IRONMAN Lake Placid Race Report

Background:

The "why" for doing this has been discussed ad nauseum. I've always said that it was a goal to do an IRONMAN before I turn 30. However, there is part of that story that's been left out. In December 2006 I was sitting on my couch, 40 lbs over weight and not very thrilled with the way things were going at the time. As I was flipping through the channels I stopped on NBC because the shot of the ocean in Hawaii looked really cool. Turns out it was the IRONMAN World Championships. I was intrigued so I put the channel changer down and watched. By the end I was a basket case; seeing all the stories about people who had overcome so much to be there and then to complete what seemed like like an impossible distance was incredible. For the first time I had that spark, that desire to want to change. A few days later I called my buddy Corey and said I wanted to run the Cherry Blossom 10-miler with him the following April (quite the ambitious undertaking). He had his work cut out for him since I'd never been a runner. Fast forward 5.5 years and here I am, writing this race report. I've spent years "just getting by," always wondering if I'd ever be able to work hard enough, care enough, or want something so bad that I would do whatever it takes to achieve it. I guess the answer to that is yes I can and in the process I have joined an elite group of remarkable people who have done the same thing. I am ... an IRONMAN.

Pre-race:

Pre-race starts on Wednesday night around 10 pm when my parents, Bret, and I finally start the drive to Lake Placid. It was a long drive and dad and I took turns driving and shifts kept getting shorter and shorter the later it got. We finally arrived in LP around 8:30 am, got the keys to the house, and hit the ground running.

First was athlete check in where I got my bracelet for the weekend and pretty cool SWAG, then a walk around the expo and trip into the IRONMAN store. Then there was the team barbeque Thursday night and ice cream and lazy river tubing in the Ausable Chasm on Friday. It felt really good to be able to sit back and relax knowing that I didn't need to be one of the many people out riding the bike course or freaking out wondering if I was ready. I knew I was. Saturday comes around and it was time for a quick ride on the newly glued tubulars, drop off my T1 and T2 bags, and a quick dip in Mirror Lake since I hadn't been in since I arrived. With all that complete it was back to the house to put the feet up. Had pizza with the family and finally made it to bed around 11:30. The morning came pretty early at 4 am so I could get up and eat breakfast and drink a cup of coffee. We headed down to the team house around at 4:45 with me needing to drop off special needs bags, do a final check on transition bags and get body marked. I had my first freak out while I was pumping up my tires.

I looked down and realized I didn't have my timing chip on. This is very uncharacteristic of me because I normally sleep with it on the night before. I dug through my transition bag, twice, before finally finding it. Crisis Averted. Randy and I headed back to the house for a minute and then down to the team tent. T - 35 minutes to game time.

I pulled up my chair and put the headphones in for a few minutes before taking some team pictures and donning my wetsuit. A few final hugs and it was time to head to the swim start. I'm walking with Baldwin and we are half way between the tent and swim start when I realize I don't have my Garmin. Freak out #2 has arrived and I run back to the tent to get it. Once again I'm good to go and head to the start.

Swim:

The swim had the potential to go really well or really bad. I had put in the swim volume but was concerned how I'd do in the mass swim start. I took my place towards the far right shore line and my plan to stay wide right and slowly make my way over to the first turn buoy. As time counted down I noticed no one was pushing up towards the line, but staying back on the shore. I decided to inch up a little farther than anticipated in hopes of finding some clean water. My thought going into the day was that the start would be a clobber fest and then I'd find space and be smooth sailing the rest of the way. That's not exactly how it went down. What ended up happening was I would spend a few minutes getting beat up then I'd have a few minutes of peace. Repeat for 2.4 miles. I finished the first lap feeling good and like I didn't use too much energy. I look down at my watch and I was at 35 minutes which is my fastest 1.2 mile split ever. Just had to do it one more time. The second lap was exactly like the first and even had to pull up twice to fix my goggles after legitimately getting punched in the face. It was coincidence as I turned to the side breathing while someone else's hand was heading back towards the water. But seriously, who "recovers" with a closed fist??? I felt a little slower on the second lap and was fine with. I know I pulled back a bit knowing there was still a lot of day left. I exit the water after lap two and looked down. The Garmin said 1:15:00. I was thrilled. I'm a terrible swimmer. When I registered I said I would love to get out of the water in 1:30:00. After some coaching and lots of swim volume I said I would be happy getting out of the water in 1:20:00. Huge victory for me and I even put 5 minutes in the bank. Total Swim time 1:15:56 and finished in 128th of 230 in my AG. Time to go see the strippers!

T1:

If there is one thing that Ironman does better than anything else, it is the amount of volunteer help provided throughout the day. One of the coolest jobs has to be that of "wetsuit stripper." Once out of the water all the athlete has to do is unzip the suit and pull it down to their waste, run to the next available stripper and lay down (yeah, you read that right). They rip off the suit, hand it to you and your on your way. One guy even tipped a lady $2 for the help. I guess that was easier than cuddling afterwards. Time for the 600 or so yard run to the oval and T1. Its always a good idea to locate landmarks or visual clues to help find your transition area. In this case it was where my transition bags were hanging. I got very lucky on both my bags and bike. Running into the sea of bags there was an IRONMAN Foundation flag at the end of my run. Perfect. There was also a break in the 2 sets of racks and I was about 8-10 bags from the beginning of the row. Found my bag pretty quickly and ran into the changing tent. As quickly as I could I put on my socks, shoes, race number, sunglasses and helmet. One volunteer grabbed my bag cleaned up my swim stuff and another applied sunscreen on my way out of the tent. Best service ever. next it was on to my bike. There are volunteers there who will grab your bike if they are available and bring it to the end of the row. I yelled my number ahead and off went a volunteer to get it. By the time I get to my row, there it was. Off I go for the better part of my day. T1 time was 5:40.

