Monthly Archives: December 2007

Racing Photogenically

Friday, I picked up my official DVD for the NYC Marathon. It was the first one I’ve ever bought and thought that it would be cool to see how I ran on video.
It was really well done. It covered the pros and saw Paula Radcliffe’s amazing acceleration at the finish, and the men’s finishes.
And then, there was me.
ACK! I ran like a dork! The great form I thought I had was an actual bouncing, half limp. When running, you strive to keep your head at the same level and reduce the up and down motion of your body. Obviously I did none of that. My head bounced up and down quite a bit. Also, I was reminded of my growing blister on my right foot and could see me limping slightly to favor it. It made my stride much stiffer and didn’t help the up and down motion of my body as I ran.
The first time I raced, I saw pictures taken of me at various stages. I thought I looked kind of lame and wanted my race pictures to show me looking like I was racing well. On the bike, I would be upright but I thought that didn’t look as good as being in aero position. So now, when I see a camera man, I go into aero position whenever possible, even if I’m going uphill to make myself look better in the picture. Sometimes I smile, but sometimes I try putting on a Lance Armstrong-esque grimace. On the run, I have a similar strategy. Generally, if you are running with the compact step that is typical of most of an Ironman marathon, you’ll look like you’re walking in pictures and not running. I discovered that if you just simply lift your heel a bit more as your foot goes back, almost like you’re going to kick your butt, the pictures look like what is the popular perception of running versus walking.
Also, there are finish line pictures where I do not raise my hands all the way up, but only partway. Ugh! That might be a great way to show your enthusiasm at the finish to do a bent arm fist pump with both hands, but it looks real dorky in a picture. Raising your hands all the way up looks much better! In fact, pausing under the finisher’s arch and raising your hands/fists all the way extended upward looks great and gives the photographers a chance to snap the shot!
It sounds silly, but I have learned to race not only to finish, but photogenically as I want my official pictures to look good. Sometimes they have great photographers to help take great pictures, but most of the time you have to do a bit of posing yourself.
Now, upon receipt of this NYC Marathon DVD, I have another thing to worry about and that is to race for video and not just still pictures. I need to figure out how to pose a bit to make sure I look great on video !
With video, I think there is also a method to the madness; after watching the DVD, I am now thinking that I should use video more often as a check on my form. This gives me ideas on bringing my video camera to the track and videotaping myself as I run my intervals.

Iron Resolve

It was shocking to see/feel my mental resolve fizz away so suddenly. I had experienced lapses in resolve before but never as large as this time, half way through the marathon of Ironman WA.
In the past, my resolve has weakened at the “wall” of a marathon, where my body just seems to get really tired. But here there is definitely more physicality involved where my body is getting to that point where between shifting from the previous way of burning energy and the next.
At Ironman NZ 2005, I hit that point with about 3-4k left in the run, but bust through it knowing that my friends were waiting at the finish line for me and would bust my butt if they knew I was walking to the finish. At Ironman Austria 2006, I was too busy dealing with cramping leg muscles to worry about disappearing mental resolve. Likewise, at Ironman Brazil 2007, my poplitius muscle being really sore made me walk through much of the run until I initiated the Ironman shuffle. But I didn’t feel a lowering of my resolve, perhaps because I was distracted by pains?
This year at Ironman WA 2007, it was really miserable. I got to 20k in the run (about half way) and my mental resolve just disappeared. Poof. Vanished. It was a shocking moment. I could not run at all. I would just run a bit and then resort to walking. And it was definitely mental. My legs were OK, except for some cramping in the right hamstring which seemed to go away later. Every time I did actually run, my pace was quite good, so it couldn’t be a physical thing.
I think it was a combination of factors.
My coach M2 thought it might be because of the long season, and this being my second Ironman of the year. Also, it was on the heels of another key race for me, the NYC Marathon. And not to mention all the other smaller races between IM Brazil and IM WA. These all could have sapped my ability to maintain focus.
I also think it was the bike leg during IM WA. I had to focus so much on maintaining constant wattage output with virtually no breaks that by the time I reached the run, my mental endurance was already lowered greatly.
This being my longest race season to date, and a full one too, I am somewhat not surprised to find such an issue popping up towards the end of the season. I am hoping as I race more, I will get tougher mentally as I encounter problems like these for the first time, and then I will be better forewarned and armed next time around.
Maintaining iron resolve through an Ironman is super tough and I look to train my mind smartly in 2008. I hope to train well physically to remove those barriers where my mind needs to deal with declining physical resources, and then my mind can focus on maintaining physical output through the entire race, especially when I hit the run.

