E2MULTISPORTS Ironman Texas 70.3 Galveston 2014

Galveston was the first time for the RV experiment. It was awesome. It made everything so much easier. Drove into town and found a parking spot near the back of the parking lot and got ready for bed. In the morning I stepped out the door and went to packet pick up. Because of my All World Athlete status I went straight to the front of a long line. After I picked up my packet I walked 200 yards to the RV and put my gear together, set up the grill and had lunch. This year the weather was cold, windy, and rainy. It was nice to have shelter nearby instead of parking so far and then navigating traffic while soaking wet to get back to a hotel. 

Race morning I woke up early because some athletes starting arriving at 4am even though transition didn’t open until 5am. I decided to go ahead and have breakfast and then lay back down. 5am rolls around so I get dressed and walk out to air up my tires and set up my transition. It was cold and started to rain again. I quickly walked back to the RV to warm and put on my wetsuit while everyone else was outside freezing and trying to put their wetsuit on while wet. Kelly and Jeff met up with me and I decided I would let them hang out in the RV. Kelly had a start time 2 hrs later so she had time to relax in the cozy comforts of a couch while waiting for the gun. 

Swim

It is usually windy at this race but this year it seemed worse. The water was so choppy it was hard to get into a groove. The direction of the wind and waves was head on until the first turn. My plan was to go hard out to the first turn and then settle into a better pace. This plan did not work. I was fighting the water the entire time and loosing. I went out so hard my legs were on fire from kicking so hard. After about 5 minutes in I had to find a kayak and rest. Normally, I would have made the turn by now but not today. After catching my breath I took off again but didn’t realize I was on the kayak so long. After the first turn you had the waves with you so it was easier to relax. My goal for the swim was 30-33 minutes. I came out of the water 400meters long and in a time of 40 minutes.  Time to catch up

T1 

I sprinted up the long ramp and into transition after a smooth exit from my awesome new Roka Maverick Pro wetsuit. I had a little glitch getting my socks on but other than that things were pretty smooth. 

Bike

There was a storm scheduled to arrive around 10am so my goal was to beat it before the turn around. On most years you get the wind coming off the gulf but this year we had a cold front blow in from the north. This gave you a good tail wind. I was cruising around 24-27mph. My power was a little high but I felt good so I let it fly. Around mile 23 it started to rain. My thoughts, “Drats, I didn’t beat the storm”. I could tell the wind was starting to pick up. I decided to put my head down and push to get to the turn around as soon as possible then I could relax my legs a bit. I hit the turn around at 1:10:00. By far the fastest I have ever pedaled that distance. My mistake was that I misjudged the wind direction.  We now had a cross wind which is some times worse. I was pushing the same power but dropped to around 19-20mph. Just before coming into transition the wind changed directions and I had a tailwind. I was able to give my legs a little rest before I hit the run. My bike split was a new PR at 2:40:00. Now to see if can run.

T2. 

My T2 was, and usually is pretty swift. My mistake was not knowing the logistics of the transition. I ran completely around the wrong way. I am guessing I lost at least a minute. So much for a fast T2. 

Run

My run was a question mark. I broke a rib just as I was starting my Ironman build. I only had about 5 weeks of consistent training and my longest run was only 10 miles. I knew this was going to hurt. I wanted to keep my pace easy and unlike last year I just wanted to make it to mile one before stopping. I was trying to go slow but I was running  a 7:30 pace so I really had to focus on slowing down. I made it to mile 1 and felt good. My thought was. Mission accomplished. I set out to do better than last year and so far so good. My next goal was to finish the run and minimize walking. After the first of 3 loops I felt pretty good once I got my legs and my only thoughts were stay hydrated and keep it easy so we can finish. I got to mile 10 and was entering unknown territory. I saw team mate Robert Morales and he helped motivate and pace me. He was moving at a pretty good clip so I just wanted to keep him in sight. We met up at the next aid station and ran together. I was really starting to hurt when Robert asked me what my time goal was. I said I just wanted to finish in the same run time I did last year. Then he asked what is that. I said 2hrs., so I only have 2 and half minutes to get there. I don’t think it is going to happen. Robert said “well lets go get it”. He pushed me to the finish and I was able to muster up the strength I didn’t think I had in me and sprinted to the finish. Run time, 2:00:00 on the dot. Thanks for the motivation Robert. I would have just cruised in without your encouragement. 

