had a Boston Marathon jacket and I said that I was working on getting one of those. This guy and one other were running the marathon and shooting for a sub-3. Just about my pace. I jumped in line with them. At mile 7 we passed Neil. He had gone out much slower than in the last race – I had seen him just head for a long time. I tried to get him to jump on as we passed but he was hurting a little bit. He said he was going to try and log some 7 minute miles – I was a little faster at this point.

I enjoyed the ride from these marathon guys but had to leave them at mile 8 – where the half and full split ways. I was alone again and I would have to pace myself now. I was all alone for about 2 miles and about 2 tenths of a mile ahead of my ‘virtual trainer’.

At mile 10 a strong runner in his 20’s passed me. I grabbed his shoulder and got pulled along. This was a hard pace. At the water stops I had to slow and walk a step or two while I drank – he was able to drink on the run. I mustered the strength and got back on him again. However, he started pulling away. I had also heard someone behind me with much labored breathing. They were slowly gaining and that encouraged me to keep the pace up. I knew it was not Neil – it was a girl. I tried to keep her from passing me but she was persistant. I never slowed she just steady gained on me. As she overtook me with 2 tenths of a mile remaining she said – “Come on” – or something to that effect. I dug deep and tried to sprint out the end but it was just not there (my last tenth of a mile was at a 6:30 pace – just not fast enough). If it had been Neil I might have been able to pick it up more – but…

This was the smartest race I have ever run. The first half of the race felt too easy. It was very hard to maintain this ‘easier’ pace. The race did get hard and it was tough but SO MUCH EASIER than all of my recent races. The splits were much more even and the heart rate had few spikes. This is how you are supposed to run these races. I am glad that I decided to race so much for this marathon training. Not only are these races more valuable than training runs in fitness – they are much more valuable in race experience and strategy. The plan is coming together.

I ended up in 14th overall and I won my age group with a sub-1:30 (1:29:38 – I also think the race was a little long – not by much – but several people recorded 13.2 miles – no biggie). By my watch I ran a 6:47 pace and by official time it was a 6:50 pace. It was evening paced with one slow mile and one fast mile - back to back.  There might have been a small hill.  My average heart rate was 179 beats per minute- three beats per minute faster than my last half. This is interesting because I went out so much easier. My confidence is building for a Boston Qualifying Mardi Gras Marathon.

Next weekend is the 34th Annual Larry Fuselier RRCA Louisiana State 25K (15.5 miles) Championship.

Splits for the First Light Half

01 0:06:44
02 0:06:52
03 0:06:42
04 0:06:52
05 0:06:38
06 0:07:01
07 0:06:29
08 0:06:53
09 0:06:52
10 0:06:46
11 0:06:45
12 0:06:47
13 0:06:48
0.15 0:06:31

New Year 2010 and Steam Whistle Race Report.

Closing out 2009 – This was a year of many firsts. I stepped into the deep end and signed up for my first ½ ironman as well as my first full ironman. I enjoyed the experience of both races. I also increased my volume in all three disciplines – the swim / bike / run. While increasing my volume I was able to achieve a Personal Best in almost all of my races (actually all of my races except for the Jazz Half Marathon – I ran this race for fun). I believe that this is typical of your third year in endurance sports. I am hoping to continue this trend by dipping into my ironman base.


Races in 2009:

Run for Love 5K – 19:19 PR
St. Thomas Irish Italian 5K – 19:09 PR
April Fool’s Duathlon – PR – 57:07 ***
70.3 New Orleans – 5:30 PR ***
Heatwave Triathlon – 2:09 PR (by 5 minutes)
Dragonfly Triathlon – 1:36 PR ***
Sunfish Triathlon – 1:17 PR (by 6 minutes)
Heart O’Dixie Triathlon – 2:13 PR (by 10 minutes)
Ironman Louisville – PR – 11:18 ***

