About Transformations

This past Sunday was Scout Recognition Day at our church. Our church sponsors a boy scout troop that has a particularly high turnout rate of Eagle Scouts. Also, I've been meditating for a while around the concept of transformation, more specifically this quote:

During the regular church service the scoutmaster gets up to talk about the troop and the ideals of the boy scouts, and how they align with the goals of the church. Then all of the current and former scout leaders, as well as any Eagle Scouts in the congregation, stand for recognition. Something really clicked for me then, and I want to explain it here.

I distinctly remember waking up on my 17th birthday (almost 25 years ago), rolling over in bed and staring down my boy scout handbook. My first thought was "I have one year left to finish this and if I don't do it now it will never happen". I knew what I had to do.

Telling people that you are an Eagle Scout sets - well "expectation" is the wrong word. There is a reputation that precedes you at that point, but that's a good thing. Eagle scouts know the value of honesty, are trustworthy, and have a natural leadership ability. The keyword is that you "achieve the rank of Eagle Scout" because it's not something that you can just step into or pay for. It takes more work than most people realize.

Everyone knows there are a large list of merit badges that you have to complete. Those are checklists, things where everyone has to put together the same accomplishments like riflery (shooting a .22 5 times inside of the diameter of a quarter on a gun range). Some people know there has to be an Eagle Scout Project where you have to build and lead a team through ideas, funding, materials, and project completion. My project involved remodeling part of a house for an elderly couple taking care of an adult son with disabilities. Very few people know that you then have to defend your accomplishments to a council of scoutmasters. I had my council meeting about 10 days before my 18th birthday.

12 year old me who joined the scouts just wanted to go camping with my childhood best friend. I learned the value of honesty, and standing up for what's right. I became a trustworthy person and then led my peers and kept the younger scouts in line just like the older scouts kept me in line. At the time I didn't realize how distinct that transformation was, but from age 12 to 18 I did transform myself to achieve the rank. It certainly still has a lasting affect on me to this day.

Lots of people add "finish an Ironman" to their bucket list. I wasn't necessarily one of them. I was a pack a day smoker for 15 years. I was an obese, heavy drinker. When I finished my first sprint triathlon I had two thoughts: First, I knew I had beaten my tobacco addiction. It's been 9 years, still happy about that. Second, I thought those people who did Ironmans were idiots - certifiably insane.

The Ironman brand's mantra is "anything is possible", and you learn what that means during Ironman training. As humans, we don't have limits. Our mind sets up what we can and cannot do. If you can change your mind, you can alter your entire reality.

To get ready for Ironman training I lost the rest of the weight. I established a solid aerobic base during the weight loss phase by running 5 miles on the treadmill 5 days a week for several months straight. Then I increased my endurance steadily over time, joined a US Masters swim team, and started increasing my time on the bike. The training plan for a full iron takes about 9 months working out twice a day, 6 days a week. Ideally, you want to ride 5 times, run 5 times, swim 2 or 3 times, and still work in some yoga/stretching and strength training every week too.

Your body turns iron long before race day. On 11/5/2011 I finished Ironman Florida in 13:06:24 and became an Ironman. The day of the race was a magical celebration, swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, riding through a breezy flat course, then running my way to hear an announcer say "John Flynn You Are An Ironman" - and all of those hours of sweat paid off in exponential ways that were better than I had imagined.

I had transformed myself from smoker to triathlete, then from triathlete to Ironman. The registration anxiety was crazy the day I signed up. I wasn't that guy who actually thought I could finish the race I had just dropped $700 on. I had to change myself into someone who could do that. I learned discipline, confidence, and where my limits were (hint: I don't have any)

Since the Scout Recognition Day happened in Church, it got me thinking about the transformation that happens when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It gives me a sense of peace. The unending love that God has for us is the same love that we should show for our fellow man.

Muslims pray 5 times a day which seems absurd to so many Americans. But if we ask a blessing before each meal, start the day with some prayer and meditation time, and finish each day by thanking God for what happened that day, we're there as well. And if you establish a new pattern of prayer, do you think God will transform something in your life if you keep praying often enough?

When you learn how to love yourself, you then learn how to love others. If I can grow so many different ways above, then I can help others grow in their own way. Being a Christian has determined how I lead my family, what I teach my kids, and how I build my social circles. Currently I sing in the sanctuary choir and truly love sharing my gift of song.

Conclusion
Your goals don't have to be my goals. It took me 6 years to transform myself into an Eagle Scout. It took 4 years to go from smoker to Ironman. I was baptized at age 12, and I bet eventually I'll become a decent church member. What has transformed you in the past? How do you want to transform in the future? Any good, big goals ahead?

Postlude: Goals don't have to be physical. Now at 41, I've been fighting foot pain long enough that I'm starting to abandon my race schedule and start swimming more. I just can't run yet and I miss it so much. Actually, I've noticed that every time I do what I love I complain about it. Get in the pool? no flip turns today, my back hurts. Running? foot pain. can't get enough miles to properly train for the upcoming marathons. Also I have no idea what I'm going to do about that. Goals might also instill setting priorities. I still want to finish a full marathon or longer in all 50 states so this years new states have to be the priority. But am I too old for this? Some days I feel too old for a lot of things. Age is another form of transformation, I guess.

