Alex McDonald Pro Triathlete

I was unable to even try to qualify for Kona this year, due to my stress fracture, which was frustrating indeed, but I had a great consolation prize. My wife had already taken the week off from work (scheduled a year ago) just incase I qualified. However, we decided that we should still take a trip, so went to Denver and Telluride, CO for the week, in addition it was to celebrate our anniversary.What a great trip! I got to visit my friends from med school now living in Denver, and see their new baby. He was the person who first got me into triathlon and it was great to reconnect with him. As for Telluride, let’s just say it is a magical place! ☺ My wife and I did lots of hiking (up to almost 13,000 feet) and had a wonderful time. Here are some photos from the trip.

For the past 2 years the final touch on my training for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI has been racing the Duke Liver Center ½ Iron Triathlon, which has now become my home town race since moving here in 2008. Regardless, of my current racing, or lack there of, this year, I could not let this race go by without being involved in some way. So, despite the rain and early morning start I rode my bike the 20 miles to the race, volunteered for a few hours and then rode home. It was a lot of fun to watch, help out and be involved from a different perspective. My injury and set backs this year finally gave me the time to volunteer.

I have always meant to volunteer more at races, however, with my own training and racing schedule normally very full I always found it difficult to find the time and the energy. This year I have had, at least the time and have found the energy. Between working the expo in Lake Placid to volunteering this weekend I had a great time and have a new found respect for the volunteers and expo workers within the triathlon industry. I would encourage everyone to get involved from a different perspective, if you have raced, volunteer. If you have volunteered, race! ☺

The best part of this weekend was watching my friends and occasional training partners rip it up on race day. Including Timex teammate Eric bean cross the line first!

As many of you know I have been dealing with a hip injury for well over a month now. Initially my doctor and I thought this was due to a tendon strain and taking a few weeks to try to let it heal would do the job. However, after 3 weeks without any running success and continuing pain, I knew something was wrong. An MRI revealed that I had a stress fracture in the neck of my femur. Although I was frustrated to learn this information and wish I had known it 3 weeks earlier, at least I had a diagnosis and knew what I had to do to be able to run again.The disappointment of having to skip Ironman Coeur d’Alene as well as Ironman Lake Placid has passed and I have focused on the things I can control. Right now I am swimming quite a bit and really working on my form and technique in the water. Additionally, I am working with Jesse Kropelniki at QT2 Systems to tweak my body composition to avoid the repeated stress of additional body weight while pounding out the miles. Lastly, I am working with some amazing physical therapists at Duke University. They have identified some major flaws in my running biomechanics that may have contributed to my injury and we are working to correct them.Lastly, I am going to travel to Lake Placid to watch my first Ironman. It is going to be painful to watch and not participate but I know it will also help to motivate me to get back to training and racing once my body is ready. I will be helping out at the expo in Placid as well. I will be hanging out at the Timex truck, Trigger Point, TYR, and Globus booths at different times over the weekend, so stop by and say hello.

II have had my sights on racing Ironman Coeur d’Alene (CDA) since November. I know that the average Ironman athlete signs up and prepares for an Ironman for over a year. However, about 3 weeks prior to the race I had been training very hard and my left hip flexor began acting up on me. Initially it simply felt tight, then painful, then VERY painful. I was pretty pro active, immediately skipping a run when symptoms began to see if I could let it heal before it became more of a problem, however, it did not help. I took 2 days off…still painful.

I had diagnosed myself, however, that is a big “no no,” so it was time to see a sports med doctor. The good news is that my self-diagnosis was correct, and it was tendonitis, simply a soft tissue injury. However, the bad news is that it would simply take time and rest to heal.

After a week of rest, I tried running at Rev3 and again the hip was not happy. Ok another week of no running. I saw Jeff Wells, my massage therapist, several times over these weeks and finally this week he sent me to an acupuncturist and with some trepidation I had acupuncture. It was incredibly helpful and I was feeling much better and very optimistic about healing in time for Ironman CDA.

It had been 6 days without running (keep in mind I was swimming and biking throughout this injury with minimal discomfort) and 2 days of almost no pain. So I decided it was time to try running and I was feeling very optimistic. I did a extensive warm up, with some self massage and stretching and 5min walk warm up and with my first few run strides I knew this was not good. The pain immediately came back and my stride noticeably had a limp.

At this point I some deep thinking to do. In the back of my mind I knew that I should not race IM CDA, however, I was yet to admit it to myself. That afternoon I had an appointment with Jeff Wells and the first 15min of my massage was simply talking about my hip and the race. After that I had a good conversation with Ashley and then with my coach who both lead me to the conclusion that Ironman CDA would have to wait.

The best case scenario would be a sub par performance at IM CDA and then at least 2-3 more weeks of dealing with my re-inflamed hip. It certainly is a frustrating situation and really the first time that I have ever had to deal with an injury that has limited me so much. I have decided that I am going to take a week entirely off from training and set my sights on Ironman Lake Placid where I certainly have thrived before.

