Ironman training has survived Thanksgiving

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted on what was supposed to be a weekly blog.  In any case, it has certainly been an eventful two months.  I kept up pretty well with my off-season training but admittedly let it die off a bit towards the end of October, when we took our first trip to Disney with the kids and I had a software conference to attend to which always ended up with me drinking more than I care to admit each night (hey... open bar... can you blame me?)  One of those days, I did wake up early to join a small group of hungover people for a morning "fun run" which was a 5K around the hotel complex (3 laps).

In any case, my "formal' Triathlon Dominator training plan started on 11/15 and I have been pretty religious about it, though not as much as I would like to on the nutrition side.  I have tried to keep eating fairly healthy though.

At this time, I am already in better shape than I have been in since I graduated college.  I've read some posts that seem to bash the plan, but they are from people who never tried it.  All I can say is that it is kicking my ass, but I feel great (though very tired at night...).  It seems like almost every day I am doing the equivalent of a full sprint triathlon.  A solid 90 minutes plus of full training.  I'm trying to work it in during the day but we have been crazy busy at the office and it is sneaking into an after-work thing.  I really need to get into a split morning/lunch type of routine.

My "typical" workouts generally involve two regimens.  It could be a "brick" workout (two of the triathlon disciplines) or just one followed by high-intensity weight training.

Bike workouts are never less than one  hour and vary from sprint-type spins to hills and interval training.  Run workouts are 3-5 miles with the same variance.  Swim workouts are starting at 2000-2500m (about 1.5 miles) and are also composed of drills and endurance training.  All the weight training is circuit-based where you go from one exercise to the next with little rest, then do a cycle of 5-6 exercises 3-4x through.  Pretty intense.

I'm still not sure I calculated my Lactate Threshold adequately.  This is the heart rate at which your body starts to build up lactic acid and is kind of a "peak" rate you don't want to to over.  In fact, aerobically I am supposed to be racing at least 20 beats below this.

So... I survived my first Thanksgiving two weeks into the training (made that my "off" day) and improvised a 5 mile run the day after, which actually felt pretty good (well, as good as a 5 mile run can feel).

I do feel my fitness is improving drastically each day and am really looking forward to seeing progress each week.

Swim fast, take chances!

Fat clothes

Ok, so I've been slacking in my September blogging. Kids are back in school, work kicked back up from the summer, soccer on weekends, apple picking, etc...

In any case, my biggest change this month is my clothing.  Aside from my shoes, NONE of it fit any longer!  I'm talking about pants, shirts, suits, jackets. NOTHING.  This fitness thing is getting to be an expensive proposition.  I went from 218+ to about 205 between November of 2009 to July of 2010.  Since then I've dropped to 189, and quickly.  Most of this seems to be from my off-season training in August.  I think between the change in diet and the daily workouts, metabolism in my body changed in a very short timeframe, and as a result weight started melting off!

This is my pile of clothes, which actually close to tripled by the time I was done.  In all, over 60 pairs of pants, 100 shirts, 8 suits, 4 sport jackets, 10 coats, and countless other sweatshirts, jerseys, etc..  Seriously, where the heck did I get all these clothes?  I think I'd be out somewhere and see dress pants on sale and just think "I could use another pair of pants."  Maybe in was because I'd leave things at the dry cleaners for weeks on end and forget about them, and think to buy more shirts.  In any case, I had far too many clothes as it was.  All now going to be donated to a great charity whose proceeds go to the Massachusetts Humane Society.

The problem is that I've had to buy new clothes.  If you are a woman, this is not a problem, but as a guy I do most of my shopping at Home Depot and Best Buy.  I don't like the dressing room thing.  Luckily, my wife has been a great help and just picks stuff out.

All of my L and XL clothes are down to Medium.  I'm pretty sure that I won't get to a small, since I'd need to be pretty tiny, so I'm hoping to be good here.  I'm down a complete pants size but am not buying too many pants, since I could well lose one more size by spring.

The most shocking part of this to me is how fast it all happened.  It was almost humerous trying on sport coats and looking like I was a kid trying to wear daddy's stuff.  They were that big on me.  I haven't been this size is almost 20 years and am loving it.

