Clawing for Minutes

North Face Endurance Run

2011-12-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

It sure is tough staying motivated for these crazy events! And waking up at 2:30 to drive down and do the North Face 50 miler didn't exactly sound like fun. I mean, I really started thinking about it at 7:30 the previous night. What do I have to do for these ultras again? Oh yeah, vaseline my feet... what shoes will I wear? What am I going to eat? Ugh. The triathlon season's burnt me out. I just need to keep things simple, I told myself.

I finished the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson the night before. That inspired me to go completely tech-free in my race: no GPS, no iPod, not even a wrist-watch. Just go with the flow. I've done this before and really enjoy it. All you gotta do is listen to your body and enjoy the ride.

I recovered from Kona in mid-October and started hitting the trails. The plan was to use Pacific Coast Trail Run's Stinson Beach 50k on 11/12 as a tune-up for North Face on 12/3. Then, Stinson was canceled due to some permitting issue. Motivation was suffering and this cancelation really took the wind out of my sails.

So, knowing full well how brutal a 50mi trail race with 10,000' of cumulative gain can be, I believed I needed to do something special to get me excited about North Face, because at that point I started contemplating just throwing in the towel and scratching NF off the list. But, that little voice told me that that wasn't really an option. "You signed up buddy. You're going to need a much better excuse than "you're not motivated."

So, one trick I've always used to motivate me is to plan out a 100mi training week. To really keep me accountable, I shared my goal with the 114 eleven year-olds I teach. That should do the trick, I thought. The only down-side, is that I normally would do such a week about four weeks out from race-day, leaving me with ample time to truly absorb such a big volume of running, and running that is entirely in the woods, which takes longer and takes more out of me than running 100mi on the road.

So anyway, I enjoyed the 100+ mile week and all my students nabbed some extra-credit points since I reached my goal. Now, I had just two weeks to absorb it. Thanksgiving break was good for that. I got in some cycling and just a little bit of running. I had to really shut down the running to allow for as full a recovery as possible. Three days out from NF, my legs still felt crappy. Some more cycling got them to come around.

Starting yesterday's 50miler at 5am, in the windy darkness, I could feel that I was taking the cake out of the oven before it was done. I knew my legs weren't completely ready for the day ahead. To compound matters, it seemed like my lungs weren't cooperating either and I was experiencing some annoying chest congestion. I remember thinking at one point as we were all lighting up the trail with our headlamps, that it would be so nice to turn around, run back to my car, go home, and just go back to bed. But that wise(?) old voice of experience inside said, "Just chill out. Your legs will come around. You've got a 100mi week in there. You can have a good day if you just stop being a baby and start focusing on your body, quieting your mind, and being patient.

Somewhere about mile 20, my legs did started really coming around. My congestion lessened and I really started to enjoy my running in the Marin Headlands. I got to the out-n-back stretch and saw all the top names in ultra-running coming back on the tight single track: Mike Wolfe, Geoff Roes, Hal Koerner, Tim Olson, Leigh Schmitt, Anna Frost, Ian Sharman, Nathan Yanko, Michael Wardian... the list goes on.

That's the thing with ultra-running, you can absolutely count on the fact that when you feel like absolute sh*t, you know, eventually, you'll come out of it and even feel like a man-on-fire 'cause you're so loose and running so well, so graceful, so free, and the gratitude for this experience wells up inside of you, so much so that its intensity surges you forward and faster. I love this about ultra-running.

The line from Isaacson's book, "nature loves simplicity," stuck in my head and inspired me to run without a lick of technology yesterday. I get so fed up with technology everywhere in this modern life. And naturally, I would have to ask a runner, sporting his Garmin 310XT at what mile we were. I would have guessed mile 30 and he informed me we were at mile 29.5. Running into the next pygmy forest, I threw down my first caffeinated gel of the day, a double-espresso Clif Shot. That too, got me surging forward, and faster.

The thing with the 50mi distance is that you must run as steady as possible, while doing the best to control your wide range of emotions. The course change this year made it a little easier since, I gather, there was less climbing than in 2010. So, I just tried to stay steady, in a good rhythm, and taking in calories as my body needed them, while taking regular sips off my trusty Ultimate bottle.

With about 10mi to go, the 50mi course hooks up with the 50km course, and I hoped I'd catch up with some friends who were running their first 50k. And since they started at 7am, two hours, after the 50mi start, it seemed plausible, that I could see them on course, or at the finish line, soon after their finish. Indeed, I caught up with a friend I coach, David Tett, who was in good spirits, and just 8mi away from completing his first 50km trail run. David spends a lot of time in Africa, so when I was running up to him, I had to say, "Charging rhinoceros on your left."

It's really nice having the 50k runners out there for comradery though since bib #'s are worn on the front, you can't easily tell who's in the 50mi race and who's in the 50k. So, I just made the decision to keep making as much forward progress as possible, grinding out the long, long, climb back south toward the finish. I really have to stay as present in my head as possible, because the lure of the finish makes it tough to stay in the moment, because you want so desperately to be done.

What a beautiful day to run though. Man o man, it was gorgeous out there next to the magestic Pacific Ocean. Eventually, I dragged my weary bones across the line feeling pretty darn good, all things considered. My legs, hardened by my 100mi week of trail running, really held up well and allowed me to hang in there over those final 20miles. I soon ran into a friend and asked him what time it was. He told me it was 12:38, meaning that I was well under 8 hours. Hmm, I didn't feel like I went significantly faster than last year. So, I'm chalking it up to a faster course this year, with a bit less climbing.

My average pace for 8:20 last year was 10min/mi. This year I averaged 9:10/mi. Last year, I was significantly more conservative at the start whereas this year I went out a bit more aggressively though my chest congestion did make me back off more than I wanted to.

A 40min improvement sounds good but I feel that my race was actually a bit slower when comparing my performance to the men's 30-39 age group relative to last year. Last year I was 12/97 (top-12%) and this year I was 18/132 (top-14%). So, it looks like I slipped a bit while noting that the competition is pretty fierce. But alas, I purposefully target races that can show me where I stand relative to the best.

