It 4:45am in HI on Oct 11, 2008. This is a day I have been working toward for a year and I am pumped!! I just wanted to thank you all one more time for the support and encouragement that I have received on the last year and especially over the last week. I’ll give you all the run down as soon as I am coherent this evening or tomorrow! Thanks,!
The day before the race is always a day that I try to have as few obligations as possible. I get in a quick and easy 35-45min workout where I do 10-15 minutes of each sport in succession with a few 30 second pickups and then get off my feet about out of the sun! There is nothing I can do now but relax and keep my attitude focused on the positive. Just like on race day there is very little that I can control at this point, I just stay in the moment and keep my attitude positive.
After a busy day yesterday filled with sponsor obligations, meetings and spending sometime talking with sponsors and going to a friends house for dinner I slept very well last night, which is the most important night to sleep well. I know that I will not sleep well tonight, but that is the norm for me.I am feeling great both mentally and physically, and I ready to leave it all out on the course tomorrow. For those of you interested you can track my progress and follow the whole race at Ironman.com, but remember HI is 6hrs behind East cost time and 3hrs behind West cost time.Oh, one last thing…GO RED SOX!!!
This morning I got in an early swim which felt great in my new BlueSeventy PointZero 3 seventeen, which is the 2009 version of the PointZero3+. The suit is a little more snug through the mid section, has slightly different panel construction and also features a sliver back panel so that the hawaiian sun is reflected for cooler temperatures. Then I went for a quick spin with some friends and it was onto LavaJava and the expo.This is the one time of year where I actually get to meet many people who I have been e-mailing and calling for over a year. Although technology makes communication easier, there is no substitute for meeting a person face to face. So the late morning was spent talking to a lot of folks in the industry as well as being a member of the Timex Multisport Team panel on the expo village stage to answer questions about Timex, the team and being a professional athlete. The Timex tent also a big picture of me riding my bike, of course you would never know it was me…but it’s big and it was kind of fun to see.
Ashley and I are on a fish taco tour. We have been going to as many different restaurants we can trying their fish taco. After all we are in Hawaii and where else to gorge ourselves on fish!? Today’s selection, Killer Taco, a local place in the Kona industrial area which you we never would have known about if it wasn’t for the guide book. After lunch Ashley and I went back to our condo where I immediately fell a sleep for almost 2 hours! Right before a race, rest is the best!
Tuesday and Tuesday afternoon is really when the Ironman World Championship festivities begin. Although there has been a gradual build over the last week, now is when the small town of Kaulia-Kona exploded and becomes the epicenter of the triathlon world. Part of the reason I like to arrive in Kona a week early is so that I can take a few days and just relax before the excitement, sponsor obligations and stress of the race arrive. However, with the opening of the expo on Tuesday race week is officially here! The parade is always the kick off to the expo and my and other members of the Timex Multisport Team, were there to throw out shirts and hats to the crowd…it never ceases to amazing how badly some people want a T-shirt! I guess when it says Timex Ironman there is a little extra value. It is really an honor and great experience to be part of such a great team and organization.
As for myself I am feeling great and getting excited to race, however, I’m trying to stay calm and conserve my energy. I registered yesterday and even though I was there pretty early it still took a little while, but the volunteers are great and things went very smoothly. Yesterday a 1hr ride followed by a 15min run was it for my training. It is really amazing the changes that the body and mind go throughout a taper in preparation for a race. Last week I felt horrible and could barely hold my projected race pace/power for 3 miles, let alone for 112 miles. However, yesterday I really thought my Trek Equinox, was floating an inch of the ground as I cruised along the Queen K at 25mph while barely pedaling. Then I felt effortless running along Alii in my Brooks Axiom racing flats! I must admit, I think I ran a little faster as I passed Lava Java and all the triathletes hanging around! I could hear my coach, “save it for race day!” 
I went for my first run down Alii drive yesterday and I forgot how much I love this island. There is truly something magical about this place. There is an intangible quality that I really can’t describe…perhaps it is the “Ironman Spirit” or the “Hawaii Spirit.” Whatever it is, the Hawaiian islands really need to be seen and experienced to understand. Additionally, the same is true for the Ironman World Championships!Another reason I love this Island is the fact that my wife and I got married here last year after the race. We decided to celebrate our 1 year anniversary with a fantastic dinner at Brown’s Beach House an amazing restaurant at the Fairmont Orchid Resort in Waikaloa. We wanted to go to dinner after the race, but due to all the different post race celebrations we decided to go to dinner early in the week. This is the same restaurant that we went to after our wedding ceremony last year. Oh man that was an amazing dinner, the scenery was amazing, and the company was fantastic. We were right on the beach and watched the sun set before our eyes! Here are some shots from the evening.
