Alex McDonald Pro Triathlete

I have start off by saying that I knew my race in Lubbock, TX was going to be fantastic, or horrific…I just wasn’t sure which.  Unfortunately, it was the latter.  However, there were 8 Timex Multisport Team member racing and part of the great things about being on a team (aside from sitting around the pool drinking beer post race) is that when one member has a bad day (i.e. me) the other members pick you up by having great races!  Tim, Dennis and Chris swept the M35-39 age group, Cindy won her age group,  Barry was smiling all day, Andrew and Laura had solid races in the pro ranks as well…all in all a great showing for Timex.

As many of you know, my wife is 8 months pregnant and I wanted to get in one more big race before I take a mid season break and adjust to life as a father.  However, I had been on the road for 12 days the prior weeks, and I wanted to be around as much as I could to take care of her in the late stages of pregnancy I decided to make this trip as short as possible.  I landed in Lubbock at 8:30 Saturday night 10hrs before the race began.  My awesome host family picked me up helped me build up my bike and even fed me.  Thank you!  I had a feeling the stress of a last minute arrival, travel and the prior weeks of racing and traveling would either leave me exhausted or I would simply be racing on pure adrenaline due to all the chaos.  Unfortunately it was the former.  That is not to say that I am not glad I came, I am actually very glad.  As I had mentioned in my Eagleman race report, at this point in my triathlon career I need to race as much as I can to get the necessary experience.   My goal was to come to TX to race, good, bad or ugly, I came to the race with high hopes, but no expectations and I think it is safe to say I achieved my goal, I raced and I learned.

Swim: 26

I hate beach starts, but there we were standing on the beach about to start the race.  I began aggressively and jumped out and got into the mix of some of the heavy hitters at this race, but my arms did not feel much like swimming and I was quickly shot out the back on the lead group.  In retrospect I was hammering away trying to go as fast as I could, but doing so at the cost of proper form and technique and as a result I ended up in a small pack a few minutes behind the main group.  Lesson learned, swim form always triumphs arm turn over.

Bike: 2:24

Not a horrible day out on the bike.  I certainly felt better than I did at Eagleman, however, not stellar.  A crash lost me some time and hurt my ego, but I continued on.  Having not driven the bike course did put me at a disadvantage, but I’m not here to make excuses.  The bike course has a little of everything, some short steep hills, flat straight sections, a few technical descents (hence the crash) and on this particular day…wind!  The winds began to pick up throughout the ride and began to wear on me mentally.  I had made up sometime and a few places on the bike and was ready to hit the run.

Run: 1:32

The wheels didn’t just come off, they exploded.  I must admit at mile 3 and 4 I have never wanted to quit a race so badly in my life.  The first 3 miles my legs were exhausted, my lower back was seizing on me and I was running low on perseverance.  I actually stopped and stretched out my back a little and did some of my physical therapy exercises.  They didn’t really seem to help right away, but I continued on, because as much as I wanted to, quitting was not an option.  I took in as much nutrition as I could and began to just jog along.  I slowly began to feel a little better and by mile 6 I had found my running form and some semblance of a rhythm.  I decided to try to pick up and decided to salvage what was left of the race and give it everything I had.  I am a goal oriented person and at the turn around my Timex Tap watch read 3:43 race time and I said to myself, ok 4:25 is the new finishing goal!  With my mind newly focused I began feeling better and to my surprise I actually ended up passing a few of the runners who had previously passed me.  I crossed the finish line without my usual enthusiasm and went to the medical tent to clear off some of my road rash and have some food.  However, the clock read 4:25…one small victory accomplished.

