Four Weeks To Go!

It's now the third week of July, which means that IMMT is actually less than four weeks away. Since I raced Patriot, I feel my training has gone quite well. The time spent on Nantucket with my family was great, and I really kicked off the IM training while we were there. The last few weeks of training have been pretty tough, and having a 3 1/2 month old baby certainly doesn't allow for endless hours of training time. He is super cute, though!!



My last three weeks of training have looked like this, with training time ranging from 17.5-21.5 hrs:

Swim: 16,300                   Swim: 16,100                  Swim: 13,400
Bike: 242                          Bike: 281                        Bike: 211
Run: 30                             Run: 36                           Run: 41

I've got two more weeks of some high volume, then it's time for taper, baby! This week I have two 5-hr rides, which should be around 110-112 miles a piece. This coming Sunday is another 18-19 mile run, the majority of which will be done at my target pace of 7:30. That pace seems pretty easy to hold on a long run, but I know it will be a whole different matter after a nice little 112 mile bike ride.

I think my swim endurance has improved over the course of the season. It's definitely my weakest area, but I think that I should be able to swim a 1:05-1:06. I've been hitting my faster 100's in the low 1:20's, and did a 40x100 yd workout recently where I was right around 1:27 on a 1:40 sendoff for the first 30 and 1:35 on the last 10.

My long rides have been going pretty well. So far, I've done three 100+ rides, and two that were around 95. I will probably end up with six rides of over 100 miles, which should set me up pretty well for a strong bike time at IMMT. I'm targeting around 245 watts on the bike, which I hope will put me pretty close to a 5:00 bike split. I went 2:23 in the half on 275 watts, so I feel that a time around 5:00 is reasonable.

I'm just hoping that the temperature at IMMT is relatively cool. The average high temps there in August are in the mid 70's, which would be great. After having a week of temps in the 90's here in the Boston area that would seem quite nice! However, the heat's also been a good test to do some long training in to see what my body can handle. My 110 mile ride this past Saturday was done with a heat index of around 100, and I felt pretty good.

Running has been a bit more brutal in the heat. I think it takes me a bit longer to run in heat and humidity. After all of my recent runs it's looked like I just wore my running gear into the shower.

I've also been watching some of the Tour de France, and some of the 'fans' really crack me up, none more than this guy carrying what looks like a stuffed boar with one leg that fell off. The best part is that the guy is carrying the broken leg! Simply awesome!!!!!!

Island Training

Katie, Jackson, and I have spent the past eight days with my parents on Nantucket Island, where I grew up. It's been great to be back and have some time to train. Coach Steve began my last build to IMMT two weeks ago, and I got in some solid training while on the island.

I got in the following volume while visiting my folks:
Swim: 16,300 yards
Bike: 270 miles
Run: 49.7 miles

Nantucket is only about 15x5 miles, so the biking was quite limited. I just ended up doing lots of loops on the eastern end of the island. The pool I swam at is part of the high school that I went to. I remember when the high school was brand new, but now it's around 25 years old - funny how the time goes by so quickly! For running, I was able to do some trail and dirt road running and also get some longer runs in on the extensive network of bike trails on the island. 

Katie and I also had the chance to go out to a nice dinner at a new restaurant called Company of the Cauldron, celebrating our 9-year anniversary a few days early. We were able to overlap with my brother and his wife for a day when we arrived, which was nice. Jon lives in SF, and I only get to see him a few times a year. It was also the first time that Jackson was able to meet his Aunt Marissa.

I now have six weeks left until IMMT, which probably means four more weeks of higher volume, and then a taper into the race. I've been feeling a bit beat this past week, but I attribute part of that to the crazy high humidity on Nantucket. The temps weren't that extreme (high around 80), but the humidity never got below 90%, which led to some very wet rides and runs. I'm looking forward to some more solid training and also quality time with Katie and Jackson over the remainder of the summer.

SUMMER!!!!!!

As a teacher, the summer doesn't officially end until school is over. For me, that final day was June 21st. With two hurricane days and five snow days to make up, it felt like the end of the year would never come. My class this year was a bit of a challenge behavior wise - it was definitely a learning experience, and I think I became a better teacher as a result. That being said, I'm definitely glad that summer is here so I can spend more time with Jackson and devote time to IM training as well.

