2013 Race Schedule

Better late than never, my (proposed) 2013 race schedule.

April 21st - New Orleans 70.3
May 5th    - Pittsburgh Half Marathon
May 25th  - New Brighton Sprint
June 9th    - Eagleman 70.3
July 28th   - Ironman Lake Placid 

The rest of the season TBD, and as my first half results, and then, more importantly, my nursing school schedule will allow. Will I race again in KY, or at World's, perhaps get Savage, in my backyard, maybe in Buckeye City, Magic City, Brotherly Love, or North or South of the Border? And who knows, maybe I will work some magic or say the hell with it and head back to the Big Island! Time will tell, and I'll keep you updated! 

Bike Frame For Sale

Howdy fellow bloggers, Googlers, and interweb aficionados! I'm selling my trusty old steed, my 2009 Felt B2 Pro Frameset that has seen me through 5 Ironmans total and a couple great days in Kona! Please see the text below for more details and please let me know if you or anyone you know might be interested! Thanks- JC

For Sale:
USED 2009 Felt B2 Pro 54 cm carbon fiber frameset. Only frame, integrated fork, seat post, and three stems (lengths) included. This bike has never been crashed, but has seen some high mileage and racing. I started riding this bike NEW (original and only owner) in December 2009 and stopped riding in September of 2012 when I got a new frameset. I’d estimate that about 25% of total time in use was on an indoor bike trainer. There are no cracks or dents in this frame, but there are some scuffs and blemishes resulting from normal wear and tear, transport in bike cases and on bike racks, leaning up against walls, etc. Of note, some scuffs/blemishes/clear coat delamination are: leading edge of right fork leg, trailing edge of down tube, trailing edge of right seat stay, chain-knicks on right chainstay, and knicks in paint around rear dropouts. This bike is still in good shape and the frame is strong and extremely aero. I am 5’10” and this bike has fit me comfortably in a number of fit variations. Again, this is for a used 54 cm carbon fiber frame with integrated fork, seat post, and three stems (lengths) ONLY. Brakes not included in asking price, but if interested let me know and we can negotiate. Thanks for looking and please contact me if you are interested!

Link to Pittsburgh Craigslist posting.

IMCDA Race Report

Well, this race has long since been finished, but I realized I have not done a race report since Kona of last year so it's time to get 'er (one) done. Better late than never. On June 24th I started the 9th Ironman of my triathlon career and the race proved to be every bit as challenging as the previous 8, and then some. This race also ended up being very educational and quite humbling at the same time, so in retrospect I see this as one of my most valuable and rewarding of Ironman race experiences. The result in CDA was not what I was expecting, prepared for, nor was I very happy with the result; but for these reasons, it will surely provide me with unlimited motivation and practical racing experience going forward. 

The week leading up to the race was very relaxing and things were going very smoothly prior to race day on Sunday. Jocelyn and I were staying with new friends Sarah and Nick in Spokane from Tuesday night to Thursday evening, and then they graciously moved us closer to Coeur d'Alene and put us up from Thursday to the following Monday evening at their beautiful and peaceful lake house in Newman Lake, WA. From this ideal, low-stress base camp, we had an easy 20 minute drive to CDA and race affairs. Thanks Sarah and Nick!

The end of the week included the standard last couple workouts, packet pickup, bike cleaning and gear check-in, and meeting up with Pittsburgh friends and teammates prior to the big day.

The CDA crew.

Pittsburgh represents. Go Ballou Skies!

Race morning dawned with a good previous two night's sleep and the nutrition going down well as we prepared to depart for CDA and during the drive east. We got into town got a good nearby parking spot, and then arrived at transition with ample time (we thought) to get setup and ready to go.

Ironman Cornman Potato-heads

Shortly, I would encounter the first major challenge of the day. I was pulling typical double duty with tire inflation that morning, pumping up Jocelyn's tires after my own. Of course her valve extenders were not cooperating with her valve stems, and I was going to have to take her rear wheel off and effectively change her tube to allow the tire to be inflated. As I was going to put her rear wheel back into the dropouts, her entire rear derailleur DETACHED from her bike. Like fell off, unrideable. I freaked out and told a nearby spectator/sherpa that we had been talking to earlier (with a horrified look on my face), to let Jocelyn know that I was over at bike support with a "problem" (Jocelyn was running our transition bags back to the car). After panicking on Jocelyn's behalf for about 15 minutes, pacing while waiting in line for support, talking to some fellow racers (thanks Dan), then consoling a stricken wife, Jenny, a local mechanic, skillfully reattached Jocelyn's derailleur on a bent hanger with stripped little screws. Things looked good and should hold. We hoped.

We headed down to the beach, took some deep breaths, and then helped each other into our Blue Seventy wetsuits and went our separate ways to the start. I worked my way down to the front and lined up just a little to the right of the buoy line with Chad and Matt. We had a short wait as we dipped our toes in the chilly 54 degree water, and then just a few short moments later, it was 7am and the gun went off.