Nutrition:

The race day conditions were hot, although wind, high cloud cover and arid climate made it deceptive and if you did not pay close attention and stay on top of your nutrition and hydration then you paid the price.  I did my normal halfironman nutrition approach with a few hickups: 8oz EFS and ½ scoop PreRace 15min before the swim.  On the bike 24oz bottle with 4 scoops EFS and 1 Liquid Shot flask mixed with water and 6 salt tabs.  I also filled and drank water from my aero bottle 4 times. Running out of T2 I grabbed my fuel belt with each 8oz bottle containing a scoop of EFS with a scoop of PreRace, I knew I was going to need a little extra help on the run.  I began my normal routine of a salt tab and Clif Shot block every even mile marker and sipping from my fuelbelt and grabbing water at the odd mile markers.  However, as I began to break down at mile 3 I went into survival mode and drained both my fuelbelt bottle between miles 3 and 4.  After I started running again, I then grabbed water, sports drink and coke at the aid station.  I realized around mile 10 that I was pretty dehydrated, I was no longer really sweating and my arms, mouth and hands felt bone dry.  Because of the deceptive conditions as well as my nutrition/hydration and run plans going out the window I had fallen behind on hydration.  At the next aid station I slowed down and took in as much fluid and salt as I could and continued onward.  At that point it was late enough in the race that I was able to make it through on fumes.  I took 3 scoops of Ultragen right after crossing the finish line along with some salt tabs and water and I was feeling much better!

As I write this I am left with a mixture of frustration and excitement on my mind.  I am frustrated, because know exactly what parts of my day I would do differently if I had the option to do it again.  This is part of gaining the race experience I need in order to improve.  However, I am also excited because I learned a lot from this race and I know that I will carry these mistakes with me make sure they do not happen again.  Additionally, I learn more and am more motivated after a “bad” race than a “good” race.  Races such as this, initially are pretty disappointing, but long term I think they do more for me long term.  This race has light a fire in me and will help me to become more dedicated and more focused each and everyday on being the best athlete I can.  So watch out!  Next time I do a major race, not only will I be motivated by my new daughter, whom I will be racing for, I will also be more focused and more dedicated than ever!  J

This race report is a little over due and as such I’ll make it brief.  I last raced Eagleman in Cambridge, MD in 2006, where I first punched my ticket to Kona as an age grouper.  Needless to say I have fond memories of the race and the city of Cambridge, so I thought I would venture back and see how big a difference 4 years and racing as professional can make.

I drove up to Maryland so I did not have to hassle with bike boxes, airports or packing everything I need in the smallest space possible, a rare and welcome change from my normal pre-race routine.  I was hosted by a great family who lived right on mile 2 of the run course and it made for a very comfortable and convenient location.  Not to mention they spoiled me with a huge pasta and crab dinner on Friday night after my arrival!

Swim: 30

The water temp was almost 80 degrees, so no wetsuits for anyone, especially not the pros.  The swim start was delayed for 10-15min because of some buoy misplacement.  However, I think they were still wrong and the course was a little long, because all the swim times seemed a little slow.  The good news is that had a solid swim and I exited the water at the front of the main pack of pros, something which I have been working hard to do and in a non-wetsuit swim no less.  All those hours in the pool and work on form and technique are finally paying off.

Bike: 2:16

I had no juice in my legs on the bike and watched many of the other athletes ride away from me.  As hard as I tried and as much my legs were burning I could not produce the power I am usually able.  My PowerTap wasn’t lying, my legs were still pretty tired from all the downhill pounding the prior month at Ironman St. George.  The wind, desolate bike course and isolation made for some tough racing conditions, however, I pushed forwards.

Run: 1:25

Not a very impressive run split, but the heat (90 degrees), humidity and wind were getting to all of us out there by this point in the race and the run became a  proverbial “death march.”  I tired as best as I could to put a pretty weak bike leg behind me and focus on the run.  The first few miles I found my rhythm and my legs were happier on the run than on the bike.  I slowly began to pick people off ahead of me.  At the 6.5 mile marker I found myself in 11^th position with a several minute gap up to 9^th and 10^th a seemingly insurmountable distance.  I began to enter “survival mode,” wanting to slow down and simply make it to the end, however, I fought off the desire and tried to stay smooth and steady all the way to the finish.  My approach paid off and I moved into 10^th position just before the 13 mile marker.  Like I always say, never give up!

