Ironman Village

So if you've never been to an Ironman event before...it's nothing like any other triathlon. Everyone here is jacked and has smooth legs, everyone has a sweet bike, and everyone looks like they could kick your ass on the course. At least this is the first impression I got on Thursday when I arrived here. 

Now that I've had more time to watch other athletes, they don't seem that frightening. Looks can be deceiving - I've realized this when competing in smaller triathlons and super fit looking people finish waaaay behind me. So a small hint to everyone out there; don't worry about anyone else because you look just as fast and awesome as everyone else.

If looks are deceiving, this guy should win!

The routine we've been following since we've been here has been: swim at 9:00, ride and or run at 10:00, finish exercising by 11:00 am to have the rest of the day to relax and buy stuff. It's been freezing at night so it will definitely be a wetsuit swim. The weather is still calling for sunny and 21 degrees during the day so the bike and run should be glorious! I'm so excited for the race to start.

The Athlete dinner last night was pretty good and it was really cool to be in a giant tent filled with 2,586 crazy people (you have to be a little crazy to do this). Mike Riley will be here to announce those 4 words I look forward to hearing tomorrow and David Orlowski, who finished 3rd in the very first Ironman in 1978, talked about his first race and how much the sport has evolved. He had to carry money in his pockets so he could stop at grocery stores and McDonald's as nutrition during the bike - epic!

This is David racing in his new cut-off jeans.

Today is a fine tuning day. We found out that the mass-start swim will be a beach start, so we will practice beach starts this morning followed by a short ride and short run. Our bikes and transition bags have to be checked in by 4:00pm so we have to make sure we have everything ready today. I bought hotdogs for my special needs bag in-case I get a little hungry on the course (they have been life-savers on some of my long rides). 

I feel ready, as should everyone here. I have so much confidence from my team and I can't wait to see them all on race course. 

This is where the magic happens.

Game Face

5 Days to Go...

This is a game face!

I hear a lot about people getting more and more nervous as the race start nears. If you said you didn't feel nervous you would be lying. How do you deal with it...every time I think about race day I want to bite off my whole finger.

First you need to realize what you are actually nervous about. Are you nervous about finishing, beating a personal best time, getting a flat tire, the swim, stomach issues...the list can literally go on and on. Once you have written down everything that makes you nervous, separate the factors you can control from the ones you can't control.

You'll probably notice that most of the things that make you nervous are out of your control. You can't stop a flat tire from happening, you can't make the waves smaller, you can't change the weather, you can't decide that your stomach will handle everything you put in it. What you CAN do is practice fixing a flat, start the swim at the edge of the pack, put clothes in your special needs bag, practice eating what you will eat on the race course... Don't stress about things that you CAN'T control.

Instead of getting nervous, I've found myself getting excited. This is, after all, for fun and we shouldn't forget that. I know I've trained enough like everyone else who will show up on the start line. I know I will finish and I know I will have a good race. I've planned my bike set-up, practiced fixing flat tires, swam in huge waves, eaten all sorts of foods while training and in all kinds of weather. I know what to do and what not to do to get me through the race. 

The hardest part is believing all of this. This is when we need to put on our game faces. Tell yourself out-loud that you are ready, that you are fit, and that you are one tough MO!#3RF&@$er. If you say it enough, you will believe it.

When you're getting stressed and nervous, repeat that to yourself and think about putting on your game face. Nothing but you can stop you.

This will be you.

House Keeping

Training for Ironman has given me a new appreciation for the Taper. Finally I have time and workouts are easy and confidence building, or at least they should be.

A lot of athletes find it difficult to taper because they fear losing fitness, or they want to cram in a last few hard workouts. In the last weeks leading up to the race, you won't lose your fitness or strength, but you could start moving backwards if you don't approach the taper properly. I like to call this part of my training "housekeeping".

We need more Lemon Pledge.

The main housekeeping goals of my two weeks leading up to Ironman are as follows:

1. Staying Injury Free
It's too close to race day to recover properly from an injury so the most important thing for me is to make sure I don't get injured. This means I'm not trying any new workouts. Warm-ups and cool-downs are very important, and I stay clear of activities that can cause injury.

2. Staying Healthy
When workouts decrease, diet and hydration become more important. I can't eat greasy food and pop and just go for a long ride to work it off anymore. Eating is now a big part of my training. Everything I consume is for nutrition to help me on race day. It's also important to not let my immune system weaken. Now is a time when many athletes get sick so it is important to wash your hands often and get lots of fluids, vitamins, and rest.