 I went out pretty hard, though not quite as hard as usual, and luckily got into a pretty clear patch of water and didn't incur the typical Ironman mass start thrashing. Unfortunately, there was also no one to draft in this clear patch, and my attempts at locating some feet in the cold, deep, dark lake under overcast skies proved unsuccessful. At times, I really had no idea where I was going as sighting was difficult with the significant chop and foggy goggles under the aforementioned overcast skies, but I just put my head down and kept a steady, up-tempo rhythm for the first loop. I ran up onto the beach and through the archway/timing mat in slightly under 29 minutes to set out on the second swim loop. Not super fast for me, but it felt very controlled and I had no doubt I could duplicate this for the second lap. About 500 meters out into the lake, I knew this would be more difficult. The wind/chop had picked up considerably in the last ~15-20 minutes (current against you going out, little bit of a push coming back), and the effort went up considerably to keep the speed up. I still felt pretty good however and was getting warmed up to the tempo, and kept pushing on. I made the final turn to come back into shore and then with the wind/chop (swells!) at my back, I really had a new perspective on how much the conditions had changed in about 30 minutes time. I was glad I would soon be out of the water and tried my damnedest to take advantage of the periodic crests rushing up behind me.

Came up on the beach in a shockingly slow 1:01:15, having slowed 3 minutes from the first lap to the second! Notwithstanding Ironman's incorrect pace calculation seen below, I averaged 1:35/100m or 1:27/100y. I quickly (strangely) put it out of my mind though (maybe the beginnings of hypothermia? - ha!) and ran up into transition. After some frozen-limbed slowness and difficulty in T1, I was out and off onto the bike.

The beginnings of the bike leg were not that auspicious, with all of my salt-pills flying out of my Ballou Skies race top's pocket in the first couple miles, but I too put that behind me and set out along the lake and got down to work. I was feeling good on the bike and fluid with my demo-ed Zipp Firecrest 404/808 combo from Top Gear, and was having little difficulty hitting my goal wattage in the opening 35 miles or so out to the far turnaround to the south of town.

I was working my way up through the field and getting my PowerBar nutrition down according to plan, so all seemed to be going well. Average power was good, HR in check, PE was low as well. One area where I was having trouble however, was keeping my power down below my agreed upon cap that I had worked out with my coach in the days preceding the race. I was burning some matches, but it didn't seem excessive compared to some training rides, and I was also out of gears and below ideal cadence ranges! What are you going to do? I wasn't about to "trackstand" or churn up some of these hills with my rpms at 60, so I continued "racing" and forged ahead..

Burning matches!

The power dropped coming back into town, but this was to be expected with the downhill trend and everything else was looking good. Nutrition was still going well and I had peed twice before I even reached the halfway point, so that was a large success. Heading back out of town, my power was continuing to drop from the first lap, but in the moment I was still feeling strong and in control, while continuing to move up in the field and HR values were still reasonable and I had ample calories and fluids. Coming back into town I made a tactical error (played by the rules!) and got stuck behind two older female competitors in the no-pass zone as they were finishing up their first lap. I took it slow (real slow!) and practiced that trackstand that I skipped earlier in the ride, that is when I wasn't spinning 130 rpm in my smallest gear and quickly approaching their draft zone! Once passed, I blitzed back into town and finished the bike leg in 5:14:11. This worked out to be 21.4 mph over 5554 ft of elevation gain. 11% decouple though. Blah.

Bike metrics

I came off the bike in second place in my AG and 4th or 5th amateur, right where I wanted to be with my run still to come. Things were about to get very exciting, as I thought at the time, but the excitement that I got turned out to be of a very different variety!

Out of transition much quicker than earlier that morning, I set off running at my goal pace of approx 6:50 miles. I had been running very well lately, had run a strong 70.3 run PR in NOLA back in April, and had it in my head that on a good day I could flirt with cracking 3 hours. I set off with this goal in mind, and tracking down Chad and the other AG guys ahead of me. The first few miles I felt great and my HR was very reasonable, but when I hit the first hill at about the 5.5 mi mark, I got my first inkling that there might be trouble in River City.

Still feeling alright and with some spring in my step.

My mile splits were continuing to creep south (or north?) as time went on, and perceived exertion was going up. My gut was starting to get a little touchy as well, and I made the first of two imperative pit-stops to lighten the load. I was still feeling ok as I was heading back into town to finish my first loop, but gone were the illusions of going sub-3 on this day. I came back into town and saw my friends, heard some cheers, and tried to take in all of the energy that was available in town to hopefully absorb and use on the second lap, but the writing was on the wall. I was still 2nd AG at the time and had even moved up to 3rd amateur, but I was about to go the other way. Backwards. Boom, it seemed almost exactly at the turnaround, I started to implode.

The next 13 miles were some of the most painful, pathetic feeling, and humbling of my entire racing career. At times, it took almost everything I had to keep moving and even retain something resembling my normal running form. I was told after the race by Jocelyn that she knew something was off and I didn't look like myself, like I was struggling. Struggling mightily. I kept trying to down as much fluids and nutrition as I could in the hopes that something would turn around, but in my heart I knew it wasn't due to nutrition (I had hit this pretty well today) and I just had to get in on willpower alone.

