Oooh...got a new toy for the race today. A Garmin Forerunner 305 wrist computer. This thing is pretty cool for distance running, especially long stuff like a marathon. It gives you your current pace/mile which is going to be extremely helpful during the first few miles of the marathon. You see, you think after 112 miles of cycling that your legs will be dead when you start running but usually they are not. In fact, in most cases you will start running much faster than the speed you intend to hold for the entire marathon in those first few miles. This is where you can either make or break your race. I intend to force myself to slow down for the first three miles and keep the pace a conservative 8:30-8:45/mile. After 3 miles, my plan is to pick it up to a steady pace, 8:00-8:20/mile and hold on for dear life. At one point, this steady pace will become difficult and then my Garmin will be my "whip" as it keeps me on track and on pace for my goal.
My four keys to success for Ironman Louisivlle::
1) The race is about execution not fitness
2) The "race" doesn't officially begin until mile 18 of the marathon
3) Race in a "box" only controlling what you can control
4) When things get tough and you start to question why you're doing this, have one thing to focus on to get you out of that rut. For me that thing is: "redemption." It's been a tough last couple years; relationships, career, questioning the path I have chosen, questioning many things in life. I'm in a different place now, a better place and I intend for this race to be my exclamation point.
I had my last appointment before Louisville with one of my chiropractors, Daniel Hockstra. He worked on my hamstring, IT band, and lower back. He also Kinesio Taped my hamstring. Kinesio tape is the same stuff Kerri Walsh had on her shoulder in the Olympics. It helps to support and aid an injured area.
Tomorrow...I get my race wheels from www.racedaywheels.com My Zipp Sub-9 Disc rear wheel with Power Tap and 808 Front wheel. The Zipp Sub-9 Rear wheel is the first wheel to show negative drag numbers in the wind tunnel and 10-15 degrees of YAW. What does all that mean: it actually helps propel you forward at a certain angle of wind, which equals greater time savings, and FREE speed; )
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Bib # 592
They released everyone's Bib numbers for the race today. I am # 592. I can be tracked using the link in the right hand column of my blog here or at www.ironmanlive.com
Workout Log:
Swim: 2400 yds. (300 Easy, 300 Pull, 300 Pull + Swim Snorkel, 2 x 100 drills, 10 x 50 Fast on :60", 2 x 200 Build speed every 50, 2 x 100 Build every 25, 200 cool down).
Bike: N/A
Run: N/A
Workout Log:
Swim: 2400 yds. (300 Easy, 300 Pull, 300 Pull + Swim Snorkel, 2 x 100 drills, 10 x 50 Fast on :60", 2 x 200 Build speed every 50, 2 x 100 Build every 25, 200 cool down).
Bike: N/A
Run: N/A
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Dear Kharma Rebate Center...
Dear Kharma Rebate Center...I have spread more than my fair share of good Kharma around lately: helping out all weekend last week at two triathlons. Rescuing frightened, unsure swimmers, guiding them between the buoys and safe shores. Filling up cups of water and directing bike/run traffic to insure safety. Helping out a Starbucks employee who will be out of work for a couple of months due to surgery. Giving a ride to a husband and son who were walking from their hotel to see his wife race. Helping a friend shop for a bike. I've been a good guy and then some. It would be nice if I could redeem it all on Sunday, August 31st at about 7am when I am swimming in the Ohio River at Ironman Louisiville: )
Ah...today. What a nice relaxing Sunday. Well, almost. I still got up early to watch the all female Iron Girl Triathlon in Columbia, MD. I had 4 clients and a few friends racing today and it was nice to be able to watch and cheer for them. This sport has grown so much since I started back in 1997. I could count all the triathletes in the area on two hands back then. Now I see as many tri-bikes as I do road bikes riding around. Thanks to Lance Armstrong and now Michael Phelps, the sport is going bananas with participation. I love it.
I spent today icing, stretching, and doing e-stim on my hamstring IT band. It's feeling good but I might race with a compression sleeve I bought today. I was also busy getting equipment ready and setting aside things I intend to take Thursday morning.
The extended forecast for next Sunday in Louisville is 87 degrees with a low of 67, clear and sunny. 87 is cool for Louisville so I will take it. No word on water temps yet but most of us were counting on a non-wetsuit swim. No worries. I will be swimming in my Blue Seventy Speedsuit that is not that far off to a wetsuit.
