Ironman Arizona 2009 Race Report

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. – Pablo Picasso

I started the sport of triathlon in 2007 with a lot of goals, but the ultimate of which was to qualify for and race the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in 2009.  I gave my self really only two attempts at achieving this goal, Ironman Arizona (IMAZ) in November of 2008, and Ironman Coeur de lane (IMCDA) in June of 2009.  I failed to achieve my goal.  After IMCDA I was pretty bummed and quickly set out to seek revenge. I signed up for IMAZ 2009 via community fund to try one more time to qualify for Kona 2010.  Luckily I have a World Class coach that new how to deal with my hastiness.  He would not agree to coach me through to IMAZ unless I agreed to take an entire month off and ease back into a build to IMAZ allowing me to recover properly and actually use the fitness that was gained racing CDA.  I agreed, and as I started my build I came across the above quote and I really thought about it.  Yes, I have always had a plan, and yes I have always believed in it, but did I really put everything into the plan?  Was there more that I could?  Was I making all the sacrifices that I could?  The answer was no.  So with 8 weeks out from IMAZ I decided to fully dedicate myself to my plan; making several changes to my diet, sleep and lifestyle and to put full focus on my biggest weakness, the run.

Race week was much different for me this go around.  I spent the week with my coach and his wife which was awesome, but did not have my family with me which SUCKED!!  Dave and Ann made my week very smooth and did everything they could to help me prepare for the race, and having Dave with me to make sure I was doing everything right was invaluable,  but not having Elee and my kids there was really tough.

The night before the race while we were preparing my race nutrition bottles I came to the sinking realization that I did not bring enough malto!  I was a full bottle and a half short for the bike.  Dave made a call to Scott Benjamin who saved my ass!  He had extra and would bring it to transition in the morning.

Race morning came with a wake up from Varney at 4:02, 13 minutes before my alarm was to go off.  I drank a bottle of carbs, Dave made me a cup of oatmeal which I downed in the car on the way.  We got  to the race site about 5:30 and I jumped in line at a port-a-john and took care of business. I found Scott, got the extra malto and made my way to find Dave. He mixed my nutrition for me as I lathered up with body glide.  It was now about 6:00 am and I realized I still had a lot to do.  I still had to put nutrition on my bike, put nutrition in my run bag, drop off my special needs bags and get body marked.  As I set out in a hurry I literally ran into Macca and he gave me a “ Good luck out there today Mate!”  By the time I finished all my chores, it was time to get the wetsuit on and head to the shoot.  I talked with Bill a bit, we wished each other well and went on our separate ways.

Since I really never was able to have a chance to be by myself and clear my head, I decided to just jump in the water about 15 minutes before the cannon to get away from the commotion.  I swam to a spot and just closed my eyes and treaded water for about 5 minutes, thinking about my wife and kids, where I had come from in this journey, and what the day ahead would bring.  I was totally relaxed, until BOOOM the cannon went off for the pros.  Then chaos set it.  It was an elbow fight with about 100 others to hold a position in the front line.  Someone sang the National Anthem, Mike Riley says “the only thing you can control is your attitude”, and before I knew it BOOOM, it was our turn.

The swim went well for me.  I lined up front and center with the best position at the buoys, it was a bit of a power struggle at the start but by the first 400 or so meters I was swimming cleanly.  I was going stroke for stroke with another guy and decided to try and pull ahead, I could not really pull ahead of him so I made the decision to let him pass me and  jumped on his feet.  I followed him to the turn, every so often trying to pass just to make sure he was not slowing down.  At the turn buoy it became a bit congested and I took a few elbows and kicks.  On the way back there was a chop coming at us, which made the swim back a bit slower.  I swam by myself for the majority of the swim back, but with about 800 meters to go a guy came passed me and I jumped on his feet and stayed on to the exit.  I was hoping to swim between 54-58 minutes, so I am happy with the swim. Total swim time was 57:20, 8^th in my age group.

Transition was smooth, last year I skipped the strippers but decided to have them strip the wetsuit this year which went smoothly.  The volunteers were great and had my bag ready as I passed by the T1 bags.  I want to send a thank you to Glen from Ontri.  He told me he would be volunteering in the tent and told me he would be waiting for me and to just call his name.  He was not joking, he was standing in the door waiting for me, he pulled everything out of my bag, helped me get my shoes on, handed me my helmet and ran out the tent with me making sure I had everything I needed.  Smooth and fast I exited T2 in 3:04 and was on my bike right at the 1 hour mark.

I felt good as I headed out of town on the bike, which is usually the case. I really had to watch my power output.  My plan was to hold 225 watts for the ride which I was sure would give me a solid bike of around 5 hours.  It was tough to keep my watts held at 225 on the way out on the Beeline highway.  I was riding all by myself with really no one even in sight for the majority of the first lap and my watts were creeping up every time I looked down.  There was a slight head wind on the way out which turned to a slight tailwind on the way back,  this aloud me to take small pedal breaks every 2 minutes on the way back into town.