Bike:

I was fairly certain that I knew how I was going to do on the bike. After riding the course 3 times at training camp the amount of climbing was just a little too much for my ability. Scott and I estimated 6 hours which he thought was slow and I thought was fast ... maybe it was spot on. I head out of town and hit the first of the few climbs and didn't push at all. So many people were screaming up the hills and the only thing I kept thinking was "dude, theres 109 miles left." Make it to the Keene descent and was a little nervous since I was riding it with the disc and 808. Overall it wasn't that bad but I did hit a bump and lost a water bottle. I knew I'd be fine with an aid station on the way to Jay, but I was definitely worried that someone behind me would hit it going 40+ MPH and wreck. My max speed was 48 so there is no way I'm turning my head to look back to see if it made it out of the way. I start the fun part of the course, the 25 miles or so out to Ausable Forks. There was a nice tail wind and I just cruised along in zone 2. Nothing exciting here except picking up another water bottle and sitting in aero for a while. The not fun part starts when you back to Jay and head up to Wilmington. Its a 1 mile climb to start a short break and then another climb. Just find the easiest gear you have and spin. There is a bit of relief as you approach Wilmington and hit the short out and back on Hasleton Rd. Through this point I was sticking to plan: rotating between water and Maltodextrin mix every 10 minutes while picking up a bottle at the aid stations and taking in as much as I could. I start the climb back to Lake Placid and made a rookie mistake on Papa Bear. Everyone said there would be tons of people lining the street and would be cheering you on Tour de France style. As motivational as it is, you are supposed to stay in your zone and keep spinning. NO SPIKING HEART RATE. What did I do, spiked my heart rate. Of course then another mile up the road you make the turn on Mirror Lake Dr. and the streets are once agained lined with people cheering you on. I come up to special needs, switch out my bottles and on my way again. Got cheers from the FeXY tent and pressed on. I noticed my HR was still high so I did my rest to ease up and get it back down. I was in high zn 2 at this point and it seemed to stay there for most of the second lap. The second lap was much of the same and I did my best to settle into the grind and eventually made it back to transition. Total bike time was 6:15:47 for 17.88 MPH. This was also good to move me up 29 spots in my age group to 99th going into the run.

T2:

Once again, the volunteers were awesome. I came into transition and handed off my bike and didn't look back. Found my run bag just as easily as my bike bag and back to the tent. Through on my shoes and visor and was just about on my way. I ripped my bib when I was spinning it around and the volunteer ran to the other side of the like the world would end if he didn't get back as fast as he could. Was all pinned up and got a quick reapplication of sunscreen and on my way again. T2 time was 3:01.

Run:

Finally, I made it to my strength. The one part of the day I knew I most confident I'd do well in. Well ladies and gentlemen, the IRONMAN giveth and the IRONMAN taketh away. The plan was to go out at 9 min miles for the first 6 miles and then bump up to 8:30s. After the 6 mile mark I decided that it wasn't time to push it yet and that I wanted to give myself a little more time to settle in. I was fine cruising along fine and was on my way back into town. There are two hills on the course that no matter how easy you take it, your heart rate is gonna spike. In another rookie mistake I ran, albeit very easily, both and at the top of the second I could tell it was going to be hard to hold on for the second lap. I partially blame KWed for my running up the second lap because she was there and ran up the hill with me ... and then slapped my butt because the guy on the bull horn told her too. I hit the half way point and was feeling a little dizzy so I started to walk. At this point my estimated time was out the window so i didn't think it was worth it to push myself with 13 miles to go. I passed special needs and went for a sock/shoe change. The current pair were pretty soaked and I could feel blisters forming on the soles of my feet which is an odd place and something I've never experienced. Quick change and on my way. I made it back to River Rd and had to walk again. At this point the plan was just to make to the next aid station but even that wasn't always possible. Turns out I got pretty dehydrated during the ride and it was finally catching up to me. I figured it was pretty bad when I noticed I wasn't sweating any longer and had goose bumps. No time to be a superhero, just keep moving. I pressed on and miles 16-21 were definitely the low point of my day. But as I looked around it wasn't just me. So many people were having an equally rough time if not worse. I saw at least 6 or 8 people get carted off the run course. Then my day was magically saved. At mile 22 a guy by the name of Mike Monaco from the Rye Tri Team in Westchester, NY comes barreling through and starts asking people who was on their second lap. I said I was and without missing a beat he says to me "well get on the caboose, we're outta here." That was just what I needed and I sprang back to life. We take off and head back for town at a pretty good clip. We wisely walked that last hill back to Main St. and then made the turn for the last out and back. He said he needed to walk a little bit more and for me to go on. I told him that he saved my day a few miles back, now it was my turn to return the favor. We start running again and make the last turn around. This was it, 1 more mile and then the Olympic Oval and my finish line. We picked up the pace and it passed special needs. Once again he told me to go ahead, this time he gave me his permission, so I did. The sunglasses had been moved to the visor and I kept looking to both sides at all of the people there cheering. I should have slowed down and given myself a few extra seconds to take it all in. But when you know there is only 2 minutes between you and the one thing you've wanted for 5.5 years, you try and make it there in a 1.5 minutes. As soon as I enter the Oval I see Kristin and Shelly screaming and I reach out to give them high fives. Then everyone along the fence starts reaching out so high fiving fun was had by all. One more bend around the Oval and I hear my parents and sister start yelling, I head dropped and I must have gotten something in my eyes just then because they teared up. As I approached the line the fists were clinched, the arms went up and I just screamed. That was it, at that moment I became an IRONMAN. The funny part is the thing I thought about most during training was hearing Mike Reilly say "Steve Vadnais, YOU are an IRONMAN" .... AND I DIDN'T EVEN HEAR HIM SAY IT .... DAMNIT! Although mom and dad later confirmed that he did so I'll take it. My run time with melt down was 4:29:59 so I ultimately lost 30 minutes to walking. Either way, my run time was enough for me to gain another 22 spotss in my age group and I finished the day in 12:10:23, good for 76th out of 230 men racing 30-34. I'll take it.