The slog down the final stretch. A couple guys blowing by me like I was walking.

Toasted.

In the end, I ran a 3:21:23 marathon, the second lap about 11 minutes slower than the first. It felt like it took me three times as long as the first half. Average pace for the whole run was 7:41 pace, decoupling at 9%. This compared to a 3% decouple at IMLP last year and 1% at Kona '11. I lost two places in my AG in that second half and 6 spots in the overall scheme. Somehow, thankfully, I was able to hang on enough and grimaced my way to 4th AG and the last Kona slot offered straight up in M30-34.

About to collapse.

Looking back on this race, and having a lot of time to do so, has given me ample opportunity to analyze what went wrong and what went right. Not much went to plan, and I was left wondering, "What the hell happened?" Initially, I was quick to try to assign blame on external focal points for the disappointing (to me) outcome. My legs were tight from driving out cross-country for the race, my training wasn't optimal in the last couple of blocks pre-race, or I was shouldering too much stress from a very busy and hectic spring semester at school. But that's all bullshit, and excuses suck. Sometimes that is your first instinct when things don't go as planned, when you are searching desperately for an answer, looking at what was different this time around. But with time I began to look inside, and saw that the real problem was internal. Perhaps some of the aforementioned negatives have some validity, but only if and when I let them. The real error(s) was internal, was in attitude and/or execution. I said going in that I didn't think my fitness was very high, as in PR-territory or October high, but my strength was at an all-time high. So with that I fell victim to IM hubris, and raced more aggressively than was prudent at the time. My pacing was off early on and I didn't have the patience that I have exhibited in past Ironmans, that has worked in my favor. I was graded on my execution of my bike and run splits at CDA, and my coach bluntly confirms/agrees with the pacing assessment.

So what now? More whining and excuse making? Not a chance. This race has opened my eyes to the importance of the little things more than any race has before. Maybe having been in the sport for 13 years now, I have gotten sloppy about the details or have taken some for granted because I have experienced some success. No longer, there is too much at stake. Within the disappointment and the negatives, some positive lessons have emerged for me and now I see more clearly the difference that pushing 20 watts too high can make or running 3 bpm too high in the opening miles will mean at the end of 140.6.

And then as disappointed as I was with my race, there were so many other positives from this day and this race. First and foremost was Jocelyn absolutely crushing it and winning the women's amateur race, taking 4th overall (including the pro women!), en route to a 10:09:19. Jocelyn has worked so hard, had so many races where the odds were stacked against her, but she has pushed through, worked harder than ever this past year, and it paid off in a big way. This race was long overdue for her, and she deserves it more than anybody in my opinion. She has inspired me more than I can say and sets a daily example of what it takes and how to ALWAYS get the work done.

Thank you Jocelyn, thank you to the Ballou Skies team for constant support and inspiration, and thank you to the QT2 team for the guidance on the training front. Thank you to the rest of my sponsors, supporters, friends, and family, for your never ending support and positive influence on my life. Training is back on track and I have a new perspective. We'll see you in Kona. :-)

Reflections on Kona

After about 3 weeks to reflect on the race in Kona, some main points and thoughts have come into focus. 


SWIM:
I started the swim in a pretty aggressive position, but if I am going to start there, I need to be more aggressive with my preparation as well and start the race more like its an olympic or sprint. I started 10-20 yards left of the pier and while I think I belong in that general spot, starting 2 or 3 rows deep as I did will not cut it. Immediately I was hemmed in and getting the crap beat out of me, and I didn't have anywhere to go. In the future, I need to be in the front row, being reigned in by the paddleboard volunteers, and start HARD and use some of my old swimming sprint speed to get out in front. I can stay out there with my improved open water navigating abilities and by focusing on an ever improving, rapid and powerful armstroke. More pullups, paddle work, and back to my sprinting roots. Short of graduating into the pro ranks and having that luxurious 6:30am start with only 80 athletes, I need to attack the swim more than I have if I am to use my swim as a weapon and swim a split that I am more than capable of.


BIKE:
My bike was much improved over the last two years, but this is the area where I still need the most improvement. Obviously this will require more miles and more focused strength and threshold work, but also I need to be better strategically as well, as I also mentioned for the swim. To the former point, I need to bring my FTP numbers up and corresponding muscular endurance to really advance my strength to weight ratio and to be able to apply this over the course of 112 miles. This year, I rode at about 3.2-3.4 watts per kilo (AP vs NP) output for the IMWC bike leg; I read somewhere that Michael Weiss rode at about a 317 watt average (4 watts per kilo) in Kona this year, so while this is almost the pinnacle of biking ability in IM, this is a target to continue working towards. For a more intermediate target, I heard on a podcast that Justin Daerr did about 4500 kilojoules of work on the IM Louisville bike course (at about my size) compared to my 3900 kj in Kona (and 5029 kj for Weiss), so there is definitely some additional power and intensity on the bike that I will continue building.