Periodization and Body Composition - Offseason and Weight Loss

Congratulations! You just finished your big race last year. You did ok, but think you could do better next year at B2B. For right now, the important part is basking in the glow of that finish line. Maybe have a celebration with family and friends and start the recovery process.

I have to force myself to take an entire month off from everything after a full ironman. During the big day, my body sort of expands; like the joints all get very loose, and it takes about a month for everything to come back together. One time I started swimming too soon after Ironman, and my ankles were killing me by the end of the warmup. How do your ankles hurt from swimming? makes no sense.

The offseason is the time to cut loose. Nutritionally, cheeseburgers and chicken wings are ok. Bring on the beers. Re-introduce yourself to your friends and family. It's a good time to burn your ex's house down (kidding).  But I do feel like it's important to note here that we are not dogs. We don't need to use food as a reward. I just try not to feel guilty about enjoying the Standard American Diet during the offseason.

Your racing weight is not supposed to be a number that can be maintained all year round. It's supposed to be a target that you can hit and sustain for one day to give you the best chance at a successful race. There is nothing wrong with a little weight gain after the big day.

Training during the offseason is only supposed to be the fun stuff. No structure, no plan, just do whatever you want whenever it feels right. We get into this crazy multisport lifestyle because we enjoy 3 sports and training hard for 3 sports at the same time. Some people want to run marathons during the offseason. Some choose a structured weight training program. So do what you want.

One thing I can highly recommend. Speed follows endurance, so after months of slow training for a really long triathlon you might be surprised at the speed that is laying dormant right now. Jump into the next local 5k just to see what happens. I set my last 2 PR's each a month after an Ironman. It was surprising and fun.

There are two ways for the offseason to come to a close. My favorite was always hitting my Maximum Allowable Offseason Weight (MAOW). In 2010 I was losing weight in preparation for Ironman training, and I got under 190 lbs for the first time since before the turn of the century. As a reward I got the giant cherry tree tattoo on my right shoulder. That means now when my weight creeps up close to 190 lbs it's time to go into a weight loss phase. Anything else would be to disrespect my tattoo and my body. And sure enough, January 2016 is the only time since then that I've gone over 190 lbs.

The offseason is also a great time to write up your training plan. For our B2B half ironman race, let's assume the training plan is written for 20 weeks. Let's assume we already know our racing weight target for B2B, and assume we know our training weight for the start of the training plan. My weight loss phase typically averages 2 lbs per week of fat loss, so if I'm 14 lbs over my training weight right now and plan to hold that through the offseason, then I need to start my weight loss phase 7 weeks before my training plan starts.

My racing weight is 165 lbs, but I usually come in closer to 168-170. My training weight is 175 lbs, that's always my target for starting the training plan. Typically I'm in a weight loss phase (for 10 to 14 lbs) around February into March or April, and spend my summer in a heavy training plan and between 170 - 175 lbs. But that's only typical for me.

The weight loss phase has a very specific structure. I want to go into some detail here, but it is important to note that every body is different and responds differently to the same stimuli. I've tried every diet plan that I can find to determine what works best for me, and you should too. Check with your doctor if you have more than 20 lbs to lose or have concerns about heart disease or how certain diets will affect your medications. I don't regularly take any medications and I do know my family medical history. I am not a medical doctor, just a former unhealthy fatass. My advice is what worked best for me, and I can certainly do other posts about weight loss or health trends that did not work out for me. Disclaimer over.

Tracking your progress is very important for a weight loss phase. I highly suggest using a scale that will show weight as well as body fat percentage. Especially if you did a bunch of strength training over the offseason, the purpose of the weight loss phase is really to lose body fat, not just pounds. So yes, I want to go from 188 lbs to 175, but I also want to see the scale go from 21% bodyfat down to 16%. Then I can also multiply those two numbers together to get the amount of bodyfat (in pounds) that I'm currently carrying around. For reference, visible abdominal musculature appears in men who have a maximum of about 11% bodyfat, and for me that's around 17 lbs if my weight is down to 162 lbs and I can maintain some muscle mass.

Everything has a starting point, and it is important to record your starting point. Take pictures if you want to. Start tracking your weight and bodyfat percentage (weekly) even if you need to buy a new scale. Find a food and fitness tracker and start logging what you eat. I use My Fitness Pal, but have used others in the past including the Livestrong tracker. Input EVERYTHING that goes into your face-hole and every workout you perform to establish a baseline of how you got fat. This will show you which foods are "bad" for you, and which foods are "good" for you. MFP also has a calculator to help determine my resting metabolic rate and helps me identify which meals were too big and pushed me over my limits for that day.

My structure for the weight loss phase is limiting myself to 1800 calories a day and going vegetarian. After a few weeks of logging everything into MFP I get used to what works, establish the patterns of portion control and learn what my high calorie treats can be.

Going vegetarian has a ton of benefits. Most Americans don't get enough fiber. Most vegetarians do get enough fiber. That's what happens when you eat a lot of plants. You can also get a lot of bulk out of your food when it's all plants. How big is a 16 oz steak? better get a couple of sides with that. Bust into an entire 1 lb bag of spinach and you'll fill up before getting the whole thing down. And the spinach has more protein, less fat, and plenty of iron. Spinach is really one of my power foods, I can't take in too much.

