Less than 48 hours out

The nerves are slowly beginning to set in. I can feel the taper madness taking over. I will say that I am handling it 100% better than I did last year. Some of it is experience but most of it has to do with my mindset. I don't feel the need to do anything right now. I got everything done yesterday. I got registered, I made the purchases I needed and I got the freak away from the venue.

I am a HUGE believer in not staying at the race site. I like to stay close but a few miles off. To me, there is nothing more irritable than to be surrounded by 2000 other neurotic, nervous athletes. Staying away from the venue also mitigates the possibility of doing a lot of walking around. With the expo, there is always something to do. You can make signs, look at new products, buy merchandise. And of course, run into everyone you know. But most importantly, it puts you on your feet all day. No thanks.

I swam this morning. Brrrr. It was a miserable 51 degrees out this morning. The water was nice, especially since it was warming than the air temperature. My swim was solid. I felt really strong. The water was like glass with a small currently pulling you out and to the left. I am crossing my fingers for similar conditions on Saturday.

My afternoon ride was average. I didn't feel particularly strong. Off the bike I went into a brief run. I tried a 9/1 approach which felt great. I was able to still average 9/minute miles. If only the run after the bike was always that easy.

Race Day Tracking

For those readers that are not able to be in Florida this weekend, Ironman does provide online tracking of athletes. On race day Ironmanlive.com will provide updates around the clock on the status of pros and age groupers. Starting in the afternoon (3 pm), they will begin streaming live video from the course too.

If you are bored on Saturday, feel free to track me:

http://ironman.com/events/ironman/florida

You will have two options--
Race/bib Number: 234
Or by last name.

I can almost taste the salt water

Ironman Florida has nearly arrive. In 48 hours I will be in Panama City Beach among the mass of nervous athletes. It hasn't been easy this year. I have endured a lot physically, mentally and emotionally. I struggled with an injury that nearly broke me. It required me to let go of my aggressive time goals. It required me to physically take a break from training. It required me to muster the mental stamina to listen to a coach when all I wanted to do was go...and go longer and faster. It required me to physically do the right thing despite my inclinations. It wasn't an easy year.

It can easily be said that getting to the Ironman is just as challenging than the feat itself. Last year, I said training was 10x harder than the race. And this year is likely to confirm that feeling once again. For now, the goal is to rest and begin to mentally dial in for the race. While it has been a long year, I can now quantify in hours how far away the race is. It is time to toe the line and get in the water.

This year I have ridden over 3400 miles
This year I have ran over 600 miles
This year I have swam over 240,000 yards

This is the journey to the Ironman.

The road continues on...

Final week of training and I let it all go. Nothing much to report here. My body was screaming for recovery and taper. I didn't fight it. I set out Friday to train and it didn't happen. It was steadily raining and in the mid-40s. The ride that was supposed to be 3.5 hours never was. I wasn't going to fight the weather. I opted for the hot tub and an afternoon nap (sorta).

Monday--2500y in 50'
Tuesday-20 mile ride in 55'; 3.3 run in 30'
Wednesday-4500y swim in 1:15
Thursday-5.2 mile run in 45'
Friday-1600y in 25'; 24.5 miles in 80'
Saturday-12.3 miles in 45'
Sunday--2 hour massage :)

Swim: 8600y in 2h 30m
Bike: 56.8 miles in 3h
Run: 8.5 miles in 1h 15m
Total training time: 6h 45m

I like weeks like this!

Georgia State Time Trial

Last weekend was my first venture into road racing. Given my interest in cycling it was only a matter of time before I entered one of these races. I thought about the Roswell Crit earlier in the season but didn't have the means to race it....yet.

So a group of us ventured to north Georgia, near Chattanooga, for the time trial race. It was a bunch of triathletes versus the roadies. The morning was cool and required digging out my cold gear for the race.

A time trial is simple. Everyone lines up in order and each cyclist is sent off each 30 seconds. The goal, to do the course as fast as you can. You really don't have a clue how your rank. It is truly a race between you and the clock.

I had no expectations for the race. In fact, I was a bit fatigued from a long week of training. My goal was to have a consistent, hard race. The course was moderate hilly. The climbs weren't substantial but there were enough to kindly remind you that you were climbing. And it made for great descents.

