Okay, I think I've got it nailed down, finally!! The tendonitis episode from March is officially gone and my recovery has come along really well. The first two weeks of running was a test of patience, because I was hoping to suddenly have the running form I had right before my injury (pretty unrealistic, but sometimes it can be a challenge to manage our own expectations). It took about a week or so longer for everything to come back as I had expected, but I can honestly say that all the pistons are firing. Where my running was a little slower to come back was on my long runs. I've been able to get in some solid longer runs, but I wasn't able to get back to the +20 mile runs that one really needs to hit to nail a full Ironman. It was going to be a little risky to hike my milage up that quickly to have the long runs I usually feel I need to have the confidence to be ready to really hit it hard on an Ironman run. 

For this reason, I decided to forgo the Ironman Brazil plan and focus on Ironman USA Lake Placid in July. I'm going to race the new Boise Ironman 70.3 on June 1st instead of Brazil. This way I can safely build my long runs back without trying to "cram" for Brazil. I still would love to race Ironman Brazil some day, but it wasn't in the cards for this year.

So my schedule has been updated to reflect these changes on my "schedule and results page". I'm really excited for the races I've got coming up. 

Pat

February 17, 2008: Out of VO2 max, back to Volume

Sometimes the mental challenges are as great as the physical. As part of my training, my coach, Derick, schedules phases and cycles that coincide with a larger picture for the next race’s preparation, the coming season, as well as my long-term development. Each phase brings its own challenges, physically and mentally.

I just finished a three week VO2 max block and after a little recovery I am moving back into a volume build. So what’s the big deal, isn’t this par for the course? Yes, but I wanted to write briefly about the mental challenges of the VO2 max block. In this phase, we greatly cut my volume and dramatically increase the intensity level. We have really short and hard days followed by days of easy recovery workouts and rest. The intent of this phase is to produce an dramatic overload and prompt physiological adaptations in my VO2 max (a measure of the body’s efficient use of oxygen at very high work loads). With these shorter, VERY intense workouts followed by ample recovery, over time we can increase the heart’s stroke volume and prompt the body to increase cellular mitochondria; in other words make my body more efficient.

So again, you may ask what’s the big deal, isn’t this par for the course? Again yes; however, there are mental challenges I personally cope with outside of the normal psychological stains from high intensity workouts. In my mind, I’m focused on my Ironman Arizona preparation. In the past, during Ironman build-ups I’ve depended primarily on high training volumes while mixing in some intensity here and there. So I’ve conditioned myself to think that Ironman is about volume only. Volume is very important, but it’s not everything.

During this VO2 max phase, when my volume relative to past Ironman preparations is very low, I’ve had to trust that it fits into the grand plan. This is where Derick is invaluable.  As I see others preparing for the same race biking many hundreds of miles and running 20 mile long-runs, for the last three weeks, I haven’t touched volumes close to those levels. This is where Derick has gotten to play the role of my therapist. As doubt creeps into my head, he reminds me to trust that the type of training in these last few weeks will greatly help in Ironman preparation. Trust; no matter what anyone says, can be difficult. This is what’s great about our coaching relationship, even when I have doubts, we talk it through and I really trust Derick. I’ve needed to trust that although this training doesn’t fit with my past paradigm for Ironman preparation or mimic what I see others doing in their training, it is indeed the right approach for my development. It was hard for me to accept that 2-3 minute intense efforts will help me in an 8.5-9 hour race; guess what, IT DOES!

So as I move out of VO2 max and back into volume, once again, my trust in the process has been affirmed. In this last week, the fitness tests I’ve preformed in workouts have shown that coming out of the last phase, I’m stronger and faster than I’ve ever been. Now we look towards the next five weeks to start upping the volume for the final push before tapering for Arizona.

Pat

February 3, 2008: Ode to Pop-Tarts - Saviors of the long winter bike rides

     We are currently in the darkest, coldest days of winter training. Many times, our winter bike rides are long, easier paced rides with the intent of building the physiological foundations for the coming season. This means a lot of time in the saddle; long days in the cold. This is also the time of year when I relax my nutrition on the bike, allowing myself to splurge in my eating habits while riding. As I get closer to my key races, I’ll become more disciplined about eating only what I plan to intake on race day. It is psychologically healthy to relax those rules in the winter so that you’re not sick of your racing nutrition when it comes time to focus.

     About a year ago I discovered a new favorite food to eat while on my longer winter rides (anything in the 4-7 hour range), Pop Tarts. I was eating exclusively energy bars from different companies and a friend turned me on to the distinctly foil wrapped (which fit well in a bike jersey), tasty frosted treats. Now, from November though March, nothing tastes better on a cold, windy bike ride than my toaster-pastry friends.
    
