Montreal Esprit Half Ironman – 6 minute PR and ran out of my head!!

How do we find meaning in endeavors that can ultimately crush or heighten you? This is something I have been trying to get my head around while bouncing back from Ironman Lake Placid. What I have come to grips with this year is that anything can happen ---especially with ironman and the training that accompanies it. I have learned that my results don’t define me and that the more I give back to my sport the better I can bounce back from disappointment. I have learned the importance of deep tissue massage in noticing problem areas before they become full blown injuries. I have learned that humility is what keeps you honest and at the same time can push the inner drive to take things to the next level. Racing informs me of the naked truth about where my fitness is. There is no guessing, no estimating, just plain old fashioned truth. Race day reveals a truth that force feeds humility and keeps one honest.

This race report is dedicated to my wife – Lindsay and my family- mom, dad, Karen, Brian, Megan, Ben, Matt, Scott, Colin, and Kai. You guys have so supportive of me and my racing---thank you.

I also want to thank my coach, Jesse Kropelnicki and my sports chiropractor Dr Keith.

The Montreal triathlon festival is truly a unique event among triathlons. Staged at the Olympic rowing basin (where we swim) and formula 1 race car track (where we ride) it stands on its own as far as triathlon courses go. It is also very well organized.

The swim was a very physical 1.2 miles and I was about where I thought I would be---pretty far back. After Lake Placid my swim training just simply wasn’t happening at the level it had been. I was only swimming about 2-3 times a week and probably barely getting 4000 yards a week. I was just burned out on swim training. Anyhow quick transition and off to the bike.

I was really moving on the bike course but remembered that my coach had told me to back off a bit on the bike from my usual go all out pace. I was riding well within myself and still averaging about 25 mph!!! This course is just ridiculously fast. My left glute issue seemed to be making a visit and I had to back off a bit to stretch it periodically. This is the one post Lake Placid injury that I still don’t have a good handle on. Anyhow I nailed my nutrition and hydration (although I did one less bottle than normal but it was very cool temps for the bike so sweat rate was low). This was the 5th or 6th long distance race in a row where I had no GI issues what so ever. The race fueling plan that Jesse at QT2systems did has been invaluable. All of my races this year were properly fueled and race fueling appears to no longer be a limiter for me.

I got off the bike with a 2:11 bike split!! And at 2:44 cumulative time.

Onto the run, I didn’t run like a bat out of hell through T2 but rather just relaxed through it and tried to get my body fully upright and get my form dialed back in after being super hunched over for 2 plus hours. Once my form was dialed, I felt amazing. Every stride just felt better and better. I was really moving, holding somewhere around 6:30 pace. I have never felt like this in a half iron run. I was flying, pulling people back almost constantly. I really tried to savor the last lap of the run as I knew this was my last triathlon for the season and I was feeling so good. I hit the finish with a 4:11:55 which is a 6 minute personal best!!! My run split was also a PR with a 1:25:32. I still can’t believe I ran that fast. I have wanted to run this fast in a half ironman for a very long time. I’m so psyched right now. This also gives me some good momentum for the Leaf Peeper’s half marathon and the Cape Cod Marathon.

Thanks for reading!!!
results can be found here:
http://sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=44022

Vermont Sun Half Iron - 2nd Overall!!

Hi to anyone reading this. I really thought people didn't read this stuff until several people said hey John you haven't updated your blog in a while. So here I am first race back after the Lake Placid nightmare. I have a very hard time bouncing back from bad races particularly if it was an Ironman which (as an age grouper) you have to put all your eggs in one basket. I've been rehabbing my injuries (plantar fascitis and a groin strain) and had a handful of pain free runs prior to racing this half iron. I want to throw a shout out to Donna Smyers my PT and Dr keith my chiro for getting me back on track!!

The goal coming into this race was to simply race pain free, have fun and get back into my routine of racing. The venue at VT Sun is a very special place for me and my wife as that is where we met 8 years ago. We also had our legal wedding there (at Branbury State Park) with a JOP followed by the actual wedding a year later at Breadloaf.

Pre race festivities involved hanging out with some of my favorite people (Pat Berry and Brook Jette and the kids Quinn and Willam). I also got to jam out to some very good sound quality Grateful Dead. It's all I've been listening to lately. Anyhow back to the race.

