2012 Quick Update

Every time I visit my home page, I tell myself, I must write an update.    I really do not have any excuses besides life in general is extremely busy.  

Well Ironman training has resumed and the work that I am putting in on a daily basis is more than likely the number one reason for my tardiness on blog posts.  My coach and I have set out on some pretty big goals this year.  Not only is defending my two triathlon victories (Musselman and Pittsburgh Tri) high on my list, but I also have a very big goal of placing top 3 overall amateur at Ironman Coer d'Alene in late June not to mention a run at the Kona podium in the M30-34 age group and sub 9 hours at the Ironman distance.  I guess you could say that all three goals go hand in hand.  To accomplish something like this, I know I have to work harder than ever before and so far I'm seeing huge results from the work I've put in since Kona.  The past six weeks, I've been working at sustaining beyond threshold wattage and pretty much all of my runs have been centered around feeling comfortable running and sustaining paces in the sub six minute mile range.  Needless to say, training right now isn't easy and every time I see a new block of training from my coach, I sit here with a blank stare and wonder how and the world am I going to do this.  However, at the end of the day I know that Coach Derick would never give me sessions I am not capable of doing and and when it is all said and done, more often than not, I hit my targets!  Since Hawaii I have done a couple of road running races as well including a recent five mile race at North Park.  My goal was to break 30 minutes on a pretty tough course and a half mile uphill finish.  I managed to finish in 4th place with a time of 29:06 (5:49 pace), over a minute faster than last year.

In other news, the Pittsburgh Triathlon Club continues to grow day by day and I couldn't be more proud than to be part of the growing Triathlon community here in Pittsburgh.  Not that I needed any extra motivation to train, but by competing in the USAT National Club Challenge, it gives me a little extra incentive to get in a couple of more miles.  In January we actually organized a group indoor trainer session and the turnout was unbelievable.  I will also be speaking at REI this weekend on Heart Rate training and how to periodize and plan your triathlon season.  If you can make it out, please stop on by.

Another cool event we organized was a 100x100 on 100 second swim off where the five of us logged 10K yards for the morning.  This was the first time I had ever swum 10K yards.  To be honest, once you got past 7K, it wasn't that bad!  We had roughly 20-30 athletes swim that morning and it was a great time.

This year has also been spent sharing memories with great friends and of course with the love of my life.  Jen has a pretty big milestone birthday coming up.  This past weekend we celebrated her birthday early with friends at one of the best restaurants in Pittsburgh.  In two weeks I'll be in Arizona training and working my tail off.

And last but not least, I'll leave you with a little clip on how we rang in the New Year.  This was the 2nd annual beer mile race that we organized (use the word organized loosely).  Four beverages - four laps - one winner.  

Winter 2011 Newsletter

I hope you all enjoy the first edition of the Coach Chad Multisport Newsletter.   In the Winter 2011 issue, Coach Chad breaks down the thought process behind planning your triathlon season, discusses some of the benefits regarding training with a power meter and we also take a insider look at what makes CCM athlete, Joji Montelibano tick.

Winter 2011 - Volume 1 - Hyperlink to Download

2012 - Here We Go!!!

With the 2011 triathlon season officially over and as the days fly by, I often find myself reflecting on my season.  2011 was by far a break through season for me but as the story goes, we always want more.  That's human nature.  Even in the eyes of great world champions, there is always that "something more" that we all want.  For example, look at Chris "Macca" McCormack.  You would think that winning a Ironman World Championship not once, but twice would be good enough?  But the Aussie continues to go out there and dream big and has devoted all of his energy towards the chance of one day making the Austrailian Olympic team.  Even if Macca never makes the Olympic team, I am sure that 20 years from now when he reflects back on his life, he'll know that he gave everything he could give.  So why should you and I think any differently?

The bottom line is you have to believe in yourself.  This goes for anything you do in life.  If you believe that you're only good enough to be a middle of the pack racer, guess what, that's all the better you're going to be.  The second you start to believe in yourself, especially in triathlon, things start to happen and the results will soon follow.

This year for me, I believed that I could go sub 9:20 at the Ironman distance.  This kind of thinking did not happen overnight however.  I'd say the initial transformation began just a little over a year ago when I crossed the finish line at Ironman Lake Placid where I finished 2nd in my Age Division with a time of 9 hours and 42 minutes.  I vividly remember walking up on stage, accepting my award and thinking about why couldn't I be standing in first?  Was the guy that beat me really that much better?  Well at the time, the answer was yes.  The guy that had beaten me had raced 24 minutes faster and finished in 9:18.  At that time, I thought that a 9:18 was way out of reach.  Heck, a 9:20 or faster wasn't even on my radar.  Through the remainder of my 2010 season, I would slowly chip away and my times continued to drop and I would round out my 2011 season with a 9:27 at Ironman Arizona.  Half way there I thought and all of the sudden a 9:20 seemed within reach.  The work would pay off soon enough as I would cross the finish line on Alii Drive in 9 hours and 17 minutes just 15 months later.    This has gotten me thinking over the past couple of weeks that there is no reason why I can't go even faster and race with the big boys.  We're talking about the guys that we all read about in the magazines.  The guys that finish an Ironman with a "8" as the lead off number.  All of the sudden, a sub 9 hour Ironman does not seem that far out of reach. 

Breaking the distance down into smaller parts, I know that I have to continue to get faster across all three disciplines to make my new goal(s) a reality.  How hard can it be?  All I have to do is swim faster, bike faster and run faster right?  If only it were that simple.

Thinking back on Ironman Hawaii, I can honestly say that I believe I could have gone faster, especially on the bike.  Maybe it was fear or the lack of confidence since I had never gone sub 5 hours over 112 miles or hadn't even broken into the 9:30's on that course?  Sometimes I believe you have to roll the dice and this time in Kona I probably played it too conservative.  You live and you learn.  That's part of the process!  My goal was to bike a 4:55 in Kona and going in to the race, I believed that this was the fastest I could possibly go.  As I rolled down the Queen K, I was content with my bike pace.  I think back about my frame of mind and for one reason or another, biking faster than a 4:55 never really crossed my mind.  I'm not sure why really especially when earlier this year I biked a 2:13 at half the distance.  Why when I felt great at mile 70 did I decide to simply "maintain my pace"?  Maybe it was the fact that I kept telling myself that I still have 40+ miles to go and I still had to run a marathon? 