     Besides the psychological benefits of allowing yourself ‘treats’ on the bike, this is as much an issue of nutritional economics. While energy bars tend to be made from better quality ingredients which are better for people on a daily basis. I tend to think that for training rides, it’s a matter of just getting the right amount of calories in your body. For winter workouts it’s good to get a mixture of simple sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, and fat. That said, let’s look at pop-tarts vs. energy bars.

Pop Tarts (package of 2 pastries)

Calories: 400

Carbs: 64 gms (26 gms simple sugars, fiber 2 gms, 36 gms complex carbs)

Protein: 5 gms

Fat: 18 gms

Energy Bar:

Calories: 250

Carbs: 44 gms (20 gms simple sugars, 5 gms fiber, 19 gms complex carbs)

Protein: 10 gms

Fat: 5 gms 

     While the energy bar has higher protein and less fat, I’m more concerned with the shear economics of training. I’m not of the camp that believes in protein during the workout (only afterwards is protein critical to recovery). I also don’t think a little extra fat in the winter is bad either. Putting on a couple pounds can help keep away winter sicknesses. 

     My goal is usually to consume about 400 cals/hour on a bike ride. That means on a 5-6 hour ride, I’m consuming over 2000 calories. On a long duration bike ride, my energy expenditure is anywhere between 3000-4800 kjoules. So, I need to take in a lot of calories, which can get very expensive if I’m using boutique powdered sports drinks and energy bars. Each energy bar costs $1-$2 and a jug of powdered premium sports drink is usually over $30.

     Now we look at pop-tarts. I buy the generic brand “toaster pastries” in the supermarket in packs of 12 (or 6 packages of 2) for $1.97. So with a little math I come out with my toaster pastries giving me 1200 calories per dollar, while the energy bars at ~200 calories per dollar. Hmmmm, now my college degrees are not in economics, but when I look at these numbers, they’re pretty convincing that if my goal is to get in a decent mix of macro nutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat), with a lot of carbs then my generic toaster pastries are the clear winner!!

    
    Sports nutrition companies spend millions in marketing to have you believe that you have to use their products, but next time you watch the Tour de France or talk to a pro cyclist, note what their eating on their training or on the easier stages. You’ll see them cramming down Cokes and Snickers.

    
    I do want to say that as I get closer to Ironman Arizona, I will start to move to “cleaner” fuel on my bike rides, usually all liquids and sports gels. Certain products make for better racing foods, but during these winter months the biggest question is whether today is going to be a frosted cinnamon brown sugar or blueberry with sprinkles sort of ride day.

Pat    

January 27, 2008: 3M Half Marathon - Nice day for a PR!

     My quads are absolutely trashed, but that's a good thing, isn’t it? It means I raced hard and left everything on the course. On top of laying it on the line, I came out with a personal best; a great way to start a Sunday.

     This morning, I raced in the 3M Half Marathon, a very popular running race in Austin. It’s known for its fast course and tough competition. I love that race. It’s a great checkpoint for my fitness early in the year from which we can see some indications for the coming season. I can also compare my results to past races to examine year over year improvements. I hadn’t run an open half marathon in a couple years so I was eager to take a crack at my past personal best time. I ended with a 1:11:52 or a 5:29 min/mile pace, a three minute improvement over my last half marathon.

     We met at Derick and Kelly’s house at 5:30am to carpool to the start line. The weather was really nice for running. It was clear and in the high 40s, a respite from the rainy low 30s we had seen all week. After a nice easy warm-up and some strides, I found some friends and the start line and tucked in behind the couple lines of Kenyans. Of course I made several comments about my plan to out with the Kenyans as well as talked some obligatory trash to my buddies (things like “I hope you brought your ‘A’ game, because I’m bringing the thunder”). It helps break the nervous energy at the start line.

     As always, the race strategy was to start easy and then ease into it…..you’d think after years of running, that I would learn that I never follow that plan. Richie and I rolled through mile one at 5:21, a bit faster than planned. “Okay, you started at that pace, now you have to hold it.” I often think in third person to myself in races. I guess it’s a disassociation strategy to cope with the pain.

     Richie and I began rolling with the female Kenyans (the elite males had dropped us pretty much at the start line). After mile two, the elastic broke and I officially popped off the back of that pack. In actuality, I had increased my pace by a couple seconds per mile, but the pack had picked it up even more. The game then quickly becomes, “let’s see how close I can keep them, and maybe after mile six, I can make a charge back.” A little wishful thinking never hurt anyone.  Miles 3-5 are predominantly downhill with a couple steeper pitches. Everyone opens their strides to take advantage of the terrain. Coming out of those miles, I realized my legs, really my quads, were completely smashed. As I rolled through 10K and saw that I had just run my 10K personal best (in the beginning of a half marathon – 32:50-something), I knew the second half was going to be a real sufferfest.

