I've written about my concern about the potential heat at the Great Floridian (average race day temp = 85) so I did some research (surprise, surprise) and came up with a plan that includes hot, indoor trainer rides, the sauna and possibly some Bikram Yoga. I may dress like it's the middle of the winter and go for a run, but I doubt it.
I noticed the YMCA has a sauna so I figured I'd start there. Maybe get in the sauna a few times a week for 15-20 minutes and see how it goes. My research told me you can get mostly acclimated within 2 weeks of exposure to heat. I won't have constant exposure, and I don't plan on doing all of my rides indoors so I figured I'd stretch the timeline a bit (plus I'm still hoping for 68 degrees on race day).
The picture in the upper left is the first picture that came up when I googled sauna. Trust me on this one...the sauna at the YMCA is nothing like the one pictured.
But it's not bad, actually a little nicer than I expected...which leads me to believe no one uses it. The sign outside says the temperature inside is between 160-180 degrees and you shouldn't be in there for more than 15 minutes. Perfect. I'll do 20.
The first thing I noticed walking into the sauna was that it's really freaking hot in there. Coincidentally, that was also the second thing I noticed. I didn't get around to noticing a third thing since my brain function quickly slowed because, as has already been mentioned, it was really freaking hot in there.
To be completely honest, I expected worse. I handle the heat pretty well and felt really relaxed. Loosey goosey. Taking a deep breath was tough, but other than that I was okay. I stretched out on the bench and listened to music. The next thing I knew, my watch read 18 minutes. Only two to go.
Don't get me wrong, I was sweating a lot and my old, baggy swimsuit was soaked. It wasn't killer, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. Upon leaving the sauna I immediately went the wrong way around the pool and had to walk all the way around to get to the locker room. I changed, got in my car and drove home. I didn't feel quite right, and quickly realized I was experiencing a phenomenon that is best described as heat-induced mental retardation. Luckily, it's a temporary condition (arguably, I'm sure) and I felt better by morning.
And that was probably the best night of sleep I have ever had. I don't remember any of it, which is what leads me to believe it was the best ever.
[I can only imagine your disappointment to find out the title "The Best Ever" isn't associated with the posted picture, but a night of sleep instead. My apologies.]
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Different subject. Here's a great Ironman Wisconsin race report from Hillary Biscay (she won the female pro division last year).
I think I've mentioned I've had a bad year swimming. If not, I have. It's been discouraging, and I haven't been in the pool as much as I should have. I didn't realize until the past few weeks what my problem was.
It started a few weeks ago swimming in Lake Wingra with Matt. He's a good swimmer so I have a tough time keeping up with him on a good day...and this was a bad day. He noticed I tend to cross my arms over in front of my head creating drag so he told me to keep my arms shoulder width apart. It felt like I was swimming wide (if that makes sense), but I was much faster. Most of all, I was much more motivated. I dug deep and we salvaged the workout and finished strong.
Hmmmm...has my problem been form all along? I knew I needed to improve my form; we could all use some work. But I started wondering if I had lost motivation because I was working harder in the water than last year, and going slower.
Let's back up a bit. A few years ago, I could barely swim. So I took a 3 hour clinic held by Lauren Jensen for about $75. She did some video analysis of the whole group and gave a lot of tips and showed us a ton of drills to do. I went back home and got to work and improved a lot. It took a while, but I was swimming about a 1:35 per 100 yard pace in the pool pretty consistently last spring.
I wanted more speed last year, so over the summer I paid a lot of money for one-on-one lessons. I learned some bad habits, and my form changed for the worse. This year, I've been swimming about a 1:40-1:45/100 pace. And working really hard for that.
Last week I got an e-mail from Jessica at SBR Coaching. Jim Vance from Training Bible Coaching was coming to town and giving a free 2 hour lecture on swimming. He was also doing underwater video analysis. $75 for one person - one hour. $100 for two people. I e-mailed a few people hoping I could get someone to split a session with me. Stephen was interested, and we were able to get one of the very last openings (it filled up very fast).