Looking back on the race, there is no reason why I couldn't have gone faster on the bike and still run a solid marathon off the bike.  So my new "goal" on the bike is to go faster.  This is still where I can make up the most time.  It will be much easier for me to improve my bike leg by 10 minutes rather than increasing my run leg by 10 minutes.  But who knows, maybe I can have both?  If I were to give my new goal a number, I would have to throw out a 4:45 over 112 miles.  I believe that I am very capable of making this happen.  I also need to continue to get faster on the run.  A 7:30 marathon pace is not going to cut it if I want to have a shot at moving up to the Elite level in 2013.  I saw a big improvement in my marathon from 2010 to 2011 (8 minutes faster in Kona) but the goal this year was to run a 3:05, not a 3:16.  As for my swim, a couple minute improvement would be nice, but it's not necessary.  My next Ironman race will be wetsuit legal, and I know that I'm capable of swimming a 55 min swim with a wetsuit (swam a 56 at IMAZ in 2010) and I know that I've gotten stronger in the pool and another 8 months of training will only make me faster.

With my 2012 race schedule almost set, I have a couple rather big goals I am shooting for.
1.) Ironman CdA - Top 3 Overall Amateur
2.) Ironman Hawaii - Top 10 AG (Podium Dreams)
3.) Ironman Arizona - Top 3 Overall Amateur
4.) ...shall we dare say sub 9 hour Ironman?

Time to hang on and enjoy the ride!!!

Ironman Kona - 2011 Race Report

Every October.  Sacrifice.  Dedication.  Struggle.  I received these words of encouragement earlier in the week from my good friend Matty Mo as I was prepping for the biggest race of my life, Ironman Hawaii.  These words truly hit home and confirmed to this day that this was the only race that has mattered to me the past 4+ years.  Anything less than a perfect race on Saturday in my eyes would mean disappointment not only for the race, but for my entire season.  This was either my time to shine, or my time to let the pressure get to me.  I know we all can have a bad race from time to time, but from the very second when I qualified for the race at Ironman Arizona last November, every ounce of sweat was devoted to the stretch of asphalt through the Lava Fields, otherwise known as the Queen K Highway.  Every other race this year was simply a bonus and a stepping stone towards Kona perfection.  Speaking of pressure, to be honest, I have never had this kind of pressure going in to a race.  I had so many people back home and across the country that believed in me and it put me into a situation I have never had to deal with.  No longer would making it to the finish line would be good enough.  I made it visible to the world that my plan was to go low 9's.  Truth be told, I was nervous about this but I also kept telling myself over the course of the year that this was quite possible.  On paper it was easy.  Swim an hour, bike five hours and run around a three hour marathon.  All when separated out, is not a hard feat to accomplish.  Unfortunately though in Ironman, you get no rest period in between sports (well it was reported that a athlete during the race took 40+ minutes in transition #2).  This was by far the most nervous I've ever been going into a race but once the cannon sounded, it was just another day at the office.  

 The week leading up to the race was a whirlwind of excitement and energy.  It's hard to describe the atmosphere in Kona during Ironman week.  It's a town of true perfection.  Every athlete is tuned and has less than 10% body fat.  It's safe to say that there is no other place in the world (outside of the Olympics every 4 years) where so many fit athletes flock to a small town in the middle of the Pacific.  This being my third trip to Kona, Jennifer and I didn't have any big plans outside of the race.  I had seen the Volcano's, Waterfall's and have even swum with the dolphins in years past.  There was only one purpose behind our travels this year and that was to race.  

Pre Race at the Ironman Welcome Dinner

Believe or not race week seemed to move in slow motion.  I found myself camped out in our one room condo for the majority of the week.  Far different from what most people do when they go to Hawaii.  This was the hardest part of the trip I must say, but again, I was only here for one thing.  Now don't get me wrong, we did get in a morning hike, some snorkeling and awesome dinners with our Pittsburgh friends.  Race morning finally arrived and I was up and ready to get the show on the road at roughly 3:45 a.m.  Jen and I stayed at a Condo right in town this year which made race day easy.   We walked to transition, I got body marked and finished the last minute details of setting up my bike which included clipping in my shoes and loading my water bottles on to my frame.  Now the waiting game began.  As I gave my final farewell to Jen, I was lucky enough to see Ryan and Ty Ballou.  Everyone on the Ballou Skies team was thankful to have these two guys cheering out on Ali'i Drive and I couldn't be more proud of the great strides the charity has made in 2011.

Ryan continues to inspire us day in and day out.

Saying goodbye

I entered the water at around 6:35 with Beth, Chris and Jeremy which meant I had about 25 minutes of treading water.  The swim plan was to start next to Beth Shutt about 100-200 yards from the far left near the floating Ford Vehicle.  This set me up well last year and outside of the first 5-10 minutes last year, I had little to no contact.  As 7:00 am approached, I got ready and embraced for the mass start madness.   Even though I had done a mass start a dozen times, you're never quite prepared.  As I've told others, the Ironman swim is a contact sport but to be honest, I love this part.  Maybe it's the physical battles that takes me back to my hockey roots...or even the real early days when I took Karate for a couple of years?  I often think back to those days and would hear my dad telling me that I have to be more aggressive.  Go after the puck.  Be the first man into the corners.  Funny the little things that stick with you through life.  BANG!  The cannon sounded and echoed through the bay.  1800 bodies flailed and arm movements were made of which vaguely resembled swimming.  I fully expected things to be crazy the first five or so minutes, but for some reason this year I never really found free water for what must have been the full hour.   My plan of keeping an eye on Beth went quickly out the window.  As I was swimming, I'd see a pink cap and ask myself, is that Beth?  Nope not her.  I eventually set into somewhat of a rhythm and glanced at my watch as I swam around the turn buoy which also marked a point close to the half way point.  My watch read around 29 minutes and I knew that the swim back to shore is always a little tougher so I turned it up a gear and put a little more power into each stroke.  My goal was to swim under an hour and swim as if the race was only a mile long instead of 2.4 miles.  I needed to come out of the water and position myself well on the bike.  I've broken the 60 minute barrier before at many other Ironman races, but never here in Kona.  I exited the water and the clock read 1:00:46.  Any other day I would have been upset, but I swam a 1:02:21 here last year and thought that this year was a much harder year in the water.  The swim times across the board would prove this to be true.  I flew through transition and also bested my T1 time last year by 39 seconds.  Hey at this point I thought every second counts!  My T1 time was 2:20 which was around what the pros did.