To the latter point, from my race report I referenced letting some competitors ride by in the early stages of the bike and sitting up to avoid getting mixed up in sticky (potential drafting) situations. In the future, I need to be willing to burn a couple extra matches to stay near the front of these "packs", keying off of other strong riders, and still getting a legal "draft" at 10 meters back that I know some of my other competitors were capitalizing on much more. Towards the end of the bike, it became clear that I was not necessarily in the relative position that I should have been based off of how many guys I was catching and passing. This also could only be helped by coming out of the water a good 5 minutes earlier based on my swim goals. Finally, I need to do a better job of optimizing my bike position and improvements in gear selection and placement to take advantage of free speed that is available for gain.


RUN:
For my run, I think I could probably be helped most just in terms of better training and increased run mileage to build efficiency and durability. Strategically speaking, I don't think there is too much room for improvement for me at this time because basically by the time you are on the run, the chips have fallen after 5-6 hours of racing the swim & bike, and the run is all about running to your potential with the position you have put yourself in. Obviously, the faster you get and the higher your relative position coming off the bike, the more important strategy becomes. We're talking top-5-10 AG here, or if you're Crowie, Andi, Macca, etc. I feel like I could train my stomach a little better on race-simulation bricks throughout the year to better handle the nutrition required to fuel a whole day in the heat, and absorb all of this without intestinal dispute for the latter stages of the marathon. Also, I think continued improvements in running economy and durability through increased overall mileage and longer/tougher brick sessions will allow me to keep the average pace high and steady throughout the whole IM marathon. "They" say that a good decouple between open running races and triathlon run legs is about 8% - based on my runs from shorter distances and standalone running races, I have the current potential to run the IM marathon leg about 12-15 minutes faster. Of course there are many factors that can contribute to the ability to realize this appropriate decouple, but pure running toughness can't hurt. Obviously, the stronger and more efficient I become on the bike, the easier it will be to realize this potential on the run. In Ironman (and life, and triathlon, etc, etc), everything is interconnected and improvements in one discipline can and should certainly lead to improvements in the others. My run has been my strength in the last couple years, but it can and must become stronger.

Overall, I was very pleased with my race this year and while it was a tough start to the season, I felt like I redeemed myself from some bad races and finished on a strong note with IM Lake Placid and Kona. As satisfying as my race in Hawaii was, I have some areas that I can definitely improve on and some aspects that I am not happy about and that I will rectify for 2012. The brutal Pittsburgh winter is about to begin, but I am more motivated than ever and am ready for some hard work to build into a successful 2012 season. I hope that everyone else has had a successful year in 2011, and that either way, whether you did or you didn't, that you have evaluated your year and are motivated to improve and work hard toward your goals in the new year. Cheers.

IMLP 2011 Race Report

About two weeks ago, on 7/24/2011, I competed in my third consecutive Ironman Lake Placid in beautiful upstate NY. In 2009 I had a great race and went sub-10 for the first time, and then last year was a weird one, using the race as a workout and pulling out intentionally after the two-mile mark of the run, for my first, and only, yet bittersweet DNF. I had a good race this year with a very positive outcome, ending up on the podium and qualifying for Kona again, so another 140.6 miles covered and valuable lessons and experience earned.

The leadup to the race was pretty typical and very similar to the past two years, departing Wednesday evening from Pittsburgh, driving part of the way that night, staying over in central NY state, and then finishing the drive Thursday and getting into Lake Placid that afternoon. Jocelyn and I rode up again with my parents and stayed at Golden Arrow again as we did in 2009. Some of last years friends and Pittsburgh racers were not present in town this year, however as usual there was a strong Steeltown contingent including IMLP stalwarts Mark, Billy (Boomer), and Bill, and some new competitors in Kim, Steve, Eric, and Chris. Throw in some good friends up to volunteer, train, spectate, and support, and it had all the makings of another great time in Lake Placid. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday included the standard short workouts, packet pickup, bike/gear check, and great meals, and before we knew it race day was upon us once again. A photo from Saturday night's pre-race gathering and better than your average "pasta-dinner."

Race morning started at 4:45 and Jocelyn and I started choking/slugging down our breakfast and getting suited up for the big day. We walked down to the oval and got body-marked, tires pumped and the remaining prep done, special needs bags dropped off, and then back to the hotel by 6am to hit the bathroom one last time before heading down to the race start.

Jocelyn and I took the walk down with fellow BallouSkies teammates Kim and Steve, and got down to the Mirror Lake beach and continued our race visualization amid the building excitement. At about 6:40 we headed down onto the beach proper and got ready to enter the water at about the time that that pros were sent off at 6:50. Kim, myself, Steve, and Jocelyn all zipped up in the BlueSeventy skins and ready to go!

The big talk/buzz/controversy of the morning and even the day proceeding, was the possibility and then the eventual proclamation that the water temp was 77', over the 76.1 deg cutoff where wetsuits would be permitted to be used in Mirror Lake and still be eligible for awards and Kona slots. This had a lot of people upset and nervous about the swim, but for myself, having a swimming background, I was not bothered by this and figured it would be more comfortable (cooler) and benefit me more this way. Just for a little historical perspective, this was the first time in IMLP's 13 years that wetsuits could not be used without consequence.