I'm thinkin' for 2012, I have to make North Face a priority. Still in love with triathlon, I'm framing the year to peak for Full Vineman in July, and then setting up August through November to peak for North Face in early December. That's going to work out really well. I did one ultra run this year, at Salt Point 50k in August. I'll probably hit that one again, along with a handful of others. I'll be looking for a 50mi "tune-up" race in the fall as well. I know I can knock another 30-45min off my NF time with a proper preparation. Without a fall IM next year, there will be sufficient time to do it right. As with all things, it's tough to have your cake and eat it too, i.e., Ironman Hawaii and North Face. And next year, I don't want to have to pull my cake out of the oven before it's done!

Cheers to all the runners, the event, and all the fantastic volunteers! What a grand way to end the 2011 season. What a blast!

Big Island Wrap-Up

2011-10-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

It's good to be on the other side of Ironman Hawaii. A little worse for wear, I'm pleased with how things turned out. Kona represents a wonderful opportunity to race against the best guys in my age-group from all over the world, and man o' man, they're getting faster every year! The race is long, as they say, but in the end, it's surely with yourself. And I was out there to see if I could push hard enough to better my performance from 2007.

Beautiful, clear, warm water is a game-changer for me. Having good swim fitness, I was able to stay relaxed and happy over the swim course. There were some swells to deal with but I managed to not drink too much salt water. There were several occasions where we all bunched up but I would fall back and move around if it persisted and on the way back in from the turn-around, I was actually pushing myself to stay "long-n-strong" and move up. Drafting and navigation was solid.

I consider this my best executed 2.4mi swim. I exited the water fresh, happy, and visualizing a smooth transition to the bike.

Pretty psyched about the ride, I was eager but controlled starting the bike. I had some gear chatter goin' on, so I hopped off quick and released some tension on my rear derailleur cable. Voila! Back to work and out on the Queen K Highway, I motored up the road and occasionally checked my rising average speed >>>

The conditions in the morning were ideal to ride fast and by the time I got up to the turn to Hawi I was averaging a controlled 24mph. Some good winds on the climb up to the turn-around in Hawi whittled my average speed back down to 22.6mph. Since I was shooting for a sub-5hr ride (22.4mph over 112mi), I was then confident I could build it back up on the way back to town.

Four hours in to the bike, the heat, humidity, effort, and the distance were taking their toll. At aid stations, I grabbed a bottle of water, poured half of it on me and drained the other half into my aero-bottle. Average speed was well established at 22.5. Mile markers, however, came painfully slow; 85... 90... 95... Seeing Kona rising in the distance, it became easier to stay positive and concentrate on relaxation and visualizing the bike-to-run transition.

I worked with another guy (draft-legally of course) for about 80mi. We must've went back-n-forth about 15 times. We were totally in sync. That was pretty cool. Saw some riders down with crashes and flats. I was fortunate to have fairly smooth sailing the whole way. Like the swim, the ride was dreamy.

I got down about 1800 liquid calories on the bike and took four Clif Shots over the ride with plenty of water; hydration was good (peed twice). Got in several Meta Salt capsules too. I felt that I'd ridden smart while still risking a bit to come in of the bike in 4:59, my best ride ever, which was encouraged by relatively mild conditions on the bike course this year.

BIKE GARMIN DATA

Starting the run, I was cautiously optimistic about how it would pan out. Starting off I had a side-stitch on my right side. Trying to work that out, I was soon feeling the effects of the in-town humidity. Running the second mile in about 7min I found I was working harder than I wanted to be and backed off the effort. I grabbed cold sponges and poured ice-water on my head at all the aid stations. The marathon was having its way with me.

Things were not improving as I headed up Palani and out onto the Queen K highway. I simply forgot how tough it is for me to run well under a tropical sun, in that blasted humidity. I couldn't seem to stay up on the balls of my feet. My turn-over was there but I just didn't have my characteristic snap, that easy flow that followed my rides in Coeur d'Alene and Full Vineman this year.

I kept waiting for things to turn around and get back to feeling good. I tried every trick in my book. Nothing was working. I went to Coke at mile 6. As I emerged from the Natural Energy Lab, I read a note from my wife, Amanda, on a big screen marquee: "Work. Work. Work," she had written. And that's all it was back to town: laborious, hot, drudgery. Not used to being passed in the marathon, I was eaten up by so many runners. I started walking the final aid stations. Each time it got harder to start back up. With three to go, another athlete gave me some much needed encouragement and that inspired me to gut out the last 5k. Back to town, detached and forlorn, they continued to run me down. I finished in the back of a pack of eight guys, spent and disappointed in my run performance, though surprised I was still able to pull off a 9:40.

That's racing. Things have gone so well this year, I was due for some hardship, in the form of falling short of my target finish time of 9:20. My build up to Kona had emphasized the swim and bike. And that's what went well. In the end I was only four minutes off my best time in Kona from '07.

Ironman Hawaii has been a significant thread in my life over the last decade. This time was special because my wife of one year was there at the finish to quickly cheer me up, along with some good friends.

We collected my bike and transition bags and headed back to our spectacular home-stay about a mile from the start/finish. After some BK and a shower, we headed back down to the start at about 9pm to cheer in the final finishers all the way up to midnight when 81y/o, Lew Hollander, came across the line. I wondered to myself if I could come back here in 44 years and do this. It's mind-blowing that he's even out there! And there was another 80y/o guy right behind him!

Chrissie Wellington and Craig Alexander stole the day and were back down at the finish greeting the final finishers. Wellington's victory speech the next night was the best I've ever heard from a pro. She and Alexander are class acts, from what I know of them. I appreciate having these champs representing our growing sport.

