3 weeks to GO!!!

This past weekend, I finished my final building block that culminated with 22 hours of total training time. Friday I did 71 miles on my own + a 30 minute run afterwards, riding from Rt. 28/WO&D and doing the Taylorstown/Stumptown loop that goes through the Lovettsville area. During that ride I was very focused on dialing in the wattage range I intend to use during the race. I threw in 1 tempo effort for 25 minutes, averaging 220 watts, and 22.9 miles per hour for that time period. I averaged 19.3 mph for the entire ride and my legs felt great afterwards. My race wattage is just about perfect. I have a time trial test tomorrow to get my final threshold numbers from which I will work from. Stay tuned: )

Saturday: David Glover (25 time Ironman finisher and local coach) and I hosted one of our many Luray Triathlon Clinics in Luray, VA. It was a working day for me but I got a light workout (16 mile ride) riding slowly with the participants and getting in an open water swim post clinic (1000 or so meters). Beautiful, beautiful day. Feels like California!

Sunday: Last very hard long ride. Ben and I started from Georgetown and headed North East from Macarthur Blvd to River Road to Poolesville to Clarksburg in Frederick. Ben was testing out some different equipment set-ups for race day and had a couple small issues which we had to pull over for. My schedule had me doing 4 x 20' minutes at tempo threshold, 10' + 5 watts, and 5' + 5 watts up from that. A very hard workout. We ascended Sugarloaf Mtn. which is a nice little 2 mile climb with 5-8% grades. Coming back from Sugarloaf we were making good time and I was putting in another interval effort when my front tire went flat. I went about changing it as Ben was getting his CO2 cartridge ready. Right before I put the CO2 cartridge on, I hear and see PHFEEEEWWWWW. Ben had popped the CO2 open and just let all the air out of 1 cartridge. I still had mine though. However, as I let air into the new tube, air immediately went back out. Son-of-A-%$#@. It wasn't a pinch flat or exterior puncture to the tire. I took it off again and checked the inside of the tire where I found a very small piece of glass that had cut a jagged line inside the tire. The bad news is while we had another tube, we were out of air sources. Stuck in nowhere, MD. Ben started making some calls, I was getting ready to start walking. For 20' minutes we didn't see a car. Then, another cyclist (finally) rolls by and we ask him if he's got a pump or CO2 cartridge. He kindly gives up his only CO2 cartridge and comments how he's just getting back into cycling shape and how nice our bikes are. I offer to pay him but he gives it up as good cycling Kharma. I know the feeling as I've the same thing before. It all comes back to you. We hit the road again but the stop has messed with our legs and energy systems. We're both feeling the blood lactate in our legs and stiffness of our long stop. Despite it, we still make good time back home knocking out 93 miles in 4 hours, 58 minutes. Off for our 45' run on the C&O Canal. My legs feel great despite my monster week. I hold back but am still running an 8:30/mile pace with ease. I get 22:30 and turn around eager to pick up the pace back to the car. I see Ben approaching me in the distance and give him a thumbs up. He feels great he says. I pick up the pace to what feels like a 7:30 or so effort but my left hamstring (which has been acting up since Thursday) starts getting uncomfortably tight. Then it catches me like pulled muscle. Darnit! I start to walk and Ben soon passes me. I start running again and find that as long as I don't speed up faster than about an 8:00/mile, I'm good to go. My body is desperate for some rest this week. We hit Chipotle before heading back home and shovel down some giant burritos.

Team Hoyt at Ironman Hawaii...amazing

Anytime you feel you've lost hope, motivation, think you can't take one more step, push yourself anymore...you watch this video. Team Hoyt...absolutely amazing. Take the "I" and "M" out of the word IMPOSSIBLE and ironically you have the letters IM, for Ironman and the word possible. "Anything's possible."

18.5 miles of hard work

Ughh...last really long run today. 2.5 hours, approximately 18.5 miles. I can't stop thinking about that verse in the Sound of Music; "far, a long, long way to run." I've felt great on my long runs but today, I was feeling pretty flat and it was apparent around 9-10 miles into it that finishing this run would take a lot of hard work. I ran east along the WO&D trail to the Custis Trail into Arlington and made it just about 1 mile outside of the Ballston area before turning back. At about 14 miles, I started to feel my muscles fatiguing, the effects of 21 straight training days without a day off. I was cramping up. I swallowed my last two Thermolyte tablets (300mg of sodium each) and hoped they would do the trick. I don't think my body was cramping because it was dehydrated. It was cramping today because it was tired. I managed to ward off the cramping in my legs but a weird cramp wanted to creep up my neck and left shoulder. I focused on breathing, relaxing my arms, and shoulders. I managed to negatively split my run by 1.5 minutes.

My thoughts wandered from pace, stride count, and intensity to what gets you through an Ironman or anything difficult in life for that matter. The carbon fiber bike, the fancy running shoes, the slick wheels, aero helmet, and wetsuit, these are all tools for job. Peripheral devices. Ironman doesn't care if you have the most expensive bike, six pack abs, sleekly sculpted leg muscles, or how good you look with your shirt off. These things are all smoke and mirrors. It doesn't matter how fast and slick the car you drive is. What matters is what's in your head and in your heart. If you've worked hard on developing the fitness, then all you need to do is execute a smart race then let your head and your heart take over after mile 18 on the run.

3 weeks 3 days to go...

