Going Back Home

This is the view from the deck of my parents house looking out over Margaree Harbour (Canadian spelling) in Cape Breton. My Dad bought this 30 acre farm there in 1970 after staying in the house, which was a bed and breakfast at the time, and offering to buy it because of the amazing location. I was born in Sydney, which is a two hour drive away, and my parents lived in this house year-round for eleven years, my Dad painting and my Mom weaving and making textiles. They were a part of the hippie generation, partially getting away from the Vietnam War, and going back to the land. They had cows, sheep, chickens, and a huge garden. I spent every summer here as a kid, and have so many fond memories of the place. My Dad taught me how to fly fish for salmon here, and we could often see the salmon jumping in the harbour on their way up the river. My summer days were spent outside from sunrise to sunset, which is nearly 10 pm with the time change, playing with other kids. We had no TV and didn't need it! We built forts in the woods, created our own games, and I had an amazing summer childhood.

It had been five years since we'd been back to Margaree. My brother got married here in 2012 and we hadn't planned on taking so long to get back. My Mom has been back every summer, but my Dad hasn't made it since the summer of 2013. Needless to say, it was a very sentimental trip, and it was sad to leave. However, the house had a few drawbacks (well, really a lot!). The house is 100 years old this year, is full of lead paint, has only one bathroom, and two sets of rickety stairs. Having a 9-month old who wants to crawl everywhere meant Katie or I had to be super vigilant at all times. We tried to get out of the house to do some things, but there isn't a ton to do in the direct vicinity that is of interest to 4 year old Jackson.

Backing up a bit, after the Eagleman race in Maryland I had to go back to school for one more day. A few days later we headed to Nantucket for Father's Day weekend. It was nice to see my Mom, Dad and Grandmother. I got in a longer ride and run there, but the run legs weren't quite back yet.

Two days after getting home we were off for four nights in Stowe, Vermont, staying at a time share that Katie's parents have at the Trapp Family Lodge. During our stay, Katie had her birthday. I gave her a new pair of trail running shoes, and Hannah really liked the box (and Cliff Bloks too). We managed to get out and play a little mini golf. Jackson had a hard time following the rules and just wanted to whack the ball as hard as possible!

I hoped to do more riding in Stowe, but the weather didn't cooperate, and I only got in one ride. I went from the Stowe side up and over Smuggler's Notch. I didn't exactly have the proper gearing on my tri bike (53/39 w/an 11-25 cassette). It was still a fun ride and had some nice views on the climb.

Katie and I were able to get out on some rented mountain bikes for two hours one afternoon. It was a great ride and the weather was perfect. We managed to get lost a few times on the trails around the Trapp Family Lodge, but eventually found our way back. The ride makes me want to get a mountain bike and explore some of the local trails around our home. The time share had two pools, a 20-yard indoor one and a 25-yard outdoor one. I swam each morning and got in a bit over 10k yards while there. 

We returned from Vermont on Friday and on Sunday I did a local sprint race. I really hadn't done much specific training in between Eagleman and this race, and didn't know quite what to expect. I had registered in the Elite Wave, which had eight folks in it. The RD made the decision to start the elite racers in the 3rd wave, trying to spread things out. This made for a very tricky bike ride, as there were tons of folks who had no f-ing clue what they were doing. I know I'd probably be last out of the water from the elites, and that was the case. I had hoped to be no more than a minute down, but it was a bit more than that.

Before the race I debated with myself which shoes to wear - the modified Giro ACC's or my Shimano TR9's. I knew the TR9's were much easier to get into, but the Giro's were more aero. I chose to go with the Giro ACC, but was never able to get my left foot in. I ended up spending the first two miles trying to get my foot in, then decided to f-it and rode the remainder of the bike course with my foot on the shoe. I probably wasted close to a minute of riding time (coasting) trying to get the shoe on. Hindsight is 20-20, but the TR9's would have been a better choice. I've since adjusted the lacing on the ACC's so they are easier to get into.

As I said before, being started in the 3rd wave, and with the 1st wave comprised of complete newbies, the ride was quite harrowing. It was only a 12.5 mile ride, but I probably screamed 'on your left' 50 or more times. How hard is it to ride on the right???? Anyway.....rant over. I had hoped to be around 320 watts for the bike leg, but only averaging 250 for the first two miles led to an AP of 302 and a NP of 317. The last 10 miles were right around 320 watts and 27 mph. 

Coming off the bike and into transition, I could just see the bright green helmet of one of the other elite racers at our racks. He ended up having a sprint to finish 2nd OA. I was really in no-mans land, being nearly a minute behind the other elite racers in front of me. I had hoped to run around a 6:00 pace, but ended up at 6:11 for the race, and finished 5th overall out of a bit over 800 racers. It was a fun race, but I wish I had executed the bike a bit better and had a stronger run. The swim is what is holding me back a bit, but I'd really need a strong focus, and with two little ones that isn't going to happen. What usually seems to happen is that my swim comes around during the season - last year I ended up with a 31 flat swim at Pumpkinman. Hopefully this will happen again this year.