The volunteers are off the hook in Kona! I was grateful to have friends Kim and Shelly Lydon, along with Ken Wright, out there volunteering. It was fantastic seeing them, EVERYWHERE, on race day and race week. Incredible energy. Thank you volunteers!! It was also great racing with my buddy Andy Brodziak, who qualified for Kona at Ironman UK. Andy enjoyed a strong performance at his second IM in Kona. On Monday, I got to catch up with another buddy, Russ Brandt, who I hadn't seen since our marathon in Idaho in June. Very cool to see everyone out there.

I didn't expect to get back into triathlon but my understanding wife is tolerating it, for now at least. I'm grateful to her for putting up with it all, supporting me every step of the way, and helping me live a more balanced (and rewarding) life.

A Big Island "Mahalo!" to Echelon Cycle & Multi-Sport for their support this year. There is no way I would have been able to re-enter triathlon without their support. Looking forward to some fall group rides and seeing them transition to their new location here in Santa Rosa.

I finally got to catch up with the Clif Bar crew at the end of the journey. Thanks to them for fueling the year. As my students say, "Clif Bar rocks!"

Thanks to my friends up at Three Dog Yoga. I'm looking forward to some mat time this fall and winter. I need it!!

Thanks to tri-coach, Dave Latourette, for all his help this year. Dave always has great and timely advice. The wisdom is appreciated!

And finally, thanks so very much to Kris & Brad for opening up their home to Amanda and I. We enjoyed our time with you. Aloha!

Looking down the road, I already have a plan mapped out to Full Vineman next summer. With three IM's under my belt this year, I'll have a good base coming into the 2012 season. No Kona next year but we're talking about possibly going back in 2013. Sounds like Ironman San Luis Obispo may happen in the fall of 2012. If not, then I'm thinking about making a run at an age-group win at IM Lake Placid during the summer of 2013. Training during the month of June gives me the time to do the work necessary to get down closer to nine hours. All this, of course, is just talk. Right now, it just makes me tired thinking about it.

Looking forward to making a full recovery and getting back in the woods for some fall ultra-running. Cheers!

Hawaii Ironman - Pre-Race Jibber Jabber

2011-10-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

Man o man, it's no easy undertaking to step out of your life for a week. Naturally, it'll totally be worth it come Saturday. Looking forward to getting out there and just racing my heart out and putting the ol' exclamation point on a fantastic triathlon season.

Also, I'm excited to have my wife, Amanda, at my side for this one. She'll be shooting out some updates through Facebook throughout the day. Be sure to check out ironmanlive.com on Saturday, 10/8. I believe my # is 1292, if I'm remembering correctly. I hear that universalsports.com will have live & FREE online coverage too.

We'll be checking in with Clif Bar throughout the week as well, at the "Triathlounge" Should be a fun hang out, especially after the race.

On race day, I'll be out there from 7am to about 4:30pm Kona-time (that's 10am to 7:30pm west-coast time). So, check in to see if I was able to swim, bike, and run faster than these results from 2007:

Time is the limiting factor with triathlon training. Still, I know I'm in better shape than when I went out in '07. I'm stronger all the way around with better nutrition and equipment. I've either lost fitness or I'm at a killer peak right now. Either way, it's better to come in 10% under-trained than 1% over! We'll see where I am toward the end of the bike. Moreover, we'll see what the conditions on the island have to say.

Here's what my training looks like lately (not much!) -

Final Three Weeks to Kona -

Week of 9/19 -
Mon - PM Run (:90)
Tue - AM Swim (4000)/ PM Ride (:90)
Wed - Rest Day
Thu - AM Swim (4000) / PM Ride (2:33/2700'/95deg)
Fri - Rest Day
Sat - AM Swim (3000) / PM Speed Brick-
Ride 1:48, avg T=64deg)(3 x :10 - avgs 25.7mph @ 157bpm)
Run :43, T= ~60deg (3 x 1mi - avgs 5:20pace @ 161bpm)
Sun, 9/25 - Swim (5000)

Week of 9/26 -
Mon - PM Ride (2:28/2800'/92deg)
Tue - AM Swim (4000)/ PM Ride (1:30)
Wed - AM Rest / PM Speed Brick-
Ride 1:50, avg T=91deg (3 x :08 - avgs 26.5mph @ 155bpm)
Run :43, T= ~85deg (3 x 0.5mi - avgs 5:02pace @ 155bpm)
Thu - Rest Day
Fri - AM Swim (1000)
Sat - AM Open-water Swim (:20), Bike (1:20), Run (:20)
Sun - Rest Day

Race Week -
Mon - PM Swim (3000)
Tue - AM Travel / PM open-water Swim (:45)
Wed - AM open-water Swim (:45) / PM Ride (:90)
Thu - Rest Day
Fri - AM Swim (:20), Ride (:30), Run (:10)
Sat - RACE!
Sun - Recovery

Thanks so much for following along. I do appreciate any and all the support I can get. Aloha and mahalo!!

September 2011

2011-09-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

The time has come to resurrect the blog of yesteryear. With all the hats I wear in life, the one that I've grown to miss this year is the one of writer. I read once that writing, a naturally cathartic process, allows us to organize our thoughts by taking some time to reflect on the jumble of things bouncing around in our brains. Plus, with any given problem in our lives there's usually several unique choices we can make to deal with problems. Too often we allow the loudest voice to dictate the choice we ultimately make to solve our own problem. Writing, therefore, empowers us to think for ourselves and get at the heart of the matter. Writing, like exercise, can be hell. But after we're done, we never regret having done it.

So, here it is, September, 2011. It's been another amazing year. Now a husband, in my 6th year teaching, coaching runners and triathletes, and struggling to train again for Ironman-distance triathlons, I've been stretched pretty thin. The proverbial pie has been cut into pretty small pieces but I'm not down to crumbs just yet.

As we move through this life, I know that happiness is predicated upon attaining skills to meet new challenges. We are supposed to grow into more complex beings, integrating our knowledge, skills, talents, and experiences. And man oh man, it's a lot of work pushing that boulder up the hill year after year!