The result--55:17 for 20.5 miles...average 22.1 mph and average 240 effort. That is what I call a solid effort. I felt like I pushed it for most of the race. There were definitely times that I was sandbagging. There was plenty of snot and spit coming out of the mouth.

I ended up 5th of 17 in Cat 5. Not too bad for my first attempt.

Quick Read

So I am backlogged a bit on the blogs right now. I am working on catching up. Tapering should provide me some time to get my thoughts together on a few more topics. Plus, I will be blogging from IMFL.

I would be remiss if I didn't post a link to this story. When you have time read it...you will have chills a tears. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=backinthewater&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

Summary: A victim, a son and a community come back together, finding strength in one another, after a popular athlete was attacked my a shark earlier in the year.

Motivation and Goals, part duex

I am spending an increasing amount of time thinking and discussing motivation. As you may recall, I blogged about it a while back in regards to pulling out of a triathlon. Recently, I have refined and narrowed the discussion in regards to how I analyze motivation.

The question is simple--Are you intrinsically or extrinsically motivated? Do you motivate yourself by personal development and improvement or do you measure your success by awards, medals and external stimuli?

The easy answer is that we are all intrinsically motivated. Our motivation comes from within. Sounds simple enough. But is that really the case? Look around and tell me what you see.

Two weekends ago, at the Ironman World Championships, defending champ Chris McCormack began having mechanical issues half way through the bike. Given the time he would lose fixing the problem, he made the decision to bow out of the race. He was there to win. Nothing less. He was externally motivated by the carrot that is World Championship (that isn't to say he isn't internally motivated). And for the record, I agree with his decision to pull out...though I think it is bad sportsmanship.

Two years ago, pro Rutger Beke blew up on the marathon and was reduced to walking. Beke, is one of the top pros in the world, consistently finishing top 5 from 03-06. Talk about consistency. Beke was done. He was toast. But he chose to stay in the race and walk the remainder of the 26.2 miles. He let go of the external motivation; instead digging deep inside and internally finding the motivation to still finish the race among the age groupers, in 898th place. Beke returned to Kona this year and plowed through the field to a second place finish.

Again, none of this goes to say that the pros aren't intrinsically motivated. That certainly isn't the case as they put in more effort at ungodly intensities. Instead, it is just two glaring examples of how motivation has played out in recent events. But more often, this is seen on the local level among age groupers, particularly in beginners.

How do you determine if someone is extrinsically motivated? I think the first sign is to look at their goals. The second is to understand how not meeting one or some of their goals affects them. Finally, how they carry themselves in regards to their goal.

In my opinion, I think a number of athletes use this sport to validate themselves. For instance, their goal is to do an Ironman. However, they have no business doing a race of that distance. Their bodies simply aren't ready or they don't come from an athletic background. I can admire the goal. I was there. I had no business signing up for my first IM. The Ironman itself came to define who I was. I see this a lot.

As a result of this, the external stimulus (Ironman) fuels the internal motivation. I have blogged a number of times about training out of fear. That is what happens. When the external is motivating the internal...that is a problem. Your motivations in life should always come from within. One should fuel themselves in a way that the external motivation is really the goal to reach.

Take the athlete who in his/her first year in a new age group suddenly finds themselves not as competitive. The previous year, the may have been consistently top 5; now they aren't even top 10. Their goal is to finish in the top 5 of every race. This is how they define success. This type of athlete can commonly be found saying things like "if i was still in x age group, I would have been in the top 3." One has to wonder where the motivation rests.

What I find particularly interesting about the example above is that the athlete may have bettered their previous time. So, in essence, the athlete has a better race yet appears unsatisfied or disappointed in the results.

Or take the athlete that is strictly time oriented in their approach to the sport. Setting a realistic time goal is great and I would never argue the differ. But things like time, speed and rankings are quantifiable. That is why we like them. They allow us to compare. That however is not always good. What about an athlete that gave 100% in a race and came up 3 seconds short of their goal? What about an athlete in a half ironman only averaging 18.5 mph when they averaged 19.5 in their last half.

A lot goes into a race (blog forthcoming). You can't always do apples to apples comparisons...their are too many variables....even when you do the same race from year to year. Instead, what should be important is how much effort you gave, how you felt during and how you felt after. If I race a 10k in 42 minutes, feel like crap and vomit everywhere after the race is it worth it when I can race a 43 minute 10k and feel great? One has to wonder. But I do get to hang my hat on a 42 minute 10k.

