Day 1 Ironman Louisville

Day 1 of my official Ironman Louisville training.  Recovery day after yesterday's Half.  I can't wait to see where this path leads!  Lets go!!!!

Cowtown Half Marathon

PR: 2:19:44
The Cowtown races are some of my favorite events of the year.  This is the first year I didn't do the kids 5K in 6 years and was a little bummed, but it allowed me to do the Half Marathon.  I intended to run this Half as a supported training run, hence I didn't really train to RUN it.  I had intended to just have a great day and no pressure like I did the Kids 5Ks.  But, I've got a new coach for Ironman Louisville and he wanted me to race and work on a few things in particular.  My new coach Roberto gave me a race strategy that worked beautifully.  Here's a recap of my day:

12:30a Does anyone want some dogs?  Don't they know I need to sleep?
1:30a Still not time to get up!
1:45a Still not time to get up - ugh!
3:45a Still not time to get up, but decided to go ahead and get up since the alarm was set for 4:00a

4:00a Planned to have between 400-500 cals before 2 hours before race (7:00a) and ended up with 440 cals: 1/c oatmeal, 1/2c fat free milk, 1/2c mixed berries
1/2 large bagel, 1/2T agave nectar, 1/2t butter
1L water
1 cup coffee w/soy milk

5:30 arrived at race site in plenty of time to walk over and find some of my friends

Mitchel, Mike, Lionel

Race strategy:
Less than TP for 1 mile as warm up
Mile 2-6 Low TP (zone 2)
Mile 7-9 High TP (zone 3)
Mile 10-end Race pace (zone 4)

Nutrition Race Strategy:
400-500 cal breakfast at least 2 hour before race
1 gel 5 min before race with water
300 cal during 1st hour of race (ended up 330 1st hr) with water at aid stations
250 cal during each additional hour (220 2nd hr, 0 after 2 hours) with water at aid stations
Don't carry water - use and adjust to what is on the course

This race was at a new venue so a new route and I was excited to run it.  I'd run parts of the course already because of doing training runs with some of my NoName buddies running the marathon so I was familiar.  It was 65 degrees w 90% humidity when the gun went off and when I finished it was 70 deg w/ 95% humidity.  I was in corral 4 and spotted a 2:20 pace group and decided to see if I could run with them and stay in my zones.

My previous Half PR was over 3 hours so this was ambitious, but I've lost a lot of weight and have been working hard.

A mile into the run I'm feeling pretty good and the corrals helped spacing to compared to the other Half's I've done.  Just past the mile marker we lost our pacer!  She had to run to the bushes and we didn't see her again until about the 10 mi mark.  Luckily she handed the sign off to another brash runner that was full of wit and wisdom and a pretty big ham.  It was pretty apparent to myself that he was a very good runner and wasn't sure why he was in our little group.  He was jumping over the cones and singing songs and telling jokes and yelling at people the whole route.  I'm glad he led our group.

A few miles into the race our new pacer mentioned that he didn't have a watch and asked someone to call out the time.  Another of our group called out that we were on 10:38 pace, though my Garmin was saying 10:43 pace.  We needed to be on 10:40 pace to make 2:20.  A couple of miles later he asked again and she said 10:41, but I was showing 10:45.  A couple of miles later she called out 10:44 and I was showing 10:48/mi.  I mentioned this to him and come to find out the person with the watch who we'd been following was using LAP time and not AVERAGE time like I was.  He said no big deal we can make it up.  Here again, this wasn't our original pacer and come to find out he wasn't even entered in the race.  He just happened to know someone and wanted to come out and support them and couldn't find them so he just joined up with our little group.  So we began picking up the pace and it was working just fine with my plan and HR zones.

The water stops are always crowded and I found out that our pacer didn't stop at at the water stops he just slowed down a little.  I usually carry water for my races, but my new coach wanted me to use what was on the course and save my strength.  I did carry a small bottle that I could carry with me so I could take my 5 minute pre-race gel and carried it with me until the first water station.  As I expected it was under siege so I ran around and finished my little bottle like I'd got something at the aid station.  At the 2nd water stop and tossed my empty bottle and got 2 cups of water and slowed to a walk so I got all of the water in my mouth instead of my shoes and was off again.  No big deal.  Well I looked up and my pacer was down the road.  He hadn't stopped so I kind of sprinted to catch back up (just a fartlek workout :) so when the next water station was approaching I sprinted ahead of the group and tried to get water in a timely manner but there were a ton of people in front of the tables grabbing and spilling water.  By the time I got 2 cups of water I looked up and my group was gone again.  I sprinted to catch back up.  For the remaining water stops, except the last stop I totally by passed and didn't get any water, I'd sprint ahead and go BEHIND the tables where the workers were getting water and I'd grab a couple before they ever made it to the table and that worked great.  I didn't have to sprint to catch my group any more and I was even able to get a cup and close it off and give it to our fearless pacer.  He was very appreciative.