IM WA: Recovery +4 Days

Recovery log:
Day After:
Not so bad. Stiff, but I was much worse off after the NYC Marathon. Walking down stairs was definitely a bit painful, but not as bad as in previous races. I didn’t get a chance to sit in an ice bath after the race, but it seems like my legs were coming back fairly quickly. Also, my aerobic system didn’t feel as bad. Usually I get this “cool” sensation in my chest and lungs and that doesn’t go away for a few weeks, which is a sign that I really pushed my aerobic system and caused some strain there! This time, the sensation was present but not nearly as intense.
+2 Days:
Definitely more stiff than the day before. I tend to get more sore 2 days after a hard workout than the day before. Rolling out of bed was pretty tough, but once I got moving the stiffness quickly diminished. Walking down stairs was also not nearly as tough as yesterday. But sitting in a bus from Busselton to Perth for 3 hours didn’t help. The “cool” sensation in my chest is minimal but still present.
+3 Days:
At this point, I’m rolling out of bed at 3am to catch a flight out of Perth at 545am. Stiffness is still there but very quickly diminishes as I get to the airport. I have on compression socks now for the long flight home.
+4 Days:
Getting up this morning was not bad at all. I still have a “cool” sensation in my chest but it is very, very minimal. After previous Ironmans, this sensation would stay with me for weeks. This time, it has almost disappeared after only 4 days. I got on my bike trainer and did some spinning which really helped clear my legs of all that post-race stuff. Thankfully, no pains at all and stiffness is pretty much gone.
I am heartened to see my recovery going as fast as it is. 2 years ago at IM NZ, it took me about 6 weeks to get back; last year at IM Austria, it was 4 weeks. Then this year at IM Brazil, it took about 2.5 weeks to get back. I guess it is possible to build the body’s tolerance for this type of thing up to a point where it can recover quickly and be ready for the next thing.
I have always been amazed at my friends who race much more often than me. They race Ironman and by the end of the week they are back to long, hard workouts. I wasn’t sure if my body would ever get to that point, but now that I see my own recovery happening faster, I can believe that I may reach that point.

The Pill and Powder Round-Up

All in all, I had a great racing year. It was the first year I really pumped up the pill and powder usage. Here is a breakdown of what I used and some of the informal results I’ve seen:
Accelerade, Lemon-Lime
I continued to use Accelerade Lemon-Lime as my primary drink mix for my bottles on both the bike and run.
Endurolyte Powder
In each water bottle and Fuel belt bottle, I dump in 2 scoops of Endurolyte powder as I am a heavy sweater and need electrolytes to help prevent cramping. Man was I covered in salty, sweat grit after IM WA!
Saltstick pills
I have a little ziploc bag which contains Saltstick pills. I take 3 per hour, one every 20 minutes. This is in support of the Endurolyte powder already in my fluids.
Sportlegs capsules
These amazing wonders keep the burn out of my legs, and I think they help prevent cramping as well. I take 3 before the race, and then 3 capsules every 3 hours during the race. I also take 3 after the race to keep post-race soreness down.
Optygen capsules
Taking 3 every morning, these little red Matrix capsules seem to have raised my tolerance for heavy efforts and seem to help oxygen transport to my muscles. During IM WA, I did not feel myself going to lactate threshold at all, or feel ever that I was running out of breath. While I admit that my fitness is also getting better, I cannot help but wonder that these little capsules helped a ton.
First Endurance Pre-Race powder
Before the race, I dump a heaping scoop of this into my pre-race drink, which is typically Endurox recovery powder. I credit this powder with giving me the ability to maintain extra effort throughout the whole race.
Endurox Recovery powder
Love this stuff. After the race, I take one packet of this in a water bottle. I also dump in one packet of Emergen-C to boost my vitamin in-take. It really helps hasten the recovery process. As mentioned before, I use Endurox as my pre-race drink too, along with a scoop of First Endurance Pre-Race and a packet of Emergen-C.
Emergen-C powder
My secret weapon against getting sick during training, and helping with performance and recovery. I take one before each long training session and race. During my peaking weeks, I know that my immune system is lowered, so I take upwards of 3 of these per day just to ward off getting sick. Containing a cocktail of vitamins, it’s loaded with 1000mg of Vitamin C to keep me healthy and going!