Jazz Half Marathon – 1:40 (NO PR)
Baton Rouge Beach Half Marathon- 1:37:07 PR (by 8 seconds)
Ole Man River Half Marathon – PR – 1:33:53 PR (by 4 + minutes)
*** First time at this distance

2009 Totals –

Bike:        4459.58 Mi - 249h 19m 14s Pace: 17.88 Mi/hr
Run:         1023.25 Mi - 148h 28m 31s Pace: 08m 38s Mi
Swim:  231014.00 Yd -   76h 31m 30s Pace: 01m 59s /100 YdAvg

As you can see in the chart below – my volume for October and November really dropped off of the map. I did not meet any of my mileage goals for the year (5000 bike / 1200 run / 300,000 swim) but I count this year as a huge success!  On a side note, last month was my biggest running month for the year – I guess that is what happens when you shift to a running based goal (to BQ at the Mardi Gras Marathon).

Now onto The Steam Whistle 12K New Year’s Day race.

This race is on the trace just out my back door.  Jodie and I rode our bikes down to Jackson Station and picked up our race packets.  I programmed my GPS watch to run at a 6:40 minute / mile pace. This would be a reach for me. Last week I ran a strong 4 mile tempo run with the last 3 miles being at 6:40 pace. I though that in race conditions I could, maybe, push this pace and last for the entire 12K (7.45 miles). This would be tough. It was a cold morning lining up at Jackson Station and we were all anxious to run. I spoke with Steve C. before the race and hoped that I could pace off of him. He was not sure of the pace that he would be running. I stuck to my plan and ran off of the ‘virtual partner’. He was set for exactly 6:40 minutes per mile which should allow for me to finish the race at just under 50 minutes. This would be my Gold Medal goal for the race.

First the first 2 K’s I was in fourth place – first and second being way out in front and pulling away fast. I was running a little too fast and quickly got about 180 feet ahead of the ‘virtual partner’. This guy just goes out too slow – or maybe I was a little too fast. I tried to slow down just a little bit and run even pace. I was slowing during the middle part of the race – Terry and Robin paced me easily. They were just doing a ‘training run’. They passed me easily. I was able to pick up the pace towards the end of the run and achieve my goal time. I finished the race in 49:38 with an average pace of 6:39. I met my goal and I am going to continue to try to race myself to a Boston Qualifying Time of 3:14:59 (7:28 minutes / mile pace). I ran this race hard with an average heart rate of 181. I ended up finishing 6th out of 97 and first in my age group. Everyone that beat me was years older (8 of the top 10 were older than 42). These guys were always fast and have just gotten older.  After helping clean up and getting Jim's truck unstuck (a huge effort by many pine belt pacers) - Jim and I decided to get a few more miles under our belts.  We got another 4.6 miles to end up with just over 12 miles for the day.

Baton Rouge Half Marathon

There were five of us planning to run the Baton Rouge Beach half Marathon this past Saturday. Only three of us made it – Me, Charles and Eric. Terry was sick and had a house of sick kids. He had been training and I am sure that he was upset that he missed out on the race. Jim – not sure – I think the weather played a big part in him skipping the race.


I drove over to Charles’s house Friday afternoon. The sky was bright blue but there was a chill in the air. As we neared Baton Rouge the sky turned gray and it started to rain. The rain turned to a rain / snow – or as we called it in the Midwest – a wintery mix. It was cold and nasty.

We met up with Eric in the hosting hotel but we were a little bit early. The registration had not yet opened so we went and had a drink at the bar. This would foreshadow the rest of the event.

The Baton Rouge Beach race is pretty special in that it has a pre-race dinner and post race food – both of which are fantastic. We are talking jambalaya, seafood pasta, alligator – all really good stuff. Oh yeah, and beer.