Take a closer look at how bodyfat gets released. You hear the phrase "burning calories" a lot, and what happens when something burns? It generates smoke and leaves ashes behind. The mass that was once something solid turns mostly into smoke and the resulting ash (waste product) carries a small percentage of the original mass. So literally when we lose weight by burning fat (high consistent metabolism) it leaves the body by exhaling.

That's right, up to 75% of weight loss is breathing. The rest of the waste product gets collected by the blood stream, delivered to the colon through our filtration systems (kidneys, liver, etc) and pooped out. That's why fiber is so important. It acts like a toothbrush for your colon.

I'm also pretty big on keeping it low fat. Avacados are pretty high on my normal diet, but in a weight loss phase I will even curb those. Calories from fat just don't get the job done for me. Some people love it, but I prefer sugar/salt instead. My youngest kid is all about the butter but thinks ketchup is too sweet. So this is what works for me. Low fat, high fiber, 1800 calories a day vegetarian.

One last trick.... Some people call it intermittent fasting, or just cutting out the late night snacks, or timing your meals. But if you try to pick a 12 hour window during the day to get your food in, then it will end up better in the long run. It has to be timed with your workout, but I tend to eat breakfast around 7 am. If dinner is done by 7 pm then don't eat anything after then. Going to bed hungry (but not too hungry) is a good thing. Eating right before bed forces your body to process/digest that food during sleep, when it should be doing other things like muscle repair from the workouts. 

Workouts during the weight loss phase are more about consistency than volume. Don't do too much! The time for 3 hour bike rides is during the build phase of the training plan. Weight loss workouts should be no more than 45 minutes in duration. Anything longer than that, and you will have to eat more than 1800 calories to recover from the workout. Even my beloved Masters Swim Team practices go for an hour and 15 minutes, and afterwards I need to eat about 300 calories. My favorite weight loss workout is a 5 mile run. Run 5 miles, 5 days a week, and maybe sneak in a 45 minute bike ride one other day and it's done. Funny thing about doing a ton of 5 mile runs while you keep getting lighter - you end up getting a lot faster too. This is how I went from10 minute miles down to 8 minute miles regularly.

That's what worked for me. Low fat, high fiber, 1800 calories, vegetarian, 45 minute workout. Plus maybe some stretching/yoga to keep my mind sharp.

So here's the breakdown of a typical day:

Breakfast: 7 am
Oatmeal (1/2 c instant oats, 1/2 c milk, 1/2 c water microwave for 2 min) topped with a banana, rasins, cinnamon
385 calories

7:30 am yoga/light stretching/meditation - prepare for today!

11:30 am lunch
Amy's organic veggie burrito (frozen), usually around 280 calories
1 actual serving size of potato chips, even if it's only like 10 chips
around 400 calories

snack or after lunch or pre-workout:
1 greek yogurt, usually about 200 calories

1 banana before workout (100 calories)

5 pm leave work and hit that 5 mile run (burn 600 calories)

7 pm dinner
spinach, preferably
roasted veggies, beans, quinoa, fruit, tons of delish vegetarian recipes out there.
fill the plate with healthy plants! be full and happy, but not over-stuffed like thanksgiving day.
about 500 calories

If you are still too hungry at it's at least an hour before bedtime, go for some fruit, another banana, maybe a string cheese stick. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner add up to about 1300 calories, snacks make up another 300 or so leaving you under the 1800 max on this sample day. Sometimes for lunch I'll have a salad or some leftover veggies from last night's dinner instead of the burrito.

Tracking is important at the end as well. You want to see the weight and bodyfat percentage both drop over time. Multiply those together and you should see that number drop as well. That way you know you are burning off fat as well as just getting lighter.

Be sure you drink enough water. I start every day with a 24 oz bike bottle of clean water, then drink at least 32 oz while I'm at the office, a glass with lunch and dinner, another bottle during the workout, and another bottle after dinner. Water helps the fiber move through the body, and that's really where the weight loss comes from.

So this is what I do for the offseason and the weight loss phase. There are lots of other points I could add here about specific recipes, portion control, recovery protocols, and resting metabolic rate. But this has gone on long enough. I hope this helps explain how to prepare your body for a heavy training plan, because when the hard work starts, it really gets going. Next up: how to build our 20 week triathlon training plan for B2B!

Periodization and Body Composition Overview

Editors note: This is the first in a series of posts that I have been rolling around in the noodle for a while. Now that I'm not running triathlons anymore, I'm going to brain dump some knowledge here. It may turn into a book later.

A couple of years ago I was at a local seminar put on by a triathlon race director, a triathlon coach, and a nutritionist at a restaurant that was sponsoring the series of triathlons I usually participate in. The nutritionist got caught in traffic and was unable to participate, but we talked a lot about race day nutrition. Then one of the other participants asked "So what do we eat every other day?" and the coach didn't know how to answer that so she just gave a basic "you know... eat healthy stuff" kind of answer and they went on to the next question. I wish I had thrown up a hand to answer that one, because it sparked this chain of posts. and it's really cool.

Triathletes tend to be very goal oriented people. My plan for this series is to identify the different phases we go through in a typical year to achieve a goal, then specifically look at different goals to identify within those phases. The primary focus is on strategies to achieve those goals, how to set appropriate goals for you, and what you can realistically expect to get out of a year in triathlon. It's a broad range of very specific topics. I'm going to begin with the end in mind, then work my way backwards, then forwards again.