And how one uses these external stimuli is always interesting. Do I go our touting the I am the Olympic Distance champion? What does that get me? Bragging rights? Do I get a large obnoxious Ironman tattoo on my calf only to put on an extra 20 pounds after the season? How one uses accolades or successfully meeting goals says a lot about the person. But as I mentioned in the first point, much of it is self-validation. They need these things to validate themselves in front of others. They feel like they can hold their own in conversation or put their finishers medals up against someone else. These are the people that wear Ironman gear everywhere they go and bring it up anytime they can. (Ironman athletes are easier to pick on to make this point)

Again, I have been giving this a lot of thought over the past few months. I think my motivation has changed in this sport. I am much more concerned with having a great race. Sure, my goal is to improve upon my previous time. I understand what it takes to get there. But I have let go of many of the tangibles. I don't need medals or accolades to validate me in this sport. It is a hobby, something I do for fun. Just like I want to be promoted in my job...I want to better myself in the sport.


This played out most recently for me at Ameliaman. Getting passed in the chute by an age grouper was devasting. For me, it was the difference between hardware and being just another name on the results page. I still kick myself about the incident. I still want that hardware. But at the end fo the day...that doesn't matter to me. What matters is that I pulled off a great race. It was a killer PR for me. I had the best bike of my career and pulled off a killer run. That is what matters to me. I bettered myself. That easily overcame the motivation to take home a medal that says 3rd place.

None of this is to say that I am not externally motivated. I certainly am motivated by time and rankings. However, I use those as goals. Not the reason to train harder.

The road continues on...

Another week down. I can almost taste the salt water of the Gulf. I am officially less that two weeks out. I am to the point where I can quantify the time in the number of days. I am preparing my checklists of things to pack.

This week was ok in terms of training. I am not officially training but the volume is coming down just a bit. My body is beat...my legs are at their breaking point. They have no pop anymore. Long rides are a bit of a struggle. But that is kinda the point. If I can work through it now, then having to do that on fresh legs will be easier. Conceptually I get it.

Mon-2000y recovery swim in 35'
Tues-32 miles of intervals in 90'
Wed-4500y swim in 75'; 3.3 mile run in 30'
Thurs-14.3 mile run in 125'
Fri-Rest :)
Sat-20.5 mile Time Trial; 16 mile recovery ride 120'
Saturday-69.5 miles in 3h 40m

Swim: 6500y 1h 50m
Bike: 138 miles in 7h 20m
Run: 17.6 miles in 2h 35m

Total Training time 11h 24m

Only 2 more big workouts left...

Beating my head against the wall

90 times that is.

Is there anything more mind numbing than swimming? You really never go anywhere. It is like running long on the treadmill or putting in a few hours on the trainer. I really don't have the patience or the attention span for it.

On Wednesday, I had to perform the daunting task of 4500y in the pool. Continuously. The equates to 70-75 minutes swimming...without stopping....in a pool. The agony.

In a 25y pool, that is down and back 90 times. That equates to flipping around and pushing off the wall 180 times. Every 25 seconds, you slow, turn and push. Repeat 180 times.

Mentally, I break it into 9 x 500y segments. If I take splits here, then I don't need to count laps. I can look at my watch and know how many yards I am into the 500 set. This helps. But goodness, it is mind numbing.

I guess it is mental training. It sure sucked.
And I have to do it again next week.

The road continues on...

This past week was mediocre in nature. The race and long ride left me a bit fatigued and run down. Coach Dan promised a recovery week but my hours barely reflect it.

Mon-1200y 4x300 recovery swim 25'
Tues-2000y 4x500 continue to recovery 35'
Wed-4000y 2x200 70'
Thursday-13.8 miles of running 2h 5'
Friday-Rest
Saturday- 72 mile bike; 3h 50m
Sunday 3900y swim 60'

Swim-11,100y in 3h 10m
Bike-72 miles in 3h 50m
Run-13.8 miles in 2h 5m
Total training time-9h 5m

And that is a light week. Hmpf. I ended up cutting my bike short by 70'. I was having a bad ride and didn't want to force it.

I can almost smell taper in the air.

