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Training Going Into Ironman Louisville 2008

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:23:00 GMT

This is what happens when you run 23 miles a few days before an Ironman race:

Nat: "i am so confused Joe. Aren't you racing this weekend? Is this what you do in the taper--a 23 mile run 5 days out? Is that what you do for an ironman? That is just cawazy!"

Danielle: "Are you trying out something and not telling us about it? A little non-taper IM??"

Kindzia: "OK, can't stand it any more. Did you really do a 23 miler 4 days before your Ironman???? Is this some new Brett Sutton torture test?"

All of which is awesome. I mean, I am the idiot who signed up for and then completely forgot about Ironman Lake Placid in 2006 (after I signed up for and skipped it in 2005 when Ava was born.) So to have friends looking out for me is great!

Valid question: why am I running long slow stuff right before the race?

When you train long slow stuff you're putting money in the bank (an analogy I got from Matt Wheeler.) Nickel here. Quarter there. Slowly, over the course of months with consistency and long, slow miles you accrue a balance of base fitness.

About five or six weeks ago I asked myself what my base account balance was. I felt that I had enough in the account to make a good run for IM Louisville, but not enough for two runs at it with IM Florida just eight weeks after Louisville.

A proper ironman build process (whatever that means) generally includes a couple strength building periods, some speedwork, a taper/peak, a race and a recovery. Each of these *takes money out* of your base balance. To build strength you have to back off of the intensity a bit or risk overtraining. To get speed you do hella hard workouts that leave you sore for a few days, again compromising your ability to do the long, slow stuff. Tapering is, well, not working out or working out at higher intensity so you're gonna lose base. Racing breaks the body down. Recovery takes time and you're not doing big workouts.

Luckily base fitness is lost fairly slowly. So you can do the proper IM build and not be completely unfit at the end of the process. Compare this to speedwork which evaporates quite quickly... in a matter of weeks. So it's very possible to have two good peaks in a season. But, at least for my physiology, there needs to be at least a small base period between.

When I looked at the eight weeks after Ironman Louisville leading into Ironman Florida I decided that I needed to have a build, rest week, build, speed, taper and race. That's very tight to fit into eight weeks and left no room for base re-building after Louisville. If I had a big enough base balance in the bank I would have gone for it. But this year I got a bit of a late start on good consistency with big workouts.

So I made the decision to train through Louisville. Which I've never really done. I've said I was training through races before but I always ended up backing off mileage and adding speed, almost subconsciously.

Luckily, I recently found myself with a good streak of Wednesday long runs and weekend long rides. I decided that they'd be the anchors of my "train through" plan. As long as I did those two workouts in the weeks leading up to the race I felt that I'd be maintaining my base for Florida and not letting Louisville take too much out of the bank.

My legs are somewhat hosed. My lungs are feeling that tired feel. I've been hitting core/abs somewhat hard (still, no six pack.) So the race this weekend is gonna be tough. In fact, this is something of a recipe for disaster. The heat seems to be picking up in the predictions. I'm not a big fan of rolling hills on the bike.

We'll see what happens. What I don't have yet is a raceday plan. But I'll try to blog out my two competing ideas before I hit the starting line. Either way, I'm guessing my batting average will move down from its current 50% to 40%.

23 Mile Run: Drizzly

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:01:00 GMT

Up at 4:30 after seeing 1:29 before getting to sleep. Coffee, needless to say. Run was pretty good. Nice drizzle the entire time kept me cool but after a while gets soggy and somewhat annoying. Took me 3:48 on avg hr of 123 bpm. Heart rate was fine for the run but pace was a little faster than I was looking for. I felt a good bit of fatigue in my legs and lungs. Need some rest. Saw the regular old ladies. Stroller brigade was a little less prominent but there were some diehard baby pushers out.

Selle Italia SLR T1 Saddle: Possibly True Love for My Junk

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:11:00 GMT

I know I've said it a number of times recently. But I think I have a saddle winner. Marc Crouch gets credit for this one if it does in fact work. His shiny new Cervelo has a custom version similar to this saddle.

It's the Selle Italia SLR T1. I know, how crazy of me to go with a triathlon-specific saddle, right?

A few things I like about it: 1) Sitting on it doesn't feel like sitting on broken glass rods from high school chemistry class. 2) The nose has an incredible amount of gel padding... it's squishy... check out the pic. 3) The main material is Lorica, a very slippery plastic-leather material that's used in top-end Sidi shoes... very durable... but also less friction for the sides of the saddle when jammed up into my junk. 4) It's light... at 205g it's the lightest of the four saddles I've tried... I just didn't expect this much padding at that weight. 5) It's got a big honkin' nose... which I tend to ride when pushing it hard. 6) The center of the saddle is a sticky rubber to keep me on the thing... we'll see how this works out but I like it in theory.

