Ironman Florida 2007: 10hr29min18sec, 296th Overall

It’s a few weeks after the race as I type this. One element of doing Ironman racing is the constant shuffling of life priorities. Late in the season, as mileage builds up, you have to shift energy into Ironman and out of work and family. In a normal year this can leave something of a vacuum once the race is over. This year I was faced with a big sucking black hole. I fought it vigorously and am about 3% of the way out.

So, what went down on November 3rd, 2007 at Ironman Florida?

I accomplished the first goal that I set for myself in Ironman. Recall that the first time I completed one of these things (2004) I was clear that I had no goal aside from completion. I completed but crumbled on the run. In my second year I again crumbled on the run. This crumbling gave rise to my first goal.

My First Goal: To output consistent power throughout the course of an Ironman race.

Over the last three weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about this goal. Did I achieve it? In last year’s race I didn’t crumble. But after reflecting on last year's race I concluded that I had not achieved my goal. I was overly cautious last year. What I achieved last year was simply not crumbling. Certainly a step up from plain old completion. But I didn’t feel it fulfilled my goal of outputting consistent power throughout. I backed way off the bike and took the run cautiously last year. It was caution that prevented the crumble. I don't feel that caution alone warranted fulfillment of my goal.

What changed this year was my willingness to push a little across what I thought were the boundaries. A few extra beats on the bike. Some more effort early on the run. And then a lot more effort later in the run. I operated with confidence and felt that I could output power throughout the race. Physiologically, I slowly upped my heart rate from the start to the finish. You’ll see this when I post my heart rate chart.

Combined, these two factors, one rational and one emotional, tell me that I achieved my goal of outputting power for an Ironman distance race. I wouldn’t call my performance racing yet. That may take a few more years.

And in case the analysis seems too antiseptic… I’m happy about this race!!

Let’s jump into some details. I’m going to use a new format for this race report. The day after the race I took down a list of things to remember. Instead of verbalizing the details of the race I’ll just annotate the notes a bit. I think this will be cleaner for those of you who want technical details (like Future Me) and help those of you who could care less about such details skip them.

Build:
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> Three weeks run @ 50mi – The first time I met Paul Carriere he told me about Gordo Byrn’s website. I checked it out and that day found a passage where he mentions that during his breakthrough run performances he did three weeks at 50+ miles within the last six weeks of prep. For a year I wanted to do the same. I blocked off the final three weeks before my two week taper as 50 mile weeks. Running 50 miles is a lot of running. It's not so much that the runs are long. Just that it eats time from cycling and swimming. And that the fatigue builds on itself. I had to become a smarter trainer to accomplish the goal.

> Leg turnover via treadmill workouts - I realized too late in the game this season that I had no run speed. I hit the treadmill hard for shorter interval-type workouts and threshold runs. In three weeks I regained some of my speed but wasn't where I wanted to be. Big lesson from this year is that base isn't everything.

> Much better core strength - I hit the gym after each swim, about three or four times a week, for the last ten weeks or so of the season. It has an amazing effect on my efficiency. I naturally have no core strength and need to do this all season. I also, for the first time in years, worked my arms and chest a bit. I still can't bench anything close to what I benched in college (215 lbs x 2) but I am regaining some strength. Another big takeaway from the season is that I need to incorporate strength.

> Squats for leg strength - I whittled Keith's Plyo workouts down to the three key elements for me: lunges, squats and step-ups. Once a week did four sets and felt the pain for two or three days thereafter. Had a lot of trouble keeping up with weekly workout plans after these leg workouts so next season I need to incorporate them sooner.

> Papers on wall - In my office next to the door, so I see it twenty times a day, I hung a 16 week plan. The same plan I posted here to the site. I updated it every couple days as my training progressed and my thinking matured. I'd write madly each day on it and then update, reprint and hang. I'd often augment with side sheets for specific weeks. I'd group weeks together to create a "bike block" for example. This was huge because it started the process of training with specificity... something I've not had in the past.

> Three weeks on, one week of rest - Carmichael's big on this. After three unplanned cycles that fit this pattern I realized "oh, yeah, maybe that works for me too." I'll use it next season.

Taper:
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> Workouts every other day. - Resisted the urge to workout too much in the first week of the taper. Only worked out every other day.

> Very high intensity. - Definitely bumped the intensity higher but was only able to do so because I had been working speed/intervals for the eight weeks prior.

> Core work continued.

Pre-Race:
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> Sodium phosphate loading 4 days out

> Optygen loading 4 days out

> No meats three days before - Didn't want anything hard in my lower digestive tract during race day.

> Liquid diet day before. - PowerBar recovery drinks.

