below are two reports. one a training article on some my preperation for the Silverman 1/2 ironma and second the race report on how it actually worked.
The half I did a few years ago produced some good results and it was a killer time. lets see what happens this go round??The Silverman triathlon is almost upon us now. After a full season of skinny armed bike racing I am hardly worthy of a half ironman. Its always a fun and daunting challenge to take one on with the clock ticking. I always get questions about my training, so I will highlight some key aspects and focus points. I have some very weak weaknesses, some very strong strengths and mixing them with not nearly enough time to prepare makes for some unique and interesting training. I think this is a good topic to write a training focused article on because many athletes find them selves in a similar situation all the time.Coming into the race:I had a full season on road racing in me, almost too full of a season. I was tired, stressed out from running my own business, buying a home and plain old run down. A visit to the doctors and a few weeks of rest had me feeling some what better in the average Joe sense but not the in elite athlete sense. I was far from 100% and had a lot of careful work to do.Race Goals: With a $250 cash prize for the fastest swim, bike or run split I was instantly thinking “the bike is mine!” of course with Dave Scott and Chris “ironman man world champ” McCormick now racing its more like” I’m gona give it 100%”. Goal number two is to finish as best possible over all. This may sound contradictory but I can’t run fast. So if I were to… save it, for the run I really wouldn’t be “saving” much.Training:~Swim: With me now teaching spinning for the winter at Rally Sport in Boulder I have access to master swim classes and a great coach. My swim training will focus on building up some muscle in my skin and bones upper body and refining my technique to the point that swimming for 45’ is no large task. My speed will come from the bottom up. Meaning as my technique gets better and upper body stronger I will simply get faster for the same exertion level. This has worked well. Saturday morning swims have seen me put in a good 1hr with out to much trauma. One or two weeks I threw in 2 swims per week, fatigue was higher but still, I was able to complete the task. I have put in some serious time in the pool compared to the past. However, I think of my swim training not as getting faster but enabling me get to the bike in better shape and with more gas to burn in the hunt for my # 1 goal. Also a more efficient swim will help me get to the finish line strong which is inline with goal #2. The swim is not long in comparison, in any tri I realize, but swimming is tough! If you’re not up to a minimum level of efficiency you’ll come out of the water with far too much of a debt to pay.~Bike: My training here was a slow build up. With the fatigue of a long summer just wearing off I didn’t want to jump in too fast. Instead I focused on short frequent rides until my legs came around. These rides were mostly alone. It would have been ideal for me to get in a solid block of on-the-bike strength work as I had lost some muscle mass but there was no time. Instead I opted for specific intervals. Intervals at my goal race pace (wattage/P.E./ HR) on hilly terrain as the Silverman 1/2 has a very hilly bike course. These rides felt better each time and culminated with a 56 mile, 2.5 hr ride at pace. This ride was key as it helped me really dial in how my pacing “felt” and how much gas I would have in the last 10 miles to really pour the coals on the fire. In this case I did not have enough time to work my weakness and then move on to race specific training. Because my weakness was not race specific and having limited time I skipped that step.~Run: The last time I jumped into a half iron distance race I had even less time to train. 4 weeks, 3 really if you don’t count the week leading to the race. That time I focused on running as many times as possible before the race and not necessarily “long”. My 2 long runs that time were 1 hr. each. This worked well as I ran just as fast on race day as I did in training. I only really have 1 running speed. This time I abandoned the “long run” theory all together. Instead focusing on frequent quality runs. Running this time has felt much better, more control over exertion and less soreness after runs. And while I have not done one run up to an hour I have logged significantly more total running time, as well as many, many short bricks 10-30’ long. My theory here is that I have the fitness. Going hard for 5 hours is not the issue with this body, its being efficient at the 3 disciplines, or 2 really; Swimming and running. If you are looking to complete any type of event one must be technically sound in the movement it will require. With out this you are to paddling a row boat with you hands.