Post Race:

The volunteers did not disappoint. I had 2 catchers help me as I crossed the finish line. Once of them had me and was walking me to the Medical area, the other went over and got my finishers shirt and hat and brought back to me. To say I felt like hell is a bit of an understatement but I was able to get down to chocolate milks. As I headed out to try and find everyone I saw Mike walk by and gave him a hug. Seriously, this guy saved my day. After stumbling around the crowd for a minute I hear my dad yell out and run over to me. Him first, then mom, then Amy; BEST. HUGS. EVER. Then Bret, Jen, and Jesse got hugs too. Then I fell to the ground and just laid there. We headed back to the team house for a shower and then off to dinner with one last thing to do. IRONMAN tradition, if you will, is to go back to the finish line around 11 pm or so and cheer on the rest of the athletes who have been out there all day. This was quite possibly the best part of the day. The entire oval was full of people screaming as loud as they could each time someone else came down the final stretch. Then there was just one last athlete on the course; a gentleman of 76 years who was doing everything he could to get to the finish. Next thing you know a handful of volunteers and Andy Potts (mens winner) run out of the oval and disappear for a few minutes. I quick look at the official clock and its 16:58:00. Its not looking good. The clock hits 17 hours and no sign yet. Then the crowd erupts and here comes this man, one foot in front of the other with the help of the volunteers. He crosses the line in 17:02:50. I don't give a damn, he's still an IRONMAN. An awesome end to an awesome day.

Take-aways:

Once again, it was an amazing day. Did I expect more, of course I did. I always do. But based on the events of the day I did what I gave it everything I had and that's all I can ask of myself. I've gotten a few repeat questions so here are my answers. Was it worth it? Absolutely. the only thing I would try and do differently is spend a little less money. Some of this was akin to start up costs that won't be needed next time, but other than that I wouldn't change a thing. It was the most rewarding thing I've ever done. Will I do another one? See previous answer. Yes, I will absolutely do another one, just not in 2013. Will I get the MDOT tattoo. Absolutely. sketch is already in progress.

There it is. My first IRONMAN experience in the books. It was exactly the wild ride I thought it would be and now its time to kick back, relax, and catch up on all of those things that I put on hold for so long.

Thanks to Everyone who had a hand in making this happen.

My Happy List and Race Outline for IMLP

Baldwin says that have to put together something called a “Happy List” going into a major race, specifically for Ironmans. This list is one of the Mental Toughness Training (lovingly called MTT) tricks he suggests creating prior to race day. It’s a summary of all accomplishments, both in training and at prep races, that can be called upon in a moment during the race when things might not be going well. This list is meant to help me remember what I’ve done to get here, that bad moments will pass, and that I’m prepared for a great race. The actual list will be on a piece of paper and put it in my transition bag. I will actually grab the list in T2 and put it in a back pocket of my tri top. I may never look at it during the race, but I know it’s there.

This blog is the long version of my happy list that I can share. I’ll narrow down the details to fit on a single piece of paper (with no graphs) for race day.

Family, Friends & Team

None of this happens without family, friends, and a great team. All of which did not let me down the last 6.5 months. Whenever I said "no" because I couldn't make it out to a gathering or whenever I needed someone to swim, bike, or run with there was always someone who answered the call. Team FeXY also plays a major role in all of this. All the group workouts, happy hours, and group texts made these months fly by. I never imagined I'd form the friendships that I have. To everyone: THANK YOU.

Coaching

Getting a coach was something I knew I needed to do if I wanted to do the absolute best I could. What I ended up getting was a buddy who just happened to write my training plans also. I haven't done a race or 100 mile ride without Baldwin. He knew I wouldn't be happy simply completing the race. He built plans to push me as far as I could go and then a little bit farther. He knew when to keep pushing and when to let up. I'm sitting here writing this without a care in the world knowing that I am ready tackle IMLP. Thanks Baldwin.