All of this after just a few minutes on the trainer but the difference between this and all the other saddles is pretty obvious. Tri-specific... duh.

Also put the Fizik Gel Pads onto the aerobars... maybe my forearms won't hurt after long rides. Was a little concerned that they'd be slippery when covered in sweat but last night's trainer session proved that it's not an issue... they hold nicely and feel better than the stock pads.

Chillin' with the Emmster

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:14:00 GMT

Emms just wouldn't go to sleep tonight so I took her and we watched some Apollo 13, did some computing and just walked around the room. She's a cute little bugger.

30 Min Swim, 30 Min Bike

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:42:00 GMT

Swim felt pretty good again. Core/abs workout. Then some CompuTrainer action for a half hour.

Honey, I Watered the Back Yard

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:41:00 GMT

Tropical storm Fay's been dumping rain on Atlanta. An impromptu The Shawshank Redemption reenactment, minus the raw sewage.

30 Min Swim, 30 Min Run

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:44:00 GMT

Swim felt really good. I was strong and able to glide a bunch. Loved swimming today. Core/ab/weights workout took it out of me. By the time I got onto the treadmill I was rather whupped. Only 4 miles at 8mph and then I hopped off.

2008 Beijing Olympics: Dreams Shine Big

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:09:00 GMT

As I type this the closing ceremonies are just starting.

This is the first Olympics that I've ever really paid attention to. And remember, I lived in Atlanta during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. But I wasn't into the sport side of things. In 2004 I watched the tri, gymnastics and marathon events but that was about it. This was the first time that I was swept up in Olympic mania!

I got hooked by chance. I had no plans to watch any of it. I was working and saw something online about the opening ceremonies and turned on the tv. It was so spectacular that I Tivoed the next night. And I was hooked, often staying up waaaay too late!

Part of it is the fact that I'm now more into athletics with the triathlon stuff. I can better appreciate the work that these athletes go through and the raw talent they must possess to compete on the ultimate stage.

But a bigger part of it is perspective. More than the sports side, I saw dreams in the Olympians. People who worked from a young age, often for little or no money, to reach their event. All had obstacles in their way.

I'm struggling hard to make my little entrepreneurial dream happen. Summarizing my progress to date: five years of kicks to the groin, no pay. I'm at a very hard point in my business' history... a completely unique and new product being launched into a stale economy. It's putting massive strain on my extended and nuclear families. Seeing things so bleak every day, it's incredibly uplifting to see these Olympians get "there"... get to within arm's reach of their dreams.

To hear about Lolo Jones, the tough life she's had. The doubters that said she couldn't make the team. The doubters that said she couldn't win. But she persevered. And she was winning with two hurdles left. She could see her dream, a few steps away. But a stumble took it away from her as she clipped a hurdle. What struck me wasn't that she lost, it was the reach she made towards the line just after she lost her dream. In slow motion you could see her dream being lost through every fiber of her body. Like Edward Munch's The Scream painting, but on a track. And in that moment you could see how very much she wanted it. In fact, only in that moment could you really see so clearly how much it meant to her. A second or two of her life. But it touched me.

I truly wanted Lolo to win. Because that would prove to me that people can achieve their dreams if they just stick to it and work hard. But I think that the way she lost... the way she reached for her dream as it slipped away... gave me, and the world, a glimpse of something even bigger... her dream itself. Lolo holding gold wouldn't have shown us that dream nearly as clearly.

One shot that I'll never forget was of Lolo under the stadium after leaving the track, after giving a positive matter-of-fact interview for the cameras. Standing under the stadium she didn't know that the telephoto lens could reach her. She was leaning up against the wall with her hands on her hips, clearly trying to hold the emotion in. Again, I was touched. I saw a small video clip today of a tear streaming down her cheek... I'd like to know the context... I suspect it's another glimpse at the dream.

In 2004, by luck, I watched the men's all-around gymnastics finals where Paul Haam (sp?) had his amazing night and achieved his dream with a come-from-behind performance. It was inspiring but I assumed it was a fluke. I don't watch gymnastics! So when gymnastics came on during these Olympics I assumed I'd just fast forward through them. But I watched a little. And really enjoyed it!

