Day 30 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

I am on the home stretch- just two more big days to go and this challenge will be history.  But today was not a good day effort wise.  Sometimes you get on the bike (or in the water/ on a run) and just don't have the legs.  Today was that day for me.  After doing the warm-up (nothing beats 3X30 in a 53/15), I realized my legs felt blah.  What is blah you ask?  An inability to get power, HR and cadence up- at all.  So sometimes you have to accept that you can't go hard.  So what I did today was spin easy for about an hour.  My HR was low- about 120, power was low about 115-125, speed was slow- about 16-18 and cadence was low- about 75-80.

But I got off the bike feeling two things- 1) I road through a day I would have rather stayed in bed & 2) I just felt better.  Legs still feel blah, but I know I will be ready for tomorrow and Sunday- 7-8 hrs total on the trainer.

The last 30 days have been a roller coaster for me at work and home. Things are not great and I am working on fixing both.  What has been great is the challenge- day in, day out & working on improving my engine.  I know I am stronger, faster and leaner!  And the best part- Coach Troy is running a second challenge- Super6.  Six weeks of training, 6 Days a week.  So stay tuned!

End of the Year Reflections

Today is 12/28/2011 and as I sit here, I amazed at how fast the year has blown by.  And like many, this the end of December is often a time to think about the what has happened in the past year, as well as outline some goals for 2012.  2011 was a mixed year for me; racing, work and family. So here we go:

2011 Race Performance
Jan- Spa 23 Indoor Tri- 1st place Overall.  Not sure I am a fan of the indoor racing format, but it was good to push my body up to race pace.

April- Sandy Hook Time Trial- 7 miles on a flat and windy course.  I was happy with my effort- about 26MPH, but got crushed and finished in the 50s.

April- MainStreet 10k- 10th overall and 2nd in my AG- rainy day, but I ran pretty well- about 41:20.

May- JerseyMan Half 70.3- 29th overall, 5th in my AG - 5:15:21.  Nutrition was a bit off on the bike which hurt on the run.  But overall I was happy- first race of the season (not including the indoor) & things went pretty well.

June- DC Olympic Tri- 164 Overall, 13th in my AG (and Qualified for the 5150 Championships & 2011USAT AG National Championships) 2:23:29

July- Ironman Rhode Island 70.3- 213 Overall, 39 in my AG- 5:14:00.  Raced a solid race- nutrition & Pacing were very good (swim sucked)

July Muddy Buddy with my son.  Fun!

August- TriRock NY Sprint- 10th overall, 2nd in MY AG (Qualified for the 2012 USAT AG National Championships- 1:24

September- Toughman Half 70.3- 210 Overall, 27th in my AG- a TERRIBLE race.  My nutrition was off- not enough pre race eating, and I walked on the run.  But I learned a lot from this race (which I had very high hopes for since I did so well last year).  Worst and best race of the year. 5:37:40

October- Ironman Pocono Mtn 70.3 (well 66.xx) No swim and a slightly shorter bike due to very bad weather.  But I really did well.  111 Overall, 21 AG.  4:22.  Likely would  have PR'd and broke 5 hrs for a 70.3.  The good news is everything I needed to learn from past races - taper, pre race eating and hydrating, in race nutrition, pacing, etc worked & worked well.

October Beach to Battleship 140.6- MY FIRST FULL IRON.  141 Overall, 27 in my AG.  11:38:13.  I hurt my knee at a potty stop at mile 100 or so of the bike- just twisted it a bit, but it hurt on the run and forced me to walk about 8 miles of the run.  (lesson learned- bring tylenol just in case).  But it was a great experience and I am looking forward to my next full in 2012.

November -Turkey Trot 5K- 87 Overall 10 in my AG- 20:54 A bit slow for me, but I was definitely fighting some post B2B injuries (knee and toes) as well as trying to find new shoes- Damn you Saucony for changing the Kinvera!  The Kinerva 2 is MUCH different on my foot.

2011 Job-
I switched from Dynamic Logic- a part of the WPP group (advertising) to a start-up -EachScape, a mobile app development company.  Long hours, lots of commuting- not sure if it is for me.

2011 Family- Being a Husband, Dad, Employee and Competitive Triathlete is very tough.  It is a balancing act that I am not always good at.  I am sometimes very selfish about training & racing, but make sacrifices in the number of races I do.  The reality is I want to race more, but don't and that sucks for me.  3 races that I did not do in 2011 were the HyVee 5150, USAT AG National Championships & the Ironman Timberman 70.3- all for family reasons.  I know my wife does not love my triathlon training and racing- which sucks for both of us & and I am not sure what the next steps will be.  I am trying to adjust my racing and training but if I cut back I am MISERABLE.  And if I train off hours (early and late) I am exhausted.

2011 Wrap -up- A good year of racing with a lot of ups and downs.  Good lessons learned.  And more time needed in my day.

2012 Goals:

1) Improve my work, family and Tri dynamics- not sure how that is gonna work (new job without a 2HR commute might work)  But real family acceptance could work as well.
2) Race in the USAT National Championships- am registering, but the race is one week after IM NYC (may be a tough fit, but will cross that bridge when I get there)
3) Break 5 Hrs for a 70.3
4) Break 11 hrs for a 140.6
5) Continue to have fun.
6) Find my new race shoes (see above- Damn you Saucony)

More to come on the race schedule for 2012.

Spinervals Challenge Update- Sick Days

Sick Days-

I spent a long day in the car last Wednesday and was feeling kinda bad on Thursday morning.  I did the normal set- an ABB, hit the pool for a short swim and then drove into the city.  By the time I got to my office, I felt bad- head was in a vise and I had a low grade fever.  So decided to head home and get some rest.  I spent all of Thursday evening in bed and woke up Friday pretty much feeling the same.  Since everything was above the neck, I decided to do a short spin- 30 minutes or so and then spent the rest of the day on the couch.  Saturday I got up- feeling a bit better, but not ready for Tough Love, so I did a 45 minute spin, building to Threshold over the last 10 minutes.  That really helped.  I got a runners high from the workout and I think that helped to push whatever I had out fast.  Finally on Sunday I did a 2:15 moderate spin at low zone two and about 180watts (yeah I finally have a power meter!). 

Today is a rest day and I am taking it- I slept in until 7 AM and am taking it easy.  I think my body will appreciate the rest.  Tomorrow I am ready to hit it hard!

Hope everyone else is having fun with the challenge.  Being sick sucks, but I definitely feel that the Spinervals 32 day challenge has had some awesome impacts on my fitness and motivation!

Day 13 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

Day 13- Another trip into the blue zone.  The workout called for Spinervals 39- which I don't have yet, but one of the options was Spinervals 21 which I just got when I renewed my membership at CoachTroy.com.

If you have not done Spinervals 21 yet- go out and buy it.  It only has 2 sets.  A warmup set (the usual) and then just one more set.  A SIXTY minute steady state effort.  Nice!  It is a nice long ride with Coach Troy having you changing gearing, cadence, hand positions and occasional short standing efforts.  The goal of the rep is to stay aero- aerobic and aerodynamic (I added that part, but 95% of the hour you should be on your aero bars so a great way to practice solid technique and position). 

I liked the workout a lot, although I definitely felt a bit slow- my legs were not as fast as I would like them to be.  I felt like I was on the lower end of the cadence goals, but actually felt a bit stronger during the last 15 minutes (so I know I did not go out too hard).  The other thing I noticed is I really need to get a new HR monitor strap- Several times my HR spiked to 240 in 15 degree increments and then down to 55-60.  My effort was consistent, breathing was fine (not labored) and my focus was on maintaining good form and effort.  So today I will head down to my favorite store in NYC - Paragon Sports and get a new strap for my Garmin. 

Workout Details
Bike
Time- 1:25:23
Distance- 26.59 Miles
AVG HR- Blue Zone
Calories 1425 (approximately)

Tonight I am doing a 30-40 core Workout- planks, crunches, flutter kicks and all of those fun things!

Tomorrow we ride with the Harvest Bread Company- Spinervals 24-Hills.