The wind picked up on the second loop, and we had a pretty significant headwind out on the Beeline, my legs were feeling a bit of fatigue so I decided to back off about 5 watts and hold 220 this seemed to be more manageable, but the wind was still discouraging and I really had to pee.  As many of you know, you really need to be able to coast to pee. (Yeah, its hard to coast when you are going uphill into the wind).  That turn around could not happen soon enough.  As soon as I was able to take a pedal break I let it go, and all was good for about 5 miles.  Then I started to feel every bump in the road, and thought this was weird since it was new pavement.  “OH CRAP”, I had a flat!  Here is the strange part, I did not panic. I new that special needs was about a mile up the road and decided to ride it in to that point since I new I  had to stop for more nutrition anyway.  I called out my number and told the volunteer that they have some time because I had a flat.  I grabbed my Vitoria Pit Stop and hit my tire with it.  It seemed to work but the tire was still too low to ride, so I grabbed a C02 and twisted on the head.  When I put it on the valve stem CO2 shot every where and drained all the air out of the tire again.  “Crap!”  I new I had put more CO2 in my needs bag and grabbed one more and tried again.  This time it worked, and looked like it was going to hold.  By this time the volunteer had put my new bottles on the bike, and handed me another C02 from my bag.  I stuck it in my pocket and was off.  The tire was holding, and I must have repeated the words “please hold” 20 million times the rest of the ride.

As we headed back into town on that 2^nd lap, I could tell the wind was making a shift just like it had the year before.  This was kind of welcome since I knew that it would mean a bit of a tailwind up the Beeline.  As I made the last turn to the Beeline on the last loop, a group of 3 dudes passed me.  They were all riding a legal distance and I hopped on 10 meters behind.  After about 10 minutes I road up on them and said it seems we are all on the same pace, so lets work together.  They all nodded and I went to the front, I was not there longer than 10 seconds and they all passed me, I just shook my head and said to myself “cool,  you guys do all the work, fine with me”  So I did, I just sat 10 meters back and we road the entire rest of the ride in the same positions.  The best thing about it was none of them were in my age group.  At about mile 106 I started to feel the bumps in the road again and my tire was getting pretty low.  I reminded myself to stay calm and if I needed to I could just hit it with another CO2 to get me to the end.  I did not need to. I was able to ride it in.

The bike overall went well for me, I averaged 220 watts, my nutrition was great and my legs were feeling good.  My bike time was 5:01.46, and my SRM said my ride time was 4:56, so I figure I lost about four and half minutes with the flat. Nevertheless, I was off the bike in 10^th.

T2 was fast.  I was out of my shoes, threw my bike to a volunteer and was off and running.  My legs were very springy and I was ready to run.  My bag was ready, I ran into the tent put on my socks and shoes, grabbed my Garmin, fuel belt and hat and headed out.  T2 time was 1:41.

As I left transition I heard Mike Reilly saying that the overall male leader was making his way to the 2^nd loop.  About 30 seconds later a motorcycle was driving by with a camera man.  He stayed about 20 feet ahead of me for a while and then a guy on a bike came up next to me.  He said, nice pace man you are looking strong.  About a minute later he was still there and said, “Do you know your pace?  Jordan Rapp the male leader is behind you and he’s not gaining. “ “Hmm maybe I should slow down?” I smirked back.  He said, “Well definitely smile, because you are on camera and who knows when you will be holding him off again.”  I then decided I would let him pass.  I ran with him for a bit just because, and then he ran off in the distance.  Hind sight, hell I even knew it at the time, that this was not a very good thing to do, and it would have served my race better to go out as planned at 7:45-7:49 pace.  This is a total mental thing that I need to learn.  It is soo easy to go out too fast.

So the first loop I was feeling really good and strong, and when I passed the Ironhead crew that was there cheering I gave them a big thumbs up and they informed me I had worked my way to 7^th or 8th.  But that quickly changed at mile 9.  For some reason I went down hill quickly and was feeling like crap and all I wanted to do was stop and walk.  I am not sure what was going on, but I hit a definite lull from mile 9-15.  I stuck to my plan, and I started to feel ok at mile 15 and picked up the pace a bit.  Mile 18 was to be my last walk break according to my plan, but I told myself I would go ahead and take one more at mile 21.  It was about this time that I saw Mitch Gold and he told me that I really needed to start digging in and picking up the pace, and that I was going to have to start working harder.  I did, but still planned for that walk at mile 21 because I was hurting again and starting to get dizzy and queasy. However, guess who was waiting for me at mile 21?  Yep, my coach.  Oh man, no walking I guess.  He told me I was doing great, but that if I wanted to go to Kona I would have to run the last 10 k pretty hard (he did not tell me that I had fallen to 11^th, but he didn’t have to).  He told me to just think of my kids, and run for them.  That was really all I needed to hear.  Tears came to my eyes and I put my head down and  dug deep.  It was really hard to tell who was on which lap, and with compression socks, really hard to tell what age group people were in.  I just assumed that everyone I saw was in my age group and on there last lap. I just put my eyes on them and reeled them in one my one.  The hill after the park about ruined me, but at the top of the hill was the 23 mile marker.  “Aleck! 5k man, 5k! “ I said to myself.  At that point I just went for it, it really felt like I was running a 5k in a sprint race.  As I was going over the last bridge to make my way onto the final stretch I fought the urge to look at my watch, and just looked at the ground and gritted my teeth.  That really is the last thing I remember until I saw the sign to make the turn to the finish.  I honestly don’t remember running along side the lake on the last loop. When I made that turn toward the finisher shoot, I saw my coach’s wife running toward me, she yelled “You are going to do it ! You are going sub 9:30!” .  “Holy crap!   I am going to do it!”  I took a look behind me to make sure I was alone, turned into the finish shoot and saw 9:29.10 and my body went numb, LITTERALY.  I raised my fists in the air and slapped some high fives and I approached the line.  “Here he comes folks, from Clackamas Oregon, Aleck Alleckson,  YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”.  You are damn right I am.  Run time 3:25.32, last 10 k pace: 7:06/mile

Total time: 9:29.21.  7^th Age group, 21^st amateur, and 49^th overall.