IM WA: Wine Tasting with EST, Wild Kangaroos

EST took us on a wine tasting tour the day after our race!

Our second tour guide, Sharyn who gave us lovely facts about the flora and fauna of Australia, as well as being a triathlon coach! Here I hold an authentic Australian meat pie. Seems like Australians like these pies of all sorts.

Yes that little speck under the tree on the left was a real live wild kangaroo. See the closeup on the right. These guys hide under the trees in the day time and come out to eat during the mornings and evenings.

Wine tasting was fun. I was getting pretty sloshed on sipping wine due to my depleted condition from racing the day before. Takes one Ironman to make me a cheap date!

There’s me in ecstasy after tasting the Sandelera port, an incredibly smooth dessert wine that cost me $5 just to taste it.

Wacky sculptures were found at each winery, as well as fancy places to spit/dump your tasted wine.

Congratulations to one of group, Donna, who took 3rd in her age group and got a Kona slot! She blew by me on the bike and I was in awe of her speed!

Here we all sit on the bus ride to Perth airport, all happy and depleted and sore.

Of course, I could not leave Australia without sampling the local fare. In Perth, I found a microbrewery and ate kangaroo steak and lamb and crocodile sausages. Yum!

IM WA: Race Day Pics

Some pictures from early morning at T1 amongst the bikes:

Again, I am surprised at the bike field at T1 being so empty. Only 997 competitors!

Check out the wacky folding bike with mini carbon HED aero wheels! I passed this guy out on the bike course.

Happy me, after the race, all showered and clean and eating chicken and rice in the finisher’s tent:

IM WA: The Emergence of Angry Dave

A while back I wrote about Raaaagggeeee and thought that I would rarely get into a rage state during a race. But not at Ironman WA.
Angry Dave showed up.
During the bike, there were periods of me remembering back to days of my youth, when all the bullies in my elementary school would beat me up, and all those people in high school and college, as well as in the workplace during my early career years. I’ve had many nemeses and hated them all. I swore at them, I wanted revenge for all the crappy things they did to me.
It drove me onwards through many portions of the bike leg.
That is, until that damn theme song from Flashdance would come back and the rage would just…disappear…
…what a feeling….

IM WA: The Race!!!!