After driving home from the race we had a few more days at our house before heading off to Cape Breton for the week. My Mom arrived on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning we got up early to drive to Logan Airport. The flight to Halifax is relatively short, at just over an hour. Once there, we got a rental car - well van actually. It was a pimped out Chrysler Pacifica with dual rear screens and tons of techno gizmos. Jackson wanted to 'watch something,' as he puts it, but the screens didn't get used. After a four hour ride, we finally made it to our family house around 4 PM. I won't bore with too many more details about our time in Cape Breton, but will add captions to a few pics.

I managed to get to the beach twice to try to swim. Both days were windy and wavy and the troops (Katie, Jackson, and Hannah) weren't all that happy. I ended up with only 600 or so yards or body surfing and floundering in the surf. 

On July 1st, Canada Day, we visited some friends of my parents. We managed to find a few Canadian themed objects for a Canada Day selfie. 

Our barn, which is in relatively good condition, once housed many animals. My brother is going to spend around five weeks here this summer trying to restore my Dad's 30 foot schooner, which is in the barn (part sticking out).

We went on a nearly 6 mile hike in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. In the past we've seen lots of moose, but all we saw was their crap! Jackson was a pretty good trooper, but I ended up carrying him on my shoulders for nearly half the time. I managed to get in 77 miles of hilly running during our week, including a nice 18.5 mile loop up and down the Margaree River.

We had a mini get away during our vacation, driving a bit over two hours to Louisbourg, and staying in a hotel nearby. Louisbourg is a French fort that was taken twice by the British (then retaken by the French) in the years leading to the American Revolution. It has been restored and has period actors. Jackson really liked all of the cannons around the fort but wasn't so sure about the soldiers.

Hannah didn't actually have her on airplane seat on the way home, but she liked it!

This is the summer of being on the go. In two more days we are headed to the Berkshire's for four nights, and then we'll be going back to Nantucket in a week to visit the folks and race in the Nantucket Triathlon. I finished 3rd OA last year, and hope to better that placing this year. After that we have a bit of time at home before going to California at the end of the month for a wedding. Somehow I hope to get in 12-15 hours of training a week to be in decent shape for races in August and September.

Eagleman 70.3 Report and Thoughts

My primary goal heading into Eagleman was to secure a spot to the World Champs in Chattanooga in September, and I was able to meet that goal. However, my run seemed to let me down and I ran much slower than what I though would be my 'worst case scenario.' I knew my fitness wasn't quite as good for this race as it was at the end of last summer, but I felt with a decent run I'd be able to get close to the low 4:20's mark. Here are my splits, courtesy of sportstats.ca, the timing company for IM. They do an infinitely better job of updating splits during races than the ironman website!!

I began with what I feel was a pretty good swim considering how little swimming I did since last season. For a majority of the months from September - February I swam once a week. In March and April I tried to add in a second swim on some weeks, and by mid May I was able to get into Walden Pond to do a few open water swims prior to race day. The swim ended up with a time of just over 34 minutes, three minutes slower than my 70.3 swim PR, but about what I expected. I feel like I sighted well and swam the buoy line, and I'm not sure of the accuracy of the 2400 yds my Garmin (in swim cap) gave me. The new Zoot Wikiwiki felt great as well! Regardless, I was out of the water and ready to hammer on the bike.

The run into transition was maybe 200 yards, and I took advantage of the strippers. My only regret is that I had no tip for their fine service! Into T2 and I put on my helmet, stashed my flat kit in my rear pocket, and was off. I was hoping for a bit quicker transition, but looking at others in the AG, it wasn't that slow.

Based on training, I felt that targeting the low 270's for watts was the goal, but I wanted to ease into it a bit, knowing my HR is always high for the first 10-15 miles of the bike. After getting out of town I began to settle into my watts, trying to hold the best position possible, and passing tons of folks in the process. As can be seen below, I was pretty consistent in terms of speed and wattage range.

Somewhere just before the 34 mile mark I managed to drop my concentrated bottle of Infinit as I was taking it out of the cage. Being my only nutrition, I quickly stopped to retrieve it. In the process of restarting I rushed and managed to drop my chain. This whole fiasco, which seemed to take about an hour, only cost me a minute or so. However, I knew I had been on pace for a ride of right around 2:10. As you can see below, I had a peak power of a bit over 550 watts in trying to get back up to speed. I knew it was unwise to try getting that wasted time back, so I again settled into my wattage range and cruised by many folks.

I've heard that Eagleman is a flat race, and the profile below the map does it justice. There were a handful of virtually flat bridges scattered throughout the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge that accounted for about 100 total feet of elevation. For the most part, the road surface was good, but there were definitely some bumpy sections that killed the speed. Any road hazards were clearly marked with spray paint, which was great!