So I did it!  I achieved my goal and will be racing at the Ironman World Championships in Kailua Kona Hawaii on October 9^th 2010.  I cannot express how fulfilling this is.  To know where I started, to know how much work and sacrifice my family and I have put in to this, is one of the greatest feelings in the world, and is truly my greatest accomplishment. (I have goose bumps as I type this, 4 days later)

Today is thanksgiving, and I am thankful for so many things!

Elee, I love you!  You are my rock and my world!  You have sacrificed so much for me to achieve this goal and I am so grateful for that.

My children AJ and Brook, I truly want to be the best role model that I can be for you, you two give me the drive to accomplish anything.

All my friends and family that have supported me along the way, there are way too many to name but you know who you are and I am so thankful to have you in my life.

Thanks to my Ironhead teammates who psuh me daily, and the boys at Athletes Lounge for taking care of me!

My coach and friend, Dave Ciaverella.  Dude, we did it!  I am so lucky to have your world class expertise in my corner.  You have gone way above and beyond for me to help me reach this goal.  Lets go rock Kona!

Update

Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated my blog. I have been very busy and have had alot going on, the biggest of which is my two beautiful children!  AJ is going to be turning 3 in a couple weeks and is getting so big and so smart!  Brook is 6 months old now and already saying Da Da!   Elee is doing very well and has started a new job with Providence and is really liking it, other than it is 5 days a week.  She also did her first half marathon a little over a month ago, and we are all so proud of her!

On the triathlon front; as many of you know I decided after missing Kona by 86 seconds at IMCDA, that I was going to race IMAZ to give it one more shot this year.  I had a long recovery from CDA, taking pretty much the majority of July off  and easing back into training into August.  I raced the Hulaman half at the end of August and had a great swim and bike but had no legs to run on, finishing 4th.  After that training picked up up a bit and a group of Ironheads went to Spokane to race the Spokane Olympic Triathlon.  This was a pretty fun road trip, lots of funny strories there, and we came out as the Team Champions.   I ended up 6th overall in that race, and my run was starting to come around.  Two weeks later was the Black Diamond Half,  I had a solid race, and finally felt like I was on the mend back to race fitness.  I was a bit too greedy though and went out way too fast on the run thinking I could maintain 6:20 pace and fell off pretty hard at mile 8, my legs were coming aound but still not quite there.  I Finished 3rd overall in this race.

Since then I have been in 100% focus for Arizona, I decided that I had too much invested in both money and time away from my family to not give this race 100%.  This meant in training, diet,  as well as lifestyle.  It has been a huge challenge to maintain focus, it has been a long year and my 3rd straight year of training from January 1st to the end of November.  Training is going very well though, and my sacrifices are paying off.  I have put alot of attention on my run, and am running MUCH better than I ever have.  With 9 days to go, I am very condfidant in my body and my abilities to go get it done on November 22nd.

IMCDA 2009 Race Report

I have learned a lot since racing IMAZ last November both mentally and physically, the biggest of which is learning how to run!  To this I owe everything to my coach.  His training program, while not overly complex, in fact quite monotonous put me in a place that I had never been before.  It prepared me mentally and physically for what would be an extremely tough day at IMCDA.  With this confidence however came the “false assurance” that this would be the race that I would qualify for Hawaii.  I had zero doubt in my mind.  Even though I knew the biggest factor is what I cannot control, and that is who shows up.

 My taper for this race was only 7 days, which was perfect for me.  I did my last long run of 18 miles 10 days out and my last big ride 67 miles (yep that’s right, long ride of 67 miles) 7 days out.  Without divulging too much proprietary information, the key to my training was repetition of quality workouts that were not too long so that they allowed for quick recovery and huge fitness.

My family and I arrived in Coeur d’ Alene on Wednesday prior to the race.  The weather was not good, very cool, windy and spots of rain.  The race forecast was much of the same.  Thursday morning I went to swim with my crew of training partners and the water was brutal, which at first had me a bit discouraged.  We did a short 25 mile ride followed by a 2 mile easy run in the wind, and it was at this point I decided to welcome the foul weather.  I figured it could only play into my chances of getting to Kona after all, I live and train in Portland, and I am more than prepared for this crap.  I swam again on Friday, and did a very short ride and run with my coach, training crew and buddy Shane Calkins (who had a very solid race despite a flat and BS 4 minute penalty) on Saturday. 

Saturday afternoon we checked our bikes in and I went and chilled with my family until it was time to meet with my coach and go over my race plan and strategies one last time.  I ate my dinner around 5:30 pm, drank a recovery drink at 8:00 and crashed.  I woke up to my alarm at 4:00 am and took in my 750 calories of fluid in the shower.  Had a cup of coffee,  took care of the morning business and Jake* picked me up at 4:45.  I got to transition dropped special needs bags and nutrition and did one last walk through transition with Ryan*, and went and sat by myself in the park until 6:40.  My wife and kids met me then helped me put on my wetsuit and gave me a kiss and sent me on my way.

I walked down to the beach hopped in and swam out about 100 meters and came back in and took my position front and center.  I was very calm with no nervousness as I looked out at the 1-3 foot chop with the wind blaring directly into my face.  I knew I was prepared to have a solid day.