Nutrition:

The heat and humidity made for some tough race conditions and hydration became an issue earlier than normal.  I did my normal half nutrition approach with a few changes: 8oz EFS and ½ scoop PreRace 15min before the swim, on the bike 24oz bottle with 4 scoops EFS and 1 Liquid Shot flask mixed with water and 8 salt tabs, (I added 2 more than usual).  I also made sure to try to fill and drink water from my aero bottle 4-5 times as opposed to the normal 3-4.  Running out of T2 I drank 8oz EFS with a scoop of PreRace.  On the run I took a salt tab and Clif Shot block every even mile marker and sports drink from the aid stations on the odd mile.  I found that this protocol kept me pretty well fueled and hydrated as I was able to run the second half a little faster than the first while many of my competitors faded in the last miles.  I took 3 scoops of Ultragen right after crossing the finish line and I was good to go!

I would say that I am happy with my race at Eagleman, however, I am far from satisfied.  I know that I have the ability in each sport, yet I have yet to put together a single race where I acheive my full potential in all 3 elements.  I think it is a matter of simply practicing, racing often and most importantly, being patient.  Rome was not built in a day, and neither will my triathlon career.  Persistence, patience and repeatability will pay off eventually.

First off let me start by saying that this was by far the most difficult race I have ever done…I found a depth of mental and physical pain that I had never encountered previously.  On the other hand, this course also consists of the most spectacular views and scenery that I have ever seen.   The race course took you past red rock cliffs, white stone canyons, high dessert plains and even black lava rock, not to mention expansive vistas.  It was amazingly beautiful!  St. George is also a great town, small enough to be a great Ironman venue, but large enough to have hotels, restaurants and shops to support 2,000 crazy triathletes.  Additionally, everywhere we went the whole town was a buzz about the Ironman and the community support really showed.   This was my first Ironman since Ironman Arizona in 2008 where I DNF’d, and in hindsight the beginning of my stress fracture, which sidelined me for most of 2009.  Ironman is my bread and butter distance and where I feel like I perform best as an athlete and I was really excited to get back to the distance I love after an 18 month break.

I arrived in St. George on Tuesday with my Timex Team mate, and fellow North Carolina resident Tim Surface.  We were hosted by Tim and Jamie who were the best homestay hosts I have ever had…incredible!  Not only did they volunteer at the race on Saturday, they also did everything in their power to make sure we had everything we needed to race to our potential.  So, thank you , thank you, thank you to them!!  It also gave me a chance to catch up with old friends and make a few new ones.  Edde Burgess from InsideOut Sports drove my bike and some equipment out along with his demo fleet for the expo, which was a huge help and a big stress off my mind.  Robert Kunz, from First Endurance took myself as well as a few other First Endurance athletes out to lunch as well as dinner on Thursday, which was great.  I have known Robert by phone and e-mail for almost 4 years, however, not until now did I have the chance to meet him in person and it was a real treat.

Getting to the race a few days early was fantastic, however, it also gave me plenty of time to read about all the talented athletes that were racing in the pro field, including numerous Ironman Champions as well as a number of very talented international athletes.  I tried not to worry about who else was racing and simply focus on my own race.  I previewed the course and knew it was going to be an epic race and I was right.

Swim: 0:56

The water was a crisp 58 degrees, and was a little chilly, but my new Aquasphere wetsuit fits better, and I felt pretty good once I got going.  I lined up right on the starting line next to the first buoy and took off!  I settled into an up tempo rhythm to start and found a pretty good group to swim with.  The sun did not actually rise until about 10-15 minutes into our swim which made sighting a little difficult at first, but I simply did my best and followed the bubbles in front of me.  As we made the first turn we were swimming directly into the sun and I couldn’t see much.  However, I noticed a gap open up a few swimmers in front of me.  I thought about trying to bridge the gap, but though my energy would be better saved for later in the day.  I swam second in a group for the rest of the swim and simply kept a relaxed effort making sure to stay in the draft to save energy and honestly it was one of the easiest Ironman swims I have ever done.  The swim did seem to be a little long to me, and based on everyone’s times it may have been a little slow, or long, but that is simply my opinion.