The Big Hairy Goal
It starts, you guessed it, by picking your "A" race for the year. For my example, I want to pick a 70.3 mile triathlon in the fall. WTC has purchased the Beach 2 Battleship race, so that is now known as Ironman North Carolina Beach 2 Battleship, and it is going down on October 22 this year.This is a popular race, it's a fast course, but you have to really train for it. They run a full and half iron on the same day, so it's a perfect example.

Mentally, picking the goal can be the hardest part of the entire process. You want to pick a race that will play to your strengths, the right location for you, the right time of year for you.

A good triathlon coach can help you:

• pick the right race
• with a training plan that will get you ready for that race
• calculate what your weight should be at the starting line
• calculate what your weight should be when you start a training plan
• calculate what your ideal bodyfat percentage should be and how to lower it

You want to have the best race you possibly can have. Racing starts with a plan, then you go execute that plan on race day. You have to know your limits, know what you are capable of doing on the big day.

Triathlon coaches that I know and/or have used in the past include Malone Coaching, TriMarni Coaching, One Step Beyond (Marty Gaal), and QT2 Systems coaches Doug Maclean and Rodney Scott, and Endurance Nation. Marni Sunbal in particular is relevant to this discussion because she is certified as a nutritionist and registered dietician as well as a triathlon coach. There's a lot of letters after that name.

Periodization
So if the big day is set we can start working backwards. Periodization is the concept that you don't do the same thing all year round, instead we split up the year into different phases (or periods). Each phase has specific and very different goals and approaches to nutrition and training. Specifically the phases break down as follows:

Last year's "A" race is in the books, so that leads strait into the Offseason. There should be some weight gain during the offseason, so this presents a starting point for the Weight Loss Phase when the time is right. The training plan should be established right after registering for IM70.3 NC, and for a half iron that is usually a 20 week training plan. So the Training Phase will take you right up until Race Day.  And this half iron will lead straight into a celebration cheeseburger and the offseason.

Body Composition
We can define body composition as the ratio of muscle mass to body fat, or measuring your body fat percentage and optimizing your power to weight ratio. Muscle contains power. To push our bodies for 70.3 miles will take lots of endurance training. Strength will play a big role in being able to get and stay fast through the entire race day. Bodyfat will only slow you down.

Triathlete's typically go after "that" body. We want the 6 pack abs, Lord knows I've been chasing them for years. Each pound of excess fat costs you 3 seconds per mile when running. That means if we hit the starting line 10 lbs too heavy, it's costing us 30 seconds per mile or about 7 extra minutes of running over the half marathon.

So we start at the end. Your weight on race day is known as your Racing Weight. 20 weeks (in our sample) before Oct 22 means our training plan kicks off around June 4th. Your weight when you begin the training phase is called your training weight. Ironman training in particular will build so high in volume that the training will naturally take off those last 10 lbs or so. Before training can begin in earnest, you have to hit that target weight by losing 2 lbs on average per week  during the weight loss phase. So take the number of weeks left until training starts and you can figure out when the offseason ends and the weight loss phase begins.

For me, at 6'1" when I was trying to finish my first ironman, my racing weight was 165 lbs. At 165 and 14% bodyfat I was as lean and fast as I ever needed to be. So that's how I hit the starting line of IMFL back in 2011. My training weight is 175 lbs, those last 10 did melt off during the 24 weeks of my Ironman training plan. My maximum allowable offseason weight is 190 lbs. So every winter after my big race for the year, the offseason comes. And when it takes me up close to 188 lbs then it's time to start the weight loss phase. The 13 lbs between 188 and 175 will take about 7 weeks to release, then I'm ready to start that years training plan. Sometimes the offseason weight determines when I pick up again, sometimes the calendar does. But it's easy to be consistent year over year.

The next post in this series will look at the offseason and weight loss phase, comparing the approach to training and nutrition during those phases.

Wordless Wednesday

My official pics from the 2016 3 Little Pigs triathlon showed up on Facebook about 2 weeks after the event. So cool!

Running out of T2

Chilling with my homies post race

Ted!

Why No Tri?

At the end of 2007, I registered for my first race, a sprint triathlon, before I actually stopped smoking. Triathlon has been my motivator and primary focus (after family and work) since that first race in 2008. I learned how to ride a road bike, then got stronger at riding a road bike, then really enjoyed riding a road bike. By 2010 we had moved from SC to Raleigh and I was riding in the big gear a lot more. And racing a lot more often. In 2013 I rode over 4000 miles, then really burned out on the bike. I still stuck it out for one more Ironman in 2014. Last year only had 1 sprint triathlon, and this year was only the 3 Little Pigs last weekend.

Overall, the last 8 years of triathlons has been very fulfilling. I loved the discipline and confidence that goes into a training plan, and I wouldn't trade my ironman experiences for anything in the world. I have put a lot into triathlon in those years, and I have certainly gotten a lot back.

Also acceptable:
If triathlon was easy they would call it your mom
My favorite mexican triathlon: Eat tacos, drink tequila, fuck

For me, the multisport lifestyle has turned into more of just a healthy lifestyle. I've lost weight (and gained some of it back, who are we kidding), and gotten older. Actually I'm still trying to come to terms with being an "over 40" athlete even though I turn 41 next week. I'm going to leave triathlon for the younger people. I don't have the desire to pump out 2 a days anymore. Not sure I have the energy for the 5:15 alarm clock so I can ride for 90 minutes before working a full day only to finish it off with a Masters swim practice or easy 10 mile run. 5 bikes, 5 runs, 3 swims every week plus some strength training and yoga to prevent injuries and add some speed? I've had enough of that for one lifetime.