One minute to  the cannon, I adjusted my goggles (hind sight, big mistake).  Cannon went off and I charged into the chop and immediately my left goggle filled with water. “ Oh crap”, nothing I can do about for a bit.  About that time two dudes swam over the top of me on both sides and I was pinned under.  This is the first time in my life that I actually panicked in the water, I needed air, and I could not get it. I fought my way out and gasped for air and calmed my self down quickly.  I got on a couple of feet and swam with my eyes closed for a stoke count of 50.  I looked up hoping I was clear of the pack, which I was, only clear the wrong way.  Apparently I have developed quite the slice.  I was about 30 yards to the right of the buoys, so I stopped for a quick second and dumped the water out of goggles and tried to adjust them to seal properly, to no avail they filled right back up.  The rest of the swim went much the same, I would close my eyes and crank it and found my self zig zagging all over the course.  I got out of the water after the first loop in 30 minutes.  “Not the end of the world at this point I can surely negative split this swim if I just swim straight.”  I started out on the second loop and it seemed that conditions actually had gotten worse.  It was awful, it was not like normal swells that I was used to that you could kind of time and get into a rhythm, it was just random crashing, and it was beating me up both physically and mentally.  I began to get angry!  I even started throwing punches at the water.  I was sighting a whole lot more often to ensure that I was staying on the buoy line, and when I made the turn for the final stretch to the exit I decided that I had figured it out and I could go back to 50 strokes in between.  Bad move again, way off and frustration was more than concerning.  I managed to bring it back under control and get to the finish ready to put a race together.  I was pretty disappointed to see 1:02 on the timer, but it was not the end of the world, I just hoped everyone else had the same horrible experience that I did.  Swim time:  1:02.01 20^th AG, 118^th overall.  Not where I should be at all, I need to work on the mental aspects of the swim.

 Transition was fine no problems, although I think it is absolutely ridiculous that amateur’s cannot have their shoes on the bike, the safety argument makes no sense, as its more dangerous to make us run in bike shoes across pavement than it is mounting your bike with shoes on the pedals.  I did manage to run past my bike, but not much time lost, maybe 5 seconds.  T1 3:36.

 On to the bike I had a very specific plan, and I stuck to it.  This is a challenging course, but it’s only challenging from miles 25-50 and 75-100.  The rest is pretty flat and fast.  The winds presented a challenge, as it was sustained 20 mph throughout the race, and I don’t think it was ever to our advantage.  It seems that on the way out it was a cross wind, and on the way back it was a direct head wind.  My plan was to take the first 25 miles as a time trial and hold 230 watts, when I got to the hills cap my watts at 300, and take the down hills to rest for about 5 second increments, and then time trial back into town holding 230-235 watts.  My coach gave me great advice on this portion and it paid off.  He warned me that it is a false downhill flat and with the wind people would have the tendency to not want to push it coming back into town.  He was right, I didn’t either, but I did and I held my watts at 230, put my head down and passed a whole bunch of people.  I repeated the second loop just as the first.  The hills in the second lap hurt a bit more than the first, and I think the wind was a bit harder on the second loop, but when I came back into to town my legs were feeling fresh, I knew that I had had a great ride, and I was mentally and physically ready to run!  It was an added bonus that my family and many others were along the fence as I came into transition cheering loudly, which incased the adrenalin for the run.  Bike time: 5:17.23, 8^th Age group, 63 overall.

 Transition 2 was a bit more rough that T1.  Although I came off my bike very smooth and ran well into the tent, I struggled immensely to get my compression socks on, even though I had practiced it 50 times just as Matt* had told me to.  I could tell I was having a slow transition because even the volunteer was trying to push me out faster than I was capable of going.  I held it together though got my socks on, grabbed my Garmin and fuel belt and headed out on the run in good spirits.  T2: 3:09, about 1:40 slower than what it should have been.

 The run felt unbelievably easy to start, so easy in fact I paced with the 2^nd place pro for the first mile at about 6:20 pace, oops that’s a bit fast.  I dialed it back quickly and found a very fluid rhythm and felt so strong.  I was actually running with the runners!  I was not getting blown by by anyone.  This was fun!  I kept my composure well and focused, trying to keep my pace at 7:45.  It was so much fun having so many people I knew both on the course and cheering.  This really helped me mentally.  At about the mile 12 mark on the run I began to hurt a bit, and in hind sight I should have paid closer attention to my heart rate, as I slowed a bit to compensate for the pain.  This lasted until mile 18 and I knew that I was falling off pace a little too much and I needed to pick it up. At mile 21 my coach began to visit me much more frequently telling me that I had to dig, and that I was not suffering enough.  I was thinking; “how the hell do you know?”  But he did know, he knows exactly what I am capable of, and he knows my pain threshold.  “OK man I’ll dig.”  Mile 22  he yelled, “harder Aleck, harder”.  Mile 23, “Dude you only have 5k man push it, this has to hurt more than you have ever hurt before”, I am thinking seriously I am, but I wasn’t.  Mile 24, “Aleck you have got to go now bro, dig deep and get in that pain cave, 13 minutes to go, you have Mitch Gold 30 seconds up, he is all yours to get!”  Ok, can I dig deeper for 2 more miles?  I have too, I cannot puss out at this point, and I have to know what its like to leave nothing left in my body if I want to get to where I want to be. So I did, I let it all go, I could not even feel what my legs were doing, I looked down and just hoped that they were still going.  I did it,  I went deeper than I have ever been before and it was feeling great.  When I made the turn for the final 400 meters I just hung on and got overwhelmed with what is the Ironman.  It was not the sprint finish I had at Arizona, but it was awesome, I actually heard Mike Reily call me in this time, which was cool.  When I crossed the line, I was drained, everything I had was gone, and I hurt!  My wife and kids found me and I broke down.  This was the reward I was looking for, the best feeling in the world to hold my child and hug my wife after such an experience, knowing that they were with me every step of the way.

