Physical:
-Training-
The addition of speed work and weight training to my training plan drastically changed the way I trained for this Ironman and the way I feel leading up to it. I've been using a 36-week pen-and-paper training plan written by Ben Greenfield, a triathlon coach and jack-of-all-trades fitness buff in Spokane, Washington. I began his Triathlon Dominator plan the week of Christmas and raced 5 times, 4 of which I wrote race reports for on this blog. Without going into too much detail, I PR'd every single race, won 3rd place in my age group in 3 of them and demonstrated a much stronger swim and run over all distances.
The Triathlon Dominator plan is not my brainchild. I purchased the plan online and have asked Mr. Greenfield for his clarifications along the way. Out of respect, I do not want to delve very deep into the contents of the plan. I will, with his permission, write a full report after Louisville about my feelings on the effectiveness of the plan. For now, very generally, my training week looks like this:
Monday: Weights morning; Bike (CNS) afternoon
Tuesday: Swim (CNS) morning; Run (CNS) afternoon
Wednesday: Weights morning; Bike (Strength/Power) afternoon
Thursday: Run (Strength/Power)
Friday: off, though I find myself often doing a Swim (long)
Saturday: Run (long); Swim (long) if I didn't do it Friday
Sunday: Bike (long)
CNS workouts are drills that typically don't tire the body. Strength/Power workouts are typically either hills or track work. Long days are logically periodized based on the time of the year.
Despite enjoying a lot of success over the short course, my long bike rides and runs did not feel easier or appear to be any faster than last year. I feel like I have more endurance than I had last year, experiencing the same amount of pain but deferred until later in the runs. That said, the summer this year has been sweltering, hotter than typical summers in Tennessee. When I run early enough and can keep myself cool, I run strong, in control and finish the workouts feeling relatively fresh. When I allow the heat to overcome me, I've found myself in several awful death-marches approaching 14:30 minutes per mile. This will be key for me on race day: I have to keep myself cool no matter how hot it gets if I expect to race to my potential.
-Expectations for race day-
I'm going into this race in the best shape of my life. I feel very confident in saying so, and my results earlier in the year have definitively proven that. I'm faster over the short course, have more endurance and have a much better idea of what to expect in all stages of the race. Training in the summer heat was a horrific experience for a very long time (~6 weeks) before I really felt like I had made noticiable physiologic changes, but I now feel as if I truly am acclimated, which should play to my strengths relative to my age group compatriots from the midwest.
- I expect to swim very competitively in my age group and put in time on my two friends who are racing with me.
- The bike will be a veiled test of my patience.
I plan to keep my heart rate in control the entire bike.
I plan to never exceed my lactate threshold heart rate (163 bpm), even on the hills;
as a result, I fully expect to lose a lot of time on the steeper climbs, slowing down to under 8 mph in some spots.
I expect to get to Hwy 42 on the 2nd loop (~mile 85) before I entertain internal complaints about discomfort and the desire to get off the bike. If those voices start talking on the first loop, I'm in trouble.
- The run will be a further test of patience.
I expect to walk every aid station, but otherwise run the entire course, which would be a first.
I expect to keep my heart rate in control until mile 20 and
I expect to gradually increase my effort from there.
I expect to average around 11 min/mi during the first 20 and to run as fast as 8:30 min/mi over the final kick.
I further expect to cry again when I finish. :-/
- Goals-
1) Complete the Ironman
2) Complete the Ironman without vomiting (my New Year's Resolution)
3) Become a daylight finisher
4) Run the last 13.1 miles of the marathon in under 120% of the time of the first 13.1
Mental:
In a lot of ways, this race was much harder to train for than Ironman Wisconsin. Ben's plan included a lot more intensity work, both short and medium workloads at maximum sustainable paces, and not much in the way of sit-on-your-ass-and-recover... y. It also includes a nutrition plan, which changed my diet and my life: since starting the plan, I've pursued and completed a rigorous certification in sports nutrition. But that's a discussion for another day; certainly not on my race report blog! :-D
All that to say, the plan I've been on is radically different than to which I am accustomed. You can sit behind a computer and read research all day long, but the only evidence the athlete knows is personal. How will this plan prepare me for the unique challenges of Ironman? I can't bring myself to trust my results from earlier in the year. It would stand to reason that doing speedwork would make you faster over courses where you have the endurance necessary to run the whole time. Setting a 5k PR was all well and good, but I've never ran a marathon; I've never gone 26.2 miles without taking unscheduled walk breaks. I'm not wholly confident I have the necessary endurance to do so in isolation, much less after a 2.4 mile tempo swim and a 112 mile tempo bike. It's difficult trusting a new methodology that involves less long runs and more quarter mile repeats at 5k pace.