I hope everyone is enjoying all the Kona festivities, whether you are here or following online.
Thanks,
Any major national or international triathlon always brings with it an excitement that is truly tangible, at the Ironman World Championship in Kona it is so thick you can drown in it. I remember my first Ironman in Florida in 2006 and I was blown away by the energy and enthusiasm, not to mention in aw of the ridiculous level of fitness of many of the competitors. I found myself feeling very overwhelmed and self-doubt began to creep in. Hours of time spent training preparing were put in jeopardy because I allowed my confidence to be rattled. My coach, Kurt Perham, has a great saying, and I paraphrase “Everyone at an Ironman expo is lying, they are lying about how much training they have done or how little training they have done.” This is really an issue of confidence and I can assure you the loudest athletes are the most insecure. All I can say is at Kona I will enjoy the energy and visit the expo for a short time and avoid boisterous triathletes as much as possible. Instead of being rattled or overwhelmed by pre-race and expo excitement and energy, I internalize it, and use it on race day. I use previous race experiences and results to build and exude quiet confidence. This is not to say I am one of those aloof, arrogant triathletes, as they are just as insecure as the loud ones. My advice; at major races visit the expo early, take in a little energy and then save it for later. Trust your training and your preparation; don’t do anything during race week that was not in the original taper plan. Confidence is a major factor on race day and it begins as soon as you get to the race venue.
Thanks for reading!
I am currently somewhere high over the pacific ocean as I write this. People who have been to Kona always talk about the “magic” in the atmosphere and the spirit of the Big Island. However, they never seem to mention the 14 or so hours of traveling that it takes to get there. Hawaii really is a very long way from the east coast of the US. My itinerary took me from Raleigh-Durham airport, to Charlotte, NC to Phoenix, AZ and then to Kona, which is really not bad, as many people have to fly through Honolulu and have yet another connection. The issues is that the flight from Phoenix to Kona is 6hrs, longer than many transcontinental flights in the US. Oh well, small price to pay to such a great adventure. All I can say is be ready for the long flight and bring plenty of water and a good book, (or Macbook as in my case). One more note, many airlines are charging $2 for a 16oz bottle of water, as a person who is morally and fundamentally against paying for water this can be annoying, to say the least, not to mention the fact I felt more than a little silly carrying on 4 bottles of water!
Today is October first which only means one thing…the Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI is just 9 days away! It always amazes me how fast races creep up on me. I am so focused on my training and the daily schedule of training that it always seems sudden when my taper begins 2 weeks before the race. However, it never seems real until the calendar reads October. This will be my 3rd year in Kona, however, my first as a professional and first as a married man! Last year after Kona my wife, Ashley and I got married a few days after the race. I am VERY happy to be taking here back to Kona for our one year anniversary. To me Kona is a very special place for two reasons, 1) the most amazing race is the world and 2) a very special place for Ashley and I. So I can tell you leading up to the race will be all business, however, there will be a lot of fun afterward! On another note, I am feeling sluggish in my workouts this week, but I know that this is all a normal part of my taper and if doubt creeps in the next 9 days all I need to do is just think back to some of the strongest, most powerful and fastest workouts have EVER done. So I’m looking forward to the Big Island and all the people and adventures that it holds.
Today is only day three of my taper but I am already feeling flat and the fatigue of the last several months of training is catching up to me. I know that this is part of the process of preparing for a race and I need to simply trust my training and trust the taper process. I find that a lot of athletes begin to doubt their fitness and feel the need to “test” their fitness with another big workout, however, I know that this is simply a mistake. My mottos during taper are “when in doubt, leave it out,” “nothing I can do now to get faster, only slower.” The focus of taper is rest and preparing the body and the mind for the physical and mental demands of race day. Two weeks is not enough time to lose any fitness, even three weeks, which is my recommended length of an Ironman taper for age groupers, will not make a difference on race day. My recommendation for taper is to be mentally patient and confidence. It is important to stay active, but the emphasis should be on short race specific efforts, but remember “when in doubt leave it out!”
Thanks for all the support!
In summary Ironman Lake Placid 2008 was a memorable day. It was very, very wet…in fact in retrospect I should have just wore my wetsuit the entire race. With 3 inches of rain over 14 hours my times were slower than I wanted, but given the circumstances I’ll take it. I finished 8th and on the podium in my first Ironman as a professional, all in all a very satisfying feelingl.
Swim: 57:46, 91st overall
I’m still not sure what happened here. I swam really hard for the first 5-10minutes and then tried to settle but I was never able to find a steady rhythm. I think I probably pushed a little too hard at the beginning. I found a good draft group toward the end of the first loop but then lost it shortly into the second lap as they surged and I couldn’t stay on their feet.