It was great that the Olympics were on during these last few weeks of training. It's been so inspirational and motivational. I think folks that aren't athletic are nicer during times like these. We had a few more drivers give us space and not try to blow us off the road during the last few weeks. Hopefully next Sunday I will bring home some gold of my own: )
Ah...today. What a nice relaxing Sunday. Well, almost. I still got up early to watch the all female Iron Girl Triathlon in Columbia, MD. I had 4 clients and a few friends racing today and it was nice to be able to watch and cheer for them. This sport has grown so much since I started back in 1997. I could count all the triathletes in the area on two hands back then. Now I see as many tri-bikes as I do road bikes riding around. Thanks to Lance Armstrong and now Michael Phelps, the sport is going bananas with participation. I love it.
I spent today icing, stretching, and doing e-stim on my hamstring IT band. It's feeling good but I might race with a compression sleeve I bought today. I was also busy getting equipment ready and setting aside things I intend to take Thursday morning.
The extended forecast for next Sunday in Louisville is 87 degrees with a low of 67, clear and sunny. 87 is cool for Louisville so I will take it. No word on water temps yet but most of us were counting on a non-wetsuit swim. No worries. I will be swimming in my Blue Seventy Speedsuit that is not that far off to a wetsuit.
It was great that the Olympics were on during these last few weeks of training. It's been so inspirational and motivational. I think folks that aren't athletic are nicer during times like these. We had a few more drivers give us space and not try to blow us off the road during the last few weeks. Hopefully next Sunday I will bring home some gold of my own: )
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Tracking Me on race day, August 31st
Ok, everyone. I can be tracked live next Sunday, August 31st by going to www.ironmanlive.com or the link below. The good news is that you can leave, go do whatever it is you do on a Sunday, come back the site, and I will still be going, lol: ) Simply go to athlete tracker and type my name in: Jason Goyanko. You should see the last time checkpoint I've gone through. Also, there should be a live video feed for the finish line so if you're so inclined, you can watch me finish. My goal time is around the low 10 hour mark and the race starts at 7am so if you're trying to time it, I hope to be finishing somewhere between: 5 and 5:30pm. If I haven't finished by then, most likely I am having a rough day out there and you're prayers and good kharma will be welcomed.
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/louisville/?show=about
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/louisville/?show=about
One more ride...
My Aunt Eva threw me a birthday party/good luck party at her house last night. It was a nice surprise. When it comes to wealth in family and friends, I am a rich man. Ok, on to training ; )
Ben and I did our last ride today. I wanted to pick a route that was similar in terrain to Louisville so we drove out to Old Town Leesburg and pushed off from there. The plan was to do a 2-2.5 hour ride at race pace, wattage, equipment, etc. The both of us geeked out in our race singlets, aero helmets, and appropriate nutrtion provisions. Can you believe this weather? It hardly feels like August.
Immediately, I set the pace at a steady effort and kept a close watch on our efforts during the rolling hills and short climbs. We both exclaimed how good we felt and how easy riding seemed to be today. About 40 miles into our ride, Ben said: "You're the best coach in the world. You've made my legs tough by pushing me to climb Mount Weather, Taylorstown, Stumptown, and Sugarloaf Mountain. This feels like nothing." I smiled and told him Thank you and that we would both have good races.
Total Time: 2:20:57
Mileage: 47.68 miles
Average Power: 187 Watts
Normalized Power: 194 Watts
Average Speed: 20.2 mph
We finished our ride with a speedy transition into a 20' run. Easy out and steady back. I asked Ben what kind of pace we were running off the bike and he said, he was running faster than he should be. I asked again: "how fast are we running right now." He said 7:45/mile. The good news is that it felt easy and I quickly slowed down as I will on race day the first three miles. We were still moving at an 8:15 clip after slowing down and finished at a 7:15 pace coming in. The running itself felt easy. However, I did feel my left hamstring/IT band tighten up again half way through the run. I can tell it's getting better but I'm a little frustrated it's still lingering. It appears to have move up my leg and to the side, just below my hip. I will keep up the efforts to ice, massage, stretch, electrical stim, and heat this week.