Swim

I started the season as a below average swimmer. I'm happy to report that I might have upgraded to an almost average swimmer. WIN! I've spent so much time in the pool its nuts. TP says I've logged 103,000 yards in the pool since January 1, which works out to be around 57.5 miles. That number makes my jaw drop and there is no way I could have done it without Jen Z and Elmore waking up with me time and again for 5:30 AM swim sessions.

Bike

This definitely took up the most of my time this year but has paid off the most. My bike times have improved so much. I didn't hit all of my rides or complete all of my miles but still managed to ride over 2300 miles. The high point was coming up to Lake Placid for the training camp and covering 250 miles in 3 days and riding the course 3 times.

Run

This has always ben my defacto "strongest" discipline because I've done it the most. I knew I'd ran a lot this year but didn't realize I'd logged over 500 miles. My best run memory goes all the way back to March when I ran the B&A Trail Marathon in 3:45:00 at "E" pace because Baldwin said I could do it.

Testing

This was one of the more fascinating parts to my preparation. As previously noted, I've never had focused training doing periodic fitness testing was icing on the cake. We did VDOT tests for running, FTP tests on the bike, 1K time trials in the pool, and Spin Scans on the CompuTrainer to improve pedal efficiency. We even did Blood Lactate Threshold testing to fine tune what my FTP test had already told us.

Progress

This section could also be titled "Results." Either way, the progress/improvements I made this year were seen in my race results. One of my pre-season goals was to make a podium. I didn't care what race or when, I just wanted to do it. In January this seemed rather silly considering I'd never finished any higher than in the top 25% in my AG. Well I met that goal and did so in my second race of the season. Since that race I've had two more Top 5 finishes (both 4ths) which blows my mind. Even though none of these races were my A race and we weren't fishing for results, getting them is an incredible feeling. It just makes me want to work that much harder in the off-season to keep it up next year.

Gear

Gear for the race will be the new Cervelo P2 equipped with Zipp 900 disk and the 808 front (both tubular). Giro Advantage 2 Aero Helmet. Specialized Trivent Expert shoes for the bike and Saucony Kinvara 3 racing shoes. LG Elite Tri Top and Shorts all day long. Orca Predator wetsuit. So, that’s it…That’s my Happy List. The things I’ll remind myself about during the race when thing may be going less than perfect. No, I won’t have this blog printed out and stuffed in my pocket, but I will have a short list that I can refer to quickly. I’m really looking forward to July 22nd, 2012 at 7:00 am when the cannon goes off and I can just go do the job that we’ve been preparing for a long time. I said at the beginning that I was going to do everything in my power to do the best I can. I have done just that. I've logged the miles and hours .... I AM READY.

Diamond in the Rough Race Report

Background:

Racing this weekend as a final tune up for Placid was always on the schedule, where we were racing was up for debate as of a few days before the race. It was either this race up in Perryville, MD or race the General Smallwood Intl much closer to home. Some how I let myself get talked into racing the more expensive race that was twice as far away ... sometimes I question my ability to make rational decisions. Especially since the course does not play to my strengths: 1 mi swim, 27 mile bike, 5 mile run. Either way, game on.

Pre-race:

I woke up 3:30 so i could out the door at 4:00 and at Baldwin's by 4:30. Its been hotter than ish here but I still wore my normal pre-race attire (superstitious much) which happens to include a light weight tech pull over. That lasted all of 5 minutes when the car said it was 92 out at 4 am. Scott, Shelly, Slake and I got to the race by 6:30 and had plenty of time to kill before the 8:30 start. We could caught up with Ryan and all chilled out under the tent until it was time to get moving. This was a pretty small race with only 182 total competitors.

Swim:

Soon after we got to the race site the Director announced that the water temp in the Susquehanna was a cool 87.5 degrees. No wetsuit, no skinsuit, no problem. This was a final tune up so working a little bit more won't hurt me. The swim was a mile long diamond shaped course and water was pretty calm. I set up in the middle of everyone to get more practice of fighting at the swim start. I set the cruise control like I do and paddled away until I reached the dock to get out. I looked down at my watch and it said 32 minutes. I'll never break any speed records in the water but this was about the same pace I did at White Lake Half WITH a wetsuit. I'll take it! Of course then I had to get out of the water and run to T1 where the first timing mat was. Total Swim time including run was 33:51 (104/182).

T1:

This was short sweet and to the point since there was nothing to take off. I even took my time putting on my helmet and sunglasses. Time in transition was 58 seconds (33/182).

Bike:

This was the fun part since I was got to ride with a disk rear and 808 front.

If things went well today this was going to be my wheelset for IMLP, however, no dice if I couldn't handle them here. The course wasn't bad, just a little long for an International distance race at 27 miles with easy rollers and 2 climbs. Outside of the climbs it was full throttle Zone 4 effort for the entire ride. I played cat and mouse with a couple of guys but no one from my age group. This was actually getting a little annoying since I had no idea where I was with respect to my AG. No matter, results weren't important today. The best part of the ride was the wheels. They were bloody fast and I had no issues with control. IMLP here I come! Overall the bike was fine. A little course recon beforehand would have been helpful, but whatever. Total bike time was 1:23:29 (32/182). Not my best performance by any means.