Exiting the water

On the bike I settled in to a good pace.  Up Kuakini right at the turn-a-round is where I saw my Ballou Skies teammate, and good friend (and age-group competitor) Jeremy Cornman.  This was the first indication in my mind that in fact I did have a good swim.  Last year, I didn't catch Jeremy on the bike until we were almost at mile 100.  Less than five minutes in, I wanted to make a statement (which according to Jeremy's Race Report, "he was clearly on a mission"), I put a couple extra watts into each pedal stroke and passed him rather aggressively not knowing if he would try and ride with me or not.  

Although my run fitness continues to improve year to year, I knew that if I wanted to come out on top in the Pittsburgh dual for fastest triathlete, I needed to build somewhat of a buffer on the bike.  Out on the Queen K highway I would settle in to what felt like a comfortable pace but would sometimes question if I was riding too easy.  The plan would be to stay on top of my nutrition until we made the turn off of the Queen K up to Hawi. 

 

Earlier in the week, my coach and I put together a pacing plan which gave me a wattage range to average and we setup one time check.  The plan was to come through the first 56 miles in 2:25 which since my plan was to bike a 4:55, this would give me 5 minutes in the bank on the return trip.  I also did a couple "firsts" with technology on race day which was to use the virtual pacer on my Garmin 310xt watch and the Multisport feature.  I knew that in order to bike a 4:55, I needed to average 22.8 mph.  

So I entered in that pace into my Garmin and along the way would do a spot check to make sure I was staying on course.  It actually worked out rather well and will probably be something I use again in the future as another tool in my toolbox.  I came through mile 56 in about 2:23 and up to this point, riding felt easy which made me very excited.  This is also when I got to watch the professionals bomb down the stretch from Hawi after the turn-a-round.  I saw the Crowie was in the lead pack and thought to myself, well the Men's race is over.  But watching the women's race was exciting because the bikers were all over the place thanks to Julie Diben's incredible biking ability.

I'm sitting in third rider in this picture

Special needs went off without a hitch as I grabbed another bottle of my Infinit concentrate on the fly and began the wild descent.  At the turn, I also did a time check against Jeremy and he was only around two minutes back which meant I really didn't put much time in to him.  We had actually joked back and forth race week and I remember saying something like "watch out because I learned how to run off the bike", and he kept telling me how much stronger he had gotten on the bike!  Well up to this point, his statement was proving to be true.  Once back on the Queen K around mile 70, the winds really began to pick up but I still felt strong and continued to move up through the field.  I was riding a lot by myself at this point and would use the riders further up the road to help me push to close the gap.  Once past the airport with less than 10 miles to go, I knew that I was going to be under five hours on the bike but I thought that the cross/head winds would make me miss my 4:55 mark by one or two minutes.  As I made the final turn into Transition #2, I knew that my predictions were incorrect and in fact I had biked a 4:55:01 (22.78 mph avg).   This was exactly what we had set out to do all year!  This was a 13 minute improvement over last year on similar conditions and I began frantically doing the math in my head.  I knew that if I could run a ~3:05 marathon, I had a chance of going around 9 hours.  If you would have told me a year ago that I would be flirting with the 9 hour barrier in Kona, I would have called you crazy among other things.

Around mile 3 or 4

I had been working on my Kona marathon pace all year and had a new found confidence level for my run off the bike.  I had run multiple 20+ runs this year at sub 7 pace with ease and even a 26.2 mile training run in 3:04 just a couple weeks back.  My marathon plan was simple.  On Ali'i drive (first 10-11 miles) keep the pace at 7:10 - 7:15 pace.  I've done this again and again in training so this should have felt easy.  Then once on the Queen K, start to pick it up to 7 minute miles to the Energy Lab and then at this point dig deep and either hold it or run faster.  

 Out of transition I began clicking off 7:10 miles like clock work but this year I really started to notice the heat on Ali'i Drive.  I also had something going on with my lower back.  I began doing all sorts of weird things such as putting ice down my shorts to try and soothe the pain that came with every step.  Eventually my back would loosen up but unfortunately on my way out to the Energy Lab my pace began going the other way.  I was now running 7:30-7:40 miles but there was nothing I could do about it.  My legs wouldn't turnover any faster.  I was still on pace for around a 3:10 marathon though all the way in and out of the Energy Lab.  

Hawaii Natural Energy Lab

 Around mile 17 I also got my final time check on Jeremy and knew that I had a nine minute lead which was the same lead that I had on him at mile six.  This was a huge boost to my confidence coming out of the Energy Lab but not long after I saw him, things turned south.  By this time, I had completely switched to coke and water as the only nutrition I was taking in.  The final 10K was complete survival but I knew we were close and a Personal Best was in sight.  I quit looking at my pace and all I wanted was to see that next mile marker!  As I ran up the final hill before making the long run down Palani I began to reflect on the year.  I knew Jen would also be waiting for me at the turn and I couldn't wait to see her!  I reflected on how hard both of us worked to get here and thought about how fortunate I am to have the genetic make up to do Ironman fast.  My plan was to pick up the pace downhill but it was impossible at this point.  This was the point of the race where I knew I had given it all I had and there was nothing more in the tank to give.  