At 7am, about 2800 starters were underway, of which we learned later included about 1,100 first time Ironpeople, and about 1,800 of the 2,800 starters (65%) that chose to use wetsuits. These sub-distictions of athletes would prove to be pivotal for many on the day in how the race got underway in the swim, the resulting distribution and groupings of athletes, and how AG awards and Kona slots would be distributed.

The start was as insane as usual, however after about 50 yards of fighting and scrapping with people, I angled over sharply to the left and got on the inside track of the buoys and the famous Lake Placid "(underwater)line". Billy and I must have been on the same page and had the same strategy as I did as I saw him and swam on his left hip for about 600 meters towards the first turn buoy. Most of the first lap was pretty uneventful with the exception of battling a Boston Tri Club guy for position for a considerable ways, but I was very comfortable in the water, cruising to about a 29 min first lap split. Up and out over the beach, and back into the water for lap 2. This second 2k or so in the water unfolded very similarly to the first, battling a couple more guys for prime position, trying to find the occasional feet or hip to draft off of, and even ending up right beside Billy again for a couple hundred meters on the homestretch back into the beach. I came out of the water in :59:32, just about even splitting the two swim legs when you take the beach run up and dolphin diving around the dock into account, which broke down to 1:34 pace per 100 meters and putting me in 13th position in my AG. After the long run up to and through transition, I was ready to go and heading out onto the bike after a 4:07 T1. I didn't lose any placement in T1 according to Slowtwitch's enhanced results (pretty cool, check it out), which was a victory in and of itself as I am known for taking my sweet-ass time in transition!

Starting out on the bike, my goal was to keep the intensity down on the bike until I started the climbing out of Jay towards Wilmington on the first lap, and be sure to get in plenty of calories via my standard fueling plan with Infinit and Gu gels, and also drink a little more than is typical for me. I felt like I did a pretty good job doing this, and felt pretty strong and relaxed the first lap. I remember passing most, if not all of the 8 guys in my AG that I started the run before, on the first lap of the bike, and knew that I was moving up into prime striking territory for the Kona slot I was gunning for. The only hope was that I would be able to hold this position/pace during the second lap of the bike! Coming back into town, finishing the first loop:For the first lap, my watts and average HR were right about where I wanted them, and the perceived exertion seemed just right, so I had reason to believe that I would be able to even split my bike leg just as I had in the swim. My aerobic endurance and fitness are at all time highs, so despite some disappointing bike legs this year, I knew that with my strong AE foundation and added focus on strength and intensity this year, I should be in good shape for a Placid bike PR, if not an even split. Alas, it apparently wasn't meant to be on this day, because after I made the descent down into Keene for the second time and I started the long straightaway next to the Ausable River between Keene and Jay, I knew something was off as my HR and watts were both dropping and my mood was starting to go south. I didn't understand how this could be happening as I thought that I had paced appropriately in the first lap and my nutrition was right on, but after seeing these tell-tale signs I knew I had to start taking in more calories and fluids.
The day was also starting to heat up as well and it was getting a little windier to boot, so my increasing difficulty would only be exacerbated by the developing conditions. For everyone that was claiming that we had ideal weather for this years race, I would have gladly traded these in for last year's overcast and cooler conditions! Regardless of my building discomfort, I tried to turn my outlook around and try to get in as much calories as I could stomach and do all that I could for the remainder of the bike leg. I was pushing hard but knew my even split was gone as I was watching my watts and speed steadily drop, and I was just in damage control now and didn't want to relinquish any more positions to guys in my AG. Struggling coming up the rolling hills between Jay and Wilmington, starting to cook!:

Luckily, of the handful of guys that came by me in the last 20-30 miles, they were all in different age groups. I used them as best that I could to pace off of and keep me honest, trying not to let anyone get too far up the road or more than 50-100m in front of me. This worked pretty well, and before I knew it I was back into town to start the run. Another disappointing bike leg for me this year, but I was in good position coming off the bike so it was time to knuckle up and run hard! Bike split of 5:24:04 with an average speed of 20.74 mph and 5th in my AG coming off the bike.

