#58: It's the most wonderful time of the year....back to base-ics.

This guy obviously stole my sweater!

OK, Christmas time is pretty spectacular for most folks, it brings the kid out in many, generosity out in most and (hopefully) a spirit of optimism and renewal in all.....but this time, I was referring to something a little more blog-specific......when it comes to my Red-iculous effort, this too is the most wonderful time of the year.  


Over the last week, I've come down from the post-race high of last week's marathon PR and although it's been a sprint to the 2011 finish professionally, it's been all about regrouping, strategizing and planning out the next phase of training on the endurance racing front; which if done well will result in another solid jump forward toward my primary goal of an age-group qualified spot at Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.  






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"Give the laziest person the hardest job.....and he'll find the easiest way to do it"

OK, this may be a bit much.

One of my favorite quotes....and often in my professional work (physical therapist & prevention consultant) I find much truth in it.   I am often faced with the engineering aspect of preventing injury and illness (Ergonomics, i.e. maximizing human and system performance through user-centered system design) but I think this may be why I find myself so drawn to Triathlon.....because there are so many aspects that require tinkering with the system (positioning, design, aerodynamics, fueling, etc) to maximize efficiency.....so many little details, especially in ultra-distance (given the amount of time the system has to run) that can drastically change the outcome.


It was about one year ago that I started writing this blog to document my progress with that singular (albeit lofty) goal in mind.....A goal to do something truly extraordinary.....by definition something that very few people will contemplate, even fewer will aspire to and fewer yet will complete......in our local endurance-racing language, the Red-iculous; and despite a very ordinary biological "platform" to build on, here I am behind the computer with a year of experience under my belt having made a solid step in the right direction (from middle of the pack to generally top-quartile), but not "there" (top 1%) yet.


Going back to the well......


This has been about science and art for me....not just blind-follow of any one training plan or method, but about learning and applying the process and finding what works (science) and what I can make work for me (art).  To that end, I've been thinking a lot about the "keys to success" so far, that will absolutely find prominence in my training efforts in 2012.....my own little "good-list" so to speak.  First up?


COMPUTRAINER, COMPUTRAINER, COMPUTRAINER!


Being a total geek, I did my research and the computrainer by RacerMate Inc kept popping up.  

This thing pretty much rocks!

• The idea of a console that gave me power specific data was enticing.....as this seemed to be the common language of cycling.
• The ability to pick from a library of other courses to ride was super-cool as it would keep me from getting bored training indoors.
• To think I could save my performances and compare later appealed to the deepest layers of my inner-geek as I tracked my progress.
• The interactive video was a really cool feature.....the ability to virtually ride the race course would be a huge advantage for St. George (and it was both physically and mentally)

But the thing that really put me over the top.......since this was about learning the process and building a racing machine from the ground up.....was the idea of real-time biofeedback that gave pedal-stroke efficiency information.....what computrainer calls "SpinScan".

Having had more than a decade of professional experience in the realms of "motor-learning" i.e. teaching brains & bodies to learn and relearn proper movement patterns, I knew that learning to do it the "right way" and getting thousands of reps to ultimately imprint my nervous system with those correct patterns was by far the best chance I had to quickly learn how to be a decent cyclist (technically), which would be far more important at the ultra-distance than being power-masher in the short term.  I always had relatively powerful legs, but ultra-distance as far as I could tell, was more about what what you "didn't lose" over the course of the event than what you had at the starting line.  Truly a game of system efficiency.

Getting a little caught up on the price tag I wasn't sure I could swing it and began to doubt even what I knew was right.....could this thing really be THAT good?  Sure it came with plenty of rock-star endorsements and a long track record for the pros, but what about for the everyman....would it really make that much of a difference for me?  


I settled on a toe-in-the-water approach and picked a used one up on eBay.....and, looking back a year later.....it was hands-down the best training investment I've made to date.  Wow, pretty big claim for a guy that bought a new bike, rented racing wheels, got some "aero" gear, continues to experiment with the right nutrition strategy, etc right?  

Onward!

Here's my logic....in 2010 I did my very first triathlon, the NJ State Oly.  For a guy with ZERO cycling experience (beyond experience as a  kid with a bike growing up).  Left to my own training methods and what I could quickly learn, I was able to bike somewhere near the top 1/3rd of finishers on that day.  Not terrible, for a first-timer, I thought, but I definitely couldn't be satisfied (given my goals).  