Race Report:
I have done a few tri’s in my day. And I have done even more through my clients. Learning every steep of the way. But sometimes I still get caught up with THE question, “are you a triathlete?”. I don’t label others or my self unless its absolute. Well now there is no question, the Silverman triathlon is the most beautiful and toughest course I have seen. If you are wondering if you should label your self as “Triathlete” or are maybe looking to redefine what you are capable of do this race!Race: At 5 am my eggs and rice didn’t taste so great but I got it down. A power bar, gel, lots of panicking and we were off! At first I felt no so good the my women’s med. wet suit wasn’t the best fit but after a few minutes I found my rhythm. No sooner than that we hit the windy part of the swim. The swells were… big. I have swam in the ocean, body surfed, played water polo, I have even been thrown off a horse. Swimming in the 2+ foot swells was worse. I was simply being tossed, I could hear the tri geek gods bellowing out in laughter. HAA, HAA, HAA, a road cyclist thinks he can simply run for a few weeks and do this race HHAAAAA!!! And for a few minutes I thought I might not make it! But after some wounded seal like swimming maneuvers I was into the tail wind then back to the cross wind but I was handling it a bit better. I could barely make out the buoys but still managed to swim pretty straight. People were all over the place. At first I tried to find a pair of feet to follow but one wave and they were gone. Up the chute to T1. pretty smooth. I bent over while sitting down to put my shoes on and my legs, both of them, seized. Ahhhh… “Ok I’ll just pretend that didn’t happen.” Out of the tent to my bike and ... a tail wind greeted me making the ridiculous climb out from the lake a bit easier. Bike: right away I was passed. A big guy came by, “now for the fun part”, he said. As I watched him pedal away I thought, to hard. He’s mine. It wasn’t long. 5’ or so before I had passed him. “OK EK keep it easy!” I did, just letting my legs fall. The HR was high but the legs felt good. I pushed on. Coming up the first turnaround, Maca was coming the other way, I checked my mileage. Holly crap! I thought. He is really far ahead of me. I began to think that my fasted bike split goal was no longer in the cards… ohh well stick to the plan. I counted the guys in front of me and I was now in the top ten. Nice! Turn around at mile 23, fast riding for a bit and I came into the second half on the course. Hills, big long head wind hills. I passed a few more riders, slower now. Yeah, I thought, I must be in the top ten these guys look good. On to the bike path, Yes a bike path! 3 short climbs back to back. The 3 sisters they are called and I would not want to meet mom or dad. They were biters at 18 percent. I simply “let” them be hard and then pushed as the path turned into the head wind and plowed upward at a low grade. 2% grade + 20mph head wind + 300 watts equals me going some where between 12-15 mph. It was not for the weak minded. I pushed, I caught one more. Boom! Out onto the main roads now more head winds and long gradual climbs. Some fast riding too, 47 mph fast! With 8 to go I was pretty cooked, with 6-5-4 to go I was really, really cooked. I kept stuffing fuel down my throat. I had no more acceleration, but I had enough to hold on.Into T2.I put the shoes on, grabbed my food, and was off. “heh, how far ahead is Maca?” I asked “peffff…. Ohh god… like 20 minutes I think?” “Yeah that sounds right”, said his side kick. I was in disbelief. Time to switch hats, or off with the “racing” helmet and on with the lets just finish, hat. Or no hat really, but new shades. The first mile is slightly down hill. Nice! I liked it. I could find my rhythm with out having to fight to hard. At just over 1 mile you turn right. And into the head wind and up a 2 mile climb. I looked at the profile in my head. I quickly came up with the plan of really keeping it in control as 90% of the up hill running was in the first half, then it was more down hill. I thought make sure I have enough in the tank so that I can “let my legs go” on the down hill. I was on pure feel now. My HR monitor watch had kicked it this past week and with no time I couldn’t even get a round about on my pace. At mile 7 I saw a sign for mile 6. ohh bummer. But half way so that good. wait, is that half way? How far am I running exactly? Ok there’s mile 7 this was right around the time the cramp in my gut started to concern me. I can handle pain, but if it got worse it would start to slow me down. I couldn’t think straight and I could really feel the swim now. My hands started to not work so well. Grabbing water became hard work, my arms felt like lead and at feed zones my response to “what do you need!” had gone from, HEH!! Thanks! umm I’ll have water and ohh are those Oranges, no thanks, water and a gel, thanks guys you rock!!” go Hilleary! To ahh ahh