New toy!

I got a new toy!  My last bike was a 2008 Specialized Transition Comp I purchased from eBay last year.  I had sat on one in the LBS (Local Bike Shop) and it seemed to fit, but I didn't want to take up too much of their time to "fit" me for a bike since I knew I would be looking for a used one elsewhere.  The Medium frame appeared to fit me, but after a year of riding it is really a bit small (lesson learned - you really need to get fit for a triathlon bike since different brands have completely different geometries and some fit better than others).

Although I did have a professional fit done on the Transition (albeit after the NJ Triathlon) and it felt better, I was still a bit cramped during anything over a 25 mile ride.  I simply could not imagine being comfortable on it for 112 miles.  So I visited my LBS earlier this week to get an idea on my PROPER frame sizing (still planning on eBay shopping) and, low and behold, they had a beautiful 2010 Cervelo P2 Carbon on the floor in a 56" frame... We put some test pedals on it and, in my work clothes, I tried it out and it fit like a glove.

As it turns out, due to a soured relationship between this bike shop and Cervelo, they were no longer going to be a Cervelo dealer and were clearing out the three bikes they had left.  I had been browsing eBay for several weeks and these REALLY seem to hold value.  I ended up getting the bike brand new, a FREE professional fitting (over 90 minutes with a superb fitter) and a few accessories (xLab wing and bottle cages) for less than 2008 models were selling for in auction.  Sweeeet!

I had been watching the Cervelo P3 models as well, but couldn't justify the $1000+ difference in price for aerodynamics which, at best, would save a few minutes over the course of 112 miles.  In fact, I did a TON of research on bikes and components and it is pretty humorous how much marketing comes into play on some of them.  For example, you can spend $500 more for a component just because it saves you weight equivalent to a gel pack!  I guess if I were racing where seconds matter (and there was prize money to be found) it would make sense, but otherwise...

That brings me to my other thought... What if my bike is better than I am a rider?  There is a lot to be said for beginners or amateurs who feel like they need the best equipment, but the truth is that if you are a MOP (middle of the pack) rider, you can buy the best bike in the world and still be a MOP rider.  Plus, a lot of elite athletes think people are trying to "buy" an advantage using better technology rather than train for it.  Me?  I'm on the other side of the spectrum.  I like to buy good stuff because, well, I can. I've worked my butt off in my business for 20 years so that I CAN buy a better bike, good shoes, etc.. I don't have any preconceptions on whether or not it will make me faster.

In any case, I put my Transition on eBay and sold it within two hours, for $50 more than I paid for it used a year ago.  I basically had a free bike for a year!  It was a great day overall.

Now I'm looking forward to a nice ride this weekend on the new wheels.  I'm starting to look at riding distances to places we go to on the weekends.  For example, we are going to an annual family/friends BBQ on Sunday. 35 miles.  I'm going to plan on leaving an hour or two before my wife does and bike it.  I'll need to work off those beers I will inevitably have during the day (and then need to let my wife drive home as I'm sure I won't be in much shape to).

I could probably...

"Some people are like Slinkies... not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs."

You get interesting results when people ask what you are doing to lose weight.  I generally tell them I am getting back in shape after all those years of making my couch cushions uneven, but sometimes I'll mention Ironman training.  The most frustrating response is "I could probably do the bike and the run, but not the swim."  Or the variants "I can swim and bike all day, but the run would be hard for me."

People tend to trivialize the rigors of the actual race.  While you do get the occasional "I could never do that," inevitably you also invite the lack of respect to the actual distance from those who simply don't know better.  Given that I know people who have done several Ironman distance races and still have had the occasional DNF, it just pains me to hear.

So to those "I could probably" people out there...

1.  Swim 2.4 miles.  Do it with your eyes closed most of the way and either with 2600 of your closest friends or with a group of people beating you with pillow polo sticks along the way.  Pull your goggles off several times and, oh yeah, do it within a time limit max of 2:20.  Drowning is strictly frowned upon.