We met Jim at Pinnacle during our lunch break. He had us swim the length of the pool and he took video of each of us from the side. Then we swam again, and he got some video from the front. That's it. That's all the swimming we did. The rest of the hour was spent analyzing the video. The best $50 I've spent on swimming. I highly recommend video analysis if you really want to improve. It's one thing to have someone tell you what you're doing wrong; it's another to see it.
Here's the side view...
Front view...
I have a lot to improve upon, but the main things are:
- My arms are way too deep. You can see how much drag they create, especially when you watch the front view and see how my left arm starts the pull when I breathe. It's just hanging out there slowing me down.
- No gliding. My stroke is way too fast. I don't glide at all so I never really take advantage of the speed I create with the pull.
- I don't extend my arms enough. Some of this comes from digging so deep into the water. Length in the water is a key point Jim talks about, and when you pause the video you can see I'm not "long" in the water. I'm not using my height to my advantage.
- I do an "S" curve with my arms and rotate my shoulder in the process, thus losing all of the water I was "holding" when I began the catch/pull phase.
- I strain when I breathe (visible on the front view mostly). You should leave one goggle lens in the water, and I clearly do not do that.
Those are the main points I need to work on. There are other little things, but for now that's where I'm going to find speed.
I did my analysis Thursday afternoon and went to Jim's lecture Thursday evening. Great stuff. Everything he said really clicked and made sense. I only hoped that it actually resulted in faster swim times because I've been getting tired of busting my butt in the pool and going nowhere.
Jim focused on 3 points - length, pressure, direction.
Length - meaning you need to be long in the water. Reach. He talks a lot about active reach, which has helped me a lot. He doesn't just say extend your arm. He's saying reach (forcefully). Throw your arm out there with some purpose, and the result is forward momentum and body roll (seriously, it works).
Pressure - This is the catch phase. Most people tell you to "hold water" whatever that means. Jim tells you to feel the pressure against your hand and arm. Pressure - I understand what pressure means. The movement begins with bending your wrist slightly so your fingers are pointing toward the bottom of the pool, then your elbow (so it's high - 90 degree angle) and lastly your shoulder comes into play. He compares it to rock climbing, which is an analogy that helps me a ton in the water. I think about rock climbing now when I swim. You "anchor" your arm (hold water "pressure") and then extend your other arm with force (also using your core) as though you're reaching for the next place on the rock to anchor your arm. This creates body roll and momentum, and then you glide and do it again.
Direction - Every action has an opposite and equal reaction. If you put your arm in the water and do the "S" motion you may have been taught, you're creating a lot of opposing forces. If the first thing you do with your hand when it enters the water is move it to the side - toward the side wall - where do you think you're going to go? Toward the other wall. But that's not where you want to go. You want to go forward. Therefore, all of your movements need to be forward or backward. You put your arm in the water (by the way, you enter the water way in front of you - not by your goggles like Total Immersion teaches - he was big on this and if you watch video of Phelps and other world class swimmers they don't enter by their goggles) with your fingers pointed the direction you want to go - forward. All fingers enter at the same time. Then you pull straight back with as much pressure against your arm as possible.
So here are the things I'm focusing on to improve...
- Length. Keep arms high, and extend. Really extend.
- Arms enter the water shoulder width apart. I've been noticing lately how many people cross their arms over in front of their head. Check it out the next time you're lap swimming. Notice how much drag it creates and how it slows them down.
- Arms enter with force. No more passive reach. Active reach. Create body roll with reach. Be aggressive. This helps create length.
- High elbow on catch. Feel the pressure. Pull arm straight back. Wrist, elbow, shoulder. Like paddling a canoe. No one turns the oar or does a silly "S" curve with it.
- Glide. Create momentum and "don't lose speed." That's what I think when I glide. I try my best to not lose any of the speed I created. Keep the momentum.
- One goggle lens in the water when I breathe. This one is tough for me and will take a lot of time. I'm also working on keeping my head down. You should look down. This raises your hips and minimizes drag. Raise your head and your hips drop.
For right now, those are the main points I'm working on. I've had a week now to make changes to my stroke. I have to admit, reaching aggressively and putting more pressure on my arms is tiring. I'm using my lats more, which is good, but they're a little sore right now.
