2009 Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene Race Report - The Run

The run course, like the bike course, consisted of two laps around several loops: first, a small 0.9-mile out-and-back loop, and then a larger 6-mile-ish loop. The first thing I noticed was that my legs felt great. The second thing I noticed was that my fuel belt was fucking heavy and I remember thinking there's no way I'm going to carry this thing for the whole marathon. I was thinking about how to go about losing it when on the way out the small loop, I passed by the special needs station for the run and I figured I could just throw it in there on the way back, which I did. After losing the 2+ lb weight belt, I started moving. My pace for the first mile was 7:41 and I was like, "whoa adam, slow down there" so I backed off a bit and just ran. My pace was good and I was passing tons of people. At mile 6, I had to go again and this time I made damn sure I got everything out before leaving the port-a-potty so I'd not have to go again. After another 5-minute stop, I was on my way again, feeling great, and knowing full well that my entire nutrition plan went out the window. I ran through aid stations taking sips of water and cola and trying to get down some Cliff Bloks, but at that point, I couldn't eat anything. The hill on the large loop at the turn-around sucked not because it was steep, but because it banked severely to the right going up. Almost at the top, I saw Glenn coming down for his finishing stretch and gave him some props. He said hi and honestly looked like he was just out for a Sunday stroll he was so relaxed. He wound up doing a 9:45 or so and placing 2nd in his age group. The run back into town kind of sucked because most of it was this gradual up hill. About a mile or two from town, it started raining, nothing hard, just a light sprinkle - but the temperature started dropping. I came back through the expo area on lap two heading towards the short loop turn-around and passed my sister coming the other direction. She gave me props and I don't recall if I said anything. I hope I did.

A couple miles out I ran into Kerrie coming in for the finish. She looked like shit. I mean, she looked absolutely miserable and like she was trying to pass a watermelon but still run the 7:07/mi pace she averaged for her marathon leg. I moved to my left and we gave each other a waist-high five as we passed. I told her "way to gut it out." She won her age group running up from 7th place after the bike.

My run out on my second lap just plain sucked. When I passed under the bridge by the Coeur d'Alene Resort's golf club about 3-4 miles out I grabbed a thermal parka from a volunteer passing them out. It was raining and 50 degrees and I could see my breath at times. I walked/ran to the turn around and continued a walk/jog combination for a little while longer. At some point on the way back, I just started running and didn't stop. With the thermal parka on, my clothes were getting dry and the rain had finally let up but it was still cold so I kept the parka until I had about 3 miles left and not wanting to finish with it ditched it with a volunteer who seemed rather surprised that I was giving it up. I was motivated at this point and I was flying - or at least it felt like it. I kept passing people saying "come one guys, only 2 miles left!" One response I got from a guy from either Spain or Central/South America: "yes, but I am so tired." I came up on the split where finishers go left and runners heading to lap 2 stay right and I remember feeling so good to stay left and seeing the "to finish" painted on the ground. A left turn, a slight downhill, a right turn, a slight uphill and a left turn had me seeing the finish line a scant half mile away. Sherman Ave. was still rocking despite the weather and it was still very much daylight so I could see everyone in front of me seeming to simply just jog towards the finish but I wasn't having any of that I picked up my pace even more and rocked it to the finish. Gritting my teeth and giving a fist pump ensured two things: 1) that my finishing photo looks really funny, and 2) that I completely missed Mike Reilly announcing my name (if he did) or what he was even saying. Run time 4:52:34 for an average pace of 11:10/mi.

A Solid Week

Last weekend's ride and run were fantastic. The ride was just solid and the run smooth and steady. I did the run with a master's swimming buddy and honestly, I'd forgotten what it's like to train with someone else. It makes the time go by MUCH faster and you don't have time to think about quitting, or focus on some tiny pain that you wonder if it will become larger and make you stop.

The swimming incorporated some really fast interval sets including an 800m TT followed by 6x200m and a 4x600m, on different days and the body felt good. My swim speed has risen a bit from a month or so ago when I could easily do sub-1:30s consistently. Now, it's a struggle to consistently do 1:35's. However, in yesterday's master's swim class I was able to turn in several sub 3:00 200's. I think it might have been due to my focusing on my stroke finish, i.e., where the hand passes the side of the quad. I think my stroke is normally shorter because I pull my arm out too soon. Leaving my arm in the water a little longer to finish my stroke, allows me more glide time and it's also the strongest part of the stroke.

