2013 in Review

2013 has come to a close and with it brought the birth of our first child, Jackson. He was born on April Fool's Day, and he just turned 9-months old on January 1st. Seeing him grow and learn virtually something new each day has been amazing. He wants to be mobile, but isn't there quite yet! Here's the little guy on Christmas morning.

Unfortunately, at the same time that Jackson is just beginning to get mobile my Dad is going in the opposite direction.  He has Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which isn't a great combination. His memory is fading and combined with the Parkinson's, each day is a brand new learning experience of everyday activities. I'm glad that he's been able to interact with our little man. Here are my Mom & Dad with Jackson this summer.

Of course, having a baby at home made training difficult. Katie was very flexible in allowing me to get in long rides and runs over the spring and summer, but in hindsight doing an IM with a baby at home probably wasn't the best plan. I was away for 5-6 hour blocks of time on most weekends, which wasn't fair to Katie. I'm definitely enjoying spending more time with Jackson now that training is a bit lighter.

2013 began with news that I was selected by Steve Johnson of Darkhorse Multisport to be sponsored for the year, receiving free coaching. Steve immediately had me doing a lot more swimming than I had in the past, as well as different types of bike workouts. I had traditionally done the 2x20 or 3x15 interval rides at 90-95% FTP as my go to workouts, but Steve had me doing lots of shorter intervals at much higher intensities. One that I despised quite a lot was 40x30" @ around 410 watts on 30" rest. Steve slowly had me build up my run mileage, focusing on a half marathon at the end of May, which led into a June 70.3.

I ended with a time of 1:20 in the half marathon, nearly a 3 min PR and went under 4:30 for the first time in my June HIM, although I felt I left quite a lot of time on the table. Soon after those races the school year ended and Katie, Jackson and I headed to Nantucket for ten days with my folks. This is pretty much when the long runs and rides for IM prep began. I ended up doing a 4-5 hour ride virtually every weekend, with eight rides of 90+ miles, six of which were over 100, and the longest was 123 miles in 5:30 two weeks out from IMMT in early August. This ride was followed up the next day with a 20+ mile run at 7:22 pace for an average. I felt good and strong and confident about my chances of a KQ at Tremblant.

IMMT got off to a good start, and I had what I felt was a strong swim, coming out of the water in 1:06. T1 was a long run, but I got on the bike feeling my weakest leg was behind me and I was positioned well. I was very consistent on the bike, but my watts ended up a little lower than I felt I could have put out. Based on training, Steve and I felt that 240-245 watts was my target. I ended up at 232 AP and 242 NP, evenly splitting 2:33 for each of the two loops. Coming off the bike I thought I was near the top 10 in my AG and should be able to run some folks down. I felt amazing for the first several miles of the run, and may have pushed a tiny bit too hard, with the first 6 miles hitting a pace in the mid 7:20's. However, because I was feeling so great at the time I neglected to take in any nutrition, and this began to come back to haunt me. I was taking coke at the aid stations, but didn't use any of the 700 calories I had on me or any of my salt pills. I honestly don't know why I didn't take in my nutrition, but my pace began to slow, and by the last loop of the run I was running 8:15-8:30 pace. I also had to make a bathroom stop around mile 19, which didn't help.

As I approached the end of the run I was still holding out hope that I may grab one of the remaining slots for the AG. However, I was passed by two guys in the last 1/4 mile and I had nothing left, briefly trying to hang with them, finishing six seconds back. As it turned out, they each got the last two Kona slots. Looking back, I feel it was probably best that I didn't get a KQ. It would have meant another 7 weeks of longer rides and runs, and with the school year beginning, that would not have been fair for Katie, plus traveling to Hawaii with a six-month old would have been difficult.

I was crushed after the race, realizing that my one real goal for the year had eluded me by 7 little seconds. Still hungry for competition, I formulated a plan to drive 700 miles to Ontario in early September to race Muskoka 70.3 and grab a WC slot for 2014. Katie wasn't thrilled with the notion, but agreed. Three weeks after IMMT, I managed a 5th in my AG and 32nd overall at Muskoka and did get a slot for the 70.3 WC, which will be held at Tremblant. I believe a bit of redemption will be in order!

The week after returning from my sojurn to Ontario I got into the Boston Marathon, so that is my current focus. My goal is a sub 3:00 race, and if training goes well, I feel I can be somewhere in the low to mid 2:5x range. I have decided to stick with Darkhorse Multisport for the 2014 season, and Steve is helping me formulate a way to crush Boston! I'm right around 50 mpw for running, getting in one bike and two swims per week. My goal over the winter is to try and maintain my bike and swim fitness, then ramp up after Boston in April to have a strong showing at Patriot HIM, Timberman 70.3 and the 70.3 WC's. Here's my best 'hungry' race photo, hoping 2014 is a great year!

Muskoka 70.3 and Looking Towards 2014

It's now been four weeks since I headed off to 'Cabin Country,' as the Muskoka region of Ontario is called. My 1500 mile round-trip was a success in that I was able to get a 2014 70.3 WC slot. However, it was almost a 1500 mile drive that didn't even include a race!

I left for Ontario on a Friday evening, driving about five hours to Syracuse, NY. On Saturday morning I was up and on the road before 6 AM, and arrived in Huntsville, where the race is held, right around 1 PM. The race site is a bit unique in that parking for the event is on a small landing strip, and there are buses to shuttle to transition and registration. I got in a quick 25 min ride to test everything out, then got my stuff together and biked the 2 miles to transition.

