IMUK Recap

19 Jul 2015-

IRONMAN UK, the race that we have been targeting from the beginning of the year.  Everything else along the way was just to get me to the start line on Sunday in Bolton.  I have been training consistently and seeing progress since the end of last season, and had been extremely happy with where things were headed.  I was excited to race Bolton and see if the work was going to pay off.

The start list came out 10 days before the race and only had 14 guys on it, with quite a few top athletes.  As the race got closer, some pulled out of the race and when race day came, we were down to 11 guys on the start line.  I had done my research and knew who I was lining up against, and thought I had a good chance at a good day, if I executed my race plan.

The weather was predicted to be pretty bad with rain and wind, but I wasn't surprised, as this seems to be the norm on race days in the UK.

 

Pre-Race with the wifey.  Trooper for her to chase me around the course in the pouring rain!

Swim- 57:06

I knew my best bet for the swim would be to try and get on Victor DelCorral's feet or attempt to swim with Joe Skipper.  Last time I tried to swim with Victor was at Ocean Lava, and I believe he out-swam me by 3 mins over 3 km, so I wasn’t sure how the plan was going to play out.  I lined up next to Victor on my right and Joe was a few guys over on the left.  When the gun went off, Victor went a bit right and what I thought was off course, so I ended up swimming towards Joe and hoping to get on his feet.  After about 400 m, things got spread out and Victor made his way over to us and I ended up sitting on his feet, trailing Joe for the whole first loop.  Starting the 2nd lap, Victor went to the front and I ended up on Joe's feet. 

Then, halfway through the 2nd lap, we started getting into the congestion of the Age Groupers.  This is where a gap opened up and I lost contact with them.  Over the next 900 m, they managed to put 1 minute into me, which I was a bit unhappy about looking back afterwards, but overall I was really happy with my swim.  I came out of the water 9th, which wasn't great but my swim time and where I was relative to Joe and Victor was a step in the right direction.  It would have been nice to come out of the water with them and attempt to ride with them.

Bike- 5:14:43

By the time I got out on the bike, the rain started coming down really hard.  I had pre-ridden the course 3 weeks back, so I knew the course pretty well.  I was a bit hesitant for the first 1.5 hours, as the rain was coming down and I didn't want to crash through one of the many corners.  The rain stopped 1.5 hours into the ride, and I started riding a bit more aggressively then.  I got into a groove and started making my way up through the field.  I got passed early on and moved back to 10th, but then after about 40 miles, I slowly started passing guys.

The second loop of the bike was congested, but not too bad.  With about 10 miles to go I moved into 6th position, but could not drop the guy, so pulled into T2 with him just a few seconds behind.

I was most impressed with the spectators on the bike course.  Unbelievable to see so many people out there supporting the athletes considering the early morning conditions.  There were a few sections that were very similar to the TdF, with the roads lined with spectators on both sides of the road.  The only other time I experienced anything like it was when I did Wiesbaden 70.3 in Germany back in 2009.

 

Run- 3:09:10

As we ran out of T2, I got passed and was back to 7th.  I held back the first 10 km and really tried hard not to "chase" the guy in front of me.  I stuck to my plan and slowly pulled him back in.  The course was a looped course, but first you had to get to the loop via a point-to-point route that was about 8 miles.  Around mile 12, I made the pass for 6th.

I stayed in a good rhythm and just kept putting time into the 7th place guy.  I started to struggle around mile 20 and the guy that was back in 8th moved into 7th.  At the start of the last lap, I had a 4 min gap on him.  At the last U-turn he passed me, that was around mile 23.  I immediately found an extra gear and passed him right back.  It was all downhill to the finish, other than one small incline that was 1/2 block long and about 10% grade.  I slowly opened up a gap but then he sat back around 15-25 feet for 2.5 miles.  At that last steep pitch, about 1/2 mile out, I put in a surge, hoping that it would open up a bigger gap.  I really didn’t want to go to the line having to sprint with this guy.  There were AG'ers on the course, and I didn't want to have to navigate them in the final meters as the finish chute was quite technical with a U-turn about 75 m from the finish. 

 

Luckily that last surge was all it took and I think that deflated him.  I told myself when he passed me that I wasn't going to give up and quit after executing a great 138 miles.  So I dug deep and found those extra gears.

Swim- 57:06

Bike- 5:14:43 / Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/349840099 / TrainingPeaks: http://tpks.ws/oUx9g

Run- 3:09:10 / Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/349840558 / Trainingpeaks: http://tpks.ws/Bcmw

Total- 9:27:56 / 6th Pro

Results: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/emea/ironman/uk/results.aspx#axzz3gWkYdDc0

Overall, I am really happy with how the race went.  I fell like I executed the race plan all the way up until mile 20 of the run.  Still learning how to race the IM distance, but I think I am almost there on being to race the whole 140.6 miles.

Next up will be some recovery time and then some traveling with my wife on a cruise to Scotland, Iceland and Norway.  Then, after the down time I am going to build back up and prepare for another IM in November.  Hopefully a few 70.3s along the way.

Thanks again to everyone for their continued support!  You can view all of my sponsors HERE and get special discounts from a few of them as well!