After a winter of sweating it out to movies, music and a host of other media while compu-training a few times a week which generally entailed a long session (often the IM St. Geo real-course vid), one threshold-power session and one spin-scan/cadence session I returned to NJ State Oly and was able to:

• increase my average speed by 12%, 
• lower my finish time by 14% 
• lower my cycling placement amongst finishers by 24% 
• ride in the top 12% that day

It actually got so much work that I nearly sweat-it to death at one point (short circuited it, but the resilient little unit bounce back.....whew!).  It made such a difference in my performance that as our contingent of triathletes and cyclists (whether coming in for therapy or joining our PACER endurance team) increases, I've been lobbying hard for the purchase of a few more units.  Not sure we have the numbers to swing it quite yet, but there is no doubt, if I can make a similar jump this winter as I did last......I'll be MUCH closer to the end-goal.

So yesterday, I pulled the trainer out and in the next few weeks after my couple of weeks recovery.....it's time to add another base-layer......and the craziest part?  From a guy who loves being outdoors.....I'm really looking forward to getting back in the saddle.

Not sure if I'll carve out the time to blog next Sunday (do bloggers take holidays?) but either way......even though it hasn't been Red-iculous yet, it's been a great ride so far and I can't wait to see what the next 58 episodes bring!  Thank you for being with me on this part of my journey.

Merry Christmas to you and your family,

Mike E.

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Did I already share this one?  Be careful, it gets under your skin?

#57: Battle-scars, Bests and Beer-chasers . Red-emption in Rehoboth?

"Why do you do this stuff to us? All we do is work and THIS is how you repay us? What good could possibly come of it?"  

Actually, it was the R

Pain has a funny way of making you think doesn't it?  As I sit here "the morning after" marathon doing a little body-inventory, I imagine that if I could translate, into actual words, the message being sent from my right hip & friends to my brain, it would go a little something like that......from the ground up: a body that includes a sore foot, two tight legs (from achilles through hamstrings and quads), a hip that battled despite being a something-less-than ready and is now dealing with after-effects of a long day, and, well, a few other "sensitive" areas that don't do well with friction.


Truth is, I love competing.  It's really that simple.  I love games and figuring out the best way to play.  People that have known me for a while can attest that I used to love winning above all else.......it is no-doubt fun and exhilarating....and although I still pretty much hate out-right losing, it's really become about the spirit of games & competition for me.....working your hardest....battling through something challenging and coming out on the other side.....all while learning enough to do it again, even better next time.


This week the Red-emption tour made its final stop for 2011 with a quick trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to put the final touches on the longest season of my (now 3 year old) endurance-racing career.  It was time to test myself against a race-distance that has, so far, gotten the best of me.  So after a busy week, and a couple of false starts, we got on the road and headed 4-ish hours south to a beach town in December.  


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A Small Saturday Race.....


A Small-Saturday race has its benefits....most of the "big" races, where thousands of people flock to the event, are completed on Sunday.  Presumably this is to give people enough time to get there, pick-up their packet(s) and prepare.  For this race, we got down there with only enough time to unpack, set out the gear for the AM and go to bed.  As I was finishing up for the evening, I remarked to Lindsay how "full" my legs looked.....the result of carbo-loading and hydration.........they weren't swollen, but they looked downright thick......this would play out as an important detail later.


We stayed 2 blocks from the start/finish so I was able to wake-up, fuel, prep a little and head down to the starting line to check-in and ready myself. And after several weeks of planning and prep, I felt ready enough; I knew the right hip wasn't 100%, but I had treated it well in the last 3 weeks (hopefully well enough) and expected to get a decent push from it


A crowd of 700-ish assembled around the quaint little "bandstand" at literally the end of the main drag through town and with a "ready, set, go" we were off.  Within 30 seconds I saw Lindsay and the kids yelling and screaming and thought that I probably wouldn't be feeling quite as good the next time I saw them.  As I came around the first turn (1/2 mile or so out) I looked to my right and there was Brian, a local guy who although older than me, is an accomplished endurance athlete and a guy who has a competitive streak. I've done some training runs with him and ultimately he was the guy who turned me on to this race so it was good to see him.  I was looking for him at the start and couldn't find him and there he was, standing next to me.  We talked a little bit about our plan for the day and we agreed that we'd probably separate around mile 4-ish.


As we got out of the first neighborhood and were running parallel with the beach, I felt the wind for the first time.....I pretty much hate wind because of the tricks it can play.....but I figured we'd experience some....it being a shore-race and all.


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At the controls...

I once read an article that referred to an interview with Lance Armstrong at the height of his cycling career.  The interviewer asked "what do you think about during the race?"....his response was simple "I think about cycling".  They say the best endurance racers in the world are constantly in tune with their bodies and like a pilot, making small adjustments along the way, and this was part of my plan for the race.  I wanted to not place all of the focus on my pace, but rather try to tune in to how I was feeling, and run a smart race......