T2:

This was another quickie. I normally wouldn't put socks on for this distance but I'd been dealing with a few small blisters so I decided to go with them this time. Total time in T2 was 54 seconds (34/182)

Run:

Let's be honest. This SUCKED. It was over 100 degrees for just about the entire race and the sun was out in force by the time I made it to the run. I got off the bike having taken in too few calories so my plan was to go out and get as close to T pace as possible and hold on. That plan lasted a little over a mile or so. I had passed one guy in my AG at the start of the run, but outside of him I still hadn't seen anyone in my AG so I decided to throttle back. I just didn't see the point in pushing if I wasn't going to pass anyone. However, I knew I had the reserves to kick if necessary. So yeah, I just cruised in to the finish with a ice cold towel draped over my head and soaking wet feet from dumping more water on me than I drank at the aid stations. Total run time 38:05 (28/182).

Take-aways:

Overall I'm happy with the race as a max effort training day and test run on the wheelset. Once again, the swim does me in ... oh well, that's for dealing with in the off season. Final result: 2:37:20 / 39th overall and 4th in Age Group.

June Recap .... The Hard Part is Over

It is unbelievable to me that 6 months has gone by and July is finally here. Lake Placid is 3 weeks away and after this month I really feel like I'm ready to go. The best part is that the "hard Part" is over. This past weekend was my last "build" week and included a pretty heavy workload for the weekend. Once I was finally done on Sunday night it felt like such a relief. Now its time to taper.

June overall was a pretty heavy month with the Training Camp in LP and the last build week. A couple 100 mile rides, a few 2.5 mile swims, and some long runs.

Nothing else really exciting. That, or everything has just become a big blur and I'm ready for race day.

Next up:

Diamond in the Rough International (final tune up for LP)

Lake Placid Training Camp Report

This weekend had been marked on the calendar since Scott and I started working together. It was somewhat of a milestone event marking the last major training weekend before heading into the real thing. I've got a lot of awesome weekends to choose from this year, but this might have been my favorite so far. Everyone said Lake Placid is a beautiful place and they weren't kidding. I didn't get to do too much picture taking because this weekend was all business. Next month I'll spend a little more time taking it all in.

Week Of:

I'd been back from Spain for almost a week at this point and was still feeling like crap. I had done a few runs and rides and could tell I still wasn't right; heart rate and perceived level of effort just didn't match up. I finally decided to go Urgent Care to have it checked out. Turns out I came back from Spain with a bitchin case of severe bronchitis, an ear infection, and a sinus infection. This is not what I needed headed into training camp. The Nurse Practitioner told me I needed to rest for the remainder of the week to which I politely told her to go pound sand and that I needed to be better by Friday (race simulation day). I guess she took me seriously because I left with 5 prescriptions. Then it was time to pack while heavily medicated.

Day 0 - Travel Day:

Tom was nice enough to offer up his Expedition and drive myself, Mel, and Fabrice. He made his rounds and we headed out from Ashburn around 8:15. Leave it to me to ask for a pit stop 10 minutes into the trip so I could get some Starbucks. The trip is long but surprisingly not bad. Perhaps that is because Fabrice had a 4G wifi card and I watched episodes of Archer on Netflix for most of the trip. It might suck a little more next month when I'm the one driving. We finally made it up in about 9 hours of drive time plus a few stops for gas and lunch. The house that Scott and Shelly secured was incredible. There were 7 bedrooms, 4 common areas, massive dining room, and even a creepy, horror movie-esque basement. I got settled into my room and went out for a short run around Mirror Lake. I was supposed to do one loop which was a little over 2 miles but ended up catching up with a guy from Canadia who had just run TTT last month. We struck up conversation and he was telling me all "aboot" his previous Lake Placid experience. I got through my 5+ miles and still felt like crap. My heart rate was still way too high for that distance and pace but it was all good. I had to remind myself that I was still sick and I shouldn't expect much. Finally, I headed in for dinner and took it easy. Of course, this view of Mirror Lake is never a bad way to end a day.



Day 1 - Course Recon:

This was all about going through the course to get a feel for it in prep for tomorrow's race simulation. I had a little extra on my plate and actually had to work most of the day. I woke up and was logged in by 6:30 with our ride starting at 9. I got to a good stopping point and had 10 minutes to change and get out the door. This was not a good start to the day and shocker ... I still wasn't feeling well. I was still having trouble breathing and my legs still felt like lead from taking 2 weeks off for vacation. Scott said my legs would come back and that I'd be fine but I wasn't feeling real confident about it. We got a quick lecture on how the bike course will work on race day and then we all clipped in and headed out. This was a casual group ride so we really didn't push the pace (not that I could anyways). We made it down the Keene descent and headed out to Jay and on to the Ausable Fork out and back. We came back to Jay and headed up into Wilmington, hit the short Haselton Rd out and back and finished the 15 miles back to Lake Placid on 86. We finished the ride in a little over 3 hours and while everyone else was resting up for the rest of the day I had to get back to work. Finally got work out of the way and it was time for one loop of the run course. I was supposed to take it very easy since it was just to get a feel for the course and check out some of the hills. The run course is no joke. The hills on River road aren't bad at all but the last hill back onto Main St is a huge bitch. Tackling that hill at mile 23-ish on race day is going to be painful. The day finally ended with 1 loop of the swim course. I've done plenty of 1 mile swims but the course is basically straight out and back and seems ridiculously long. I have one swim speed so I finished right when I thought I would which is probably what I'll do on race day. Day 1 in the books and time to rest up for tomorrow's race sim.

