Diary of an Ironman

Prologue
As most of you know this was my fourth IM at Lake Placid.  They have all been different – 2002 I crossed the finish line for the first time, so that will always be special.  In 2004, I trained and raced with my “wife to be”, Candice.  Even though she kicked my butt by 3 hours, the training and racing was a great time in my life and will always be cherished.  In 2006, I went into the race talking all types of smack about how I was going to take down Candice’s 13:37 that she ran in 2004, this resulted in me having my best swim and ride, but a monumental blow up on the run which resulted in a DNF – the race proved to be very humbling, disappointing, embarrassing and a big lesson learned.  In 2008, my main goal was to get back to the basics of why I do triathlons and in particular Ironmans, which is to have fun, don’t worry about the clock and enjoy the experience.  When I signed up for the race last year I decided that I was going to get more involved in the tri community, do more group workouts, meet training partners and share the experience with others.  So without further ado, here is my race report.
Days Leading Up to the Race – My Life with the Pros
My Ironman week started on Wednesday, when Petr Vabrousek spoke to our local tri club and then he and his family stayed at my house for the night before we all headed to Lake Placid on Thursday.  He is a great guy – funny, genetically gifted (resting HR of 27), a hell of a runner and under rated as an Ironman athlete.  Petr finished in 2^nd place, making up huge amounts of time on the run.  I was also assigned bib #97, which meant my bike was racked right next to the women pros.  The morning of the race I was pumping up my tires alongside Hilary Biscay (she finished 3^rd after leading the race the majority of the day), we exchanged pleasantries, chatted about the weather and I wished her luck.  There was also a TV crew interviewing James Bonney, so you may see me in the background tending to my bike and chatting with Hilary (yes, I’m on a first name basis with her now!) when the coverage airs.  Once I got my special needs bags dropped off and my bike all set, I headed out to Main Street and waited on the curb to meet my family. While sucking down a PowerGel and sipping on Gatorade, I was struck by how calm and relaxed I was – this was entirely different from the Tupper Lake Tinman that I had completed just 3 weeks prior, where I was a bundle of nerves.  I met Candice and the kids around 6:20am and started to slip into my wetsuit – at that moment the skies started to open up.  I made a comment about the rain and how I hoped it would stop, so they wouldn’t have to be out in the rain all day and my daughter Allie, says “…Dad some of your best races have been in the rain.”  This is true and hopefully would be a sign of things to come.  My goal for the race was to enjoy it and have fun; I had no time expectations going into the race – I just wanted to finish after my 2006 debacle.
Swim
I positioned myself at the very back of the swim, almost up on shore, about 30-50 yards to the right of the buoys, which is where Chip (a training partner) was also standing.  My plan was to let the crowd go first and hopefully be able to swim on top of the cable for most of the race.  The plan didn’t workout entirely – I didn’t see the cable at all on the way out to the turnaround.  However, the first lap was not as rough as I expected and was able to focus on my stroke.  Apparently, I was either kicked in the wrist or smacked someone with my left arm, 3min and 19 seconds into the race because my watch stopped at that time.  On the way back I was kicked in the face, thank goodness for goggles as they took the brunt of the kick, I was also kicked in the stomach but nothing serious. I was a little alarmed when I exited the first lap and the clock showed 52 minutes, I knew that couldn’t be right, even on my worst days I don’t go that slow.  I assumed they hadn’t adjusted the clock from the pros, who started 10 minutes earlier, which means my first lap was 0:42 and some change, if true I was on PR pace.  I reset my watch for lap 2 and was able to find the cable for the entire lap, although there was a great deal of “jostling” that occurred on this lap.  On the return trip, I was punched in the left calf and it immediately cramped up on me, to the point where I had to stop swimming and rub it out.  I reached the beach in 1:28.14 – this is the fastest I have swum the course, in a race, by 2:30 – I’ll take it!  The rain was pouring out of the sky as I made way to the transition area.  I saw my family on Lake Placid Club Drive, all decked out in rain gear and gave high fives and kisses and made my way to my bike bag and the transition tent.
The Bike
Transition 1 was 13min and 20sec, which is the slowest in my IM Lake Placid races; although part of my plan was to make sure I stuck to my nutrition plan of eating a PowerGel and drinking water before heading out onto the bike course, which accounts for part of the slow time.  The infield, where the bikes were racked, had already become a “mud pie” from the rain that had been falling for the last hour and half.  I was trudging through ankle deep mud to get to my bike.  Cycling is probably my strongest event, however my goal was to take it easy, not attempt to set any PR’s and make sure that I had some fire left in my legs for the 26.2 mile run that followed.  On the first loop I rode within myself and was not ashamed to use my granny gear’s on a regular basis.  My favorite part of the course is the Keene decent, a 6 mile rocket ride where I regularly exceed 50mph in training, however with the torrential rain and the number of competitors I was lucky if I went over 30mph.  On Route 9 on the way to Jay, I saw Rob (one of my training partners) and chatted with him for a few minutes.  He commented on the rain and indicated he was taking it easy.  I got the impression that he was not enjoying himself and I was hoping he would stick it out, as I knew the race meant a great deal to him.  When I went up the hill leaving Jay, another competitor commented, “Murray the Machine”, I was methodical going up the hill and passed lots of people.  I guess all my hill training on Parkhurst, Hollister and Ballou roads paid off.  The rest of the loop, about 30 miles was uneventful, except every now and then I was laughing to myself about the absurdity of the amount of rain that was falling.  When I got to the last hill of the first loop, known as Papa Bear, the crowd was lined on both sides of the road and going nuts cheering everyone up the hill.  I felt like a Tour de France rider climbing the Alpe d’Huez.  There was even a guy dressed as the devil, just like the Tour.  I saw members of the Saratoga Tri Club on Lake Placid Club Dr. and gave them a big smile and then started looking for my family.  I finally saw them on the hill behind the high school and stopped and gave more kisses and high fives and told Candice I was feeling great – which I was, it seemed the day was coming together for me.  