FEELING GOOD THOUGH!!!!
Ben and I did our last ride today. I wanted to pick a route that was similar in terrain to Louisville so we drove out to Old Town Leesburg and pushed off from there. The plan was to do a 2-2.5 hour ride at race pace, wattage, equipment, etc. The both of us geeked out in our race singlets, aero helmets, and appropriate nutrtion provisions. Can you believe this weather? It hardly feels like August.
Immediately, I set the pace at a steady effort and kept a close watch on our efforts during the rolling hills and short climbs. We both exclaimed how good we felt and how easy riding seemed to be today. About 40 miles into our ride, Ben said: "You're the best coach in the world. You've made my legs tough by pushing me to climb Mount Weather, Taylorstown, Stumptown, and Sugarloaf Mountain. This feels like nothing." I smiled and told him Thank you and that we would both have good races.
Total Time: 2:20:57
Mileage: 47.68 miles
Average Power: 187 Watts
Normalized Power: 194 Watts
Average Speed: 20.2 mph
We finished our ride with a speedy transition into a 20' run. Easy out and steady back. I asked Ben what kind of pace we were running off the bike and he said, he was running faster than he should be. I asked again: "how fast are we running right now." He said 7:45/mile. The good news is that it felt easy and I quickly slowed down as I will on race day the first three miles. We were still moving at an 8:15 clip after slowing down and finished at a 7:15 pace coming in. The running itself felt easy. However, I did feel my left hamstring/IT band tighten up again half way through the run. I can tell it's getting better but I'm a little frustrated it's still lingering. It appears to have move up my leg and to the side, just below my hip. I will keep up the efforts to ice, massage, stretch, electrical stim, and heat this week.
FEELING GOOD THOUGH!!!!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Short timer...
Time is getting short now. Not much left to do in terms of fitness. I'm still working out but the volume has dropped. Swims are now in the 2200-2500 yard/m range. Cycling is 1-2 hours max. Running is 60' or less. I'm focusing on doing some light strength training with my left hamstring. After 5 days off of running, it felt good today so I decided to test it out. If it felt awkward, I would jog or walk back easy home. No need to risk anything now. If I've only got a few matches to burn, I'm going to save them for when it counts. I ended up feeling pretty good on my run. Enough to let go a bit and do a 12' Tempo Effort letting my heart rate float to 170-174 bpm. It started to tighten up at the end as I ascended some hills on Cottage St. but overall it's showing a lot of improvement. Iced it and did some electrical stim.
Now is the time to get your head in the game. Sports and competition in anything in life among equals sometimes comes down to strategy and mental toughness. When the blows are coming and the opponent doesn't flinch when you throw a punch, what will you do? Will you back down or will your take the blows and hit back even harder?
At the pool I am seeing the "Phelps-Effect" everywhere. Maybe I just didn't notice it before or maybe the All Universe Swimmer is really having an affect on all of us to swim. I notice a few more people working on dolphin kicking just like Phelps does after pushing off the wall. I noticed a high school teen warming up his arms and shoulders on deck, cap on, goggles on his forehead, Ipod in his ears, posturing, getting ready to crush some sets of fly just like Michael.
Now is the time to get your head in the game. Sports and competition in anything in life among equals sometimes comes down to strategy and mental toughness. When the blows are coming and the opponent doesn't flinch when you throw a punch, what will you do? Will you back down or will your take the blows and hit back even harder?
At the pool I am seeing the "Phelps-Effect" everywhere. Maybe I just didn't notice it before or maybe the All Universe Swimmer is really having an affect on all of us to swim. I notice a few more people working on dolphin kicking just like Phelps does after pushing off the wall. I noticed a high school teen warming up his arms and shoulders on deck, cap on, goggles on his forehead, Ipod in his ears, posturing, getting ready to crush some sets of fly just like Michael.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
12 days to go...