2. Bike 112 miles.  In a row.  Fairly fast.  Regardless of weather.  After you perform the above swim.  Try to eat/drink and mentally calculate how many calories, electrolytes, and how much fluid you need to intake based on weather conditions so you don't cramp up.  Pace yourself knowing that you need to bank energy for the marathon immediately following.  Wonder if your crotch will ever really be the same.  Give yourself a flat tire or two for fun in the middle of the course or have something just go wrong with your bike.

3.  Run 26.2 miles.  After the swim and bike.  Pray your nutrition intake on the bike was satisfactory.  Give yourself some blisters to make it interesting and add some chafing in random areas from the previous hours on end of movement.  Figure out how to make your legs move after they have been rotating from that many hours right off the bike.  Lock up a muscle or two for kicks and, oh yeah, finish before midnight or you are technically not a "finisher."

Hey, I'm not saying I can do ANY of the above yet, but I sure as heck have respect for what awaits me...  I'm just happy I have the support of my family in this quest.

My crotch thanked me

Got my new bike seat last week from Cobb Cycling.  After talking with John Cobb directly, he recommended the V-Flow Plus for my build and based on the description of my riding pains.  I was having some slight numbness in my left foot after 25 miles or so.

John spent some time on the phone with me and also gave me a few good suggestions (like lowering my seat a bit more).  The seat came with great instructions and an installation kit with a tape measure.  I ended up moving my seat backwards further than my fit and dropping my seat post a half-inch or so.  Did a 30 mile ride Sunday and felt 100x better than my stock Specialized seat.  Now my only concern is whether my 54" frame may be too small for my 6' body.  I feel compressed on the bike a bit, but the fitter says it looks okay, so at this point it is about feel.  I'm thinking for a 112 mile ride I need to stretch out a bit more for comfort, and the Cervelo 56" frame may be a better fit.  Need to do some fall hunting on eBay now.

 

I'm also starting to wonder if my training plan will be enough come race day, but I think it is something we all start to second guess at one point or another.  Since I'm techinically in "off-season" mode, I'm trying to build strength and get my body up to the rigors of full IM training come November.  In any case, I've certainly made some progress as I was down to 191.4 lbs this weekend (up to 193 by the afternoon though) which is 10 lbs less than last month (and 25 lbs less than last year), and I feel fantastic.  Goal is to get down to 175 by spring which I'm pretty confident of with proper diet and all this training.

I've also developed this addiction to reading everything and anything tri-related.  I lurk on several forums (Slowtwitch, Beginnertriathlete) since I don't have much to contribute, but learn a TON from other experienced people.  The best thing I've learned is that 20 great athletes do things 20 different ways, so I really need to develop what works for ME.  This ranges from nutrution, how to carry my mix, should I change clothes or keep on the Tri shorts, what size cassette to use for the Lake Placid hills, etc...  I read an entire thread last night about Chamois Butt'r and to date have had no need for it, but thinking this may be something that creeps up in longer rides.  I guess we all start and end off with diaper rash... Who knew?

And the journey begins!

So I started my first week into my Triathlon Dominator training this week and am two weeks into a new diet.  Well, I'm not on the full Dominator package quite yet, but rather on the off-season plan I had mentioned previously.  That is supposed to get me in shape and used to the full plan.

Well, I have a sneaky suspicion it is going to work.  Monday's workout consisted of an hour of interval training on the treadmill (just over 5 miles).  Tuesday was circuit training using weights and balance (tougher than I expected).  Today was an hour of interval training on the bike.

Word of advice - never look at the guy next to you to see what he is doing for speed and difficulty.  I was about 40 minutes into a pretty solid bike interval at level 8 and had to fire up the "hills" at the end (and drop my RPMs down to 50-60 range).  I got up to level 12 and my legs were burning.  I glanced next to me at the man who was easily 8-10 years my senior and he was cranking away at level 12 with much higher RPMs.  Must have either been a different bike or a side effect of his cialis, but he cranked away pretty well at that high level.