Day 11 and Day 12 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

Day 11 I took the blogging day off, but not training!  The plan for Sunday was do your own thing- keep it easy and definitely not a hard day.  So I decided to go for a Run- a long easy run over some rolling hills.  No music, just the sound of my breathing and the thoughts in my mind.  It was cold- about 20 degrees F, but sunny.  The first few miles were easy- my breathing, legs and mind felt great.  As I progressed on the run, there were a couple of sections on the road with lots of ice and the temp was significantly cooler when in the shade.  My sunglasses kept fogging - yeah the temp changes must have been 10-15 degrees.  But that is what makes winter time running so much fun.  My favorite time of the year to run outside is January and February  so this was a good precursor to the next few months.  This run was also the longest run I completed since Beach2Battleship & I felt really good throughout.  I kept my pace easy- about an 8:30 pace  And I ran in my pair of K-Swiss Blade Light Run's.  My initial feeling on these shoes is great road feel, light and comfortable.  But only suitable for Full Iron distance- they require a bit of work to get them on your feet since the tongue is not sewn into the shoe upper.  I am going to try the K-SWISS Blade light race (they have the velco closure) as well to see if those shoes are better for shorter distance races.

Day 11 Details

Run
Time- 1:21:15
Distance -9.58 Miles
AVG HR- 145
Calories 915

Day 12- Spinverals 33 Pain Cave Is my favorite video so I was very happy to see it on the training schedule.  I however did not get a good night sleep last night so I was dragging a bit when I first got on the trainer.  The good news with Pain Cave is there is a longer easy spin warm-up compared to other videos in the 45-50 minute time line.  So when it was time to do the usual Spinervals warm-up of 3 x 53/15's my legs were pretty close to ready.


The intervals on Pain Cave are hard- this is a threshold plus workout- and not just the sprints.  They get progressively harder, but the rest sessions are long enough to keep from overloading.  The sprints are something else- the 10 seconds where you are standing sprinting flat out seem to be the longest 10 seconds of your life- I think Coach Troy's watch broke!  But when I finished I knew that I had completed a good workout.

Bike
Time- 51:04
Distance- 16.05 miles/ Max Speed During Sprints- 45.3 MPH
AVG HR- 150, MAX 208
Calories 868

Looking forward to getting a good night sleep tonight and a another strong workout tomorrow.

Day 10 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

I have been looking forward to this day's workout for a while.  Today's DVD was Spinervals 31 & it is one of the first DVD's in my collection.  It is a series of long intervals- great for being on my aero bars at a steady pace.  The intensity is high, but below threshold and after 9 days of the challenge I felt awesome!  My legs feel like pistons- I know kinda hokey, but true.  Plus I have dropped a couple of post Beach2Battleship pounds already.

Tomorrow is a low intensity day- the plan is to go out and spin for while- no video!  My plan is to spin for 45-60 minutes and then run for 5-6 miles. And get in a nice core workout as well.

Today's Numbers:

Bike
Time- 1:48:37
Distance- 37.16 Miles
AVG HR- 140 (HR Monitor strap is ordered so I had to do some manual tracking)
Calories 2085

And this afternoon I am watching Army Navy.  My wife's cousin is a senior and 2 time Academic All American for Navy - first time every at Navy.  But while I am very proud of John, my loyalties to the Black and Gold of America's most senior service are not in doubt. GO ARMY!!!! beat Navy.

Day 9 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

So the title is generic- the day was not!  Today was Spinervals 22- timetrialpalozza.  4 Sets of time trial effort starting with 20 minutes and then working down to 5.  Riding at or above LT- yeah this is a good workout.

I had some minor technical difficulties- while riding during the first set, it seemed to get easier to pedal and my cadence went from about 95 to 100+ at about minute ten.  My resistance seemed to get easier.  So I quickly hopped off the trainer and adjusted the tension a bit (I was playing with the tension last night when I fixed the rear tire -had to put a new trainer tire on the rim).  So after a quick adjustment, everything seemed normal on the bike.  I also had some issues with my HR monitor- it was spiking 10-15 beats so I started at about 150 and then all of sudden it jumped up to 220 then back down to 105 and back up to 175 and then down again in the span of 2-3 minutes.  I think I need to get a new HR strap since the one I have (for my Garmin 310xt) is almost 2 years old and gets used just about every day.

Today is one of those workouts that you really want a Power Meter- mine will be here next week (Cycleops PowerTap SL+)  so I can't wait to start training with the most objective of measures- power!  So regardless of my technical issues, today was a solid workout.  Since I have spent a lot of time on my bike with it on the trainer, I am pretty well versed in what my PE, HR, Cadence and Gearing typically correlates to- and I was hammering pretty hard.  The best thing about this workout is my legs feel great- gone is the soreness from earlier this week.  My higher end Bike Fitness is definitely coming back strong.

Here are the details:

Bike

Time- 1:30:27
Distance- 30.54 Miles
AVG HR??? Equip issues
Calories - At least 680 (due to HR monitor issues I am not sure if the calculations are accurate at all)

Tomorrow is another one of my favorites- Spinervals 31- a long day of hard intervals.  Can't wait!

Day 8 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

Today was an optional recovery day, or a technique high cadence short workout. There were a couple of different video choices and I was planning on using Spinervals 23 A Time saver.  But my computer did not want to complete the download in a timely fashion- so I made up my own set.

I started with an easy spin warm-up and then the usual 3X30 53/15 Spinervals warm-up set & then did a 5 minute 20Son/10Soff 39/15 spin.  During the 20 second on spin, my cadence was around 120-122.  I could hear Coach Troy saying fast legs, fast legs over and over in my mind.  Then a series of single leg drills with low resistance to practice pedaling through the entire pedal stroke.  For my main set I did a 15 minute ladder set- Started at at 53/15 and then jumped my way back in one minute intervals to a 53/25 and then back down to the the 53/15 following the same format.  As the resistance got easier, I increased cadence a bit, and on the way back down, the cadence went down.  I kept my HR in the Blue Zone the entire time. I was not pushing hard power at all.  As an example, my cadence normally at 53/15 is 85-88- today it was 77-80. Once I finished the main set, I did a 3 minute 20/10 at 39/15 and then a 53/17 set for 2:30 at a cadence of 90. 

Following the ride, I decided to do a short run- it is cold today, but sunny (although it did snow last night, the road was dry).  I did my normal 5K route- couple of short hills, but mostly flat.  I kept my pace slow and just enjoyed being outside in cold, crisp air- a perfect way to finish a great workout.

Here are the details:

Bike
Time- 48:26
Distance- 15.03 miles
AVG HR 122
Calories- 373

Run
Time- 27:52
Distance- 3.37 miles
AVG HR 155
Calories 330

Tomorrow is a big effort day- Spinervals 22 Timetrialpallozza - 1 1/2 hrs of suffering enjoyment! And I might swim too.

Lastly I am in process of trying to find a new goto running shoe.  The last 2 years, my race and training shoe has been the Saucony Kinvera- and I loved them!  But like any good thing that ended. The Kinerva 2 is much different.  I wear a 9 in the Kinveras, but a 9 in the Kinvera 2 is too small (learned the hard way for sure!) and the 9.5 feels squirley or sorta loose.  And I run with elastic laces that allow me to speed through T2- so the 9.5 size in the Kinvera 2 is not an option and I am working on finding a new shoe.

The last few weeks I have been running in the Brooks Connect Pure.  And I have mixed reviews.  During the run it is pretty good, but that is with socks and taking my time to put them on.  When I did a run without socks- there were a couple of areas that started to get a bit hot around the tongue within a couple of miles.  And while I have them laced with elastic bungee laces- they do not slip right on- you really need 10-15 seconds a shoe to get them comfortably on your foot.  And for me I don't wear socks for Sprint to Half Iron and my T2 times are typically 25-30 seconds - so spending that much time putting on shoes that are likely going to give me some hotspots means they are not going to make the cut.  For a full Iron, they might be an option since I do wear socks (CEP compressions are my usual choice) and T2 is a slower process for sure so spending a few extra seconds per shoe is okay.