3 weeks out

Yesterday marked the final three weeks before Ironman. Kinda hard to fathom that three weeks from this morning, I will be devouring every bit of food in sight as I bitch and complain about my achy joints.

I am starting to feel ready. The number of big workouts have been reduced to just a few. I had a long ride yesterday that didn't go as planned. It put me in a bad mood for most of the day. But I have to keep in mind that I have had 2 great 100+ mile rides and that is where the strength will come from.

I also had a great run this week. I totally nearly 14 miles on Wednesday between the am and pm runs. This week, I have a 2 hour continuous run. Baby steps I tell myself. But that run will be a huge confidence booster if I can get through it. And then I get to look forward to tapering.

The body is still holding up well. It is taxed. It is fatigued. But I am grateful each morning that I am able to rise and get through another workout. As I have said before, each Ironman is a different journey. Each has its own story. This one is marked by perseverance and overcoming adversity. Three more weeks and I will fulfill the only promise I have made this season--to let my body finally rest.

EPIC

That is the word that I am using to describe this weekends ride. Sometimes it is not enough to just do 100 miles. Sometimes one needs to add a bit more perspective to the situation to understand the magnitude of the ride. Often, when I look at a local century, it just makes a large loop around a central point. When I ride on the SCT, it is just a long out and back then out and back. It doesn't give much perspective. Well the ride this weekend did.

Coach Dan and I stayed in Jacksonville Saturday night after the Ameliaman race. We started out on a Jacksonville trailhead traveling west at about 9 am. For the first hour, I was not feeling good. When I woke that morning I was extremely low energy and the mood set in. I was having difficulty finding my rhythm on the bike and could feel the soreness from the previous days race.

At the 75 minute mark, Dan and JC were to turn around and leave me to the rest of my trip. I plugged along on Highway 90 west finally finding my groove. The scenary wasn't much to talk about. I did manage to pass 3 correctional facilities. I found it bizarre that they were all on the same highway. The road conditions were favorable; providing a nice shoulder and very little traffic. I was beginning to enjoy this ride.

The first town I came upon was Lake City, FL. I had originally anticipated stopping there to refuel as it was about 50 miles into the trip. However, I was in a good groove and had enough fluid to continue on. In Lake City was my ONLY turn on the entire trip. I turned right onto Highway 41 North and was pleased to instantly see a sign that said Valdosta 63 miles. Sweet.

Highway 41 was much of the same. Good conditions and a good mindset. I was really moving at this point. I hit the 56 mile (half ironman distance) at sub 2:30. There wasn't much to see once you left Lake City. In fact, there wasn't any traffic. I felt like I was entering the twilight zone.

At the 3 hour mark I had traveled roughly 65 miles and just dumped my final bottle into my aerodrink so I made the decision to pull off at the nearest gas station. Needless to say that these people don't see too many cyclists. I purchase a few large waters to refuel. One guy asks how far I am riding today? I reply not sure, riding to Valdosta. He stares at me blankly. From here? He asks. Well I started in Jacksonville, I replied. Another deep confused look. Good luck he says as he shakes his head.

At this point I am moving at a faster clip than expected. I text Coach Dan to give him my update and then I plug along. I find my comfortable pace again. Around the 4 hour mark I begin to struggle. It is growing increasingly hot outside and I am a bit tired. I know I lost some speed and power as the fatigue begin to set in. At the 4h 30m mark, I want to be off the bike and out of the saddle.

I make the decision to stop again at the 105 mile juncture. I am overheating and it is causing my stomach to shut down a bit. I find the nearest gas station and douse myself with some more water. I try some gatorade but my mouth is parched and I don't want anything. I text Coach Dan again and wonder where he is.

At this point, I only have about 10 miles to go. I get back on the highway and try to dial in mentally. It is quite the struggle at this point. Then I hear the familiar sound of cowbell as Coach Dan comes flying around me. He helps motorpace me for the final few miles as I reach Valdosta.

The funniest part of the trip is that my watch is saying 114.7 miles as I hit the bridge going into Valdosta. It is a short, steep hill. I haven't had a hill all day. Dan pulls to the side waiting for me to make the call. I'll be damned if I am wussing out at the very end because of a hill. I got out of the saddle and attacked it. I totally ignored the sign that said no pedestrians or bicycles, lol. My power soared to 500 watts. I hit the summit and cruised down the backside. I found the nearest parking lot and collapsed. I was done!.