More interval training tomorrow followed by "yoga" on Friday.  I have no idea what Yoga is.  My gym offers classes which I can take for free, but unfortunately didn't plan the week out well.  Yvonne tells me there is Yoga on demand at home via cable.  That should be fun.  Nothing like trying to do yoga in my living room with multiple dog noses up my butt.

I guess it is supposed to help with strength and flexibility, so I'm sticking to the plan.  I haven't been on a scale this week, but everybody is telling me I'm looking slimmer, so that is a good thing.  11 more weeks of off-season training, trip to Disney with the family (coinciding with a business conference), and then a week break before I hit the real training 9 months out.  Holy crap that seems to be coming up fast.  My legs are burning after a one hour workout.  I certainly have my training cut out for me.

Well, at least I've registered and have a place to stay in Lake Placid...

Bike fast.  Take chances.

July 24, 2011. What the heck am I thinking???

Well, it's official.  I am putting it out there or the world to see to hold me to the grinder.  I am now a registered participant in Ironman Lake Placid for July 24th, 2011.  It has taken me two weeks to drum up the nerve to even start filling out the form, but then I REALLY started to question myself when asked questions about my medical history and whether it was okay to share my info with the medical staff on premises.

I think my biggest problem is that I read too much.  There are too many people posting reasons NOT to do it... that one should never advance more than two "levels" in a year, or that one should prepare for TWO years before registering.  Thankfully I'm stubborn and, quite possibly, stupid.  The general entry was sold out the day after the 2010 race, so all that was left were Ironman Foundation slots.  Hmmm... business expense and charitable donation?  Maybe I can pin my company name to my shirt underneath the resuscitation order.

The application otherwise was pretty straightforward, though there were several questions asking for my background, reason why I was entering, interesting facts about myself (for which I could not find many that were fit to print), and local media outlets (newspaper and TV).  The only question I felt prepared to answer (besides NAME) was about my training plan.  I researched a lot of plans and decided on the Triathlon Dominator by Ben Greenfield.  I researched as much as I could and simply could not find a bad review of the plan.  Plus, I needed something that had a heavy emphasis on nutrition as well as training.  The plan is based on HIT (High Intensity Training) and diet and goes back 9 months from the date of the event.  After an email to Ben as to what I should be doing prior to the training, he recommended the off-season plan he offers (and discounted that plan from $129 down to $29).  I've exchanged a few emails with him and am surprised as to how responsive he is personally.  It gives me great confidence knowing that he seems really interested in you succeeding, with the goal of not stumbling across the finish line, but finishing confidently since the training and nutrition has led to that point.

In any case, I am nervous as hell today, and I'm almost a year out!!!  I will be taking the next three months to revise my diet, build my "base" to the point I feel comfortable starting the plan (expectations are being able to run 5 miles, swim 1500-2000m, and bike for an  hour).  My run is still my weakest link, but that will also be my focus.

Also, last Friday I got a professional bike fitting done at Fast Splits in Newton, MA.  We made a bunch of adjustments that put me in a much better position on the bike and saddle and I feel more confident in avoiding overuse injuries by being set up in this manner.  Tilted the seat back and moved it rearward slightly, dropped the handlebars, and moved the cleats on my shoes around.  Also added some spacers on my forearm rests.  Now that I'm down 20 lbs it feels a bit more comfortable leaning over further.

Both time and temperature could have been lower....

Well, I made it!  I completed the New Jersey State Triathlon this past Saturday without the need for a stretcher.

First of all, what a miserable drive to NJ.  What should have been a 4.5 hour drive on Friday late morning ended up a 7.5 hour excursion.  There just is no good time to travel through New York.  We hit traffic all the way through Connecticut, just enough to catch Friday rush-hour traffic in NYC and on the NJ Turnpike.

We made it to Mercer County Park at 6:15pm, just in time to pick up my race packet and sign in with the Ryan's Quest tent (packet pickup closed at 7pm so it was a bit too close for comfort).  Too tired to browse around, we headed back out to find the hotel, which was about 3 miles from where the navigation system had it.  It was a Residence Inn recommended for the triathletes and there was no food on premises, so I had to venture out at 8pm to the only nearby establishment... a Subway.  Off to bed at about 9:30 and woke up every hour. May have been nerves, may have been that darned light in the stairway that you couldn't turn off (it was a two-level suite), but 5am rolled around and I was TIRED.  Thankfully the girls cooperated in the morning and only subjected us to minor drama getting ready.