But the end result is that I'm back to my old stroke, the one I learned at the Lauren Jensen clinic, with improvements. I get into a really good rhythm sometimes (especially when I think about the rock climbing analogy) and can actually feel the speed in the water, which I haven't felt in a long time. I'm motivated, and enjoying swimming a lot more lately. And swimming more. Since the video analysis one week ago, I've swam 7 miles.
Oh yeah, I'm 10-12 seconds per 100 faster in the pool than I was one week ago. I'm consistently swimming 1:28-1:32 per 100 right now. I can't hold that pace for 2.4 miles right now, but if I could that would be a 62 minute Ironman swim. My goal for IMWI 2010 is to swim in about an hour. I'd love to break an hour, but I'd be super happy with 62 minutes. A week ago, it felt impossible.
Now it's time to add flip turns and see if I can drop my speed even more.
The best part...I haven't even started doing the drills Jim Vance gave me to do. I've taken his suggestions, but haven't started on the drills. I'll go into details on those in another post since this one is already way too long.
This week was ironweek so there was a lot going on, It was my highest volume week of the year - 21 hours - and with everything going on with the race I kept myself pretty busy. It was fun, but now it's over and I'm tired and ready for a nap this afternoon.
I knew several people doing the Ironman this year, and they covered the gamut of expected finishing times so I had my work cut out for me if I was going to see all of them on the course at some point. Lots of running around to do.
I got to the race early hoping to run into some friends and wish them luck before the start. I had good timing all morning as I ran into nearly everyone before they got into the water. I even made it in time to zip up wetsuits for Matt and Dave. Both were doing their first Ironman so they were nervous, but looked ready to go. Then I ran into the the Wimmers, also doing their first Ironman.
I stood on the helix this year and had the chance to see most everyone come out of the water. I missed a few people, but everyone I knew in the race came out of the water in good shape. Most were right on their expected times so the day was off to a great start.
I watched a little bit of the bike in Verona, but I had a 10 mile run to do so I headed home to get ready for that. I thought I knew when Dave would be coming through Verona on lap 2 so I decided to run along the course hoping to see him. Again, good timing. He came through right on schedule.
The run was where things got tough for everyone, as it typically does in an Ironman. The high temperatures and lack of cloud cover started to take its toll on the athletes.
Matt struggles in the heat, and the heat slowed him down on the run but he dug deep, kept moving forward and finished his first Ironman in 12:20. Had it been cooler I'm confident he could've broken 12 hours, which he was hoping to do. But 12:20 is a smoking fast first Ironman so I think he's happy with his time (as he should be) and I think he had fun out there.
I missed Dave on the run course, but he finished in 13:51. It's the time he predicted (he predicted 13:55), but not the time he was hoping for. The past few months have been rough for him with illnesses and a serious knee injury that's going to require surgery. He hasn't run in 6 weeks so a 13:51 is a great time, and he finished which is always the #1 goal for a first Ironman.
Brian went 11:21, Ryan went sub 12, Chris finished in about 13:30 and Johnny finished in about 16:40.
Then there are the Wimmers - Mike and Jenny. They went into this event knowing they were going to be fighting the cutoffs. They both swam sub 1:45 so they easily made the swim cutoff. Mike made the bike cutoff with about 45 minutes to spare and Jenny came in about 30 minutes later.
Mike was ahead so he had a little more time than Jenny, but both had to hustle if they were going to cross the finish line by midnight. There's a final cutoff at the halfway point of the marathon, and Jenny squeezed through with 3 minutes to spare.
They kept pushing on, but fatigue slowed their pace. I saw them around the 19 mile mark and they still had a shot but they needed to dig deep and speed up even though the fatigue was getting worse. Both were in a lot of pain, and were fighting cramps and stomach issues.
Despite the rules against pacers, I walked with Jenny from mile 19 to 21 thinking I could get her to pick up the pace enough to cross the finish line before midnight. She was too tired to run, and there wasn't enough time to walk the final 5.2 miles before 12. The race officials told her she wouldn't make it and offered to take her back to the finish line. She refused the ride.