Considering the set back I had and a less than perfect swim, I was very happy with my results. I put every bit of effort I had into that race and I could not have gone any faster. I took a gamble and trusted in my training to go hard when I could and it paid off. Even though my placement wasn’t what I wished it to be, that was the best my body had to give on that day and I can’t ask for anything more. To me, pushing your limits and giving all you have deserves a gold medal effort regardless of your standings.  Thanks to my family who made the trip to watch my race and Jeff for helping set up and break down our team tent. It was motivating to know I would see you all every time I turned that corner. Next year I will dominate that swim.

E2MULTISPORTS RACING: Benefit of the Long Training Day.

E2MULTISPORTS RACING: Benefit of the Long Training Day.: I was just talking to an athlete about the importance of the "long days". This athlete said they do a long 2000 -4000 meter swim ...

Benefit of the Long Training Day.

I was just talking to an athlete about the importance of the "long days". This athlete said they do a long 2000 -4000 meter swim every time they hop in the pool. I knew the answer but I asked anyway."Why?" The answer is always, "that is the distance I have to cover and I have to know that it can be done without stopping."

You don't get faster at that distance by doing that distance all the time. You get faster by doing interval work. You wouldn't go out and ride 112 miles every weekend and try to do it faster every time. That is a recipe for disaster. Besides, who has that kind of time to devote to training? Not to mention that it would get really boring. Good luck trying to find friends who will train with you once you tell them what you are doing. I understand the logic. This sport is about endurance but you get faster by training the anaerobic system. This is why your coach will put interval efforts in your bike or run workouts. The swim is no different. Instead of doing 2000 meters at an aerobic pace, it would be more productive to break that into segments of 100s or 200s with short rest periods between sets. The increased intensity taxes your anaerobic energy system. Over time this stimulus elicits a response and a physiological adaptation occurs. This translates into a faster athlete. Moreover you are able to swim with better form because of the rest between sets. Swimming hard gives you a different "feel" for the water. It is this feel that you want to become acquainted with. The body has a way of breaking form when fatigued and these imbalance are never more present than when speed is introduced. It is for this reason that maintaining proper form is vitally important. When doing sets of 100's the break in form can often times be indicated by slower splits. Teaching yourself to hold your form during hard workouts equals a faster and easier swim on race day. 

Now on to the mental training. When you are swimming you are in some ways isolated from the rest of the world. Going long gives you lots of time to think, let your mind wonder, or doubt yourself. Anyone who has done an Ironman race can tell you it is very much mental. Doing long days can give you the mental toughness you need throughout the day.

Mental Breakdown: No, not that kind of mental break down. Doing a long day in the pool or in the saddle gives you the confidence of know you can do the distance. It also give you the ability to break the race down into manageable segments. Think of splitting your race into two or four 1000 meter segments instead of 2 or 4000 meters. Or on the bike think of splitting into segments of aid stations. Give yourself mini goals within the race. An example is: I want to be (X) distance by (Y) time then take a little break. I personally like to break the bike course up into four distances or segments. I study the course and think of racing each part as a mini race within the race. Before you know it you are rounding the corner into T2. This strategy can help turn a herculean task into another day at the office.

Know you limiters: This touches on the previous topic of form. Speed and fatigue enhance all of our biomechanical flaws. After doing straight sets or long rides you walk away with the knowledge of when your form begins  to break down. For example you may notice that after  2000 meters your pull begins to get deeper or you start to pull across your body and lift your head. Or after 50 miles you always become dehydrated or start to lose focus and mash the pedals. Knowing this helps in a race because now you know at that moment, you need to focus on those parts of your stroke or getting in extra fluids before you become dehydrated and focus on your pedal stroke. Constantly taking this mental inventory will keep your mind from wondering you will stay focused on your race.

 Mental Game: Any athlete that has completed an Ironman race can tell you that there are "dark" moments. There are many miles to doubt your ability and wonder why you are doing this. This is especially true when unexpected events arise and put out on the course longer than expected. This can throw your entire race plan out the door. If you were planning on riding a 5:40 bike split and now you are looking at doing a 6:45, you have to re-calculate your nutritional needs. This is where going long pays dividends. If you have done training rides of six hours plus you at least know what it feels like and you don't panic. Well, you might panic a little, but then you regroup and draw on your train history to come up with an impromptu contingency plan. Not you mention that you will have trained your body to stay in the saddle for an inhuman amount of time.

The take home message is that while straight set or super long  epic rides have their place they shouldn't be the bread and butter of your training plan. Like with all things there needs to be balance. Not only a physical balance but mental as well. Doing the long dreaded days builds your mental psyche and can be the difference between a bad race and a stellar performance. 

Vo2 Testing For Endurance Athletes

A question I get from athletes is whether or not they need testing and how important is it. My answer is yes and very. 