What I am really enjoying right now is single sport swimming or running races. Still leaning towards the longer runs and shorter swims, but I might have to switch that up some. My speed is starting to come back in the pool, I've got 2 more open water races this year.

You'd think after training for the Umstead 100 this year my running legs would be burned out, but that's actually not the case. I do think the marathon is my sweet spot, so I'm starting to train for some marathons and 50k's this fall. More specifically, I'm trying to setup to run 12 marathons in 8 months between October 2016 and May 2017, since by May it's too hot to run marathons here in the south. The grand finale of this streak should be a Mainly Marathon streak - 3 marathons in 3 states on 3 consecutive days covering Penn, New Jersey, and New York on May 1-3. You would think training and running these 12 marathons would be the hardest part, but actually the logistics behind it all is proving to be a challenge. I know how to pace long runs and how to recover quickly now. I don't know where the registration fees, hotel fees, travel time off work, and family involvement is coming from.

So that's the big reveal - the new and really tough marathon maniacs streak. I'm going to take it one race at a time, both to see how many of these I can get registered for to beat those price increases and then actually finish. I have all of the races picked out so let's see if I can raise the cash! And get the miles in. First up on the calendar is the New River trail 50k with Kelley's cousin Ryan. Already on a training plan for it and haven't even registered yet.

Third 3 Little Pigs

The 3 Little Pigs sprint triathlon happens to be my favorite local race in the greater Raleigh. This was my third time running this race, and it keeps getting "better". Saturday was a beautiful day to be out racing! This time was really cool, because my boss on my last contract was out racing too. It was her first triathlon ever, and I think her first race. It was a cool day at the end of a hot week, and that makes for a nice setup.

What's not nice is the level of triathlon training I've been doing this year. That's pitiful. I've done 1 brick, and biking just isn't regular. So my plan for this race was just to go out, have fun, and see what happens.

Before the start and ready to go!

I got up at 5:15, which is absurd, made it to the site by 6:30 (it's a 45 minute drive). Plenty of time to make it through the lines, get my TA setup, and hang out with Jeanette some. I actually saw several friends, some I hadn't seen in a while. This race has a pool swim, so it's very beginner friendly. That always makes for a fun environment.

Long lines

Swim in, Run out

Big transition area this year! There is a big Bike Out sign somewhere over there.

all those bikes

Swim 250 m: 4:07, 1:38/100m, 5/27 age group, 42/339 overall
This was really strange. In 2014 I nailed a 1:28 pace, but this time it got weird. This pair of goggles has been fogging up for a while, but I think the suntan lotion got involved somehow to make it much worse.  And the first row didn't have a black line, so I had no idea when the wall was coming up so I smashed my arm against it. Felt like that first length was pretty smooth, but after I missed my first flip turn my entire mental game was off. And I know that threw off my form. The estimated time I entered was only 3:15 so to finish almost a minute slower is really tough. I just couldn't see well, couldn't breathe cleanly, and couldn't find the walls. A bit frustrating. I even got passed by the guy who started behind me.

T1: 1:17
Win! Anything under 90 seconds is pretty smooth.

Bike 14 miles: 45:25, 18.5 mph, 18/27 ag, 139/339 o
This bike course never disappoints. Kind of challenging on the way out, but it still felt good to be riding outside again. The bike is always the worst sport for me, and I did get passed a lot. At one point 3 guys from my age group all passed me in practically drafting mode. It was a short time out there, I went hard. After I saw the mile 12 marker, I took a gel. Next thing I knew I was back in T2.

T2: 1:05
Win! Again!

Run 5k: 24:44, 7:58 m/m, 13/27 ag, 72/339 o
The run course is flat and shaded. I haven't raced a 5k in so long I've just about forgotten how. I turned the legs over as fast as I could and tried to keep my heart rate up so I couldn't talk. Zone 3 or 4 should do the trick, but I don't think I got there. I was out there having fun.

Finish: 1:16:40, 15/28 men 40-44, 88/339 overall
The age group breaks down into 3 real groups. The actual fast people finished in 1:05 - 1:09, the midpackers finished from 1:14 to 1:16, then the bottom range went from 1:22 to 1:29. Every now and then a midpacker like me has a good day and ends up in front of that 1:14, and sometimes we have a tough day and end up in the back of this pack. This was my tough day.

In my first 3 Little Pigs, I passed 2 people on the water. Last time was an even seeding, I didn't pass anybody, nobody passed me. This time I got passed. This time was the first time I've been slower than 20 mph on the bike in this race. This was also the first time I've taken longer than 24 minutes to finish a 5k in about 4 years.

Finished! a medal for a sprint?

finish line festivities

This might also be a swan song for me. Triathlon and tri training just doesn't have the appeal that it did a few years ago. Originally I wanted to load up the calendar with a bunch of tri's this year, finishing with the Lake Logan half again, so I went ahead and registered for that one and paid the annual USAT membership again. Now I'm leaning more towards skipping the trip to Asheville in August so I don't have to do all of that bike training. Running and swimming hold so much more appeal right now.