In terms of gear for race day, I feel like I'm always trying to add a thing or two each season to get a better position. Last year I added in the new Giro helmet, and this year I added in the Giro shoes with elastic laces. The pics below are poor screen shots, but I feel I've got a pretty decent position. I really tried to shrug the shoulders and tuck the arms in right against my water bottle. After loosing some nutrition via my rear bottle holder I went to a X-Lab Gorilla that is zip-tied in, and it worked great. The new Team Zoot kit was great. I'm not all that psyched about the fit of the two-piece suit I have, especially the top in regards to wrinkles and a bit low neckline that sometimes grabs air. However, I was able to have the fastest amateur bike split on lower than goal wattage. On the back end of the course there were some sections where I was fighting a head wind and really trying to get as narrow as possible to maximize my watts.

Coming into T2 I knew I wasn't going to go under 2:10, which was a bit frustrating. The last little bit of the race is a slight downhill into T2. I came in at my 'normal' speed, taking my right foot over the saddle and planning on running with the bike, my left foot hitting the ground first. However, this didn't exactly happen correctly. My best guess is that when my left foot hit the ground it was a bit behind my center of gravity, because I did a complete somersault, managing to not hit my head, and having my bike mimic my acrobatics. A bit scraped up, but not injured, I quickly jumped up, grabbed my bike and a shoe that had popped off, and ran into transition. This fiasco, coupled with my bottle drop definitely hurt my chances of a sub 2:10 ride, but I knew I was still in a good position. 

Unaware, I was actually 1st in my AG after the bike coming into T2, having been 41st after the swim. I had decided to throw on a running singlet and run with a nutrition belt. The belt has two small bottles, one of which had three gels, and the other had eight salt taps dissolved in water. I actually felt pretty good heading out on the run, but made a very concerted effort to take it easy and target a pace in the 7:00-7:10 range and a HR under 160. I ran 1:29 at Florida 70.3 last spring - it only got to around 80 that day, but it was a hilly course. The forecast for Eagleman was to get into the low 90's. However, I feel the real difference was that the run at Eagleman is nearly all exposed and the radiant heat coming off the pavement makes it feel much hotter. 

I made it to around mile three with a HR of just under 160, and was still feeling good. However, somewhere between there and mile five I began to 'feel' the heat. It is a bit hard to explain the feeling, but my pace began to drop and my HR began to rise. The effort got more intense, and I made a point to take the aid stations slow and take in lots of fluids. I was in the 2nd wave of my AG, and around the 5-6 mile mark I was passed by someone from the wave that was 4 minutes in front of me. As the miles ticked by slower and slower there seemed to be nothing I could do to even try to maintain the pace of the previous mile. I was passed by another two fellow AG-ers, but could only watch them run away from me. Talking to others after the race who were from New England or other colder areas, it was agreed that training for the heat is damn hard if you don't have consistent heat to train in! Seems like a no-brainer, but without heat to train in, I melted. The 70.3 WC in Tennessee should be warm in September, but I will make a point of getting in lots of training during hot and humid conditions over the summer.

Nearing the finish, trying to speed up to 7:30 pace felt like closer to 5:00 pace. Finally crossing the finish line, I still felt like I probably had a WC slot, but with the two waves for the AG it was unknown. I found some shade and chatted for a while with other racers. I had a chance to talk with Eric Wheeler about his race. I also got a chance to meet Mike Gadzinski, and guy who's owned Eagleman, and who has inspired me to get faster in the sport. 

Eventually, we were allowed back into transition. I was able to grab my phone and see that I'd come 4th in the M35-39 AG. Not what I was looking for, but I probably didn't have a shot at 1st in the AG. Without the bike mishaps, slightly quicker transitions, and a run that was 4-5 min faster I could have been 2nd. However, hindsight is always great to speculate about, but I'm not Hermione Granger with a time turner (Harry Potter reference), so it ain't happening!

Looking forward, the school year is done today! We have quite a bit of traveling planned, including time in Stowe, VT, a week long trip to Cape Breton, visiting the folks on Nantucket, and a wedding at the end of July near Lake Tahoe in Trukee, CA. Sprinkled in there are two sprint races and an Olympic. I hope that training can be consistent and that I have a strong showing at the WC in Chattanooga. My goal for that race is to be pleased with my effort and execute against a strong field of racers. 

Eagleman Approacheth

I'm now 11 days out from Eagleman, which has been the focus of my training over the past five months. Starting in January, I slowly built the monthly volume from 40 hours to 66 hours. The basic structure of my training stayed very consistent, but I simply increased the duration and intensity of key workouts. I haven't taken a full day off since February - I've found that I do better with active recovery instead of complete rest. 

My basic week has gone as follows:

Monday - recovery run of 7-9 miles

Tuesday - 70.3 focus bike - lots of 80-85% work (1-1.5 hrs) & occasionally a swim

Wednesday - intervals on treadmill or at track (9-12 miles total) & easy bike in May

Thursday - soul crushing intervals on the bike at FTP or higher (1-2 hrs), swim

Friday - easy bike and run

Saturday - long bike w/lots of 70.3 focus (2-3.25 hrs), short run

Sunday - easy swim, long run (12-17 miles)

Heading into Eagleman, I feel like my fitness is good, but not quite where it was in the middle of last summer. However, if I have a good day I feel that a 70.3 PR could happen, which would mean going under 4:21.