3. Equipment Check-up
Now is the perfect time to get your gear fixed or cleaned or whatever you need to do. New chain, new tires, new shoes, new clothes...there's two weeks to make sure everything is going to go smoothly on race day. I recently changed my chain and brakes on my bike and I will make sure my shoes and wetsuit, etc. are all in good condition before it's too late to change. Don't worry if you are trying new equipment because you still have two weeks to break it in. 

4. Race Day Nutrition
Start thinking about your race day plan...and practice it! I plan on eating 2 gels, oatmeal with milk, toast with peanut butter, coffee and maybe a yogurt before leaving to T1. Then sipping on perform from breakfast to swim start and having another gel or two within 15 minutes of the start. For the next two weeks, I'm going to practice this breakfast first thing in the morning so that I am confident it will agree with me race morning.

5. Confidence
If nothing else, these last two weeks should be when you build confidence in your training. The work has been done and now you can sit back and appreciate your efforts over the previous months. Workouts should be smooth and pace-work be disciplined. Go over mental processes during these last training sessions and practice transitions, eating, and drinking during your workouts.

6. Have a race week plan
The stress of travelling, training, registering, eating, sleeping, and preparing during race week is insane. Have a plan starting with the travel. I get extremely stressed before races when I don't have a schedule so I will make sure to plan out meals, training, registration, and rest ahead of time. This doesn't have to be concrete, but it will save a lot of stress later when you have a schedule to follow.

I will spend the next two weeks perfecting these things so that come race day, I can do all of the little things easily and smoothly. Should anything go wrong, I feel prepared enough that I can deal with solving these problems quickly on the course. If everything goes as planned, I can put all of my energy and focus into racing. 

Everything I do is to hear those 4 words

Believe

With only 4 weeks, 5 days, 14 hours, and 37 minutes (give or take) to Tremblant, it's hard to focus on anything else. I have one more Olympic race this weekend at the Muskoka 5i50 to mix up my training a bit. My goal is to improve from Guelph Lake earlier this year. I went into that race tired and didn't have the energy to race like I can. Hopefully a mild taper this week will make a difference.


Now to the more relevant stuff.


"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt.


If you're doing an Ironman, it likely started out as a dream. Whether that dream was to finish, have a best time, qualify for Kona, or be a Champion, it is the reason you will be at the start line. 


I truly love the psychology of sport and learning what it is that makes people tick. There are hours of interviews with Ironman athletes online and hundreds of different reasons for why they are there, but they all have one thing in common - they believe they can do it. 


To be any level athlete you have to believe you can do it, but it's what you believe you can do that makes you a champion. Craig Alexander, Simon Whitfield, Chris McCormack, Natascha Badmann, Chrissie Wellington, the best athletes in the sport all dreamed they could be the best. They believed they could train the best, deal with pain the best, and push themselves harder than anyone else. 


Goals are what gave them direction toward reaching their dream. Goals should be stepping stones to make sure you stay on track. I dare everyone to set goals - beat a personal best time, run through every aid station, have faster transitions, I even had a goal to smile when I crossed the finish line because I was tired to looking like a grumpy asshole in my finisher photos. It's good to keep your goals simple and in your control. You can control your pace, your effort, your emotions, your focus, going to practice, eating well, but you can't control other racers, wind, waves, heat...etc. If you focus on the things you can control, the results will follow.


All you need to be an Ironman is to believe you can.

Big Miles

If you like sports, then you probably like watching sports. Last week was the   US Olympic Swimming trials and the US Olympic Track and Field trials. This week is the Tour de France. At the end of the month is the Olympics - I can't wait!

My favourite rival to watch this year...go Lochte!

All of this sports action builds my motivation to train and get strong. In my own training, the miles have started to increase. Last weekend included two 150-180K rides and a split 36K run. This weekend will be a 180K ride on Friday, a swim/bike/run on Saturday, and another 180K ride on Sunday. The key to this ridiculous mileage is eating (a lot) and sleeping. 

Six weeks to Ironman...oh man. The team went to race the Tremblant 70.3 at the beginning of the month and do some reconnaissance on the course. Looks AWESOME! A huge way to relieve stress for me is to know what I'm dealing with. The unknown is my biggest stresser before a race so I'm spending lots of time looking at maps, reading articles, talking to teammates about the course, and watching videos of the course (love Youtube). If I've already "seen" the course before I get there then there is one less thing to worry about come race day. 