Well, by mile two, I could already feel the hip a little.....hmm.....not good I thought.....but not painful either.....just going to have to manage it.  Shortly thereafter my focus switched from how my hip felt to how full my bladder felt......and by mile 3-ish, I was wishing Brian well as I stopped to go......this was frustrating for me b/c it signaled that I still haven't figured out the right hydration plan......this time, over-compensating.  Thinking back, I wish I hit my lap timer to see how much time that little break cost me, but it was time to get back in the mix....now about 10 sec per mile behind pace.  In my head I figured that if I could get myself back to goal pace by mile 10, push the pace a little through mile 20 and then slowly empty the tank (assuming the hip was still playing along) over the last 10K I could still meet my goal of 3:17.....and things went about as I expected........for a while.


The wind was picking up between mile 7 and mile 13 enough to see it in my pace some and make me happy that I wore a skull cap, arm-sleeves and gloves despite it being 40-ish degrees, but I wondered if perhaps I should have worn something to protect my chest.....as it turned out, it wasn't my chest (per se) that needed the protection.....but I was feeling pretty strong and cruising along.  By the 1/2 marathon mark I had just about made up the time I lost and the hip pain had only marginally increased, so I figured things were on track.  We entered a park where the only real "hills" of the course existed and briefly the wind died......it was great.  It was also amazing to see what that did to my pace.....like running downhill.....a significant drop in effort.  Somewhere around mile 17 I started to feel the bladder AGAIN.....which was really annoying to me and at the mile 19 water-station I jumped into the porta-john to AGAIN relieve myself (of the precious seconds I had worked hard to achieve and likely my goal)......but when you gotta go....you gotta go.


As I started back up I got a zap of pain down the right leg reminding me not to push too hard to get those seconds back.  It slowly loosened up and by mile 20 I was feeling decent......I took some calories in and refocused for my last 10K.  I slowly picked up the pace b/c I wasn't quite ready to give up on the goal......by 21 I was hanging in there but despite my efforts, it seemed the 2 porta john breaks and the extra effort to make-up time against a windy day were going to factor in.....by 22 the hip started barking louder and by mile 23 it was hurting so much that I had to stop and stretch to see if anything would give.


For me, this is where the battle really began.  The wheels were starting to fall off, the pain was building and the stretch felt soooo good.  Wouldn't it be great to just linger there for a little while?  Nope....can't do it.....so I got going.....the stretch helped A BUNCH......but only for about a mile......by 24 I was hurting again and it was time to gut it out.


Looking back, I wonder if there was another way to get through this section.....perhaps I should have stopped and stretched again.....but at that point, I just wanted to finish.


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Getting "Old Schooled"

Wisdom from experience? If you live thru it.

Brian, who I hadn't seen since one of the turns around mile 18 was still chugging along. He is a part of an informal bunch that I've done some training runs with and although they are all very good runners with some serious racing results under their belts, who, despite it not being the case.....like to joke about how "old they are" in comparison to Eric and I.


Somewhere around mile 25+ when I was rapidly declining, I heard "c'mon Mike, we've still got 3:20 if we hurry".  Oh how I wished I could hurry at that point......not in the cards....I was barely maintaining at that point.  "You are an F-ing animal.....hip isn't doing well.....go for it" I said.....I just didn't have it.  I laughed a little to myself realizing how impressed I was with him.....he kept a steady pace throughout and it was paying off....he was going to meet his goal......and I wasn't.  I was happy for him and (a bit to my surprise) for myself....I had just been taught another valuable (albeit humbling in the moment) lesson about endurance racing.....a lesson that can ONLY be learned during those trying moments.....when you feel like your goals are slipping away......today's lesson: youth is a shrinking lever, but experience can continue to grow.....


As I rounded the final turn and tried to muster up some pace.....I got to the mile 26 marker and knew that I would be hearing a familiar sound soon.....and there it was.....the loud yell and scream of my family standing near the finish.  I knew that I had crushed my previous time and was flooded with emotions (pain + relief + happiness + let-down is a weird brew). I crossed the finish line and Brian, who crossed about 45 seconds ahead of me was there with a congrats as my kids gave me a big hug......26 minutes and 50 seconds off my previous best......3 minutes and 10 seconds slower than goal, but still a solid effort.  Knowing that I didn't race 100%, I knew that I should be happy, and I was, but not satisfied.....I wondered how much I lost during my multiple pee-breaks and stretch break.....wondered what would've happened had I been more patient and steady.....wondered what could've happened if I was healthy during training.......and knowing that I wouldn't have long before the pain and stiffness set in, we walked to the hotel for a much needed shower.