Making the final turn down Ali'i drive towards the finishing shoot had made everything I had worked so hard for this season all worth while.  I crossed the finish line in 9 hours 17 minutes and 17 seconds, a 23 minute improvement over last year and an 11 minute PR at the Ironman distance.  My marathon time was a 3:16:35 which was also a personal best marathon for me off the bike.  My time would also put me in the top 100 overall, 25th in the M30-34 Age Group, 6th American in the M30-34 Age Group and 23rd American Overall.  Plus my new time would set the fastest Kona time in the history of the race by a born and raised Pittsburgher which I believe was held for 25 years by Mac Martin who went 9:20:00 in 1986!** (If I'm wrong here, please let me know)

Pointing at the camera for at my fans and family back home watching Ironman Live

As I've said numerous times, I couldn't have done it without the support back home.  From my amazing wife, my parents, brother and sister, Aunts and Uncles and all of the other area triathletes and friends that believed in me and my hard work and dedication to the sport.  Again, I thank you!  I can't think of any other city that has embraced the sport of triathlon like the way Pittsburgh has!  I'm truly honored and humbled to be part of such a great multisport community. 

Seriously what other city has a cheering squad this big back home? - Kona Party back in Pittsburgh

I also wanted to give a huge shout out to my coach Derick Williamson for helping guide me along the way and believing in me.  2012 is sure to prove as another milestone year for us.

Chad and Derick

  As indicated by my race schedule for 2012, the wheels are already in motion and I'm looking for even bigger and better things in 2012.  Jeremy and I have already set the bar high with talks of going sub 9 hours in Kona next year.  This is going to be fun.  Looking forward to the new and exciting adventures along the way.  Mahalo and thanks for reading.

2012 Race Schedule

Yes this not my Kona Race Report, but the other thing I've been working on right now if finalizing my 2012 race schedule.  2012 is shaping up to be another solid year of training and racing and as of right now, plans are to kick off the season April 1st at Ironman 70.3 Texas!

4/1 - Ironman 70.3 Texas
5/6 - Knoxville Rev 3 Half Ironman
5/20 - Columbia Olympic Triathlon
6/24 - Ironman CdA
7/29 - Pittsburgh Olympic Triathlon
8/19 - Steelhead 70.3 Michigan
9/9 - Ironman 70.3 Worlds, Vegas

10/13 - Ironman Worlds, Kona
11/18 - Ironman Arizona

Looking forward to another great year!

Race Nutrition - My Hawaii Ironman Plan

I thought that it would be good to share my Ironman nutrition plan that I've stuck to now for the past five Ironman races which have led me ultimately to a Kona PR this past weekend where I knocked out a 9:17:17 on the big island.

First thing I often tell folks is you do not need to overthink your nutrition plan.  In other words, keep it simple!  I break my plan down into three major components; hydration, sodium and calories.  Next step is to find products that work well with your stomach.  I don't really care if you use carbo-pro, Infinit, Powerbar Perform or even just water and gels.  If you're getting in the correct amount of hydration, sodium and calories then the plan is a winner.  There are general rules for determine these values through sweat rate tests and trial and error, but I'll save that for a different post as all I want to do here is outline my Hawaii Plan. 

Pre Race Nutrition:
I begin my pre race nutrition at 4am (3hrs prior the race).  Over the course of the morning I took in two Ensure's, 1/2 a Powerbar, 1 Honey Stinger Gel one bottle of EFS and one bottle of Infinit plus took 2 salt pills.

T1 Nutrition:
As I was running from the swim to my bike, I ate one Honey Stinger Gel.

Bike Nutrition Setup:
My original bike setup contained three bottles.  Two of the bottles contained 2 scoops of Infinit (normal concentrate) and the third bottle contained 6 scoops of Infinit.  I also had a EFS Liquid Shot Gel flask and two 200mg caffeine pills taped to my bike and one container of salt pills containing 15 pills.

Using this setup, in addition to water on the course, I aimed to take in ~30-35oz / hour on the bike plus ~400 calories per hour and ~1400mg of Sodium per hour. 

When I hit mile 60 at Hawi, I had gone through five bottles of Infinit (2 regular / 3 from concentrate) and over half of my Liquid shot.  I can usually tell when I need salt on the bike and typically aim for 2-3 pills per hour but at times take more based on how I feel.  I also popped my first caffeine pill right before the climb up to Hawi.  The only thing I did different this year was add the caffeine and I was also taking one to two mouthfulls of Coke at every aid station.  I would never carry the bottle of coke, but would make sure to get in some every 8-10 miles on the bike starting at around mile 50.

Over the final 52 miles, I drank most of my Special Needs Infinit Bottle (3 bottles from concentrate) and the remainder of my gel flask plus one Honey Stinger Gel.  I would also finish off the rest of my salt pills in the container. 

This combination set me up for a 4:55 bike split, my fastest to date.

Marathon Run Nutrition:

In transition, I grabbed another 15 pill supply of salt, another First Endurance Liquid Shot flask and a 8oz bottle of Powerbar Perform via a Fuelbelt Flask which I would carry 26 of the 26.2 miles.  At each aid station I would take in as much as I could take in.  I'd make sure to get in Powerbar Perform, water and coke at every aid station and I would use my fuelbelt flask to wet the pallet.  I ended up taking in around 4 gels on the run from my flask.  


This combination set me up for a 3:16 run off the bike and my fastest marathon run to date in an Ironman. 

Enjoy!  PS - Kona Race Report will be out tomorrow!!!