I got my fill of all of the good food and my share of the beer. After talking with many of the other participates Charles and I parted ways with Eric. Eric was staying at a friend’s house while Charles and I were staying at another hotel that Terry had reserved. Charles and I checked in just in time to enjoy the last 30 minutes of happy hour. I made a grave mistake and switched to run and diet coke – fewer calories. With just a few minutes left in happy hour the barkeep came by and suggested that we double up while the drinks were free - ouch. Charles and I went up to the room as happy hour ended but we needed to procure something to eat prior to the race.

We went back downstairs and talked the barkeep into finding us some cereal or whatnot. She was very accommodating. So, this is not my pre-race routine – you know – tying one on. Charles said that he heard me exercising my demons in the bathroom at about 3 in the morning. I am sure that all of these shenanigans did not bode well for his race either. Many apologies.

I awoke feeling like death warmed over. It was about 32 degrees outside and I was hurting. Eric met us at our hotel and we drove to the race site. I was resting my head against the head rest in the back seat of the truck. We all got out and wished each other well as we froze in the race starting line.

The race is chip timed but there is not a race mat at the start. The race start is gun timed. We never heard the gun but the crowd of close to 1000 started to move. I ran a little ahead of Eric and Charles and just tried to fall into a groove. Mile one came up extremely slow – and quick – at the same time (7:08 – by my watch). I thought about pulling up for a minute or so and waiting for Eric or Charles and just taking this race easy. But like a hair shirt I needed to pay for the nights transgressions. I kept the pace up. The miles slowly clicked off on the light rolling course through the LSU campus and along a lake (hence the Beach portion of the race name). The mile markers were each manned by different groups of volunteers that were competing for a best water stop station prize. That was a lot of fun. There were people in costumes and many a girl scantily clad – they traditionally win the prize I later heard. It did not hurt that the temperature was in the lower 30’s – at least there was no rain for these troopers.

In races of this distance my mind tends to wander and I rarely am able to stay on task. This is a mental problem for me. It is hard for me to maintain that hard line between racing hard and blowing up – I almost always tend to back off a little bit. When I do this I get chatty and look for anyone to talk with. I found a couple of guys with the New Orleans ½ Iron race shirt on and struck up a conversation. This was the middle portion of the race and my mile times slowed. I was still pushing hard – just not race hard. I missed the mile marker at mile 12 and told the guy I was talking to that I needed to pick it up and finish strong. I sprinted hard the last ¾ of a mile and finished the race in a low 1:37 – just about even for my ½ marathon PR – I’m not sure of my official time yet. Eric took a spill during the race and still ended up with a PR – 1:48 and Charles finished just behind Eric well under his goal time of less than 2 hours. All things considered we all raced well.

I really want to actually prepare for a ½ marathon and push hard the entire race and see just where I might end up. I was disappointed and encouraged at the same time. I have only run about 20 miles per MONTH for the past 2 months and my longest run by far (at least double) was the last ½ marathon that I ran at Halloween.

I am going to put together a few weeks of REAL training – throw in a taper and give it everything. Depending on the results I just might try a Boston Qualifying run at the Mardi Gras Marathon in February.

Ironman Louisville Race Report - Run

I ran in my bike shoes down the side of the transition area. I had been needing to pee for about 20 miles. I yelled my race number to the volunteers. I ran towards the volunteer who had my bag except it was not my bag. It was close but no cigar. She asked me my name and it did not match the bag. She started to apologize profusely. I just pointed to the number written on my arm and said, “Don’t worry about it – It’s not a big deal.” The exchange took only a few more seconds and I was in the changing tent.

This would be another full Monty change. I was going to ditch my cycling jersey and shorts and don another unitard. I had found in my training during the hot humid Southern Mississippi summer that my regular running shorts would get saturated – soaking wet. Then I could / would start to develop some chaffing issues. So it would be another unitard that has tight, but not really compression, legs. I pulled off my cycling jersey with the pockets still full of gels, bars and tire changing equipment. The shirt weighed a ton! Next the shoes and shorts came off. I put the unitard on all the way and then socks and running shoes. But as I ran to exit the tent I pulled the unitard back off of my upper body. I wanted to get a layer of sun screen on my arms and neck – but even more important I still needed to pee!