I'm hesitant to really focus on it during the Ironman swim because since I just started, there's a good chance it'll get sore and I'm not sure what that will do to my shoulders/upper arms for 112 miles in an aero position (yes, I'm aware that I'd not actually be IN the aero position for the full 112 miles).

Bolder Boulder - One Day Later

Today was a very nicely appreciated day off to let the legs recover from yesterday's 18-mile run. While they felt fine yesterday, today the legs are a little sore and a little more sore than I would have expected. However, tomorrow's lunchtime bike ride and early afternoon massage should fix that right up. I've found the best cure for sore muscles isn't a hot tub (though it feels fantastic) or a massage (ditto), or an ice bath (uh, not ditto), or Advil (but it does help), but actually an easy workout on the bike (for legs) and an easy swim in the pool (for arms). Nothing hard at all, all Z1, maybe Z2, just get the HR up and blood flowing through the muscles. And follow it up with a good stretch.

We'll see if I have anything left after tomorrow's ride and massage to go swimming afterward.

3 Miles, 6 Miles, 9 Miles

No, it's not a geometric progression, it's my workout from yesterday:

3-mile warm-up for the Bolder Boulder.
6.2 miles for the Bolder Boulder.
9-mile run home.

The race was great though I missed my time goal. This was mostly due to my not doing my math homework ahead of time to determine exactly what pace I needed to hold to make my time goal. As a result, and as you might expect, I missed my time goal.

What was my time goal? I'd hoped to break 43:00. Actual chip time: 43:48.29. A full 16 seconds faster than my previous 10K time done at the Canine Classic 10K just weeks ago. Mile breakdown is as follows: 6:54.51, 7:06.74, 7:14.62, 7:02.44, 6:51.08, 7:08.24.

I started way too fast and saw my 1/2 mile split and slowed down. It's hard because the course is downhill for the first 3/4 mile. But, it's not a race to the first mile marker and once we all settled in I started passing a bunch of people. Because I qualified for the B wave I'd thought things would be better than racing in the C wave a few years ago in which I spent the bulk of the time weaving in and out of people and darting through gaps where I could find them, but it turns out the same thing happened, only to a lesser degree. There's always people who go out way too hard and you have to go around them because they've blown a gasket. It's particularly bad in the corners where everyone seems to move in to the apex and slow down. It's very frustrating actually. I was told by a friend, it's not much better in the A wave though I'd think that the faster you run, the less people with whom you have to deal.

But still, I can't be too disappointed. it's still a new PR and considering I've been doing Ironman training for the last 7 months the fast twitch muscle fibers are working pretty well. As I only plan on doing Olympic distance or shorter next year, I'm very curious and excited as to just how fast I can become.

After the race, we gathered in our usual section (work employees) where I chilled (literally, it was getting cold) for a bit before deciding that it was time to leave. Finding my sister, we walked back to the car, got ready for the long run home and headed out. I wasn't feeling great for those first 1.5 miles, but after a short stop at her boyfriend's apartment for her fuel belt, I was feeling good. The legs felt great and I was moving. I suspect it was the caffeine from my sports drink, but I didn't care. The run itself went by really fast and I can only hope this will be the case in my Ironman. The last mile was all uphill as I made my way from Baseline over to South Boulder Road via several open space areas on a bike path and what I can only describe as Louisville's version of L'Alpe D'Huez complete with a ridiculous number of switchbacks including some connecting segments that are so short you literally take one step before having to do a 180 to continue on the path.

I don't even remember my time and haven't yet downloaded my HR data but will do so soon.

Holy Cow!

Sunday's 14-mile run was the first where my wife rode next to me on her bike while I ran. It was also the first time I had to deal with several ornery cows. They may be cute and funny, but they are NOT friendly. On the way out, one made my wife and I traverse around the path a bit dodging cow pies to avoid getting too close. On the way back, no less than 5 bulls were hot footing toward the path on an intercept course before changing direction when they hit the path and trotting away. It was, by far, the most nerve-wracking moment I've experienced while training.

Weekend Workouts

Saturday saw a cold and rainy day in Colorado and along the front range. Originally having been slated to do a 120-mile ride, after having a come-to-Jesus meeting with my coach we will be reducing my bike mileage and increasing my running. That said, my 120-mile ride was reduced to first 3 hours and then 4 but since it was raining, I did 3 hours on the trainer and then a 2-mile run on the treadmill.

