Vegas Race Report 2012

 

On Sunday September 9th, I raced in and finished the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas, or more accurately, Henderson NV. This was my first time racing in the 70.3 Championship event, though I had qualified numerous times before but never made the trip for whatever reasons. Initially it was that the old venue in Clearwater FL did not really appeal to me, both because it was known as a draft-fest, and well, because Florida in general does not appeal to me. But I digress, and the event egressed, to it's new home in Henderson NV last year and I think that most will agree that this a world championship caliber event. Below, a view of the bike course as seen from a preview drive of the course the day before the race. Imagine this under an unrelenting sun, 100 degree heat, bone-dry desert air, and you get an idea of the challenge that was in store.

I got in the Friday before the race with friends Fay and Joe (+teammate) and we went about settling into the greater Las Vegas area and getting ready for the race. This was made a little bit more difficult than usual as my bruised and battered bike case somehow came partially open during transport, and spit out my pedals and some crucial bike re-assembling tools. Luckily, I was able to find a local bike shop that was willing to rent me a pair of compatible pedals for the weekend (thanks as well to all those who offered to ship me replacements), and I was able to get my bike built back up into ride-able condition. Friday and Saturday was then spent checking out the expo, packet pickup, and checking in with existing sponsors such as BlueSeventy as well as potential partners to come. (more on that any day now ;-) )

BlueSeventy has the best swim gear

Race morning dawned in Lake Las Vegas (site of the swim & T1) at a frigid 80 degrees. I don't know why I bothered to bring my Ballou Skies warmups with me for a race in the Mojave Desert in September, but needless to say it didn't take much to warmup on this day. Speaking of warmups, I didn't do one before this race and more and more, I'm thinking that this is necessary for me for all race distances short of iron. I was down in transition shortly after it opened and got my bike and nutrition ready to roll for the day.

The first of the three waves for men 30-34 (the one I was in) was set to go off at 6:50 local time, 5th total wave and 20 minutes after the pros. Teammate Chad and I were pretty fortunate to get to start relatively early and hopefully beat a little bit more of the intense heat that was to come, but Joe had no such luck and was scheduled to start at 7:45. We made our way down to the "beach" and queued-up to start the swim.

 

After a short swim to the in-water starting line and a brief tread, we were underway and swimming out towards the first turn buoy. The start was hard, but not totally chaotic and I settled into a nice rhythm about 300 meters in. I was feeling good, so I was looking for some feet and a draft, but unfortunately we were also swimming directly towards the rising sun and I couldn't see a fast pack for the life of me. I kept checking and hoping that the angle would change or the glare/fog diminished, but I couldn't see anything above or below water in this man-made lake. I just did my best to swim a straight course, and not totally maul some of the slower swimmers I was catching from previous waves. At two points during the swim I looked off to my right as I was taking a breath, and there was Chad, as is custom and we usually see quite a bit of each other during these long races. I seemed to lose him on the way back in during the final 500m of the swim, perhaps when zig-zagging around a slower mass of swimmers, and came into the beach to finish the swim leg. I felt really strong in the water, perhaps as strong and fluid as I ever have in a 1.2 or 2.4 mile swim, so initially I was a little disappointed to see a 29:5X something on my Garmin. I wanted to be mad, but I felt strong and composed, in truth it felt like a 27, so I let it go and ran off to tackle the long transition.

 

"What??!!"

 The bike course started with a couple miles uphill, right off the bat, and this was to set the trend for this bike course. A lot of ups, and a lot of downs - not a whole heck of a lot of flat terrain on this course. I had my HR and wattage targets for the bike, but I knew pretty early on that I was going to struggle to hit these marks. I was pushing hard early on, getting my nutrition in and guzzling my PowerBar Perform, but despite taking in about 40-44 oz/per hour, I just couldn't quench my thirst and I had no urge to pee. Not even a little. In the first half of the bike (more of an uphill trend), I was within 5 bpm and 15 watts of my respective targets, but upon turning around and hitting more of the downhill trend back towards Henderson, I fell further off the mark. My perceived exertion felt right and I was motivated to push as hard as possible, but I could tell something was a little off and I lacked that extra gear that I needed. 