Day 2 - Race Simulation:

This was the most important day of the camp. The plan was to do 2 loops of the swim course, transition to 2 loops of the bike course, and then a 4-6 mile run just as we would on race day. This meant preparing a "special needs" bag that I'll have access to at the half way point as well as testing out our race day nutrition. I woke up finally feeling a little better but was moving pretty slowly around the house. I got everything ready to go and headed down to the lake. Like I said, I have one swim speed and that's basically how I swam for 2.4 miles; maybe a little slower. I exit the water and get ready for the bike. Shoes, helmet, nutrition, and sunscreen (not enough apparently). I take off and just try to settle in knowing it was going to be a long day. I made it through the first loop feeling good and rode up to Slake and Shelly at special needs. I grabbed new bottles, drank a coke, and ate my clif bar just as I planned. Off I went for the second lap with Mel in tow who I talked into cruising with me for this lap. I was sticking to my plan and all was well up until mile 85 or so. After 4.5-5 hours on the bike I was getting really tired of my sports drink. Note to self, mix it up a little bit; 6 bottles of the same thing gets old fast. I got to the point where I just didn't feel like drinking it anymore even though I needed to get the calories in. I trudged on but started to fade because I wasn't taking anything in. I forced down one last gel for tackling the Bears and cruised back to the house. I was supposed to run but my stomach was very unsettled so I didn't. There was lots to take away from the swim and bike and I have adjustments to make before race day. Overall the day was a complete success because of what I learned. Finishing the day's workouts also meant it was time for beer. Day 2 in the books.

Day 3 - Group Ride:

The hard part was over. Now it was time to hang out and have some fun. On tap for the day was another 100 mile ride with different places to turn off and shorten the ride. Of course, no casual group ride would be complete without a flat in the first 30 minutes of the ride. FAIL!

Thanks to Mel (helper), Fabrice (picture taker), and Super SAG Slake (tire pumper upper). Seriously, Slake must have some sort of 6th sense when SAGing. I flatted and within a minute or two he had already turned around and was back to help. Flat fixed and we headed out towards Saranac Lake then climbed part of Whiteface Mountain and descended into Wilmington (I hit 45 mph without even trying). We regrouped and refueled in Wilmington before heading down to Jay and out towards Ausable Forks to eventually make it Lake Champlain.



We left Wilmington with our next stop being the Ausable Chasm (below). The best part about today is that I finally felt like myself again. The drugs had worked! Ben and I decided to push the pace through Ausable and I felt great. Then Baldwin rode up and said that we should catch up with Fabrice and Bill who had ridden off the front. Sure, why not? Being able to sit on his wheel after all the miles we'd already ridden put me on cloud 9. I also have to give credit to Tom who hooked me up with a different nutrition setup for the day after my burnout the day before.



Photo opp at the Chasm complete and we cruised the rest of the way to Lake Champlain. After a quick dip in the water we were ready to go home. My ride was set to end in Jay. Tom, Mel, and I set the cruise control and rode the 20 or so miles where we caught up with Andrew and called it a day. Another 83 miles in the saddle. Finally back to the house and out for a quick swim. I was supposed to do another lap but turned it into drafting practice with Mel as well as some pointers on my stroke. Finally, done for the day and time for some beer.

Day 4 - Long Run:

6:30 came pretty quickly after finishing my last beer at 12:30 or so. But finally, last day of camp and all I had to do was run. On tap was a 20 mile on most of the run course. I ate my usual bagel with peanut butter and nutella and drank a cup of coffee. I slowly but surely got ready, loaded up my dorky fuel belt with Ironman Perform which I'll get on race day and headed out. My legs were definitely tired at this point but I was intent on executing my race day run strategy: E pace + 30" for the first 6 miles then E pace after that. At the start E+30 was just fine and I even wondered how I was going to speed up. The legs warmed up and I started to feel good and actually settled into E Pace and even a little faster at some points. I drank water and sports drink at each mile just like I will on race day. I finished up on River Rd and headed back into town. There are two hills on the way, the second being the nasty one back onto Main St. Hill accomplished and it was just another half mile back to the house. Long run complete and I treated myself to the last 2 cokes that I'm going to drink until mile 13 of the run on race day. Overall the run felt great and I nailed my pacing which is another confidence booster. Time to pack up and head home.

Take-aways:

This was a hugely successful trip. Not only because of all the training I got in, but because of what I was able to learn while I was there. Each night we had lectures on some aspect of the race; one night was on nutrition and another about the course it self. There are still plenty of surprises that can pop up on race day, but the course isn't going to be one of them. I know what where the next turn is and how many miles before I'm there. I know all of the climbs and how long I'll spend on them. I know that running back into town at mile 23 is going to be the worst part of my day and I can mentally prepare for that. I learned that my bike nutrition needs to be overhauled and I want a different rear hydration set up. After Saturday and Sunday I feel like I'm ready to go.

For funsies here are my totals for the camp: 4.5 miles swimming, 250 miles biking, and 38.5 running.

Whats Next:

I get a much needed recovery week then we will do one more "big" week. After that its 3 weeks of taper.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt

4.5 weeks to go ... starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel

May Recap

May was hard. I repeat, May was hard. Lots of racing and of course, traveling to said races. 

There really isn't much to recap since I raced White Lake and TTT and have already reported on both.