This week will involve no swimming, no biking and certainly no running. The goal is to focus all my energies on physically and mentally refreshing myself and healing. Psychologically it has been a struggle the last few weeks and this week may be the biggest test yet, however, I know this is the best decision so that my hip does not turn into a chronic problem and I am not dealing with it for the rest of the season.

Of note I had run out of Base Amino and Recover Activator a week or two before this problem developed and I cannot help but wonder how much of a role that played. This injury was caused by multiple different factors and I cannot blame one aspect of my training or recovery.

I am certainly very disappointed, but I am feeling better and better about this decision knowing it will give me the best chance to rebound faster and stronger than ever.

One year ago this past weekend I graduated from medical school and made the uncharacteristic choice to take a break from my medical career and challenge myself in new and painful ways in the sport of triathlon. I have now been training and racing as a professional triathelte for 1 year and the lessons continue to arrive fast and furiously. This past weekend at Ironman Florida 70.3 was no exception…in fact it was probably one of the most glaring examples of what I have learned over the last year.

First off, racing at Disney World is fun, although next time I need to bring Ashley…and maybe the kid if we have one by then. I arrived on Friday, got everything taken care of and was ready to test my fitness, just one week after racing a previous weekend at the White Lake half triathlon.

As a professional triathelte the swim can make or break your race and unfortunately on this day it broke mine. I have been working very hard on my swim over the last 6 months and have made huge improvement, both in terms of my speed as well as my swimming endurance. I had put together great swims at IMAZ last fall and this spring at California 70.3 and was excited to put together another solid swim thinking I had figured out how to do it. The pro wave went off at 6:20AM and the sun was not even up yet. I had made the mistake of wearing tinted goggles and I had trouble seeing the buoys as well as other athletes. I began swimming very hard, as I usually do, and found some feet and then settled in to a steady rhythm after a few minutes. However, I got over confident and before I realized what had happened I had veered off course a little, the pack surged and I was left swimming alone. This has happened before, but this time it was not because I was not a strong enough swimmer, or I didn’t know what I was doing, it was because for a brief moment I lost concentration and stopped fighting to stay with the group. Lesson learned, never stop fighting to stay with pack, never! In that brief moment when I let the pack slip away my desired top ten finish also became much more difficult.

I stayed positive and came of out the water with a small group and jumped on my Trek. The bike course is smooth and fast and after a few minutes I found a great rhythm and a group of athletes and we help push each other along as we tired to chase down the main pack of 12 cyclists. However, despite a solid PR ride I remained about 2-3 minutes behind the group the entire way into T2.

The run course consists of 3 loops, which was a nice change from the “out and back” routes most courses have. The first mile I felt pretty good and was happy with my sub 6min split knowing I would catch several of the athletes ahead of me if I was able to maintain it. However, the middle 2 miles or so of the loop was on a wide grass trail and I had a very difficult time getting into a rhythm on the soft uneven footing. In addition to the grass the temperature and humidity began to climb and the sun began to feel very intense sapping my energy. I managed to stay relaxed and smooth and I was able to pick up the pace a little on the last lap where I passed a few guys and moved up to 17th overall.

The process of training and building fitness and seeing improvements is hugely gratifying and I have seen great improvements over the last year. However, I am still leaning the best way to execute a great race as a pro and give myself every opportunity to put that fitness to use. Many top athletes have told me the best way to become the best in the world is to train a lot, but race even more, and I am beginning to believe them. Every time I race I learn something new and especially when I am racing against some of the best in the world. Some people ask me why I constantly enter races that have a very deep pro field or that I probably won’t win. The answer is that I want to be one of the best in the world and the only way to get there is to continually, challenge myself and race the best in the world. I know that I now have the fitness and ability to race against some of the best athletes in the world, now I just need the experience! Next up Rev3 and Ironman CDA!

I am a strong believer that quality and consistency in training will trump quantity and/or intensity, if not immediately, then eventually down the road. Many people go out and race…a lot… and for some this works. Frequent, high intensity efforts, (a race), followed by recovery and rejuvenation is one way to build fitness, and for some this works. However, when it comes to most athletes, who have various other commitments, work family, school ect. and particularly those athletes training for an Ironman distance triathlon this may not be the best way to build your fitness.

Don’t get me wrong, I love racing, and toeing the line is truly the best way to test your fitness. Racing is also the goal that keeps us going forwards, and provides motivation for us all when we are tired or just lack motivation. But in my mind racing is also the reward, especially a good race, after some delayed gratification and heavy training, we dig ourselves out of the hole and see what the last several weeks have brought us.

I like clustering my races together, so that I can complete several weeks of uninterrupted training. Having said that, I have just finished a solid three and a half week training block which saw just under 100hrs of training, including 71000yrd of swimming, almost 1200miles of biking and 178 miles of running. Although there were certainly some hard intervals and work sets throughout this training block I keep the effort repeatable and consistent to maximize the fitness benefits.

As for the racing! I am racing the White Lake Half #2 here in NC tomorrow and then Florida 70.3 next weekend! I can’t wait to laid it all down the next few weeks and I’ll be sure to post updates afterward.