Whew...busy weekend. My friend and business associate, David Glover, he himself an incredible Ironman triathlete directs the Luray Triathlons. He hires me to help him out during the weekend doing various tasks to insure safety, quality, and satisfaction of the participants. I was busy all weekend in Luray, VA helping him out. Great turn out for both races and fantastic weather all weekend for outdoor activities. I left NOVA early last Friday morning and headed for Luray. I needed to do one last "Race Rehearsal" ride and run. Race Rehearsal means I wear what I plan to wear during my race: Aero Helmet, outfit, nutrition, etc. I was trying out a new plan for my nutrition. An aero bottle on the downtube of my bike with a "Bomb" bottle of 650 calories with my customized Infinit Drink Mix. Water in the aero bottle between my bars, 1 GU Gel pack per hour, and 1-2 Thermolyte Pills per hour based on heat.
My plan was to do as many loops of the 16 mile triathlon course this weekend that would equal 100-105 miles or roughly 5.5 hours. After the first 5 laps, I got pretty bored and started doing some out and backs and reversing the loops. I lost track of how many laps I did. The course is not easy. Not incredibly hilly but a lot of long stretches with 2-4.5% grades which are grinding efforts on your legs. The road looks flat but it is clearly not.
The 2-4% grinders took their toll on my legs during this workout. I averaged 170 watts for the ride (low for me) and 19 mph (also low). That just showed how challenging the ride actually was. I managed a 35' out and back run post ride that I had to keep in check. My left hamstring is still acting up. It catches when I step the pace above approximately an 8:30/mile pace. It also seems to catch on any hills. I'm a little worried about this but I have some time until race day and I am calling on all my resources to help me get this better.
I had a massage with Barb Boinest of Transitions Massage in Fairfax yesterday. She is a fellow triathlete and a great, great massage therapist. She helped work things out a bit and though I was a little sore afterwards, I feel it helped. I also saw Daniel Hockstra, Chiropractor and Active Release Technique Certified Specialist. Active Release is amazing for athletes. Tight muscles, pulls, adhesions, muscles that aren't tracking right...these situations can be helped by A.R.T. I've worked with Kirsten Grove, D.O.C. after meeting her in Ironman Florida in 2000 and without her help, Ironman training would have been more difficult and injury riddled.
Saturday...pretty tired from getting up early and helping out with the race. I think we had somewhere around 550 participants for the Olympic and 650+ for the Sprint on Sunday. Amazing how much this sport has grown. While the swim course was still set-up on Saturday, I swam 3 laps of the 750 meter loop. The water temperature was a perfect 74 degrees and the air temp in the mid-80's with low humidity. A wonderful day for an open water swim.
This week...another birthday. Who counts these anymore? I'm glad I've got Ironman to look forward to so I can forget my birthday.
My plan was to do as many loops of the 16 mile triathlon course this weekend that would equal 100-105 miles or roughly 5.5 hours. After the first 5 laps, I got pretty bored and started doing some out and backs and reversing the loops. I lost track of how many laps I did. The course is not easy. Not incredibly hilly but a lot of long stretches with 2-4.5% grades which are grinding efforts on your legs. The road looks flat but it is clearly not.
The 2-4% grinders took their toll on my legs during this workout. I averaged 170 watts for the ride (low for me) and 19 mph (also low). That just showed how challenging the ride actually was. I managed a 35' out and back run post ride that I had to keep in check. My left hamstring is still acting up. It catches when I step the pace above approximately an 8:30/mile pace. It also seems to catch on any hills. I'm a little worried about this but I have some time until race day and I am calling on all my resources to help me get this better.
I had a massage with Barb Boinest of Transitions Massage in Fairfax yesterday. She is a fellow triathlete and a great, great massage therapist. She helped work things out a bit and though I was a little sore afterwards, I feel it helped. I also saw Daniel Hockstra, Chiropractor and Active Release Technique Certified Specialist. Active Release is amazing for athletes. Tight muscles, pulls, adhesions, muscles that aren't tracking right...these situations can be helped by A.R.T. I've worked with Kirsten Grove, D.O.C. after meeting her in Ironman Florida in 2000 and without her help, Ironman training would have been more difficult and injury riddled.
Saturday...pretty tired from getting up early and helping out with the race. I think we had somewhere around 550 participants for the Olympic and 650+ for the Sprint on Sunday. Amazing how much this sport has grown. While the swim course was still set-up on Saturday, I swam 3 laps of the 750 meter loop. The water temperature was a perfect 74 degrees and the air temp in the mid-80's with low humidity. A wonderful day for an open water swim.
This week...another birthday
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