water, go Obama! To here a mile 7, “number 359 what do you need!” …. …. “hey what do you need! …. Are you OK? 3-5-9 are you.. watcoke!... …waaaqalk%$35… it was pretty bad. Then my race brain kicked in again. YO EK, get you s#*% together were barely past half way, your in 6th place! From here to the finish all I could think about is that scene in a football game, when a play goes bad, a fumble happens and some how the 350 lb line backer picks it up and starts running. He probably hasn’t touched a ball in a game in 5 years and looks like a wounded doe on ice trying to run. His teammates run up, and try to block for him. He thunders on, slowing now with every steep. I bet that guy isn’t even thinking End Zone! He’s just thinking, when I get hit by the 5 guys running 10mph faster than me, don’t drop the ball! Don’t drop the ball EK!Think! This is getting worse and your to far from the line to tough it out… number 359 wh… Pretzels!! I had been taking in my normal electrolyte levels and while it wasn’t hot we are in the dessert and energy usage was high. This combined with drinking water on the run (can’t do the Gatorade) was making my tummy low on salt. Or was it? I had to go for it. 1 mile later I was doing better and just in time as the down hills came. “great job 359 what ... COKE, AND WATER! The racing brain was back. Next set helpers “hey great job loo…! Water! Water!! “ahh we’re just cheering” “ohh sorry” The last 5 k was brutal. Things started popping into my head. Mostly a family friend who lost a long, long battle with cancer a few years back. Don’t know why I thought of her. Maybe she’s in Las Vegas? I was trying to pick up my pace, come on EK top ten top ten can’t get passed again!!,I put down another gel and finished her off. I could hear the announcer as I came down the chute the crowd was insane, Eric Kenney coming in from Boulder, CO. looking strong!! When I finished I was a bit over whelmed. Zach was there. And thank good. A volunteer came over, are you OK do you need the medical tent? Ahh… do I? I asked Zach. No, not yet anyway, food, recovery drink. I sat down, shock a few hands, and got a message. Everyone was talking about the water and the wind on the bike path! It was brutal. Everyone that had raced gave you this look. It was this look that said, wow dude, you made it too. Congratulations. You’re a Triathlete.
Early results and stats:
Swim: 29th, 37’ hard as hell.
Bike: 3rd, avg HR 176 (threshold 183-185)Estimated avg wattage 285-300
Run: ?, ?, ?, harder than hell.
6th over 2rd in age group.
The half I did a few years ago produced some good results and it was a killer time. lets see what happens this go round??The Silverman triathlon is almost upon us now. After a full season of skinny armed bike racing I am hardly worthy of a half ironman. Its always a fun and daunting challenge to take one on with the clock ticking. I always get questions about my training, so I will highlight some key aspects and focus points. I have some very weak weaknesses, some very strong strengths and mixing them with not nearly enough time to prepare makes for some unique and interesting training. I think this is a good topic to write a training focused article on because many athletes find them selves in a similar situation all the time.Coming into the race:I had a full season on road racing in me, almost too full of a season. I was tired, stressed out from running my own business, buying a home and plain old run down. A visit to the doctors and a few weeks of rest had me feeling some what better in the average Joe sense but not the in elite athlete sense. I was far from 100% and had a lot of careful work to do.Race Goals: With a $250 cash prize for the fastest swim, bike or run split I was instantly thinking “the bike is mine!” of course with Dave Scott and Chris “ironman man world champ” McCormick now racing its more like” I’m gona give it 100%”. Goal number two is to finish as best possible over all. This may sound contradictory but I can’t run fast. So if I were to… save it, for the run I really wouldn’t be “saving” much.Training:~Swim: With me now teaching spinning for the winter at Rally Sport in Boulder I have access to master swim classes and a great coach. My swim training will focus on building up some muscle in my skin and bones upper body and refining my technique to the point that swimming for 45’ is no large task. My speed will come from the bottom up. Meaning as my technique gets better and upper body stronger I will simply get faster for the same exertion level. This has worked well. Saturday morning swims have seen me put in a good 1hr with out to much trauma. One or two weeks I threw in 2 swims per week, fatigue was higher but still, I was able to complete the task. I have put in some serious time in the pool compared to the past. However, I think of my swim training not as getting faster but enabling me get to the bike in better shape and with more gas to burn in the hunt for my # 1 goal. Also a more efficient swim will help me get to the finish line strong which is inline with goal #2. The swim is not long in comparison, in any tri I realize, but swimming is tough! If you’re not up to a minimum level of efficiency you’ll come out of the water with far too much of a debt to pay.