For every uphill, there better be a downhill

Like I said - eating and sleeping. From now on, it's all about nailing this part of my training. Make sure I get the calories after workouts and recover properly. This means no fast food and less beer (cutting out beer entirely is craziness). This is the best way to prevent injuries and prevent that blah feeling you get from over training. 

It may also be hard to keep the long runs and rides exciting. No one wants to ride back-to-back 180K, so how do you motivate yourself? I try and set goals for each training session. Breaking them up into smaller parts is much more manageable than thinking of it as one huge ride or run or swim. Make mental checkpoints, practice what you will think about on race day, pick new routes, and enjoy the scenery. This is a great time of year to stop for a bit on your long workouts and enjoy yourself. These little tricks make my training way easier.

Every workout at this point should be focused, but enjoyable. If you can't have fun while you're training, it will make race day really difficult.

Guelph Lake

This weekend was the Guelph Lake One Triathlon, my first race of the year. I love this event because all 3 legs are tough and the field is usually strong. If you've never done Guelph Lake, I would highly recommend it.

A few years ago I found a TV Broadcast of the 2002 Guelph Lake One Pro Race, with a local pro Jeff Beech competing in the field. It's really inspiring watching your coach race, and race so fast!

Last year I finished 5th overall in a time of 2:08:58. This year I had the swim of my life getting out of the water in 21:09, and good bike in 1:03:55, but the run was dreadful. I now understand why Macca had so much trouble at the beginning of his comeback to ITU Triathlon. Ironman training makes you strong, but if you want to go fast you need to train fast. Also, with the volume of training that Ironman requires, it takes a lot more time to recover to get ready for a fast race. I finished 14th overall and 2nd in my age-group with a time of 2:09:57. 

Looking ahead to the time I have left, I start to realize how important every training day is. Each time I put on my goggles, helmet, or shoes I think about race day. 5 weeks until my second race in Muskoka, then 4 weeks to Ironman.

When pressure builds, I find a lot of people start to take things too seriously.  

I mean come-on...we all want to win but is it worth losing your shit over?

Every time I get frustrated or overwhelmed I try and find something to laugh at. Hopefully I can find something funny on race day to get me to the finish line - and if I can't, I'll just withdraw things like this from the memory bank.

Cramping

This will be me at the START of the race.

This past weekend I got my first taste of pushing your body to the point where it gives up on you...in a BIG way.


It started on Saturday with pouring rain. Forced to do another workout indoors, I set up the trainer and did a few intervals. Then I went for a quick run outside in the rain. My first workout all week basically.


Sunday was the hottest day ever. And I don't care what the people in Eagleman say...it was hot here too. We started our long ride at 7 in the am. The plan was to ride to Milton and back with a few tempo sections to simulate Ironman race pace.


Well...the first one-hour tempo section was mostly flat or downhill and we averaged 38 km/hr. Effort felt comfortable but maybe a little fast. The second hour tempo started at the base of the escarpment on our way back and was in the mid-day sun with wind in our face...36 km/hr. I now know that this is TOO FAST. After the hour was up, I was overheated and probably very dehydrated. We stopped to cool down with some delicious ice-water near Guelph and took in more salt. One more tempo for 20 minutes and we were back home.


If an Ironman was a 3.8K Swim and a 180K bike...pfffft, no problem. Unfortunately you have to run after. To simulate this pain, we decided to copy a workout from Crowie, which includes doing km or mile repeats after a long ride. The first one wasn't bad after the legs got used to moving again. The second one felt even better. The third repeat felt like this.

Except for the female part, this was me.

My left leg cramped so hard I fell to the ground and couldn't move (Damn you Craig Alexander). After 2 solid minutes of writhing pain I got up and started slowly jogging back to the safety and comfort of my water bottle. It didn't cramp again, but that was the last interval of the day.


Diagnosis:  Muscle Cramp;


Cause: Biking too friggin hard and trying to run after;


Treatment: Salt and Water;


Prevention: More salt and hydration while biking, and less biking;


I think this was a good experience (good in the kind of way that it sucked) because I now know not to do this in a race and hopefully this won't happen in Tremblant.