And I'm trying to pull together something that will be really fun for this winter. It's a logistical nightmare, but lots of fun.

Going for the Buckle

Saturday 8/29 was a beautiful day for a sprint triathlon! It started early enough, I got up about 5:20 to get out the door on time and make the 45 minute drive out to Wilson NC to swim in their drinking water. I also ran the Battle At Buckhorn in 2011, 2012, and 2013 so I knew what to expect from the course and the day, Also, this is my only multisport event this year so I had high hopes for a fun day. Actually going out there just to have fun and enjoy a multisport event was the only goal. Secondary to that was fast transition times, go under 1 hour on the bike, and some kind of 23 minute 5k run.

It was very sunny with a slight chill in the air as I first arrived at Buckhorn Lake. I got there in plenty of time to do everything I needed to pre-race. First stop was the port-a-let and there was no line so the day was off to a great start! Packet pickup and body marking was a breeze, but they did actually write "40" on my calf for the first time. that was kind of hard, not going to lie about it.

I got my transition area all setup first, and I want to give some explanation about how I do that. Remember when I did Ironman Raleigh this year as the swimmer on a relay team? the wife on that team has her first triathlon coming up soon and I've been trying to coach her some to get ready. She needed a lot of help with her swim stroke and has no idea what to do in TA.

It's TA-lite for a sprint

The whole thing setup and ready to go

First pic - here's what you need to know. The towel is key to establishing needed space. That's a hand towel not a full bath towel, but it's plenty of room to spread my stuff out. First is my swim stuff, that will obviously be on me already when the race starts. So there is free space there, and my bike shoes already have the one strap opened up. As soon as I'm done swimming I'm going to step on the towel to dry off the bottom of my feet, then slide that foot straight into the bike shoe. step 2 there is the helmet. It's upside down on top of my aerobars in the second pic, with the straps hanging off to the sides. This way I can slide into the shoes and flip the straps closed, then slap the helmet on my head and easily clip that strap in, grab the bike and run out of TA. When I'm close to the end of the bike route, I'll pop my feet out of the shoes and leave them clipped into my pedals. After hitting the dismount line, I'll run barefoot back here, rerack the bike, toss the helmet, slip bare feet into running shoes on the back of the towel (with speed laces and built in socks), then grab the bib that's already attached to the race belt and run away.  I can put on the race belt while I'm getting out to the run course.

what's missing? Well for a sprint triathlon I don't normally wear socks. Don't want to take the time in T1 to sit down and put them on. Also I don't normally wear sunglasses when racing any distance. I could (should) be wearing a visor or running hat while I'm running but I forgot to grab one when I packed up the TA bag the night before, so my hair was flopping around pretty good. This is about the simplest TA setup possible, and a pretty thorough explanation of why I setup like this. Hope that helps.

My only real goal was to go have fun at my only multisport race of the year. 

Swim 750 meters: 15:05 Goal 10 minutes Success! 33/106 men, 11/28 AG (M40-44)
My warmup before the race was in the lake, I swam out to the middle buoy and back, felt like about 10 minutes. I swam straight and felt great.

Once the race was actually underway, it was a different story. About 160 people starting from a boat ramp all at the same time. I could not swim straight at all. I mean, I got seriously off course. I logged this as a 1000 yard swim. So that speed for 1k in open water is a 1:22 per 100 yard pace, and that's perfect. That's why I'm calling my goal at the top a Success! Totally nailed the speed I wanted in the water and it felt amazing. But seriously, I got way off course.

T1: 49 seconds, Goal: under 90 seconds, Success! 40/106 men, 11/28 AG
Stepped on the towel, slid into the shoes, threw on the helmet and got out of there. It's rare I can T1 in under a minute, but it worked great this time.

Bike 17 miles: 56:13, Goal: under 1 hour, Success! 18.1 mph, 75/106 men, 21/28 AG
There is one giant climb in the last third of the bike course that I forget about every year. It's not that bad, really. Other than that, the only thing I need to comment on is my obvious lack of bike training this year. This race was only the 2nd time I've had my bike on the road this year. I'll take 18+ mph any time I can get it on this little training.

T2: 39 seconds, Goal: under 90 seconds, Success! 34/106 men, 11/28 AG
Left the bike shoes clipped in and slid right into the Zoot running shoes.

Run 5k: 23:44, Goal 23:XX, Success! 42/106 men, 13/28 AG
This course is 2 loops, both are pretty flat. Pretty much you set a pace and try to hold on for dear life. But this time something cool happened that has never happened to me before: I descended my mile splits! Everything in training lately has been long and slow, so I had no idea what kind of speed I would have. When I saw the first mile clock in at 7:38 I was pleasantly surprised. Then mile 2 came in 7:28 and I was even more surprised. But when the 3rd mile clocked 7:25 I was floored. I know there was no chance for my sub-22 5k time at all. Coming off of the bike I didn't expect a sub-23 time either. But my last several standalone 5k's have been 23 something, so I was shocked and pleased to do that again.

Finish: 1:36:32, Goal: under 1:40, Success! 53/106 men, 15/28 AG
Overall this was a wonderful race yet again. Most of my friends finished around 1:26, 3rd place in my (God this still sounds insane) 40-44 age group finished in 1:18, so we are an incredibly competitive bunch. I missed 14th place by only 40 seconds.