I knew it was going to be a brutal day when it was 85 degrees and humid at 6am (yikes!!!).  Yvonne and the kids were troopers coming with me that early.  It was amazingly organized, so I had no problem moving through body marking and into the transition area for setup.  Found a spot on the rack and set up like I knew what I was doing.  It was comforting to find that a good percentage of the people there were first-timers as well.  Transition closed at 7:20 so I grabbed my swim stuff and ventured off to find my family since I was in one of the last waves at 8:45.

Now, it was really starting to heat up.  Once the sun came up, it was already in the 90's.  I did a quick venture to the swim start to check out the area and broke open my only food for the morning... a banana, and a nice water bottle of Infinit which I sipped over the next hour.  I hung out with our friends by the swim finish since my friend Lee was due to start at 7:40, so I figured I'd stay for his swim finish to cheer him on and then head back over to the start.  I guess they started a few minutes late, since I still had not seen his wave by 8am, so I'm now thinking that the swim is much longer than expected.  I watched the first couple of waves which included the elite athletes and watched them gracefully fun full speed out of the water into the cheering crowd.  I was pretty pumped to start at this point but didn't want to wait too long for Lee, so I headed over to the swim start, which luckily still had some remnants of morning shade.

It seemed like forever before my wave started, and it was getting in the mid 90's already.  The MC kept up the humor with comments like "there are over 3000 people here and you are bound to be faster than somebody..."  We FINALLY got our cue to get ready and our wave started venturing into the water.  I was strangely calm, although the distance looks a lot further when put in a straight line than laps at the pool.  It was a water start and everybody (including me) kind of gathered toward the near buoy since you could still touch the ground.  In retrospect, I would have been better off treading water and starting at the far end.  The race started and NO amount of training could have prepared me for the battle scene that ensued!  Everybody tells you there is nothing like it, but I couldn't string two strokes together without being kicked, punched, or otherwise beaten up by nearby swimmers.  I was exhausted only halfway into the swim, which was frustrating since I would train at double that distance.  I rounded the buoy that marked the final turn and I had to shift to side-stroke, a little back sculling, and only a few freestyle strokes all the way in.  It really caught me off guard, and I was much slower and more tired than I should have been.

Back into transition and I felt pretty comfortable getting my stuff together.  I didn't realized how far it was from the transition area to the bike start, otherwise I would have run it barefoot and threw on my shoes at the start (too hard to run in bike shoes and I use TRI shoes without socks anyway).  The bike was much more within my comfort zone and I could honestly say I passed far more people than passed me (that's a good thing right?)  At this point, the heat index was 107.  I'm pretty sure that a vital organ melted somewhere along the way.  It was pretty cool that a lot of the local residents were on their front lawns cheering us on.  At one point, a garbage truck passed by and one of the workers jokingly asked if I wanted an energy drink he found.

Back down to transition jogging past the family (needed to put on my game face), threw on my socks and running shoes and headed out for the run (past family and friends again).  About 1/2 mile into the run, I got a horrible side cramp, and I hadn't cramped once in training.  This hampered me for a good part of the run but I managed to still pull out the 5K in just over 30 minutes.  At one point I saw the photographer and put on my game face as I ran by, almost dying just after I cleared him.  The cold water stops were a blessing as were ice cold towels they had at the turnaround.  Coming back into the finish area was the best feeling in the world and I ramped up my speed enough to finish at 1:36:57.  Not great, but not horrible considering the weather.  I was aiming for 1:30 so I'll take it!

There is no feeling to describe that final burst into the finish area with everybody cheering you on.  It was a huge rush and pumped me up to really ramp up my training.  I finished my first triathlon and learned some great lessons.

