Lake Placid 2012 Race Report

Inspired as a spectator at the 2011 Ironman Lake Placid race, I signed up for 2012 with renewed excitement. Participating in the race would be its own reward. While I intended to give my best effort, I had also grown comfortable enough in my own skin that I wouldn’t hang any stupid competitive pressure on my shoulders. I simply wanted to walk away from the race knowing I gave it everything I had.

Mission accomplished.

My third Ironman finish was a charm, setting a new personal best time of 11:52:13 on a tough weather day. I was able to focus my thoughts like never before and apply lessons learned from my first two finishes and my painful 2008 DNF.

Here are a few reflections:

·         The swim and first 86 miles on the bike felt easy. The real work started at the turn around in Ausable Forks as we faced a strong headwind on the final 26 miles of climbing. The positive spirit among athletes pretty much dried up as we all started battling our inner demons.

·         I never felt “good” between mile 86 of the bike and mile 18 of the run. The crowds and my family and friends gave me energy, but I really hadn’t ever experienced such a long dark period. Somehow I was able to stay focused on the moment and respond to my immediate needs and surroundings.

·         Around mile 14 of the run my friend Ryan jogged beside me for a few strides. He was fired up, telling me how “rock solid” I looked and complimenting me on my bike ride. I wasn’t able to muster much of a response other than a puzzled look. Couldn’t he see my suffering?

·         I survived on Coke, chicken broth, and water on the second run loop. I think making that nutritional adjustment saved my day.

·         I started to feel better after the final turnaround on River Road, and knew by the 20-mile marker that I had a personal record in the bag. I decided not to push too hard from that point forward. Instead I soaked up the crowds and enjoyed being immersed in the Ironman experience. My final 10K was a victory dance.

·         There’s no experience like that Olympic speed skating oval finish. What a homecoming!

Beating my 2007 Lake Placid finish by a little over 13 minutes might not seem like a major accomplishment to the casual observer. But it was a proven difficult weather day compared to 2007. The scuttlebutt is that the average AG’er finished 29 minutes slower in 2012 than 2011.

Consider this; I improved my final position by 181 places compared to 2007 despite having 300 more athletes in the field in 2012. In 2007 I finished in the top 27% of the smaller starting field. This year I finished in the top 16%. I’m definitely getting closer to achieving my Ironman potential, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

I haven't made plans for races beyond this year, but the allure of pursuing excellence in this ultimate one-day event is undeniable. I simply love it.

How I Trained

I find that reflecting on all of my completed training is an effective method of dealing with race week jitters. Now, one week out from the big event, the jitters are creeping in. So today I read my training diary and took a few notes. Since the question most frequently asked of me is, “How do you train for that?” I thought I would share my summary here.

Winter: The dark months included a 16-week training block during which I focused almost all effort on cycling and running speed and power. This was a low volume, high intensity period. I averaged about seven hours of training each week. The 16-weeks were interrupted for two weeks by a nasty lower GI bug, so I didn’t come out of the winter as strong as I had hoped.
Transition: I dedicated the month of April to introducing some training volume to my cycling and running. I also began working out twice each week in the pool, focusing almost entirely on swimming form. My average training volume was 11-hours per week during this period.

Build Period: On April 30 I kicked off what most would consider the real Ironman training cycle, the gradual build-up of volume with a focus on break-through workouts of increasing difficulty. This period lasted nine weeks and my average training volume was slightly more than 13-hours per week.

After hearing of 20- and 30-hour weeks from other Ironman athletes, some are surprised at the relatively low training volume of my build period. While it’s pretty cool to tell tales of 20+ hour training weeks, my experience is that they leave me too tired to function as a husband, father, and employee. My primary goal is to enjoy the challenge of the endurance multisport lifestyle, not to qualify for the World Championships in Kona. So my training focus is on maintaining consistency, showing up ready to crush my key workouts, and then allowing myself to recover properly. That said I had very few "base miles" style workouts. Almost every session had some form of speed interval thrown in there. I think it all worked out pretty well this time around.

During the build period my average weekly volume broke down into 6,500 meters of swimming, 130 miles in the saddle and 23 miles of running. My peak swimming week was slightly more than 10 kilometers, my peak cycling week was 205 miles, and my peak running week was 39 miles. That contrasts pretty sharply with my previous training, which was cycling dominant. For instance I rode 380 miles during a 26-hour training week in 2007, but my peak running week didn’t quite make it to 30-miles. More balance – perspective – sanity this year!