Bike: 5:13

The air temp at race time was around 46 degrees, so needless to say, getting out of 58 degree water and onto a bike with an air temperature in the high 40’s was…well…COLD!  In T1 I threw on arm warmers, a skull cap and, per advice of my coach and former pro cyclist, put a single section of newspaper under my jersey to cover my chest.  This ended up creating just enough of a barrier to kept me warm for almost the entire bike ride…in fact I was getting a little warm by the end of the bike as the temperatures reached into the 60’s.

I was cold the first 20min of the bike, so I took it out pretty hard, around half Ironman race pace just to get going and warm up.  Then I settled into my prescribed watts and rhythm.  There were a few people who passed me in the first hour or so, but I knew that it was going to be a long day and being patient and riding conservatively would pay off.   As I began the first loop the road winds through some hills and gradually climbs up with several thousand feet of climbing.  The scenery was beautiful, the road was a little rough and there was a head wind, which made finding a rhythm difficult.  I honestly didn’t feel comfortable on the bike most of the day, for some reason I was not able to really settle, but I stayed relaxed and kept my eye on my PowerTap.  A few miles before I reached the summit of the climb, a couple of other cyclists caught up to me and we rode together for several miles.  Then we began the screaming descent back into St. George, I hit 50+ mph at some points…it was awesome!! J   The second loop felt pretty similar to the first, I felt a little flat and had trouble finding a groove.  This time around it was not nearly as lonely or desolate as there were many age groupers on their first loop of the course.

Run: 3:09

I didn’t realize how much the bike course took out of me until I tried to pull my CEP compression socks on in T2…my hands were not working very well and I was tired.  I got my socks on, grabbed my FuelBelt and headed out the door onto what I knew was going to be a very difficult run course, and it was.  Although my marathon time was over 10 minutes slower than my PR, this was by far the best run I have ever had in an Ironman; yes, this course is that hilly and that challenging.  The only portion of this course that is flat is the first 150 meters heading out of T2 and then the terrain immediately turns up and there was a head wind the first few miles to make matters even more enjoyable.  The first 3 miles were really tough, my lower back was really tight and began to cramp a little.  I had flashbacks to my DNF at Ironman Arizona in 2008 and negative thoughts immediately crept into my head.  Additionally, the 3 athletes that passed me in those first 3 miles didn’t help matters much.  I have to admit the thought of quitting did enter my mind, however, I banished it just as quickly as it had arrived.  Again, I was patient and persistent, simply focusing on form, putting one foot in front of the other and said the word “easy” to myself with every footfall.  I immediately continued with my nutrition as well to help take my mind of the pain, more on that below.

Before I knew what had happened, my breathing settled, my lower back released, my stride lengthened, my Brooks Ravenna seemed to have a little more spring with each step and I began reeling in the runners in front of me.  As I re-passed the three runners in front of me, I knew I had a chance at finishing in the top ten.  I told myself to just “run easy” the first lap as I knew the second lap was going to be incredibly difficult, heck, the first lap was incredibly difficult, the second lap was insanely difficult.  I did not even bother with pacing as I normally take my mile splits, but on this course I knew there would be no point.  I ran by feel and focused on getting to mile 20 without pushing the pace too much, again that word “easy” was repeating over and over in my brain.  Besides, the race does not begin until mile 20 of the marathon.  My and my coach’s Ironman race day strategy is to get to mile 20 while expending as little energy as possible and then “emptying the tank” from mile 20 until the finish and believe me I emptied the tank more than I ever have before.

The last 4 miles of the marathon course are predominantly downhill with a few short kickers, to make life as miserable as possible.  I gave everything I had and the last mile felt like the longest mile I had ever run in my life.  My quads were burning, my feet were screaming and the downhill pounding was taking a toll on my body.  In the past, I have found myself wanting to slow down or give up when the going got tough, however, not at St. George.  Never before have I been able to dig myself into such a place of discomfort and pain.  As my coach refers to it, I was deep in “the pain cave.”  And as I found myself deep, deep in that “cave” I began to focus on many things, but thinking about my unborn daughter helped to bring me strength on this day.