After a relatively smooth T2 in 2:10, I was off onto the run and immediately tried to establish a quick, effortless cadence, but not go too nutso running on the net downhill trend out of town and trash my legs early. I have a lot of confidence in my run and feel much better about my ability to pace an Ironman run leg than the bike, and I started clipping off about 6:45-7:00 min miles. After a quick bathroom stop at about mile 1 of the run, I was back at it and looking up the road to start reeling people in. I felt very strong and in control for the first 6 miles or so of the run, and thought if this segment was any indication of how I would feel, I knew I'd be in for one of my fastest runs. Gone were the heat and humidity of places like Kona and Louisville, and although it had been unseasonably warm in LP that whole week and even this day, I thought no problem. I should know better than that though, because while LP does not necessarily have the difficult climatic conditions, it certainly has the difficult terrain and elevation profile. Much has been made about the difficulty of the Lake Placid course and while I am safe at home in the middle of a training block/riding in Deep Creek, I poo-poo IMLP's inclines and reputation; once you have 120-125 miles of racing in your legs, it is a different story! Somewhere between miles 6-9 I started getting a little tired and feeling a little low again, and immediately I thought I need to start working the nutrition again. I started to take in more Gu's, salt, and Coke, and probably not a moment too soon as the hills were quickly approaching as I was nearing the end of the River Rd out and back and also an AG competitor of mine, Lucas, came up on me quickly from behind. He made the pass initially and while I first thought that I couldn't go with him or that maybe I would just try to keep him in sight, after about a half mile where he didn't get more than 20yds on me, I remembered some of the past tempo runs I had done and that 7:10 pace wasn't so bad afterall and closed the gap to him. We started running side by side at about the 9 mile mark, and wouldn't separate again for almost the entire rest of the race. Maybe about a mile later we came up on another quick guy from the 25-29 AG, Greg, and he joined our little party and we began working together. Up and over the two kickers back into town, out and back on Mirror Lake Drive to the halfway point, and it was now a race and we were picking up the pace! So far, the three of us hadn't ever been more than about 5 feet from one another, and weren't willing to concede much more than a step or two.
I came through the halfway point in about 1:34, and I thought, with these guys pushing me on, an IM marathon PR was definitely possible and it wasn't likely anyone else was going to catch us - except maybe Eric, whom I would see at the turnarounds and could tell he was having an excellent run.

Down the hills and back down onto River Rd for the meat of the 2nd lap, it started heating up even more and then it was on to the heat management game, dumping ice cold water over my head, ice down the jersey and shorts, and taking cold sponges whenever they were available. Of course these stops or handoffs were only undertaken after first checking on my running companions, and more importantly Lucas, to make sure that they weren't going to make a Macca-type move through an aid station. The pace was getting a little more difficult and I felt the beginnings of some cramps, but we keep it rolling anyway and continued to pick more people off. I wasn't even aware so much of anyone else's age or AG position that we may have come upon in those last 16-17 miles of the race, but I was just intent on continuing to work with these guys and blow by everyone that we could. It's funny looking back, at times in the early stages of the running "partnership" we were talking ever so slightly and even sharing salt tablets and handing off cups of water and ice to each other. Also that Greg and I, and then Lucas and Greg, spoke more with one another, than Lucas and myself. Hahaha, keep it outside of the AG. But as each successive mile clicked off and we were suffering that much more, by about the 21-22 mile mark, almost all communication had ceased. It it was getting serious now. We took the first hill, just past River Rd and now back onto Rt 73 together, sizing one another up. Then on the second kicker right before the junction with Rt 86, I went to make my move and lose these guys. Not that there was much in my legs at this point and I couldn't dig really deep at all, I felt like I got a little separation on them and held it coming up the hill towards the exit from transition and run start, and that I had them. Up and onto the out and back on Mirror Lake Drive, I was feeling really trashed from the surge up the hill and was getting light headed and woozy, and even felt a little wobbling laterally and thought, "Oh crap, don't fall over now, you have less than two miles to go!" At the turnaround on Mirror Lake Dr I saw Greg closest behind me and then Lucas a little further back. In my late stage of the race mental haze, I don't know why I didn't size Greg up a little more accurately and was only concerned about Lucas, but I guess it is just that AG thing again and figured my position was secure. Because about a half mile later Greg came by me like I was standing still and I didn't have the energy to make a counter move at all. I just tried my best to keep the pressure on and stay upright as I made my way back to transition, onto and around the oval, and over the finish line. Coming down the finishing chute (!), I felt like complete garbage, but that magic that is the finish line can always overcome the worst possible feeling and I was coming across the line knowing that I couldn't have given any more and I had a race to be very proud of. My marathon split ended up as a 3:12:36, or 7:21/mile.

Immediately after crossing the finish line, I thought that I was going to keel over and a couple kind volunteers grabbed me and escorted me into the medical tent. There I got some wonderful attention and good ol' intravenous recovery, not to mention a little time off of my feet to reflect and let the preceding 9 hours and 42 minutes sink in.

I would really like to thank my wonderful wife Jocelyn, my parents for making the trip up to support us and cheer for us once again, the rest of our great and loving family, wonderful network of friends and training partners, teammates on BallouSkies and Ryan for giving me the inspiration to keep going when the going gets tough, all sponsors, supporters, and the growing community of great triathletes in the city of Pittsburgh - all of you for your support and encouragement to keep pushing ahead and striving for excellence. Also, many congrats to Kim and Steve for great races of their own and helping to represent Ballou Skies in Lake Placid! Many congrats as well to all other friends and Pittsburgh finishers out there who had great days and got it done!

In the end, my final time was 9:42:29, good for 2nd place in my AG, 4th overall amateur, and 16th place OA. It was also good enough for a Kona slot so I will be heading to the Big Island in October for my third consecutive year, and even better... I am heading back to race alongside Jocelyn again!!! My girl also got herself a Kona slot and is going back for round two!!! Go Team Cornman and Go BallouSkies!!!

Thanks everyone for reading this never ending RR - although maybe you don't mind too much as I haven't made you suffer through any blog posts of mine in what seems like eons! ;-) Seriously, thank you, and best of luck to you all for the rest of your seasons and in all your endeavors. See you at the races!

