I

IRONMAN ARIZONA - November 17, 2013

09:25:24 (swim 1:00, bike 4:46, run 3:32)
5th in 30-34 age group and 68th overall

I have heard over and over that Ironman is all mental toughness and that never felt more true than on race day.

In the end I fell short of qualifying for Kona by 95 seconds. This year there were only 3 spots in my age group.  Really sucks for the guy in 4th place. Just gotta go faster!

Although missing a Kona spot is disappointing I still feel proud of my effort.  There is always room for improvement and I'll keep chasing the Hawaii dream...after I have refueled with Thanksgiving goodness.

Swim 1:00:56  (~5 min faster than 2012)

Blue Seventy Helix 2nd generation, B70 Vision grey lens  (baby shampoo rinse)

Lined up 2nd row middle

Went out hard breathing every 6th stroke

Got some distance from the mob fairly quickly and it was easy to get in a groove of breathing every 3rd stroke

Older wetsuit felt great.  I have heard they "dont break in" but the new suits I have tried are not anywhere near as flex

T1 3:45 (~2 min faster than 2012)

Bike 4:46:39 (~4 min faster than 2012)
Cervelo P5-6
Front  Zipp 404 with 23mm Conti GP4000s and latex tube @100-105 psi, rear Zipp super 9   23mm Conti GP4000s and latex tube @105-110 psi 
Aerobar bottle holder, rear bottle holder 
Flat kit in bag between seat and rear bottle

extra tube under seat

Goal NP was 235 and I was considering this "holding back"

Lap1 went well  maybe slightly overbiked 

AP240 NP242 HR145

Lap2 AP222 NP224 HR148

Started having trouble taking in my nutrition 

I didn't start to drink Perform sports drink till lap2 because in IMC It made me feel crazy bloated.  I Still think this was a good idea to hold off on the Perform but need to focus on taking in more gels.  They sit better for me.

Lap3 AP203 NP207 HR149

Pee break down the hill (do everything while moving)

The wind picked up and my HR was going up and up

Decided to pull back on the power and try to get my HR down so I could take in more nutrition.  The higher my HR the tougher it is for me to digest gels and energy drinks.  By slowing down on lap3 I was trying to prevent a bonk early on the run

Power Avg 223 
NP 227
HR Avg 147
Cad Avg 89











T2 1:22 (~same as 2012)

Run  3:32:42 (~9 min faster than 2012)
Newton Distance w socks and silk dust 

Was aiming for a 3:20 at a 7:35ish pace

Miles 1-9 went surprisingly well and I was believing in my plan to take the last part of the bike easy.

Seeing my mom near mile 4 gave me a big boost then when I came up to mile 5 someone shouted out, "You're first in your age group!"

I made a strong effort to keep my pace near 7:35 despite feeling really frisky but as the run progressed my HR started to drop into the 140s and taking in coke became harder and harder.  I was bonking and was convinced my day was over. The pace bottomed out at 9:10 at mile 16. I was puking up bits of the sole bonk bar I ate 3 hours earlier on the bike in hopes of getting some dense calories. Shortly after making room in my stomach I came up to my mom again wich gave me a little lift but I was still struggling. As I came up to the TirForce aid station I saw Kevin Coady, the Man, the Legend. He screamed words of encouragement, "you're doing awesome just don't stop!"  Such simple words yet they were 100% spot on.  I was doing awesome and all I needed to do was keep going.  As far as I knew only one AGer passed me (in reality it was 4) so I said to myself "I'm not out of this yet. Keep taking punches and push on forward. They are going to have to rip this from my dead hands."  I forced down coke when I could and gradually tried to pull back some time without going over the edge. As much I as wanted to go sub 7 that last mile I had nothing more to give.

Crossing the finish line was awesome, but I could not help but feel disappointed in my run. I fought back but it was more like I was trying to just survive rather than hunting like a champion.  From now on I want to hunt like a champion!

Pace 8:07 
HR Avg 153
Cad Avg 96 

Splits

1	7:17.9
2	7:38.8
3	7:34.8
4	7:36.7
5	7:37.4
6	7:37.6
7	7:35.7
8	7:38.9
9	7:42.0
10	8:02.8
11	7:58.9
12	8:30.8
13	8:28.2
14	8:32.5
15	8:48.7
16	9:10.4
17	8:41.0
18	8:29.8
19	8:37.5
20	8:23.6
21	8:20.4
22	8:19.3
23	8:26.6
24	8:06.5
25	8:17.1
26	7:52.8

Total Time 9:25:24

Vineman 70.3 2013

Good lead up going into Vineman despite 6 weddings in 2 months (big workout weekends were off the table)
Started taper about 10 days out and did a good race prep brick Monday of race week (Race was on Sunday so still 6 days out)

Decent swim volume however my interval times seemed to be slow- endurance got better with Paddle work in the last 2 weeks

Bike miles way down to make room for running but focussed on  getting in 2 key workouts a week (FTH & HIM paced efforts) 

Month of running focused on speed work mixed in with moderate milage

Pre-race Dinner

Pizza with egg on it

Avoided salad

Dessert blueberry muffin

Bfast

1 ensure (350 Cal)

1 bagel (not toasted, no spread)

1 Starbucks mocha double shot expresso can (200 cal)

1 expresso love gel 10 min pre swim

Swim 31:27

BS Helix (3rd gen)/Aquasphere grey lens with baby shampoo

Disappointed with swim

Knew just before turnaround that I was off my goal of sub 30

Thought  "dont panic"  hold your pace rather than try to make up time in the water.  Make it up by having a good bike/run

*25/205AG when in 2011 very similar time got me 50/213AG (maybe swim was a bit long?)