1. Don't travel the day before the event!  That was more exhausting than the TRI itself.
2. More open water swims, preferably with professional fighters.
3. There is such a thing as too much GU energy in a short amount of time.
4. Nothing quite makes the same noise as ZIPP wheels flying by you.
5. Your age on your calf is humbling, especially when you see 66 running past you.
6. I am officially a triathlete.  Look out world!

T Minus 4 Days

Ok, so the one-piece tri suit went back today in exchange for two pieces which are only slightly more flattering, though still holding stuff in.

Took a break during lunch and shot over to the gym for a quick 1000m swim.  I feel much better in the water than I did even a few months ago.  I've got the bilateral breathing down, but unfortunately can  only stretch it for the first three laps.  I think if I increased my stroke rate I would keep it longer, but I've been really focused on technique lately and pick up a TON of information from Swim Smooth.  I've been really happy at the Boston Sports Club as it is only 5 minutes from work.  Plus, I love the fact that even with the lowest membership tier, which I got for only $39/month when I joined, I can use any of their area clubs off-peak (or pay a small fee during peak hours).  This really helps since I am on the road a bit and always have my swim stuff in the car, so I can pretty much to a mid-day swim anywhere I happen to be without having to schedule it.

Next on the agenda are open water swim lessons.  There is a girl who works at the main club who looks like she could kick my ass, but does open swim training (she just did a 10-miler a few weeks ago).  Our schedules didn't mesh up, but I'm thinking about a weekly lesson for a month or so to give me some basics.  I don't yet own a wetsuit and am trying to delay that purchase as long as possible (maybe get a good end-of-season deal).  I wonder if my daughter's floaties would work...

T Minus 5 Days

5 days and counting down to my first triathlon.  I don't feel ready, but I should.  It's only a Sprint distance, a far cry from my Ironman goal, but I need to start somewhere.  It is for a great cause called Ryan's Quest to help fight Duchenne Muscular Distrophy.  Lee, a friend of mine, turned me onto it last year and got me motivated... after seeing the story of what Ryan has in his future, I feel honored to participate in this at all, and really hope we can make a difference.

The NJ State Triathlon Sprint is a 500M Swim, 11.5m bike, and a 5K run. I'm sure plenty of you are reading this and laughing at me, but considering that last November I couldn't do a single lap in the pool and, thanks to a badly sprained ankle, couldn't run until two months ago (and struggled just to go a half mile without stopping), I'm actually pretty proud of myself.  We'll see after the 5 1/2 hour drive down to NJ with the kids if I start regretting it on Friday.

My swim training currently ranges about 30 minutes, or approximately 1500m depending on speed, so I feel okay there.  I'm only on the bike one day a week right now, but I'm at 17+ miles and feel that I could fairly easily do another 17 (though I would probably feel it the next day).  The run... well let's just say I'm getting there.  I found a great 5K loop that starts and ends at my house (making emergency support within reach should my wife need to call 911).  Not real fast at a 10 minute mile, but at least I can finish it, which makes me happy with the limited run training.  Now can I do that after the swim and the bike?  Without attracting ambulances?  We'll see soon enough.  I did manage to run 5K tonight, but learned a new lesson ... don't slug down 16 ounces of fluid right before you run.  I felt that sloshing around my stomach for the first half of it, and finished a few minutes behind my normal time.

Being serious about my training and truly committing to the Ironman, I also committed to my first Tri suit from 2XU off the clearance rack of my local bike store.  Let's just say that I don't think it was meant to hold stuff in the way it was.  My wife said it made me look thinner, but also didn't answer me when asked if I violated the spandex law.  I'm pretty sure that the large, though my standard size, was a bit too small for me.  That bad boy is going back as nobody deserves to be subjected to me wearing that.  At least not yet.  I've lost 20 lbs since I started training, but still have another 20 to go.  I can't seem to break that 200lb barrier, but my pants are starting to get baggy, so hopefully it really is my fat turning to muscle.  Personally I think that is just what people tell you to make you feel better.  People are cruel.

My new motivation tonight was my family.  The girls (4 and 7) made "Go Daddy" shirts to wear on Saturday.  If that won't drive me  on Saturday, I don't know what will.