I do have 2 pairs of K-Swiss shoes coming- the K-ruuz 1.5 and the blade light run and I plan on giving each a good try out- sockless, bungee laces, T2 style etc and will post a review of each.


But what I am looking for from everybody is their suggestions on similar shoes to consider.  I have a  neutral stride, with a mid foot strike.  My foot size is about 42.5-43 cm- so a 9-9.5 is my typical shoe size.  I am open to trying any brand, except for Nike (I don't agree with their athlete sponsorships choices so I don't buy their gear).  Thanks in advance for any advice!

Day 7 of the Spinervals 32 Day challenge

I got a bit of late start this morning- it was my turn to take the kids to school.  So instead of getting up at 4:30, I slept in to 6.  Then I did my dad duties- getting the girls dressed, fed, and ready for school.  After doing that it was time to crank out Spinervals 17- another aero base building day.  The goal of today's workout was again to stay in the blue zone to build aerobic endurance and focus on burning fat- I certainly did that.  And today was a recovery day from yesterday's hard effort. 

This was my first time using Spinervals 17 and I am glad I now have this DVD- long intervals but with a twist.  After each minute you get a 15 second break- just enough to have the HR come down 5-8 beats, but not enough to change your effort level.  This was a definitely a good workout although I had to cut it about 10 minutes short- sometimes work really has a way of getting in the way of things!

I am looking forward to an easy spin and strength training tomorrow.  I am planning on an easy run as well.



Stats for the day:
Time- 1:01:19
Distance- 20.75 miles
AVG HR- 139
Calories 650

Day 6 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

Today was a hard day. After a couple of days of aero base building sets, today was big gear, low cadence work. With some off the bike lunges. My quads feel like they should after this workout- crushed. The good news is I felt great during workout- better than yesterday for sure! Today's program was Spinervals 11. It has a mix of hard effort standing intervals along with 1 minute on (very hard) 1 minute off (easy) intervals. And then during the middle, you get to hop off your bike and do a series of 3X15 lunges- with or without dumbbells. Yeah I went without. But I really like this workout for a couple of reasons; you get to redline your HR a lot- most of the hard intervals I was above LT, you get to practice getting off your bike- sorta like a brick (more on this), and it is a hard day- you know you crushed it (you being the it) when you finish. And of course Coach Troy had a strength training exercise waiting for us when we finished- OUCH.

So more on the brick concept. I did two separate sets of knee lunges- 1 3X15 and 1 2x15. During each, I pulled my feet out of my cycling shoes while at speed, kept pedaling for a few seconds then hopped off the bike. I had a pair of running shoes with Yankz in them to quickly slip on- this was brickish part one. Pulling on running shoes while the HR was high & my legs were rubbery is very much like coming into T2. Then after the crushing sets (yeah no dumbbell for me) (brickish part 2), I removed my sneaks and hopped back on the bike- pedaling with my feet out of the cycling shoes until up to speed. Then I slid each fit into the shoe- very much like mounting the bike leaving T1. So it was good practice- rubber legs, focusing on multiple tasks (speed & shoes) and it really worked the quads. I liked it so much the first time, I decided to do it again- yeah that hurt!

Once I finished the ride, I started part 2 of the workout- strength training. And since I am really concentrating on core work, I did a series of crunch, plank, flutter kicks, leg lifts and twist for 30 minutes of joy.

Details:

Bike
Time -1:16:19
Distance- 21.81 Miles
AVG HR 138 MAX 179 ( I did about 15 minutes of Cool Down- which definitely pulled my AVG HR down a bit)
Calories 761

Core WU
Time 30:02
Sets
4X Crunches
4X Flutter Kicks
4X V Situps
4X Leg Extensions
4X Side Leg Lifts
4X 10 Push Ups (just to get a little in)
4X Plank X 30
3 X Standing Crunch (lift Left Leg to Right arm and reverse)
3 X Twists
3 X Side to side
3 X Squats
Calories- about 250


Today was a good workout. And I am wearing compression socks to aid in recovery. Tomorrow is another aero base builder day and I can't wait for 4:45 AM to roll around!

Day 5 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

Today was another recovery day planned. And if you read yesterday's post you will know that I did Spinervals 18- which was on the schedule for today. So at 4:45 this morning I rolled (more like drug myself) out of bed and made my way down to the pain cave. My plan was to do the planned workout and then help my wife get the kids ready for school. Then once they were off, I would drive to the gym to get a short swim in before heading to work.

When I got on the trainer, I was definitely feeling the increased effort of the last few days. During the first 30 minutes or so, I really felt like bailing on the swim plan, but as my body got into a solid routine, I started to feel good. Spinervals 18 is a solid recovery workout and the long intervals are great for working on solid form. One thing that I did wrong this morning was getting my garmin turned on correctly. Yesterday I ran after the ride and switched from bike to run. Today I started in Run, and switched on the fly to Bike- for some reason the garmin did not record mileage, although it was recording speed and cadence. Electronics can be fickle sometimes! So my mileage is an estimate based on my speed and time.

Once I finished the ride, I decided that yes I would swim. I really wanted to get some pool time since my last session was a week ago and I just got a new toy- the Finis SwimSense watch. The watch auto counts laps, distance and stroke type- can you say cool! And it worked pretty darn nicely- although I did not use any advanced features- just turned it on and hit the water. I did a series of different sets- some with paddles (which I really like using- great resistance) and some without. Total distance was 1225 yards- which I think is pretty accurate (it might of missed/ added a lap but I did not count- just focused on following the black line.

My legs & arms are definitely tired, but I am looking forward to tomorrow's set- big gear training. Tonight I am planning on getting a good night sleep- 4:45 will come early tomorrow!

Workout details
Bike:
Time- 1:20:04
Distance-24 miles
Calories- 650
AVG HR 134

Swim
Time- 24:18
Distance- 1225 yards
Calories- 239



For more details on the swimsense check out this link:

http://swimsense.finisinc.com

Day 4 of the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge

Today was a planned recovery day. Not a day off, but just an easier day doing some solid blue zone aerobic work. The specific schedule called for 1 hour using Spinervals 28- which I don't yet have. So I decided to use Spinervals 18 (which I just got) for the first time- I really liked this session. Long intervals with some shifting, but perfect for staying aero, working on pedaling technique, mental focus and maintaining specific cadence. I have to say this is now one of my favorites and I get to do it again tomorrow since that is the specific workout on the plan (guess I should have read ahead- oh well). I felt really good on today's ride. And was able to keep my HR right in the sweet spot: 138-142 for pretty much the entire session.

So at the end of the ride, I threw on my running shoes and did a short 2 mile run. It was the first run since Thanksgiving and I really wanted to test out my left knee without wearing a knee sleeve. I had tweaked the knee during a porta potty stop at mile 100 during Beach2Battleship at the end of October. And since that race, I have been wearing a neoprene knee sleeve. I don't like wearing the knee sleeve at all- and during the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5 K, my left calf hurt a bit during the run. So I took a week off from running to let the knee and calf heal (no pain on the bike). I am glad I took the break (I am learning!) as today I felt very relaxed and pretty much pain free on the run. I did not run too hard- pretty much a 7:58 pace, but was happy to get back on the road (it was cold but nice enough to run outside).

I likely won't be running all that much during the next month- probably 2 times per week and likely 3-5 miles at time, but running rocks! And after taking a relatively easy month following Beach2Battleship, it has been great to get back to some focused and higher intensity training.

Here are the details of today's work:
Ride
Time- 1:05:26
Distance- 21.77 miles
Calories-689
AVG HR- 134

Run
Time - 17:39
Distance- 2.21 miles
Calories- 205
AVG HR- 150

Tomorrow is a repeat of today- Spinervals 18. And I am planning on getting some pool time too.

Day 3 of the Spinervals 32 Day challenge

Today was the first big day on the schedule- 2:20 on the bike and 30 minutes of Strength training. Since I have been doing a pretty regular core workout 2-3 times a week, I decided to stick with the core drills (mostly crunches, flutter kicks and planks) instead of the strength workout.