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Simple Formula: Salt from evaporated sweat + chilly wind + friction for hours = ROOKIE MISTAKE!


"Your legs look different now" Lindsay remarked.....they did, all of the swollen, glycogen-packed muscles were now depleted back to a normal level.....and then "ooh....ouch" as she pointed to my shirt.  "What?" I asked, looking down to notice the rookie mistake of all rookie mistakes......the true mark of a warrior-marathoner.....a spot of blood about chest high, about the size of a quarter......so, either a sniper shot me and I hadn't realized it, or well, friction got the better of me....

More "experience-based learning"

"OOOOOH NOOOOO!"  I said  "That's going to KILL in the shower".  The worst part about it was that I specifically thought about this prior to the race but since I didn't bring any band-aids I extra "lubed"........


A few hours later and after a DogFishHead Brewpub visit for some post race grub we were back on the road headed North. 


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Where do we go from here?


Happily, I'm not at ALL burned out, which I've felt after completing a race before......sore?  YES, but not burned out.  By that time, I was already thinking about how much more room there is for me to improve.


I got home and caught some of the NBCSports presentation of IronMan World Championships from Kona.  So awesome......and even though I sat there sore and stiff, as I watched the story of Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington as well as all of the other amazing age-groupers who qualified, I wanted to get started right away on improving......so I can continue taking steps toward qualifying....but that's not going to work quite yet is it?


Next steps are to take some time off and get healthy......a little recovery before the next leap forward.


Red-emption tour complete for 2011.


Happy for the improvement, but not yet satisfied.


More to come,


Mike E.


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Still in the queue?  RED-iculous

#56: Final Stop 2011 Redemption Tour. Finish strong or limp-in?

Somehow last week got ahead of me.  I woke up Monday AM and realized "yesterday was Sunday" and I never wrote my blog....doh!  It's funny how twisted my brain gets when my calendar is thrown off.  Thursday Thanksgiving and the ensuing long weekend was enough to totally mess me up.......so my apologies to all of you who wrote emails to me to relay the stories of how, like a butterfly flapping its wings in another part of the world, your entire week was thrown into a hurricane with my lack of blogging, I am truly sorry.


OK, so there were none of those emails.....but I press-on.


If you HAVE been reading along (and BTW, thanks, I'm over 4500 reads, more than double my goal for this blog) you know that I'm coming up on the final stop of what has changed from my attempt to achieve the "Red-iculous" to one related more closely associated with an "attempt for Red-emption" for 2011......


Of course, the actual tour will continue until 8/12/12 when I'm hoping to be getting the better of an ultra-distance-triathlon and achieving the "Red-iculous"......but since May of this past year, when my first attempt at Ironman didn't pan out exactly the way I wanted it to (as in swim - bike - crash & burn - trudge), I've been committed to getting more serious and going back and besting those events (or distances) that have gotten the better of me in my (now 3 year old) endurance racing career.  



From the bottom....3 stops done, 3 to go.

• 5K redemption? Not sure this was a major goal for me, as 5K has never really been my focus......but having felt like I could do better, I put it on the radar.  In July I checked it off my list by taking a minute off my time at PSE&G Teterboro 5K and put myself within striking distance of cracking 19 minutes a personal goal.  Redemption Grade = B+

• Oly Tri redemption? This was definitely one I wanted to get the better of.  In 2010 was my very first triathlon and although I felt prepared, between a failed nutrition strategy, excessive heat and very limited understanding of how tired I'd be coming off the bike, I was not a fan of my performance.  A week after the 5K, and with very limited training (esp swim training) I took 22 minutes off my time at NJ State Tri and put myself within striking distance of cracking the top 10 in my age-group.  Still something to be desired here (shoulda, coulda if I'd trained) but relatively pleased with the improvement. Redemption Grade = B

• 1/2 marathon redemption? Having only done one 1/2 marathon (2009), I was primed to take a stab at this event this year.  Again, it being my first, I had the fitness but not the race experience......and it hurt me.  I blew up somewhere around mile 8 and coasted the rest of the way.  In Sept, I made my way back to Virginia Beach to see if I could redeem.  Again, training for this event left a little to be desired so I knew going in I wouldn't be at the top of my game, but figured I'd be in a position to redeem nonetheless.  Still felt like the race got the better of me some, just didn't feel great throughout, but managed to take 25 seconds/mile (+/- 5.5 min) off my previous time and put myself within striking distance of breaking 90 minutes, a big milestone (and would put me in the top 15 in my age group for this event).  Redemption Grade = B-

So where does that put me now?