Gymnastics amazes me for two reasons. The physical attributes required to compete are just incredible. Strength, balance, flexibility. These are almost superhuman athletes. But above the physicality you have a sport with incredibly slim margins for error and huge pressure. One shot at a six second vault to determine whether your team wins a medal. One extra step after a flippy jumpy thing and you're out of contention. Bend your arm a little bit? Bye bye.

The women's team event was a good watch. The men's team event was better. Fueled by Jonathan Horton's infectious "Go USA" rallying, the US team put themselves into medal contention. And Jonathan had one of those spectacular nights, hitting all the hard stuff. I jumped out of bed pumping a fist at least twice watching the men's team finals.

But dreams are somewhat hidden behind the team in the team competition. In the individual all-around you see the real dream. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, two American gymnasts, both had the same dream... gold. Only one could win, of course and Shawn Johnson was favored.

I had picked Nastia as my favorite in the previous days. It's always fun to root for somebody's dream. She performed spectacularly and won the gold. Unlike Lolo who taught us about dreams through her loss, Nastia taught us about dreams by winning.

The most touching part of the event was, of course, right near the end. When the main contenders are doing their final performances. When tenths of a point make all the difference. After Nastia did her final floor routine she was likely to achieve her dream. But Shawn still had her floor routine to do. What was amazing was to see the dream so close. After watching the coverage for hours you got to know Nastia a little and you could now see small differences in her demeanor. Hard to describe but fascinating to watch. As the final scores hit the board and she knew she'd won she let some emotion out.

And then we got a repeat of the buildup as she walked out to accept her medal. Trying to hold back the emotion, eventually letting the dream shine through. Touching. Lolo showed us that a dream can be seen in failure. Nastia showed us that a dream can be seen in success.

Also touching was the fact that her father and coach was standing with her through the whole thing. As a father myself I know that watching your daughter achieve her dreams is even more spectacular than achieving your own. I am truly jealous that he was standing so close, on such a massive stage, while his daughter won one of the most prestigious gold medals of the Olympics.

And then there was Phelps. What can you say? The dude dominated. The best swim of the event was the 4x100 where Jason Lezak pulled out an heroic and amazing come-from-behind final leg to secure the win. I was yelling and screaming, jumping up and down. And moments later got a text message from Heather who was sleeping with the kids in the other room: "please be quiet." The build-up to that race was perfect. The commentators had been saying for hours that the Americans wouldn't win. They were down going into the last 50 meters. They were down going into the last 25 meters. Lezak pulled it out. Amazing Olympic moment.

Another amazing moment was the 1/100th of a second win in the 100m butterfly. A mere fingertip. But what was more amazing was how close his competitor was when he was still a full meter away.

I caught every one of Phelps' medal swims. Didn't plan to. But glad it turned out that way. He's an amazing athlete. Eight golds.

What we learn from Phelps isn't about the struggle leading up to your dream. He dominated in seemingly effortless fashion. No, Phelps isn't motivation for guys like me, hacking to get to the dance. He's leadership for those who've achieved something in their lives.

What we learn from Phelps is modesty and respect. At the Olympic trials he was careful to always say "if I qualify." Of course he would. Everybody knew it. But he was respectful of his competitors and the process. In interviews he was always modest. He acknowledged the strength of his competitors and the huge contribution of his team. He brought his family into the coverage.

Some people are destined to achieve their dreams. It just comes effortlessly to them. And most then abuse their standing, mock their rivals and assume it will all continue. Not Phelps. Class act.

Which brings us to Usain Bolt. Amazing athlete. Huge personality. Two world records. When he broke the 100m record I blogged instantly that I felt disrespected. The next day I heard similar reports from NBC and the IOC.

Usain, like Phelps, has incredible natural talent and is destined to achieve his dream so we won't learn about the touching struggle to achieve. And his personality means that we also won't learn about modesty and respect. What we learn from Usain Bolt is this: dreams are awesome! Chest-thumping, crazy-dancing, finger-wagging and trash-talkingly awesome!

Usain expresses in vivid detail the elation that a person experiences when they achieve their dream. As much as I was turned off by his disrespect for the other competitors and the sport, I truly appreciated the glimpse at the result of achieving the dream. Whether I'll dance around the board room when I achieve my dream remains to be seen, but I do hope to feel some of Bolt's emotional high.

Beach volleyball on the women's side rocked. I didn't learn a terrible amount about the dream, but I enjoyed watching hot chicks chase balls in skimpy bathing suits. I got into it, watching about half of May/Walsh's matches. It was nice to see them win... in the rain... in white bathing suits... through telephoto lenses... in HD.