Taking JV's advice and attacking the hills

As the bike ride went on the temperature went up and and up, my power and HR slowly faded off. In the end, I thought I handled the pacing and nutrition correctly, but apparently the weather conditions and my form on the day were not in alignment with the plan. A fellow competitor wrote on FB later in the day, something to the effect of "It was like the desert sucked the life out of my legs."

Tough-ass bike course.

 

The bike "fade"

Lost two places in my AG on the bike

T2 had a lot less real estate to cover than T1 and after a brief (the only) respite in the shade of the changing tent, I was off onto the run. The plan was to take the first mile at about 6:30 pace, regardless of HR, to allow my body to adapt to the effort and the heat. The first mile was a gradual downhill, so no problem there, and the HR was definitely under control. The run course was a 3-lap affair and each lap had two out and backs, so there was plenty of opportunity to get a look at your competitors and get some time splits. Most everyone out there looked pretty cooked and to be struggling in the heat, so my main goal became to take care of my core temperature and push as much as my body would allow. I had a similar feeling on the run leg as I did on the bike, with my legs lacking that extra gear, but at this point overdrive was not an option, the only goal was to keep running steady. I didn't feel fast, but I did feel strong.

My pace fluctuated accordingly with the hills, but the one thing I took note of and thrived upon was that I didn't have the need to stop at every aid station like most of my competitors seemed to require, and that I was steadily picking people off throughout the run, especially on the inclines. This was by no means a fast run course, with constant ups and downs, numerous turnarounds, and even some switchbacks behind the finish line area at the end of laps 1 and 2, to say nothing of the purported 108 degree temperatures reached on the run course that day. Despite the difficulty, indeed I did feel strong and felt like I redeemed myself from my Ironman Coeur d'Alene run failure, and ran to the fastest run split in my AG and 2nd fastest amateur half marathon time on the day. This moved me up to 13th in my division at the finish, and while not reaching my goal of a World Championship podium, I was pleased to finish as I high as I did on just an "OK" kind of day.

Coming across the line. *Chip time 20 minutes faster

In the end, I finished 13th in my AG with a 4:33:40. This was good for 57th overall and 25th amateur in the world. I was hoping for a faster time to be honest, closer to 4:20, but then again having never done this race or course before, this may not have been an easy target time to calculate. Had my swim or bike been more in line with how my training has been going, this time and the podium may have been possible. All things considered though, with where my training has been and the focus firmly on Kona five weeks later, I am pleased with the effort and how my body has responded coming off this race. I have put down the two largest weeks of training of my life immediately on the heels of Vegas, and I have been pleasantly surprised at my body's resiliency and capacity to dig deeper and deeper. This is something I never would have attempted in years past, so I am confident I am on the right path and that very good things are in store once race time on the Big Island rolls around on 10/13. 18 days to go - Pomaika`i to all that are racing and for the rest of everyone's season!

Team BallouSkies post-race

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. :-)

Ballou Skies 2012

The Ballou Skies Triathlon Team is back for 2012 and is bigger and better than ever! Last year was a breakout year for the charity, raising over $60,000 for research being done at Ohio State University's Ross Heart Clinic, and this year we have even bigger goals than ever! We are looking to raise $100,000 this year, and every dollar towards that goal helps. To that end, today for Leap Day, we are holding the Ballou Skies Leap Day Donation Drive and Newton Shoe Raffle! A monetary donation of any size received today, will enter your name into a drawing to win one of three pair of Newton running shoes being raffled off! Please share the news, give what you can, and have HOPE!