 I actually ran a very consistent run, although I did drift a bit in pace from mile 13-21 while my heart rate dropped as well, which tells me that I was giving in to pain, and it was not necessary to slow up.  These are the things you learn from though.  My pace for the run broke down like this: 

1^st 6 miles: 7:35 pace

6-9:  7:40 pace

9-12: 7:36 pace

12-15: 7:53 pace

15-18: 8:12 pace

18-21; 8:15 pace

21-26.2: 7:29 pace

 Total run time: 3:28.10 

 Finish time: 9:54.19  11^th AG 67^th overall

 I raced a great race, no doubt.  I executed my plan as well as I could have.  Of course there are always things that I can go back and work on, but I am ultimately very happy with the outcome of the race.  I ran a 16:30 pr, and my overall time was a 2 minute and 30 second personal best over my time at Arizona which is a much faster course.  While I try to stay positive in this race report, I am bummed that I did not achieve my ultimate goal of qualifying for Hawaii.  There were only 8 slots awarded in my age group and all 8 were taken.  Ultimately I missed my goal by 90 seconds, and yes this is eating at me.  But this is ironman, and there are things that are going to happen that are completely out of your control, and this is the biggest of them.  I learned some things in this race, and am anxious to work on them, as well as continue to improve on what went right, in order to chase the dream again at Ironman Arizona in November.

 Shout outs:

 My absolutely amazing wife who gave birth to our beautiful daughter only 6 weeks before this race!  Elee you are truly amazing and I love you so so much.  Thank you for supporting me in this crazy sport, and allowing me to pursue these dreams.

 AJ (my son) and Brook I love you both so much, and I think about you in everything I do.  I want so bad to be the ultimate roll model for you!  Aj you are the best little buddy in the world!

 Mom, Ray, Stacie, Emma, Mardina, thank you all so much for making the trip and braving the crappy conditions to give me 10 hours of support!  I love you all, and enjoyed hanging out with you at the cabin after the race!

 ** Training partners, the Ironhead CDA crew!  You guys rock!  Jake, Jason, Ryan, AJ, Laura, and Bonnie too!  The countless hours of training we did together made this race great.   I know that each of you will have your own reports, but let me give some props…

 Jake, first Ironman 10:24!!! Fantastic.  Jake has run probably 90% of my training miles with me over the year, and is going to make an even bigger pr in his next race.

 Jason, had an unfortunate flat and penaltyand still put up a solid 10:26, I look forward to breaking into the next level with you at IMAZ! We will do it!

 Ryan, Big run pr  and 10:28 finish despite only 6 weeks of training for this race, Ryan was hit with a string of injuries at the start of the season and did not begin training until May!

 AJ, dude you made a lot of runs shorter and a lot of runs longer! Fantastic work in your first Ironman ( 10:59).  This after being on his death bed 18 months ago with a severe brain injury!  Way to overcome bro!  Look forward to seeing what you will do in Arizona.

 Laura, you are a freak!  You have more athletic potential than anyone I know!  1^st Ironman  10:58 3^rd in your Age group and going to Kona!  Stick with Dave and you will rock it!

 Bob, again thanks, I could not even try without your help.

 Matt, thanks for all your help, advice and time you definitely are a big part in my PR!

 Last but definitely not least, my coach Dave Ciaverella!  Dave is also a mentor and friend to me and has brought me to a level that I did not think I could achieve.  The ability to train with your coach is invaluable!  He has pushed me all season to be the best athlete that I can be, and was out on the course at the right times giving me encouragement and support and pushing me the entire way!  Thanks for everything bro!  I look forward to many more strong races!

 I am not so sure why I think I won the Oscars at the end of my Ironman race reports, but it is a big accomplishment and all of you played vital rolls in my finish and I don’t want anyone to go unnoticed!

Sorry

It has been quite some time since I have posted here, mainly because I have not had a whole lot to write about, and because Face book is so darn convenient as an outlet.

So where to start? After IMAZ, I felt pretty good, and despite plenty of warnings to just rest, I decided I was going to continue to train, just not on a structured plan. Well that lasted about 2 weeks when I realized my body was just fried, and all I was doing was making it worse. So I then did nothing for 6 weeks. Well I should not say nothing, because I did gain 12 pounds, so clearly something was happening.

The second week in January, I slowly started getting back into a training program. Last year I feel I jumped back into it to heavy to fast and came down with pneumonia in early February, so this was weighing on my mind pretty heavy. So I eased back in, which is not an easy thing to do as a triathlete that has taken 6 weeks off. I have been very pleased with my progress in training thus far, and am clearly much stronger now than I was a year ago at this period. I raced the Jack Frost Time Trial (20k, 12.4 miles)) at the end of February and was very happy with the numbers. My time was 28:18, and my average and norm power was 300 watts. Last March my average power for a 30 min TT was 274.

My swim is also coming around. I have reconnected with my old High school swim coach, and he has helped me refine my stroke a bit, and I am noticing gains in the water also, for instance last year a set of 20 50’s on the 45: would have been about a 34 second average, and now I can easily hold sub 30. So I am excited about that too.

My run still is my question mark, but I am being patient with it. CDA is my big race and I have plenty of time to get my run where I want it. Its the last thing that I want to force right now because I always seem to hurt myself when I do.

So that’s where I am at right now as far as the world of Triathlon. I am racing California 70.3 in 3 and a half weeks, and that will give me a clear benchmark of where I am at, and a little more insight of what I can expect from myself this season.