I have a series of goals for the race, which are ranked in order of priority.

1) Qualify for the 70.3 WC - this should have happened at Timberman last summer, but a flat ruined that chance - I'll probably need to place in the top 6-7 in my AG based on 75 slots

2) Set a 70.3 PR - this is doable if I have a decent swim and execute a solid run in the heat - the bike should set me up well for doing this

3) Win my AG - this is of course highly dependent on the competition within the AG, but it's been a goal of mine for a while to accomplish this

I've picked up a few 'toys' for the season, chief among them a new pair of shoes. Taking ideas from Thomas Gerlach and others, I modified a pair of Giro shoes to hopefully be a bit more aero and save a bit of time on the bike. I also recently got a Garmin 735XT, which I really like. My first run was a track workout, which can be seen below. Switching between sports is much easier than on my old 910XT, and the size and feel of the watch is much better than the 910. It won't save me any time, but it's less clunky than previous watches I've worn (305, 310, and 910). 

Having a second child has been awesome, but with minimal training for most of the fall, my weight had crept up to close to 180 - YIKES! Starting in February, I made it a goal to eat healthier and focus on quality caloric intake. Over three months I was able to drop around 10 pounds, and I hope to be around 166-167 on race day for Eagleman. Weight was measured at roughly the same time prior to morning workouts.

Another new 'toy' that I acquired was a wetsuit. I actually was growing to like my Roka Maverick Elite that I used last season, but, without meaning too, I found a new Zoot Wikiwiki for 75% off the sticker price. I couldn't not buy it at that price, so I now have a sweet suit to go along with my Team Zoot kit. I've gotten in three OWS in it thus far, and feel like there will be a growth period with the suit. I love the shoulder flexibility, and have been messing with the neck closure to minimize water getting in the suit and minimize chafing on the neck. 

In getting ready for Eagleman I've done a bit of heat/humidity work. Using our basement bathroom with the shower on I've done some rides at HIM effort using HR as my guide. It's amazing how not using fans and upping the heat/humidity causes the body to heat up and power drops dramatically. Below are two screen shots from rides during the same week. Both have the same HR, but power is a bit different. I've seen around a 20% power reduction without using fans and in the bathroom - this is around 70-80 watts!

Below is my final block of training heading into Eagleman. Nearly all of the workouts were done in the early AM hours - swimming being the exception. That is really the only way I can get the workouts in with two little ones! Sleep has obviously taken a hit by getting up so early to fit things in. I also spend time with Katie once the little ones are in bed. That means that when I get seven hours of sleep it's a miracle. Most nights are closer to six hours. Definitely not ideal, but I feel like I'm getting decent recovery. 

A recent workout I did makes me feel good about having a strong bike ride at Eagleman. The main set was 6x (6' @ FTP with 1' recovery around 60%). While hard, it felt doable and it may be a workout I extend to 8x over the summer. My goal time for a bike split at Eagleman is close to 2:10. 

We recently visited my folks, who live on Nantucket. My Dad isn't doing very well, and is pretty much bed-ridden, so it can be a bit depressing at times. He has a combination of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, which means maneuvering and memory are shot. At times he can provide a bit of comic relief with the random things he says. It was nice to see my grandmother who also lives there. She is going to be 99 in October, and Hannah just turned eight months old. Quite a range of ages! 

I hope that my next post will be a positive report about executing a good race at Eagleman!

No Surgery! (and spring is finally here)

Becoming a parent shifts things quite a bit, and the focus quickly goes from yourself to your kid(s). A few years ago Jackson, now four, was diagnosed with PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus - a heart defect). We had the option of leaving it alone or 'electing' for a stent to be put in to close the PDA. The 'procedure,' as it was called (we call it surgery), would involve going in through a vein in the leg and 'remotely' putting a stent in a blood vessel in the heart. We had been told that after age two the chance of the PDA closing on its own was very rare. About two weeks ago we went in to Mass General Hospital in Boston for the final echo, chest x-ray, and EKG before a scheduled May 1st 'procedure,' which Katie and I decided was best. At our visit to MGH we found out that the PDA had somehow resolved and the 'procedure' (surgery!) wasn't needed. We were ecstatic, and got Jackson his choice of a toy and ice cream. This had been hanging over our heads for a while, and it's a great relief to not have to put our little guy (and us) through the procedure. He really has no clue as to what was going to go down, but just thinks he went to the hospital to watch a Thomas movie and get some stickers on his chest! Here he is being a happy 4-year old this past week on the beach in Bermuda.

Katie and I are now able to look forward rather than focus on the May 1st date. I wasn't as worried about the procedure as Katie, but I'm just glad that we won't have to go through with it!

When I ended my last post I had been hoping to get outside on the bike before the end of March - yeah, that didn't happen. My first outside ride was just two days ago, on April 23rd, the day after we got back from Bermuda. March stayed quite chilly, and our travel most weekends didn't help with getting out on the bike. In mid March we headed to NH for a weekend to cheer on Katie's cousin Luke, who skis at Dartmouth. He ended up placing 9th overall at the XC National Championships, earning All American status - it was pretty cool to watch! It was a damn cold weekend, as can be seen by how I looked at the end of a 90 minute run in sub-zero temps.