Due to the team's tremendous presence and success all across the country last year, and of course the vital and uplifting work being done by the charity and research team, we had considerable interest from many parties about joining the team for 2012. We had candidates from all corners of the country, all very high quality people and triathletes, but in the end and after a difficult selection process, we added three new local team members to help us spread the word in 2012. You will see the Ballou Skies team at races all over the country, including but not limited to: Oceanside, Miami, Galveston, New Orleans, Knoxville, Coeur d'Alene, New York City, Lake Placid, Burlington, Louisville, Madison, Malibu, Sandusky, Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, and Kona! Also look for Ballou Skies in media print with Triathlete and Lava magazines. As of this writing, also supporting and partnering with the team as sponsors will be Blue Seventy, Powerade Zero, Newton, and Top Gear Bike Shop.

The 2012 Ballou Skies Tri Team members are:

Ben Erdeljac, Beth Shutt, Bill Hughes, Chad Holderbaum, Jason Jacobs, Jeremy Cornman, Jocelyn Cornman, Joe Vallese, Kevin Srigley, Kim Schwabenbauer, Lisa Morell, Matt Mauclair, Sally Baldwin, Stephen Filauri, Troy Shannan, and Ty Ballou. 

Ballou Skies - With HOPE, Anything is Possible. See you at the races! 

Savage Triathlon Camp Announcement!

I am happy to announce that I will be joining close friends, training partners, and fellow Pittsburgh-area based coaches, Chad Holderbaum, Kim Schwabenbauer, and Matt Mauclair for the inaugural Savage Triathlon Camp in Deep Creek Maryland over Memorial Day weekend of 2012! As far as I know, this camp will be the first of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic region and more specifically in the beautiful mountains and pristine training grounds of Western Maryland, and the camp will be hosted by some of the the region's most elite long distance triathletes and coaches. We have been heading to the Deep Creek region for personal training camps for years and have found it to be an ideal training venue during the summer months - we have covered many miles of Garrett County Maryland by stroke, pedal, and stride, and know that this will present a great challenge and incredible training/learning experience for all lucky athletes in attendance!

The camp will be run by USAT and ITCA certified triathlon coaches with decades of cumulative coaching and racing experience, and is sure to be a key component to a successful 2012 build toward your racing goals, while also an invaluable learning experience for new and established triathletes alike. Please take a look at the camp's homepage for a tentative itinerary and pricing structure. Camp cost includes swim video analysis, pool access to the Community Aquatic and Recreation Center, bike fit assessment, and running gait video analysis. In addition to the individual attention received, you will attend coaching lectures on nutrition and training as well as participate in group swim, bike, and run sessions with fellow campers of comparable skill/fitness levels. The cost for the camp does not include food, lodging, or transportation. Savage Tri Camp is a USA Triathlon sanctioned camp, therefore athletes must either have a USAT annual membership or purchase a one day USAT license membership for $10.00.

I hope all of you will consider joining us for this ultimate, Savage training experience next June in Deep Creek, but act soon as camp attendance will be capped at 30 athletes! Please comment or contact me for additional details. Happy training and preparation for 2012!

-Jeremy

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.

Kona 2011 race report

 

Last Saturday, October 8th 2011, I competed in and finished my third Ironman World Championships in as many years. This race has become the goal and focus of each year of my triathlon life, and I was feeling really good heading into this one and really gunning to keep shaving off time in my IM finish times. My first year out in 2009 I finished in a 10:28:19 and then followed that up with 55 minute improvement in 2010. Could I shave another 55 minutes off my time this year? HAHAHA, I would guess most likely not, but I knew that my improvement had continued from last year and despite some disappointing races earlier this year, I had learned some valuable lessons and had worked harder than ever. I was ready.