Happy finisher

So if you're looking for a fun sprint to jump into around Raleigh, this is still one that I highly recommend. Especially if you're a beginner or don't mind how it attracts tons of seriously fast people. Love the Battle at Buckhorn!

Rev3 Cedar Point Race Day

This is the big day.  10/7/2014 the day of my 3rd and final Iron distance triathlon. This year I chose Revolution3 triathlon and their only full distance race at Cedar Point park in Sandusky, OH.  The entire trip was amazing. If you missed the posts for pre-race day and Recovery day, they are below.

Any 140.6 mile triathlon is going to have its own set of unique challenges.  Today was no exception. I'm incredibly grateful to my body for allowing me to train and race these crazy things, and to my wife and family for putting up with all of the strange smells and demands that Ironman training puts on them as well. This race day was a culmination of a 23 week training plan where I covered a total of 2609 miles of swim/bike/run training over 262 workouts. And it all started on a dark beach before sunrise...

The F stood for Full, but it really stood for Dumbass

In TA all wetsuited up

Got to rep the sponsors, X-1 Audio

Incredible sunrise just starting to show as we were walking up to the swim start

At the swim start loosening up

ready to race!

Sun is up and we're getting quite a crowd!

Swim 2.4 miles: 1:33:09 65/220 overall 11/27 age group

Screw Lake Erie. I don't know if you've ever tried to swim in one of the Great Lakes, but it has to be more pleasant other times than this swim was. As an east coaster, I know a freaking ocean when I see one. Lake Erie looks like a nice ocean, with a good sandy beach and decent waves. 

But this abomination has fresh water, and there are no seashells.  And you can't see the other side, but that's Canada up there? and I know I'm in the middle of the country.  So freaky!

Crowds of swimmers loading into the water

That's me right under the banner looking back and waving at my sweet lady

220 swimmers came out of that water, no idea how many went in.  Crazy chop!

Kelley captured an amazing sunrise shot. Notice those waves....

Another great shot of the swim start from a friend. Notice that chop?

This swim was the most difficult thing I have ever done as an athlete.  By far. I am a strong swimmer, it's a real point of pride. I love swimming, open water swim racing is my favorite. Screw Lake Erie.

The wind is very strong over the water, and it creates swells, which are different from waves. Waves come in a steady rhythm with small variations in size. These swells have an asynchronous pattern and variant height, so you never know what you're going to get or when it's going to hit you.  It is completely disorienting.

The course is 2 loops around a triangle with right hand turns every .4 miles, and after the 5th leg swimmers head to the swim finish instead of back to the swim start. This means that you swim directly out against the swells until you hit the first turn buoy for leg 1 and 4. Legs 2 and 5 (finish) are sort of parallel with the swells, and leg 3 is kind of parallel but against the grain of the swells.

I honestly did not think that I was going to make it to the first turn buoy after we started.  Then, I didn't want to make it all the way to that buoy. I would stop and tread water for a bit and notice that the people that were swimming furiously around me also were not making any forward progress.  it was insane!

When you turn to the right to breathe, I was just as likely to get air as I was to have my head 2 feet under water. And since that isn't actually a breath, I would go face up to try and see when the next swell was coming only to discover it was already hitting me in the face! Other attempts to breathe did actually get me some air, but then turning to put my face back in the water also got me some air.  And when the water is suddenly 2 feet below your face, it kind of hurts when the two meet again.  I literally could not get three consecutive strokes in the water. It was disorienting and amazingly difficult.  I may have cried.

Kelley comes with me to a bunch of these crazy open water things, and she's seen dozens of starts and finishes, and it's very rare that somebody has a tough time and has to be pulled out of the water. It's usually nerves or a panic attack.  This time she saw 17 people get pulled out of the water for physical or mental reasons. I really thought I was going to be one of them.  It was that hard just to hit that first buoy.

After that first turn I could breathe to the right pretty consistently and as long as the up and down motion created by the swells didn't make me puke (which it totally did) then it wasn't too bad. I made the second turn and headed back to the starting buoy for lap #2. That leg was very confusing. I would breathe once and have the sun to my right, then the beach to my left, then the beach to my right and the sun to my left on consecutive strokes! and I was kind of swimming straight.  The swells just were that disorienting.

Back at the first buoy you could stand again, the lake is pretty shallow there. My goggles fogged and I may have stopped, cleared the goggles, and cried again before deciding if I wanted to walk back to shore and turn in my chip or face that direct swell access again.

I did of course choose to go back out for lap 2, and this time I found the secret.  Breast stroke keeps most of the body underwater and moving forward most of the time.  When you come up for a breath you never really know where your head will be or how painful it will be to get back underwater, but I could at least keep moving forward most of the time. I felt much better the second time I hit the first turn buoy, but still not exactly "great".  But from there it was a straight shot to the swim finish.

Wetsuit half off coming out of the water

So freaking glad to be done

My swim times from the first two Ironmans were 1:14 and 1:05. I just did a 5 mile swim in a river in only 1:18 and a 2 mile open water lake race in 1:04. So for me to go 1:33 out there shows you how tough it was.  The fact that I still finished that high in the field shows how difficult it was for everyone.