In men's water polo the US team defied all expectations and took silver. Their funding had been dropped by the US Olympic Committee and they were working out in a high school pool for years. They brought in Terry Schroeder, silver medalist from the 1984 Olys, to turn the program around. And he obviously did just that. What we learned from this is that dreams don't require resources. Sure, maybe they would have won gold if they had a travel budget and could train against top competition. But they accomplished their dream of putting the US back onto the podium with no resources. Or, with the most important resource of all, hard work.

I caught the men's marathon, of course. Ryan Hall took 10th. A Kenyan took gold. Despite the Kenyan nation's incredible success in distance running, this was their first marathon gold. What strikes me is that the marathon is one of the more physically demanding events. You might think that in such an event you'd see dreams popping out all over the place. But you don't. Despite watching a sweat-level profile shot of five super-fast dudes working as hard as they can to achieve their goal for two hours, you really don't see much of the dream. You can infer that the dream is in there via the anguished looks on their faces. You can intellectually conclude that anybody willing to hurt themselves that much is working very, very hard for the dream. But it's hard to see it. And I think this is an important lesson. Dreams aren't about how much you show people that you're working hard. They're often internal. They're often closely-guarded and worth putting yourself through hell to achieve. Sometimes not seeing a dream is seeing the power of dreams.

I watched fencing, diving, BMX, track... even some crazy stuff I didn't even know was a sport. I didn't catch a single second of triathlon coverage. And only a little of the road race. Sometimes I saw the dreams. Sometimes I didn't. But I always knew they were there.

In the opening ceremonies we saw the dream of the Chinese people. They want to be appreciated for their history and their people. I thought the show was incredible and the theme of putting so many people, working together, was powerful. The artistry, graphical presentation and scale were inspirational. I would not want to be the guy or girl in charge of the London opening ceremonies.

I'll miss the Olympics. But what I'll miss I also know that I'll get again in four years. This will certainly be a lifetime thing for me.

Whatever your dream is, be sure of a few things. First, be sure you know what it is so you'll know when you get there. Second, be sure you know why you want it so you don't implode from a lack of internal motivation when things get tough. Third, be sure you're working towards it... you, like me, may not get there... but you'll learn a lot trying. Of all of the Olympic stories that touched me only one (Usain Bolt's) was directly about achieving the dream.

What's my dream? Well, I'll save that for another day. But I've got a business dream, a triathlon dream and a family/relationship dream. Pretty far away from each of them right now. Gotta get to work!

The closing ceremonies have been spectacular. The square symbolism from the opening ceremonies is now circular. People are still pixels in a grand piece of moving art.

The Olympic flame was just extinguished, closing the games of the 29th Olympiad.

See you in London, dreams!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:25:10 GMT

11:00:22 AM: Intently watching some IronmanLive.com coverage of the Canada race! Go Kindzia!

01:49:10 PM: Supermarket for some healthy food. Found some probiotic with 7 billion bacteria/capsule. Lots of fruits/vegs. Sr watched the little ones.

07:25:10 PM: Gutter down from a strong but quick thunderstorm. Not as dramatic as MetaMarshall's Fay damage, but a pain nonetheless.

Louisville Bound at La Paz

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:54:00 GMT

Got together with a group of about fifteen triathletes and support posses headed to Louisville for next week's Ironman race. Good group. Great to see Keith, Danielle, Hunter, Dave, Olga, Tat & Steven, Bob & Sue and Misty. And great to meet Jim, Kimberly, Mark, that other guy, that woman across from me, the guy with Kimberly, Jim's wife... yeah, I know it's spooky, I'm like a name dictionary... sorry guys... I'll get your names down. Should be a great trip and I look forward to seeing everybody at the finish line.

1 Hr Swim, 112 Mile Bike, 5 Mile Run

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:13:00 GMT

06:24:10 AM: Water was cold and I swear there was a headwind. I fauxPhelpsed it to keep warm.

08:05:46 AM: Testing a new lighting system. Two keychain LED lights velcroed to the bottom of my forks. Works well but the lights automatically turn off every five minutes. I can turn them back on while riding.

08:08:46 AM: At mile 20 of bike. Body not yet "working" yet... not sure why. Saddle's actually ok today.

08:09:15 AM: Anna and Kelly about to hit the trail!

08:10:02 AM: Audiobook: Grisham's The Appeal.

08:10:49 AM: Goal for day: go easy. Which is boring and provides little motivation. Ugh.

08:14:47 AM: Anchor moth pic for Nat.