Today's program on the trainer called for Spinervals 30.0 Muscular endurance. Unfortunately that is one of the titles I don't own (yet) so one of the alternates was Spinervals 13- Tough Love. And yeah it is tough! It is a 3 hour near LT sufferama with lots of long intervals. But the intervals aren't just shift into a gear and go for 30 minutes or so, instead there is lots of shifting, and standing. Yeah it is tough- I think I might have said that before. Standing when you are in a 53/23 sucks- there is no other way to say it!

At one point in the video Coach Troy said this hurts me (him) as much as its you (me)- I was ready to throw my laptop off of the ladder it sits on. If I had a remote I would have thrown it at my TV (fans of coach troy should get that one).

I decided before I started that I would ride 2:30- 2:20 doing the intervals and then a 10 minute cool down. However as I finished 2:20 I was about 4.5 miles short of 50. So I decided to stay another 15 minutes or so to cross that line. It was a good decision!

So my numbers for the day:

Bike
Time-2:36
Distance- 50.04 miles
Calories- 2761
AVG HR-130

Core 20 minutes
5X Crunch
5X L/R Oblique Crunch
5X Flutter Kick x 20 Seconds per set
3X Plank x 30 Seconds per plank
3X Pushups 10 per Set (i know easy)
3X Twists (20 Per Set)
3X Side Bends (20 Per Set)

On the ride I drank one bottle of Fluid Performance Mix (100 Calories + Electrolytes) and ate 2 Gels- 1 GU Roctane (100 Calories) and 1 Crank Sports e-gel (150 Calories). I have been using GU for 2 years and I like them, but got the Crank Sports Gel through an Active.com Schwaggle and since this is the off season I decided it was a good idea to experiment with different nutrition products. I did like the eGel although the flavor I had was Mountain Rush and it was a bit sweet for me (although with some water to dilute the flavor might work). More to come on the nutrition testing.

Post ride I drank a mix of Fluid Recovery (chocolate wave) and coffee, toast with Almond butter, a banana and an orange. Body and mind both feel great. Long workouts are hard, but feel awesome afterwards.

A note about FLUID- I have been using their recovery drink since last year and it works great for me. Fluid performance is a brand new product of theirs designed to be consumed during racing/ training and so far I really like it as it does not create any GI issues, especially during longer training days. Plus the founder is a real scientist who both knows his stuff and is happy to help with questions.

Lastly Active Schwaggle- think of groupon for triathletes.

Links to check out:
Spinervals- www.spinverals.com
Fluid Nutrition- www.livefluid.com
Crank Sports- www.cranksports.com
GU- www.guenergy.com
Active- www.active.com & schwaggle.active.com

Day 2 of the Spinervals 32 Day challenge

This morning the alarm was set for 5am, but I was up at 4:40. So I decided to answer the call and get moving downstairs to my pain cave. I was looking forward to Day 2 since the workout is one I know well- Spinervals 16.0 Aero Base Builder. It is just under 90 minutes and is a straight forward set with a lot of repetition. And following yesterday's threshold test using Spinverals 27.0- a welcome relief.

But it is not an easy set by any means. You really need to stay focused on the intervals since you need to make sure you stay aerobic and not creep up to AT. It is a good day to spend in the aero bars working on maintaining good form and consistent cadence.

Today was also the first day of using my new Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Fluid trainer. I switched from the Cycleops Fluid2 since the power curves were pretty high- It made staying in a 53-15 near a max effort which for me is not realistic based on my Iron/ Half Iron and Olympic Bike splits. I can easily maintain 20-21 MPH for Half and Full Iron distances and 23-24 for Olympic distances. But on the Cycleops Fluid2 I struggled to maintain 19-20 for more than 5 minutes. So I am keeping the Cycleops to use when I need to mash a big gear/ work on simulating hills, but the Kurt is much more realistic effort/ HR wise (plus I ordered the power meter so I can start monitoring power output).

My numbers this morning:
Time 1:30:03
Distance 27.81
Avg Speed 18.5 (Lots of low resistance, high cadence spinning today!)
Calories 1475
AVG HR 140 (my AT is 158 so I was right where I needed to be - about 10% under threshold)

Good Start to the day!

For more info on the Challenge go to www.spinervals.com. And for more info regarding Cyclops and Kurt Kinetic visit the following sites:

www.cycleops.com
www.kurtkinetic.com

Spinervals 32 Day Challenge & 2012 race schedule

Just a quick note on a couple of updates.

1) I am doing the Spinervals 32 Day Challenge. Day one was today with Spinervals 27.0 Threshold testing. My stats- Weight 181 (which is about 10 pounds over race weight), AVG HR 158, Max 166. So this lines up with previous testing, although using my fluid cyclops fluid 2, I feel like I am pushing more watts that I would on the road. I have a power meter coming- so more to come on that.

If you are interested in joining the challenge visit the spinervals page here- www.spinervals.com

I will try to post a bit everyday- I am really excited about participating in the challenge!

2) My 2012 race schedule is pretty much dialed in:

March- IM70.3 Puerto Rico
June- Rev3 Quassy Olympic
June-HITS Hunter MTN Half
July- IM 70.3 Rhode Island (Round 2)
August- IM US Championships NYC (mostly NJ!)
August- USAT AG Nat Championships - It is the week after IM NYC, but I have not done the race yet- so maybe since I already qualified for this year
Sept- Toughman Half (Round3)
Sept- IM Pocono Mtn 70.3 (Round 2 and hoping the swim happens!)

I may try to fill in something in April/ May but that is a crazy family time with a lot of kid obligations (which is a good thing).

Beach2BattleShip Race Report

Well my first full iron is in the books! 140.6 miles are done & it was an amazing experience. I picked this race www.beachtobattleship.com as my first full for a couple of reasons: Accessibility- most iron distance races sell out in hours or less (ie NYC in 6 minutes), Cost- $350 for the full, and atmosphere- low key but 100% professional. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of MDOT, Ironman and WTC- they have a created & nurtured an amazing brand. And I have done my share of Ironman 70.3's and got my registration in during those 6 minutes for NYC. But for my first full, I wanted a little less stress & pressure- this was an experience that I wanted to enjoy (well enjoy as best you can when spending most of the day racing!)

So on to the race.

Packet pickup was held downtown at the convention center. Done well with an easy flow to get your stuff. First time I got socks as part of the swag bag- kinda cool. My only complaint - the bike numbers were not branded and could not be modified to easily stick on the bike. Big deal no, but I would have preferred something that I could have put on my seatpost just right. The expo was small, but had some good vendors and I bought a 140.6 magnet for the car- no it did not get placed on the car until Saturday evening! I also bought a headsweats race visor- this is becoming my go to expo purchase item. Good memento and since most races have them in a host of different colors, it becomes easy to have a bunch to use. The athlete briefing was very long- the race director was pretty funny BUT the slides were from previous years and some of the details were different. It would have been ideal to have better graphics for the briefing, but it ended up not mattering- I just went where people told me to go! My one big complaint is the USAT officials briefing- we are not criminals, please stop treating us like them. Instead brief the rules and then enforce them (more on that a bit later). So once we left the briefing, it was time to pack my T2 Bag, rack my bike at T1 and get some lunch.

The weather forecast for race day was NOT promising; instead it was cold, rainy and windy. So packing my T2 bag was more of throwing a bunch of gear in there and making decision on what I needed when I hit T2. I decided not to pack a special needs for the bike or run- On the bike that was no issue, but on the run I would have liked a long sleeve top- the second 13.1 was cold (more on that later too). The good news is the T bags were big (actually 13 gallon trash bags) so putting plenty of crap in there was okay. So once we got to T1, I got the bike set for the morning. I use Hutchinson Tubeless tires so I put my TP to 100PSI and then did a 1/2 mile test ride to make sure everything was dialed in. I did have to make a small adjustment on the front break- so glad I know a bit about bikes and have the right tools. But once ready I rolled the bike into T1. As a side note, I do my test rides with a helmet on- don't understand why some folks don't think they need to. Saw one idiot hammering in aero on a busy road- no helmet. Once I racked and covered my bike (yeah full covers were allowed and comments were made regarding WTC policy to cover seat and bars only), we left to find some food and then head to the hotel to relax.