Swim start-- thrashing chaos I was right in the mix after the first turn buoy. My only mistake on the whole day was missing the front swim group in the first 400 yards. There was 6 or 7 guys that I know I could have got on their feet had I swam harder in that first section. Instead I got dropped and was in no man's land until I found some feet to get on. Those feet ended up swimming all over the place too so I would let him veer off and then he would come back. I would say it was an OK swim considering my swim volume has been down.

Onto the bike I was probably in around 10th or so in that first wave. I started hammering the bike right away. I caught several people pretty quickly. About halfway through the first lap I moved into about 4th by the end of the first lap I was in the lead. I led for 5-10 miles and got caught by Dave Connery who was smoking the bike course. This guy is a Cat 2 cyclist and was riding super strong. I actually decided to try and ride with him for a while. I rode 4 bike lengths beihind Dave for about 20 minutes or so and decided I didn't need to ride that hard so I let him go. I actually felt great but knew if I wanted to have a strong run I should back off. Dave got off the bike around minute to 1:30 ahead of me. Bike split was around 2:28 which I was surprised. The course is fast but I thought it was actually a faster course (I was thinking around a 2:23 ish course for me). Those rollers really slowed your speed quite a bit.

Here's a pic of me on the bike
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=mgy44&gallery_id=1240116&image_id=37


On the run I moved back into the lead around mile 3 and then shortly thereafter was caught by Peter Konecny from Ottawa Ont. This guy was flying holding around 6:30s and I just couldn't hang with him. I actually felt strong considering my run mileage has been very low. This run course was extremely tough with a climb around mile 4 which was a headwall and about 1/2 mile long. We hit another tough climb before the turnaround as well. I would say it was one of the toughest run courses I've ever run.


Overall I had a great experience and am very happy to have raced again. I know my fitness isn't where it was in June but I executed very well. I nailed my fueling and hydration which I am really happy about, I had no cramping or stomach problems at all.

Here's a link to the results -

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/08/vt/Aug23_Vermon_set1.shtml



Next up--- 5k race this weekend, Montreal Esprit Half ironman on Sept 13, Leaf peeper's half marathon on Oct 5th and possibly a late fall marathon

Don't let 'em take the fight out of you

I just heard this song by Ben Harper and it kind of sums up where I'm at right now. I have a hard bouncing back from bad races when it's a one shot deal. There's really no other chance to qualify for Hawaii as an age group athlete right now because all the races are full. This is one of the reasons I want to race as a pro (among many). As a pro you don't have to put all your eggs in one basket like an age grouper. Pros can register for a race whenever they want even when the race is full and it can even happen on race week!! Anyhow I'm looking forward to making use of the fitness I built up and do some half irons and oly dist races.

Don't let 'em take the fight out of you.

The other side of Ironman racing--Post Ironman Lake Placid 2008

This is all I got right now. it is really just a venting of disappointment. I want to be positive but this is the other side of what can happen in ironman racing even if you do everything perfectly. I am happy that I finished this race though and toughed it out to the finish.

I did everything right. I got in my early morning swims. I got in countless rides over 100 miles. I ran 35-50 miles a week all winter. I ate right and slept a lot. I was lean, fit and strong. I corrected previous mistakes. I had my race fueling dialed in and I practiced it day and day out for almost a year. I sacrificed and I sacrificed some more. I lived ate and breathed ironman training for the last 7 months. I put my wife through hell while training for this and for what? I had my race plan dialed in and all I needed to do was execute. I executed my plan perfectly on race day. How could things turn out so badly? Where did I go wrong? Why am I cursed at Lake Placid? I don’t why I do this to myself over and over. I worked so hard only to have it crumble in front of my eyes on race day. I don’t know what I did wrong. Should I have taken some more time off when my groin pull bothered me in February? Or when that heel issue came up, should I have stopped running for a while? I went to my chiro guy every week and had the knots worked on. I constantly worked on my own trigger points and stretching. Why was I in so much pain on race day? Why did this happen? Was it the cold weather? All that hard work and it didn’t amount to anything, I feel like quitting this sport. I can’t believe how much I put Lindsay through as well as my family while training for this. I wanted to go to Hawaii so badly it burned my blood.

I will come out of this a better athlete. I will learn from this and continue to move toward my dreams.