It's Game Time

In two days, Kona will be just another memory and chapter in our lives, which makes me tend to focus more on the journey it took to get to this magical and mysterious island nestled in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Every day over the past year (well let us be honest...last 5+ years) I've thought about Ironman Hawaii.  The race is the pinnacle of the sport and is the single event that continues to drive me towards perfection.  This will be my third time racing here on the big island and I have learned so much about not only the race, but about myself as I covered the 140.6 mile race through the barren lava fields.  I'm also in a different mind set this year thanks to coach Derick.  This year I've pushed myself to places I never thought were possible in training and while competing.  To put it in a simplistic way, I want this more than anything else right now and I'm hungry.  During the day tomorrow I know it's going to hurt and it's not only going to be physically tough, but also mentally tough but who are we kidding, this is what Ironman is all about.  Having the confidence to push through the pain for around nine hours is by far the difference one more year of experience makes.  There's always room for improvement as we all strive to go faster and faster.

At the beginning of the season (December 15th to be exact), I shared on my blog my goal which was to go top 10 in my age group tomorrow in Kona and the focused training for this very day began.  Have you ever tried to train 11 months straight for one race?  Let me tell you, it's not easy and can break you more times than not.  I knew after setting this lofty goal that it was not going to be easy to achieve, but when am I ever one to settle for easy?  The heartbeat of Kona is what made me tick day in and day out each and every day this year.  When I begin my day tomorrow, I know that I've done everything possible to make this goal come true.  I still remember the days when all I wanted to do was race a sub 10 hour Ironman and qualify for this race, but to now be looking at the 9 hour barrier and telling myself this is possible, is what it's all about. I'm here to race!

As always, I couldn't have gotten here without the amazing support back home.  From my family to my training partners to my triathlon team to my amazing wife, thank you for being supportive as I continue to work to be the best athlete I can be.  Now let's get this show on the road! 

Kona: The Home Stretch

In four days Jennifer and I will once again be boarding a plane to tropical paradise otherwise known as Kailua Kona, Hawaii.  Even though this will be my third trip in five short years to the big island, something seems different about this year.  As I've said before, there's something magical about that island.  It sounds ridiculous typing that, but for me Kona is more than just a race.  Kona is a journey that has defined the past nine years of my life and is what has defined me as a person.  My road to Kona has not come easy by any means and the sacrifices and other important things that I've had to put on hold are completely worth it.  Ironman is a direct parallel to life.  Through our journey through life as we know it, we are faced with ups and downs and struggles that we overcome.  For me, just getting to the big island in 2007 and again in 2010 was satisfying.  Yes, when I raced Kona in 2010, I wanted to race fast, but deep down just being on the Queen K was all worth it.  That is by far the biggest thing that separates Kona 2011 from years past.

On November 21st, 2010, I qualified for Kona at Ironman Arizona and to be honest, it was easy.  It wasn't my first rodeo and I had no doubt in my mind that I was not going to qualify.  I raced with a slight knee injury and was only six weeks removed from Kona 2010 but still persevered.  My goal wasn't to win my age group, but simply punch my ticket back to Kona.  I cruised to a 4th place finish in my age division and had big plans for the new year. 

The first order of business was to find new direction.  I had felt that my time with the Mark Allen Elite team was well spent but if I wanted to elevate my game to the next level, it was time to develop a new training strategy.  This is where my coach Derick Williamson came into play.  I had actually decided to work with Derick the day before Arizona and vividly remember sitting on the waters edge of Tempe Town Lake telling Derick that I was "all in".  It was a huge decision on my part as I was trusting the next 11 months of my life to a guy in Austin Texas who I had never met...however when I talked to Derick, something just seemed to click.  Kona training began on December 13, 2010 so I essentially had only three weeks of "off season".  I remember getting my first block of workouts and my jaw hit the floor.  I thought to myself, if this is what we call "base training" what in the world is my "Ironman Kona build" going to look like.  Well on August 23rd just two day after Timberman 70.3, I quickly found out what it takes to elevate your game to that next level and to test the bodies limits.  What's funny now though is that I go back and look at some of the January and February workout sessions that I considered hard at that time, they almost become laughable.  This is in part reason why I'm chomping at the bit to get this show on the road.  To say I'm ready would be an understatement!

The month of September was by far the most demanding set of workouts I've ever put my body through.  There was actually a point a couple weeks back during a bike trainer session that I physically had a breakdown and was done.  Spent, finished, exhausted, cooked!  Never wanting to quit though, I called Derick and said that I just didn't have it in me today and maybe I could move the session to the following day.  I remember telling him that everything hurt and there was no way I could hit the wattage that he prescribed in the workout.  Well of course he made me get back on my bike and somehow convinced me that it was all in my head and that I am stronger than I often give myself credit for.  That by far was the strongest (and hardest) bike session that I had all year and right then and there I knew that this was the year that I was ready for Kona. 

With only 11 days to go, I'm in the home stretch and I know that I've done the hard work and couldn't be more prepared.  But let's be honest, what matters is results.  I plan to lay it all on the line and plan to dig deeper than I've ever dug.  I know that I'm ready for this race not just physically but mentally.  Time to execute.

Timberman 70.3 Race Report

I'll start off by saying where in the world did the last three weeks go?  I always try to write my race reports within days after a race, but for some reason it was very difficult for me to find the motivation to sit down for an hour to write about how the day went.  That could be in part because although on paper it appeared that I had a good race but in my mind often times a good race is never good enough.  Coming off a a great month of racing in July, I had high expectations coming into Timberman given where my current fitness level was at (that was until I got my race week training schedule from coach).  

When Derick and I setup my year we both new that come August, Timberman would be a low priority race and more or less a test of endurance to see how my legs respond after a big week of training.  This is a similar thought process and mindset that comes about late in an Ironman race.  If I could race well being fatigued at Timberman, then when my legs begin to scream at me out on the Queen K highway next month, I'll know deep down that I had already been to those low spots earlier in the year and I'll have the confidence that is needed to push through the pain.  