Mike still had a shot at finishing and with all the out and backs on the run course he was coming toward us. Jenny headed on her way with a friend of hers who was waiting for her on the bike path, and I walked with Mike.
He came close, but like Jenny was too fatigued to run and there wasn't enough time to walk the rest of the way. Eventually, the officials told him he didn't have time and offered him a ride. He refused and kept walking toward the finish line.
As Mike and I got close to the finish, a few race officials came back and told Mike he needs to run to the finish line because the crowd is waiting for him. He wasn't going to be an official finisher, but the finish line was still lit up, the music was playing and crowd was cheering. Mike dug deep, ran the last .5 miles and got to cross the finish line in front of a crowd. He finished at 12:15. Jenny finished at 12:45.
Even though they didn't meet their goal of becoming "official" Ironman finishers, they showed up to do 140.6 miles and that's exactly what they did. It was inspiring to see them continue knowing their goal wasn't within reach. I think most people would have quit on that dark, lonely bike path. There were no spectators there to see them quit, so it would've been the easy road, the path of least resistance. Without hesitation, they refused to quit.
They proved they're tough enough to do an Ironman. Now they just need to prove they're fast enough. Both are signed up for next year, and I'm confident they'll find the extra fitness needed to cross the finish line by midnight in 2010.
It was a tough day with the lack of cloud cover, and everyone struggled at some point and had to dig deep to keep moving forward. No one gave up, and everyone crossed the finish line.
As for 2010, I signed up this morning. I'm already looking forward to it. It should be a fun...or at least memorable...day.
The Great Floridian is exactly 2 months away, and I'm starting to get prepared. I'm focused, and the plan is coming together. My parents are driving down there so they can take my bike and other stuff, and I just booked my flight so I don't have to spend 2 days in a car right before an ironman. After the race, I'm going to Disney World and I'm going to lay on the beach and do nothing. I can't wait.
This week I start a tough 3 week training block. 18 hours this week. 20 next week and 22 the following week. By far the most hours I've ever logged in a 3 week period. I'm a little nervous about it because it's going to be very challenging and I can tell from my last 3 week block that it's time for me to focus again on stretching and my strengthening/core work. I've been neglecting that and I'm feeling those aches and pains that turn into injuries when I neglect those things. It sounds easy to stretch for 15 minutes, but when you're working out 20 hours in a week you don't feel like spending 15 minutes stretching when you could be sleeping on the couch. But it needs to be done. I pay the price when I neglect those things.
The joke has been that I'm going to get eaten by an alligator on the swim, until I pointed out that it specifically says on the website that I won't encounter a gator in the water. So Matt sent me a picture his parents took on their bike ride this weekend...
It didn't occur to me until now that I might encounter a gator on the bike. He's 6 feet. I'm 6 feet. It could be a good fight, but a wise man would put his money on the gator.
The Silver Lake Triathlon
Saturday was the third annual Silver Lake sprint tri in Portage. I've raced this one every year and it's a lot of fun so I was really looking forward to doing a short, fun race. I took 4th overall, first in my age group, last year so I was hoping for 3rd overall or better.
The Swim - The swim was great. I felt fast in the water and got on some fast feet and got a good draft. I pushed hard and didn't have any problems other than sighting the finish due to the sun. But I made it okay and didn't lose too much time searching for the beach. I got out of the water in 6:36, the 4th fastest swim of the day (big surprise)...most likely due to my new schnazzy white goggles. They're PRO. [last year I was out of the water in 5:50, but the swim was shorter last year]
T1 was good. 1:08, one second slower than last year.
The Bike - I've been feeling good on the bike this year so I wanted to push really hard. I averaged 24.2 mph last year and was hoping to break 25 this year. I thought I could do it with a 300+ watt average, but I could tell early on that I didn't have the legs to hold 300 watts. I backed off to 280 and held that (compared to 265 last year). Unfortunately, this year we had a slight crosswind and that slowed the bike portion down a bit. I put out more watts, but only improved my time by 2 seconds over last year and still finished with a 24.2 mph average - but it was the 3rd fastest bike split so I'm happy with that.