After registering, I wanted to go for a swim, but apparently the swim course was closed and there was a possibility of a DQ for swimming. Not wanting that to happen, I grabbed a bus back to my car, drove the 30 minutes to my hotel. I found some supper and was in bed a little before 9 PM, setting my alarm for just before 5 the next morning.

Some time on Sunday morning I rolled over, checking the time on my phone, and uttered a few  choice 4-letter words. It was 5:50 AM, and apparently the AC unit in the room had muffled my alarm. I was out the door and on the road by 6:05, eating a bagel and having a race nutrition breakfast of gels, cliff blocks, and some Infinit - yum!!!

Luckily, it was an 8 AM start, so I had time once I parked and got the shuttle bus to transition. I was lucky to have woken up when I did - just think if I had driven all that way and slept through the race start! Next time I'll definitely do a wake-up call!

After quickly setting up transition, I headed down to the swim start, about a 10 min walk away. I contemplated leaving my shoes near the swim out, for the steep 1/4 mile run to transition, but decided against it, eventually putting them in my morning clothes bag. I was able to get in about a 10 min swim warmup before it was time for our wave to head out.

My swim is definitely my weakest sport, but it's improved a bit this year, as I've put in a lot of pool time. I'm pretty happy with this swim, as it's advertised as 2000m, not the traditional 1900m. I got 2,323 yards according to my Garmin 310 in my swim cap. I feel this was my best swim of the season, and put me right where I needed to be, out of the water in 32 min.

Garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/373232687

I opted for the wetsuit strippers, and they had a hard time getting the suit over my heels - rather than pulling harder they stared at each other instead of pulling. I told asked them to pull harder, which they did, eventually yanking it off. They weren't the best strippers! After that, there is around a 1/4 mile uphill run to transition. My Garmin 310 was in my hand, after taking it from my cap, and I glanced down seeing a HR of 185 - highest of the day.

I biked this quite conservatively, knowing I didn't need to push super hard, as the bike is my strongest event. I honestly expected to be a bit slower, based on times from previous years, so I was pretty happy with my bike ride. I rode at around 76% of my FTP, and 20 watts lower than the Tremblant 70.3 last summer. Only three weeks after IMMT, I know I wouldn't have the legs I'd be capable of it this were an A race.

From the get go, the hills began. It was almost constantly up and down, with very few flat sections, and the flat sections seemed to almost always have a headwind, especially the exposed areas near the lakes we went by. I got close to 5000 ft of climbing on my Garmin, but I'm not sure it was quite that much.

In the first 20 or so miles I was constantly passing folks - people from my AG and from the wave in front of us, which went off 6 min before. After the first hour or so the field began to thin out, and the passings decreased. After 2 hours I was averaging a bit over 23 mph, but knew that some of the steepest hills were in the last 20k, which proved true. My avg speed dropped by 1/2 a mph over this distance. I also passed a few of the female pros over this part of the course.

I came into T2 feeling fresh, but still a bit unsure where I stood in my AG. As the course wasn't an out and back I couldn't gauge where I stood, but I knew that near the end I was riding pretty much on my own. As it turned out, I saw three bikes racked in the 35-39 area when I got to T2. I was actually 5th, so I must have missed a bike. My bike time was 2:35, actually quicker than I thought I'd do at that power output (260 watts). 

Garmin File: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/373223165

Knowing there were 12+ WC slots, and knowing where I stood after the bike, I felt like I didn't need to kill myself on the run.

I made a decision to cruise along at a pretty comfortable pace until the turn-around, then see where I stood within the AG. Over the first half of the run I passed two guys from my AG and was passed by 1, so I thought I was in 4th place. After the turn-around I could see a few others from the AG a few minutes back, but not nearly enough to make me need to increase my pace that much.

There were three nasty hills in each direction of the course, and I contemplated walking a bit on them, as the pace wouldn't be drastically different that trying to run. However, I decided to keep running, and ended up not getting passed by anyone for the remainder of the run. If there had been fewer WC slots I definitely would have pushed more, but it wasn't needed. My goal in doing this race was to get a slot, and placing in the AG wasn't a real priority.

However, I was still pleased to take 5th in the AG. My run time was 1:32 and my finishing time was 4:45. This time would have won the AG by 8 minutes last year, so the extra WC slots brought out some faster fellows.

Garmin File: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/373232711 

 

Although I wasn't planning on doing this race it was a fun experience. I would have much preferred qualifying for Kona, but that didn't happen. I was able to get a 70.3 WC slot on a challenging course. I've now got a year to be ready for that race! I was the second non-pro from the US to finish - definitely mostly Canadians doing the race - heck, I was born in Nova Scotia, so I could be Canadian if I wanted.

The support was good for this race and the post race food was excellent. I didn't stick around for the awards ceremony - I guess I would have received something for 5th - as I had 6+ hours of driving back to Syracuse. 

          

  Looking towards the future, I have two races lined up for next year. First up will be the Boston Marathon in April. I'll probably start up the marathon training some time in November. Then my focus will turn towards the 70.3 WC at Tremblant, where I hope to have a bit of redemption after my poor IM there in August.

Kona is now one week from tomorrow. Half of me wishes I was about to head off and race, but the other half is telling me it was probably a good thing that I didn't qualify. With school starting up again (already my 7th year of teaching), Katie going back to work, and Jackson starting daycare, there has been very little time for training. I've gotten in 6-7 hours a week over the past month, and that's with workouts either before the sun is up or after the sun has set. Kona training would have been meager at best and traveling to Hawaii with a 6 month old would have been far from ideal. While I'd love to be racing, it's probably best that I'll be following along on the computer, tracking friends and coach Steve. Maybe in a few more years I'll give Kona another shot.