Backing up to the week before the race, I was fortunate enough to spend the week in Newport, Rhode Island.  Tuesday (5 days prior the race) called for a rather big day of training but when I went to bed on Monday night something wasn't right.  I must have picked up some sort of 24 hour bug on the plane, had a sore throat and had some body aches.  Thankfully I was feeling better later that day after 12+ hours of sleep and managed to get in a 2hr ride with 1hr of hard interval efforts.  No better way to get rid of a cold than to sweat it out right?

Thanks to Top Gear Bike Shop for hooking me up with the new Firecrest 808s.

Wednesday (4 days prior) was a nice and relaxed recovery ride, but I came back Thursday morning with another hard bike which was done at beyond threshold power ranges.  Thursday afternoon I ran along the Cliffs and Mansions and although the sights were out of this world, my legs were trashed.  I suffered through a 7 mile run and wondered how in the hell am I going to race in just three days.  But then I remembered adrenaline is an amazing thing.

The walking/jogging trail runs along side these cliffs.

Friday came and I drove up to Boston and picked up Jennifer from the airport.  Timberman would be her third half Ironman for the season, and would prove to come at just the right time as Jennifer would go on to PR at the distance on a very challenging course as well as finish within the top 10 of her age group.  

After visiting a friend of ours on Friday in Boston, we drove to this little quaint Bed & Breakfast where we'd spend the next three nights.  This was our view every morning from the front porch. 

What a fantastic way to relax before the race.

Fast Forward to Sunday morning, the race was upon us.   Based on how my Saturday pre-race sessions went, I knew the legs were feeling a little bit better but I still didn't have that one-two punch on the bike that I was accustomed to.  I continued to tell myself that this wasn't my top priority race, I'm already a week plus into my Kona build but let's be honest, when I got to that starting line, no matter what my body was telling me, I want to win.  Plain and simple.  

Transition was rather hectic race morning and right after I finished setting up my bike in transition, Jen came to me and said that her rear tire was flat.  So I changed her tire, put air in tire #2 and I must have done it too quickly because that tire also had a hole.  We tried to stay calm and collective and headed over to the race support tent where the mechanic fixed the tire and Jen was all set.  However by this time, I was already off of my nutrition plan and had two options and made a rookie mistake which was to not rehearse the transition layout prior the race.  I thought no big deal.  I've raced over 50 times and they're all the same right?  My bike rack was next to a big tree, so I thought to myself all I'll do is look for the tree and then look for my bright yellow Newton shoes.  This would however come back to bite me later in the race.  In desperate need of calories, I headed back to our car and finished my breakfast and did NOT go back in to transition.

My wave did not start until the 12th heat which didn't get going until around 8:00am, a good 1+ hours after the professionals.  I understand the logic behind this which is to get send the slower athletes off the course earlier, but I often question the safety of doing heats this way especially when I'm blasting by them at full speed on the bike.  The waves went off in five minute increments and my wave was broken up into two waves and there were only around 80 people in my wave if I had to guess.  When it was finally our turn, the horn sounded and I did my typical ~200-300 yard sprint off the front.  I had absolutely zero contact off the line and before I knew it I was leading my heat.  Being a bigger Ironman event I kept waiting for someone to go off the front, but it didn't happen.  There was another swimmer swimming near me but I was starting to pull away.  I knew right away that I would be swimming this one solo.  Not even to the first turn buoy and I had caught the swimmers in the wave that went off five minutes prior.  I was swimming straight and surprisingly felt very strong!  On the final stretch in to shore not a single yellow cap had passed me so I knew I was exiting the water in first place in my division.  My swim time was 28:20 and this was two races in a row where I emerged from the water in first place (well sort of).  Later after looking at the results, there was somebody in the 2nd 30-34AG wave that did swim a little faster.  As I entered into transition I found my bike and off I went in just 90 seconds.  

The great thing about triathlon is that every race you do is different even if on the same course.  There is always something that will not go your way and it's your job to figure out the most efficient and fastest way to correct the situation.  For me, this race it would be a dreaded helmet sticker.  Not even 2-3 miles in I noticed something flapping on my front tire.  This was not something I wanted to deal with for 56 miles so I had two options.  Option one was to stop and lose time...or try to get the sticker off of your tire while moving at speeds in excess of 25mph.  Of course I went with mission impossible, option number two.  I got this brilliant idea that I could use my finger nails and in a Macgyver type motion the sticker would miraculously come off.  Well this method proved that the only thing that would come off was half of my fingernail and skin.  The tire grinded my fingernail down which left this lovely burning sensation and I had to revert to option number one which was to come to a complete stop and peel the thing off.  The remainder of the bike was actually pretty uneventful until around mile 40.  Up until this point not a single person had passed me all day but then I had gotten passed as if I was standing still.  I knew my power was starting to decline and my legs were starting to fade but this was my opportunity to push strong to the finish.  The rider in front of me gave me the instant motivation to up my wattage by 10 and give it one more hard push.  Although I wasn't able to hold that pace, it did manage to get me through some difficult miles out on that bike course.  

Coming into transition there were two 1/4 mile long single file no passing zone areas that we had to abide by and since there were slower riders that started in front of me, this made for a very frustrating finish on the bike.  I got behind one guy that decided to coast and then passed another guy coming out of a turn of which he exchanged some choice words with me because I passed him coming into a really tight turn.  I had to remind him that this was a race!  My plan was to bike around a 2:18 on this course but as I crossed the dismount line the clock read 2:20:29.  This would still add up to a 24mph average on a tough bike course and had moved my overall position up to 8th place overall (including the pro's).  

This is where my biggest transition mistake to date occurred.  I could not find my bike rack and when I told myself that morning that my bike was near the big tree, I must not have realized at the time that there were two other big trees nearby.  I broke one of my fundamental pre-race rules which is to ALWAYS walk the transition area in both directions!  After looking at splits of others, I lost a full minute in transition. Doesn't sound like much, but the guy that finished next ahead of me only beat me by around a minute!  It felt like an eternity.