> Shredded wheat - Fiber keeps things "movin' along" if you know what I mean.

> Sugar cubes - Not wanting to hit the supermarket, I sucked on some sugar cubes we had at the condo. Easy carbs.

> One cup of coffee (single scoop instant) - Race morning. No caffeine overload this year.

> Very small bowl of oatmeal

> PowerBar recovery drinks

> Paul Carriere flat tire fix piece of mind - Many thanks to Paul for giving me an inflatable tire repair product.

> One Starbucks Espresso Double shot in a can 30 min before swim (135mg caffeine)

> One gel 30 min before swim start

> Sat on beach again to relax - I like this. Get to transition early. Get out early. Sit on the beach for sunrise when nobody's around. Think about the day. Visualize performing. Think about the plan.

> Connected with Terp - Only Terp and I know how special it was to see each other before the race. I was thinking about it all day. And every day since then.

Swim:
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> Lined up far right near front

> Still caught up in washing machine

> May have veered too far left too early

> Took it relatively easy but wasn’t lollygagging

> Watch kicked or never started, timing issues again all day. Second year in a row. Lemme hear it for not having timing issues once across, what, 500 workouts during the year and then not being able to time my A race.

> Out of water in unknown time but watch said :30… may be able to infer race time from Polar file

> Second loop similar to first

> People skipping Ford buoy, going straight to far corner. Lameos.

> Never went anaerobic and was often able to do three stroke breathing but stuck with one stroke breathing

Bike:
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> Legs hurt a lot for first 1.5 hrs, muscular pain, expected very bad day - My legs felt stiff. The sort of stiff that says "you're about to have a very rough day." It was muscular pain. Not aerobic pain. Plain old muscular pain. Sharp at times.

> Not nearly as much wind as last year - Thanks to the wind I was able to keep pace with last year's bike splits, overall.

> Was a little over 1hr on first 20 miles, even with wind on prev years was better than this... it was clear that, as expected, my bike performance wasn't there. I knew my bike training hadn't been there.

> Miles 1-20 hr was a little higher than plan as it “settled in”

> Miles 20-40 I really relaxed and found some nice mid 120’s

> By mile 30 was about a min behind 20mph pace

> Kindzia passed me, zooming. There he was. There he went. This was one of my fears for the day. I really didn't want to chase him down. In past years this sort of thing would have caught me. I would have rationalized an extra few beats per minute here or there. But in talking to Paul Carriere throughout the season about the book Deep Survival I had a framework for evaluating Kindzia passing me. I had a strong emotional desire to chase him down. At only 35 or 40 miles into the bike I certainly could have. But my logical side knew that I would blow up later in the race if I did. In my pre-race visualizing on the beach I thought about both Pauls passing me and told myself that I had to not only let them but I had to be at peace with it. I hate riding to catch up. I bailed on a number of rides with Paul C because I just hate the feeling of being behind. In last year's race the wind battered me and made me feel like I was behind. That was miserable. But this year, despite being passed, I stayed positive. And it wasn't like I had to "work through" it for a few miles. I was simply not affected... because I had prepared for it. I Deep Survival terms, I allowed my logical side to temper my emotional side.

> By mile 60 was three minutes behind 20mph pace

> From there started to lose about 1min/10mi compared to 20mph pace - I didn't much like losing a minute every ten miles but I also didn't want to blow up.

> Legs did loosen up about halfway through the bike but they never felt great. Despite the plyo/leg strength training, I wasn't in good bike shape.

> Cardiac shift about 2bpm/hr, by 80mi was seeing 135bpm, worked to keep lower but also didn't shy away completely from the need to have some higher-than-expected heart rates. Last year I really backed way off the power to stay around 130bpm. The year before that I said "screw it" and happily rode 150-160bpm. This year was certainly a balance of the two.

> Did not get demoralized by roads - Normally the heading back to town demoralize me. Not so this year. I knew they were coming. I knew they wanted to demoralize me. I didn't let them.

> New technique: water bottle at each stop sprayed all over body - Becoming a big fan of evaporative cooling.

> Light eating/drinking - I stayed with my plan to not shovel food into my body on the bike. I waited for a hunger pang or two before reaching for the gels.

> Two bottles Gatorade entire bike leg

> About 15 salt tabs

> 12 scoop perpeteum bottle, big slug every hour, left ¼ of bottle at end (so consumed 8 scoops) - In past years when I claimed 12 scoops I'd always make them massive scoops *and* I'd add an extra four or five at the end "just to be sure." This time they were accurately-measured scoops and I didn't even drink the entire bottle.