Just out of the water.

I ran out of the tent and the volunteer pointed me to the left to exit the transition. I pointed and ran right straight to the port-a-loo’s. No lines again and I was in and out in a flash – although it felt like several minutes. As I exited the port-a-loo there was another volunteer pointing me towards the transition exit – I told her I needed to grab my watch from my bike. I ran the 10 or 15 rows to my bike and unhooked my GPS watch. I finally ran towards the exit that all of the volunteers had been pointing me too. I had my GPS watch in my hand and asked yet another volunteer to buckle it on my right hand (I still was going to be wearing my Heart Rate monitor on my left arm). Yes I was double watching it today!

I crossed the timing mat at the transition exit and hit the lap button. I had thought that I had set the watch up for ‘multi-sport’ mode but it was still on cycling mode. It would take me a minute or two to fix the settings (while running) and get it to display the correct running mode. I had set the watch up to help facilitate the run / walk plan. The watch was divided into 4 segments to show the current lap (so I could easily see how long I had been walking), the average pace for the run, the total distance for the run, and finally the total time for the run. I also still had the heart rate monitor displaying the elapsed time for the race as well as my heart rate. Some might say information overload – But I tried to use all of the information to execute my plan.

T2: 6:55

Start of the bike.

Enjoying a pop tart.

Hard climb up a hill.

I started the run with my legs obviously feeling tired but nothing major. The crowd at the transition exit was huge and I ran what felt like a comfortable pace. I looked at my heart rate and it was dead in the middle of my ‘Long Slow Distance’ training run paces. I felt like I could push much harder but I was dedicated to the plan! The run started us out towards downtown and then up and across a bridge. I was chatting with another runner and we talked about some goal times for the day – he wanted somewhere in the 11’s. I was still hoping for something around 12. We were running the same pace as we turned back across the bridge.

Leaving the bridge.

Then my watch beeped to indicate a mile had been run. Actually since I had to restart this segment on the watch I had ran about 1.35 miles. I shut the run down and started a fast walk. Someone behind me asked me what my strategy was and I explained the whole save the legs for later in the race by walking one minute per mile. I then took off again. The timing of my walks was way off of the locations of the aid stations. I thought about resetting the distance on the watch to better sync with the water stops but I thought that it might confuse me a little later in the race – I can get a little loopy when I have depleted my glycogen stores. So I walked a minute the first mile and then walked a few second for the first aid station. I took some Gatorade and a gel. Back to the run. I was going to work the plan without exception for the first 5 miles and then evaluate how I was feeling. While my body was a ‘little’ tired I was feeling good. It was still early in the run but the walk breaks were fantastic. I remember several long runs in the heat of the day where you get up high in mileage and you HAVE TO STOP. I would feel defected – almost broken. It is always hard to get going again. With this run / walk method it felt like I was in so much more control. The watch would beep – I felt good enough that I could keep running – but it was time for a fast walking break. I felt like I could do this all day. It never got unmanageable. I was also running in the same pack of people. They would pull away from me during the walk portion but I would just about catch back up to them. I was running faster than they were when I was running.

At about the mile 10 or 11 mark I was starting to pass more people (since it was 2 loops these people could have been twice the distance of me but looking at the athletes it did not appear that way). People were starting to suffer while I still felt pretty good. I came up on my special needs back and decided to take it – once again I did not really know what to put in the bag. I ended up putting another one of those super energy drink cans (I still have never had one), some cookies, a clean, dry pair of socks in a zip lock bag and a small bottle of ibuprofen. I really did not need to change my socks – I had feared that they would be soaking wet like they get in Mississippi. Anyway, shortly after the bag pickup there was a park bench and I sat down to change my socks. I guess I am a little cheap and I did not want to throw away a good pair of running socks so I put the dirties in the zip lock bag and stuffed then in my back pocket. I also put the bottle of ibuprofen in the pocket. I left the energy drink on the park bench and threw the cookies away. This quick change cost just a couple of minutes. The clean dry socks actually did not feel as good as the ones that I had been wearing but this would prove to not be an issue.

