The Process of Change

I'm training for an Ironman triathlon. This means 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running back to back to back. Because of the distance, nutrition becomes a big part of the success or failure of race day. I did my first Ironman at Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2005. I had no idea what proper nutrition looked like. During training, I would deplete myself on EVERY bike ride and come home on fumes. I thought this was normal. I would eat sandwiches, pretzels, energy gels, sport drink....whatever I had at home prior to the ride. I wouldn't eat enough of it and suffered every ride. After finishing the race and deciding I wanted to keep doing Ironman, I learned that bonking during a ride is not normal and I would need to start practicing eating/drinking just as much as the physical part of triathlon. I tried a lot of things settling on a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein drink. It worked well for me and got me through the 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene and Silverman Full Distance Triathlon. I continued to use it but in 2010, it just stopped working for me. I would get stomach bloating, gas and sometimes a feeling of nausea. I fought change at first but eventually, my body won the battle and I started experimenting again. I found that I do not handle solid foods well. I tried different products, settling on PowerGel. These worked great for me and were incredibly easy to use. I have used these, almost exclusively, since 2009. This year, I haven't been doing great during races with my nutrition. I had made some changes in electrolyte timing during races and I wasn't eating as well in general in my everyday diet. This was the case at all three Ironman 70.3's I did this year and many long training rides. I have tried some different things since then. I tried a superstarch, I've tried solids and tried using sportdrink as my main fuel source. Nothing seemed to work. Along the way, I have cleaned up my diet and am seeing the changes in body composition. After trying all these different methods, I looked up my personal notes from the 2010 Ironman Coeur d'Alene. Starting 45min into the bike, I was taking a gel with 6-8 oz of water every 20-25 minutes. I also took an electrolyte capsule every 30 minutes. After reading this, I decided to go back to this formula with one change. In addition to what I mentioned above, I started my ride by taking a dose of X²PERFORMANCE®. 

I also took one 2.5 hours into the 5+ hour ride. This combo was absolute gold! I know, I know...it was just one training session but it was the best one I've had so I'm not changing a thing. I had gradually changed the timing of my fuel over the years and I think that negatively impacted my performance. Going back to what worked did the trick last week and expect it to do the same again this week. I sure hope so since Ironman Arizona is coming soon. I learned a valuable lesson here. Change is good but don't wait so long to make it. My race is coming soon and I'm not 100% dialed in nutritionally. That is a rookie mistake. I have some big goals in 2014. In order to reach them, I have to have my nutrition become so second nature that it's almost like breathing. I will try new things next year if I find that my current process doesn't work come race day or the sessions leading up to it. My point is, identify the problem and fix it early so you don't have to go to an important event with any questions marks.
 

Ironman 70.3 World Championship Race Report

On September 8th, I raced the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. The race is in Henderson, Nevada starting in Lake Las Vegas and finishing in the center of the city. This report has been along time coming. Part of the delay in this race report was due to me not knowing what to make of the day. As you'll see, I still haven't quite figured it out. This was not a race I was expecting to qualify for or even trying to. After what was a completely surprising race at Ironman 70.3 St George, I qualified for Vegas. My amazing friends, Glenn Strebe and Tim Parchinski made sure this event happened for me and I am so grateful. It was a great experience.

Swim-This was the part of the race I was most excited for. My friend Tim Parchinski had been working with me to gain some efficiency during the swim. I had seen considerable improvement in my overall swim times with less fatigue at the end of sessions. While I wasn’t expecting a fast swim compared to some of these fast guys, I did expect to race well for my ability. This race is a non-wetsuit swim so it’s slow compared to most of the 70.3 races that allow wetsuits and I was mentally prepared for this. I didn't want to be discouraged by my time if it was a minute or two slower than wheat I thought I'd do with a wetsuit. I started in the middle of the group as that is where I felt my ability level was. The gun went off and it was the usual aggressive swimming that you would expect at a World Championship event. Keep in mind, all of these people qualified to get here so they are all good. They aren’t the type to passively swim the early part until things even out. I got beat up on but it didn’t really impact me as I was totally prepared for this. I was swimming great, all the way out to the first turn buoy. I kept getting on faster swimmers feet, accelerated to get on others feet and was moving through the field. This NEVER happens for me. I don’t pass people in the water. Not only was I passing them, I felt as if I was getting stronger as the swim went on. After the craziness of the turn buoys, I didn’t have any feet directly in front of me. I kept swimming knowing I would come up on some feet with how good I was moving. After a couple of minutes of not finding any feet, I looked up and noticed I was way off course. There were no feet because there were no swimmers where I ended up. I swam back on course and started back in the right line. I was still swimming well despite the time I lost. There is a bridge a couple hundred meters before the finish. When I got within about 150 meters of it, I decided to put my head down and go hard until the bridge. After a minute or two, I hear this crazy yelling. It was one of the safety kayakers who was trailing me. Apparently, I swam almost directly right, all the way over toward the other side of the lake making no forward progress. He straightened me out and I went into the finish. I was very disappointed in my time because I felt the actual swimming part was pretty good. Sighting is just as much a part of racing and I had failed here costing me minutes. Swim time 35:33