Race morning started at about 4am at the condo and Jocelyn and I were up and starting to bring in the nutrition (read: CARBS!). Over the course of the next couple hours, I drank 3 bottles of Ensure, ate a large banana, guzzled some organic apple sauce straight out of the jar (sorry honey!), and had one package of uncaffeinated GU Chomps and one uncaffeinated GU. This was all supplemented by some Gatorade, but who knows how much and I was feeling pretty fueled up and hydrated. Jocelyn and I had planned on catching the shuttle down Ali'i Drive but after being passed up once, we decided to thumb it and were thankfully picked up by a family in a Jeep from the same condo complex who were in from Arizona and Alaska to cheer on their family member Greg. After getting down to the King Kam and the pier, getting body marked and wandering around for a while in the wrong direction and wrong order of activities, I finally got my special needs dropped off and then we got into transition to set everything up.

Jocelyn and I left transition and I headed over towards Ali'i' and the seawall to try to meet up with my family, Ty and Ryan, and Chad, Beth, Chris, Eric, and Joe if possible. After successfully seeing almost everyone over at the seawall and the flurry of good luck wishes, it was time to head back over to transition again. It was getting close now!

A little bit before the pros went off at 6:30, Chad, Beth, and I walked over and back into transition to get ready to head into the water once the gates were opened up for the age groupers. I had not seen Jocelyn since we parted ways for a bathroom stop and then the meetup over by the seawall, and I was looking at every pink cap that was wearing a pz3tx swim skin to try to track her down before the swim start to wish her luck and score the pre-race kiss, but alas, I did not locate her. Thankfully she tracked down Joe and Kim before the start and went into the water with them. I got out towards the front with maybe 15 minutes to go to the start but a little bit left of where I was last year, within 10 or so yards of the edge of the pier. I was hoping to avoid being pummelled like I was for a little bit last year and especially like I was at Lake Placid this year.

After a little bit of treading, visualization, and a lot of fighting for position, the canon blasted at 7am and we were off!

The first 1000 meters were insane, and much more of a cluster-F than I remember from years past. I was literally out of the water at times, buoyed up by human bodies to my left, right, and underneath me, when you would have the inevitable people shift directions or drift into you, and you would get "pinched". Twice I got my favorite move, where a guy will put his hand on your shoulder and push off and in the process, push you back. Real cool man, for almost everyone out here it's going to be a race of 9+ hours, but I know you're in a terrible hurry. I just tried to stay as calm as possible and not let my heart rate (HR) skyrocket, burning up valuable fuel and setting off a negative cascade of stress hormones into my blood stream. For the most part I think I was successful and things spread out a little bit into the second kilometer of the swim and to the first turn at the boat. It got a little hectic again at the far turns, but nothing like the start. I tried my best to swim a straight line and keep on someone's feet and was largely successful with this for the last 3/4 of the swim. I was also trying to keep my turnover up and really focus on fast, powerful strokes, and not gliding too much, but I felt a little ineffective in the water and my bottom half was also completely disjointed from my top half with my hips and kick feeling very uncoordinated. As I approached the pier again, I expected a time north of an hour, but was pleasantly surprised to see the clock approaching 59 minutes as I ran up the steps and onto the pier. Based on how I felt in the water, and the more sizable ocean swell than what we had last year, I feel like I can almost 100% attribute my swim split to good drafting. This is probably a little dramatic, but I did not feel nearly half as good as I had in the water in the two weeks leading up to the race. In the end, my swim was a :59:12, 45 seconds faster than last year and a 1:31/100m (1:24 yards) average pace.

T1= 2:54, not too bad, although probably should have been 30-60 seconds faster. My helmet sucks and I should probably attach more of my nutrition to my bike, and stuff less into my singlet pockets!

Off and onto the bike, and heading up the first little part of Palani towards the "Hot Corner", looking strangely rigid and out of sorts. Who knows.