After what seemed like forever, I crossed the finish line, but as I tried to stop running, my body simply rebelled, my quads seized up and I literally collapsed to the ground.  A few friends were making fun of me and said I was simply being dramatic, but I assure you I have never been so glad to cross a finish line in my life.  My legs were simply no longer willing to support me.  But for all the “drama” of my finish, it did get photos into the local St. George paper, The Salt Lake Tribune as well on the Triathlete Magazine website J.

I spent the next hour or so in the medical and massage tents trying to encourage my quads to stop cramping and encourage my legs to support my body weight once again.  Additionally, I began to get very, very cold and could not stop shivering, which didn’t help matters any.  Some fantastic volunteers, staff and friends helped coax me back to lucidity and I cannot thank them enough.

Nutrition:

The critical 4^th discipline of Ironman was even more important on such a demanding course.  With help from Jessie Kopelnicki at QT2System, I have a very methodical race nutrition plan, which actually begins 48 hours before the race.  On Thursday, I began to cut down the amount of fiber in my diet as well as increase the amount of carbohydrates I ate.  On Friday morning, the day before the race, I had a huge breakfast at IHOP, including pancakes, eggs, homefries, toast, however, no whole wheat, whole grain or high fiber foods.  This breakfast was a lot of fun because it was with some great friends from FuelBelt and other QT2 atheltes, include Jessie himself.  I then ate a few smaller snacks tapering off my eating throughout the day.  I do not have dinner the night before a race to avoid stomach distress and unnecessary bathroom breaks.

Race morning I woke up at 3am and ate my pre-race breakfast of applesauce, a banana, Ultragen and supplements (Multi-V, Opygen, PureOne Omega-3 and ARX).  I usually can’t get back to sleep after this, so I just laid in bed feeling uncomfortably full.  About 30min before the start of the race I ate about ¾ of a PowerBar.  Then 15min before I have a scoop of First Endurance EFS and a scoop of PreRace.

Once on the bike I drank water for the first 5-10min to let my stomach settle a little bit, however, I soon began to sip on my mixture of EFS and EFS Liquid Shot along with some added sodium.  I mix all this together in one 24oz bottle and sipped on it throughout the first half of the bike ride chasing it with water from my aero bottle.  This makes for a pretty easy system, one just one bottle of nutrition to deal with and simply filling up my aero bottle at each aid station.  I tried to front load my nutrition on each lap of the bike course, because you never know if you won’t want or be able to eat later on.  At the special needs station half way through the bike I grabbed another bottle of the same concoction, however, this one included a scoop of PreRace as well.  Also, in my special needs bag I grabbed a de-fizzed Dr. Pepper, I never drink regular soda, but I find it to be a great source of quick acting carbs and caffeine that in much needed around mile 80 on the bike.  I finished my nutrition about 15 minutes before T2 and this helped to allow everything to settle and makes the transition to running a little easier.  I did take a gel right before T2, to give my body some carbohydrates without a lot of volume of fluid to fuel my body until I was able to get into a run rhythm. 

On the run course I wore my 2 bottle Helium FuelBelt with a scoop of EFS each and sipped from these at every mile marker.  At each aid station I mostly drank water and a few sips of sports drink as I felt I needed it.  At the run special needs I reloaded with the same supplies, only this time the FuelBelt bottles had a half scoop of PreRace added.  By mile 20 I had trouble thinking about anything other than my aching legs and began simply taking in whatever water and sports drink I could at the aid stations and drained my fuelbelt bottles.  I felt pretty well fueled at this point in the race and did not feel like I was running out of gas, as I have in the past, I was simply beat up from almost 9 hours of racing.  Towards the end of an Ironman I usual feel very bloated and sick and/or running on fumes, none of which occurred at St. George.  I had been much more meticulous in my race fueling protocol as well as practicing it extensively in training which paid off on race day.