116.1 miles. Jacksonville to Valdosta
5h 29m of riding
21.2 mph average
158 watt average

And one hell of a sunburn.

The road continues on...

Another interesting week in training. I regret to inform my readers that I skipped a workout. One of my goals coming down the backstretch was to NOT miss any workouts. But it was the right call. I skipped a run because my knee was really agitated. I was growing increasingly concerned throughout the week that the knee would not hold up and the inflammation was growing. (Knock on wood) but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Mon-3000y as 12x200 in 60 minutes
Tues-24 mile ride in 1h 25m
Wed-8 mile run in 1h 15m (skipped 45 minute run that evening)
Thurs-3100 at T-pace in 62m
Fri-rode to Florida
Saturday-1650y in 28'; 25 mile ride in 67'; 6.2 mile run in 48'
Sunday-116 mile ride in 5h 30m

Swim: 7750y in 2.5h
Bike: 165 miles in 8h
Run: 14.2 miles in 2h

Total training this week was 12h 40m. This was a decrease from last week. But I will say that the intensity was much higher this week. Now onto a rest week! Yippee!

Ameliaman Race

This was a really late addition to the race calendar. Coach Dan was itching to race and wanted some company. Since I pulled out of the race in Nashville this seemed like a great opportunity. So we departed around noon en route to Amelia Island. We met up with some of his friends and crashed in a hotel adjacent to transition.

We first started moving around 5 am Saturday morning as the women in the room were racing the half ironman. I think I finally pried myself from the hotel sofa around 6 am. I devoured a clif bar and a banana while jostling around. I finally made my way to transition, took the bike for a spin and began to stretch out a bit.

My wave was the fourth to go off, after the half ironman wave.s We started on the beach and ran into the water. You had to wade nearly 50' before you could swim. Before the start, we watched the earlier waves go off and you could see that the current was pushing the athletes left really hard (I think the whole first wave missed the first buoy). My plan was to sit on Dan's feet as long as I can and site about 30' to the right of the turn buoys.

First few minutes were good. I was on his hip for the first 200m. Then he began pulling way so I got on his feet. We both were drifting left quickly. He finally pulled away between the second and final buoy. I rounded the turn buoy just fine but realized I couldn't see anything. I had no clue about the course layout. I tried to find feet but everyone was so spread out. I found the second turn buoy and headed home

Here is where I made a mistake. I forgot to take into account the current pushing me on the return. I was a good 20' off course. And there were NO feet anywhere. So I had to fight the current to make it back in. Then you had to wade the final 50' again. That really sucked.

Swim: 27:59 (1.43y/100)

I came out of the water sucking wind. I was not happy with my swim but it was the best I could do given the conditions. The run from the water to the parking lot was about 150 feet. I could tell my heartrate was through the roof. I made it to my bike and popped off my wetsuit. I put my garmin on my wrist and was already in zone 6. And then I was gone.

T1: 2:14

I came out of transition with 3-4 guys and got up to speed quickly. The race was run concurrently with a HIM so they too were transitioning to the bike. My plan was to push it hard as long as I can in order to build up a lead for the run. The best part was that I was passing people as if they were standing still. One guy caught me and I decided not to chase. I sat right outside the draft zone waiting for him to falter. He began to fatigue and I took off.

As I was approaching the turnaround, I began counting the number of people coming back. I was in 18th place and knew I could make up a few more sports. So I put down the hammer on the way back. I was pushing LT nearly the whole time and gaining on everyone. The funny part was that I was in no man's land most the race. If I passed someone, then I dropped them quick and there wasn't anyone to catch for a few more minutes.

Even in the final 3 miles, I caught another 3 guys and soared past them. I knew I had just put together a kickass bike

Bike: 1:07:22 (22 mph)

Due to the injury, I was under explicit instructions to not push the run. If needed, I was to switch to a 9/1 style in an effort to keep the knee from getting irritated. I came out of transition feeling a bit rough. I felt like I was just shuffling along. My HR was in check so I just kept moving. Imagine my surprise when I hit mile 1 at 7:48. Uh-oh WAY too fast.