T1: 3:33
Those of you have been to IMLP know that T1 can be a bit of a haul. After a disappointing swim where I was already pretty tired in combination with completely rain soaked carpeting and grass I didn’t try to go too fast and focused on moving thru smoothly and steadily.
Bike: 5:08:52, 14th overall
This course is unforgiving for those who over pace themselves on the bike, especially the first lap. As a result I pushed a little for the first 15min to find my rhythm and after that I settled into what felt like a pretty relaxed effort. I just kept my cadence up and power steady regardless of terrain. There were several people who passed me, especially up the hills, however, my mantra on race day is “the race begins at noon.” That is, for the first five hours of the race it is just a steady up tempo training day for me, then at noon if there is anyone around, then I can start racing and that’s just what I did. I saw several of those same guys who I re-passed on the second lap of the bike or the run. Additionally making this course more interesting and challenging the roads were completely drenched and there were rivers running down the road in some sections. I played it a little conservatively on the corners and the down hills as I knew losing a few seconds to minutes was preferable to crashing. My Trek performed perfectly and certainly helped me to maintain an upright position throughout the ride. The day was beginning to grind on me around mile 100 as I began the climb back up to town from Wilmington and found a little trouble concentrating and keeping my power steady. All in all I was pretty happy with my bike split and my power, although not super human it was respectable at 250w, along with a VI of 1.03, which for that course is very satisfying.
T2: 1:19
Fastest of the day…this is my 3rd Ironman in a row where I had the fastest T1 overall (including Kona last year)…so it’s fun to see how fast I can get thru! Again, not a sprint just a steady smooth relaxed process.
Run: 3:01:36, 5th overall
I felt ok for the first few miles and then I began to settle into a rhythm and got going after mile 4 or so. I knew that there was still plenty of racing ahead and beginning the run in 18th position I was confident that I would be able to make up spots. At the special needs station at mile 13 I couldn’t get my bottle and lost most of my intended calories for the second half of the run…crap! I stayed calm and instead of my usual race day nutrition, I just drank and ate as many carbs as I could at the aid stations. Then the run began to get interesting. At about mile 16 or so a spotter told me I was in 10th position, at that point I wasn’t really sure how many guys I had passed. I thought to myself, “dig deep,” as this was really my goal in the run portion. I wanted to leave everything I had out on the race course, I didn’t want to walk away with any regrets wondering what if I had pushed harder, like I often do. At mile 22 my arms and hands began to tingle and turn numb. At mile 23 I was informed that I was 40 seconds behind fellow Timex Team member Dave Hardju (a former Ironman Champion) and I was trying as hard as I could to run him down. The last hill climbing back into town nearly destroyed me, but I kept pushing and the last mile my feet were turning numb as well. I crossed the finished line and collapsed, something I have never done before. According to my Kurt Perham, my coach, I looked like death…well let me tell you, I felt like it also. After a little while in the medical tent I felt better and then I took the greatest hot shower I think I have ever experienced.
Honestly I have mixed reactions on the day. Having finished on the podium in my first Ironman as a professional as well as obtaining a spot for Kona I am ecstatic! However, my swim was very disappointing…3 minutes slower than last year, that one I cannot blame on the weather! Also I know that I can run faster as well. So I walk away with feelings of pride and satisfaction as well as a little disappointment and feelings of missed opportunity. At this point in my career I know that the big improvements are very few and far between, therefore I need to focus on the little victories. After placid I am taking a “mid-season break” both mentally and physically for about a week to 10 days. Then I will be ready to hit the last several months of the season with renewed motivation and my sites set on the Big Island in October.
Lastly, a big thank you to all the folks who braved the rain, rain and more rain to cheer us on all day. In particular my coach Kurt Perham , who gave me splits all day, as well as worked the phones with my wife, giving her updates and words of reassurance all day.
Normally I like to include some pictures of the day, but due to the rain and soggy illegible race numbers there were almost none taken!! However, this one at the finish line sums up the day pretty well.
Taper for Ironman Lake Placid officially began today!! The tricky part of getting your fitness to peak for a big race is that it is a constantly moving target. The two weeks of training that worked leading up to an Ironman last year might not be the best protocol to get ready for an Ironman this year. That is part of what I love about endurance training, and the human body in general, it is not static, constantly changing and adapting and the body never responds the same way. That being said, 2 weeks is usually the perfect amount of time for my body to recover from the hours of training and not loose to much fitness so that come race day I am both mentally and physically ready to lay it all on the line. So all the hard work has been done and then next 2 weeks is focused on recovery. There is still a little work left this week, but now the race comes down to the final physical and mental prep as well as race execution!