Well, the tour is certainly not over.  The 3 "bigger" events are still to come.  The marathon, which I've yet to have a race that I've felt good about, is less than 1 week away.  My first marathon was OK, but sort of an environmental disaster.  Super cold (25 deg) day making for a long, lonely run.  Missed my goal by 17 minutes.  I followed that up with a second attempt 6 weeks later (generally a bad idea) and found a course that wasn't exactly setup for personal bests (narrow, lots of people, etc)......managed to do worse.   Followed THAT up with a super hot, dehydrated attempt in Utah as part of Ironman and did even worse.  Not exactly the trend one might hope for.  This is leaving me a little nervous because I know I'm in a ton better shape, and now have several races under my belt (the first marathon was my first race ever so I didn't really know what to expect), but I also know I'm going to have to stay patient and run a smart race....oh and there's this little hip thing.

The "limping-in" part.


Well a lot has happened over the last two weeks, so here's the cliff-notes version:

• Cranky R hip flared up, 
• rested & started rehabbing, 
• Turkey-trotted with my daughters, ate a lot, saw that Team Pro-Activity got robbed of it's team title.
• took my youngest for a minor (if there is such a thing) surgery, 
• attended the end of season PACER party, drank a lot, sang some Johnny Cash, 
• ate some more, started questioning if the hip would hold up for 12/10 Marathon, tried to relax & recover 
• traveled to south Jersey to eat some more, launched a glass of wine across the room at in-laws house (dumb-ass mistake), ate some more, washed it down with some pie
• woke up early & did some speed work, felt much better, 
• rested a day, worked a couple long days, hip feeling better
• did an evening 6-miler at race pace feeling pretty good, proclaimed victory over the hip (stupid) 
• Paid price for speaking too soon, felt terrible the next day, began seriously questioning if the hip would hold, replaced my shoes, rested & rehabbed some more
• saw that Team Pro-Activity's score was reconciled and we got the "win" after all.  NICE.
• admired the new sign at BaseCamp31 (progress)
• shaved the No-shave-November "soul patch" offering
• did a 7+ mile tempo run, felt 85%, had no-soreness the next day, felt much better although kept waiting for the other shoe to drop
• did some thinking and reflecting
• complained about people who complain (struck me as funny when I thought about it)
• got a little jealous that my wife's "shoe-tester" gig for Self Magazine has yielded yet ANOTHER great pair of shoes from K-swiss to test.  C'mon K-Swiss hook me up with some Kwicky Blade Lights!
• attended a meeting with some PT students and future leaders
• Did a race-sim 6.5 miler and pushed the pace.  Hip felt 85% (Woo Hoo!)
• Helped to set up the Christmas Tree (which ironically was worse on the hip than the run)
• Got some more rest and woke up feeling.....FINE! (YES!)
• Did some modeling to see what sort of time I can run in Delaware.
• .....and....well, this is where I sit.

Seem a little all over the place?  A little perhaps, but that's only by normal-person standards.....


The Finish Strong Formula?

It's finals-week:  What's in is in, so there's no sense in trying to "add to" my fitness.  My focus needs to be on making sure I'm doing the right things for the hip and (starting Wed-ish) packing myself full of carbs.  


I also need to make sure I'm deciding on a race strategy (including nutrition strategy) that I can stick with.  Right now it's looking like a start easy, build the pace for a while and hold-on approach might make the most sense.  I'm fully expecting the hip to fatigue and then start barking so a slow first half and then making up time in the second 1/2 (aka negative split) is likely off the table......however pushing too hard early on is only going to bring on the point of fatigue that much faster......much to think about.


I've been doing a lot of "tempo" work in my training which is sort of a warm-up, speed-up, cool-down approach so that has some comfort in it, however I think the key above all keys is going to be NOT to obsess about my pace and rather dial-in to my perceived exertion.  This will keep me from focusing on my own mental barriers for pace and also prevent me from stressing too much too early.  I guess if I get all of the stress out now, maybe I'll just "let go" next Saturday.


Hope to have a great story to tell next week, how everything went perfect and on my way to serious redemption, I ran a great race....but no matter what, I hope to relate that when I find myself in that trying, difficult part of the race, regardless of mile-marker that I will push on and find a way......because no matter what your circumstance, finishing strong is a choice.  Don't believe me?  Watch the video below!


FINISH 2011 STRONG!


Mike E.