The weekend before the final week of the school year I raced a local HIM, the Patriot Half. I had done this race two years ago, and went in with much better fitness. I felt that my training was leading to a race time of somewhere close to 4:20 - maybe even under that if things went perfect.

Talking with coach Steve, I decided to switch from the M35-39 to the elite wave. There was a small prize purse for the overall podium slots (only available to those in the elite wave), and I'd also be racing on a clean course (at least for the first loop on the bike). So around, 7 AM on June 16th I lined up for the first time with the 'big boys.' I felt that my swim training was pointing towards a low 30's swim. However, I quickly lost touch with the lead swimmers and my sighting was horrible. A few racers later told me they got a long course (1.4 miles) based on their Garmins. I came out of the water right at 35 minutes, feeling a bit upset, but also knowing my better legs were ahead of me. I was 10/10 of the elite men - at least I knew where I stood and couldn't move backwards!

After a quick T1 I was on the bike. Specific instructions had been given to "STAY UNDER 280 WATTS!!" Two years ago I went 2:21 on the bike on 255 watts, so I felt that being around 280 should lead to a time in the 2:16 range. That didn't happen! For some reason bike times were slow across the board. I finished with the 3rd fastest time in 2:20 on 273 watts. I was able to pass five guys from the wave, so I came into T2 in 5th out of 10. There was a bit of wind and the roads aren't in great shape, but I definitely should have been faster than that. Again, a bit of a disappointment, and I was realizing that my hopes of being close to 4:20 were gone.


T2 was set up a bit different than two years ago, and led to a slower transition. Out on the run I felt pretty solid for the first two miles, both at 6:36. After a half marathon PR of 1:20 three weeks earlier, I felt I could run a 1:25-1:26 here. It simply wasn't in the cards, though, and my pace after the first two miles stayed right around 6:50 - my legs didn't want to go any faster.

The run was quite lonely - I didn't pass anyone and didn't get passed. There were some rolling hills, but nothing crazy steep. The course was pretty exposed to the sun, but temps were only in the upper 70's to low 80's. I crossed the finish line with a 1:29 run and a finish of 4:29, pretty bummed with my overall time. I finished 5/10 in the elite wave and 7th overall.

I know this was far from my best race, but still a PR. My taper wasn't that big, as Steve has me gunning for a Kona slot at IMMT in eight weeks. I'm looking forward to this next big block of training time to really nail my nutrition and pacing for Tremblant. Bring it!!!

Settling into a grove!

Over the past few weeks our little guy, Jackson, has really settled into a good sleeping pattern. He is consistently giving us 4-5 hours of sleep initially, then another 3 or so before I get up for work. He's definitely finding his grove in terms of being a baby. He's still crying a lot, but mainly during the day. However, he's recently started smiling a lot and we think even laughing a little. He just turned eight weeks old, and here is he is snuggling on the couch with the other two boys (Dusty & Coby):

As a result of Jackson settling into his grove, I feel that my training has done the same. I'm hitting the paces coach is asking of me, and feel like I'm making some solid gains. In the pool I feel like I've hit a bit of a plateau, but I've gained some good speed in the past four months. I've gone from doing my 100 repeats on 1:45 and touching around 1:30, to now doing them on 1:40 and touching in the 1:22-1:23 range. Still no means fast by swimming standards, but I'm hoping it will translate into a swim time of around 31:00 in a June HIM, which would be a 3 min gain from last year. I'm still swimming 3-4 times per week, and getting in around 12k yards.