The Timberman run course was a two loop out and back run.  It was tough knowing who was on their first loop versus their second and who you were racing against for a podium spot.  I had to race my own race.  Again, only one person passed me on the run.  My legs felt okay and I'd have to say that even though I only ran a 1:30 half marathon (again), the run course was tougher than most and I felt steady through out.  I felt like I could hold that 6:50 pace for another 13.1 miles which is actually what we're after right now.  

I came across the finish line in 4:22:59 which was good enough for 2nd place in my age group out of 175 athletes, 11th Overall Male and 5th Overall Amateur.  My goal heading in to this race was to go top 3, but today just wasn't the day.  The good news is that I'm continuing to see steady improvements and I have a feeling that come October, good things are going to come.  In addition, also by finishing 2nd in my age group I qualified for my third Ironman 70.3 World Championship next September in Las Vegas. 

Vegas Qualification table

As I indicated at the beginning of this post, Ironman Hawaii training is in full effect.  I was talking with someone last night and he made a comment to me that he would like for me to keep posting some of the workouts I'm doing to Facebook or wherever.  Well here are five Epic workouts that I have on my plate and it should give you a taste of what I've been up to these last couple of weeks.  Right now, workouts like this are a daily occurrence.

• 7x1 mile repeats starting the first two at 5:30-5:35 and bringing the pace down from there.
• Swim with 4x1000 intervals descending set.
• 6 hour bike with 3 hour time trial in middle with 4 mile run off bike at 6:45 pace
• 20 mile run keeping first 16 nice and relaxed going into 3x1mi repeats at 5:35-5:45 pace.
• Don't stop riding the bike until the Power Meter shows 4600-4700 Kilojoules then transition to a 8mi run off the bike at 6:55-7:10 pace.
• 25-26 mi run, just focus on getting the miles in today, don't try to push it here.  (Yes just a marathon...)

Pittsburgh Triathlon - Race Report

 Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to bring home the win at my hometown race, the Pittsburgh Triathlon.  The race has a special place in my heart because it is the race that introduced me to the sport of triathlon all the way back in 2003.  When I think about it, it is hard to believe that I've been in the sport for nine years already!  

My early years of racing - 2003

Going back to spring of 2003 I guess you could say I was in the right place at the right time.  At that time, there wasn't much of a triathlon community, no Pittsburgh Triathlon Club and in fact it was around this time that the city of Pittsburgh had actually pulled the Pittsburgh Marathon from the race calendar due to budget issues.  It was sometime that spring while I was training for 5K's and 10K's that I was out on a training run and ran into a group of runners.  It turned out that the running group met every Tuesday evening at the local high school track and every Thursday evening at a local grocery store for a challenging six mile run.  I was hooked!  I had already been back to running (took a short hiatus during college) for a couple of years and now I had running partners!  

My first Triathlon

 I don't remember the specifics but I'm sure that the conversation on one of those six mile runs turned into Triathlon talk because some of these runners were gearing up for an Ironman race later in the season.  Up until that day I had never even heard of the sport to tell you the truth.  I can only speculate that one of our Thursday night chats intrigued me and I was typing away on an internet search engine looking for a local triathlon.  Of course the first race that I found was the race that was virtually in my back yard, the Pittsburgh Tri.  I called my parents who at the time lived right up the road and told them that I was coming up to get my old child hood mountain bike out of the garage. I hadn't been on a bicycle in years but like the saying goes, you never forget how to ride a bike.  In fact, I pratically lived on my bicycle through late elementary and middle school.  I sort of made up a training plan on my own (actually there was no plan it was more or less centered around social gatherings).  I also remember the first time I rode the bike five miles. I couldn't believe how far I had rode my bike and at that same time I wondered how in the world was I going to bike 40K and then run a 10K after that.  

I began doing research and knew that I wanted to not just finish, but compete.  About a month before the Pittsburgh Triathlon back in 2003 I got my first taste of triathlon sticker shock.  My mother and I traveled together to the local bike shop and within minutes I was handing over my credit card and was walking out the door with a $2,000 road bike.  It was crazy now that I think about it since the cost of the bicycle was over 5% of my annual yearly income at the time.  I would get home from work and ride my new Trek road bike into town and up Pennsylvania avenue which was around a 10-15 mile round trip bike ride.  It was as if I was a kid again enjoying and loving life.  There was some sort of freedom and calmness about being on my bike that I was attracted to that still to this day, I can't seem to get enough of.  As with most triathletes that came from a running background, my only goal for the 1500 meter swim was to not drown.  When training, I didn't even belong to a club or YMCA with a pool.  Instead I would swim laps in my grandfathers back yard pool (of which I'd practically live in growing up).  If I were to guess, the pool was around 15-20 yards in length.  As for my first race, let's just say it wasn't pretty.  I did finish in just under 3 hours and I vividly remember saying afterwards that this was the hardest thing I had ever done!  Little did I know what was to come in the years ahead.  I'd again do the race in 2004, 2005 and 2006.  My times over the next three years would drop from a to 2:59 to a 2:26 in just one year, then a 2:18 my third year in the sport and then a 2:11 by 2006.  However, between 2007-2010 my hometown race would have to take a back seat as I would pursue Ironman racing in Lake Placid New York and was not able to compete in Pittsburgh since the two races were so close together.

I believe this was taken at the 2004 or 2005 Pittsburgh Tri

Much like how I was already hooked on the local 5K/10K scene, I was now hooked on the local triathlon scene.  I'd race Latrobe, Crooked Creek, Edinboro, North Park, Oxford and some of the other local area races.  Just a little over one year after my first triathlon, I signed up for my first full Ironman race, but I'll save that story for a different day.  

Pittsburgh Triathlon - 2006

 Fast forward to the past weekend, I was chomping at the bit to be back in the Allegheny river.  I'd also be approaching the race in a very different situation from years past.  I knew my competition and I knew that I'd be entering the race as the race favorite.  Bottom line, I knew that this was my race to win.  