     In the second half of the race, my pace slacked from the first half (only by about 8 seconds per mile, but it felt like a lot more); retribution for an aggressive first half. But hey, how can we find our limits if we don’t test them and push ourselves out of our comfort zone. The remaining miles were a bit of a blur. You get to this point where you really wonder if you’re going to have to stop because you feel like you’re going to just blow up. Then you realize that you’ve felt this way in every race where you’ve pushed yourself and somehow you made it every other time, so this time won’t be any different. In that case, I’ve found it’s sometimes best to metaphorically roll your eyes back in your head and go. As soon as you cross the finish line, you forget the pain from the last few miles.

     If you want to get faster, you have to learn to hurt yourself, period! So as I hobbled to the coffee shop to write this entry, I was satisfied with my 3M; great way to start the day, a great way to start the 2008 season.

Pat

     As of last week, we've officially rounded the corner from 2007 and are heading full steam into the New Year. This time of year brings us a feeling of rejuvenation, manifested by our New Years’ Resolutions. I put some thought into my resolutions and thought it would be fun to share.

     In the past, I toyed with resolutions one may consider standard; becoming more disciplined with personal finances, better retirement planning, getting back in touch with old friends, etc. What I've found, as I'm sure many of you have discovered is that without a strong will and disciplined approach it's very difficult to change our long term behaviors. I imagine this is because our decisions and preferences share linkages to the hardwiring of our personalities and psyches. For this reason, I feel we are often doomed to break our annual January self-promises.

    This year, I decided on a variation on this theme. I've decided on a few levels of resolutions, but kept them looser and a little more fun than in the past. In the corporate world, I was engrained with the idea that goals had to be SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, results oriented, and time bound). There are plenty of opportunities to make annual goals of this nature. In fact, I have a whole host of sports specific goals for the 2008 season, but I wanted to create separation because I didn't want them associated with our condemned resolutions.

That said, let's now examine my New Year's Resolutions:

1) Make my bed at least four days each week. Now for you disciplined in the art of hospital corners, this may seem to be a trivial task. Believe me, this is indeed a challenge. Initially, I was going to set the goal at making my bed every day, but I realized this prospect was doomed to failure by January 2nd. So I gave myself a little wiggle room by setting the bar at having my bed made more days than it is not. So far I've been pretty successful. The sheets are not required to be tucked in, but the bed must be neat and have the general “appearance” of tidiness. This is also a resolution that has the flexibility to allow me to jump back on if I temporarily fall off the wagon. In fact.......(taking break to go make my bed now...okay, now I'm back)......for this week, I'm officially at 1 out of 2 days. Not bad).

b) To be more "Euro." Now I'm not really sure what exactly this resolution means, but I just like the way it sounds. In fact, I'm not really sure how I'm going to achieve it or if I’ll know when I've achieved it? Perhaps it means I'm going to try to color coordinate my race uniform or make it flashier. Maybe it implies that I'm going to try to smash my bike splits a little more. It may even mean that I wear my baby blue Fila racing flats with white flames around as casual wear. I don't think it means I will be in a Pet Shop Boys video any time soon, but don't be surprised if my MP3 player has a techno song or two more than last year......I guess we shall see, but I think I will sleep a little better each night knowing that I'm just a more Euro than I was in 2007.

III) To start blogging. With my website nearing completion and the ability to blog on Source Endurance's website, I truly want to open better lines of communication via these avenues. While it may be difficult for each of you to validate the aforementioned resolutions, you can hold me responsible to this point. I think every other week is a reasonable goal, with extra self-kuddos if I can roll on a weekly basis.

iv.) I do realize I probably need a resolution with some practical implications. So I've decided to pick a general theme for 2008. This way, I avoid the resolution hazards to which I've already pointed. So my theme for 2008 is "attention to detail." In everything I do, especially when it comes to athletics and the business aspect of managing my racing, I must pay special attention to details. As I mature as an athlete, it's important to continue to earn and find gains to speed, power, fitness, and efficiency. In order to do this, I must pay special attention to the details surrounding every aspect of my actions. It's not enough just to log the miles anymore. I must examine all parts of my training and racing performances: nutrition, hydrations, equipment choices, sleep patterns, recovery, emotional considerations, managing personal issues, etc. Each of these factors plays into my everyday performances, which means they have direct ties to my long-term gains and success. You can be sure that in 2008 I will be much more cognoscente of the details in my life. Now by sharing this with you, I know I’ve doomed myself to a type-o somewhere in this paragraph.

I hope everyone is as excited about 2008 as I am. I know it's going to be an amazing year.

Pat