> About 1 caffeine gel every 2hr (50mg caffeine)

> Total calories: Gatorade=400 Perpeteum=1040 Gels=300 Total=1740

> Wasn’t sweating much at all - Wasn’t too hot on the bike.

> Proudly did not draft much at all - Worth an entire blog post. Lots of drafting out there. I am proud of the way I raced. I sat up to avoid groups often. This took me out of my rhythm a good bit but I was prepared for it.

> Near end saw a pack get penalties, felt good to see, then I dropped them - By mile 80 I had seen the official's bike twice. Twice! There was little or no fear in the athletes. But, near the end of the bike I saw a big pack get three or four penalties. The entire pack of twenty should have gotten them but I was content to see a few get hit. After that happened to them they all spread out and, as if by magic, without increasing my heart rate, I dropped them all.

> No real slowdown at end of bike, despite plan to do so - I had planned on taking the last few miles at a very low heart rate. I didn't. I was already concerned about my relatively slow bike time and my legs weren't hurting much.

> Hr increased dramatically as I sat up to get water from rest stops, don’t remember this from past years - When grabbing water bottles from volunteers my hr shot up.

> Had to pee most of bike, couldn’t

> Keith, Danielle and Missy: “Those are some great fans!” - They were on the course cheering. Then in the truck cheering. A guy passing me said "Those are some great fans!" Indeed... it was great to see some friendly faces out there on the bike course.

Run:
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> Started easy

> Planned on getting hr back to 130’s early in the run

> Did not… kept running with higher-than planned hr

> Did not look at watch once, no idea about time entire run - I had planned on managing my run this year. You see, I almost never look at my watch on runs... especially in races. I hate the feeling of being pwned by numbers. I can honestly say that I've never, not once, looked at a watch on a run and said "damn, that's good news." It's always bad news. So I stopped looking at the watch a few years ago and my performances improved. But I had trained this season checking the watch. I had some thresholds in mind. My main goal was to replicate last year's run where I didn't explode and negative split the marathon. But for some reason I just never looked at the watch this year. Actually, I know why... I was having fun. I love running and I wanted it to be a fun run.

> One gel every three miles or so - Less gels than last year. No rigid eating plan. I carried gels with me and ate when I felt the time was right.

> One salt tab every two miles or so

> Gatorade early, then water to dilute stomach - After ten miles or so I thought I might have put too much salt into my stomach. Switched to water to dilute. Had no further issues.

> New technique: lots of water, sponges and ice on body at every aid station - Evaporative cooling. I'm becoming a big fan. I used to think it was for show. Last year I took a couple sponges every now and then. This year, on the bike and run, I hosed myself down. One water splashed on my head at the beginning of the aid station. One to drink in the middle. One cup at the end thrown at my chest. Then two or three sponges to wet my head and legs. Key to wet the legs.

> Froze the back door - What happens when you throw a cup of ice down the back of a tri suit? You freeze your back door. Numb. Shockingly numb. Running like that lizard that runs on water numb. Shrieking numb.

> Never felt too hot - Even on the exposed portions of the course.

> Able to build into the run throughout the entire thing - One of the best realities of the race. I was able to keep increasing my effort throughout the run. I negative split the marathon for the second year in a row. Even though I only beat last year's time by five minutes or so I felt like it was a very different run. I was aggressive in the second half. As I finished last year I felt that I had some in reserve. As I finished this year I felt the same but I was glad that I increased pace for the last six miles or so. It's a fine line.

> Dana and Lisa all over the run course - Great support from team Peachtree Bikes!

Post-race:
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> Fam - Caught up with Terp, Ava, Beep, Ball, Sr., Kendy and Matt. Enjoyed holding Aves for the first time since Germ Mania set in.

> All3Sports tent - I've never actually watched any portion of an Ironman. I've always left immediately after completion. This year I stuck around at the All3Sports tent. It's amazing watching the 70 year old athletes keep going and going. I was tired but enjoyed seeing Alex, Danielle and Keith.

> Kate Parker - I did not meet Kate Parker despite her being within about a five foot proximity and Alex mentioning an introduction. Something about sugar depletion and having to pee. Would like to meet this tri blogger one of these days soon. Me thinks a tri blogger dinner with Kate, Kindzia, Danielle, Nat, Anna, Vanessa, Dave and everybody else who blogs is in order. We may even invite the roadie bloggers Dana and Marc... but we reserve the right to mock them for not peeing in their shorts on long rides. Who else in the Atlanta tri community is blogging? Add a comment to this post (or any other... or email joe at joereger dot com)... I'd like to compile a list and get us organized, unionized and fed.

> Back to Destin - After tracking down a rest room I made it to the car and drove back to Destin. Mission accomplished.