After lunch and then dinner, I got my gear ready for the morning. The plan was to drop off at T1 and then I would take a trolly to the swim start. So I laid out plenty of warm clothes for the morning and packed a second clothes bag for my sister to have at the finish line -so I could get some warm stuff on right away (good, very good idea). To my surprise, I was able to get a good amount of sleep- but woke before the alarm clock ready to go. After a good breakfast of a bagel and peanut butter with some coffee it was time to head out to T1. I felt good and was excited. I knew my pre race eating had been good, I was hydrated and was gonna stick to plan- swim with the current, bike at 85-90 RPM's and then start slow on the run. Goal was first and foremost to finish, and then go sub 11:46 (the winning time of the first Ironman in 1978) Anything beyond #1 was great and beating #2 would be icing on the cake. I really did not have a goal number 3- to much unknown.

So once I got to the T1, I quickly dropped off my T1 Bag- my plan was to ride in compression socks, toe covers, arm warmers, gloves and a windvest (very similar set up to Pocono Mtn). So my goal coming out of the water was to take my time- slow is smooth, smooth is fast. I'd rather lose a minute adjusting my socks than have a bad blister that I would have to deal with for 11 or 12 hours. (as an FYI, I usually hammer t1 &t2 both are typically sub 1 minute- especially t2). After getting my bag dropped off, I loaded my bike with my bottles- one speedfil on the down tube and 2 26 ouncers on the rear mounted seat cages. Each bottle had a mix of water, nuun and carbo pro, with roughly 900 calories. I also carried 3 6 ounce gel flasks each filled with 5 GU's and water. Knowing I was wearing the windvest made this an easy decision to carry all three at the start instead of special needs. So once the bike and T1 bag was done, I got on the best warmest most relaxing ride of the day- the trip down to the swim start. We sat on the warm trolley for about 10 minutes then took the 2.5 mile drive down to the tip of the beach. Everyone was in good spirits and it was a relaxed crowd for sure- a mix of newbies to 140.6 and veterans alike. Ego free for sure!

Wow I have written a lot an the race has not even started yet. I swam, road my bike and ran for a while. The end.

Okay just kidding- this a full iron after all, so it should take some time to read!

The start area was at the tip of wrightsville beach, so not much shelter. If you waited behind the dunes, it was calm. However walking on to the beach proper was a cold and windy experience. Luckily we were swimming with the current so the wind was not going to be a factor on the swim, but it definitely came into play on the bike! After hitting the porta potty line, I got my wetsuit on- I decided to wear both the booties and cold weather cap. The water temp was about 68- so not too cold, but the run from swim out to T2 was 400 yards so having some foot protection made a lot of sense. The 30 minutes or so before race start passed Very quickly and before I knew it, I was standing in the start corral with 800 other brave folks. Following a couple of words from the YMCA CEO and the National Anthem it was go time. The start was a land start with a short jog into the water. I was probably in the initial 200 hitting the water and the first 400 meters were HELL. It was very violent. I pulled one women off my back and set her next to me- she seemed pissed, but there was plenty of water and it was a matter of just finding patch to swim in. I did have to re seat my goggles- did it very nicely and then got into the business of swimming. As I listed earlier, we were swimming with the current- and wow it was a fast swim (although when you swim with the current it is hard to tell how fast you are going, but there is an absence of resistance). Very soon I reached the ladders to climb out of the water and began the process to move on out to T1. I decided to use the wet suit strippers- save as much energy as possible and quickly ran my way to get my bag. Wearing swim booties a real win- my feet felt great during the run on asphalt! When I got my bag, the male changing tent was packed so I just sat on the grass and began to get dressed. I packed a small towel in my T1 bag which made getting my compression socks on my feet a little easier. So once everything was on, I handed my bag off and ran to my bike. Quickly grabbing the bike I made my way to the mount line and started off on leg number 2 the bike.

My Swim time was about 55 minutes including the long run. T1 was abut 7:29. I felt great.

On to the bike course which was described as pancake flat. Well on a calm day it might be, but the morning we had- not so much. The first 4 hours were against a headwind anywhere from 10-30 miles an hour. And it was raining. Staying aero made the wind a little less severe and I rode strong during the first 75 miles or so. Nutrition was solid, as was taking a much needed bathroom stop at mile 50- I was gonna pee through my tri suit but instead stopped for 3o seconds and peed with my left foot stilled clipped in- WOW following that break I felt super strong for a while. And while peeing I got passed by a couple of folks- no big deal I might catch them, I might not. So I got back on the bike and started settle in for a long few hours. I began to notice two of the people who had passed me were holding a position about 50 meters to my front, riding a tight paceline- yup drafting. I continued to ride and slowly caught up to the twosome. As I got within about 20 meters the person in the back passed the person in front and left him behind. I soon passed him and then noticed the passer was tight in again with the person in front. This occurred several more times including when the racer was drafting off me. Unfortunately no USAT official observed this behavior, but I know this person was aware of their behavior and one day soon will get appropriately penalized.

Okay past mile 75 the course shifted and soon that nasty wind was at my back. Instead of averaging 18 MPH during the last two hours, I quickly jumped to 24/25 MPH (And a lot of it was out of aero- I was faster that way, plus it kept my back loose. So nearing mile 100 I had to pee again, but the roads were very busy with cars so I decided to use the next aid station. Going into the porta john I slipped a little and tweaked my knee- nothing significant and I hardly noticed it (we will get back to this soon). I spent the last 12 miles at at 25 MPH plus and cruised toward T2 feeling great. The last mile absolutely sucked since there was a lot of traffic and we had to cross a very windy bridge- saw several folks bite it. But I did reach the turn into to Transition area unscathed although some jerk tried to pass me 10 feet from the dismount line (i ended up beating him on the run so it end up fine).

Time on the bike 5:31, T2 3:10ish

Remember that slight knee tweak? Yeah well it hurt bad on the run. The first three miles involved running up and down two bridges in windy conditions. That Sucked!. But I did the first out- roughly 10k in about 55 minutes- slow, but I wanted to start slow. The only problem- every time I ran slightly up hill, my knee was in intense pain. So I started to walk through the aid stations and hills. I finished the first half in 2:10- really slow, but I knew even if I walked the second half I would finish- and my goal was to finish. So I let my sister know I though the second half would take about 3 hours (which would put me around a 12 hr finish. I walked the first 4 miles on the second loop in about an hour. At this point every effort to run was hurting- including my lower back so I decided to just keep pushing on walking. But I was not upset- I was in pain but knew I would soon finish- just two hours or so to go. Amazing what only two hours to go feels like after you have spent 9 plus out there already. At that point I asked an aid station if they had any tylenol or advil- the knee was really hurting and I though at least taking the edge off will make the day go by a bit better. So at mile 18 I got two advil. I walked to the turn around point- but rand the 200 meters out and back to the timing mat- I might be in pain, but with a lot of cheering folks I felt I owed it to them and plus I only had a ten k to go. So I walked for another mile and the knee was not hurting as much- so I decided to try a light jog again. Worst case scenario I would have to walk some more. Well I ran and the knee did not hurt anymore than it did running. Plus my legs felt great- I had not crushed them as much as if I had run all the way to this point. So I decided to keep running to the next aid station- and walk through it, but when I got there I just ran past (taking my coke and chicken broth of course). I said to myself that I can run to the bridges- walk the ups, run the downs and maybe finish round 11:50. Well I got to the first bridge and ran right up and down. I knew the advil and adrenaline were really starting to work and before long I was climbing the last hill passing the mile 25 sign. I was talking to people going out for lap two, people coming in on lap one and high fiving the aid station volunteers- yeah that last mile was great. As I crested the bridge and started in towards the battleship, I thought about my grandfather who died 15 years ago. He was the one who loved cycling, skiing and tennis- and was instrumental in my love of those sports. While I miss him very much, moments like that one hurt- I would have loved to see him at the finish line- I know he would have too.