T1-It was still pouring rain and it was a long run from swim to the bike staging area. I was a little apprehensive running on the slick surface, especialy on the mud and grass during the downhill part. I cautiously made my way to my bike. I had a few issues getting my gear going but got out of T1 and was ready to start what is my strength, the bike. T1 time 4:39

Bike-The rain was pouring so the roads were dicey. Lots of standing water. Add in a lot of people on the course and the first mile or two was pretty sketchy. The way out of Lake Las Vegas is either up or down and in the rain, I was nervous. I made the decision almost immediately not to pass anyone here as I was afraid of what they might be doing as I passed. This allowed me to relax and get my heart rate steady. Once out of

Early in the bike with a lot of rain

Lake Las Vegas, I started going harder. Due to the caliber of athlete at this World Championship, I found it a little harder to make passes in the flat sections that ruled the first 15 minutes after getting out of Lake Las Vegas. Once the terrain started changing, it got real easy to pass. The first hill had me passing a large group of guys. I was very much under control knowing that the hills would be nonstop for the next 35-40 miles. I continued on in the rain taking in my nutrition. I was focused on hydrating as the cooler temps and rain can make things deceiving. The bike was not very interesting for me. I wasn't very aggressive but held a steady pace that allowed me to pass many. Once the rain stopped, with about 10 miles to go, it got real humid so I knew the run was going to be a scorcher. As I rode those final miles on the flatter terrain, a train of people I recognized from some of my late uphill passes formed behind me and just kind of stayed there. This was disappointing as I was hoping to have left them behind. Being a light athlete helps on the climbs but those big fellas can really hammer on the flats!! Anyway, I completed the bike having moved up almost 500 places from my swim position and was feeling pretty good for the run. Bike 2:32:28

T2-As is my custom, I smoked through the second transition. As a result, that train that had formed behind me late in the bike were all well behind me to start the run so that was nice. T2 1:15

Run-I felt pretty good. It’s the only discipline on the day where I had an actual time goal. I wanted to run sub 1:30. I felt that based off of my effort on the bike, I had the legs and energy to knock this out. The first part of the run is a significant downhill. Leg speed was up immediately as a result. That along with the humidity due to the rain had me sweating buckets early. I knew within two miles that I wasn’t dissipating heat well. This is usually never an issue for me being a bit smaller guy. Today however, it was a problem (more on that later). I finished the first loop of the up/down run feeling ok but still struggling with the heat. As I got halfway

It wasn't my day on the run

through the second loop, I did something I have never done. I ran off to the far end of the course where the spectators are to give my wife a kiss. Spur of the moment and glad I did it. This sport is so self centered and in that moment in time, I was so appreciative of what she puts up with so I can enjoy this hobby. Now that I’ve said that, I don’t plan on doing it again at my next World Championship qualifier at Ironman Arizona. It cost me 4 age group spots and 15 overall spots in the results. After I passed my wife, I stuggled up the hill, focusing on form. At this point, I felt this was the only thing that could really help me. I continued to have slower splits but I wasn’t blowing up. The third loop was really tough but I managed to get through it. The final downhill had all all kinds of people blowing past me. I just had nothing left. Run 1:35:05

I consider the day as a mediocre one. It was a fantastic experience that I probably won't be able to experience again. I'm so happy to have been able to have done it. Without the support of Tim and Glenn, it wouldn't have happened. With triathlon being my biggest passion in life (outside of my family, friends), it means so much to have competed at this World Championship. I wish I would have competed better but that's how things are sometimes. I think I may know some of the reasons but I'm still working it out. One thing I know had an impact was my body composition. I have been making poor nutritional choices for the past 12 months or so. While I was still within 2lbs of my ideal race weight (145 vs. 147 on race day in Vegas), it was deceiving. Within that 147 lbs was less muscle and more fat than I have had the previous 3-4 years. I think this was a critical part of me not being able to dissipate heat as well as I'm used to. There are some other parts of the day that I'm just unsure about. That's not a place I want to be going into an Ironman but I've tried to work that out since then. My food choices have changed dramatically since Vegas which has helped significantly. We'll see where this leads me at Ironman Arizona. I'm really excited to be racing that as part of Team X²PERFORMANCE®  For now, I am just grateful to have competed with the best half Ironman triathletes in the world.