Speed Graph of the run.

The bottle of pills in my back pocket sounded like a metronome. Click, click, click. It was keeping rhythm for me. Every time I would pass someone they would look at me. One person asked me it the sound was driving me nuts – it was driving them nuts! I said not really – it was actually kind of keeping me on pace. We were not running next to each other for very long so it would not bug them much. I had been watching my average pace slowly creep up the entire run. I hated to see it climb from an unsustainable low 8 minute per mile to just over 9 minutes per mile. I tried, with my mind, more than my body to keep the pace in the high 8’s but I was not willing to risk 10’s of minutes at the end of the run to obtain this mid race goal.

Amount of walk time.

Finishing the first loop was a tease. You got within about 100 yards of the finishing shoot and had to make a sharp right to start the final leg of this Ironman. It was nice to know that there were only about 11 or 12 miles left. It was daunting to realize that there were still 11 or 12 miles left. I have never run a marathon – in fact I think my longest run this year was 18 miles – I ran that once about a month before the race. I am a runner at heart and I did run countless 12 – 15 mile runs and bricks but never anything over 18 this year (in years past I have ran 20 – 22 mile runs on occasion – just being stupid). But the run walk was still working for me. At about mile 20 I realized that all of my goals were going to be met for this race – if I stayed on target. 10k is still a long ways to go when you have more than 10 hours on your feet. But this is where I thought about breaking 4 hours in this Ironman marathon. This should not be happening – this was not in the plan – this should not be possible. I tried to pick the pace up a little and it wasn’t picking up. The only other alternative was to lengthen the run segments (there was no way that I was going to decrease the walk). I was now running about a mile and half between breaks. This was working – my legs were tired but they were still falling one right in front of the other. I tried - I really did - to run the entire last five miles but I could not will myself to do it. I think this was more mental fatigue than physical fatigue. I walked again at the 5k mark and also took a small walk with 2 miles to go. I was doing the math in my head and if I could just finish the run with 9 minute miles I could get the sub-4hour done. It was not going to happen – too little – too late. I came up upon the second loop / finishers shoot again. The volunteer made sure that I knew that I needed to be on my second loop before going straight. I assured him that I was finishing this race – I had the miles! The shoot was lined with so many people. It was a spectacle. I was relieved more than excited about finishing, however, I allowed myself to embrace the moment. As I neared the finish I pumped my arm in the air to mark the event. I was now an Ironman – I barely heard Mike Reilly but I knew he said it. I crossed the finish line and stumbled a little bit and the volunteers, the catchers, held me up, threw a solar blanket across me and put the finisher’s medal around my neck. They were so supportive – they made you feel like a million bucks.

RUN: 4:02:40 (9:15/mile)

TOTAL TIME: 11:19:14

After finishing I was a bit lost. I never saw Jodie and went through the paces of getting my finishers shirt, hat and picture taken. I saw Jodie at the end of the shoot and she was snapping some pictures. I was so glad to see her. I really wanted to share this with her. To err on the side of caution she wanted me to be checked out at the medial tent. I was feeling fine but why not. If they thought that I needed an IV or something then I would take it. It turns out that I was just fine – no problems. The DR did suggest sitting down for a few minutes and maybe getting a massage. No complaints here!

I went and got a massage, there was no waiting and then grabbed a piece of pizza. I was really not hungry at all. Although I was not bloated I felt like I had been eating all day. After the pizza I wanted a bagel with jelly. This let me know how tender my mouth was, I presume from all of the salt and sugars. I had to throw the bagel away – it felt like sand paper. This Ironman has been an awesome experience.