Detroit

This week is a bit of a curve ball. I had a great training week planned with quality swimming and biking and running, and I'm spending it at a conference in Detroit. No pool, no bike, and running after dark isn't exactly the safest activity. 


I know some people that I train with get stressed and worked-up when they can't train, but I find it relaxing. So since I'm taking a few days off, I thought I'd talk about Detroit.


First of all, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Other than the window in a parking garage with, I swear-to-god a bullet hole in it, I was expecting an 8-mile scene. Instead we got to ride a sick raised light-rail transit system through the city, walked along the waterfront, and went to an awesome Greek restaurant called Pegasus Tavernas.


Firstly I'd like to point out that along the river there were mile markers and a running path for runners. That would be a cool thing to add the the trails in Waterloo to keep track of distance. The second thing is that there are bike lanes EVERYWHERE. Why can't we have that, I mean if a city like Detroit can put them in, why are we having such a difficult time understanding how useful they are.


There are some reputations that are apparently true however. We asked the concierge about a restaurant called Mexican Village that my swim coach told us to go to. She replied kindly with, "It's good but don't go after dark because it tends to get a little Gangy." So all of my opinions on Detroit are based on daylight hours.


Back to the point of this post. I plan to look at this training break in a positive way and use it to recover and get ready for a big weekend. If Jeffie can get sick or injured as often as he does and still run like the wind on Thursday workouts, I don't think a few days will hurt.

Youtube = #1 Training Aid

11 WEEKS!!!

I think this weekend I realized how little time 11 weeks is...this weekend I did spin class, in 2 weeks I have convocation at UW, a few weeks after that is a training weekend at the cottage, then - taper weeks start! Usually it takes 6 months to prepare for an ironman, not 12 weeks.

This weekend was the first rainy weekend we've had this spring so the long ride was moved indoors. There's nothing worse than having to ride inside when you've been able to ride outside for weeks. The good news is I got to be the coach. 

Spinning as the coach is waaay harder because you can't slack. You need to be the motivator for everyone else - and pumping out that much encouragement takes a lot of energy. I think I may have discovered something though - motivating everyone else made my biking stronger and I found new energy when I was tired. On race day I think I'll have to remember this and maybe even scream out encouragement to myself when it gets difficult.

One more thing I thought about this week is how on earth we, as triathletes, find the inspiration to get up before the sun every day and do everything it is that we do. Let me give a brief breakdown of my workout week with Team ENERGi;

Monday: 6:15-7:45 swim (coached)

             8:00-8:45 run (track speedwork)

              17:00-18:30 strength & weights (20 min run warm-up)

Tuesday: 17:30-19:30 bike (speed work and hills, short run off the bike)

Wednesday: 6:15-7:45 swim (coached)

                   8:00-10:00 bike (easy aerobic miles)

                    17:00-18:00 recovery run

Thursday: 18:00-19:30 run (speed work and hills)

Friday: 6:30-8:00 swim (distance swim, wetsuit optional)

           17:00-18:00 optional easy bike/run

Saturday: 8:00-... bike 100+ km (moderate pace, run off the bike 30 mins)

Sunday: 8:00-... run (20+ km long run, optional bike before run)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=20+ hours/week; and I probably spend just as much time eating...seriously.

Sometimes the hardest part about a workout is just getting there. I think many would agree that it's easy to lose focus and motivation to keep training this much every week. This is where Youtube comes in.

I get most of my inspiration to train and race from Youtube (not all of youtube, but a lot of it). It's like the video hub for everything anyone has ever thought or done while they had a camera handy. Whenever I'm tired, or in a rut, I get on Youtube and watch old triathlons, Ironmans, Swim Championships, etc. My favourite has been watching "The Road to Kona" featuring Craig Alexander. There's also a good NBC special on Macca and the 2011 Hawaii Ironman. If you have some free time, I highly recommend watching these.

Nothing, however, gets me as pumped up as watching the Kona swim start does (this one's is my favourite).

  

Team ENERGi

Me after Guelph Lake 2011

Jamie, who had shown me the value of experience, introduced me to Jeff Beech and Studio ENERGi in 2010. If I could give one piece of advice to a triathlete, new or seasoned, it would be "get a coach". I can't explain how much easier it is to train with and be part of a team. Not only is the training better, you also have new friends and family who you can learn from and talk to about your experiences and racing dreams.