Coming off the bridge the last 1/2 mile was electric- I had a smile ear to ear! I could hear and see the finish line. As I made the turn to head into the .3 mile finish shoot I saw my sister and then saw the race guide who asked it this was lap one or two- yeah I yelled number 2 and continued to run hard. One comment I heard was "way to finish like an Ironman" it was a bittersweet comment, but sweet more than bitter since the finish line was so close! As I made the final turn, I slowed just slightly to keep about 3 meters of spacing from the two finishers in front of me- could have sprinted past them- likely, but I wanted to enjoy the moment, as I am sure they did too. And then I was across the line, my name being broadcast- and yup I finished! 11:38:13. Made my goal!

Post race was great- right into a warming tent with chicken soup and bananas followed by a massage. The finisher medal was giant! And I got a finisher shirt and jacket too. As I lay on the massage table the feeling of accomplishment was amazing, and at the same time longing to do it again (although not too soon).

We quickly grabbed my gear, got on the trolley back to the car and drove to hotel. After a quick shower, we went out to dinner across the street from the hotel. A beer and some wings. And then off to bed.

Now as I write this a week later, I still am amazed at the day- not so much that I did it, as much how much I enjoyed the experience. Yeah I suffered, my big toes have ugly bruises on them, the run sucked, but racing triathlons, especially long distance half and fulls are truly worth living. When I graduated High School the quote I had under my picture was from a ski advertisement:

"Socrates said man is never truly free, Socrates never skied" Well I'd like to update that to the following:

"Socrates said a man is never truly free, Socrates never finished a 140.6 triathlon".

I guess that sums it up

Pre Race- 140.6

Wow, my first iron is finally here. It seems hard to believe that tomorrow I will be racing 140.6 miles. When I think about the last 2 1/2 years and blowing out my back to be able to toe the line- wow is all I can say (well maybe not all I can say).

Tomorrow is a race, a journey and for sure an experience that I will never forget. Today has been the usual crazy pre race day: packet pick up, expo shopping and the race briefing. And as usual the USAT officials made me feel like a criminal (I am not gonna draft or block). But the the rest of briefing was pretty cool- the race director is definitely a wise ass and had everyone laughing.

The bike racking process was different than I am used to as well. The race has two transition areas but T2 is site unseen. We dropped off our T2 bags at T1 and will grab them on our way into T2 tomorrow- sound confusing- yeah I am bit confused too. But I figure that once I get to T2 it will make sense- fingers crossed. But I did get my bike racked and covered since we are expecting rain tonight. Tomorrow morning I will get to load the bottles and load my nutrition.

Tomorrow morning will come early and likely will be cold. Wetsuits are mandatory, but the swim is point to point with a fast current. So that's all for now- soon we will head out for dinner and then I will pretend I am sleeping until the alarm goes off at 3 AM.

Taper Blues

Beach to Battleship (www.beachtobattleship.com) is 6 days away. It is my last Triathlon of the season and my first Iron distance race. And I am excited. Training is done, and I am ready for race day. But like many endurance athletes this Taper period before the race is driving me nuts. A big part of my days is always my training- but right now there a bunch of off days and my workouts are low intensity and shorter than normal. And I am eating like there is no tomorrow. I know Tapers work- they have for me in my past races, but sometimes they are the hardest part of training- forcing your body to slow down and relax.

Well time for me to go and do very little.

Ironman Pocono Mountain 70.3 (6x.x) Race Report

Ironman Pocono Mountain 70.3 Race Report.- Sunday 10/2/2011

I signed up for this race as registration opened last year- sitting in my car (in my office parking lot). I was very excited to have an Ironman 70.3 30 miles from home. I had just completed my first 70.3 a couple weeks earlier and really enjoyed the experience so this was a natural fit for me and my 2011 race schedule.

Pre Race- Wow I have never seen so much commentary on Facebook around a race before. And much of the posting seemed to be around people complaining- about the race organizers, WTC in general and about the course- specifically the bike course. These bothered me a lot- complaining about the race organizers (who run a pretty successful race in Philly every year) especially without evidence is nasty. Complaining about WTC- if you don’t like WTC then don’t sign up to race Ironman, Ironman 70.3 and 5150 events. There are plenty of other races and series out there. And lastly complaining about the bike course- the name of the race is Ironman Pocono Mountain 70.3- the bike course should be hard and hilly! And speaking of the race organizers- after a period of bike course complaining, the company even offered a refund (outside of their normal refund policy) for people who were concerned about the bike portion (sounds like a pretty good organization- just saying).

Now many of you who live in the NYC area are aware of the terrible weather we have had in August and September. Heavy Rain, Hurricanes and Earthquakes just to name a few. What did this mean for the race- the swim which was supposed to be held in the Delaware River was in jeopardy. During the week leading up to race day, there were lots of posts on Facebook regarding the swim and whether it would happen or not. My feeling was if the river was not safe it be would be better to cancel early to let us digest the news and prepare for a bike run. And watching the weather reports and river safety details it seemed that the swim was unlikely. So the race organizers made the call mid day on Friday- no swim (again good job on the early and clear communications by the race organizers). Was I disappointed- sure I love Triathlons for what they are- SBR and T1/T2, but swimming in a river with trees floating by and a current of 10 MPH with 2000 other athletes is not a smart call. So the right call was made and we switched from a SBR to a Bike Run. I hesitate to call it a Duathlon since those typically are RBR and there was no space to create an initial run prior to the bike, nor would the transitions work unless every participant had two sets of run gear since T1 & T2 were 15 miles or so apart.

Again the complainers were out in force for the swim cancellation and bemoaning the lack of a back up plan. Look the weather really sucked, but this happens- 3 other Ironman 70.3 events had to cancel or change the swim in 2011- New Orleans, Steelhead and Galway. Okay on to the expo.

So packet pickup was easy and the expo had some good vendors, although I was disappointed in two things. 1) the ironman store did not have any long sleeve zip tops – although a bunch of staff were wearing them. 2) the swag bags were made out of a cheap material- mine ripped taking out my race kit. I did however get a nice Pocono Mountains Bike Jersey from Champion Systems and KSwiss long sleeve running top-IM branded (not PM70.3) but real nice (and on sale too). The pre- race briefing was good- although I wish the Refs would not make me feel like a criminal (this is a ref complaint in general- not unique to IMPM70.3)- I do my best to not draft, block or pass illegally. I take my racing seriously and HATE cheaters. Okay more on the pre- race briefing. This was the first briefing I took notes at so I could review the map later- why you ask? Well the course had changed due to the weather- parts of several roads had washed away due to the rain (and people still wanted the swim to happen). Plus the briefing provided the details on the TT start and what to expect on course- the briefers did an AWESOME job preparing us for what was surely going to be a tough day on the course. Oh forgot to mention rain was in the forecast for Saturday night and possible for Sunday too.

So following the briefing it was time to rack my bike at T1 and pack my T2 bag. I drove from the expo down to T1- wow the roads were narrow, steep and had a lot of weather related debris; walnuts, leaves, sticks and a tree. Eventually I got to T1 and spent some time making sure my bike was ready to ride. I am glad I did since my Front brake was a little loose and rubbing on turns. So a quick fix with the Allen wrench and the Bike was racked. A trick I used as well was to cover the Cranks and Rear D with Shower caps. Full bike covers were not allowed- only the seats and bars, but I was able to cover 90% of the bike parts that matter with the two shower caps and two garbage bags over the seat/ cockpit.