I started this blog exactly one year ago today. At that time I wrote that I had never swum 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, or ran 26.2 miles – much less in one day. Now I can say that I have achieved all of those distances and I am an IRONMAN.

I would like to thank the many friends, family, and bloggers who have offered advice and encouragement over this past year. The since of community has been wonderful and I appreciate all of you!

Now I finally get to take that 140.6 sticker off of my night stand and put it on my car.

Ironman Louisville - Race Report - BIKE

Okay, I was just out of the water with a pretty good time - not super fast but within my goal time (it was a faster pace than my ½ ironman in New Orleans). I changed clothes completely in the tent. It was crowded – not standing room only or anything but there was a lot of people in all forms of undress. I ran out of the tent, got sun screened and got to my bike. As I was putting all of my junk in my cycling jersey pockets (pounds of pop tarts, a few gels and my flat kit) I turned my GPS watch on – I had it mounted in-between my aero bars. I had debated with myself a lot over the past week about what electronic devices to take. I was really worried about the GPS giving out late in the run – the battery is only supposed to be about 10 hours. This would be cutting it close. So I ended up wearing my regular heart rate monitor for the entire race and I turned off the heart rate function on the GPS to maybe help save the battery.

So I was running out of transition with a black cookies and cream pop tart literally rammed in my mouth. My mouth was so full that I couldn’t really shut it. I imagined black coal dust being blowing out of my gaping mouth as I ran. In training the nutritionally void but highly available carbohydrates of the pop tarts worked well. What I did not remember was that I always stopped on the bike and ate the pop tarts. Eating solid food is not nearly as easy to do when in a race situation. Anyway, I started the bike ride feeling fresh with black teeth grinning through a huge smile – the swim was over and the bike had begun.

Driving the bike course with Jim the day before was so valuable. In races it is always difficult not know what to expect – what turns you can take fast – where you need to be careful, etc. I knew that there was a large hill once you got out of Louisville and I was ready for it. There were no doubts in my mind – I was going to drop down in my lowest gear possible and just spin up the hill. Trying to keep my heart rate in range on these hills was going to be difficult. There were so many steep hills – steep by anyone’s standards but especially steep by my South Mississippi standards. There was one dog leg on the out section that you only had to do once – this was probably the most challenging portion of the bike. I really wished that I had a video camera on my bike. It was a very fast and winding decent then straight up the other side of the hollow. You zipped past bikes laboring up one side and then you got to see bikes going at break neck speeds while you were climbing at single digit speeds. The road was simply beautiful. I do remember seeing a medical tent at the bottom of the decent with back boards and such – I really hope that they were not needed. I think Ryan, from caught on the run, yelled at me as he flew down the road. I just saw a white flash. Ryan was successful this race in getting a much coveted Kona slot!

After this dog leg was complete it was a relief to know that it did not have to be done again. I was continuing to take fluids and each aid station and knew that I would have to pee soon. Going into La Grange there was a huge aid station with facilities. There would be no peeing on the bike. I pulled into the parking lot and they had a bike rack. I racked my bike and flew into the port-o-loo. There was no waiting. After my business, which seemed to take forever, I grabbed about 4 gels and water from the volunteers. The pop tarts were not going to be successful for this day. I did manage to cram down another one, a maple and brown sugar one, but I was not going to be able to maintain the 2 an hour plan that I had hoped for. The crowd support was building in the town and I flew through it at a decent pace. It was a lot of fun seeing so many people. I knew from Jim that it would be short lived and then back into the country side. At the next turn we would be only on what is best described as a two-way one lane road. There was a sign as you turned telling you so slow down and be cautious. I remember reading the sign, scrubbing off what speed I had, and then starting one of the steepest climbs on the race. I had to drop down in low-low gear again and stand in the saddle to complete the short but steep climb. At the next turn I saw Missy and her crew cheering and having a great time. They looked like they were having so much fun! It put a big smile on my face. Back on a main road I knew that the first loop was nearing completion and I was feeling good. I had been working my plan – keeping my heart rate in check and even on the climbs my heart rate was never getting completely out of whack. It maybe got in the ‘yellow zone’ a few times but never up into the ‘RED zone’. This is a good thing. I was riding conservatively and I did not want my run to suffer – okay, the heck with the run – I did not want to suffer!