On the family front. AJ is getting big, and is AWESOME! He is taking quite a liking to bikes and is the inspiration for my new “daddy’s bike” paint job. He also sat and watched an entire hour and half of the Solvang TT, and professed that “I really like that man daddy” referring to Lance Armstrong. Oh a boy after my own heart! Elee is doing well and her Tummy is growing by the day as we approach the arrival of our baby girl Brook, due the beginning of may.

IMAZ Pics

IRONMAN ARIZONA. I AM AN IRONMAN!!!

It has been a long year that finally came to an end at my first attempt at an Ironman, Ironman Arizona. I started training in January, and raced 3 sprints, 3 olympic distance races, and 4 half Ironman races this year leading up.  I had a very successful season and PR’d in almost every race.  I placed some high expectations on myself for this race as my ultimate goal in this sport is to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona.  From the races I had done and the training I had put in I was pretty confident that I could go under 10 hours.  Based on the results from most of the other Ironman races around the world this year a sub 10 hour performance very well could qualify me.

 

Four weeks out form IMAZ got sick and did not shake it off until two days before the race, making my last long ride (2 or more hours) and last long run (more than1.5 hours ) four weeks from my race.    This created an enormous amount of doubt in my mind, and created more stress that I did not need, but after two days in Arizona the doubt subsided and I felt like I could have a good day.

 

I got to Arizona the Tuesday before the race to acclimate myself to the temps and climate.  The temps were in the mid 80’s all week and it was a pleasant change from 50’s and rain in Portland.  I finished my cycle of antibiotics on Thursday and was beginning to feel 100% again.  I had had some good swims at the ASU pool, and a couple of decent short runs, so my mental attitude was becoming much more positive.   By Saturday I was sure I was ready to race and ready to race well.

 

With the alarm set at 4:00 am I got a pretty good night sleep on Saturday night, however I woke up to pee at 3:00 and could not go back to sleep.  I got out of bed at 3:45 and grabbed my 750 calorie breakfast bottle out of the fridge and took about a 20 minute hot shower and thought about the day ahead.

 

Elee dropped me of at the race sight at about 5:15 and I took care of everything left I had to do…pump up the tires, drop of special needs, get body marked go to the bathroom etc.  At about 6:20 I took a 150 calorie crank gel shot and put on my wetsuit (I decided to wear a sleeveless in hopes to alleviate the shoulder fatigue I have been experiencing in my full sleeved wetsuit).  At 6:45 I jumped in the water and swam to the front.  It was fairly cold, the announced temp was 63, and for those 10-15 minutes I was kind of wishing I would have gone full sleeves.

 

The pros went off at 6:50 and then a lot of elbows and kicking as people fought to hold their spot on that front line.  The National anthem rang out, and then BOOOOM the cannon went off, and so did well over 2000 triathletes.  The swim really was not as bad as I had heard an Ironman swim start can be.  It was chaotic for a couple minutes and I took a heel to the left eye socket, but other than that,  no biggy.  I felt pretty darn good heading out and I caught a nice draft from a couple guys, I did think that maybe I was going a bit hard as I was breathing every other stroke, and it had been hammered into my brain that the key to the race was to be patient.  I took a  look at my watch at the turn and it read 26 and small change, I thought SWEET this is going well, I lost my draft and swam the way back on my own, trying to keep a steady pace breathing every 3 strokes.  I still felt very good on the second half of the swim and as the volunteer pulled up onto the exit stairs I looked at my watch and it was blank.  NOTHING.  This was kind of disturbing for me and I was so distracted by it I ran right passed the wetsuit strippers, which in hind sight I think is better, because the volunteers pull it off for you in the changing tent anyway.  Based on my first half split and how I felt I thought I swam close to a 55 minute swim which was my goal time.  Actual Swim time was 59:14.  My budget time to go under 10 hours was 1 hour so I was on that.

 

Transition one was ok, the volunteers were supposed to get your gear bag for you as you went by on your way to the changing tent but they could not find my bag, I knew where it was so I stopped and grabbed it and ran in to the tent sat down and a volunteer pulled my wetsuit off, I threw on my shoes, sunglasses, helmet and ran out to get sunscreen.  Again the volunteers were supposed to have your bike for you as you ran past your row, but they must have been behind so I had to grab my own bike.  Total time in T2: 4:17, which is ok as compared to the rest of my AG.

 

As I headed out on the bike I was kind of upset that I did not have a watch to monitor my HR, or more importantly have an idea of where I was at as far as time.  But I did have my power meter which was MOST important anyway.  My plan on the bike was to keep it steady and fewer than 215 watts for the first lap and cap it at 230 watts.  But most importantly not push too hard and save my legs for the run. I packed on my bike 3 bottles with 380 calories of infinit, and had two more bottles(380 and 520 calories) in my special needs bag so I could drink one bottle an hour and have the last one with some reserve if I went longer than planned, but remember I have no watch so I just had to guess.  As we headed out it was clear that there would be some winds out there and as I headed up the Beeline highway there was a direct head wind.  I was being passed by several riders and it was hard to fight the urge to ride with them but new I needed to keep my watts down. Either these dudes were faster than me or I would see them again.  As hard as I tried to keep the watts down, I was about 5 watts higher going out to the turn that I probably should have been as I averaged 220.  The way back down was nice with a tail wind and I was able to rest my legs a bit averaging 209 watts back into town.  I was feeling pretty darn good and I knew I only really had about 36 hard miles to go.  