As I headed out on the second loop, the rain continued to pound down and my goal was to not do the lap too much slower than the first, but at the same time maintain some strength in my legs for the run.  I got up the ski jump hills and made my way to the Keene decent which turned into the scariest bike riding experience of my life.  As I was descending at about 40mph, my front tire flatted, causing the bike to wobble all over the place and then to make matters worse when I applied my brakes the bike was shimmying and skidding all over the road, I thought I was going to hit the pavement and hit it hard!  Somehow, I managed to safely stop and got my tire changed, but not without incident.  The first CO2 cartridge didn’t pump up the tire because I forgot to unscrew the valve on the tube; the 2^nd CO2 cartridge I pulled out of my bag was already used.  Finally, I got the tube pumped up with my last cartridge and prayed I wouldn’t flat again.  I was extremely diligent about staying away from the pot holes on lap two.  I was cruising along Route 9 on my way to Jay when I saw Chip exiting a porta-potty; I didn’t have a chance to say anything to him, but was glad to see he was still plugging away in the rain.  The only other excitement that occurred on Lap 2 was when I saw the pros at the beginning of the Haselton Rd. out and back, my goal at that point was to get back to transition before they passed me - I succeeded.  My final split was 7:29.40; this was far from my best time, but also far from my worst time.  I told myself I’ll take it considering the conditions (did I mention it was pouring) and the fact that I killed 5-8 minutes changing a tube.  As I dismounted my bike, I looked for Dan, a tri club member, who was volunteering as a bike catcher, but I didn’t see him.  I started to run to the transition tent in my bike shoes, but decided to take off my bike shoes in run in my socks.  I felt like a kid stomping through all the puddles.  Once inside the mud filled transition tent a volunteer directed me to the back of the tent which had a concrete slab where it wasn’t muddy.  I took my time changing and stretching and was enjoying being dry for the first time in 9 hours.
The Run
I headed out of the run tent and the rain started falling even heavier, it was unbelievable!  My dry clothes were now soaked after being out of the tent for 10 seconds.  I started running down the hill and saw everyone in front of the motel, they were screaming like I was winning the race J I stopped and talked to everyone gave high fives and told Candice I was feeling unbelievably good.  My goal at this point was to run as long as I could with the exception of walking big uphills and walking through the aid stations.  The first loop was fairly uneventful, except did I mention it was pouring!  I did see Rosann (another training partner) as I was running off River Rd and she was turning on to it.  I was elated to see she had made the bike cut off, but was also concerned as she looked mentally and physically beaten. I forged on and managed to “run” for most of the first loop.  I completed the first loop in 2:40 (which is an IM PR for me).  Again, I saw my family on Main Street talked and chatted.  As I was chatting, Chip was coming up the hill, he told me no talking allowed and to get running!  I told everyone the second lap was going to be slower, as my hips were getting sore and I was running out of gas.  My strategy was to “run” for 3 minutes and walk for 1.  This worked for the first 4 or 5 miles of the second loop and then was reduced to 2 minutes of running and 1:30 of walking.  I saw Caroline (Rob’s wife) about a mile and half out of town and asked how Rob was doing.  Her comment was he was “doing”, but was not back yet from his first loop.  This was good news, as I hadn’t seen Rob since I passed him at about mile 15 on the bike and was concerned he called it a day.  It should also be noted that Caroline is an amazing spectator and cheered for me like she had known me for 20 years.  My running became very slow; people were power walking faster than I was running.  With about 10 miles to go in the run I started calculating if I was going to break my PR of 16:05, it seemed well within reason.  I kept recalculating the time after every mile, everytime it looked like a PR was going to happen.  I saw Rosann again as I was coming on to River Rd and she was exiting it.  This time she was running with purpose and looked like a woman on a mission – it was a good sign, but I was concerned about the distance she still needed to cover (about 17 miles) and time was running out.  I forged on…when I came back to town it was awesome, a number of things happened.  First, as I passed the sign that says “Welcome to Lake Placid” another competitor pointed to it and said we’re back home, we are going to make it.  I then got to the aid station by the Downhill Grill and was surprised to hear someone call out my first and last name; it was Will Dixon manning the aid station.  He was funny; he offered me everything that was available at the station like he was reading from a menu.  I took water, thanked him and started walking up the hill in town.  This is when I saw a horrifying site of a guy in a Speedo (who shouldn’t be in a Speedo) with a colorful afro wig and he looks at me at me and says…”If you don’t want to look at it, you need to get running!”  I couldn’t help but laugh.  As I turned the corner, my family went nuts! Jay, Allie and my three nephews Andy, Danny and Tommy all came running down the hill, everyone was high fiving – it was awesome.  Jay told me I was about 15min ahead of schedule – he is a math whiz and was apparently calculating if a PR was possible also.  I told Allie that next time I see her we will be running on the oval toward the finish.
Note: Allie ran though the finish line with me in 2002, but she was only 3 and doesn’t remember it, she was sick in 2004 and was asleep when I did finish and in 2006 I disappointed her greatly by not finishing.  The night before the race, she was sad and starting crying and I asked her why, she said that she was worried I might not finish.  I told her not to worry, I will finish and she will get to run through the finish line.  She had me “pinky swear”, which I did (although in hindsight I shouldn’t have ‘cause who knows what is going to happen on race day).
As I was coming back from the turnaround on Lake Placid Club Drive I saw Chip, he was about 10 minutes behind me, we high fived.  As I continued down Olympic Drive I saw Rob for the first time since mile 15 of the bike.  He was in great spirits and his dream of becoming an Ironman was about :30 minutes away.  As I ran down the hill toward the oval, I patted a competitor on the back and congratulated him.  As I entered the oval, all the pain in my body disappeared, Allie joined me on the turn and we raced into the finish, high fiving all the spectators, I threw up my arms and let out several loud “YEAH’s!!!” and crossed the line in 15:49:28…a PR.
2008 will be remembered for 3 things which are: my brush with the pros, torrential rain and a PR. 