As of this writing, I'm preparing for my 4th Ironman in Hawaii. It will be my 3rd IM of 2011. My motivation is coming back now after a personal best at Full Vineman. After Vineman, I think I could have been happy being done for the year. At Coeur d'Alene in June, I was just dusting myself off from being away from the sport for a few years. Cd'A served it's purpose and toughened me up on the bike. At Vineman, I was intrigued to learn more about myself and how three years spent ultra-running along with improved nutrition on the bike gives me greater capacity on the marathon.

A target of mine has always been to ride a sub-5 hour, 112mi bike at Ironman and run a sub-3 hour marathon off the bike. That equates to averaging 22.4mph on the bike and then holding 6:52min/mi on the run. At Coeur d'Alene and Full Vineman, I'm about five minutes off in each leg. What I lack is enough power. Especially after conditioning myself to run 50m and 100mi trail events in 2009 & 2010, while enhancing my endurance, aerobic capacity, physical and mental durability, it's done little to improve power on the bicycle, and nothing to help my swimming. But, what I'm concentrating on this year is durability.

If you want to be able to run well in the later stages of the marathon, you must be durable enough to keep pushing without the wheels coming off. Also, if you want to keep "racing" late in your marathon (as opposed to just surviving) you have to keep the calories coming in. That is why I've bumped my calorie intake on the bike to about 2000 calories. Doing so, gives me a full tank to run well through the entire marathon.

In his book, Breakthrough Triathlon Training, race director of the World's Toughest Half-Ironman, Brad Kearns talks about how once an athlete has a deep base of endurance training and racing, then well-timed, quality sessions, and even races, do more to enhance peak performance than continuing to log weeks of Build-type training. Therefore, a few weeks after Vineman, I put myself through a tough 50k trail run out at Salt Point. My thinking was that this well-timed effort would give me a nice boost in running fitness while further enhancing my durability. The raced shelled me. I had no power on the climbs and it was tough being at a 50k trail run and under-performing as an ultra-runner. But, I reminded myself: this year you are not an ultra-runner.

August wore on and I resumed my triathlon training. After three weeks "off" with that 50k thrown in, my motivation to train has come back slowly. Those three weeks were planned down weeks, ones that are now permitting my mind and body for the final Build to Kona on October 8th.

Here's where it gets interesting. On Monday, I conducted a 2:45 long run. I warmed up for about 40min and then jumped on 7min pace for 30min. After 30min I bumped it up to 6:45 pace. Then, I lowered it to 6:30 for another 30min. I'm running on soft surface with a bottle of Sustained Energy and Clif Shots. I have a HUGE emphasis right now on my cadence. I'm forcing myself to keep my leg turnover at 85-90 left foot-strikes/min. Conditioning myself to hold cadence, especially late in a run, is what I feels is probably, one of the most important factors in maintaining run speed.

After the half hour at 6:30 pace, I took a 5min jog and was pleased to discover, I had some gas left in the tank and actually wanted to run more, at a faster pace. I hit another split and just pushed hard. For just 3min I was running at 5:55. I came to a gate and decided that was enough. Any more, and I'd be over-reaching versus continuing to lean against my limits.

Starting the school year is a tremendous tax on my available energy. Learning about my 110 new students, Back to School Night, and recovering from that long run, left me feeling pretty flat, all week long. On Friday, I went out on the bike after school, and after 45min of warm-up, I skipped the turn to the big climb and just went on back to my classroom and called it a night. No energy.

Yesterday, after a good's night's sleep, I hopped on the tri-bike and did a ride I've always wanted to do: Santa Rosa to the lighthouse on Point Reyes. With my 2000 calorie bottle and plenty of water, I took the first half fairly easy. No caffeine and no music to the lighthouse at 62miles. I ate a Clif-Bar at the half-way, as well as a 100mg caffeinated Clif Shot, put on my iPod, with a special "lighthouse" playlist, and had two, approximately hour intervals where I worked pretty hard over rolling terrain. The idea is to train on similar terrain as I'll find out on the Ironman course on the Big Island. I wore a base layer and arm-warmers to simulate riding in those hot/humid conditions. 125mi with about 8000' of climbing, five weeks out from Kona, will be the biggest ride I'll do. Specificity and quality of training is paramount.

Garmin Data - Bike

I had parked my car near the far trail-head of the same trail on which I conduct my long run. I transitioned at my car and within 5min I was out on the run and was delighted (and somewhat baffled) by my pace. Since Monday's strong long run, I'd been so lethargic, lackluster, and just tired. But, off the bike yesterday, I was able to run 6:05 pace for about 30min at my optimal aerobic heart-rate. Again, I was really emphasizing my cadence and getting in a gel and water.

Salt Point is paying off. My long run on Monday was the strongest I've conducted. There is a strength present that was not there in 2007 coming off the bike. Instead of fearing falling apart, and then pacing too conservatively, I'm more confident in my ability to run a sub-3 off the bike in Kona, weather conditions permitting of course. I know that I do have a choice to keep my cadence high, even when I'm suffering to beat the band.

Again, to run sub-3 off the bike, I need to run 6:52/mi. Naturally, it's nice to come off a pretty hard 7hr ride and run 6:05 for 30min. This will play into my mental game coming off a 5hr bike ride in Kona. I want 6:30s to feel easy, and for as long as possible! If I'm averaging 6:30 to 6:40 for the first 10mi in Kona, and come in and out of the Natural Energy Lab with a cumulative average of about 6:50 to 6:52, then by golly, I can choose to keep my cadence high, use my aid stations wisely, and close out my marathon at 6:52 or better. Salt Point makes it so, as well as the training and racing sown this year.