After the nine week build I entered a two-week peaking cycle followed by my pending one-week taper. The peak cycle had me gradually reducing volume while maintaining intensity. The goals of the two-week peak are to gradually eliminate residual fatigue and focus on race-specific training. Feeling sharp after the peak period, I think the real goal of the taper is to rest and avoid gaining weight. My longest workout between now and race day will be about 45-minutes.

OK, that was a good exercise and has me feeling pretty confident. Now to avoid gaining weight…

2012 Fund Racing for Bridge of Hope LCC

I am fascinated by energy—where it comes from and how it powers life. By day I’m overseeing an amazing team of engineers explore building energy systems, making them work most efficiently. Outside the office, I’m leveraging my physical energy and testing my own personal limits of endurance as I train for my third Ironman triathlon.

To bring a deeper meaning to my triathlon training, I’m racing for a cause—to raise $10,000 for Bridge of Hope Lancaster and Chester Counties. BOHLCC is unlike any charitable organization I’ve ever volunteered with. They are 100% privately funded with a greater than 80% success rate. Their mission is simple: from homelessness to wholeness.

Providing a professional staff and trained mentoring teams from churches, BOHLCC helps women attain long-term housing, financial independence, and holistic growth. Greater community support means more women and children move from homelessness to stability.

Although an Ironman can be considered a selfish undertaking, the reality is that I can’t reach my goal without the emotional and financial support of my friends and my company. McClure Company’s President, Chip Brown, has an employee expectation that ranks up there with safety first. He expects us to live “robust lives.”  Chronic overtime or lives brightened only by fluorescent lighting are not part of the fabric at McClure.

This supportive framework allows me to invest time and attention into my training, but it also allows me to “pay it forward” and invest in others, like the families in transition at BOHLCC. The women in the BOHLCC program push their limits much the same as I do for Ironman training. But the endurance required by these women and families makes an Ironman seem easy.

McClure’s commitment to living “robust lives” has spawned hundreds of sponsorships and community investments in support of our 300+ employees. The ripple effect is visible in the lives of young women and children, once homeless in Lancaster and Chester counties, now with homes and the tools to start a new race that is productive and sustainable. That’s energy well spent.

I’ll close with my top 10 reasons for believing in the Bridge of Hope Lancaster & Chester Counties:    

10.       Staff to volunteer ratio is 1:78

9.       Greater than an 80% success rate

8.       100% privately funded. Zero government money

7.       Not a stop-gap measure or short term solution

6.       Fulfills a deep need in our society

5.       Program to administrative cost ratio is 80:20

4.       Stated operating principles are honesty and integrity

3.       Board members are expected to work. This isn’t a resume building exercise.

2.   Mission is simple, but not easy: From Homelessness to Wholeness

1.  It simply works. I’ve seen it firsthand… twice.

American Triple T Race Report

Two weeks ago I checked an endurance event off of my bucket list: The American Triple T. For those who don’t know the format, there are 4 triathlons in 3 days:

• Friday prologue: 5:00 pm “super sprint” 250m swim, 6k bike, 1 mile run
• Saturday: 7:30 am Olympic distance tri & another Olympic distance race at 3:00 pm with the event order as bike-swim-run
• Sunday: 7:00 am half Ironman distance triathlon
• Total distances: 5,250m swim, 110 miles cycling, 27.2 miles running

All events have time trial starts, with participants starting in pairs every 3 seconds. The races all took place from the same transition area in the Shawnee State Forest in southern Ohio: Plenty of hills. You might even call them mountains (the Little Smokies).

My goal was to treat it as a training event, trying to build mental & physical strength for Ironman Lake Placid. I wanted to dial in my target Ironman paces and not race so hard that I couldn’t recover quickly for nine more weeks of training. I wanted to run the half marathon on Sunday in less than 2 hours. I figured that few would be able to do that and, if I could pull it off, it would be a good sign that I have proper paces dialed in.

As you might imagine the event was very tough. The cycling courses were all challenging, with more than 9,000 feet of climbing and some technical descents. The same run course was used for every race. It consisted mostly of hilly fire roads with broken rocks and dirt footing. Just like an Ironman, there were plenty of athletes walking the last several miles of the final race. I was able to maintain consistent pacing in all three sports throughout the weekend. I came within a few seconds of negative splitting the final 13.1 mile run [beat my time goal by 7 minutes!]. My nutrition plan was solid and, overall, I think I’m in good physical and mental shape with only seven weeks to go until Ironman. My total time to complete the event was 12:13:32.