Sunday, I did a 12-mile run outside (the weather was MUCH nicer) and it was a really good run. I started to fatigue around mile 8/9, but gutted it out and was able to maintain a good pace for the entire middle set.

For the week, I wound up running a whopping 42 miles! Yay! And the legs felt good. 6.5 weeks until race day and I think I'm on a good track. Caught the problem early enough.

A Rather Decent Week

For all the running I've done this week, the legs feel like they're in good shape and the intervals I had to run on Tuesday and Thursday turned out pretty decent. I'm fatigued, but it doesn't seem like I'm as fatigued as I've been in the past.

On that note, after Master's on Wednesday I had a good chat with Laura (Billy William's fiance) and Kerrie/Glenn all of whom think that my training regimen has way too much volume. So I had a long chat with my coach about scaling back the cycling and upping the running here in the last month or so before my taper so as to get my running to a decent state because I feel like it's really been crap up to this point. I've not yet been able to complete a long brick - well I did one, probably 50/11 but that was so long ago. My legs shouldn't be so shot after a ride that I can't do at least some running.

So, we changed my long ride and long runs and it will be really interesting to see how it pans out in this last month or so. I'm not worred about the swim at all. I'm only slightly worried about the bike - to the extent that I need to make sure I take in enough calories and stay in Z3. My big fear is the run. With no bike, I'm not worried that I couldn't do a nice long run - but with the bike, everything changes....have to be smart and have to be prepared.

Dealing With the Worst

So we didn't get 16 inches of snow as promised yesterday. What we did get was 3 inches that didn't stick to the roads but was very wet nonetheless. Additionally, it was REALLY cold w/ 30mph winds driving the wind chill down close to zero if not below.

Saturday's brick wound up being a shortened run w/ the full run coming today. I finished my ride on the trainer yesterday and was outside for all of 2 minutes waiting for my Garmin to figure out where I was and was thinking, "there's no way in hell I'm going to run 13 miles in this..." So, I did 6 and called it a day.

This morning, I did my full 13.5-mile run and the weather mostly cooperated alternating between sunny and not sunny until the last 3-5 miles. I must have taken off my gloves and headband and put them back on at least 5 times before just leaving my gloves on. I wound up doing a huge 13.5 mile loop from my house that had me take McCaslin to Marshall Rd by Costco and Marshall Rd all the way to the South end of the BoBo link trail. I then took the trail back to South Boulder Rd. and followed SBR back into Louisville.

If anyone's ridden out SBR, they're fully aware of the hill that starts kind of half way between Cherryvale and 75th but just keeps going up until McCaslin. It's not what I would consider to be an "oh my god" hard hill, but it sucks nonetheless. Add that the entire shoulder was completely covered in sand and I was running into a headwind my ~7:30 min/mi Z3 pace dropped to over 10 by the time I reached the top. It dropped back down once I crested at McCaslin but by then I only had a half mile left so it wasn't long enough to get my average lap pace back down.

I also haven't broken in my home copy of my new running shoes so I had to do this run in my old ones and my feet are reasonably sore. I'm curious as to whether or not they would have been had I had my new shoes and had them broken in. As I have a 10-mile run tomorrow, we'll see if my work copy of my running shoes make a difference.

A Good Brick

So it was snowing last night when I was blogging and much of it was still on the ground when I made the decision that I wasn't going to ride outside today. It turns out I could have as the roads were mostly clear and dry. But, I had errands to run with the wife and didn't get started until after 1:30. Not good if you have a 61-mile brick to do.

Neal Henderson at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine says that riding on a trainer is like 1.5 times what you would do outside. So the math goes something like this. Assuming an average speed of 17 mph, it would take me 3 hours to do a 51-mile ride outside. The inverse of 1.5 is 2/3 so 2/3 of 3 hours is 2 hours. So theoretically, riding on the trainer for 2 hours is like riding your bike for 3 outside. Not sure if this is accurate or what, but if Neal says it's true, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The man coaches some world class athletes and knows his shit cold.

So, 2 hours on the trainer followed by a 10-mile run outside (oh hell no, I'm SO not running 10 miles on a fucking treadmill - I don't care how much money you pay me...$1000? Seriously? Ok, I'll do it). Sadly, no one paid me to run on a treadmill today so I ran outside and had a great run. My running has come so far in two years it's crazy. My legs used to be absolutely DEAD for the run after a ride. Maybe it's just something your body needs to get used to and that's why most of the world class triathletes are in their 30s. It just takes that long for the body to get used to all that punishment - slowly ramping up your speed on the bike and run while your HR zone stays the same.