Race morning I get up early and do my usual pre-Ironman routine. I eat my time-tested meal of one hard boiled egg, half a bagel, and a banana. Then my next time-tested routine: go sit on the toilet and hope something comes out, well, anything in my intestines comes out. It’s important to get it all out as you don’t want to go to the bathroom on the course if you can avoid it. I get all my gear ready, get my M2 jersey and shorts on, prepare my bike fluids and go downstairs to wait for the shuttle to take us over.
I arrive on the first bus there and check over my bike. I put the fluids on the bike and bring some fluids over to bike special needs and morning check out bike and bring special needs fluids to tent.
I’m heartened that the morning isn’t too cold, but I do worry about after the race when my body cools down and the ambient temperature is in the 50s or 60s. I don’t want to start to shiver and go hypothermic! But this year I went to REI and bought a top which is for winter training and supposedly blocks wind. I also bought some wool underwear which proved to be incredibly effective. More on this later.
I find some of the other EST folks and we go into the changing tent and put on our wetsuits. Looking at the time, we start walking down to the beach where a lot of the crowds and athletes have gathered to watch the race start. I go into the waves and warm up.
The day is cool and the skies are filled with clouds. I hope this means that it won’t be an extraordinarily hot day. Slight breeze, but nothing too harsh, and nothing like the days when we first got to Busselton.
The swim course takes us out the Busselton Jetty which is a mile long jetty. We will swim alongside the jetty the whole way, first down one side and then back down the other.
Today’s race is a mass start in deep water. We line up by projected finish time, but I start sliding upwards towards the fast guys because you don’t want to add to your swim time simply because you’re not close to the starting line.
We go! The water is a churning mass of triathletes. For the first third of the race I barely am stroking but am just carried along with the mass of swimmers around me. But around the turnaround at the end of the jetty I start losing people and speed things up. As I cross over to the other side, I keep drifting away from the jetty. I think there is a slight current sweeping me away from the jetty so I start angling in just so I don’t drift too far off course, and also to find someone to draft behind.
I like swim courses like this where there is no small run on the beach in the middle. It interrupts my swim and I’m always slower. I hit the beach at around 1:16 which is good for me.
I take the short run to T1 and get my bike stuff bag. I get out of my wetsuit and dry off, and get my bike gear on. Quickly, I move out of the tent, grab my bike and head to the bike start.
The bike course is a 3 loop course and it’s pretty much all flat. There are a few turnarounds which are annoying, but not too big a problem. The road surface is pretty good, but there are sections of packed gravel which makes for a vibratory biking experience. I encountered this also at IM NZ but it’s not as bad as out there; in NZ, the whole course was like that whereas here it’s only in a few sections.
As I head out, I notice there is a slight breeze. It doesn’t bother me too much and I’m easily over 21 MPH going out. The flat course and lack of wind make for a fast first loop.
When I’m biking, weird thoughts usually pop into my head. Today, it’s the theme song from Flashdance. Couldn’t get it out my head! And funny, at one of the turnarounds somebody was playing ABBA’s Dancing Queen which was my nemesis at IM NZ.
People have written messages with chalk all over the roads. Some guy named Batman was popular. There were bat signals everywhere!
Alongside the roads, I hear the strange call of Australian crows. It sounds like a quacking child crying. So bizarre. In the early mornings they sometimes woke me up at my hotel room.
I wind back into town and head out for the second loop. Unfortunately, the wind is now picking up. And I’m getting tired. I did manage to hit half-way by about 2:52 and, really wanting a 6 hour bike split, I forged onwards.
The third loop was very tough. The winds are picking up, I’m getting tired, and the flat course is really taking its toll. You would think that a flat course would be easier and in some ways it is, but I found out that it’s super hard in others. Sure, there are no hills to speak of to wipe your legs in that way, but there are no downhills where you can coast and take the load off your legs for a few minutes. So for 6 hours, I felt like I was doing one of my coaches high-watts interval workouts where there was a single interval of 6 hours.
To change the stress, I would get out of my seat to pedal and shift up 4 gears. But the other reason for getting up was because my crotch kept getting numb. Not wanting to damage my private parts, I would get up to change leg stress for a while, but also pedal out of my seat long enough to feel the blood flow back into my private parts and get the numbness to go away.
Racing back into T2, I managed a 6:03 bike split according to my watch. As I got off my bike and jogged to T2, I was feeling my legs and they felt a bit wiped. I grab my T2 bag and sit down and relish giving my legs the break. But I start to worry about the run. Slowly, I change out of my bike gear and into my run gear. I can’t stop thinking about how hard that bike leg was.
Gathering my resolve, I get up and jog out of T2. I start running and my pace is actually OK. I don’t have any of the usual stiffness which means that my brick training earlier in the summer has stayed with me.