~Bike: My training here was a slow build up. With the fatigue of a long summer just wearing off I didn’t want to jump in too fast. Instead I focused on short frequent rides until my legs came around. These rides were mostly alone. It would have been ideal for me to get in a solid block of on-the-bike strength work as I had lost some muscle mass but there was no time. Instead I opted for specific intervals. Intervals at my goal race pace (wattage/P.E./ HR) on hilly terrain as the Silverman 1/2 has a very hilly bike course. These rides felt better each time and culminated with a 56 mile, 2.5 hr ride at pace. This ride was key as it helped me really dial in how my pacing “felt” and how much gas I would have in the last 10 miles to really pour the coals on the fire. In this case I did not have enough time to work my weakness and then move on to race specific training. Because my weakness was not race specific and having limited time I skipped that step.~Run: The last time I jumped into a half iron distance race I had even less time to train. 4 weeks, 3 really if you don’t count the week leading to the race. That time I focused on running as many times as possible before the race and not necessarily “long”. My 2 long runs that time were 1 hr. each. This worked well as I ran just as fast on race day as I did in training. I only really have 1 running speed. This time I abandoned the “long run” theory all together. Instead focusing on frequent quality runs. Running this time has felt much better, more control over exertion and less soreness after runs. And while I have not done one run up to an hour I have logged significantly more total running time, as well as many, many short bricks 10-30’ long. My theory here is that I have the fitness. Going hard for 5 hours is not the issue with this body, its being efficient at the 3 disciplines, or 2 really; Swimming and running. If you are looking to complete any type of event one must be technically sound in the movement it will require. With out this you are to paddling a row boat with you hands.
Race Report:
I have done a few tri’s in my day. And I have done even more through my clients. Learning every steep of the way. But sometimes I still get caught up with THE question, “are you a triathlete?”. I don’t label others or my self unless its absolute. Well now there is no question, the Silverman triathlon is the most beautiful and toughest course I have seen. If you are wondering if you should label your self as “Triathlete” or are maybe looking to redefine what you are capable of do this race!Race: At 5 am my eggs and rice didn’t taste so great but I got it down. A power bar, gel, lots of panicking and we were off! At first I felt no so good the my women’s med. wet suit wasn’t the best fit but after a few minutes I found my rhythm. No sooner than that we hit the windy part of the swim. The swells were… big. I have swam in the ocean, body surfed, played water polo, I have even been thrown off a horse. Swimming in the 2+ foot swells was worse. I was simply being tossed, I could hear the tri geek gods bellowing out in laughter. HAA, HAA, HAA, a road cyclist thinks he can simply run for a few weeks and do this race HHAAAAA!!! And for a few minutes I thought I might not make it! But after some wounded seal like swimming maneuvers I was into the tail wind then back to the cross wind but I was handling it a bit better. I could barely make out the buoys but still managed to swim pretty straight. People were all over the place. At first I tried to find a pair of feet to follow but one wave and they were gone. Up the chute to T1. pretty smooth. I bent over while sitting down to put my shoes on and my legs, both of them, seized. Ahhhh… “Ok I’ll just pretend that didn’t happen.” Out of the tent to my bike and ... a tail wind greeted me making the ridiculous climb out from the lake a bit easier. Bike: right away I was passed. A big guy came by, “now for the fun part”, he said. As I watched him pedal away I thought, to hard. He’s mine. It wasn’t long. 5’ or so before I had passed him. “OK EK keep it easy!” I did, just letting my legs fall. The HR was high but the legs felt good. I pushed on. Coming up the first turnaround, Maca was coming the other way, I checked my mileage. Holly crap! I thought. He is really far ahead of me. I began to think that my fasted bike split goal was no longer in the cards… ohh well stick to the plan. I counted the guys in front of me and I was now in the top ten. Nice! Turn around at mile 23, fast riding for a bit and I came into the second half on the course. Hills, big long head wind hills. I passed a few more riders, slower now. Yeah, I thought, I must be in the top ten these guys look good. On to the bike path, Yes a bike path! 3 short climbs back to back. The 3 sisters they are called and I would not want to meet mom or dad. They were biters at 18 percent. I simply “let” them be hard and then pushed as the path turned into the head wind and plowed upward at a low grade. 