T-minus 4 months and counting for Ironman CDA. I think my training is on target and I like how I'm feeling.

The Better Half

The state of Colorado proudly boasts about it's 300+ days of sunshine a year. And to be sure, Colorado receives a ton of sunshine. Unfortunately, the mere presence of sunshine doesn't consider whatever else the weather might be doing at the time. It could be 10 degrees and sunny. It could be 50 degrees and sunny but there's sustained winds of 25 mph gusting to 75.

Sustained winds are a mixed blessing when riding outside. In a crosswind, you ride like you haven't had your V8. In a tailwind you really want to be on your way back home. In a headwind, you scream and curse Mother Nature until you're too tired to bitch anymore and slowly plod along (or maybe this is just me, but I seriously doubt it).

Today was supposed to be an easy 22-mile ride day with Master's swim tonight. Yesterday's 11.5 mile run went really well and while the legs contained some residual tiredness, they were up for the ride. Only, it was windy out. Very windy. And it kept changing directions, or at least it felt like it. It's one of those rides that was supposed to be in Z2 but in order to achieve that you have to ride in a really low gear. I knew the ride was going to take a while, so I only did it by time. It just wasn't worth it to do the full distance. The wind is blowing too strong to really get anything out of the ride other than a lesson in patience and dealing with frustration (something from which I'm sure I could benefit, however, I would rather have sat at my desk and continued to work than deal with that.

It's snowing right now so tomorrows 61-mile brick will be done mostly indoors. I won't run 10 miles on the treadmill so I'm hoping the cold front doesn't make it so cold that it's just not worth it to run outside. I'm pretty motivated though, we'll see if that holds true tomorrow.

Riding like into the Wind

I'm not sure anyone actually enjoys riding in the wind unless it's a tailwind and you're on your way home.  Today was not such a day.  When the wind blows in Denver, it's generally pretty predictable.  Predictable in direction and strength.  It blows anywhere from the West to the North and it usually blows hard (double entendre intended).

So rather than do my normal lunchtime cycling route which consist of riding South on the Platt River bike path until it's time to turn around I decided to head ESE on the Cherry Creek bike path thus avoiding the cement recycling plant and various junkyards around mile 10 and the very stinky garbage plant at mile 11.  In return, I enjoyed a very nice 11-mile ride out to Cherry Creek Reservoir (it's very scenic, no garbage plants or junkyards) and a not very nice 11-mile ride back in a pretty nasty headwind.  It was manageable until just West of the Cherry Creek Country Club when the bike path and Platt River dip down into this channel that runs in between the two sides of Speer Blvd.  This channel becomes a wind tunnel when the wind blows and it flat out sucks if you have a headwind.  This last section of the path is not long; it was the last 3 miles of my ride and was supposed to be my cool down.  But trying to ride in Z2 in a nasty headwind is like trying to stay in Z2 while climbing Old Stage - you can do it, but it either involves walking your bike or riding so slowly that pedestrians pass you and give you the eye.

I get frustrated very easy in such situations and can go from patiently plodding along at some ungodly slow speed to a Z5 hammerfest in order to get the damn ride over with.  Today was no exception.  I just hope that combined with this evening's Master's swim workout, I didn't tank my legs for tomorrows 11.5-mile run.

You may recall that two weeks ago my long run didn't turn out so nice.  This time I'm bringing my fuel belt, a pouch for my iPod, and will damn sure eat a larger breakfast.  There will be no bonking.

A Good End to Week 23

Normally, it's hard to finish the training week strong because by the time it's over, I'm usually so exhausted that getting above average quality workouts in is more rare than the norm.

So, I'm very pleased with how training week 23 ended and I suspect it is due to my doing Saturday's ride on the trainer rather than outside. My 9-mile long run on Sunday (with 1.25 mile Z3 intervals) was very good and my 3000m swim afterward was reasonably effective. Additionally, my light Z2 run yesterday contained very decent pacing for such a low effort workout and my performance in power class last night was just awesome - indeed, the best in quite some time. We did 4 blocks of 5 1-1:15 intervals with increasing rest in between each interval. Prior to the penultimate block of 5, I bumped my wattage up to 250 (from 240) and for each of the last five intervals, bumped the wattage up by 10 so that I finished at 300.

Honestly, the only difference I felt in my legs was that the lactic acid built up quicker but it wasn't that much harder. Even my coach said I looked really strong.

Yay for weeks ending on an up-tick.