This is it. My last big week of training. I am feeling extremely fit. I'm in the best shape of my life. My threshold for training volume is through the roof. By the end of this week, I'll have trained a total of 21 hours (10,200 yards of swimming, 35 miles of running, and 230 miles of cycling). I did a 3.5 hour bike workout Tuesday in which I rode 3 x 12' intervals (holding 260 watts) at Hains Point in D.C. followed by 2 x 4' (holding 280 watts) followed by a 30' run. Today, Wednesday, I swam for 1 hour 15 minutes and did 4200 yards. Later this afternoon I ran to the track at Madison and ripped off 4 x 1 mile repeats at 6:40/mile pace. With a warm-up and cool down my run total was 70' minutes or about 8 miles for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm tired but I feel like I'm absorbing my workouts. Little things are acting up in my body (left hamstring, base of my big toe) but for the most part, I'm managing those little nagging issues with ice, stretching, heat and self massage. I have two days completely off in my schedule next week and the first major drop in volume. Just in time for the Olympics: ). Completely off topic here but I am actually friends with Hilary Phelps, sister of Michael Phelps. I spoke with her before she left for Beijing. Pretty exciting stuff.



I'm starting to feel the nerves rising and self doubt wanting to creep forward from the back of my mind. Have I done enough? Am I going to be able to live up to my expectations? I've sacrificed to get to this point. BTW, note to self: I don't think it's a good idea to start dating anyone new while training for something like this. No matter how understanding they say they are about you having to train all day and go to bed early, THEY REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND. If they do...well, might want to hang on to that one.



No matter how experienced or fit you are, there will be a dark point at Ironman where things just get hard. It's supposed to be that way. It's always a gut check, a look inside your own soul, and one of those opportunities in life to find out just who you are and what you're made of. This year I've decided that when that happens, I'll be prepared. I've made myself write down three reasons I'm subjecting myself to this.



1) Validate the time I've spent away from friends, family, opportunities to have fun with my non-triathlon friends.

2) Prove that I can race this distance, not just get through it, by setting a personal record and have a shot at that coveted Kona slot.

3) Prove that I can effectively coach someone to successfully complete an Ironman with confidence.

Georgetown to Sugarloaf

Great, great ride today. The steady stream of rain in the morning was a nice change from the heat and humidity of previous weekends. The roads and scenery around Poolesville, Clarksburg, and near Sugarloaf are perfect for cycling. Today's ride featured 4 build intervals that required me to maintain my watts at an intensity just above what I intend to ride at Ironman.
So, it looked like this:
20' @ 200 watts, 10' @ 205 watts, 5' @ 210 watts, 5' easy
20' @ 205 watts, 10' @ 210 watts, 5' @ 215 watts, 5' easy
20' @ 210 watts, 10' @ 215 watts, 5' @ 220 watts, 5' easy
20' @ 215 watts, 10' @ 220 watts, 5' all out effort.

Ride time: 5 hours, 34 minutes
Average Speed: A steady 18.2 mph
Avg. Power 168 watts
Norm Power: 193 watts
Avg. Heart Rate: 159 bpm

Ben and I started our 45' run heading from Georgetown down to the Canal. We stood out in the crowd as we ran downhill through the busy weekend shoppers and tourists in G-Town. I have to make it a point to run along the canal more often. The scenic views were a nice change from my runs along WO&D. I started the first half as easy as I could but I was still holding a solid pace. I picked up the pace on the turn around to a steady tempo pace and was running at a strong clip as I negatively split my run by 1 minute.

Easy day

Fri = long swim day. Total: 4000 yds. Overall, a pretty easy day though. I feel good after a tough week. Tomorrow, Ben and I are riding from Georgetown to Sugarloaf Mtn. 92 miles. followed by a 45' transition run on the Canal Towpath. Looks like rain and possible thunderstorms tomorrow. Should be interesting for a change and a welcome respite from the heat we've been accustomed to.

Gotta clean my bike today, lube it up, and make sure it's good to go for the long trip tomorrow.

"First with your head, then with your heart, that's how one stays ahead from the start."
-Hoppie Gruenwald, The Power of One.

1 more long run to go...

Today I did one of two long runs left before my running goes into taper mode. Running is more traumatic and stressful on your body than swimming or cycling so in terms of tapering, it starts further out from race day. I ran east from Evolution on the WO&D Trail through Falls Church and onto the Custis Trail in Arlington. My legs are a little heavy from the track workout last night but overall I felt good, a "7" on a scale of 1-10. A total of about 17.5 miles today in 2 hours, 20 minutes. Amazingly, I feel good even as I type this. A tribute to the training and frequency of my program.

I thought about things that have been motivating me lately during my run. My client and good friend Ben, who is doing his first Ironman. He's going to do great and I am proud to be his coach and doing the race with him. I also thought of a conversation I had this weekend with my friend and injured Iraq veteran, Captain Patrick Horan, U.S. Army. Pat was shot in the head about this time last year and for a number of weeks he lay in an induced coma. It was a scary time for his family and friends. Fast forward 1 year later and he has had an amazing recovery. He's walking with the aid of a cane but soon won't need it. His speech, memory, and ability to hold a conversation are just about back to normal. He's even been riding a recumbent bike under supervision for therapy. Today, my friend Pat was my inspiration.

I will carry a lot of thoughts about pacing, nutrition, and what I am supposed to do to execute a good race on race day. However, I will also carry thoughts about how lucky I am to be able to do this. I will carry thoughts about my friend Pat, my family, friends, and all those who made it possible for me to train and compete.

"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift."
-Steve Prefontaine, running legend