                   

For a while I was 'fighting' a left hamstring issue. It didn't hurt, but never felt right. After two or so months of doing lots of hip and glute strengthening exercises it seems to have finally gotten to the point where I'm not concerned. I'll keep up the strength exercises to be on the safe side. As March wound down, we finalized plans for Jackson's 4th birthday on April first. We decided to collect food donations in lieu of gifts, and Jackson is posing with what was collected and donated to a local food pantry. He seemed to be ok with not getting presents - he certainly has enough toys!

Overall, training has slowly been ramping up. Eagleman is now less than seven weeks away, and over the next five weeks I'll put in my biggest weeks thus far in the year. I should max out at around 14 or so hours before a ten day taper into the race. I've been putting in 5-6 hours of biking a week with 4-5 hours of running. Biking seems to be back where it's been in previous years (solid recent trainer ride), but it's taking a while to get the run back after taking things easy regarding the hamstring (longer run a few weeks ago). I've been able to get to the pool twice most weeks over the past month - once during the work week and once on the weekend. All workouts save for the weekday swim are done in the early morning. I've gotten very accustomed to this routine, and, on the occasion I've forgotten to set my alarm, I've still woken up only a few minutes from when I was planning to get up. Funny how the body knows routine!

The past week (school vacation) we spent in Bermuda, staying at a time share that Katie's folks got in St. George's. I ran and swam each day we were there, totaling 46 hilly miles of running and 15.5k yards of swimming. The funny thing is that the swimming total for the week is more yards than in either January or February! I'm hoping that by the middle of May I'll be able to get into the water at Walden Pond to do a few swims prior to Eagleman. I'm assuming that Eagleman will be done in the swimskin, so it'll be good to get a few swims in wearing it prior to race day. Regarding the swim, I picked up a new wetsuit, the Zoot Wikiwiki. I got an absolute steal on the suit, getting it from someone who does product testing - I think it was the suit that Lava tested in a recent issue. 

     

We had a pretty good time during our six days in Bermuda. Above is the 20m pool where I did my swimming. The hardest part was getting in, as the water was in the low 60's - not a heated pool. Heading into the trip Jackson had the flu, but was on the mend. Once arriving there we think that Hannah got it as well, and we ended up seeing a doctor there. The nights were a bit rough with a sick 7-month old, but I could afford to 'sleep in' until around 6 am most mornings - a true luxury compared with getting up most mornings at home between 4-4:30 am.

I'm going to see how the next five or so weeks of training go before thinking of setting goals for Eagleman. Fingers are crossed that I remain injury free and the remainder of my training heading into the race goes smoothly. Not having to worry about Jackson's 'procedure' is a big relief and one that I hope will have a positive effect on my training going forward.

Maybe it's time for a new bike - here's one I saw in Bermuda. Maybe just slap some aero bars on and it would be ready to race! :)

Winter Update

March has arrived, and that means outdoor riding is no longer a hopeful thought, but a relatively close reality. I'm optimistic that by the end of the month I may get outside on the bike - that would mean a relatively warm early Saturday morning, as I imagine that's the only real time that would fit into the current daily schedule. The schedule is now back to early morning workouts every day and a Thursday afternoon swim. Swimming once a week is not ideal, but it's what currently works. Getting to the pool a second time M-F isn't going to happen unless I take a day off from work. However, my swim has degraded enough that it's no longer degrading - as if that's a positive thing! When home on the weekends (which is rare) I will try to get in a Sunday early morning swim before the long run.

At the end of the season in 2016 I was hitting 100 yd repeats around 1:21-1:22 on a 1:40 sendoff. Now it feels harder to touch around 1:26-1:27 on a 1:45 interval. As has been the case over the last few winters, the swim will come back with a bit more volume. With the warmer weather I plan to eventually get in an OWS on the way to work one morning. Maybe I'll be able to convince Katie that I can swim one more afternoon each week in May leading into Eagleman, but that's probably being overly hopeful.

Run and bike training is going better than the swim, as I'm able to do either in our basement each morning. As a result of less overall training and not being as watchful as I should be, I've put on around five pounds since the end of last season, and am now at around 175 pounds. I'll need to get down to 168-169 by June, but that's doable if I'm a bit more conscious of what's going into the body. As a result of the weight gain, the run has taken a bit of a hit and I feel a little bit more sluggish. I did run a 5k about a month ago and finished in 18:07, so I've still got a little speed in the old body! It was quite the blustery day, so, considering the conditions, I was pretty happy with how the race went. It was a little over 30 seconds off my 5k PR, but that was set 14 months ago when I was focused on breaking my old PR.

Run mileage has been in the 35-50 mile range each week (four to six hours). Around a month ago I felt a slight tightness in my left hamstring, and it hasn't gone away. I felt it a bit more than 'usual' on Wednesday when doing some track work, so I'm taking a few days off from running. The plan is to do all runs at an easy pace for the next two weeks and see if the 'niggle' is still an issue.