Testing establishes a baseline in which to build your training program. If you don’t know where you are, how do you know where you are going. Think of testing as a road map. 

Then next question is, do I need to get in shape before I do a test. The answer is no. In fact it is better if you are not. This way it gives your coach and the person conduction the test a true measure and more accurate description of your fitness, or lack thereof.

There are several types of test. One test and the most common is a field test where you would do a time trial for a specific distance or time. This is the most popular because it is the easiest to administer. The coach or tester can then extrapolate the data needed and design your training plan based on the results. This type of test can also be done for each discipline. Your heart rate will vary by sport due to several factors, some of them being your hearts orientation to gravity or your training history. For this reason field testing is more specific to each individual sport.

Another type of testing is Vo2 testing. This type of test is usually done on a treadmill but can also be done for the bike. It measures your body’s gas exchange between oxygen(O2) and Carbon dioxide (CO2). The administrator can find the point at which your body stops becoming efficient at fat oxidation and shifts over to burning carbohydrates as a fuel source. This test is a more scientific approach and is not distorted by outside influences such as heat, humidity, wind, terrain, etc. The data points are a direct result of your body’s work. Using this data you can apply a training plan to teach your body to utilize fat as a fuel source at higher levels of intensity, thus impacting your performance.

VO2 testing does require equipment and an administrator. For this reason the cost can sometimes influence ones decision to pick one test over another. But remember that you get what you pay for. Sure you can do field test on your own. But if you are not familiar with the protocols or not motivated to push yourself to your limit then the numbers will be skewed.

Without testing or some kind of measure you can not know how your body is responding to your training.  Without a proper stimulus to training your body can not make adaptations in order to keep progressing your race fitness. If your are not training in a specific zone in order to impact your race results you are essentially just exercising.  There is nothing wrong with that, but if you are serious about your training and racing, you should be tested in order to make your training more productive. If you are interested in training being tested check out our website at E2MULTISPORTS.COM, give us a call 512-808-0019, send an email at coach@e2multisports.com, or just stop by our studio at Core Personal Fitness to schedule your Test. We have all the latest equipment needed to test you and an expert to administer the test. Meet our test administrator Amanda McIntosh. A world renowned endurance athlete with experience and awards for every endurance event on the planet. Enhance your Endurance with E2Multisports.

Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3

This year BSLT 70.3 was a way for me to try and redeem myself from Ironman Texas. Since I really didn’t race IMTX. my recovery was fairly quick as far as soreness. Because I raced while ill had lingering fatigue for almost 10 days after. Going into the next weekend I felt okay.  I had a pretty good built and was starting to regain some of the power in my legs that I lost. I still was not happy with the power numbers I was putting up but at least they were getting closer to where I wanted them. My run was getting better.  Life gets in the way and I was not able to get any long runs in. My brick runs felt good and I made the most of my short amount of training time. The one area I did feel good about was my swim.  After a bad week that I attribute to fatigue from IMTX, I was started to feel as good about my swim as I did going into IMTX

The RoadTrip

It is a long boring drive from San Antonio to Lubbock, Texas. It is especially so if you are driving alone. Throw in alot  of caffeine and you have yourself a 7 hour trip. I can now tell you every convenient store there is on HWY 87 and which ones are the cleanest. (Do NOT stop in Lamesa. EVER!)

Prep and Recon

The Recon

The day before a race I usually like to go out for a swim as close to race time as possible. This way I can get a feel for the water temps and location of the sun. On this day there was a sprint and kids tri going on so Rob and I were were unable to get in the lake until it was over.  As we waited I felt like I was in a scene from the movie Twister.  We watched a storm roll in. It picked up all the red dirt and pushed it like a tidal wave with thunder, lightening, and driving rain following close behind. All I could think is those poor athletes are stuck out there on the course and the officials started to pull them of the course and bring them in. I would have offered to help but I didn’t want to get wet. 

As the storm passed we finally got a chance to swim and the water was perfect for a wetsuit swim.

Final Tune up.

Just before dinner most of us decided to take the rigs on a final spin to make sure all gears are in working order. I think the dry climate finally got to me.  As I finished my 1 block spin I turned to a fellow athlete and said My legs are starting to cramp and feel very fatigue for a half mile spin. I was hoping I just wasn’t warmed up.

I told myself to just stay hydrated and I would be fine come race day.