And then, there's swimming. If I have a Ph.d in running and a Masters in cycling, then I'm in about 6th grade on the swim. I don't let it discourage me like it has in years passed. I've come to put a lot of stock in the notion that we can improve our limiters but it's our strengths that we'll see the most growth, for obvious reasons. I know that swimming is about flow and rhythm. Long and strong. With the bulk of cycling and running behind me, I'll take the next 5 weeks to swim quite a bit, working up to a set of 10 x 400 and see if I can knock off a few seconds/400 from the set I did about 10 days out from Vineman. God knows I'm a land creature. I have more of a runner's body-type. I may never love the swim, this is true, but my passion for cycling and enthusiasm for running will see me through, as they always will. Swimming humbles me and I better understand now, at 37, why that is important and why I must keep at it. If I can take my swim to 7th or 8th grade, then I'll just be that much farther up the road late in the marathon. And that would just be pretty d*mn cool.

My best in Kona is about 9:35. Naturally, I want to improve upon that and, if the Hawaiian gods see fit to give us some reasonable weather, I'd hope to establish a personal best at the distance, improving on my recent PR at Full Vineman of 9:24. And if the conditions are poor, then they're poor for everybody racing. The process doesn't change. As Einstein brilliantly wrote, "Full effort is full victory."

2007 Hawaii Ironman Race Report

2007-10-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Aloha. One final sunset here in Kona before hopping the red-eye home to Santa Rosa. And I'm ready to go. I will miss the geckos for sure. Before I head over to the airport I'll leave you with some of the highlights from Saturday's race.

Morning/Pre-Swim. I came into this event really relaxed, which did concern me, somewhat. After two IMs this year, I knew I had enough fitness to have a fairly strong showing, at least that's what I was praying to the Hawaiian gods! Good travel, great sleep, and no stress in the final stretch leading to race day. Up at 4am race morning. I downed a plate of brown rice and we were soon in the car making the dark and ominous pilgrimage to the swimstart. I've been more nervous for races to be sure. I guess we tend to be less nervous when we have little to lose. Having no performance expectations, I was here only to work hard and have a solid race. So, body marking, bottles on, tires pumped, and a visit to the port-o-john and it was soon 6am. I found a relatively clear area away from the start and laid down and listened to Coldplay for 20min. Butterflies kept me company. Deep breaths. Relax. Another gel and another sip of water. It's almost go-time. We watched a SEAL team parachute down toward us. Cool. Goggles and cap on and swallowed a double-espresso Clif Shot. Oh yeah. I eat SEALs for breakfast. Time to get wet.

Swim. You know, it's honestly come to the point where I don't really mind the swim anymore. It really used to terrify me. I've got it figured out though, all except the part about how to do it under an hour. Regardless, the key to the IM swim is to give your competitors none of your energy. Inevitably, you will be bumped, punched, elbowed, kicked, cut-off, or even screamed at by fellow competitors. Well, let 'em waste their precious energy. The trick is to just let it just roll right off your back. No worries mate. So, I started towards the front, just inside the far left of the field. The cannon boomed and reverberated through us. The water's so clear and there's so many people that there really isn't much need to sight while swimming; just lift the head a little and look for the bubbles in front of you if you think you're swimming off course. The whole way though, I was occasionally touching feet as my own feet were being grazed by athletes in my draft. My mantra on the way out was "smooth and relaxed." I hit the turn-around boat in 33min. My mantra on the way back was "Pull," as in "pull" as much water as possible (arms don't serve much purpose after the swim. Might as well wear 'em out in the water). The return trip to the pier was somehow more congested than the trip out. I kept getting cut-off and squeezed. My patience was tested quite a few times. "Pull." It was so nice to stand up and run up the ramp into Transition 1. Swim time 1:11. I wanted sub-1:10 and this was good--I felt like I swam smart and had wasted little energy. Transition was smooooth and I was out of T1 before I knew it. The volunteers are tremendous!

Bike. The first hour was mellow, mellow, mellow. Kona out-and-back stretch and then out to the Queen-K Highway to find out what my legs were going to let me do today. Focus was on taking care of myself as much as possible. Translation: hydrate, get the calories in, and stay cool. After an hour I threw down a bag of Marguarita Clif Bloks. Salty and yummy. My nutrition was simple for the bike: One 24oz bottle of super-concentrated Perpetuem with 3 Strawberry Shots mixed in. Every 15min I would take a little sip of that and chase it with a few gulps of water. After coming into T2 at the August Full Vineman dehydrated I was sure to get plenty of fluids down. The aero-bottle works like a charm and--since the straw jabs you in the face--continually reminds you to take a drink. There is an old adage at the Hawaii Ironman regarding hydration and that is "pee before Hawi." Hawi is the little town up north where the bike turn-around is located. I peed well before Hawi and was therefore confident I was properly hydrated. I did not have the power on the bike that I normally have though I was pacing very well and having quite a good time just being in the mix, dicing it up with the athletes around me. I disregarded my inability to push my heart-rate into the low 150s and was content to ride it out in the 140s. Winds weren't too bad until coming down from Hawi where there were quite a few gusty crosswinds making navigating at 40mph with athletes, vans, and motorcyles all over the road, quite a chore. I had to keep reminding myself to refrain from white-knuckling my aero-bars (waste no energy!). Once back on the Queen K things were good again--though still a bit windy. Return trip back to Kona. I wasn't passing as many people any more and couldn't find any more power to get back to town any quicker. I ran out of my Perpetuem cocktail and grabbed some Gatorade as well as a couple gels from the course to see me through to the end of the bike. It was nice drinking only water on the bike up until that point; other than some back pain when I pushed it, I felt pretty darn good comin' in to the marathon. I rode 5:09. My best ever in Kona. I feel now, naturally, like I could have gone faster, worked harder, and suffered more. But if that is so, I suppose I would have gone faster on the bike. I came here this year to race smart and have a perfect race. So far so good. Besides, way too many triathletes simply leave too much out there on the bike course. What you save early will be there for you later. Dave Scott told me that...in an article I read in Triathlete Magazine. Dave Scott did actually tell me once, on the run in Coeur d'Alene, that I had good run form. And he has the second fastest marathon split in Kona history at 2:41. Six minute miles for 26.2 miles off the bike? Sure thing.