The second loop through La Grange went well – I was alternating water and Gatorade at each aid station and this is when I decided to ditch my 3 pounds of pop tarts. I was not eating them anyway and they were just dead, nutritionally void, weight. I was winging my nutrition at this point but I was feeling good – I was really hoping that this would not come back and bite me in the end. I know that a poor nutrition plan can and will sink anyone’s day – no matter what a Hoss they might be! Every time I looked at my time I would add ten minutes to the clock and take another gel. I was not getting hungry, I had already peed, and I was continuing to take fluids. This might just work out – if the temperature had been hotter I might have been in trouble – but not today.

They had the special needs (special foods) pick up during the loop. I had debated a lot about what to put in these bags. I did not really have any foods that I just had to have or any ‘special’ nutrition or anything. I went to the grocery store the day before and walked up and down the aisles looking for something, anything. I bought an energy drink – one of those crank or monster or whatever they are – I have never drunk one of these ever. But I felt if I was having a tough day then this might be helpful – yes, you should never try anything new on race day, but... I also threw in an extra tube and CO2 cartridges just in case I flatted early. That was really not a bad idea – I saw tons of flats on the course and there were rumors that some disgruntled citizen had placed some upholstery tacks on the road. I was fortunate that I did not have any mechanical issues – no flats for me! And I was feeling good enough that I did not pick up the special needs bag. I’m glad I did not need it!

During the second loop I happened to cross paths with Jim. He was looking great and riding his race. We chatted for a few minutes and then I was off. I was wrapping up the loop and headed back to town. There was a large gap between the last two aid stations – something like 20 miles - so I chugged some water and grabbed another Gatorade. I was starting to need to pee again but there was a line at the port-a-loos and I was not willing to wait. It was time to call upon the Iron Bladder. The ride back into town, I knew that there was only one long climb, was comforting. I got passed but a guy with 8 miles to go who joked that he only had 8 miles left in him on the bike. He was ready to get of the bike. I joked back at him - that in 9 miles he would wish that he was back on the bike. This last section was the only section that I was able to really just sit in the zone and churn out the miles. Everything else had been so up and down that it was hard to get in a rhythm. You were either climbing or descending but flat level ground seemed few and far between.

The decision to wear the full, long-distance, bike shorts was a good one. Although not without discomfort it could have been much worse. This is where the climbing and paid off – I was out of the saddle enough to relieve any built up pressure and such.

I flew towards T2, hit the lap button on my GPS and started to run with my bike to the bike racks – a volunteer grabbed my bike from me – they would be re-raking the bike. I was not expecting that – my GPS watch that I wanted for the run was still attached!

BIKE TIME: 5:48:00


UP NEXT - THE RUN

Ironman Louisville - Race Report - SWIM

Welcome to Louisville -

Taking the bike to check in -

The beautiful Ohio River -

Perfect pre-race temperatures -

Transition -

Jim and I just before the race - notice the deer in headlights look!

I was not feeling well the night before so I took a slug of NyQuil. This helped me sleep. The walk to the transition area before the race was solemn. A large procession was moving and no one was talking. I tried to crack a joke about the silence and – yes it was met with silence. I was also very nervous at this pre-dawn hour.

I handed over my special needs bags and put my helmet on my bike. I filled the helmet with tons of pop-tarts, gels, a tube and CO2 cartridges. I was looking around to see if Jim had checked in yet and felt something hit me in the head. Was it raining? Nope, I ran my fingers through my hair and it was a large pile of poop. Way to start the day.