I am very satisfied with my return to Ironman racing and know that I left it all out there on race day.  However, this is what I love best about Ironman, pushing our minds and our bodies farther than we ever thought possible.  As always there are far to many people to thank, but on this particular trip, my wife, Ashley, my coach, my hosts Tim and Jamie, Timex, Edde Burgess, Robert Kunz and my unborn daughter top the list.  As I write this, I am not even 48hours post race, at least I can sit still without pain at this point, however, I find myself already beginning to think about the next race…I think I need a psychiatric consult.

Let me start by saying that New Orleans is a very cool city… neither my wife nor I had ever been here and since her birthday was the monday following the race she decided to take some well deserved vacation time and we as well as her parents came down for the race and to spend a few days enjoying the sights, sounds, smells and (most importantly) tastes of The Big Easy…I’m still not sure why they call it that.  The high points, Beignets from Café Du Monde, Gumbo, boiled seafood platters, jazz at Preservation Hall, the spectacle of Bourbon street, walking around the garden district and stumbling across a guy riding a bicycle with a parrot! J  There are certainly a lot of areas of the city still devastated after hurricane Katrina, but now I have a glimpse of what people are referring to when they speak of the spirit, history and energy of this city, it is truly a unique and special place.  Anyone who said this city should not have been rebuilt after the devastating floods clearly had no appreciation for the beauty, culture and historical significance of this great city…and the most recent super bowl champions…but I digress…you want to hear about the race!!

Let me start by saying that NOLA was a “training race” for me.  It was the final icing on the cake of my training for Ironman St George, just 2 weeks later.  As many of you know my bread and butter is Ironman racing and this was the culmination of several months of hard work.  In the past I have raced a half iron distance race 2 weeks out from a major Ironman and it seems to work very well for me.  It gives me one last fitness boost as well as the mental confidence knowing that I can race well despite being fatigued.  That being said I only took a few days of light training leading into this race, a 105 mile ride on Tuesday and a hard hour tempo run on wed had certainly made me a little unsure of what to expect on race day, but three days of relatively light training and traveling seemed to do the trick.  Overall my day had some hiccups (mainly the swim), but it was a great race and a great confidence boost!  The main focus of this race was to run well.  I know my swimming is making huge strides with my new masters group and my cycling fitness is coming a long nicely, both evident by my race at California 70.3 a few weeks prior.  However, I wanted/needed to prove to myself, and my coach, that I could run again after coming back from my season ending stress fracture last year.

Pre-race

I got up at 3:30 to have my usual breakfast, Ultragen, banana, applesauce, vitamins (Optygen, Multi V, Pure One Omega 3, ARX) and some electrolyte tabs.  I tried not to wake up my wife (it didn’t work.)  We went back to bed for a few hours and rolled into transition around 5:30, perfect.  I have to say how much nicer it is to go to a race with Ashley.  She has a tough day while I am racing (she’s a professional spectator you know), but this time she was 6 months pregnant and had an even more difficult day than usual, I am continually impressed by her endurance.  I got all my gear set up, ate half a Powerbar 30min before the race start, went for a short jog and swim and then drank 12oz of EFS with a scoop of pre-race 15min before the start I was ready to go!! J

Swim:  30:35 - Badness

The water temperature was 73.5, so no wetsuits for the pros, and the swim being my weakest legs of the race, I knew this put me at a disadvantage.  The pro wave splashed, bounded and dolphin dived into lake Ponchatrain just as the sun was rising and the wind was beginning to pick up at 7am.  Between the sun, 1-1.5 feet of chop on the water, wind and current, as well as the general chaos of a triathlon start I had no idea where I was going at several point of the swim.  I found some feet for the first ¼ of the swim, but he kept veering of course, or so I thought.  I decided to not waste energy, do my own thing and swim as best and as straight as I could while use as little energy as I could fighting the choppy water.  I exited the water a little frustrated, but knowing it is a long day I remained focused, put it behind me and moved through T1 as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