T2 - good again. 28 seconds, one second slower than last year.
If you've noticed, my transitions were a total of 2 seconds slower than last year, and my bike was 2 seconds faster so other than the swim I'm dead even with last year. And it's hard to compare the swim from year to year because I don't think the buoys are ever in the exact same spot.
The Run - I've been working on my running a lot and hoped to run really well. I could tell immediately into the run that I wasn't used to short, intense workouts. My side ached and my calves were cramping up. Shortly into the run, Tim Petrie (the eventual winner - for the third year in a row - he has a great streak going) passed me and pulled away quickly. About a half mile into the run my legs loosened up and my side ache went away and I was able to pick up the pace. From that point on, I felt pretty good, but not fast. I haven't been working on my 5K speed this year, but I was hoping it had improved along with my improved long distance speed/endurance. Nope. I ran the exact same time as last year. 20:16. I'm happy with it, but I really wanted to go sub 20.
I finished in 1:08:00 for third overall and first in my age group. I improved upon last year and had a lot of fun so I'm really happy with the race. As usual, the organizers did an awesome job. What a great event.
Even though this was a short race, and I'm training for an ironman I'm really glad I did this race. It was a good break from my long workouts, and I think the intensity was good. But mostly, it was lots of fun and now I feel more focused on my ironman than before. If I go too long without racing, I lose a little focus so this was really good for me.
Now I just need to focus on nailing this 3 week training block and figuring out how I'm going to fend off a gator in the middle of a 112 mile bike ride.
I've been trying to average 200+ watts for a 100 mile ride for more than a year now, and haven't really come close yet. Low 190s is the closest I've come...until Saturday.
The plan was 2 loops on the ironman course (112 miles) and average more than 200 watts.
I went out somewhat conservative, averaging 201 watts for the first 50 miles. I was feeling pretty strong still, so I decided to go for it and push hard for the remainder of the ride. My average for the last half of the ride was 211 watts, giving me a 207 average for the whole ride. My best ever, and more than 10 minutes faster than my ironman bike time which I'm really happy with because Saturday's ride included stops for water and stop lights.
Finally averaging 200+ watts for that long gives me confidence that my cycling endurance is coming along and I might be able to put together a good bike split in Florida.
This morning was my long run for the week. I wasn't sure what to expect because my legs were stiff and sore from yesterday's ride. I decided to play it conservative in the first half and push the pace if I felt good, and the result was my best 18 mile run ever. I owe this partially to my new run nutrition plan (I'm eating more on my long runs than I used to). I also owe these two great workouts to the Paleo Diet - although I'm not following it 100%. The increase in protein in vegetables is helping so I'm going to stick with the diet for a while and see what happens.
I've still got 5 weeks of solid training (not including rest weeks or my taper) so if I can get in a few more great workouts like this I think I may have a good race in Florida.
That's what it asks on the opening page of the Great Floridian website. Are you tough enough?
After this weekend, I'm not so sure. The heat killed me. I struggled and wanted to quit. I was weak and tired. Every mile was a mental battle and it was exhausting. 16 miles of telling myself "just one more mile." I haven't struggled that much since the ironman.
The average temp on race day is 85. We'll probably be in the 60s in October. How am I supposed to run a marathon in 85 degree weather when I'm used to 60s? How can I possibly train for that? What the hell was I thinking?
Week 1 of my 10 week Great Floridian training block is in the books, and all went well. I actually logged more yards in the water this week than I ever have - 13,350 (7.6 miles) - and finished the week off with a great swim at Devil's Lake with some friends. I was the slowest in the group so I basically swam alone, but that's okay. Devil's Lake is a great place to swim. The water is clean with very little seaweed, and the scenery is great. It's 1.25 miles across, so we swam across and back for a total of 2.5 miles. It took me just under 1:15. The rest of the group finished somewhere in the 1:05-1:10 range.
Week 2 means a tempo run (Tempo Tuesday), the state time trial championships (40K) and lots of swimming (12,000+ yards again).