Epilogue
I looked on weather.com the following day and Lake Placid officially received 2.84 inches of rain.  More rain fell on July 20^th than the rest of the month combined.  In hindsight, the rain was probably the best thing that happened for me, as it kept me cool and dehydration and sodium loss were not as big of concern as usual. 
I am also pleased to report that all of my training partners completed the Ironman, two for the first time.  Chip finished in 15:59, Rob (first timer) finished in 16:12 and Rosann (first timer), somehow pulled a miracle out of nowhere and finished in 16:43.
Thank You’s…
Thank you to Diane, Mike, Andy, Danny, and Tommy who endured 15:49 of soaking rain and at least 4 clothes changes.  Your support was unbelievable – but please no more camping!
Thank you to Rob, Chip and Rosann for making the long rides tolerable and even enjoyable, even though I caught all kinds of grief about my hilly routes.
Lastly, a HUGE thank you to Candice, Jay, Allie and Emma who also endured 15:49 of rain on Sunday.  Who also gave up a nice weekend in June to watch me implode at Tupper and who gave up many, many Saturday and Sunday mornings, so I could get in a long ride. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!
Now the question, I’m sure everyone is going to ask…
Am I done with Ironman? Well, I’m not registered for Lake Placid 2009, but Ironman Arizona has been moved to November for 2009 and I hear that Tempe is beautiful that time of year….or maybe I’ll just buy a boat and enjoy the summer – stay tuned.