 

As good as I was feeling, I knew this was going to be a long ride and I had to fight the urge to go hard and decided to play it safe and go lgihter, there was still a good headwind going out so I just kept telling myself 205 watts, 205 watts 205 watts.  As we approach “the hill” it started getting pretty congested and I just kept it steady and cruised by hundreds of people who were probably on their first lap.  I passed the special needs pick up going the other way and figure I would be there within a half an hour and it became clear that I was a bit behind on my nutrition as I still had a bottle and a half on my bike, so drank a bit more frequently.  My average watts for the out portion of the second lap were 202; this was a little light, but better than going to hard.  Again the way back had a nice tail wind which again allowed me to rest the legs a bit, as I averaged 26 MPH at only 187 watts. 

 

Heading out on the third loop there was a whole lot more people than the two previous loops and it became hard to ride a consistent pace.  I had a choice to make, either expend the energy to get around some of these people that are riding just a hair under where I want to be, or find a “legal position” and finish the ride at a slightly slower pace, expending less energy.  Not wanting to go slower I chose to get around, but quickly discovered the gain was not worth the effort.  I only ended up a maybe .5 to 1 MPH faster but expending 15 more watts, I am not a math wiz, especially on my bike in the middle of an Ironman but I figured I may get to T2 about 3 minutes faster, but knew that could cost me a lot more on the run.  So when I caught the next group going a similar pace and I just sat back well off the 10 meters just to be sure I was legal.  Still this turned to be very inconstant and frustrating, so I would inevitably spike past until I found a new group to ride with.  I know that this is not the best way to race an Ironman but I really did not know what else to do.  It turns out I should have probably gone with my first choice as I ended up only averaging 191 watts for the last loop and 197 for the ride.  I think having a HR monitor and time could have helped me quite a bit on this ride.  Dave Ciaverella has told me that if someone tells you that after a race they probably should have road a bit harder then they probably road it just right.  Maybe that’s the case for me here, but looking at my wattage after the fact I do believe I left something on the table here.  Nutrition turned out to be good, I had zero issues, and ended up with about half to ¾ left in my 520 calorie bottle.  Bike time: 5:07.22.  Happy with that time.  Goal time was 5:10; budget time was 5:15.

 

Coming into the bike dismount I was pretty happy to see the clock, it read 6:23 and change which meant 6:13 and change because I knew it was set from the pro start.  That meant all I had to do was run a 3:45 marathon to get under 10, and I was certain I could run 8’s the whole run for a 3:30 and come in at 9:45.  “Don’t do this Aleck, remember Clearwater last year, you were convinced that 4:15 was in the bag”.  This is what I should have told myself, but instead other stupid things were running threw my head, like what if my dog got out while staying at my Mom’s and got into their livestock?  Yep some crazy crap goes through your head at about mile 10 on the run in an Ironman.  Anyway I digress….

 

T2 was smooth in and out with no troubles, and I was feeling good.  It was great to see my wife and son and her family cheering me on, as well as Bill & Jen Thompson and Jason Kurian.  Jason was like my guardian angel in the race, just popping up with a big smile on his face at random places throughout the race to tell me to get moving.  T2:  1:55

 

So I was feeling pretty good to start the run, but I knew this would be a challenge to pace without a watch.  I started out by asking people what kind of a pace they were shooting for hoping to find someone that I could pace with, but that did not go over very well as most just looked at me like I was an idiot.  OK I guess I am on my own here.  When I got to the Ford Motivational zone which I think was only like 4 miles out on the first loop there was a race clock and I knew I was going faster than I should be and I think I had calculated under 7:30 pace at this point I also had to pee and I knew that I still had 9 miles to another pair of socks so I stopped at a porta potty.  When I got out I slowed down the pace, boy oh boy am I a bad judge of pace and apparently so is Kurian.  I asked him on the second segment if I looked slower than I did on the first part and he said “no, you are holding the same pace” well I knew that could not be true, but if I looked the same I probably should be about 8 minute pace then. 

 

Nutrition was much easier to judge on the run as I just took a sip of my gel flask at about every other mile, took water at every aid station and salt about every 4 miles.  At about 8 miles I hit a little lull, and started thinking that this is going to get pretty hard. About that time I developed a hot spot on my right forefoot.  I tried wiggling my toes around to see if I could reposition my socks, and try to make it to the special needs bag at about mile 13 where I had another pair of socks.  The wiggling must have worked because it seemed to go away.  At mile 10 I was feeling pretty good and thought what the hell lets pick it up a bit, but almost immediately developed a side stitch on my left side, so I backed it down and took a salt tab and it went away, so I tried again to pick up the pace and it came back.  Clearly this was my body telling me not to increase the pace, so I accepted that.  That was about mile 12 and I started getting mad when I would see the mile markers for the third lap, and would think why can’t that be me. At mile 16 I started cussing at Dave and Ann Ciaverella who told me that at that point you just have to gut it out and pisck it up. Clearly they must have meant mile 18, no that is not happening either. At mile 19 I felt good again and tried to pick up the pace but again, side stitch.   A mile or so later came the Motivational Zone again and I took a look at the race clock and I had about 50 minutes to finish the race under 10 hours, “What the hell happened? How did I slow down that much?” I thought, oh well if I am going to do this I really am going to have to go to the pain cave.  It hurt, and hurt bad but I picked up the pace and kept telling myself I can do this, I can hurt for 50 minutes.  Jason kept me going here as well; he popped up 3 or 4 times in the last 10 k telling me to push.  About two miles out a guy passed me with a 39 on his calf,  I kept about 20 feet behind him and we made the last turn toward the finishing shoot, and there was Kurian, he said “You got it man you are going sub 10!” WOW! the adrenaline shot through me like a drug, and I had no idea where I was at as far position in my age group, but that 39 year old was not going to take a spot away from me.  I sprinted as hard as I could through the shoot and so did he.  When I looked up and saw 9:56 I just pumped my fist and let out a loud YES!  The finish of an Ironman is truly amazing, to think that I could muster that kind of energy after going 140.6 miles is mind boggling. 