Many in our group were complaining about the hills, but I didn't think they were really that bad.  I'd been doing hill repeats once a week on some pretty steep inclines and tempo/fartleks on another day and usually a flat easy long run on the third day.  As we were getting close to mile 9 there was a long incline ahead and we were at 10:41 pace so we'd made up some good ground and our pacer said he wanted to be 10:40 when we got to the top.  Quite ambitious for the level of people in our group.  Happy to say I was at 10:39 when I got to the top and that I'd actually made up time going up the long hill instead of leting it defeat me.  I'd warned my pacer that at mile 10 I was going to try to pick up the pace and he wished me luck and he was fired up that I was on pace for a PR.  I was able to get my pace down to 10:35 avg, but at mile 12 I got into a long incline that wasn't very steep, but was just at a bad spot in the race for me.  I didn't walk, but slowed to catch my breath some.  The last .25 of mile was great with both sides of the street lined with the crowd and I was able to sprint the finish to 2:19:44.

My biggest disappointment was not finding my NoName buddies after the race.  Overall, a great day and ended with a trip to the brunch buffet at Blue Mesa followed by a nap - priceless!

 Friends and yes, all 5 of these women kicked my butt!  Angela, Tabitha, Beth (wife), Mitchel, Jinny, Tawnya.  Jinny set a PR, too!

Great swim 2650 intervals

After the crappy ride wasn't expecting much but felt good in the water.
WU 350
Drills 10x25
Interval 11x100, 5 sec rest
Speed 7x50, 20 sec rest
Kick 5x50
CD 350

Trainer 1 hr

Untitled by mitch_tx at Garmin Connect - Details

Slept in this morning. Just staying up way to late and hadn't slept well for a few nights. Didn't drink enough water or probably enough calories today and had a crappy ride on the trainer this evening. The ride was aerobic, but had a hard time even staying above low end of my zone 2. Kept getting winded @ 140 hr/90 cad.

Open water swimming in the Trinity

Great day!  It began with easy 5 mile run.  Kristen's hamstring is still bothering her.  I hope it improves for next Sunday's Cowtown Marathon.

Crazy Frenchman had to try out his new wetsuit so he jumped in the Trinity River!  The first time in 40+ years I've ever seen anyone swim in it.  He said the water wasn't that cold and we are planning on first Open Water swim in two weeks.  We shall see what the weather does between now and then - it is still February!

Migas @ Fuzzy's - awesome!

Swim: 2250
WU 300
1x1650 time trial (28:24)
CD 300
I felt pretty good about this, but began to cramp some in the last 10 50's.  Maybe it's from the coffee.  Had one early and then 2 at Fuzzy's.

HR Monitors the Pros wear

Update from Tweets/emails received by more Pro Triathletes:

Natasha Van Der Merwe - I use polar. And have had it for 5 years and still works great. But I know timex is good too.
Amanda Lovato - Timex (no model),

Laurel Wassner - Garmin (no model)

3x World Champion Chrissie Wellington (she doesn't use one)

Terra Castro uses 310xt

Samantha Warriner  Polar RS800 with GPS & Footpod.

Matt Lieto wrote: I use the @Garmin Fr60 and the Forerunner 210 for heartrate. Well thought out products- run pace too!! 
Rasmus Henning: I use the Polar RS 800CX PTE 10.

I was so excited by their generosity to share their info and to get back to me.  It didn't take them a few seconds to respond, but has made a great impression on me.  THANK YOU!

 

Quick impressions

A several years back I was a volunteer at the finish line of the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, TX.  I knew that a Major Championship winning golfer was running in his first marathon and as an avid follower of the sport I was lucky enough to recognize and see him cross the finish line. 

As a volunteer that day, my job was to help people after they crossed the Finish Line and give them their medals.  The runners numbers were color coded so that one color meant it was their first marathon.  As a behind the pack runner myself I had never thought I'd ever do a marathon and was impressed by those that achieved such an accomplishment.  I tried to get to all of the virgin marathoners and I would raise their medal to hang around their necks.  Most lowered their head gracious to receive their medal and I would say "Congratulations - you are a Marathoner!"  Several teared up and all said "thank you!" 

As I approached the Champion golfer I raised the medal to hang around his neck and said "Congratulations - you are a Marathoner!"  However, he's response was not the same as the others.  He snatched the medal from my hand and said, "what did you expect?!" and kept right on walking.  I wanted to kick him in the back of the hamstring!  He's lucky that I even knew who he was because no one else did.  Since then, I've wished for him to hit every drive in the woods and I try to put the jinx on every putt he attempts. (I don't hold grudges).

Yesterday a friend, who is a newbie at Triathlon, was looking for suggestions for a Heart Rate monitor.  I told her what I used and gave some suggestions for ones that I knew others used.  I follow many of the professional triathletes on Twitter and I had the thought as they tweeted I'd look at their web pages and their Sponsors and see if they listed which HR monitor they used.  If they didn't have it listed or just a brand I gave them a simple Tweet of "Do you train with a HR monitor, if so, which one?  THANK YOU!"  I hoped for some responses, but didn't really expect one. 