 

 Coming off of the overall win at Musselman just two weeks prior, I wanted to keep this high going and anything less than a victory would be a disappointment.  However, there was one small thing that was getting in my way and that was my training plan.  My coach and I both knew that Pittsburgh was a low priority race in the big scheme of things which meant little to no taper for this years Pittsburgh Tri.  When I received my workout plan for race week I saw it included six days of swimming, beyond threshold work on the bike and even one running workout that included 5K repeats, three of them to be exact which were all to be done sub 18:30.

The big back of ice was needed this week

When I got outside the day before the race for my pre-race swim and bike ride, my legs had zero pop.  I'm sure being on my feet all day as well Saturday at the expo also didn't help either.  I even tried an ice bath Saturday afternoon in hopes of bringing my legs back to life.  None the less, I was still prepared to fight to the very end for the victory.

My swim wave

 Race morning came and my mind forgot all about the fatigue and lactic acid still in my legs.  It was time to get this show on the road.  I was in the first wave which consisted of all men age 40 and under.  I knew three of the guys that I swim with at Masters that were also racing that day and my goal was to swim as hard as I could upstream to the first turn buoy with hopes of staying in that lead pack or at least keeping them in sight. 

Unfortunately though as soon as the race started I lost the lead pack and found myself swimming alone.  Something also didn't feel right and just like the day before, I had little to no energy in the water.  I could tell my arm turnover was slow as if I was out on an easy recovery swim.  I continued to swim by myself the rest of the way to the final yellow turn buoy.  All of the sudden, I caught a kayak out of the corner of my eye trying to signal and get my attention.  I didn't think I was swimming off course, so I stopped for a brief second as this was not typical for a kayak to flag you down.  When I lifted my head he said, "make sure you go around the yellow buoy".  At that time I had no idea why he told me this and wanted to reply, "no s__t Sherlock".  I soon though figured out the reason to his madness.  As I made my final turn towards shore, there were three swimmers heading in the opposite direction swimming straight towards me.  Apparently the lead pack of the three swimmers, missed the final turn buoy, swam to shore and when they got up the exit ramp, they were told they had to swim back out around the final buoy.  I exited the water and saw my dad who yelled that I was in the lead.  

Exiting the swim - you can see pack that had to turn around about 20 seconds back

 I couldn't tell you how awesome this felt because I knew I was not having a very good day.  Plus all I could think about was how big of a deficit I was going to have to make up on the bike to the ex-collegiate swimmers.  

Running up to Transition

 Once out on the bike I settled in to my normal Olympic power range and it felt really hard.  Once out on the HOV lane, I took my first look behind me and only saw one biker who was around 30-40 seconds back.  I kept telling myself that I was the strongest cyclist out on the course but the next time I would look behind me, the 2nd place rider was closing the gap and closing it fast.  The gap closed so fast that by mile 6 at the first turn around, my lead had dwindled to just 15 or 20 seconds.  

On the bike

 I knew my legs were not there so my thought process was to keep pushing steady and save as much energy as possible for the run.  I was in a position where I didn't care what my finish time was and I was racing for the win.  ((oh and it was somewhere on the first loop where a bee flew into my helmet and I couldn't get it out!))  This was turning out to not be my day.

Starting the second loop

When we hit the second turn around at mile 20, Eric was just 5-10 seconds back and this is where the chess game began (at least in my head).  I eased up on the bike and waited for Eric to make his move.  He made the pass on the final uphill grade before going down the big hill back to town.  I knew that he had to have worked pretty hard to catch me over the first 20 miles so I waited patiently to strike.  I don't know if he was ready for what I did next but I dropped out of the passing zone and then put in my biggest surge of the day.  

Pushing hard into T2

 I wanted to make a statement that if he wanted to beat me he was going to have to pass me with a little more authority.   I opened up a sizable gap on the descent and held the lead into transition.  He quickly followed into T2 just a couple of seconds apart.  

Eric and I in the early stages of the 10K

 Both Eric and I were through T2 and headed out onto the run just seconds apart.  He was running on my shoulder letting me set the pace.  It seemed as though he was breathing fairly easy and since he was running just footsteps behind me, it was hard for me to get any sort of read on him.  My next chess move was to start a conversation.  Yes it sounds crazy, but I asked him something like, "do you know how far back Chris Rotelli is"?  Chris was the defending champion and was currently in third place overall.  I knew he was minutes behind, but this was also my attempt to show him that I still had a good bit in the tank.  I don't really know if it worked or not but I was willing to pull out all the moves.  Eric did answer as if he wasn't even working.  That was the point where I thought that this run could potentially come down to the wire.  We ran stride for stride the first 1.5 miles and it was time for my next chess move.  We were running right around six minute mile pace so I said okay, let's see how it feels to pick up the pace to 5:20-5:30 pace.  I put in a 20 second surge and Eric stayed right with me.  I recovered for 15 seconds and put in another hard surge.  Eric this time drifted a couple seconds back but eventually was back running stride for stride.  I would repeat this pattern once or twice more the first 5 kilometers to the point where when I hit the turn-around I had opened up around a 20 second gap.  I continued to run steady and the gap slowly began to increase even more.  When I arrived back to town and crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 3 minutes, I was ecstatic.  My wife Jennifer was waiting there at the finish line along with my parents and brother Rob.  The four of them were beyond excited as well and I'm so happy they came to watch. 

Sprinting Vito to the line.  Vito was in the sprint race and had an awesome day.

Although I did not have a great day out there, I felt as if this was the best tactical race I had ever raced.  I'd also like to send out a big congratulations to all of the Pittsburgh Triathlon Club members.  It was beyond awesome seeing you all out there and the support you all gave and shout outs along the way was out of this world!  Also, huge congrats to CCM Athletes for again setting huge PR's.  Not only did we have one or two personal bests, but every athlete that's raced this race last year bettered his or her time!  I love it.  

My next race is Timberman 70.3 which is scheduled for August 21st.  My goal for this race (which I've had for quite some time now) is to finish top 3 amateur overall.  Then it's full speed ahead as I gear up for the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii on October 8th.