Team ENERGi is the triathlon team I train with based out of Waterloo and coached by Jeff Beech (JMFB is what we call him, I'll let you figure out the meaning). The team has opened so many doors for me that I can't even imagine where I'd be without them. Having a coach gave my workouts structure and purpose and the results were pretty amazing.


In June 2010 I went with the team to Eagleman 70.3 in Cambridge, Maryland, USA. I had also conveniently ordered new SRAM s60/s80 race wheels and picked them up at Eagleman so I could get free shipping...bonus. I cheered at the sidelines while 8 of my teammates raced in the 110 degree heat. Convinced once again that I could do this, I signed up for the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 in September. That gave me a few months to get in the distance training and learn how to race for twice as long as any race I'd ever finished. 

Team ENERGi taking advantage of the Eagleman Race Expo

After Eagleman, Jamie and I heard from a friend that the ITU Long Course Triathlon National Championships were going to be held in Magog, Quebec in July and it was only 90 bucks to enter. What the hell...it's only 90 bucks... 


So July came by and it was already race eve in Magog. I didn't sleep a wink. What if I get dehydrated? What if I get a flat? What if the swim is non-wetsuit? On and on and on. In the morning I double checked everything in transition 100 times until I literally had to go to the swim start or I'd miss it. I finished the 2.325km/90km/21.1km swim/bike/run in just over 5 hours, but the master Jamie still beat me. I couldn't figure out how he could be so strong. After the race we stayed for awards and we both made it on the podium - more importantly, this meant we had qualified for the 2011 World Championships in Las Vegas! I couldn't believe it.

Clearwater 70.3 bike, 2010

September finally arrived and I was back to where it all began. The Muskoka course was intimidating, but I knew what to expect. Everything went smooth and eventually I was only a 21.2km run from the finish. It was cold and raining but I felt good and pushed on. 5km from the finish I started to feel empty, not a good feeling when you still have over 20 minutes to go. The rest was agonizing and when I crossed the line I could only think about getting warm. This had been the most difficult event I had faced and another learning experience. Despite the pain, I managed to finish in 5h:02min and top 2 in my age-group. Again I had qualified for the World Championships. This time it was the 2010 70.3 Championships Clearwater Florida. I need to thank my coach for this day, because he sponsored my entry to Clearwater so I could go and race with the other 8 teammates who had also qualified, including himself. 
Thank you.

Team ENERGi Representing Canada in Vegas, 2011

To date I have competed in 2 half Iron distance races, 4 Olympic races, 4 Sprint races, 2 ITU Long Course Races, 3 half Marathons, and 2 World Championships. If you had asked me when I started triathlon what I thought I would do in the next 2 years, I could never have imagined having a resume like this. Without Jamie, Jeff Beech, and Team ENERGi, none of this would have been possible.

I almost forgot to mention, the key to success is a pre-race viewing of 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'. A tradition started by Coach Jeffie that inspires us to "go fast!"

In the Beginning

I've just signed up for my first Ironman...what have I done!

Let's start with some background... 

I'm a 23-year-old triathlete living in Waterloo, Ontario and I started triathlon in July 2008 after watching a friend complete the Muskoka Long Course Triathlon in Huntsville. How hard could this be?

I got my first bike, a Trek Equinox 5 for $999, and started pedaling. I also went into the pool for the very first time, and it was the pool that made me realize how much work I had to do. I couldn't swim more than two lengths of the 25 yard pool without stopping - how the hell was I going to finish 60 lengths in one go!? As for the run, I hated running. I thought biking would be good enough training for the run.

September 2008, Wasaga Beach HSBC Olympic Triathlon. In short I had a 36+ minute swim, a 1h:14minute-ish bike, and a 55+min 10K. The biggest rush I've ever felt in my life was crossing that finish line, you really can't describe it. I've done many races since but none really compare to the first. 

The race that started it all, Muskoka Long Course. All winter I was in the pool 2 or 3 nights a week (10-11:30pm lane swim) while starting 2nd year of my Engineering Undergrad at UW. Once spring rounded, I got back on the bike and attempted to add running to my training. June 2009 I started with a 28 minute head start on the person who inspired me. My girlfriend's father raced the year before and finished top in his age group. He also acted as my triathlon guru for the year answering every question I had about racing and training. My goal for this race was to not let him pass me. Everything looked good until a familiar blue and red jersey ran by me with 2 km to go. I need to get faster!

Muskoka Bike, 2009