Biking has been steady, and I've been able to get in some good longer rides on the weekends. My tri bike was in the shop for close to three weeks, though, and I was relegated to riding the road bike. I apparently had a crack in my fork, which was covered under warranty. The only problem was that Blue sent out the wrong freaking fork initially, so it took a week longer to get the bike back than it should have. As a result, I actually borrowed a bike for my first tri of the season, but still had the fastest bike split - many thanks to Kyle, who lives near me in Chelmsford for offering to lend me his bike!!! I ended up finishing up 4th overall, behind a Boston University kid and two members of my tri team. If not for a sub-par swim, I would have been in contention for the win. It was also a bit weird being in an older AG this year, and therefore not starting in the first wave. Here are a few shots from that race:

Running has been improving, and I just set a half marathon PR of nearly three minutes yesterday in the Boston Run to Remember. I finished in 1:20:46, which was 23rd out of 6,800, and getting 13.34 on my Garmin. This is the 5th year I've run this race, finishing in 1:47 in my first go. I had a real good last 5k in this race, closing in 18:15 to crack 1:21. I'm psyched with my run gains and feel that I should have a good run in my HIM in three weeks.

Through the first 3 1/2 weeks of May I've hit the following training #'s on about 12 hrs a week:
Swim: 40,000 yards
Bike: 430 miles
Run: 110 miles

2013 Season Goals

This season will be unique for a few reasons. Number one, I'm now a father, and have a little guy who now depends on me. Number two, my sole racing focus is getting as fit as possible for IMMT in August so I can get to Kona.

My tri season officially kicks off tomorrow with the New England Season Opener, a local sprint tri. My goal for this race is the overall win. I know it will be a challenge, as there are plenty of fast local guys, including a few on my own team, Northeast Multisport. However, I feel that if I execute and race to my potential, I've got a good shot at winning.

One slight hiccup going into this race is that my tri bike has a broken fork/steerer tube, and is currently out of commission. On a long ride last weekend I nearly had a serious crash, as a car pulled out in front of me on a narrow road. I was forced to swerve and slam on my brakes, doing an endo, but somehow not ending up on the ground. However, I think the load on the fork may have caused the crack. The funny thing is that I didn't realize it was cracked, and continued for another 50 or so miles. I dropped my bike off for a pre-race tuneup, and the shop called, notifying me of the crack. Blue will cover the fork under warranty, but the new fork won't be in until mid next week.

The 'awesome' result of this incident, is that a local slowtwitch member graciously offered to lend me his bike for the race. So, I'll be racing on a blue TTX this weekend. I picked it up on Thursday night, and took it on a quick spin yesterday. After stopping four times to make small adjustments to the seat and bars, I think the fit is pretty decent. I guess we'll find out tomorrow!

Overall, training has been going quite well. I did an 81 mile ride at 274 watts avg this past weekend, and a short run off the bike felt great. My swim volume has decreased a bit to around 12,000 yards/week (from around 15,000), but my speeds have gotten a bit quicker. Yesterday I did 10x100 touching around 1:22-1:23 on 1:40, which is a good 8-10 seconds faster than where I was last year. My bike fitness is probably a bit better than last year, thanks to Steve's guidance. I did a 20 min test last week and got 361 watts, which pegs my FTP around 340 (around 4.5 w/kg @ FTP). I also feel that my run fitness has increased a bit as well, and running at faster paces definitely seems more manageable.

After tomorrow's sprint the season will go as follows. On May 26th I'm running in a half marathon, where I hope to be right around 1:20. Three weeks later I'm doing a local HIM (Patriot), and my goal there is sub 4:20. I'm shooting for splits of around 31:00, 2:15, and 1:25, plus transition times to get me there. After the HIM in mid June I have nine weeks until IMMT, which will be a solid block of training time. I think that a time of 9:40 or less is realistic, and top 5 in my AG is my goal. If all goes well, I'll have eight weeks between IMMT and a trip to Hawaii!

Katie, Jackson, and I are also planning on a bit of traveling over the summer. We would like to visit Katie's aunt and uncle in Hilton Head, and we are also hoping to spend two weeks on Nantucket with my family in early July. Of course, my bike, wetsuit, and running shoes will travel along with us so I can get in my workouts.

As a result of having our first child, I realized it was about time that we had two cars that Katie could drive. That meant that my Subaru Outback XT with a manual tranny had to go. I traded it in and picked up a 2014 Forester, which will do the trick. It's got 80 less HP than the Outback, but the mileage should be close to 30, a far cry from the 21-22 on premium I was getting before.