Perspective

I just wanted to post something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. It's something that I seem to always come back to but get easily off track. It's perspective. Just the mere fact that I and my fellow triathletes can participate in this great sport is a gift all on it's own. Just the fact that our basic needs are being met to the point that we can actually focus on somthing as luxurious as getting fit and fast. This is something I am truly thankful for. How the hell am I so lucky that I can do this stuff? There are people who don't know how they will get their next meal or where they are going to sleep tonight or that just lost a loved one. I admit that I often go down a road of laser focus with blinders on while I train like crazy. When I'm in this mode it's easy to lose site of the big picture and get hung up on small challenges and hurdles. I would like to get better at balancing the laser focus with the above perspective which yields a ton of gratitude.

I also want to give thanks to-

My family for being awesome and working through challenges together
My wife for putting up with me when I get that laser focus and don't hold up my end of the deal (i.e., being a dead beat husband)
The people around me who try to act from the heart in a world of bureacracy
The people that are trying to help our planet even at the smallest act of just trying to drive less.
This could go on all day.


Stream of consciousness over now

IM Florida 70.3 Race Report

The week leading into this race was totally crazy with Lindsay not sure if she was going to race because her sister hadn’t had her baby yet. Well all the stars aligned and the timing was perfect. Meghan had the baby which is now no longer called “Spawn” but Bridget and Lindsay was able to see Bridget and still do the race. We flew out together on Friday and crashed with some GMM tri friends from Vermont while down there which made it a lot more fun.

Race morning

I had my QT2 systems breakfast at around 4:20 for the 7:20 start. Applesauce, banana, bottle sport drink, and scoop of whey protein and some Starbucks. I was ready to rock. This race was huge with a transition area that seemed to be about a half mile long …crazy. My wave was second to last ---I wasn’t too happy about that as I hate going late like that mostly because you don’t really know where your competitors are. This was a non wetsuit swim as well. The gun goes off and I quickly found a nice set of feet to sit on. I was moving pretty good and tried to pass but I couldn’t get past him so I just stayed on his feet. I actually felt very comfortable probably too comfortable but I kept trying to see if I could get past him and I couldn’t so I knew I was moving at a good pace. I got out of the water in around 33 minutes which is way slower than my PR but I had anticipated this and knew the swim times would be slower on the day with out the wetsuit. I later realized that it really was a solid swim relative to my competitors. I used the new Xterra velocity speed suit----thanks Xterra!!!

I went as fast as I could through transition and saw lots of bikes still on my rack (all people who started in my wave or ahead of me) which is a good sign.

Bike

I was absolutely hammering the bike and feeling great, I’d look down and be going 26 mph and feeling super comfortable. I was flying. It was a constant stream of bikers out on the road and I was passing people for the whole 56. There was only one guy that I yo yo’d with for a lot of the bike who started in my wave and went on to be second in my age group and one of the top amateurs. I hit the 25 mile mark in 59:xx. Booyah!!!! I was cranking. I held a little over 25 mph avg speed until around 50 miles or so when I started getting a cramp in my left quad. The only mistake I made on the day was not drinking the 4.5 bottles recommended and only drank 3. Even though felt like I was drinking constantly –I just need to drink more (majority of my electrolytes come through my sport drink). The last 5-6 miles I had to back off because of my quad so I lost a bit of time the last few miles. I got off the bike in around 2:19 and my bike was the only one on the rack---that’s really cool.

Run

It was already crazy hot and humid. My quad was locking up/cramping pretty bad, I kneeled down to try and get it to release. I took 2 salt tabs (thermotabs) and kept saying “release” while I was running through the locked up quad---definitely some pain going on here. HTFU was repeated several times. In fact the whole run needed a pretty constant stream of HTFU’s because it was just brutal. No shade, 90 degrees, humid, lots of people were walking. After the first mile my quad released and I tried to get the tempo up. I hit the first few miles in 6:30-6:40 then struggled to hold 7s. The heat and the grass just made it hard to really stay light and fast. Half the course was on grass in kind of open field area that we did an out and back part of 3 loops. It was brutal. I got into bike racer mentality and decided that most people were suffering the most on the grass section so this was the section I would work the hardest. I really really suffered through those sections and then cruised the pavement section and went back to pushing the grass section each lap. Apparently I caught more people overall and in my age group on the run---that’s very cool as I usually lose a few spots on the run. Run times were slow with the heat and grass. I was around 1:34.