2011 Race Schedule

And without further ado, my preliminary 2011 race schedule.

Spring Thaw 10 miler - February 26, 2011
Oceanside 70.3 - April 2, 2011
Columbia Triathlon - May 22, 2011
New Brighton Memorial Weekend Triathlon - May 28, 2011
Eagleman 70.3 - June 12, 2011
Ironman Lake Placid - July 24, 2011
Portage Lakes Tri - September 18, 2011
October/November - TBD

2011 looks to be another good year racing for the Ballou Skies tri team, with a few new races thrown into the mix and some old favorites. And then of course the hope and goal to be racing late in the season at some championship events. Let's get it on!

Great thoughts on the future of triathlon and our state of the union

Here are a couple links and quotes to two great interviews I read recently. It was really interesting to me as a serious age grouper, one that doesn't really live the life that these two men do as a working stiff, but certainly dreams of and aspires to. I feel that they are both dead-on in what they are saying about the sport as it currently exists, and what needs to change to bring the sport to the high level and even footing that it deserves to be on in my opinion. While triathlon may never equal football in popularity here in the US, there is no reason why it could not and should not exceed "sports" like auto racing and golf. My $0.02.

"Well, the main thing is I believe that the sport belongs in the top echelons of sport. I don't believe for a second it hasn't got there because of the way the sport is. I think it is the premier endurance sport; it mimics our life - 8 hrs of hard toil in a day. This is a sport where for 8 or 9 hours you can go full bore. Who can produce the best performance over a good mix of sports for a working day? I think every working person can relate to that. We just need to explain that and advertise it better, and the masses will get interested." - Brett Sutton, from an interview with Herbert Krabel of Slowtwitch.

Interview with Dirk Bockel on Competitor Europe's site.

2010 Kona Race Report

Last Saturday, October 9th, I raced in my second Ironman World Championships, and while it and the preceding week retained every bit of emotion, fulfillment, and mystique that last year's race held, this one was every bit its own race and an evolution of last year's experience. The addition of my wonderful wife Jocelyn, racing by my side in Hawaii almost one year to the day that we were married in Hawaii, plus close friends and training partners Chad, Matt, and Beth, this experience was more complex, but for that reason additionally rewarding. While Ironman generally is a very individual pursuit, and this race would be no different when "down in the trenches", racing at The Big Show with those that are so close to me and so loved and respected, made this event very dynamic, communal, and just plain incredible.

Saturday morning started out early as detailed in my update post, getting down onto the beach by 6:35 or so due to the earlier pro start (6:30) than last year's cattle call at 6:55. I got into the water much earlier this year as a result, so had some time to swim back and forth to warmup, and also to visualize the day and soak up the atmosphere that was crescendoing with the drumbeat. I found myself a little closer to the front this year, and more to the right than last year. The cannon went off @7am and we were off! The first 500-600 meters I estimate were pretty hectic as usual, but only had one or two really close encounters with others. I went out pretty hard and was swimming a straight line for once(!), so I didn't seem to be playing bumper cars as much as I usually do. The swim is always tough to analyze and be objective about because you have no visual cues, reference points, or any type of feedback or metrics at all, so ultimately the objectivity is limited to swim time and the rest is all feeling and whether you found the rhythm or not. I didn't feel as though I had while I was swimming, and felt like I was very average in the middle third, but when I excited the water I was pleasantly surprised to see a sub hour in 59:57 as I raced up the astro-turfed steps to beat that landmark. The new BlueSeventy PZ3TX must be as fast as everyone says it is!
After navigating the zoo of transition, I was out and on the road after a reasonable 3:16.

The first 8 miles of the bike course loops you through town a couple times, going up and down both Kuakini Hwy and Palani Rd before you are deposited out on the Queen K where things really get underway. The first 25 miles of the bike course felt super fast and easy, and I didn't feel any of the elements of Kona...yet. At around the 25 mile mark, I remember first noticing the wind and the heat, although relative to what was to come, this was pretty insignificant. I kept cruising along, trying to keep the avg speed above 23 mph if possible, but most importantly keeping the HR steady and around 150 or above while taking in as much nutrition as I could stomach. I had had some questionably fueled rides in the last couple of months where I kinda fell asleep with my nutrition, so I wanted to avoid that today for sure. At around mile 40 I made the turn at Kawaihae and started to get a little bit more variety in the terrain and scenery. I started the long gradual climb up to Hawi and just tried to keep the pressure on, and the cadence high. The crosswinds really started in earnest maybe somewhere between miles 45 and 50, and the cycling at an angle (leaning into the wind!) began. It was up and over the top of the hill in Hawi and then grabbed the special needs bag for the extra Infinit bottles. They actually had my bag ready for me so I grabbed it on the fly and emptied the contents with it hanging from my teeth for the first time, so I was proud that I still had the coordination to pull this off! Then it was time to bomb back down the hill to Kawaihae and accept some of that free speed, while always keeping alert because now the crosswinds had a little but more speed to play with and your surprise gusts would take you just that much further across the road. I was continuing to take in the nutrition, but around this time my stomach started to get a little gassy and upset and I think this was the beginning of some trouble. As the Infinit and GUs were not sitting that well, I instinctively backed off a little bit on frequency of ingestion, but of course this would bring other problems. Somewhere around mile 90-95 (Waikoloa to Puako) I started noticing declining power and focus, and watching my HR and speed start to drop off. I started drinking Coke at all of the aid stations and trying to take in more salt in an attempt to settle my stomach and simultaneously get in the necessary calories. Once I got up over the hill by the airport and began seeing signs of civilization again, my mood rebounded and I started mentally preparing for the run. I came into town, got out of my shoes and sat up about a mile out in one final attempt to let the stomach settle and to prepare for the marathon. I came in for the bike leg at 5:13:01 for a 21.47 mph average, with a 147 average HR that had declined steadily throughout the bike. Would I have anything for the run I wondered?

