Ironman Canada 2008
Well here we are again. Ironman number four is 10 days away. Wow, that was quick.
Since I last wrote, I've gotten a few weeks of solid training in as things have continued to come around. It's pretty clear to me, at least in this case, that an Ironman full recovery for me is between 5 and 6 weeks. It wasn't until the last week or so that I really felt like I was going well. The geek in me really wants to understand what the physiology behind this is. How is it possible that it takes that long and what's the mechanism?
Anyway, things have come around and that's what matters. Just this week everything has started to really click and I'm finally swimming and running reasonably again. Yeah, whatever.
Life in general has been crazy. Work is very busy and taking a lot of my time and attention. I had to make an emergency trip back to Illinois for a family matter. Not much down time this summer.
Race Execution and Pacing
Two weekends ago, we went over to Spokane for the Troika Half Ironman. This race is three weeks before Ironman Canada, which makes it a perfect dress rehearsal and capstone "workout" for the last training block. Having the race in home-town Spokane is fun for me, easy for the family to see, and logistically easy with a place to stay ready to go. Last year, however, this race was a disaster of small errors that led up to one very unhappy, and not very fast, day. I really wanted to atone for that meltdown and prove I could race the Half distance effectively.
I've turned a corner in my approach to racing over the past few months. The change for me basically happened on the run at Ironman Coeur d'Alene, where I went out with a different strategy than prior IMs, and one that led to dramatically better results. My approach has been to race a more balanced, patient, and well-paced event. In some sense I'm racing "easier" but I think that mind set actually allows me to go faster. By being more relaxed, I'm able to focus on form and execution, which is a much better place to be then constantly battling the pain.
The idea is simple: try to maintain steady pacing across the entire distance. This is especially true on the run where running 15 or 30 seconds per mile faster in the first third of the run can cost you 1-2 minutes per mile in the last third of the run when the wheels some of. So the idea is postponing that meltdown (or avoiding it) as long as possible. The same can be said for the other legs. Basically, a pace that seems easy at the beginning of the leg is likely to seem very hard by the end. And maintaining that "easy" pace, for me at least, will deliver a very solid result. If you can stay disciplined and avoid the fade.
Here's what's happened.
At the Seafair Sprint Triathlon, I decided I was just going to swim solid, starting out well easier than I thought I "should", and I wasn't going to bother with drafting or worry about what other people were doing. The result was I swam over two minutes faster, on an 800m course, than last time I did the race. I was coming off two big training weeks and had a sub-par bike and OK run, but still ended up only about 80 seconds off the podium in my age group. I'm not exactly training for sprints. Quick shout out to Scott Greene for winning his very-tough 35-39 age group. Stud. Given the situation, I felt good about this result.
So back to Troika. Last year I swam too hard and really struggled in the last 500m of the swim in absolute agony. This upset my stomach badly and I never really recovered. Bad tummy means too few calories going in, and that's just not going to work. This year I just went out and swam steady and as close to the buoys as I could. I swam a minute faster than last year on much less effort. On the bike, I started out easy for the first 20 minutes then built into the ride and was strong all the way through; 8 minutes faster than last year. On the run, I set a solid but maintainable pace and held it until it about mile 12, which is close enough to gut it in. I was 20 minutes faster on the run than last year. So, yeah, I'm fitter and last year's result was a bad example, but this was a much better way for me to race and snagged me a 2nd place in my age group. I actually had fun out there and look forward to next year.
So I've got that going for me. I was also surprised how quickly I bounced back from this race and how little soreness I had over the following day or two.
Completing the Double Header
On to Canada. So that's the groove I'm going with. Race more relaxed and just count on my fitness to do the work, especially when it starts to hurt.
But it's just a race. If anything else, I'm looking forward to getting back up to Penticton and seeing some friends and family and getting some rest. We've got two friends doing their first IM, so it'll be fun to observe the "first race" experience through their eyes again. And many of us in the group have the potential for a breakthrough day up there.