Misc:
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There's still a lot to cover. I think I'll leave much of it for my 2007 season summary. But some highlights.

> After the swim I was in 605th position out of something like 2400 people. After the bike I was in 739th postion... I had gotten passed by 134 people on the bike. At the finish line I was in 296th place... I passed 443 people on the run. Damn, that's fun.

> I improved my time by about 20 minutes this year. But I was in worse bike condition, as proven by a few benchmarks. First, I was slightly more aggressive throughout. Second, we had less wind on the bike. Third, we had flat water so I could shave a few minutes off of my swim. Fourth, I was able to shave a few off of my run. But, given the same conditions as last year I'm fairly convinced that I would have had the same time as last year.

> Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run - I've been thinking long and hard about this event. It was great for my life. I'm glad I did it. But it didn't help my Ironman performance and in fact, I believe, hurt it quite a bit. Took me out of bike training for almost three months and damaged my body quite a bit (duh). More on this in the season summary.

> I need to get specific - Watching Kindzia go through his metamorphosis with Matt Russ I'm realizing that I have little specificity in my training. I just kinda log miles and do stupid stuff that seems hard and fun. Part of this is that it's taken this long to be able to feel my strengths and weaknesses... a concept I'm likening to a digital camera's resolution... I think we start out with 1 megapixel cameras and over the years progress to 6 megapixel cameras that are more able to describe and make sense of the sensory input that our body gives us. Late in the season I added some benchmarks but I never allowed these benchmarks to work for me... I just let them be data points. Next season will be different.

> Support - The time and effort investment to improve in these races each year is quite large. I have a great support group in my family and friends. Without them there's no way I could continue to do this stuff. I always say it and I'll say it again... I think of all of you when I'm out there on the course... each of you gives me a piece of the puzzle and helps me achieve my goals. This is greatly appreciated and I wish I could repay everybody in kind.

> Germs - Didn't get sick for the big race. Did get sick earlier in the season for ING, Gulf Coast and a couple other things. Luck? Purell? The germ thing is annoying to me and to others near the end of the season. May need to evaluate its full effect and effectiveness next season. My logic thus far is that I don't want to lose a year-long investment of 15-20hrs/week because I didn't Purell after pumping some gas. But I can get a little crazy about it, to be sure.

> The Pauls - Building up to this race with The Pauls was incredibly novel and valuable. They both bring so much knowledge and experience to the table. It was the first time that I felt any sort of competitive drive at an Ironman. In the past it was all about my time. This year there was a new motivation and that was fun. All of us set personal records. All of us are Ten Guys, to use Paul Kindzia's term. Will all of us ever be Nine Guys? Kona Guys? It probably doesn't matter much. What does matter is that we're all having fun with this Ironman thing.

> Goals - So, having accomplished my first goal in Ironman, what next? Certainly not rest! I'll probably be willing to post my next two goals in this season's summary. A little hint: I'd like to get laid.

> Tri suit - I get a new tri suit each year so that I can quickly identify which season a pic was taken in by the color of my suit. This year I was the blue smurf. I didn't really like this year's jersey. I think next year I'm going for a two piece jersey. The one piecers may not be right for tall goofy looking people like me. Pics validate this.

> It's a small world - Remember the It's a Small World entry from St. Anthony's a few years ago when Marshall Butler said hi before the race? Well, here's another one. Marshall's neighbor was a volunteer at IMFla and was taking pics of the swim. Marshall got those pics and who does he see? Me! Last pic posted... me looking at my watch, realizing that it didn't start or got kicked.

> Thanks to Danielle and Keith for the photos! And thanks to Sr. for the photos! And thanks to Terp for the photos!

Stats:
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BIB
471
AGE
32
STATE/COUNTRY
ATLANTA GA USA
SWIM BIKE RUN OVERALL POSITION 1:06:56 5:45:22 3:30:14 10:29:18 296

RACE LEG DISTANCE PACE POSITION TOTAL SWIM 2.4 mi. (1:06:56) 1:45/100m 605 FIRST BIKE SEGMENT 73 mi. (3:43:39) 19.58 mph FINAL BIKE SEGMENT 39 mi. (2:01:43) 19.22 mph TOTAL BIKE 112 mi. (5:45:22) 19.46 mph 739 FIRST RUN SEGMENT 13.1 mi. (1:46:09) 8:06/mile FINAL RUN SEGMENT 13.1 mi. (1:44:05) 7:56/mile TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi. (3:30:14) 8:01/mile 296 TRANSITION TIME T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 3:36 T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 3:10 PENALTY TIME TOTAL PENALTIES --:--

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