Finish was super satisfying, there really is nothing like finishing a long race after putting in your best effort. It was the kind of effort that I felt like if someone went faster than me on the day then my hat goes off to them because I was hammering and racing strong. I came in at 4:31. It wasn’t the time I was hoping for or near my PR but relative to my competitors it was solid.

I ended up 4th in my age group out of 254 and 30th overall out of around 2000. I was also 16th amateur. I am definitely happy with this result. I’ve never finished this far up at a big M-dot race. I want to thank my coach Jesse at QT2 systems for helping get this strong.

Lindsay also had a solid day in her second half ironman ever. She was 12th in her age group out of 86.

Green Mountain Triathlon Race Report

I raced the Green Mtn triathlon yesterday (5/4/08)in the Rutland area and got my first victory of the season! This was a low key pool triathlon put on at Green Mtn College by the adventure program students. It was very well organized and had great volunteers as well---thanks guys. Lindsay and I did this race back in 2002 but the course was different this year. Lindsay by the way decided to train this weekend instead of race as her masters program had dug into some of her training time over the last couple of weeks. The weather this past weekend had been pretty bad---cold and rainy. I almost didn't do the race. I was at the end of a recovery week so the timing was perfect to get in a race specific workout. I'm about 2 weeks out from the Florida 70.3 (half ironman). 2 weeks out from a half iron is excellent timing to get in some sharpening from a high intensity effort. When I got to the race site and checked in I saw a friend/competitor Paul Fronhofer from Ney York. Paul and I have raced together several times and we duke it out pretty closely on the bike. He is a very strong cyclist posting one of the fastest bike splits last year at Ironman Lake Placid. I think he went around 5:10 or so. Anyhow I greeted him and said "so we're gonna duke it today eh?" He said he was only doing the swim and bike because he had a fracture in his foot and can't run right now. I hope he heals up well. He mentioned a guy named Pat O'keefe would be here who won Lake George triathlon last year. Paul said Pat would swim about a 5 min 500 yard swim, wow that is crazy fast. Pat apparently was a division I swimmer in college. He was second out the water last year Ironman Lake Placid with a 47 min swim!!! Sick! I was actually relieved though that there were some strong guys here to really race it with. The head to head compettion is one of the things I love about this sport and I was going to get a chance as Paul, Pat and I would start near each other on the swim. The faster swimmers went last and each person had their own lane and there was maybe 50 or so people total and only 5 lanes. We were able to start the race around 10:40 or so. Paul ended up starting a few minutes ahead of me but Pat and I got to start at the same time which I was psyched about as he was my key competition on the day (but I was also competing with Paul on the swim and bike). We start and Pat is absolutely flying 2 lanes down from me. I think he lapped me once. I knew the lap counters were off when I hit the 250yard point and they didn't put in the half way card, they did on the next 50. I wasn't too happy about this but just shook it off. I hit 500 per my count at 6:20 but did the extra 50 anyway. I got out in 7:00. I knew this was off because all winter I was hitting 6:30 and 6:40s for 500 splits in my 800 time trials. Pat had gone around 5:10 or so and I needed to chase hard. Once on the bike my legs felt amazing---Jesse those BST sets on the bike are incredible. I have never felt so powerful on the bike. Mentally I was trying to keep it together as I let an additional 40 seconds go on Pat by doing that extra 50. I was going so hard on the bike but still not seeing anyone ahead of me. I just kept telling myself to recognize how good my legs feel and keep pushing as hard as I can. Finally I saw some people in the distance. I kept pulling them back and eventually passing them it was Pat and one other person. Awesome but then I realized Pat's twin brother was here racing too(no kidding) and I was hoping it was acutally Pat (it was). I caught him around mile 12 or so and had another 6 miles to keep putting time into him. Once on the run I couldn't belieive how good my run legs felt---I felt like a gazelle. I was absolutely flying faster than I've ever run off the bike. I hit the first mile in about 5:30!! I felt great. My coach is a genius!!! Once we got the results I had figured that Paul Fronhofer had beaten my bike split but it turned out that I outsplit him by 20 seconds!!! I couldn't believe it. The race was very well organized for this type of event. Nice job to everyone who raced!!! There were lots of people doing their first triathlon. I love seeing this and feel so humbled by their courage to take on a new challenge.


Here's the stats

1st overall
swim 6:20 / 500 yards
bike 48:31 / 18.5 or so miles
run 18:05 (on my watch)