Starting the bike, I was certain to get into my shoes quickly and also make sure that I didn't loose any valuable nutrition when heading north onto the rough part of Kuakini like I did in '09. I tried to take it easy through town and not get too excited; you would pay for it later in the day if your HR remained jacked for too long at the start of the bike. Chad caught me on the out and back section of Kuakini and while I thought for a moment about going with him and working together, he was clearly on a mission and knew I had to ride my own race. I planned on seeing him again. Up and out of town and onto the Queen K, I tried to settled into a somewhat hard, but relaxed rhythm. My plan was to ride the first 40k or so pretty steady to try to get some separation on some of my competitors and also get out of town quickly, before the trade winds picked up along the coast. Then the plan was to take it "easy" for the middle 90k up to and back down from Hawi, and then really build into it and ride hard the last 40-50k back into town to finish strong. The last two years I have faded badly on this last stretch when facing the headwinds, and I was determined to ride this section better as my training has been more intense and strength oriented this year, but I also wanted to make the right decisions on the race course (i.e. pacing and fueling) to make this easier to accomplish. The first 45k I rode at an average power (AP) of 222 watts, normalized power (NP) of 236 watts, with an average HR of 153 bpm, cadence of 95 rpm, and an average speed of 23.7 mph. I was moving along pretty good, but it felt very controlled and sustainable. Between the airport and the Mauna Lani Resort area, there were TONS of guys coming through, riding what I would expect to be WAY too hard, and a couple times it almost looked like packs were starting to form or the rotating pass lines were getting too complex and risky, so I took the opportunity every so often to sit up, ride clean, get in some more calories, and not burn myself digging too deep to pass a line of 10 guys. For the first two hours or so I was getting in about 3 bottle of Infinit per hour plus GUs, salt tablets, and water, so I definitely felt like I was banking some good calories and hydrating myself well. I didn't dramatically slow once I made the turn in Kawaihae, but just kept things comfortable and kept rolling along. The winds got pretty bad in the final 5-10 miles prior to the turnaround in Hawi, but I don't know, they just didn't feel as bad to me this year, maybe due to increased strength/fitness, but possibly also due to experience and better race management decisions. 2nd quarter, 218 AP/231 NP/148 HR/89 RPM/21.7 MPH. I went through the turnaround in Hawi and had to stop at special needs as they did not have my bag ready for me with the hand off, but I took the opportunity to inhale a Powerbar and take a couple deep breaths to marshal my strength for the ride back into town.

Heading back down the hill from Hawi is always a ripping good time, and I was definitely enjoying myself and didn't feel like a bonk or heat stroke was imminent, like it had been in years past. I keep trying to really force the fluids as best that I could, but it was in this section that my stomach started feeling a little unsettled so I backed off a little with the Infinit, as I had been doing a very god job up until this point. For a couple miles, I just did water, caffeinated GUs, and salt, and this seemed to heal my stomach somewhat and pep me up even more. 3rd quarter (net downhill), 204 AP/220 NP/149 HR/88 RPM/22.3 MPH. Making the turn from Kawaihae back onto the Queen K, now it was time to work! This is where I had faded terribly in past years and where the notorious winds would always beat me into submission! Not this year my friends! While it was still tough and my avg speed was still the lowest that it had been for any other section, it was not nearly as bad as years past (sub 20 mph), but even better than this, when usually this was the section where I was getting passed by an endless stream of my competitors, this year I was doing the passing! And maybe even better than that, although surely a function of my relative race position, was that my attitude was also much more positive. I wasn't muttering expletives and incoherency's under my breath, and I was feeling strong! Final quarter, 214 AP/221 NP/151 HR/89 RPM/21.0 MPH. Over the course of the 5+ hours I took in about 2300 calories and probably drank about 180 ounces of fluids.

Final bike time = 5:04:25, a 8:36 min improvement from last year in very comparable conditions, and an IM bike PR. Total bike stats = 214 AP (3.19 watts per kilo)/227 NP (3.39 watts per kilo/150 HR/90 RPM/22.1 MPH. I felt very good on the bike today - I felt in control and was able to push to the level I felt appropriate for my fitness - really this was the first time this happened for me racing all year. Let's get ready to run.