Between the two race weekends Scott and I went out for another 100 mile ride which went much better than my first a month or so earlier. I bonked pretty hard that first time and on this ride I was actually able to push the pace for the last 15 miles. 

Non ironman related was my trip to Spain which came at a really good time. After punishing myself for the last few months, the trip was supposed to be nice and relaxing and an opportunity to absorb all the miles I've logged so far. Well, the trip was awesome but definitely not relaxing. I barely slept the entire trip and half way through I got sick which turned into bronchitis (more on that later). We set up base camp in Madrid and went to Ibiza, Toledo, Segovia, and finally to Aldea Santillana for Victoria and Jeff's wedding. It really was a great trip but I'm pretty sure I came back more tired than before I left. 

Next up .... FeXY Coaching Lake Placid Training Camp. This will be the last real beating that I take. After camp will be one more relatively easy build week and then TAPER! Holy shit, seriously this entire experience has gone by so fast. 

American Triple-T Race Report

Background:

I set off with Scott, Shelly, Slake, Ken, Amy, Leslie, and Chris to take on the American Triple-T in Portsmouth, Ohio. For background on the race, Scott wrote up a nice blog on over on the FCS website. The quick and dirty is that it is 4 races over 3 days and totals around 140 miles, basically doing an Ironman over the course of the weekend. This was on the schedule for obvious reasons and was my plan was to treat this as a "training camp" more than a race. I'm not going to lie, the week leading up to the event was BAD. I had just come off a weekend with another 100 mile ride and a 14 mile run. I was tired and didn't feel like my legs were recovering like I thought they should. On top of that I was dealing with a bunch of other logistical nightmares for other upcoming trips. All of this led to my first full blown Come Apart on Wednesday and KWed had to talk me off of the ledge on Thursday. Of course everything was squared away but by Friday morning my motivation to race was in the crapper. I never realized how much of an affect being stressed out had on the body. Friday finally comes and we take off and get in to town around 3 with the first race starting at 5. It wasn't until I was walking up to registration that I got excited to race. As KWed put it, I found my mojo.

I picked up my packet and jersey (everyone wears the same jersey for the entire weekend) and headed back to the cabin to finish getting ready for the first race.

Note: Usually in race reports I'll put my place against the competition for each segment, but this was a training weekend so I'm going to list how I did against my plan and summarize each race. Oh yeah, this is going to be long.

Race 1: Prologue / Super Sprint (250 M Swim, 4 mi Bike, 1 mi Run)

This race was just fun. The only annoying thing about this race (all of them for that matter) was the 2-person time trail start when there are over 400 people in the race. The races took forever to get everyone on the course. with this first race being so short people were already done before I even started my swim. Even though the race was short I felt no need go full throttle so I cruised through. Nice and easy on the swim, then bike was a short out and back to the main highway and then uphill for a mile or so and then flying back down to transition. Again, I cruised up the hill in an easy gear and didn't work hard. I wanted to run a little faster than I did but my legs didn't weren't feeling great as a result of feeling crappy the whole week. Total time for this race was 26:59.

Race 2: AM International (1500 M Swim, 40 K Bike, 6.55 mi Run)

After a nice dinner and a couple of beers everyone headed to bed for an early morning. We were up and at the race site by 6:45 for a 7:30 start. With the rest of the weekend in front of me, the plan for this race was to keep it nice and easy, maybe push the pace a little bit, but stay in control and not "blow up." Waiting for my turn to start the swim, Baldwin came out to start his second loop of the course and yelled over that the course was short. After getting my shot at it, it definitely was. My swim time was around 25 minutes which was 3 minutes faster than Rumpus. I haven't improved that much in a month. I get out of the water and on to the bike. I didn't get there in time to do any course recon so I was just winging it. This wasn't that bad since I was riding to a particular level of effort and not for time. The bike course was challenging with all of the hills and one big climb at "Thompson Hill." As always, the best part about going up is that you get to come down. The descents through the park's fire roads with switch backs really made you stay focused.

When there are strategically placed ambulances at the bottom of descents, there is normally a good reason why. I made it through the bike feeling fine; 25 miles in 1:22:00 with an average HR of 153. This was half iron pace and right on plan. Next came the first shot at the run course; an out and back on gravely fire road with a stupid amount of climbing for such a short course. My goal here was to run conservatively and get a feel for the course since I had to do it again in the afternoon and twice the next day. The climbs seemed to go on forever and the descents were amazing. I also paced the run to an "easy" level of effort as opposed to a particular pace. The best part about this run is that it was a lot harder heading out to the turn around meaning the return trip was easy in comparison. This would play a huge role on Sunday when I kept telling myself "just get to the turn around." Scott estimated my time for this race at 2:40:00 and I came in at 2:43:18, right on target.

Race 3: PM International (40 K Bike, 1500 M Swim, 6.55 mi Run)

This is where the weekend started to get weird. After the first race every one went back to the cabins and got some food and laid down. I tried to nap but couldn't so I just laid around and watched tv. Its one thing to do a half iron distance in a day, but to do half and then break for 3 hours and then ask your body to do it again is difficult. The other added level of difficulty is the format for this second race. Instead of a traditional swim/bike/run we were biking first, then swimming, then running. Now that I've completed it I understand why the afternoon race is done that way. With the race starting at 3:00 it was frickin hot outside. Jumping into the water after the bike was one of the most amazing feelings of the entire weekend. I digress. The afternoon bike course was different from the morning and was a long out and back with really only one major climb. The morning ride was short, steep climbs. The afternoon ride was a long, gradual climb that seemed to last for days. Here is the elevation profile.