Race Day Nutrition- 
Breakfast-
1 Banana
2 cups of Starbucks Instant Oatmeal
1 Bottle of Osmo Pre Load (also one night before)
1 Bottle of Osmo Hydration

Bike-
2x Concentrated Bottles (consumed 1 first 2 hours, second one between mile 70 and 100.  Second bottle has Caffeine from EFS Shot, Perpetum Latte, and Hammer Espresso Gel)
-- 4 Scoops of Hammer Perpetum, 2 Hammer Gels, 4oz of EFS Liquid Shot.  Approx 1000 calories.
1/2 Pack of PowerBar Gel Blast (Cola Flavor)
2x H2Pro Hydration (1000mg of Sodium)
1/2 Bottle of Gatorade Endurance

Run-
2x Pack of PowerBar Gel Blast (Cola Flavor)
1 stick of Base Salt
8x Cups of Pepsi
8x Cups of Water

My Path to Kona: Part 1

30 Sep 11-

As I sit here and get ready to fly out of S. Korea over to Hawaii, I wanted to take a minute and start the blogs that will lead up to the Kona Pre Race Blog.  A lot of people dream about getting to Kona and attempt year after year to get to the "Big Dance".  I wouldn't say I "dreamed" about getting to Kona, until I made it a goal of mine.  I walked into this sport a little over 3 years ago now not even knowing what an IRONMAN was or what the difference between a triathlon bike or road bike was.  I came into the sport with no knowledge of anything and looked for guidance from many people.   I couldn't tell you who Chrisse Wellington was or who Team TBB was.  I couldn't even tell you how far a marathon was, but somehow 4 months later I was running one.  I showed up to my first sprint tri and a guy showed up on a Felt DA (tri bike) with a disc wheel, deep front Zipp and an aero helmet.  Me and my buddy were laughing at this guy wondering who the heck he thought he was.  10 months later I was rooming with this said guy at China 70.3, picking his brain on everything and he has become a great mentor.  Step back and looking at myself I am a spitting image of that guy, and I am sure there whispers at the small on base tris when I show up with people saying the same thing.

The path that I took to get to Kona is unique in my opinion, as is everybody's.  Some people are realistic and know what it takes to get to Kona, they lay out a plan that will work for THEM.  Others don't have a clue what it takes and they think they "know" what they need to do.  I have seen and read about these people and they wonder why year after year they don't reach their goal of getting to Hawaii.  I by no means knew what it took to get to Kona, but I was surrounded by people that know what it takes.  I was surrounded by mentors that have led me down the path to success.   I used those resources to make sure that the goal I wanted to achieve was attainable and I laid out a plan to achieve that goal.

I am fortunate enough to be in Asia, which means IM China was not going to cost me a fortune to get to (IM China was my original plan of my first IM, until it was canceled).  I then switched it up to IM Korea.  When you have a goal that is thought to be the top of the sport, people will think you are crazy when you tell them on your first IM you are gunning for a Kona slot.  If you pick the right race, in the right location, that suits you, anything is possible.  To make things even better, the cancellation of IM China brought a total of 75 Kona slots to IM Korea,  that is a very very BIG number.  So that was step 1, choosing a race that suited me.  Why did China and/or Korea suit me?  The races are known to have small fields which mean a higher chance of qualifying.  Some may call this cherry picking but when you are aiming for a goal that has so many variables in it, you take control of the things you can control, the race selection being one of them.

The other thing that had to be done, was I needed to hire a coach.  There was no way I was going into my first IM with ambitions of qualifying for Kona and coaching myself.  I lack the knowledge and experience in the sport to coach myself, and even the best coaches still need to be coached.  I had been following Team TBB for quite sometime, well since China 70.3 in April of 2009.  There had been talk that they would be doing online coaching and it was something that I kept my eye on.  I frequented there forum regularly looking for all the "free" advice that I could and just taking it all in.  When I made the decision to do the IM and they launched there online coaching I knew that is who I was going to put my trust in.  There are a lot of people out there who go out and get a coach, just to have a coach.  They don't do their homework, they don't know the history of the people and they just assume because they are a pro they are a good coach.  Team TBB has a proven track record and I liked the coaching model that they laid out, where their online coaches had the capability to seek advice from their head coach if need be.  The only way a coach/athlete relationship works is if you fully trust your coach and don't second guess his thought process and training plan.  What is the point to pay for a coach and then not even believe in what he is providing you?

The last big thing that I did was get a powermeter.  I got a wired SRM and really started focusing on power on the bike.  It has been the second best investment I have made in triathlon other than my coach.  Training by power is a great way to measure your fitness and track your progress.  I use WKO+ and it is something that I have enjoyed studying and watching over the course of the season.

Lastly, the thing that is out of everyone's control is the athletes you are surrounded by.  I say athletes, because you can't control the caliber of people you are surrounded by in terms of athletics, but you can control the other people you surround yourself with.  Being on a military installation where a majority of the base is on a 1 year tour, it is completely out of my control.  However, I have been very fortunate to have some great people to train with.  They know who they are, they are the guys that road in the freezing cold weather or came over on Xmas and put in a 3 hour trainer ride or anyone who just put in time in the pool, on the bike or on the run with me.  If you weren't there to hold me accountable I could of just blown off the workout, or I may not of been pushed as hard.  It is because of the people in my life that have led me to where I am at today.  It is not necessarily because of all the positive people, although they have a huge effect on it, the negative people are important as well.  The people that question what you do or the goals you aim for, thinking you are just flat out crazy.  Those are the people that push you to do better and reach higher each time.

I can't thank everyone that I have been surrounded by for the past 3 years and especially those that have been around these past couple of months leading into Kona.  You have been a crucial part to my training environment and have pushed me to where I am today.  And then as always if it wasn't for the great family members that I am surrounded by that continue to support me, I would not be on this plane to the big dance.  The Love and support they have for me is incredible and I am not sure if they will ever know how appreciative I am of it, words can't describe what they have done and what they continue to do for me.

In Part 2 I plan on talking about the lifestyle I lived this past year and the financial obligation that an IM has on someone.

Not really sure what picture to put to this blog, but since it is about the Path to Kona, here is a look back from January 2010, probably around 170-175lbs........