With an hour before the start of the race the line for the bathrooms was as long as the first-come-first-serve starting line. I met up with Jim and we talked a bit about how nervous (I mean scared) we were. They soon lined us up and we marched down to the swim start. I was freezing wearing next to nothing waiting for the swim start. I dipped my hand in the water and it was warm and this relieved me to some extent. I told Jim about the bird poop and a guy next to us said that it meant good luck – that it would be the worst thing that would happen today. What a good way to look at it. I had a roll of antacids in my pocket along with a gel. I ate about half of the antacid and took the gel 10 minutes before the swim start. The pros took off and someone had a huge lead within seconds – I mean a lead like 100 meters instantly. Once the pros were on their way the rest of the field started. I have been in time trial starts before but not like this one. In the past they have started the field at 3 to 5 second intervals. This time it was run and jump into the water as fast as you can. Instantly there were hundreds of swimmers in the water. I started my heart rate monitor and I jumped in feet first with my hands on my goggles. When I hit the water my feet went up and I kind of did a flip under water. I was a little afraid that someone would land on me. Once I righted myself the race was on and all fears subsided. It was game on and I felt great. No fear!

I quickly jumped into my steady state swim and cruised. I grabbed on to a girls hip and tried to use her for the draft. I held this draft for a good bit while we were swimming against the current. It was slower than I wanted to go – slower than my cruise speed but when I tried to pass I was not much faster – the draft was evident - getting out of the draft was obvious. The portion against the current was much longer than I had though. I knew that it was but I had not really factored that into the race plan. It was probably more like 1400 yards against the current and not the 700 that I thought that it was. The current was not strong but it was still a current. With about 200 yards before we rounded the island I entered bizarro world - there were swimmers standing in the river. The slit had built up to about knee deep at some points. There were fallen trees and stuff under the water (I hit one with my foot). I had been trying to pee for about 10 minutes while I was swimming with little success. This shallow water gave me a great opportunity. I probably lost a minute but I was relieved to say the least. I rounded the buoy wide so that I could get further out into the river with the hope that the current would be stronger. I was soon out by myself. I could see a long line of swimmers hugging the buoy line. They looked like a row of ants. In retrospect I probably should have been in this line – maybe a bit of draft and I would not have had to sight as much. On the other hand I really enjoyed not having to fight the churn. I was just swimming my own race. I was trying to stay in the moment and not look forward to the bike or the run. I was just saying over and over in my mind – STROKE – GLIDE – STROKE – GLIDE. Sighting off of the downtown buildings and the bridges was easy even though I constantly had to make adjustments. I am sure that I was zigzagging back and forth. I think the current was pushing me further and further into the center of the river and I was constantly having to correct.

Actually during the swim I was pretty bored. It was like I was water jogging – just a long slow distance swim. Not for this race or this distance but now that I am getting comfortable with the swim I should start trying to push the pace. A little bored but before I knew it I was rounding the last buoy and climbing out of the water. It felt really good. Not tired or defeated or spent. It was a pretty good trek to the transition area and I was able to sprint it. I was passing lots of athletes. I grabbed my RUN BAG and hit the changing tent. I had debated over and over if I wanted to change or not. I decided to do the full Monty and completely change. I put on my long distance bike shorts and a short sleeved jersey. It was hard putting shorts and jersey on a wet body but it was worth it. I ran out to get my bike but stopped for some sun screen on my neck. My ears got a big dollop also. I filled my jersey pockets with about 4 packages of pop-tarts, several gels and my pack of tubes / CO2 cartridges. I put my aero helmet on and immediate thought about the sun screen on my ears – not really needed.

I ran with my shoes on out of transition; rammed a pop-tart into my mouth and then stopped and mounted the bike. There would be no flying mount of any kind.


SWIM TIME: 1:15:22

T1: 6:17

Exiting the water- I'm in the blue unitard.


UP NEXT - THE BIKE