My plan was to go a little easier on this ride and I did in the morning. I came in off the bike 2 or 3 minutes slower. I ran into T1 to put on my wetsuit and swim. Note: plastic bags over your feet allow your wetsuit to slide on effortlessly. I was in my suit in a matter of seconds and headed to the water. Once again the swim was fine as I took it easy. I also had the same approach on the run as I did in the morning. I'm not sure of my specific splits for the afternoon (they aren't posted yet and I did something wrong on my garmin) but I came in at 2:47:00. I was happy to basically have even splits across the board for the day. Time to go back and get ready for the real fun.

Race 4: Half Iron (1.2 mi Siwm, 56 mi Bike, 13.1 mi Run)

I was pretty tired (but not buried) after the Saturday races. I didn't have an appetite but forced myself to eat some chicken and plain pasta. I didn't sleep well at all and 6 am came pretty quick. Packed up all my stuff, ate my usual pre-race food, and got all my nutrition ready for the race. I was a little concerned and feeling like I didn't have enough gel and sports drink for the bike. I headed down to the start for one more go at this and was not even close to feeling great. This day was going to be as mentally challenging as it was physically demanding. The nice thing about this race was that I didn't have to wait at the back of the line to start. By this point no one cared if we started in order so all of us started close together within the first 50 people or so. My swim was steady again and actually felt better than I did swimming back to back days at Rumpus. I got out of the water at 33 minutes. Again, the course HAD to be short. I did not improve by 5 minutes from my last half iron in White Lake. I got on the bike and headed out for the 2-loop course. Within a few miles I hit a false flat and really slowed down. This was crushing considering I was barely into the ride and had a long way to go. I pushed through it and was then greeted by a ridiculous climb that never ended. I made it up and looked at my watch, not even 10 miles in at this point. UGH. I kept moving and took free speed when I could and gave it back when I had to. The descents seemed harder than the day before and I found myself braking more than usual. For the next hour it was climb, descend, repeat. I finally finished the first lap and then my shoulders sank when I realized I had to do that all over again. I could tell I was low on nutrition and had to ration what I had left for the rest of the bike. I got lucky a little over half way through the second lap. I was really starting to fade and had caught up to 2 riders working their way up a hill. We starting talking for a minute and I casually said that I would love some solid food. Next thing i know the guy hands me part of a chewy granola bar and you'd swear I just won the lottery. I could of eaten more but it gave me a nice little boost and I pressed on. The second lap actually seemed a little easier since I knew what to expect and had land marks to tell me I was almost done. Elevation gain for the half, 4350 ft.

Before the race Scott told me to shoot for sub 6 hours for the half. I was at 4 hours going into the run which meant I needed 9 minute miles or better to go sub-6. Having run the course twice the day before I knew what was ahead and I wasn't happy about it. I made it to the first aid station and chowed down on some pretzels and oreos. I needed real food, no more gel. I got another boost on the way out when I saw Ken, Scott, Leslie, and then Shelly. I made the first turn around headed back. I was feeling ok but felt like I was barely moving. I eventually caught up with Shelly near the end of the first lap and we ran in together. You can tell neither of us were very happy.

Shelly told me to go ahead so I did. Finally, one more lap, 6.55 to go and I was DONE. I tried to keep moving the best I could but eventually one of the hills got the best of me. The burning in my quads was unlike anything I've ever experienced so I stopped to walk for a few seconds. I only took a second because I was not going to lose my shot at sub-6. The reason why you never walk is because starting to run again feels worse than before you stopped. It hurt, tough shit, man up and keep running. I made it up the hill and got to cruise to the turn around. The return trip is a piece of cake compared to heading out and once I crested the hill I just came down I knew I was home free. I found whatever it was that I had left and took off. When you realize your that close to finishing nothing hurts anymore. I came off of the trail and made the turn for the finish. I passed 3 more people on my way to the finish and got high 5's from my FeXY teammates who had already finished. It was an amazing feeling to finish what was the most brutal race of my life. Somehow my run was 1:53:00 for an 8:37 per mile and right on "E-pace" with a race time of 5:53:00. And this is what the brutal, spawn of satan run course looked like.

Take-Aways:

No, this was not an Ironman; that is still 9 weeks away. But it was sure as hell a great training weekend and a huge confidence booster for IMLP. My total time for the weekend was 11:50:00 and I'm very pleased with the way I paced myself and how I held back in the earlier races knowing there was still a long way to go. The biggest take away from this weekend is the built in mental toughness training that comes from asking your body to race then rest and then repeat 3 more times. At least at Ironman its just one really long day. I also still need to fine tune my nutrition. At the level of effort I was putting in on the bike, I easily could have carried solid food with me and been fine to eat it on the course. This very well could have cost me a few minutes. I also need to make sure I take in more salt on the run.

Next Up:

Now that this is over its time to take a break. Time to let my body absorb all the miles I've put in this year. No better place to do that than in Spain for Victoria's wedding.

But then its time to get back to business. Less than a month till peak training weekend at the FeXY Coacing Services Lake Placid Training Camp.

Almost there ......