Bike: 2:11 – Pretty good

The first 5 minutes of the bike in any race is always a little tough, but I quickly found a rhythm and started into my nutrition early to try to get it all into my system well before T2 and avoid sloshing on the run.  On the bike I carry a 24oz bottle with 4 scoops of EFS, 1.5 flasks of EFS Liquid Shot and 1200 additional milligram of sodium.  This is about 256g of carbohydrate that I nurse over the course of the bike and I also drink plenty of water from my aero bottle that I refill at aid stations.  I knew it was going to get hot on the run and I wanted to make sure I was well hydrated.  I found myself cruising eastward and allowing myself to push pretty hard until the 1hr mark of the bike, my usual race strategy.  The only problem was the wind was blowing from the northeast and made it deceptively hard at times.  My legs were moving well, but I certainly felt a little flat, they did not have the usual pop and my power numbers were a little low, but I didn’t really worry too much about it, I rode by instinct and feel the first hour and then settled into my own race after that.  Aside from a few bridges and overpasses this bike course is dead flat…the only problem is the wind!  We are not talking Kona winds, but still…I would compare it in many ways to the Eagleman 70.3 bike course, for those of you have done that race.  There were a few out and back sections of the course where I got to see where I was and I was anywhere from 11-15^th place over the course of the ride.  Also this provided some respite from the head wind as the tail/cross wind was a welcome change.  The last 8 miles of so back into T2 it seemed I was barely pedaling, yet I was moving 30mph with the tail wind! J  I rolled into T2 with a couple other guys and was ready, both mentally and physically to lay it all out on the run course.

Run: 1:18 – Solid, 6^th fastest of the day and a new PR

I was 13^th off the bike, quickly settled into an up-tempo pace and passed two guys in the first half mile…then I was alone…seriously, aside from aid station volunteers and the occasional cop at an intersection it was 11 lonely miles, followed by 2.1 miles of misery, with what I think were spectators and people cheering…I can’t remember… it was a blur.  The run course is beautiful, but desolate though some sleepy neighborhoods and New Orleans City Park, additionally, there was not a whole lot of shade in many sections and the day was beginning to heat up.  I drank my fuelbelt flask of EFS and Pre-Race within the first mile of the run and then settled into my routine of water and sports drink at the aid stations as well as 8g of carbs every 2 miles of so to try to keep my fatiguing muscles well fueled.  As I said, it was lonely, and I was running well and didn’t see any other racers, even on the long stretches of flat straight road until mile 5.  Miles 5-8 are through the park where there are a couple out and backs and I finally saw some other races, and at one point I measured almost 5 minutes between myself and 10^th place.  As I said, anything can happen down the road, keep going.  At mile 10 the course moved out of the park and began a long straight 2.9 mile stretch down to the French Quarter with a right turn then with the finish line in front of Jackson Square (a very cool finish line…more on that later).  This part of the course was well shaded, but I was certainly getting tired and the legs were beginning to tell my brain they had enough. However, I wanted to finally put down a good run split from start to finish, something I had not done in a long time.  I found myself literally yelling at myself “come on!” “don’t give up.”  Then, way, way…WAY down the painfully long and painfully straight road I began to make out a figure, which at first I thought was an aid station volunteer standing in the middle of the road. However, it was the guy in 10^th.  He was not moving very fast…see anything can happen…don’t ever give up!  However, he saw me coming, “You got him running scared” as one spectator yelled and as I gave my legs everything I had, he did too and he crossed the line just 7 seconds in front of me.  See, I told you anything can happen, so don’t ever give up!

Missing the top ten by 7, painful, seconds was certainly a tough situation, however, given the caliber of the competition, my bike and run legs and my main focus being St. George I am very satisfied with my race here in New Orleans.  All in all a very solid day and having my wife and in-laws here to share it with me made it all that much better.  The finish line was a great place, tons of people, jazz playing, restaurants and bars everywhere, all right on the banks of the Mississippi river.  After the race I had a serving and a half of Ultragen, another helping of all my vitamins, a beignet from Café Du Monde, CEP compression socks and soaked in an ice bath…in a kiddie pool…hey I need to recover fast I have an Ironman in 2 weeks! J

As always a huge thank you to everyone out there supporting me, there are FAR too many of you to list here, but you know who you are…the one exception, who I must mention here is my wife and our unborn daughter! J

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.