Run. I remember having a grand ol' time in the second transition. Way better than my first time here in 2002. I recall sitting in T2 back then and being encouraged by volunteers to get up and get my marathon started. I remember thinking how daunting the Hawaii Ironman marathon was to me back then. Emerson wrote, "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased." I find that quote fits ironman racing like a wetsuit. Pacing and nutrition/hydration. Pacing and nutrition/hydration. That's what makes or breaks you out here. Having no expectations for my run, I just cruised the first mile in about 7min. Not quite Dave Scott territory but I was happy. I began hittin' those beautiful M-Dot aid stations grabbing every cold sponge, cup-o-water, and gatorade I could get my hands on. My run legs came on fairly quickly, and I started hitting 6:50 and 6:45 miles on the out-and-back stretch of Alii Drive. I enjoyed that part of the marathon the most. So so good. I always have breaking 3hours in the back of my mind so I just kept playing the game: see if I can run another mile at 6:50 pace. And so it went for about 10 miles. I saw a few friends in town before heading back out on the Queen K, including Santa Rosa buddy Dave Latourette and his sister Amy. I was jazzed to see them while I hobbled up the only significant hill on the course. Oooh...ouch...ugh. What happened to that strong wind in my sails? Once out on the Queen K, my splits slowed a bit but I didn't really care to tell you the truth. I was just racing myself today and I knew if I just kept on pushing I was going to have a sweet run split, not to mention a nice finish time. But the marathon is about 20 miles of hope and about 6 miles of reality, so says Hawaii veteran Cam Brown of New Zealand. The turn down to the Natural Energy lab just seemed like it was a 100 miles away. But it eventually came and with it a break from the heat of the Queen K. A nice ocean breeze was blowing while I made my way down the the run turn-around. As I ran out of the Natural Energy lab I watched an official timing clock roll over 9 hours total race time. Now, I just had to run back to town. Time to enter the pain cave. Get psyched. The last 10k of any marathon is a "powerful martial strain, one of those tunes of glory" says the late running sage, Dr. George Sheehan. George discovered triathlon at the end of his life while battling prostate cancer. He wrote about it with great enthusiam. He would have flipped for Ironman. Amongst a billion other things when I out there, I think about pushing hard for George's sake. He certainly loved the marathon. Anyway, at that point, I didn't think about George, or how far it was to the next mile marker, or much at all really in those final miles back to town, except just trying to catch the guy in front of me, and stay in front of him. "Push to the finish. Surge. It will be over for ever in only a few minutes. Push now," I remember thinking. Amazed at the caliber of runners that were near me at this point in the race inspired me to no end. At some point in the blur I yelled at my friend Becky Flaherty who was at war with her own body and mind on her way out to the Natural Energy Lab. With complete tunnel vision I absorbed the cheers from friends Dave Latourette, and Greg (Becky's boyfriend who works for Shimano--cool) before making that turn down Palani and back into town. I flew down Palani (which may have been more painful than going up) and high-fived Amy again with a big smile on my face. I turned it on for those last 2 miles or so, pickin' off a few more people before making that final epic right-hand turn on to Alli drive to the finish. I savored those final yards, high-fivin' all the outstretched hands in the finishing chute. Run time: 3:08. My best in Kona.

Post-race. Never felt better after one of these crazy things, due mostly to my pacing, nutrition/hydration, and the possibility I didn't work hard enough on the bike, but let's not go there. I'm staying outta my head on the shoulda/coulda/woulda head games and might I be so bold as to suggest you do the same. Remember what Yoda said, "Do or do not; there is no try." Good advice my friends and coming from a jedi master no less. It's been a long year and it's taken me 3 years to get back to the big dance and may be my last time ever to participate. I was strong and happy for just about the whole day, established kona personal bests in all 3 legs of the race, lowered my total race time from 9:54 in '04 to 9:36. Not too shabby. 133rd overall. 18th out of 175 men 30-34 years-old on planet Earth. Pretty good. I haven't poured over the results yet but am most interested to know if I was the fastest teacher. I need to tell my students something cool, like, "Hey, listen, I know I lost and was 133rd, but listen, I'm the fastest teacher in the world." Yeah, guess I'll figure that one out tomorrow. Now, I gotta get my tired and sore behind to the airport. Getting back home is going to be an endurance event in and of itself. Aloha and mahalo.

Beautiful Day

2007-10-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

Aloha!

I want to thank everyone for all the good vibes ya'll sent me for my race yesterday. I had the most amazing day ever. So many things came together out there. I keep learning and learning so much about how to get the most out of the body to get over that finish line a little quicker each year. The coolest thing was I just felt good the whole day and was able to really enjoy and appreciate the journey, which, is an absolutely amazing one. Whoa. I never really hurt until I started pushing pretty hard with 10mi to go on the marathon. Strong finish. Couldn't ask for more. I'll post a more formal race report later. Time to enjoy the island a little bit now. Love ya! -S :)

3...2...1...

2007-10-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Houston, we are go for launch.

Sittin' around now watchin' movies. Relaxing is the best thing to do at this point to make sure you do your best on race day. I've been sleeping out on the balcony since I've been here and lovin' it. Feelin' goooood.

Good swim this morning. Saw a sweet sea turtle and some dolphins. Did a little ride to loosen the legs up for tomorrow followed by a short run. Then, had to dial my bike in for the race and take it down to the pier and drop it off with my bike stuff and run stuff. Athletes have to do this because it saves a ton of time in the morning. So, you just have to get up and come down to the start, put your bottles on your bike, pump up your tires and get ready for the swim.

This is the coolest: Windsor Middle School teachers, together as a group, are swimming, biking, and running the same 140.6 distance I will be covering tomorrow. So good luck to them and thanks for the inspiration. I'll be thinking of them, my students, friends, and family as well. I'm sooo excited to race.

Make sure to check out the action tomorrow on www.ironmanlive.com. I'm #1466. -S :)

Is it dinner time yet?