In early/mid November, I committed to maintaining my weight through the choas known as "The Holidays".  I was successful in doing that, I still induldged, but my weight didn’t go up or down for that matter.  The next step was to start my transformation into Ironman shape.  I am pleased to announce that I stepped onto the Tantia today and lost 6.1 lbs this week.  Between the diet and excercise it has been a tough week, but well worth it when I saw the numbers this morning.  More importantly, my body fat is also going down.  While I’m still considered obese with a 30.9% BF, it is down from 34% where I started a while back.

I am following a diet that a Weekly Transformation individual used (Veronica Marble) to lose the weight.  It is essentially a high protien, low carb, very clean eating diet.  Boring, but effective so far.  Hopefully, my body will start to adjust to the reduced carbs.

I am signed up to participate at the 2008 Ford Ironman USA triathlon in Lake Placid, NY. For those not in the know, an Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile open water swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run, it all must be accomplish in under 17:00hours.  Yes, if you go 17:01, you don’t get a medal and are not listed as a finisher.  It will be my fourth trip to the big dance.  I have yet to put together a perfect Ironman race.  In 2002, I was new to IM racing and didn’t have a big enough cycling base, but finished. In 2004 I was in great swimming and cycling shape, but undertrained on the run - I still finished.  2006 I DNF’d at mile 11 of the run, due to extreme dehydration.  I was down 17lbs in 10 hours and ended up in the medical tent with two IV bags.  I should sell that diet book - "How to Lose 17lbs in 10hours!"

This year I am starting my training earlier (hopefully I won’t burn out) and am treating it live a quintathlon (5 events), which are swim, bike, run, strength and nutrition.  It is the last two "events" that brings me to bodybuilding.com. 

One of my limiters in tri is my weight, I am built like Robert Newhouse (for you old school Cowboy fans) and not like Scott Tinley (for you old school tri fans).  So, I am using a bodybuilding approach to boost my metabolism via lifting and adhering to a bodybuilding diet to lose pounds.  Ideally, I need to get my weight down in between 155-165 and my bodyfat around 15%. So, there is much work to be done. 

Overall, I think I have a good plan and if all goes well, I hope to be crossing the finish line in under <12:59.

Last night was perfect weather, it was about 80 degrees with no humidity.  I went for a six miler in the park and enjoyed every step of it.  It was one of those nights when I could have run forever.

On the lifting front, I took the day off.  My upper body is still sore from my workout on Saturday. 

 Today I have a duathlon on tap after work and then when I get home I will be doing some chest work.

Even though IM 2008 is not until July I really want to do well and go into the race being in the best shape of my life. 

I was scheduled to do a long run (14mi) on Saturday, however because of the heat and humidity (94 with about 94% humidity) I took my work out indoors.  I didn’t run long but did a very hard workout.  I did 400m on treadmill at a 7:30/mile pace, got off the ‘mill without rest and did shoulder lifts and then immediately did abs/core work and then repeated.  I did this 12 times - I am spent and my hammy’s are very tight.

 I did yoga for :30 yesterday and strectched out my body and then did some bi/tri workouts.  For some reason, unknown to me I don’t really get into working my arms.  Maybe because I don’t need much bicep/tricep stregth in triathlons.  I then attempted to run 6 milies in the park, but just wasn’t in it mentally or physicaly, so I bailed after 3 miles.  Tonight it is back to the park for a 6 miler and tomorrow I have a group workout with the local tri club.  It is duathlon night, so that should be fun.

My lifting is coming along and feel like I’m getting stronger.  I have been working my legs, once per week by doing leg presses for 2 minutes straight.  I turns into about 105 to 110 reps.  I am hoping it will help my power on the bike, especially when hill climbing.

My diet sucked this weekend, but it is back to the grind today.

I turn 44 today - although I firmly believe that age is a state of mind and I’m feeling much younger.  I sometimes have to stop and think how old I am when people ask me.  I feel like I’m in my late 20’s, early 30’s, however my sense of humor stop aging when I was in 7th grade - yes, farts are still really funny.

I was playing basketball this past weekend with one of my cousins who is in his early thirties and I was running circles around him.  He had to keep stopping to get air - it felt good to be in decent shape.  And that game was after I ran a 5K earlier in the morning.

Today will be a cheat day, no sense in fight the chocolate cake urge today.

I also wieghed in today and lost a few lbs.  I’m down to 196 - it is coming off slowly, but hopefully that means it will stay off.  I have now lost 21lbs. and my belt is now fastened two holes smaller!