T1 2:51

Started with arm sleeves on

Might be too tight and decrease feel of water on arms (but saves time in T1)

Not sure best approach

Started with shoes on per new rule. Biked up hill out of T1 (people were falling all over the place

Bike 2:18:20 (Avg Speed 24.1)

Same bike set up as IMAZ 2012 (with following upgrades: Di2, DA SRM, HED armrests- narrower, Keo Aero-Blades)

Avg Power 257 (NP 264)

Avg HR 152

Avg Cad 87

Steady effort from the start

Was aiming for around NP280 (which was no problem in training)

Also aiming for 2:20 bike. Got it!  Love to see what 280NP would give me

Lots of passing might have brought power down

Kept it steady on hills and kept in TT position almost entire ride

Gel q15min

1.5 bottles of Gatorade

1 bottle water

Zip tie on bottle cage broke- might be good to go back to velcro

T2 2:09

Sat down to get on socks and shoes

Cooler for cold Coke (flatted with blender)

Run 1:29:49 (avg 6:51)

Aiming for 1:30 run. Got it!

Struggled more on the back half but kept it together

"Keep the legs moving- Flow like water"

Avg HR 170

Avg Cad 99

Splits

1- 6:23

2- 6:27

3- 6:36

4- 6:53

5- 6:52

6-6:46

7- 6:49

8- 7:05

9- 7:07

10- 7:18

11- 7:08

12- 7:16

13- 6:57

Gel about every 2.5 miles or about every 20min

1.75 bottles coke

Total

4:24:23

6/205AG

Got offered a spot for  the 70.3 Championships in Vegas but declined
Given it's only 2 weeks after IMCA I do not think it's a realistic goal to race well.  
I'm going to Focus on giving a good effort to get to the Kona start line 

Keys to Race

#1 Nutrition and plan!  

WT 178 race week!!!!!!!!!!!! Loving veggie juicing, brown rice, no soda (other than running coke) This needs an entire post alone!

No supplements other than one scoop of protein after very very hard efforts. 
I love this!  Why put that crap in your body

Plan was the key to this race!!

Trained with Gels q15 in hard workouts on bike

Need to train with coke on run

#2 Speed work running

Consistent well executed speed sessions once a week for 4-5 weeks

Backed off bike miles to focus on running

Although I bike hard during the race my NP was 15watts below my goal and my run was a 5 min PR. (dont think taking it easier on the bike is ticket to faster time from this race)

#3 Rest

Smart training taper while keeping swimming up (might of accounted for sluggish arms on swim?)

Got good sleep race week

Rested overall more than in the past

#4 Bike

Race specific and FTH sessions.

Work to do

#1 Run speed

Great improvements in running by adding speed but still have a way to go to keep up with the skinny speedsters.  Keep up the good work

#2 Nutrition plays a key role. Practice race approach including coke

Keep moving in the right direction with wt and body composition

#3 Swimming!  100s and PwP

After trying out Tower 26 seems 100s and PwP is the best use of time for good results.  Swimming is still my weakness but the run is a priority at this time.  

#4 Endurance biking

Time to get some long rides in

DNS @ IMLC and wt watching

IMLC DNS

So close yet so far.

With just over one week to IMLC I caught a URI.

With 6 days to go I woke up with what felt like PNA prompting me to start abx and pull the plug on the race.

Training was nearly spot on with a wonderful build and terrific peaking!  I stayed healthy throughout the winter despite be surrounded by URIs

Did a 5hr ride that surpassed my IMAZ bike numbers with a HR 10 BMP lower than similar long rides.

The swim build was a bit low on volume but threw down some of my fastest intervals to date.

Overall in past few months I set training best with 5hr ride power avg 221, and 30x100 interval @76, Ran 3 weeks in a row >40mls

Watching the race lit a new fire in me!

I would like to think I had what it took to qualify for Kona however the bike elevation was 6x IMAZ.   If I was racing AZ then if I had what it took and then some, but this was different.

Hills and heat kill big men.

My wt came down nicely to 179lbs 8 days out, but here lies the elephant in the room.  I am a big guy!

IF I want to race fast I need to loose wt!  Loosing body fat will get me so far however it will not me the entire way there.

The plan

170!!!

Sounds crazy, however...

It is possible!!!

March 2012 I got down to 176.  Not that far off.

No Coke

Stopped drinking coke and the wt seemed much easier to control

Less Protein

I consume a lrg amount of protein.  Cut down from 2 scoops to 1 and (only after very demanding workouts where recovery for the next day is key)

Lots of veggies

This is nothing new and I think with the above improvements my regular diet but consuming less overall will get me there.