Once leaving T1 I had to drive to T2- about 15 miles apart and I drove a good section of the Bike course- NOT flat. My hope was that there would be race volunteers on key sections reminding us to slow down during the descents- a straight descent is easy in wet conditions. But through in a turn and you have some serious problems. Eventually I made it to T2 which was located in a baseball field at Stroudsburg HS. Initially I was a bit annoyed with where my rack was- in the infield- read brown sandy mud. But it forced me to make a decision on what I was going to do coming into T2- usually I don’t wear socks for the bike or run at the 70.3 distance. But with the temps for Sunday morning expected to be around 45 degrees I was wearing socks. So because of my location I decided that I would run into T2 wearing my bike shoes and only change socks if my feet were wet & or cold. Okay so I put my T2 back on the ground below my race number and left to check into my hotel and get dinner. But one thing that really surprised me were the number of T2 Bags that were tied to the their rack position. Yes it was supposed to rain but a T2 bag is a heavy duty plastic draw string bag- put your gear in and pull shut. Fold the opening under the rest of the bag and is pretty much water proof. Good luck getting the bag untied with cold and wet fingers (sorry no more ranting).

The race organizers put on a nice pasta dinner (included in the registration cost) at the hotel. I ate early- 4:45 and then went to my room to prepare my bottles, layout my gear and get ready to spend the next 11 hours staring at the clock. It rained pretty much all night but at this point I was 100% committed- I was racing regardless of the conditions.

Race Morning- I ended up getting about 3 hours of sleep and got up to a beautiful sight- wet ground but no longer raining! I ate a light breakfast and got my gear on. For the bike I decided on the following set up- my TYR carbon top and bottom, arm warmers, wind vest, socks and toe covers for the shoes. I also decided to wear a pair of Castelli neoprene gloves- very good call. I also decided to wear my Rudy Aero helmet- less venting would mean less heat loss. I also had very light tint lenses in my glasses. I drove to the T2 Parking lot and got on one of the Free shuttles to T1.

T1 and Race Start. So we all knew the race would be a Time Trial Start out of T1- each bike row would get called, walk their bikes to the start line and one by one go. It sounded like it could be trouble, but ended up being pretty smooth. However what the swim cancellation also meant was the Most low key and relaxed pre race T1 I have ever been in. Everyone was cool and while missing the swim, glad that we were dressed warm and could prepare for a challenging bike with out being wet and cold following the swim. Plus the TT start gave you the time to keep your morning clothes on until the last minute. So finally my row was called (I was race number 998 so right in the middle) and we walked our way to the start line. And then I was off. The first 500 meters were slightly up hill so I stayed upright until we turned on to river road. I felt great- I was racing and it wasn’t raining!

Bike- The bike course was tough, hard and crowded. A couple sections had English left rules- essentially bikers going in both directions with those riding the opposite direction of normal traffic riding as if they were in England- hence the term English left. This did create some confusion on where people were supposed to pass- and there was a lot of weaving since many folks were riding out near the center line. During the bike there were 4 significant hills and I saw something that I have never seen before- on each hill a significant number of people walking including those with disk wheels, aero helmets and TT bikes. Does a TT bike mean you can climb everything- no and some folks who have 10K bikes shouldn’t but the number of walkers was large enough to underscore just how tough the bike course was. For the most part I was able to stay aero- I got on the brakes only when in traffic or the hills. And the race volunteers were great about pointing out danger sections in enough time for us to react. The roads were wet but had been swept so there were dangerous, but not nearly as bad as they could have been- nice job race organizers for doing that. So I felt great during the bike- nutrition was spot on and my legs felt solid. And before too long I was past mile 50- only 5 miles to go. Wait this is a 56 mile bike. Well the bike had to get shortened a bit due to some of the roads in unsafe conditions. However about 3 miles past the 50 mile marker I started to ride along some downtown streets with great fans and before I knew it T2 was in sight (according to my Garmin the bike was about 53.9 miles). I executed my plan and dismounted with my bike shoes on.

Run- I racked my bike quickly and got my Saucony Kinvera 2’s on. My only trouble was the zipper on my wind vest- I decided that it was more than I needed for the run, but after about 10 seconds I was able to shed it and go. I did change gloves, but not socks and put on my fuel belt as I was leaving T2. I wore my race number on the bike- it is no longer required, but makes sense to me to have it for the bike- one less thing to worry about in T2. I crossed the timing mat and hit my garmin ready for 13.1 miles of running fun- however the timing mat did not signify the run start- that was after you came out of the Stadium and turned into the parking lot. I am not sure why they did that since the race was an out an back- the turn around could have easily been moved up the .2 mile difference- but oh well a slightly longer run can make up for the shorter bike and no swim. The first few miles of the run were flat and I got to see the pro men pass on their way toward the finish- cool! And then we made a left turn and started on the hills- They hurt- about 3.5 miles of relatively constant hills- not too steep, but energy sapping just the same. And the turn around point was not at 6.55 miles but at 7 which was 7.3 on my watch- it felt like forever to get out there. But what goes up also goes down and the back 6 miles of the run were much easier and I really felt good. Plus my nutrition (which on the run has a been an issue in 2 of my 4 70.3’s this year) was spot on. I had two fuel belt bottles- one with a GU & water mix and one with a half nuun tablet and water. At each aid station I alternated one or the other- just enough of a sip to get some into me, but not too much to overwhelm my stomach. I also used the GU and water mix on the bike- SO MUCH easier to get down plus no opening of gel packs. As I hit the last mile, I really felt great and turned onto the finish road with a good head of steam. The last .3 miles were awesome- huge crowds on either side of the road and a clear line to the finish. I crossed the line in 4:22. If the swim had a been part of the race I likely would have PR’d (5:08 is my half PR) and would have had a shot going under 5 hrs. But regardless of a PR or not, this was another finish for me and I felt like the most important piece- my nutrition was dialed-in perfect.

Finish Area- There were 3 things that weren’t great. 1) there was no Finisher Hat at IM RI 70.3 we got a nice headsweats cap and I expected one here. 2) Only one masseuse – that sucked as I really wanted a massage but was too cold to wait. 3) Morning clothes bags were supposed to be at the finish, but a bus wasn’t allowed to bring them??????? That sucked since it was cold. The race did have thermal blankets (which are amazingly warm) but having to walk back to T2 was cold. It did however stretch my legs nicely so the lack of massage was not as big a deal. Good things- The race medal was nice and big, food was right at the finish- subway and they had warm chicken broth which was a great call.

So my result & times:

115 out of 1331 finishers Overall

22/194 M 35-39

Bike- 2:36:54

Run- 1:43:32

T2- 2:13

Total- 4:22:37

TriRock NY Race Report

So I wasn't going to do this race this year. I did it twice last year - the SBR Series 1 & 2. Had great results with both including an AG win. But it is a sprint distance and my focus this year is on Half and One full iron. But when TriRock Gettysburg got canceled and I needed to drop Timberman 70.3 I felt like I needed a race in August to keep the race motivation up.

I am so glad I did this race! Why you ask? A couple of reasons.

1) Any time you can race is awesome regardless of distance (so a sprint or two will be on the schedule next year)
2) I pushed through some serious pain/ funk on the bike and ended up having the 10th fastest bike.
3) I finished 10th OA and 2nd in my AG- Qualified for 2012 nationals and got some great hardware.
4) TriRock is a cool experience- kinda like doing an IM/IM70.3 with all of the swag/ pre and post race hoopla, plus a beer garden!

On to the details.
Swim- 800M out and back lake swim. 3 waves of about 100-125 per wave. Rough scrum the 1st 300 M and I had a header with a guy at the turn around point. No real issues, but what was good is I swam right on the buoy line- no wasted effort. Swim was wetsuit legal (74 degrees) and I felt reasonably good. I have not gotten enough swim practice in this year, but I am still middle of the pack.

Bike 15 miles of hills, bumpy roads and tight turns. The first 4 miles was pretty much a consistent climb- I struggled (pace was okay but I was hurting/ breathing very hard). I really felt like I needed to vomit, but couldn't. The next few miles lead into a very steep and fast downhill- I hit about 45 MPH, but knew the bottom had a very sharp 180degree left turn right into a hill. The Climb was 2 miles of hurt- not fun on a tri bike designed to go fast. Soon after cresting the summit I got passed by Sebastian Blanco (the eventual winner). Once he passed me, I snapped out of my funk and increased my cadence and gearing and followed him (about 25 yards behind) for the next 7 miles. Him passing me was key for me to push harder and I felt so much better once I started hammering- go figure.