My run plan at this Ironman was to not stop at any aid stations at all, and to keep my legs turning over for as long as I can, to the finish if possible.
So I run. My heart rate is very moderate, and I don’t feel like I’m redlining at all. I seem to be keeping good leg turnover but with the kilometer markers it’s hard to tell my pace.
I run through each aid station. Each station is pretty well organized. I would grab a cola and take a bit of it, and keep running.
The first loop of this 3 loop run course I finish and its lopsidedness to one side makes it feel like one of the run turnarounds is way out there, but the other is really short, since it’s very close to the finish line. So as I head out on loop 2, it seems as though the turnaround is just SOOOOOO far away.
Right around the 20 km mark, I look at my watch and feel elated that my time is about 2:01! Wow! If I can keep that up, I’ll have run an Ironman marathon of a little over 4 hours, which is much better than my other Ironman marathons of 4:50 or so. It lifts my spirits for…only a few steps. Because literally a few steps after the 20 km marker, all my Ironman resolve just fizzles away. It was the most disheartening thing. I could not run continuously for the life of me. I would try to start up again and then stop only after a little while. I tried using a visual goal to run to, but that didn’t work. What finally worked sort of, was to run for 30 steps and then walk for 5 steps, and keep this up. I also managed to run for upwards of 90 steps and then walk for 5 and keep this up for a while, but I returned back to the 30 step run/5 step walk combination. I almost quit at this point because I was so disheartened that I might actually need to walk the entire second half of the marathon! If that were true, I would be arriving at the finish line (if at all) at 14, 15, or 16 hours! The thought of being out there for that long really lowered my spirits further. But I continued moving forward as I could at least maintain forward motion.
To add to my troubles, shortly after my resolve fizzled away, I started cramping in my right hamstring. Just what I needed! Arg! I even walked a full 2 km just to get it to calm down and to give my resolve some respite and see if I could get it back. But still it would not come back.
I finally start the 3rd loop and have 14 km left. I keep up the 30 step run/5 step walk combo and it keeps me moving. But that first turnaround seems so freakin’ far away. I start doing some mental calculations and realize that I could still PR even if I maintain my current pace. Amazing. But I could not get myself to run continuously. I hit the 38 km mark and even when I know there is 8 km left, I could not get myself to run. This is really bad. I usually get amped up at around 10 km left because running a 10K should be easy, but today it was definitely not! It was not until 2km left that I just forced myself to pick it up. I ran smoothly and then when I hit the finisher chute, I ran all the way to the finish line and made it in around 12:21. A new PR for me, but one that was hard won from a mental standpoint.
What an incredible sense of relief. This was probably the worst Ironman experience I’ve had so far. When my resolve fizzled, I just felt so bad and wanted to quit. But I think this is a great learning experience. I’ve also heard that it happens to just about every Ironman athlete, so I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad about it.
Some volunteers grab my arms and lead me to the massage tent. They keep asking me if I’m ok. I look at them and go, of course I’m ok. I wasn’t dizzy and just wanted to walk around a bit to cool down, but they forced me into the massage area. Geez. It’s not like I had a choice. I kind of felt violated.
But there they made me take off my shoes and they sponged my legs down. Then they led me to a table and some guy did some flushing recovery massage on me. I don’t know if it did anything, but I really didn’t want to lay there. I wanted to get changed and get some food in me!
Shortly after I sat down, a few of the others in my tour group also came in. We chatted for a while but they went off as I got my forced massage.
After the massage, I grabbed my street gear bag and found out they had showers setup. How cool is that! I was covered in salt and felt super gritty. I walked over there and took a really nice shower and got all that race gunk off me. I changed into some warmer clothes and then went to get something to eat. Here my wool underwear worked wonders. It’s supposedly early summer here but it’s still pretty chilly at night by the ocean. And after Ironman, your body kind of goes into shock and can get hypothermic. But after some food and retention of heat by my wool underwear, I felt much better.
I found it amusing that you could actually get a beer in the finisher’s tent! No way was I putting alcohol in me. I would probably pass out! I ate some food which was apparently leftovers from the carbo load party. But I didn’t care. I needed protein and carbo replacement ASAP.
I then went outside to look for others in my tour group and we got a few of us together to go back home.
All in all, this course was tougher than I expected. You would expect a flat road to be easy to cycle. Boy was I wrong. It gave me clues on how to prepare for Ironman Florida next year, which is also a flat course.
I thought my running was much stronger. My pace was a lot faster this year, and every time that I ran I was moving pretty well. I’m happy for this immensely and now I just need to fix my collapsing mental resolve.
Ironman Western Australia: My best and worst Ironman to date.