T1: 10:23

I swam in a speedo and wetsuit knowing that I would then change into regular bike gear. In an Ironman, I know that's long, but I am only going to ride 112 miles in as close to comfort as possible.

Bike 112 miles: 7:11:26, 143/220 overall, 19/27 age group

Running out of TA

Cool shot along that fenceline

Mounting up!

starting to ride

still kind of pukey after the swim

that head down says it all

aaaaaand I'm gone

This bike course was perfect!  It was the ideal mix of flats and rolling hills. It is a 2 loop course, lollipop style. Riding out to the loop was kind of windy, but it was by the water so not that bad and absolutely beautiful scenery.  On the loop there was one climb that you hit twice, and there was an aide station complete with uniformed cheerleaders waiting for you at the top!  It was all country roads with very little traffic. Since I'm kind of a bigger guy (6'1", 175 lbs) I can deal with the hills much easier than I can the wind so this was perfect for me.  Every now and then there would be a downhill that I could soft pedal through, and get enough momentum to make it up the ensuing slight uphill with minimal effort.  After completing the loop twice, head back to the park and call it a ride.

Around mile 40, I saw an alpaca farm.  There was a lot of farmland, mostly corn and soybeans.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the low 70's. If there is a time to enjoy cycling, it's taking on a perfect course on a perfect day.

Around mile 45, I realized why I hate cycling: it sucks.

More specifically, riding a bike is boring, uncomfortable, dangerous when there are cars around, and it takes forever.

yea I said it.  My name is John, I'm an Ironman triathlete, and I hate cycling. And riding 112 miles is a special kind of torture.

Usually when I finish an Ironman I hang up my bike for the winter, but the next spring the idea of the wind blowing as I'm flying down the road for hours on end seems very appealing.  This year that feeling never really materialized. I never found my motivation to keep biking like I should, and my training plan had about 1000 miles less biking than last years plan did.  Of course, my final time this year was only 6 minutes slower than Beach 2 Battleship was last year, so you could argue that the missing miles didn't matter. You could also argue that with a more ideal course and a perfect weather day I should have been better conditioned and put up a 6:30 split.

By the halfway point I felt a little fatigued, but overall ok.  By mile 65 I was done mentally and ready to be off of that bike. By mile 80 I was in shock that I still had 32 miles to go. And as they all ticked off one mile at a time I was just glad to see them go away.  I finished that beautiful course and was glad to be done with the bike.

Also, I suck at it.  Maybe I would enjoy it more if I was actually good at cycling, but I'm not. I started biking in 73rd place after a slow T1, and finished in 143rd place overall. That means that a full third of the field (70 people) passed me on the bike, but those were just the full riders. There was also a half iron race going on too, and most of the half iron people were pushing much faster than the full people were so they went flying past me.  It is kind of demoralizing, but I tried to consistently only run my race. I don't have to keep up with anybody else out there, just get my miles done.

T2: 7:55

With my bike in the rack again, I left my shoes and helmet there and changed out of the bike gear and into full run gear. I thought it was going to be a bit cooler than it was, so I had a black shirt and black visor, running at 4 pm when it was 78* outside. So that could have been planned a bit better. There wasn't a cloud in the sky so I loaded up on sunscreen and headed out to the course.

Run 26.2 miles: 4:49:25, 102/220 overall, 15/27 age group

Out of TA, get some water, good to go

Got water and advil, ready to run

I got my kiss, ready to go run

What's 26.2 between friends?

The run course goes from the park across a causeway into downtown Sandusky. It's a 2 loop affair so you have to come all the way back near the finish chute to the turnaround before heading back for an entire separate lap.

Usually I want to finish before daylight ends, but this time the sunset was a welcome relief from the heat. I picked up some strange sunburns but no arm or nipple chafing, luckily so I could deal with that mess. There was a few out and back spurs, a few timing mats to send splits online, and the rest of the course was pretty uneventful. Plus, at the time, I wasn't exactly in a mental capacity to remember anything.

Kelley found a cool spot at mile 8 and mile 21 on the loop

This must be mile 21, it was a zombie parade at that point

Eventually the moon came out and the sun went down

yea, remember how we were just standing on that beach waiting for the sun to come up? Well now it's gone again. That also made the temps drop which was a welcome relief.  All I had to do now was finish my Ironman career.

There was a moment that I will snapshot for as long as I can remember it. After dark, walking back across the causeway to the park, the lake was lit up with a couple of boats and the roller coasters were all lit up and moving. Cars were exiting the park rapidly, some honking at me. I had 1.5 miles left. Sometimes it is important to live in the now and take appreciation for the moment you are in, and how you got there. In that moment, I didn't care what my finish time was, how fast the marathon split was or what was fatigued then. There was only an overwhelming sense of satisfaction that I was able to train and push my body in this way to lead me up to this very moment. This snapshot is amazing.

Finish: 13:52:20, 102/220 overall, 15/27 age group

Bring it on home!

Number 3 is done!

Medal, visor, towel, official finishers photo time

This is a happy ironman

It was a great day to be an Ironman. This was my personal worst overall time (13:06 and 13:12 the first two), and a personal worst split in every sport. I haven't run a marathon that slow since my first one in 2009. But none of it matters. I am an ironman again, finished another 140.6, still made the top half of the field.  Anytime you can see that  finish line it is a great day.  And this was a great day.