I was in and out of transition pretty quick, although my time of 3:55 was inflated by a stop in the porta potty before heading out to Ali'i Dr.
I started out the run thankfully feeling pretty great and fresh, despite a still partially upset stomach and presumed calorie deficit. Aside from a good deal of burping and farting in the first three miles, I felt amazingly comfortable and energized, but I wasn't going to make the mistake that I did last year by running opening 6:30 miles. I was going to ease into this a little, and hold back until I knew my systems had stabilized a little bit. I was running along at about 7 minute pace or a touch under, and my HR was only about 150, so I was confident that I could keep this up for the length of the marathon, anf hopefully build on it as well. Seeing my parents out on Ali'i, as well as Jen, Kristen, Carrie, Chad, Matt, and Beth gave me a nice boost and a welcome distraction from the enormity of the task at hand. The out and back on Ali'i came and went, and I was feeling great and starting to pick it up starting to run 6:45s to 6:50s pretty consistently.
Looping back through town and up Palani Dr, I was reminded of how my family surprised me with a quick spectating shift last year and busted me walking up Palani hill, and also how my friend Joe told me that I better HTFU and not walk it this year, so I laughed and just shuffled up, keeping my HR under 160 bpm. Then it was up onto the Queen K again, but it was much more mentally challenging this time around, with an additional 114 miles in the legs. Now this stretch of the Queen K just DRAGS on. When Jocelyn was asking me for pointers on how to break down the course, I told her this segment was only about 4 miles, but it turns out that its nearly 6, and so isolated. The throngs of cheering fans and supporters from Ali'i, Kuakini, and Palani are gone, and its just you, your competitors, your thoughts, and the HEAT. I was still running strong along this stretch and doing pretty well, but suddenly after an unexpected burp and subsequent acid reflux taste around mile 16, my stomach turned and I had to stop, double over, and projectile vomit 5 consecutive times. I felt like such a chump, doing this right after I passed Ironman legend Ken Glah. Who knows though, maybe he was impressed to see me Puke n Rally, standing back up and resuming running right away. But probably not! So I quickly resumed my pace and got down to business doing the out and back in the Energy Lab section of the course, easily the hottest place I have ever been on Earth. I took three aid stations off from any drinking or eating, and once back up on the Queen K, took two full cups of Coke and even some pretzels washed down with more Coke. This seemed to do the trick, and not a minute too soon as I was starting to get a little dizzy. The rest of the way down the Queen K the mental strategy was to remind myself that every step brought me closer to the finish, and that the quicker I could go would give me an even greater PR once I did the math. Turning right onto Palani I felt an instant surge of power, and remembered the ecstatic final mile from last year and my energy was easily doubled. Three turns later, I was coming onto Ali'i Dr for the finishing stretch of another dream come true on this storied road. I kicked it up a notch in the finishing stretch, but not quite as fast as last year as I wanted to take in the moment and drink it in a bit more, as last year I remember being a little too cooked and not as present in the moment. Coming across the line, I put my hands up in the Helping Hearts sign, showing my love for Ballou Skies and the team, and then pumped my arms and fists for the gift of such a wonderful day. I ran the marathon in 3:13:05 to finish the race in a PR of 9:33:14.

As the night wore on, I regrouped with Jocelyn, Chad, Matt, and family, and recounted the great days everyone had and the powerful experiences that were now etched into our legs, arms, hearts, memories and consciousness. Jocelyn overcame a terrible set of circumstances after being hit by a truck on the preceding Wednesday that ruined her bike and ballooned her knee and elbow. Chad realized his dream to return to the Big Island after tireless work and commitment to his goal and passion for the sport. Matt raced here in Kona for the first time as bad luck had conspired against him on too many occasions, finally fulfilling his dream. Beth did her first Ironman after not quite being sure that she wanted to, but ended up loving it, I think it is safe to say, as we all do. Ironman starts out as this external accomplishment, but becomes a part of who you are, I think in large part due to the goals you set, dreams you pursue, and the people you meet along the way. It is not the destination, it is the journey. Although Kona is certainly a worthy destination! Many thanks go out to Jocelyn, my family, friends, Ryan and Ty, our great team, great charity, coworkers, and to all who cheered, supported, tracked, or showed interest or gave energy in any way - you are the best, and I am incredibly grateful.

Mahalo nui loa!