Race Day

Wake up call 4:15am. time to eat. This is the first time I have done a race and stayed with several other athletes. It was interesting and amusing to see everyone’s different race day meal rituals. 5 athletes and 5 different meals. After breakfast we checked the forecast and it was raining and 68. It might be a decent day for a race. Getting to race wasn’t too bad. Packed my things, got body marked and went to find my bike rack. I was sitting on the second row next to the Pro’s. That was pretty cool. I think my team actually had a better spot than the pro’s. We were right next to the bike exit. Literally about 15 feet away from the exit. 

PR Swim 33:01 

Swim

This swim is a beach start. This start has a very shallow bay like area that allows for a good bit of walking or running. I did the calculations and you can easily gain one or two minutes in this race due to this aspect. 

I knew is was a bit more shallow to the right so I lined myself up as far right as the officials allowed. I started at the front and did my best to stay with the leaders. I typically takes me a little longer to warm up than most people so I knew my fast start wasn’t going to last long. I made the first turn and started to fall back. I decided to stay far to the right out of traffic and swim my own race. I got relaxed and was able to pick up my pace. Something to note if you are thinking of doing this race. You will be swimming directly into the sun for about 400 meters. This makes it very hard to site if you do not have mirrored or dark tinted goggles. Because the water is very murky I used clear goggles. As chose to just follow the general direction of the large that was in front of me until I got to where I could see the next turn buoy. Rookie mistake. Don’t assume others are siting correctly. Turns out this group was swimming WAY  inside the bouy. I essentially swam in a zig zag. I knew I had to make up some time so I pushed my pace a little more. I felt good so I kept my pace. I was catching the two groups that started 5 and 10 minutes ahead of me. Before I know it I was nearing the final turn. I felt good and picked up my pace and increased my kick. Maybe I kicked a little too much because I was beginning to feel soreness setting in my legs.  I exit the water and look at my watch. 33:01 PR by 2 minutes and 6 minutes faster than my 70.3 in April. I was so ecstatic I forgot to stop for the strippers. I went back to get help taking off my wetsuit.

T1
 I ran up to my bike and saw fellow teammates. I was still excited about my swim and I forgot to put on my socks but didn't realize it until I was already starting up the first hill. This was my first time to go this distance without socks. I am too far committed to stop and go back for socks, besides, I don't think they will let you go back into transition. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me. I made my way up the first hill and my legs were already sore for some unexplained reason so I just kept it easy and pushed as hard as I could without cramping up. I handled all the hills pretty well. I would have to say that the cross wind was my biggest challenge and where I lost most of my time. Being conservative was a good call I was able to push my pace the last 15 miles into the park at 23-25mph. Then I just died before making the last turn to the dam. That last climb before T2 killed me. 

T2
I dismounted and took about 10 steps and I was racking my bike. Sweet! Since I gained so much time due to my rack position I thought I would use the extra time to put on my compression socks. I headed out of T2 and was holding a 7min. pace. But wanted to run the first mile or two at 9ish and then pick it up. I was feeling good but didn’t want to risk bonking in the last miles.

 I forced myself to walk and get my heart rate and pace down. Heading out of the park I started to get my running legs and let fly. Run was going pretty good at this point. This run doesn’t have much shade after you exit the park. Then you turn into the energy lab and there is nothing to protect you from the sun. This is where I wanted to make my move. I started to increase my pace every two minutes. I was dumping as much water and ice as I could at each aid station. I started to get a blister from my feet staying wet. I said to hold your pace until the turn around and then I could stop and put vasoline on my feet. Another lesson I learned. It is really hard to take off compressions socks when you are wet, sweaty, and tired. It is even harder to put them back on. I think I lost almost 10 minutes at that aid station.  Once I stood up I felt like everything just shut down. I tried to make up my lost time by running a hard pace and hoping my body adjust. This pace only lasted about 1 mile. The wheels fell off at this point and I just wanted to continue a motion that resembled a run. I felt that I could catch most of the pack I was running with but as the miles tick off this was proving to be a much hard task than I was anticipating. Turning into the park I was in the  hurt box but needed to at least keep running in order catch my group. I started to reel in a few people but I was hurting. 1 mile to go.  I told myself “You can go 1 hard mile. You do it all the time and it will be over before you know it.” 

I finished with the second slowest bike and run split for this distance. Overall it was a slower than average race for me. I knew I was lacking in my run training and it was going to hurt but I could not predict this kind of suffering. I spent my run training improving my swim so I traded one for the other and there needs to be a balance. Back to work and don’t neglect the other portions of the race. To finish on a light note, because of some stellar performance by the rest of the team E2MULTISPORTS took first place in the Ironman triclub competition. Way to go Team I will see you all at the next start line.