In regards to biking, I'm up to around four hours of riding a week and am feeling pretty strong for this time of year. Back in January I finished 2nd OA at the Northeast Multisport TT at Goodale's Bike Shop in Nashua. The Computrainer was a bit overly optimistic with my wattage, but apparently that was true for quite a few folks. The actual wattage according to my Power2Max was around 20 watts lower.

Eagleman is now around 14 weeks away, and the bike volume will continue to increase. This past week was my first two hour ride since September, and I plan to get in two to three hour rides every Saturday (or possibly midweek if needed due to weekend conflicts) for the next 12 weeks or so.

Overall volume this year will be quite a bit less than in the past due to a focus on the family. I envision being able to get in 10-12 hours most weeks, with a peak week in the 13-14 hour range. I feel this should put me in a good position for a strong race in Maryland. I also plan on doing a bit of heat acclimation in the sauna after each swim in the month prior to the race, as well as some rides in the basement bathroom. I did this for FL 70.3 last year and feel that it certainly didn't hurt my performance.

Looking forward, the race schedule for 2017 is beginning to take shape:

May - Fast Half Marathon (Hamilton, MA)
June - Eagleman 70.3 & Cohasset Tri
July - Nantucket Tri
August - Cranberry Olympic
September - 70.3 WC (pending qualifying at Eagleman)

The past week was February Vacation, and we split our time between three days in Maine on Mont Desert Island and three days in Bartlett, NH. Jackson had his first two days of downhill skiing at Cranmore. Here is a parting shot of his first ride up on a chairlift.

2016 By The #'s

Looking back at the previous season I'm a bit disappointed with my race results, but happy with training. More than anything, Katie and I were happy to get through all of her complications and welcome a happy baby into out lives in September. Hannah 'Cupcake' Thomas is as happy as they come and we love having her in our lives!

As the saying goes, when given lemons, make lemonade. I was handed quite the lemon at Timberman with my DNF due to a flat and then having the race called at Pumpkinman to close out the season. However, my training this past year went as good as it's gone. Fitness was high across the board, and I had zero time off due to injuries (knocking on wood as I type!). Here is the breakdown in terms of training volume (just over 580 hours) :

Bike: 5135 miles
Run: 2113 miles
Swim: 320,00 yards

The bike mileage was my 2nd highest yearly total, as was the run mileage. For a year in which I focused on the HIM distance, I'll take it. Part of the increased overall volume was due to including an early season race for the first time, Florida 70.3 in April. I kicked off training in earnest in January and only toned things down in September just before Hannah arrived. My largest training week was just over 18 hours and my biggest month was in July in prep for Timberman. Consistency is what I feel really leads to overall fitness, and I took a total of 12 days off completely during the season, and about half of those were the day after a race. I feel that a short easy workout does more for me than total rest, so I'll fit one of those days in once a week.

I set two HIM PR's during the season (4:26 and 4:21), but felt I could have been faster had things gone better during my final two races. Looking forward, I'm going to have less training time as the focus is on the family. I'm signed up for Eagleman in June and a few sprints as well. The goal is to qualify for the 70.3 WC in September at Eagleman. Even with substantially less overall volume I feel that this is doable, even on a hot day (are there any days that aren't hot and humid at Eagleman???). 

2016 was a good year, but I honestly am not sure what 2017 will bring. I'm not usually one to be pessimistic, but I feel our country is headed in the wrong direction and is about to have an egotistical demagog become its leader. I truly hope the future will be bright, but we'll have to see how things transpire. At least my kids look at every day with a smile on their face and aren't yet jaded by politics and the mess our country is in - here's a yoga elf to make it all good!

New Baby & Season Ruminations

My last post ended with a consideration of the Philly Marathon, but that ain't happening! I seem to have a foggy memory of life with a new baby, and this being our 2nd, it compounds the attention and time needed to devote to family life. Less sleep and what only seems like 20 hours in a day has led to a drastic reduction in training.

Hannah Breton Thomas joined us on September 16th. She was a surprise in that we didn't know what gender he/she would be. Katie and I just wanted a healthy baby, but Jackson was very insistent that he was getting a sister - he seemed to know! She is now just over two months old, and has become quite a good sleeper. Katie is taking the school year off, and her new job is being with Hannah at home, one she's enjoying.

A few weeks after Hannah was born I ran the BAA Half Marathon. I was hoping that I could hang on to some of my fitness from the tri season, but I overestimated my run fitness. I also had to make an unplanned potty stop, but I was able to be in and out in under 25 seconds - pretty sure that may be a #2 record! To the right are the mile splits - you can see mile 7 for the bathroom break and around mile 10 where the wheels started to come off. I ended up just over 1:23 in terms of overall time - I guess I'll take it on 'baby fitness.'

Soon it was time to start thinking about Halloween. Jackson had decided he wanted to be a construction worker, and I came up with the idea of having Hannah be a traffic cone. We thought it was a funny combo. Katie's mom thought it was horrible, as she wanted Hannah in some cute costume. I ended up finding a traffic cone hat that I cut and modified to work as Hannah's costume. For Jackson's costume we had most of the parts and only had to get him some boots.