T2= 3:01, again, a little slow but I've had worse. For some reason I was having a little trouble with my lace locks, maybe it was my brain's last ditch attempt to keep me in the chair a little longer and out of the heat!

Starting out on the run, my plan was similar to last year - start the run at a pace that almost seems  ridiculously easy, keep the HR below 150, and let the body settle down a little bit and adapt to the heat and humidity along Ali'i' Drive. Your cardiovascular system is so warmed up right now and this is also where your running economy can really carry you for a little while if you have built it well, so you can get by for a little bit by running "easy" - if you took off running by HR or at some speeds you hit back home in cooler, less humid climates, you could easily cook yourself in Kona. This worked out well, as my stomach was a little upset anyway from pounding the calories and sugar on the bike, so I was just taking in some Perform and water at the early aid stations, but not every one as I apparently was having some issues with gastric emptying. What served to keep my energy levels up on the bike, was now kind of creating problems for me in the early stages of the run. Quite the double edged sword. One thing however that I was surely getting at every aid station was cold water, ice, and wet sponges. Core temperature regulation is essential at this stage of the race, and even if these practices only have minimal effect, at least you can fool your brain into thinking that you are cool for a quarter mile at a time! I ran the opening 5 miles in only about 7:25 pace, but kept my avg HR at 149. My stomach was starting to settle down a little bit by this point and I started in with the gels, perform and coke. I was starting to feel more comfortable now and I ran the next 5 miles or 6:50 pace with an avg HR of 152 as I came back through town, saw Ty out on Ali'i Drive cheering on the Ballou Skies squad, and got ready to tackle the kicker that is Palani Drive and head out onto the never ending stretch of highway on the Queen K.

Heading up onto the Queen K, this became the roughest patch of the run for me, as the 35 minutes of minimal to non-existent fueling started to catch up with me. This is also where the previous gut discomfort evolved into intestinal discomfort. As I was running along, the building pressure was becoming too much to ignore. After stopping briefly at one porta-pottie and discovering accidentally that it was in use (whoops, but door was not locked and red!), I made the decision to head into the bushes (tall grass) on the side of the road before things got ugly. As fearful as I was that this would continue for the rest of the run if I continued to take in the gels, perform, and coke, I knew I needed these calories to make it through the final half marathon. The quick pit-stop wasn't too time consuming and was probably my fastest "transition" of the day. This bought me some temporary relief as I pushed along and headed down into the Energy Lab for the turnaround. I was only feeling so-so at this point and the fatigue (or hypoglycemia) was really starting to build, but historically whenever I make the turn in the Energy Lab, a switch flips in my head and I always get an immediate boost in energy as I know that I am heading into the home stretch. The last 7 miles out to the far turn was my slowest stretch of the marathon, with the two slowdowns/stops I ran 8:01 pace with a HR of 150. Coming back out, I was slightly energized and the stretch on the Queen K usually goes a little faster, maybe because you know the landmarks better by now and also partly because you are that much more delusional as you dig deeper into the pain cave? I required one more stop in the bushes around the 21 mile mark, but once again I was pretty quick and I was really starting to pick up the pace now as I knew I was pushing towards an IM PR and my third finish in Kona. I ran the final 9 mile stretch back into town and the finish in my fastest segment of all even with the stop, at 6:48 pace with an avg HR of 149. The final mile to half mile I ramped it up as much as I could and got the speed up to about HIM pace, but my worked heart/brain/CNS could only manage 161 bpm at this point! The marathon would end up taking me 3:10:07 for an IM marathon PR, at 7:15 pace and an avg HR of 150bpm. All in all I would say an ok run - I never really felt like I had that extra gear or the turnover like I did at IMHI'10 or IMLP'11, but I guess you really can't argue with a PR.