 

My final run time was 3:44.13, and I am disappointed in that time, I think I should be able to run a 3:30.  Maybe I am overshooting my capabilities, but I don’t think so.

 

So I did it, I finished my first Ironman and did in under 10 hours 9:56.57  I am very excited and happy about that but even more excited to know that I learned a lot and there is plenty room to improve.

 

No, I did not qualify for Kona, and while I am a bit disappointed in that, my coach put it in perspective to me several weeks before the race that no one is entitled to Kona.  There are a ton of things that you cannot control in an Ironman race; the biggest is your competition.  In this race my AG was stacked with fast dudes, with the last slot going to 9:44.27, yep just about the difference of going a 3:30 marathon.  RUN, RUN, RUN.

 

So this is the end of my season and I have had such a wonderful year.  I have so many people to thank for helping me and allowing me to be able to chase these crazy dreams.  First and foremost, My wife Elee and son AJ for dealing with my selfish training schedule and giving so much support and love along the way.  Marc Roberts (Bob) you are the best of friend’s man and without your help I would have not been able to participate in this event.   Bart and Ginger, for making this trip and supporting me along the way, I am lucky to have In-laws like you!  Mom & Ray, Dad, Deanna & Stacie same thing, your support is much appreciated.  My Coach Scott, thank you for getting me here and in a position to compete in this sport.  Dave Ciaverella, bro you are my mentor and best training partner, I have learned so much from you.  Jake Barakat, you are good friend and training partner that has helped push me through many miles.  Christian, thanks for helping me keep things in perspective.  Jason Kurian I have to give you a shout, for helping me get in under 10 hours.  All Ironheads, thanks for letting me be part of such a high profile team, everyone of you push me on a day to day basis, the comradery is irreplaceable. Last but not least, David Diviney, your comment about how stupid triathlon is will always keep things in perspective for me to remember that the positives this sport has given me will always out way the negatives.

One more thing…

If you want tro track my progress please go to ironman.com and click on track athlete.  My bib number is 545.  You can also watch me finish live.

Ironman Arizona…Its finally here.

I got to Tempe on Tuesday and have been doing the usual pre-race routines.  The weather here is amazing, and ASU seems like it would be an amazing place to go to school. 

The last two weeks have been stressful, my sickness hung around and turned into a sinus infection, I just finished my antibiotics yesterday.  I am still snotty, but my body seems to be feeling good.  I have been a bit down, thinking that all that work I put in was in jepardy because I was sick, but I have put all that behind me now and am feeling pretty good about the race.  I know I just have to go out and do what I can do. 

I have been very tentative with my goals about this race, but at this point I feel safe in posting them for the world to see.  I generally use a three tiered goal system (thanks Ann) but for this race I am going to throw in an honerable mention 4th.  Here they are:

1)  My ultimate goal is to Qualify for Kona, if all goes right I am confidant this will be achieved.

2) Sub 10 hours, this in turn should get me to kona, but you never know what the rest of the field will do.  This also should be achieved if all goes right.

3) If I run into some problems, but still find a way to put in a solid day, I will be happy with a sub 10:30.

4) I am aware that this is my first Ironman, and I really don’t know what to expect and anything can happen, so crossing that line under 17 hours will be an accomplishment I can hang my hat on.

So there you have it.  All that is left to do now is prepare my my bike and nutrition and execute my plan.  Thanks to everyone that has supported me throughout this training process.  Especially my wife and son!  I will be thinking of all of you as I spend my day looping around tempe.

Two.

Two weeks, well 13 days actually, until race day.  I wish I could say that the last two weeks were as encouraging as the previous, but they were pretty uneventful from a training standpoint.  Since my last post I was to have a week of rest (only 12 hours of training) with a short distance race simulation on the weekend, then last week the volume was supposed to increse again before I made my final two week taper to IMAZ, but on Thursday I got sick.  This pretty much wiped out my last 4 days of training.  Hopefully this will work out to be a positive rather than a negative.  Hopefully the extra rest will allow me to come back strong this week and get in one more solid week just to reconfirm to myself that I can race well.  For now, I have to go blow my nose.

Four more to go.

I have just battled through the hardest four week stretch I have had in my short triathlon career and I survived and have come out of it feeling pretty confidant that I should be able to finish an Ironman.  I am not going to lie there were times, especially in the last couple weeks that I wanted to quit, go home curl up on the couch and screw this Ironman crap.  I think this falls in the category of mental training, I have been tested with injury, cold weather, rain, high winds, fatigue, and pure boredom, and still managed to keep myself out there and get stronger and faster.  I have gone from feeling invincible to feeling like a piece of crap and back.  And today I got one of the best emails from my coach I could have asked for.  The subject line read “IM READY”.  While deep down I knew I was Ironman ready, hearing that from my coach made me feel really really good.  The email went on to say that I get some rest this week!!!! Volume dropping from 20 hours to 12 with, get this, a combined four hours of training over the weekend!!!!!  To put that in perspective, I have been doing about 7.5 hours on Saturdays alone.

So while I still am quite aware that I have no idea of how hard that day will be on November 23rd, I am quite confident that I will persevere!