My running is going well and I have started adding cycling to the mix, as I want to do really, really well at Ironman Lake Placid 2008.  Time is limited between the running, cycling and lifting.  This Sunday I’m donning the wetsuit for the first time in a year and doing an open water swim - should be fun.  I find swimming in open water very relaxing, I throughly enjoy it.

Have a great day.

I tried a new workout yesterday, based on something I read in Runner’s World about 15 years ago called an embedded circuit workout.  Basically, the workout consisted of interval runs, chest lifting, core work.  Here is what I did, it all occurred in my basement, so there was no resting between each set/exercise since it is all in the same room.  Here is what the workout looked like:

• Flat Bench 10 reps at 150 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 1:45
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 1:45
• Flat Bench 10 reps at 150 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 1:45
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 1:45
• Flat Bench 10 reps at 150 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 1:45
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 1:45
• Flat Bench 10 reps at 150 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 1:45
• Core exercise
• Flat Bench 10 reps at 150 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 1:45
• Core exercise
• Flyes 10 reps at 40lbs/dumbbell (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 1:45
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 1:45
• Flyes 10 reps at 40lbs/dumbbell (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00
• Flyes 10 reps at 40lbs/dumbbell (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00
• Flyes 10 reps at 40lbs/dumbbell (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00
• Flyes 10 reps at 40lbs/dumbbell (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these)
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00
• Incline Bench Press 10 reps at 135 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these) 
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00
• Incline Bench Press 10 reps at 135 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these) 
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00
• Incline Bench Press 10 reps at 135 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these) 
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00
• Incline Bench Press 10 reps at 135 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these) 
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00
• Incline Bench Press 10 reps at 135 (then max reps after 15 second rest, didn’t keep track of these) 
• 400m run at 2:00
• Core exercise
• 400m run at 2:00

Totals:
15 sets of chest work
15 core exercises
28×400 (7miles)
Total workout lasted about 2.5 hours (although didn’t keep track) and I was sweating like a pig when done.

You may ask, “Why did he do that?”.  Two reasons, I wanted to try something new and also I am a long course triathlete and figured that it would be a good workout to build muscular endurance.  Based on how I feel today…SORE…I would say it worked!I also checked my resting heart rate over the weekend and it came in at 59.  I would like to get it to the high 40’s or low 50’s.  Overall, not bad.

 I would also like to try the 300 workout that Mark Twight (the great mountaineer) put the actors of the movie 300 through.  This is done as fast as possible, with no rests.  Apparently the record is about 18 minutes.  I can’t do 25 pull ups, so this one will have to wait for now.

• 25 pull ups
• 50 deadlifts at 135lbs
• 50 push ups
• 50 box jumps onto a 24″ box
• 50 floor wipers with 135lbs
• 50 clean and press with 36lbs
• 25 pull ups

Total reps are 300. 

I officially started to my attempt to lose 52lbs on April 23, 2007, to date I’m down anywhere from 15-18lbs depending on the day, I’m not pleased with the rate at which it is coming off.  Additionally, my BF has only gone down 2%.  I started off well, but the weight loss stagnated in mid-June and I feel like I have been spinning my wheels ever since.  Therefore, I am going to try something here, which many of you may or may not recommend.  Here is my plan

I wieghed in today and found that I have gained one pound. Looking back at my spreadsheet I see that I have fluctuated between 200-202 since mid-June - not good.  In fact, it looks like I need to readjust my goal, as hitting 165 by 10/1 doesn’t look doable.  I am a little surprised that I gained this week, I didn’t eat as clean as I could have, but it wasn’t crazy.  I also ran 31 miles, lifted 4x this week, and did an hour of yoga.

If anyone has a good 7 day diet, that is easy to follow (e.g., doesn’t require lots of cooking, mixing, etc.) I would like to see it, I think part of my problem is finding good foods to eat.

My father passed away on 7/7/07 after a nine year (!) fight with pancreatic cancer   He was a remarkable man and Dad.  He was a fighter pilot in the Air Force and was awarded the Silver Star, 7 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 16 Air Medals for his herioc actions in Vietnam. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetary.  He was also the person who introduced me to my number one passion in life - skiing.  He would pull me up, what seemed like the side of Mt. Everest, on the end of his ski pole when I was three, teaching me how to ski.

My diet was thown into a tailspin over the last week due to not being home and having nothing but crappy food around.  In any event, I gained two pounds, I’m sure some of it is water.  During a normal week I would have been very down on myself, but due to the events of the week, it seems so trivial.  Anyhow, back to the grind this week, I’m looking forward to it.