Run- 5K out and back on an old jeep trail- somewhat hilly and very rough ground. I ran a solid pace and felt strong. I knew at the turn around point I was in the top ten and felt I could hold that placing as long as I kept my pace the same. During the last mile, a guy fell in front of me- I helped him up and told him to run with me to get his legs back. He was younger so no AG competition. He was shaken, but I kept him on my heels for about .5 miles. He recovered and pushed past me a bit- I decided to let him go as there was no one behind me so we each could enjoy the finishing shoot alone. Great feeling.

So times
Swim- 14:44 - 58th place
T1- 1:40- 12th place
Bike- 47:11- 11th place
T2- :35- 5th place
Run- 21:09- 18th Place

Overall 1:25:15
10th Overall (out of 289)
2nd AG (35-39)(out of 37)

Lastly- the race organization/ swag/ awards rocked, especially the real podium. This race will likely be on the calendar for next year.

Jerseyman Half Iron Race Report

So the tri season finally started for me. After months of indoor training, some outdoor efforts and not enough swimming the first of my Triathlons was finally here. This year I have decided to go long; 5 70.3s, 2 Olympics and 1 140.6. The Jerseyman is the first 70.3 on the schedule and I was really excited for the race.

Since the race was in NJ, I did not need to travel and instead was able to drive down early on Sunday morning for race day. I did this race last year in the sprint distance and really felt like it was a well run race and being local helps too. The weather forecast was good, no rain light winds and moderate temps- it did not end up like that at all.

The swim start was from the beach and my wave had a short delay as we were just about to go off- not a big deal but annoying just the same. Once we got started, I settled into my swim stroke, there were not too many folks in my wave and given my lack of serious swim training I wisely stayed near the back of the pack. As we swam further into the Spruce Run, the wind really picked up and the water go rough- sorta like an ocean swim, but also with fog. There were a couple of times I took in some water instead of Air, but switched to breathing on every stroke to minimize the issue of drinking water. While I have not had a enough swim time during the off season, I felt reasonable and finished the swim in 38 minutes- slower than I would have liked but felt ready for the bike.

T1 was okay- 2 minutes which is a little slow for me even with the wetsuit, but for race one of the year it was okay. The first few miles of the bike were rolling and I got comfortable with a solid pace. Then it started to rain- not hard but the roads in rural NJ are not the best so adding wet pavement and rolling terrain is not ideal for race speeds. But I powered on and the miles started flying by. Until I hit the river. Advertised as a nice flat section- it was flat but a nasty head wind. So instead of hammering hard at 30 MPH or so, I suffered to maintain 22-23MPH. Headwinds suck! The last 15 miles or so again were rollers- nothing too steep or long, but oh so annoying after the rain and headwinds. There were some cross winds as well, but my Zipp 101's really felt solid and I did not feel much of an impact on the bike's stability. I finished the bike in 2:44 and given the wind and rain- I was happy

Coming into T2, my parents were right at the bike dismount line and it was cool to say a quick hello. T2 was 54 seconds- again a little slow, but I put my race number belt on first, instead of my Fuel belt- but practice will fix that. The run course sucked- WAY to many turns and curly Q's- yup I said curly Q's. Once you got out of the park, there were some long straightaways with hills- especially one that you ran down and knew that on mile 8 you would have to run back up. I had some trouble eating on the run- GU got too sweet for me and I struggled to take more than a couple sips from my fuel bottles. The sweetness just made me feel sour so by mile 9 I was starting to feel bonky. I was able to power through the last few miles by taking some sips of my fuel and drinking some water at the aid stations (usually I only dump water on my head) but drinking the water seemed to wash out the sour taste. I finished the run in 1:49- slower than I had hoped but given the nutrition challenge, I was very happy to see the finish line.

So my total time was 5:15, 5th in my age group and 29th overall. My goals for the race were Finish- which I met. I also wanted to go under 5 hours- well that did not happen. But finishing these races are hard, but RoadID says never quit- so even though I felt bad on the run, I was finishing!

Lessons learned:
1) I need to swim more. The good news is I have access to a lake and it is finally getting somewhat warm enough to swim in the morning
2) I need to dial in my nutrition- FLUID is awesome, but adding the electrolyte tabs made the bottles too sweet. And GU is great, but after 5 or 6 it gets to be way to sweet.
3) I need to work on my Transistions- just because being fast here makes you faster in the race.
4) The new Tommaso Bike is Awesome! Switching from a Road bike with aerobars to a purpose built Tri bike has been worth it.

To see a visual representation of the race go to www.zumtri.com and search on the Jerseyman Half. My number was 71.

Winter Training- Bike

March already? What happened to Fall, never mind winter???

Well for me, it has been hours of time spent in the pain cave hammering on the bike. For those of you not familar with the term pain cave- think of dark, cold and filled with agony. Or in other terms, the place where I put my Tri Bike (Tommas Coltello) on the Turbo Trainer.

When I started this winter, I had the great idea to listen to books on tape while I road. Guess what- BORING. It is hard to maintain focus and intensity listening to someone drone on and on- even if the book is interesting at other times. So I switched to music and while good tunes can motivate me, sometimes I would find my mind wandering- and efforts slipping. This lead me to Spinervals- cycling training videos. Good decision. Spinverals (www.spinverals.com) are cycling and triathlon specific training videos anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours long. They are very focused concentrating efforts on right intesity at the right time. Coach Troy Jacobson who created these videos is constantly telling you what gearing, cadence, perceived effort, power, heart rate you should be at. Guess what- you don't have time to think, instead you are concentrating on good form, cadence and all of the other numbers variables. And because the lengths vary, the videos really have helped me develop pace queues for various race distances.

In addtion to Spinverals, I have used Real Rides Power with Robbie Ventura (www.realrides.tv)
- awesome mix of intervals on the velodrome and road. I also just started with Sufferfest (www.thesufferfest.com)- real race footage coupled with a "story". They are a lot of fun- well actually they suck - the very life out of you.

Using these really focused training tools, I am averaging about 100 Miles on the bike per week. I would like to do more, but working 80 to 100 hr weeks, being a dad to three kids and having two other sports to train as well limits the time. But since it allows for specificity of effort (not dependent on roads, wx, etc) the shorter amount of time is still very valuable.

I have finally begun to ride a little outside- there is some snow, but the weather is getting warmer (finally!)

My next race is in a month- the Sandy Hook NJ Individual Time Trial. It is a short race- only 7 miles and should be fast. And my next Triathlon is only 12 weeks or so away- JerseyMan Half (paceracing.org/jerseyman.html).

2011 Race Schedule

Hard to believe it is March already, but below is my schedule for the year. I am concentrating most of my efforts around the Half Iron distance. I raced in the Toughman Half last year and absolutely loved it. I would have added another Full (lake placid would be ideal) but they sell out way to fast.

• Spa 23 Indoor Triathlon- Jan 30 2011. 1st place Overall: 1:59:00/ 27.84 miles
• Sandy Hook Individual TT- Apr 2 2011
• JerseyMan Half- May 22 2o11
• Spartan Race- June 4 2011
• Washington DC 5150 International- June 19 2011
• Rhode Island Ironman 70.3- July 10 2011
• Team Muddy Buddy (Team T-Dog & the Old Man)- July 24 2011
• Timberman Ironman 70.3 - Aug 21 2011
• Toughman Half -Sep 11 2011
• Pocono MTN Ironman 70.3 Oct 2 2011
• TriRock Gettysburg Olympic October 16 2011
• Beach to BattleShip FULL IRON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oct 28 2011

So the schedule is pretty heavily backloaded towards September and October. But my approach during the last 2 months is on Beach to Battleship so the races leading up to BtoB will really serve as training (at a high level).

I may add several bike only and run only races depending on schedule, vacations, etc.