The most difficult aspect to the weekend (other than driving home!) was staying hydrated and maintaining proper electrolyte levels. I got a little spacy after the second Saturday race and really had to focus on getting rehydrated and replenishing electrolytes. Everyone’s motivation to race was pretty low by Sunday morning! I particularly enjoyed the old school feel of the event: Very little commercialism, a small field (432 registrants, less than 400 finishers), and excellent race organization. If you’re into the long course triathlon scene, this is a must do event.

My Triple T week was a big one – 10 km of swimming, 130+ miles in the saddle, and 37+ miles of running. I’ve never worked that much running into an Ironman training week, and my feet let me know it. After a full week of recovery, during which I cut training volume in half and took two days completely off, this week was rock solid. I’m feeling very well again.

Lancaster Nightmare Ride: Race Report

The field launched at 6:13 am, the official sunrise for Saturday, August 13. My friend Shane and I were in good spirits, unsure of how our bodies would respond to riding 177 miles. Neither of us had ever attempted to ride more than 125 miles in the past. Our goal was simply to enjoy the day and finish in daylight.

I knew the first and last fifty-ish miles of the course, but had no idea what the middle piece was like. That was probably a good thing because it kept me from tossing and turning in bed in the days leading up to the event.

It was an amazing day and I have nothing but positive thoughts about the whole experience. There’s just so much to say! I’ll summarize with a few random notes:

• We missed a turn at mile 85 and tacked on 3 hilly miles before getting back on course.
• Just after I said, “The weather gods are smiling on us today,” a major thunderstorm struck. That was around mile 125. We rode through driving rain, floods, lightning, farm erosion, etc. Good times. It was a good thing. It woke us up and we had fun with it.
• We stopped too long for lunch [112 miles] and my legs revolted a little when we started riding again.
• Shane and I were strong and spent time socializing with other cyclists. That got under the skin of some of the competitive folks. Sorry guys!
• The course included some recently tarred and chipped roads (including the hardest climb all day) and a rutted, dirt / gravel road. We probably rode 3 to 4 miles on unpaved surfaces.
• I felt good watts in my legs the entire day. We covered the final 35 miles in less than two hours. I guess our self-made training plans worked out just fine.

Overall elapsed time for our ride was 12:45. We rolled through the finish line in Marietta at 6:58 pm. Of that time we were in the saddle for almost exactly 12-hours even, covering 180 total miles at a 15 mph average. The course was tough!

I’m so thankful for good health, no accidents, and no mechanical incidents. Shane was the perfect riding mate in that we have similar cycling fitness and life perspectives. I’m glad he asked me to participate. I would not want to ride that course alone!

Eve of the Nightmare

It looks like some stormy weather for the Lancaster Nightmare Ride tomorrow. My friend Shane and I will be launching from the Donegal Middle School at 6:00 am. How long will the 177 miles take us? I really don’t know.

I rode fairly steadily on a reconnaissance ride through the first 50 miles of the course several weeks ago and still only averaged a measly 14 miles per hour. The early terrain is very difficult and a key to not imploding later in the day will be to hold back as much as possible in the hilly first 50. I’ve never gone over 125 miles, either, so who knows what’ll happen when I get 8+ hours into the day? My longest ride so far this year was slightly over 7 hours. It should be interesting. I’m pushing into new and unknown territory.

That said we fully intend on finishing in daylight.

I finally read Chris McDougall’s ‘Born to Run’ this week while at the beach. I can’t think of a better book to read in the days leading up to an ultra endurance event. Like the ultra runners in that book, I intend to enjoy the ride tomorrow: one mile at a time.

I will be extending the Bridge of Hope campaign until at least the end of August. Thanks to all at McClure Company for pledging support! I’ll be opening pledging opportunities to a broader group this weekend. My recent vacationing and subsequent impacts on work load have prevented a more thorough pre-event campaign. Stay tuned!

Ironman Lake Placid 2011

Had a great time supporting friends at Ironman Lake Placid last weekend. With four friends signing up for next year's race, I couldn't resist the Ironman fever. I signed up for the 2012 race as soon as I got home!