            

At the end of October I made a last minute decision to run in a local 10k, which almost went right by our house. It was a two-loop course with both a 5k and a 10k (10k a double loop). I was in the lead from the start and soon after the start of loop #2 a volunteer told me to take a right turn. The first loop hadn't had this turn and I thought she was wrong (I've had two races in the past where volunteers have been misguided and directed me off course). I decided to stay straight and run the same as the first loop. However, at the next mile marker I was 1/10 short, and realized I had missed a short out and back. I continued on and finished short of 10k in 36:35. If I had run the correct course I would have been a hair over 37:00. I talked with the RD, who I know, and is a local runner. I was DQ'd as a result of 'cutting' the course - a bit bummed as I should have listened to the volunteer.
Next up? I had been thinking about a half marathon in a few weeks, but I'm thinking that with only running around 35-40 MPW that I'd probably feel quite crappy and it wouldn't be a fun experience - slogging through a race when not in shape doesn't sound fun. Therefore, I'm planning on doing a 5k on Thanksgiving day when we are on Nantucket visiting my folks. It's a course I've run dozens of times and think that something around 18:00 or a bit higher would be realistic. I've been doing a little track work on Wednesday afternoons to work on my speed. I've also agreed to be part of a 5-person 27 mile race (Mill Cities Relay) in a few weeks time. I'll be running a 5.75 mile leg, and our team is aiming for a time of around 2:40.

Taking a look back at the triathlon season, I have mixed emotions. I feel like I had my best fitness yet, continuing to build on the previous three seasons when I was coached. I used what I learned while being coached to tailor my workouts around my daily life, and it seemed to work very well. I had a successful first race of the season at Florida 70.3 in April with a PR of 4:26, and I followed that up with another PR at the Patriot Half in June in 4:21. I was on track to have my best race of the season at Timberman, but a flat ended the day. The season culminated with a somewhat disappointing result at Pumpkinman, when the race was canceled due to a huge thunderstorm. I ended up finishing up 3rd overall there, but would have been around 4:15 if the race had continued.

Looking towards next season, I'm leaning towards racing Eagleman 70.3 to start the tri season in early June, with the goal of securing a slot to the WC in Chattanooga in September. I would probably do one or two shorter races over the summer. Fitting in the training volume from previous years won't be possible, so I'll be creative in fitting workouts in, and I'll probably end up doing more quality workouts and less 'base' mileage. I'm thinking of something like alternating bigger run and bike weeks - 6 hours biking and 4 hours running, then flip the next week to 4 hours biking and 6 hours running. Two swims a week is all I could fit in during the school year. Over the summer I could probably squeeze in an early morning swim at Walden Pond once a week. We'll see how it turns out!

                    

Pumpkinman Reflections

Cliffnotes: PR swim, PR bike, race cancelled halfway through run due to crazy thunderstorm.

I went into Pumpkinman a bit bitter after my DNF at Timberman and felt like I had some good fitness to set a nice PR. I was up a bit after 3 AM and on the road around 4 AM for the hour and twenty minute drive to southern Maine. The weather forecast was a mixed bag. It was going to be relatively warm and very humid - good for a fast bike time, but not the best for the run.

I was racing the Elite wave and thought I might have an outside shot at third, which would be a $250 prize. I had found out just a few days before the race that Lucas Pozzetta, a friend who won this race last year, going sub 4:00 in his first HIM, was racing. A few other faster folks (Doug MacLean, Robert Hollinger, Ray Botehlo) were racing, so I knew I'd have to have a solid day to make the podium.

The race began with a two loop swim in a small pond. Right away a small pack pulled away and Lucas pulled away from them, swimming a 23. I was on my own for the whole swim, but feel I did my best job of sighting this season. When I stood up just before the swim exit and saw something like 30:50 on the clock I was psyched. The official swim was 31:03, a PR by around 30 seconds from the WC at Tremblant a couple of years ago.

The next part sucked - a steep hill climb to transition. I decided to take the wetsuit off before the climb, so my 'hill climb' time wasn't great. However, I was out and on the bike with just over 33 minutes on the race clock. Goal one complete!

The bike course is a mix of recently paved roads along with some pretty crappy sections. Using 85% of FTP, Best Bike Split had me right around 2:09 for a bike split on the slightly short (just under 55 miles) course. I settled in and was feeling pretty solid, starting a bit below goal wattage, and building for the first half hour. My HR was still quite high, as it usually is for the first several miles on the bike, but eventually settled into the mid to low 150's.