2007-10-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

So we watched about an hour of the best of Will Ferrell this afternoon. I got in some reading and napping. Later I went out on my time-trial bike and commuted around getting a haircut and some groceries--kinda like home. I called up buddy Dave who's stayin' down the road from me. He suggested this morning I stop by and pick up sweet Blue Seventy wetsuit. It's more like a beefy skinsuit which gives you a bit more bouyancy out there. Anyway, I need all the help I can get with my swimming, so the suit may help get me back on land a bit faster. Once back in transition, I just peel off this suit and I have my regular skinsuit on underneath. And then blast off on the bike! Hee-Haw!!!

Racer #1466

2007-10-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

FYI- I'm racing on Saturday as #1466. This should help you find me on www.ironmanlive.com. Remember, I expect to be racing from 7am to 5pm. So add 3hrs to these times if you're on the west coast and add 6hrs if you're back East. Also, I heard that there is a text messaging service that if you signed up you can be texted whenever I cross a timing chip mat. Crazy huh? Maybe I'll carry my cell phone so I can keep track of myself. Cheers! -S :)

Lazy Day

2007-10-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings wonderful people,

The time change is making it quite easy to get up early which will be nice come Saturday morning when I need to rise and shine at 4am. But today it's now 2 days out from the race and time to take a load off. Headed downtown this morning before breakfast with friends. Ran into friend and co-Vineman director, Dave Latourette and we watched the infamous "underwear run" go by (this tradition seemingly permits nervous triathletes to not only show-case their ripped physiques, but also burn of some nervous enery and have some fun). Dave and I then rode over to the hotel where we met everyone else for breakfast. We ate, told crazy race stories from yesteryear, and more or less chatted it up. Another beautiful morning. Until tonight there's not much going on. Two days out from a race like this it's best to just relax and stay off of your feet. I don't like this too much. Guess I'll read quite a bit today. Brought a good book called the "History of Reading." Sounds good, eh? Tonight there's some fun though; we're headed off for the carbo dinner sometime this evening. All the athletes, families, and friends all show up for some pretty good grub. That's what I'm in it for: the grub! Mmmmm. -S :)

Aloha

2007-10-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

Whew! I have a little time before getting on the bike this afternoon so it's time for an update. Kona is jammed packed full of crazy triathletes like myself. I couldn't be happier. Soon as I arrived last night at the airport, friends, who had arrived the same day, came and picked me up and we headed back to our pad for some zzzz. Time change actually helped slip into an early routine here: we headed down to the beach where many athletes were out swimming and generally looking super fit. We all swam out about 15min and turned around and came back in. The water's so nice, a little wavy, but clear so you can see all kinds of cool fish. Out of the water I high-tailed it over to registration where I chatted with last year's winner, Normann Stadler. He looked pretty scared to see me. I think it was my calm demeanor that shook him up. Feelin' really relaxed today. After registration, off to the ironman expo to see all of the outrageously priced m-dot logoed merchandise for sale. Yikes. I bought a cup to set on my desk at school. I found my friends again and we headed off to the grocery store (truly the highlight of my day!). Then, after some yum-yums, I took my bike out of my travel case and put her together. Besides my pump hose breaking off while inflating (friends have spare pump), everything's back together nicely. Now, it's off for a 90min ride with some hard efforts mixed in to shake those travel legs into race mode. Looking forward to some down-time tonight and tomorrow. It's been a bit too busy today. Thanks for reading!!! -S :)

Planes, Trains, and Submarines?

2007-10-09T10:00:00.001-07:00

I've been getting around this year. Racing in Idaho and back East to see the fam, now off to Kona for the grand finale. A decade ago this time I was six days into a six month deployment on the USS Toledo, fast-attack submarine. We deployed with the George Washington battle group for the Mediterranean Sea. Yikes, that was ten years ago already? My sixth graders were only a year old then. Whoa. Well, look at the brightside, at least I don't have to take a submarine to Hawaii. You know it's difficult to take your bike along with you on a sub. You have no idea; you have to break it down into tens of pieces and stow them in any void you can find throughout the sub, and, to make matters worse, you have to find all those pieces after having been at sea for weeks. Now where did I put that bike seat? Has anyone seen my front wheel? Yes, I'm happy I'm flying, it just makes things a bit easier. However, I never had a 3hour layover in Los Angeles when I traveled by submarine.

I want to say HELLO! to all my students who found my blog. Good job! Blog, blog, blog. Fun word, huh? -S : )

Good Vibrations

2007-10-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

Whoa! Where did the week go? At school tonight getting ready to miss a few days with my wonderful superstar students. I wish I could have them all out there in Kona with me. That would be the ultimate inspiration. Rediscovering tonight that it's quite a bit of work to prepare to have a sub. Yikes. Whatever work's necessary to ensure things run smoothly in my absence. I'm super grateful to have an excellent sub covering for me the whole time and supportive staff and administrators that are amazingly tolerant of my extra-curricular activities! They should know this insanity was sparked one day early in my professional preparation when one of my education professors implored the class, "You need to have something else in your life that your passionate about besides teaching." I took that one and ran with it!

Pretty sweet afternoon. I covered my buddy's 5th period PE class which got me outside the confines of my classroom. The kids and I did some jumping jacks to motivational quotes (so cool), stretching (I should do more of), running (I should arguably do less of), and soccer (I did for 10 years). After school was even better; we had wrestling practice, a cross-country meet, and girls volleyball going on all at the same time. So I would pop in the gym to catch some of the volleyball action, then zip out to high-five some of the runners comin' in all the while handing out some pasta dinner fundraiser fliers. Wrestlers were runnin' around here and there and received some high-fives as well. How being a teacher transports you back to another time. Between teaching and triathlon, I'm staying as young at heart as possible. So, the good vibrations carried me effortlessly home aboard my trusty commuting stead which, I noticed tonight that I rolled over 3000mi since Jan 1. Like anything, this fact can be viewed in a positive or negative light. I recall former professional triathlete Mike Pigg's motto: "Always positive."