However, one did respond.  A World Champion!  A 3x World Champion!  Her response, "i dont use one, never have" (If you look quick it's even on her web page under her tweets!)  I already was a huge fan of hers by the way she runs her races.  She's always smiling and looks to be having a great time.  At this past Ironman Arizona after winning, she came out to the finish line later to hand out Finisher Medals to Age Groupers as the clock was winding down.  One of my friends was fortunate enough to receive his medal from her along with a congratulatory kiss!  Here's wishing her all of the good luck in the world.  May she always have air in her tires and finishes first in every one of her races!

Both have demanding schedules. Both are professionals.  Both are Champions.  One said 4 words.  One wrote 6 words.  You can have a very quick positive or negative impression on people. You decide how you want to be remembered!

PS This was not about golfers vs triathletes, nor male vs female.

You're doing what?!

Someone asked me today what the red band on my arm was for.  I told them it was to remind me to "keep the fork out of my mouth" and then I said, "actually that's not true, it's to remind me to eat right".  They tried to read it from the other side of the desk and I told them it says, "2011 Ironman Louisville" and on the other side it says "I can do this!".  He said, "oh, you've got that you did one last year".  I reminded him what he was talking about was the Half Ironman (Austin) and this is a Full.  He sat there with a puzzled look.  I said, "yes, I'm going to do a Full Ironman in Louisville August 28th" and as he sat there still with a glazed over look as I could tell he was trying to remember something.  He asked, "how far is it"?  I said this one is 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile run.  He sat their with the same glazed over look.  My phone rang and I took a call and when I hung up, he said" YOU'RE DOING WHAT?!"  I said, "I know."  He said, "no, you don't know!"  You're crazy!!!!  I said, "yes.  Yes I am.  I am a Triathlete". 

Big changes ahead

I can't wait!

Ugh why do lunges hate me sooo much?

I could barely move this morning after yesterday's workout.  Embrace the pain - getting stronger!

Love me some ab workouts

I can feel my core getting stronger and that's exciting because I know it will pay off exponentially.  Did 3 sets of the circuit part of the workout heading towards 8 sets.

Swim 2500, Run 1 hr 40 min

Swim: 350 WU, 1x1800, 350 CD
CarboPro in water just try

Run: 1 hr 40 min easy on Trails
Sports legs prior to run
Gel every 30 min
Electrolytes every hr
1 scoop CarboPro in water

Untitled by mitch_tx at Garmin Connect - Details

No Alarm Clock

It was great not being woke up to an alarm clock (mechanical or animal) today - can't remember the last time that happened.  Looking forward to long swim and run this afternoon.

Saturday ride around Aledo/Lake Weatherford

Untitled by mitch_tx at Garmin Connect - Details
Ride was good.  Seemed like we were always going up.  Still slow on the hills, but can conquer them (well most of them - Jeff showed me one steep sucker today!)
41.5 miles, 2:38 time

PS my abs are still killing me from yesterday's workout!

Abs!

Good ab workout this morning in the core/strength class.  I need to bump up the weights, but wasn't sure what I was getting myself into.  She pushed me harder on the abs than I would have on my own so that was great.

"We will cross that damn line!"

Just got slapped...

back to reality by a good friend.  Thank you!  Things haven't been going well the last couple of weeks and I just need to "suck it up".

Tired

I have been so tired lately.  Why?  DIETARY CHOICES and missed workouts!!!!!  Stop eating like a pig and eat like the Triathlete you are!  Traveling last week sent things out of control and I've not recovered, but today I'm stomping on the brakes.  I've put on NINE pounds this month!  The more I workout the more energy I will have.  The better I eat the more energy I'll have.

Icy weather

Once again icy weather has hit the metroplex with rain, followed with sleet and snow.  When I woke it was 40 and 2 hrs later it was 19 with -4 windchill.  Can't get to the Y to lift so will do exercises at home this morning.

2450 Swim

Good to get back in the pool after missing a week due to travel and the pool being closed on Sunday.  My stroke was missing a beat tonight and half way through the (10x100, 5 sec rest) set I felt done.  But, I slowed down a bit and was able to recover and finish the set. 

Lesson learned: when having troubles just slow down!

"We will cross that damn line!"

Dang the gluteus maximus

Woke up with a pain in my butt and it wasn't the cats and dogs this time.  Those weighted lunges brought out some glaring weakness.

Food is my biggest struggle and yesterday was no exception.  I must plan better and today hasn't started out any better.  So far just coffee and a little water.

Day 1 70.3 Buffalo Springs training

Today begins the official training for IM 70.3 Buffalo Springs which means Day 1 for IM Louisville!

Did a new weight routine - ugh!  I'm already sore though we used only light weights or our own body weight.  Feel the burn!