The course goes out and does two loops before returning to transition. Each of these two outer loops has two decent climbs followed by equal downhill sections. The end of the bike course is mostly downhill, helping to gain back a little time and speed. After an hour or so I was sitting right at 282 watts, which was what I was shooting for. However, around 1:15 into the bike I reached for my rear water bottle only to realize I'd lost it, probably on some of the crappy road. I was out of water except for my concentrated bottle of Infinit. I knew there was at least 15 or more minutes before the next aid station, so I dialed things down a bit as a result. Looking below, that was right around Lap #8 (I do laps every 4 miles in races) - after that point the watts dropped a bit. I was able to get another bottle with around 35 minutes left in the ride, but I knew I was probably going to come off the bike a bit dehydrated. I had left a full water bottle in transition, and the plan was to run out with that. At the end of the ride I finished with a split of just over 2:10 on 272 watts - my 4th 70.3 this race and all have been at 272 AP! I guess that's consistency - splits have been 2:10 - 2:15 on those watts.

I knew I was in 5th coming off the bike and that three of the four guys ahead of me could probably run faster. Just as I was coming into T2 Robert Hollinger and Tim Russell were heading out - about 2'30" ahead of me. Robert was top amateur at Timberman a few weeks earlier and ran a 1:18 here last year - no chance of catching him. Tim was my goal. I wasn't sure where Ray was, but saw him walking back to transition within my first mile. 

That first mile clicked by in 6:43, right where I wanted to ease into things. Then suddenly, and with no warning, the whole inside of my right leg seized up. It was like it had turned into a log - loosing that bottle on the bike probably didn't help! I stopped for around 15-20 seconds trying to massage it, then began walking gingerly. After a minute or so, I eased into an uncomfortable jog, and within another minute or two was back around my goal pace of 6:30-6:40. However, it cost me quite a bit, and that second mile was a 7:44 - yikes!!!!

I was able to get the average pace back under 7:00 and passed Tim Russell somewhere around the five mile mark. Soon after that was the turn around for the two loops and I saw Doug MacLean, who had been around 5 min behind me off the bike. It looked like he'd cut maybe two minutes into me over 6 miles or so. I was confident that things were turning around, though. I was feeling much better and was feeling like a solid negative split run (like Patriot earlier in the year) was in the cards. However, moments later the heavens opened up, the wind began to howl and a crazy-ass thunderstorm arrived. A minute or so later I learned that the race had been cancelled. It was probably the right call as there were decent sized tree limbs coming down and in the road. Many folks were still out on the bike course, and I couldn't imagine what that would be like. 

Making the pass from 4th into 3rd a bit before Mother Nature got angry:

I soon got a ride back to transition from Kurt Perham, a local tri and bike coach, and found out that results would be based on aqua-bike times. As I was in 5th at that point I grabbed a bit of food and headed home. Later in the day Lucas, who had been in the lead at the time of the cancellation, let me know that results for the Elite wave had been decided to be based on placement on course during the run when the race was called. That meant I was given 3rd and $250 - my first winnings in a triathlon - yeah for me!! 

I'll take that, but really wish that mother nature hadn't shown up. I'm pretty sure I would have been able to hold onto 3rd and would have finished with a time of around 4:12, which would have been a nice PR to end the year on. 

Next up? Tomorrow Cupkcake is coming to stay! Katie's c-section is in the morning and Jackson will become a big brother! We're psyched after all of the complications that Katie went through to be at the end!

I am signed up for the BAA half marathon on October 9th - not sure how run training will fare with the new addition to the family. I'm toying with the idea of running the Philly Marathon and giving a sub 3:00 a shot. We'll see how the next few weeks go, and maybe if the legs are feeling up to it and the new arrival is a good sleeper, I'll give Philly a go. 

Pumpkinman Goals

All of my focus this racing season was towards Timberman, and it was both frustrating and disappointing to end up having a preventable bike issue near the end of the ride. With three weeks between Timberman and Pumpkinman I was able to get in some decent training, including a 3 hour ride the Saturday after Timberman followed by a 14 mile run the next day. I felt great and think that deciding not to do a second loop at Timberman was a wise choice in terms of recovery.

I'm going into Pumpkinman knowing it's a pretty fast course (with a slightly short bike leg - by a mile or so). My first goal for this last race of the season is a HIM PR. That would mean faster than 4:21. However, I feel that if things fall into place I could be closer to 4:10 than 4:20.

The swim is in a small pond and is two loops. I'm racing in the Elite wave and will probably end up swimming the 1st loop mostly on my own. I've felt good lately in the water and would love to have a sub 31 min swim. Best Bike Split has me right around a 2:09 bike time on 280 watts. If the weather is good (thunderstorms are a possibility), and baring any bike issues, I should have a sub 2:10 bike.

My A goal is to be coming off the bike in under 2:45, which should set me up for a good run. I felt strong on the run at Timberman, running 6:30ish pace for the first loop there. I know I can run that pace, and if I'm able to run close to 1:25 my finishing time should be close to 4:10.

We know things don't always go according to 'plans,' so my B goal is a finish time under 4:15. This could be something like 31-32 min swim, 2:10 bike, 1:27 run, and 4-5 min for transitions.

The C goal is still getting a PR and around 4:20, however, I feel that things would have to go bad in some way to be around this time.

On a different note, we are less than a week away from 'Cupcake' arriving! Katie's c-section is scheduled for September 16th, which also happens to be her mom's birthday. We are excited and Jackson is looking forward to becoming a big brother.