And for the first time in a while I had a HORRIBLE side stitch. I can't recall the last time I developed one of those. And it wasn't going away. In fact it was slowing my down. I had to bypass the water station despite feeling parched.

I kept plugging along until I was passed by a guy in my age group. Grrr. I knew with the side stitch and bum knee that I couldn't go with him. I made a deal with myself that I was going to continue pushing the pace until the 2nd guy passed me in my AG. (I had a really good feeling where I stood).

Around mile 3 the side stitch subsided. And more importantly the knee was still engaged. At the turnaround I saw some hungry wolves coming my way about 200m back. I settled into a very comfortable sub 8 pace and kept moving.

Around the final 1.5 miles, my HR started to go up. I could hear footsteps behind me. I pushed a bit harder and said hello to z4. I was passed with right at mile 5 but there were 2 more behind me. So I picked it up a bit more. I put a bit more distance between us. At this point I knew I was going to pr and was having a really good race. I made the final turn and had about 50' on a guy.

Despite it being a race, I really didn't want to blow it out over the final 100m but he came barreling toward the finish line and I had to pick it up. And I'll be damned if he doesn't pass me IN the chute. I look at his calf. It says 26. I am devastated.

Run: 48:08 (7:46 pace)

Overall: 2:26:43
4th in my Age Group (grr)
20th overall

This was a great race for me. I really wanted to get out there prior to IMFL and go through the process again. Given my injury, I really didn't expect much from the run. And I really surprised myself. My knee held up really well and I barely felt it. My bike was the best performance to date. After reviewing the results I am pleased with my swim. All in all, I am thrilled with my performance. This was a PR of about 20 minutes for me. I am just mad that I didn't finish the race and secure hardware!!!

Early morning sites and sounds

One of the coolest things about being an athlete living in a big city is watching the town come to life in the morning. I see this a lot on the weekend when I customarily leave around 6 am to go cycling. The interstates are silent. And then I return only to face the chaos. More intriguing are the days that I choose to ride in town on some of the city's major arteries. Riding through Buckhead and Midtown is quite exciting at 7 am on a Saturday.

Running is much of the same. The past two weeks I have gotten up extremely early to log a solid run before work. This morning I departed shortly before 6 am. Running in the dark presents a number of challenges but it allows you to see and hear things that typically go unnoticed.

On each of my runs I have headed north on Peachtree Industrial through Brookhaven and into Chamblee. As I am going out, traffic is light. The only sounds are the marta trains whizzing by. When my sidewalk runs out, I easily gallop across 5 lanes of traffic to the other side of the road. My primary concern is not tripping on the sidewalk and the occassional turning car.

However, 6:30 is the time that the city comes to life. Traffic picks up. But what I find really interesting is that you can tell exactly where everyone works by where they are driving.

1. If they turn onto Ashford-Dunwoody or Johnson Ferry it can be inferred that they either work in Sandy Springs (probably near the King and Queen building) or Alpharetta.

2. If they turn down Clairmont or Druid Hills then they need the interstate so they work Downtown or Midtown.

3. If they continue south on Peachtree then they work in Buckhead.

On my return traffic is much heavier. There are a number of cars turning off and onto Peachtree. There is no more running across 5 lanes of traffic. Instead I am forced to wait at the crosswalk. The Marta station is busier and busier as busloads of people are dumped onto MY sidewalk. Grrrr.

I guess I will need to start even earlier. I am willing to bet less people will be there when it gets cold. It is really cool to watch the city come to life.

September Totals

Another month down.

September's totals:
Bike:	25h 47m 19s - 473.3 Mi
Run:	6h 01m 47s - 37.55 Mi
Swim:	10h 59m 47s - 32700 Yd
Strength:	20m

2008 totals
Bike:	167h 19m 18s - 2992.74 Mi
Run:	82h 19m 44s - 566.11 Mi
Swim:	71h 56m 07s - 210466.3 Yd
Strength:	7h 30m
Yoga:	7h 40m

I am definitely pleased with these totals. I biking was solid. Ideally I would have liked to be around 550. My run is better than I expected. I would feel much more comfortable if it was close to 80-90 miles. And my swim looks great.

For the year, I surpassed my swim goal a while back. I will pass my bike goal this weekend. It is unlikely that I will reach my run goal. I can't imagine that I can get 200 miles out of my body over the next 3 months. Possible...but unlikely.