 

Running down Hualalai again to Ali'i' Drive, I began to reflect again on another long year of hard work and hard racing, and how fortunate I was to be healthy enough to compete at this level and also to be part of such a wonderful triathlon team and community of triathletes in Pittsburgh. I thought of how great and meaningful it was that Ty and Ryan were in Kona to watch the 6 members of our Ballou Skies Tri Team crush it, and to see what it is that drives us so much as we strive to better ourselves and the charity through our efforts. Coming across the line in 9:19:39 was a dream come true and a new Ironman PR - what better place to get it than in Kona!

Many thanks to go out to my wonderful wife of two years, Jocelyn, who keeps me working hard throughout the whole year and shows me such unwavering love, my parents for once again joining us in Kona with their wonderful presence and support, Ty and Ryan and the Ballou Skies Charity and Tri Team, and all others who support what I (we) do on the path to excellence. I will be sure to Ko Aloha La Ea (Keep your Love, 2011 race motto) for next season and keep this year's race in my heart always. Thanks for reading and everyone have a great offseason!

You gotta want it

In triathlon, you gotta want it. You have got to want to succeed, and that means putting in the work.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going. They know they have to Do the work. And that Miles Make Champions. Sometimes you just have to shut up, and then HTFU. When in doubt, Stop Whining and Knuckle Up. I could throw endless cliches at you (and I have!), but at the end of the day, or rather the beginning, that means getting out the door, dragging your ass out of bed when you'd rather just sleep for like 24 more hours. Over my 12 years in the sport I have come to learn (the hard/slow way!) what is required for success and what it takes to keep moving forward, and hopefully, to have success of some measure more often than not. And since I started coaching in the last year, this intangible quality of inner motivation, that fire, wanting it, can easily be seen in some and is noticeably absent in others.

Wanting it is heading out for a 6 hour ride when the weather forecast calls for a 92' day with high humidity and a code orange air alert. Wanting it is heading out for the umpteenth century ride this month, this year, these past couple years with a case of never ending saddle sores. Wanting it is keeping your ironman training up between your 5th sinus infection of the year, that you just learned has been primarily caused by a deviated septum. Wanting it is heading out on the bike for an 'easy' 72 mile spin when you have a quadricep tendon rupture because that is the only activity that feels good, and because you have the biggest race of your life scheduled in 6 weeks. Wanting it is counting down the days to getting back to your end of season build after a sudden diagnosis of, and then excision, of skin cancer. To many, these examples may just seem to be proof of obsessive or unhealthy training practices. To others though, and to those of us that have lived through these cases of adversity, we know this is what it will take to reach our goals. The seeming "madness" of it all, and those daily decisions to keep pushing on is balanced with a keen knowledge of our bodies and what they can handle.

Some live their whole lives and never know what is possible and how much they can push themselves. Others come to discover this maybe after a major life shift or scare and the realization can come like a lightning bolt. My dad recently ran in his very first 5K at the age of 63. If you asked him 5 minutes before the start of the race if he was adequately prepared, I think it is safe to say that the answer would have been a resounding no. If he was certain that he would finish, still, quite possibly no. He didn't know that he wanted it, but somewhere over the course of the 3.1 miles he started to push himself more than he ever has before, and learned that he too wanted it.

Ryan Ballou was born with DMD and has not had the opportunity to push himself in the athletic sense that I am writing about here, but has pushed himself more emotionally and in a physical sense than most of us will ever know in our lifetimes. Because Ryan wants it. Every day he faces struggles and extreme adversity, just taking on some of the daily tasks that most take for granted. But Ryan has an infectious optimism and drive of which I could only hope to possess a fraction of. Ryan wants it, he wants to live his life to the fullest and to help others with DMD to have the same hope and the same incredible quality of life.

Wanting it is a state of mind more than anything else, and while some people have that capacity to drive forward and persevere, others sadly have not or cannot tap into this ability. One week from Saturday, myself and five of my Ballou Skies teammates will be competing with 1700+ of the world's best triathletes in Kona, pushing ourselves to levels we never before thought possible. You have to want it. You have to try before you can hope to succeed. We do, and we will. Join us.