I arrived in San Diego last night after a rough 5hr flight. The flight was pretty bumpy and I didn’t actually get sick but my stomach and head certainly ached pretty much the whole flight. San Diego airport is pretty easy to navigate and I was in my rental car cruising up to Carlsbad where my home stay hosts were more than generous to wait up for me. Now I am in So Cal, where it is not so sunny this morning but I am getting pumped to race on Saturday.

As for the “it” that made it as well, I am referring to my race bracelet from Ironman Arizona this past November. As many of you know at races they give every athlete a bracelet with the name of the race and your bib number on it to keep track of everyone and allow athletes access to certain areas. I normally take this bracelet off right after the race, however, after IMAZ and the less than ideal results I let it on as a reminder of why I get up everyday and why I push myself to the breaking point at times and struggle to be the best athlete I can be. After a few days I just left it on and it eventually began a little game of how long with it last without breaking. Well, it has made it 4 months! That’s 294,000 yards of swimming, 2600 miles of biking, 665 miles of runner, 3 holidays, my birthday and who knows what else. It is hardly even recognizable any longer, the silver backing has long since wore away along with the writing and the several layers of plastic are breaking apart and disintegrating…but it is still around my writs. It has served as a reminded of why I am working so hard and pushing myself. Now that the 2009 season is virtually here I will take it off and see what the results are from leaving this bracelet on thru 4 months of steady, consistent and at times hard training.

It has been almost 4 months since my last race and it has been a long time. The hardest part of training the last few months has been the steady day-in and day-out training without and immediate race goals. All that changes next Saturday at Ironman California 70.3. My 2009 race season officially kicks it off in Oceanside and I am getting excited. The last 4 months of training have been solid and I think that I can count the number of days off on one…(maybe one and a half)…hands. I have never begun my season feeling this fit and never been able to bounce back from tough workouts this quickly. I attribute this to my attention on the daily “details” of recovery and focusing on the foundation of health and fitness. I have made sure to get enough sleep, wear compression socks during and after tough workouts, take ice baths, daily use of trigger point technology products, proper and balanced nutrition include the daily use of Base Performance Nutrition product line. In fact I have not been sick or had any illness that has limited my training in the last 4 months. Focusing on the little daily details to make sure I am healthy and ready to do the hard training is the most important piece of the puzzle. Next week in Oceanside I will kick off the 2009 season and see just how much the last 4 months have paid off.

I spent last week in Santa Fe, NM to enjoy a mid winter altitude training camp.  It was really my wife’s vacation and we wanted to get a little change of scenery as well as see her parents new house.  So it was a last minute trip, for just a week, but it was great! 

For those of you who don’t know Santa Fe is located 7,000 feet above sea level…let me tell you that is high…in fact 2,000-1,500 feet higher than Denver and Boulder, CO.  I could barely do a flip turn without gasping for breath! J  Although I did feel flat for most of my workouts there was one great ride I have to share.

The Santa Fe ski basin is at 10,000 feet and there is a single 15 mile winding access road that snakes it’s way from downtown to the summit.  I decided that I needed to make this trip on my bike, just to say that I did.  I began in the late afternoon when the sun was strongest and the temperatures were warmest.  However, as I began the ascent the clouds quickly hide my heat sources.  I had prepared for the descent, so I put on a few extra layers sooner than anticipated. 

About 30minutes into my climb I began a 30min tempo work set up the hill holding about 80% of my FTP, this helped me warm up quite a bit, even though I was barely going 8mph! J  As I got closer to the top the sun began to rapidly sink in the sky, the snow banks began to increase in size and the water on the roads soon turned to slush.  I considered turning around, but I had made it this far I had to continue. 

I reach the summit at about 5pm, significantly later than I had hoped, but just as the sun was setting and it was beautiful.  I snapped a few photos on my phone and prepared for a cold ride back down to town.  It took me 1:35min to climb the hill and less than 45min to get back down!  It would have been a lot more fun if I didn’t have to slow down for the ice and I didn’t need to stop a few times and breath on my hands and into my gloves to keep my fingers from going numb! By the time I got home it was pitch dark and I was FREEZING!! When I got home I took a steaming hot shower and a huge vat of my new favorite 53×11 coffee!  It was not the best planned adventure, but it was great fun!  

I always like to look back at the end of the calendar year at all the training I have done. There is certainly a sense of accomplishment when I see these numbers all nicely lined up and broken down into various categories. These numbers have special meaning to me, because they not only represent what I have done, then represent a commitment to my athletic career and help to reinvigorate my desire to reach my goals. These numbers can become somewhat of a contest between people, as in “I trained more than _____” or I ran farther than ____.” The point is not to brag or show off the point is it make the most of the time we have to train and have a purpose and a goal for every working leading toward our larger objective(s) regardless of what they may be. So I added up my numbers and I encourage you to do the same.

Time (hrs):
Swim 210
Bike 460
Run 201
Race 26

Total Time: 897 hrs

Distance (mi):
Swim 430
Bike 9640
Run 1783
Race 693

Total Distance 12546 mi

Can I top this 2009? Yes!
Thanks for reading.