10:32:30 AM: At 56 miles of bike. Legs decided to show up for some work. Now trying to slow down. Wind going east isn't as bad as I had thought, but it is extra work. Sprinkling rain is awesome. Clouds look ominous.

11:57:59 AM: I don't think Tom gets full credit with Alice.

02:20:33 PM: Slow 112 miles in 6:24 on avg hr of 114 bpm. Wind can blow me.

02:23:06 PM: What is it with me and snakes lately?

03:13:18 PM: Five mile run on 8:26min/mi pace at avg hr 141bpm. Legs felt pretty good in the aerobie zone.

Bike Fixes, Saddle Update

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:17:00 GMT

Had to dump the new saddle for tomorrow's ride. Two trainer rides with many adjustments up, down, fore, aft, etc. and I don't think it'll work. Sorry Mark. I said I'd give it two weeks and I was committed to that until I put the 12 year old mountain bike saddle back on and it felt 100x better than the Selle SMP. Marc C said something today... he can't ride saddles with the slit in the middle. Maybe I'm in that crowd... the one the Pauls ride has one and these last two that've killed me had slits. The problem with the mountain bike saddle is that it's cheap and after two rides is already falling apart.

Brakes were my next concern. Rear brake wasn't working. Had to debug the issue. Turns out the back 1/3 of the cable had rusted. Something that isn't supposed to happen with Nokon cables because they have a very snug cable housing. And when it does happen the brake cable won't move. So I reluctantly slipped out the cable and started fishing the new one in. I got super lucky with the initial fish into the first portion of the cable which made things seem easy. Teflon lubed the heck out of the cable on the way in.

Next issue was the bad end tape. I use electrical tape and it was sliding and getting sticky/gunky on rides. Really annoying. So I put my last bit of bar end tape on. And I unwrapped and re-used the wrap on the actual handlebars.

Cleaned the chain, lubed everything. I think the bike'll work tomorrow. With the winds and possible rain I knew I didn't want any little annoyances to give me an excuse to abandon the workout.

30 Min Swim, 30 Min Run: The Sound of Fatigue

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:49:00 GMT

Swim felt ok. I did some sets. A little harder than just cranking out laps. A little easier than real intervals. Weight session. Run was crap. Legs not turning over. Did 30 minutes painfully on the comet and went in. I will say, it was nice being outside in the swirling winds. Some debris down. That sense of something about to happen. Unfortunately it wasn't any sort of fast running.

Pics Finally Posted

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:50:00 GMT

After many complaints that I wasn't taking pictures of Emme I finally prove that I was. Just got busy and never posted these. A thousand or more pics going online today. I know, fairly lame to dump them like this... it's much more bloggy to roll them out as they happen.

Jan 11, 2008: Ava at the Aquarium

Feb 22, 2008: Baby Emme Pics

Feb 23, 2008: Mimi Visits Emme

Feb 24, 2008: Marc and Leslie Visit Emme

Mar 5, 2008: Emme's First Bath

Mar 14, 2008: Emme in Crib

Mar 20, 2008: Matt and Kendy's for Dinner

Mar 29, 2008: Emme Pics

Apr 4, 2008: Ava and the Umbrella

Apr 5, 2008: Ava the Photographer

May 8, 2008: Fam in Florida

May 12, 2008: Ava and the Watermelon

May 18, 2008: Ava Asleep on the Couch

Jun 6, 2008: Joe in San Antonio

Jun 12, 2008: Ava, Knox, Emme Photoshoot

Jun 22, 2008: Ava and Emme in the Pack N' Play

Jun 23, 2008: Misc Fam Pics

Jul 19, 2008: Ava's Third Birthday Pool Party

Jul 20, 2008: Aidan's Third Birthday

Sorry it took so long to get all of them up there. I need to work on my camera-to-web workflow... seems a bit tedious.

Rebuilding My RSS Feeds

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:52:00 GMT

Outlook somehow managed to hose my RSS feed list. Annoying. I've been out of the loop for a week or more. I back up the list to OPML every now and then but hadn't done so since last December. Luckily I keep my favorite sites list fairly up to date so I could quickly find those new blogs.

Four or five years ago I was following hundreds of feeds. Business stuff. Technical stuff. Skydiving stuff. Triathlon stuff. Friends. Now I've pared it down to 65 or so feeds. Mostly friends. One or two key blogs in the industries I follow. A couple athletic coaches I like. That's about it.

Over time it's become very clear that the voices of those I know in real life are more important than the voices of those I don't know.

Update: Man, you guys put out some great stuff! Now I need some time on the deck with the lappy to get all caught up with the 350+ insightful (mostly) posts you've made!