Now for a busy weekend. Here's some of the things to be done before flyin' out on Tuesday to the Big Island. Saturday: prep bike (install new chain & cassette, install race wheels and pedals, clean & dial 'er in), swim 1500yds, groceries & laundry, work on race week itinerary, test-flight tt bike, i.e., ride hard for :60 w/ :20 transition run (ensure all systems "go for launch," pack up bike in travel case. Sunday: ride up to school early and finish sub prep and dial in classroom 100%. Ride home. Pack rest of stuff. Work on race plan. Sweat the details. Relax. It's just another race, right? ; )

Healthy Pizza

2007-09-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

It's another crazy saturday night: groceries, laundry, and a dinner consisting of one of those Whole Foods pizzas washed down with one Sanpellegrino Limonata sparkling lemon beverage...ahhhhh.

Busted out the tt bike for a rock session this afternoon. 2.5hrs pretty hard. Yeeowww. No transition run. too hungry. always hungry; it's like I have a tapeworm. do you think i have a tapeworm? well, if i do, I should change my response to people when they ask me if i have a pet. really hungry tonight. Whole Foods loves me. i need two of those little healthy pizzas to make a dent. yikes.

Felt amazing on the bike today. AM swim got my mojo goin' and it was fun pushing over the hills in a big gear. Incredible weather accompanied by splendid sonoma county scenery. Of course, the goal now is to grow stronger through lots-o-rest for the next two weeks so i can break Stormin' Normann Stadler's 4:18 bike split from last year in kona. To quote the Terminator, "No problemo." ; )

stairs

2007-09-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

You gotta love the weekend. Wakin' up without an alarm clock is heavenly. Nice big breakfast and off to the pool for a nice big swim workout. 13 * 400. This effort pays big dividends on raceday. You can swim the 2.4mi on raceday pretty hard and get outta the water feeling euphorically fresh, ready to lay it down on the bike.

Energy, however, is increasingly more difficult to come by these days. Shorter, darker, colder days don't inspire desire in the hearts of most athletes. Higher temps and plenty o' that beeeautiful sunshine get my motor runnin'. So those first 5 or 6 400s this morning challenged me to think why it was I was in the pool in the first place. My splits weren't particularly fast by comparison to where they were in July. Usually, if you give it some time, the rhythm finds you. It's almost like your body needs to be convinced your serious about the workout before it gives you the feel good endorphins which propel you forward with power and grace. Surroundings disappear, time fades away, and, suddenly, you've arrived on the other side, invigorated.

Confidence certainly comes from doing the required work. There's simply no hiding from the truth. Sometimes, you just gotta turn your brain off and get the job done. Being on the other side of 13 * 400 feels good and alleviates some stress associated with the kona swim. Is work actually work when it serves a higher purpose for you? Long before I knew what "brick" workout was my high school wrestling coach used to make the entire team run in an enclosed stairwell from time to time. Up and down and up and down we would go. Occasionaly he would have us carry a brick in each hand and pump our arms while we ran. This was an annual tradition and part of our pre-season conditioning. As much as my team-mates and I might have complained about our coach's dubious training technique I think we all thoroughly looked forward to and benefited from the experience. In our adolescent minds it simply made us tougher than the competition. Now, I think of a quote a former student gave to me which I shared with my students this week: "You can't take the elevator to success...you have to take the stairs."

"wherever I was going..."

2007-09-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

"I was running!" Immortal words from my Hollywood soul character "Forrest Gump." Long shadows out there tonight for run speed workout. Nice warm-up as the temp was dropping with the sun. Little 5 * 1min hard followed by 3 * 10min hard (162, 160, 164beats per minute respectively). Not too shabby. Able to push pretty hard post time trial commute home from school.

Saw my buddy Layne X out there on the Rodota trail gettin his run workout on. Not only is Layne preparing for Ironman Florida but he does one mean Forrest Gump impersonation. Hence, the aforementiond Gump quote. After I saw Layne I started thinking about that movie. Remember when little Forrest busts outta those leg braces and dust those bullies chasing him??? Gets me every time. So that was what I was imagining when I was doing my third and final 10min effort. It's a good trick; you should try it. Works every time!

And you should have been there tonight for the full moon rising in a perfectly clear blue sky over Bennett peak. Amazing. That made all the work worth it. For sure.

Swimming

2007-09-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

All I can say is...ugh. Did a 90min swim about 8 days ago and never made it back to the pool until tonight. Friend Heather coaching topside with encouraging words. Never really found a groove (didn't deserve to find a groove for that matter!) but banged out 2500 or so, mostly 100s. Of course, feeling f.i.n.e. now. that's the best part of the swim right?...gettin' it over with! Kidding aside, I look forward to some consistent swims this week and then hit a nice set of 13 * 400 on Saturday; final preps. Now where did I put that box of double-espresso Clif Shot??? Oh what fun it is to ride and sing... : )

Last Long Ride

2007-09-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

Greetings earthlings. First post to bloggin fun fest for kona 07. In 3 weeks, the race will have come and gone and I will only have sore legs and a bad tan to show for it. Ha! and all the memories which, of course, last a lifetime.

So, today I did a final hard/long effort up and over Sonoma Mtn, Cavedale, and Spring Mtn. Felt like a million euro. Getting mind where it needs to be. Teaching providing all kinds of balance now; if left to my own devices, i'd train myself into one big hole out of which you might see me again by spring. Naturally, I'd see my shadow and go back to sleep for a few more weeks.

Transition run post Spring Mtn. Yeah, felt strong. IM is all about that taper: comin' in as fresh as possible. Mark Allen always said he'd like to have seen what he could do if he gave himself 4 wks of taper vs. three. Yeah, with prof'l responsibilities, I'm comin in as fresh as possible. Recall, better to come in 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained.

Yeah...so this is blog...what's the big deal? Time for sleep. Night. -S