2% grade + 20mph head wind + 300 watts equals me going some where between 12-15 mph. It was not for the weak minded. I pushed, I caught one more. Boom! Out onto the main roads now more head winds and long gradual climbs. Some fast riding too, 47 mph fast! With 8 to go I was pretty cooked, with 6-5-4 to go I was really, really cooked. I kept stuffing fuel down my throat. I had no more acceleration, but I had enough to hold on.Into T2.I put the shoes on, grabbed my food, and was off. “heh, how far ahead is Maca?” I asked “peffff…. Ohh god… like 20 minutes I think?” “Yeah that sounds right”, said his side kick. I was in disbelief. Time to switch hats, or off with the “racing” helmet and on with the lets just finish, hat. Or no hat really, but new shades. The first mile is slightly down hill. Nice! I liked it. I could find my rhythm with out having to fight to hard. At just over 1 mile you turn right. And into the head wind and up a 2 mile climb. I looked at the profile in my head. I quickly came up with the plan of really keeping it in control as 90% of the up hill running was in the first half, then it was more down hill. I thought make sure I have enough in the tank so that I can “let my legs go” on the down hill. I was on pure feel now. My HR monitor watch had kicked it this past week and with no time I couldn’t even get a round about on my pace. At mile 7 I saw a sign for mile 6. ohh bummer. But half way so that good. wait, is that half way? How far am I running exactly? Ok there’s mile 7 this was right around the time the cramp in my gut started to concern me. I can handle pain, but if it got worse it would start to slow me down. I couldn’t think straight and I could really feel the swim now. My hands started to not work so well. Grabbing water became hard work, my arms felt like lead and at feed zones my response to “what do you need!” had gone from, HEH!! Thanks! umm I’ll have water and ohh are those Oranges, no thanks, water and a gel, thanks guys you rock!!” go Hilleary! To ahh ahh water, go Obama! To here a mile 7, “number 359 what do you need!” …. …. “hey what do you need! …. Are you OK? 3-5-9 are you.. watcoke!... …waaaqalk%$35… it was pretty bad. Then my race brain kicked in again. YO EK, get you s#*% together were barely past half way, your in 6th place! From here to the finish all I could think about is that scene in a football game, when a play goes bad, a fumble happens and some how the 350 lb line backer picks it up and starts running. He probably hasn’t touched a ball in a game in 5 years and looks like a wounded doe on ice trying to run. His teammates run up, and try to block for him. He thunders on, slowing now with every steep. I bet that guy isn’t even thinking End Zone! He’s just thinking, when I get hit by the 5 guys running 10mph faster than me, don’t drop the ball! Don’t drop the ball EK!Think! This is getting worse and your to far from the line to tough it out… number 359 wh… Pretzels!! I had been taking in my normal electrolyte levels and while it wasn’t hot we are in the dessert and energy usage was high. This combined with drinking water on the run (can’t do the Gatorade) was making my tummy low on salt. Or was it? I had to go for it. 1 mile later I was doing better and just in time as the down hills came. “great job 359 what ... COKE, AND WATER! The racing brain was back. Next set helpers “hey great job loo…! Water! Water!! “ahh we’re just cheering” “ohh sorry” The last 5 k was brutal. Things started popping into my head. Mostly a family friend who lost a long, long battle with cancer a few years back. Don’t know why I thought of her. Maybe she’s in Las Vegas? I was trying to pick up my pace, come on EK top ten top ten can’t get passed again!!,I put down another gel and finished her off. I could hear the announcer as I came down the chute the crowd was insane, Eric Kenney coming in from Boulder, CO. looking strong!! When I finished I was a bit over whelmed. Zach was there. And thank good. A volunteer came over, are you OK do you need the medical tent? Ahh… do I? I asked Zach. No, not yet anyway, food, recovery drink. I sat down, shock a few hands, and got a message. Everyone was talking about the water and the wind on the bike path! It was brutal. Everyone that had raced gave you this look. It was this look that said, wow dude, you made it too. Congratulations. You’re a Triathlete.
Early results and stats:
Swim: 29th, 37’ hard as hell.
Bike: 3rd, avg HR 176 (threshold 183-185)Estimated avg wattage 285-300
Run: ?, ?, ?, harder than hell.
6th over 2rd in age group.
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