-Opinions of Louisville's course-
There's really only one thing to mention here; it's the heat. The heat scares me. I went into this operating under the assumption that training in Tennessee, about 120 miles closer to the equator, would prepare me to handle the heat. The only thing it has done is put a very real fear in me. I know more so than the mid-westerners what kind of carnage to expect if the mercury decides to creep up into the mid 90s. It's not making things easier.
Not only the heat scares me on that run course. Let's face it: I went into Ironman Wisconsin a virgin. I knew it would hurt and my only goal was to survive. I'd never wanted anything in life more so than to see that damn finish line, and I'd go as far as I had the capability to go to get there. By the end of the 15.5 hours I spent out there, I had discovered more about myself than I could have imagined existed. I saw places in my soul that keep me awake at night. I saw my body so thoroughly stripped down that I was willing to quit with only 8 miles left. If I could put it into words, I'd write a book about it. All I know to say about it is that the things I saw that day made me realize that there must be a heaven, because there certainly exists a hell. The main difference between this race and the last one is now I know what it looks like. And every fiber of me dreads going back there.
-Thoughts on my body-
I remember the end of training for Wisconsin and how I felt. I wish I could remember it more vividly but I did a pretty good job of blocking it out, almost remiscent of a trauma patient. Still, I have to believe this year is worse. The weather's hotter and there's more of training with less rest. I have felt my body slip further and further into the depths of overreaching. The only thing worse than the depression, the handicap all that effort brings, is the knowledge that I have to continue digging before I can start to crawl out.
Emotional
-Race Day Playlist-"Thuder Road" Bruce Springsteen
"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" Bob Dylan
"At the Bottom" Brand New
"Sex on Fire" Kings of Leon
"Lookin' Out My Backdoor" Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Ramblin' Man" The Allman Brothers
"Wonderwall" Oasis
"Free Fallin' " Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Come Sail Away" Styx
"I Gotta Feelin' " The Black Eyed Peas
"Born to Run" Bruce Springsteen
"Brick By Boring Brick" Paramore
"The Melting Point of Wax" Thrice
"All Around Me" Flyleaf
Thunder Road starts it off. It's the song I've listened to the most during the huge volume time period 8-5 weeks out. It's very rich in imagery and promotes visualization. This will get me into a transcendental mood, to look into myself and begin to gather inner strength.
You Ain't Goin Nowhere is simply a fun song with fun lyrics. It's a bouncy song that will just make me happy. At the Bottom is a more emotional (emo) song that will prevent me from being "too" happy. Sex on Fire will channel those happy and nostalgic feelings into a more focused and race-applicable version.
The next 3 songs, Lookin Out My Backdoor, Ramblin' Man and Wonderwall all sound good and will keep the good feelings going. They do signal a shift in focus: this is when I begin to ready my bike and equipment. These are songs selected for their music rather than their lyrics, so at this point I stop looking inward and channeling strength and begin to get everything race-ready. I will not be paying much attention to the lyrics at this point, just enjoying the instrumentals.
I should finish prepping somewhere around Free Fallin'. This and Come Sail Away are escape songs. They will allow a few moments to take me completely out of my body, out of the stresses of race morning and be somewhere else for a little while.
I Gotta Feelin' is the first of a block of pump-up songs. The way I see it is that Ironman presents a hard morning, a hard mid-day, a hard afternoon and a hard evening. More often that not, however, they lead to very good nights, so in that sense the song fits. Although criticized for it's lack of originality lyrically, I speak from experience when I say the only thing you think about in the last 10 minutes pre-race is "let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, Let's Do It, Let's Do It, LET'S DO IT, LET'S DO IT, LET'S DO IT, GO GO GO GO!"
Born to Run represents the bike course. There are obvious parallels between motorcycle riders and road cyclists, and the song is about departing into the unknown at the risk of self-destruction. It's about breaking free of the bonds of fear and public opinion. The end of the song greatly parallels the end of the bike course:
"The highway's jammed with broken heros on a last chance powerdrive. Everybody's out on the road tonight, but there's no place left to hide." I fully plan to pass people over the last 30 miles, people who wanted to act like heros on the first lap and blow themselves up, having to embarrasingly drag themselves back to T2.
"Someday girl, I don't know when, we're gonna get to that place where we really wanna go and we'll walk in the sun" Ironman finish line chute, having finished before sunset
"But til then tramps like us, baby we were born to run. Ah, honey, tramps like us, baby we were born to run. C'mon Whitney, tramps like us, baby we were born to run." End of the bike, 26.2 miles away from "getting to that place where we really wanna go."
Brick By Boring Brick is the ultimate focus song. It's the climax of the playlist, just as Misery Business was the climax of last year's playlist. It's features very percussive instrumentals and powerful vocals. Though it's relatively weak lyrically (as applicable to the race), the song is about running away from comfortable alternate realities and embracing life, which can be painful but is ultimately more rewarding. This song will bring every bit of excitement to the surface. It's a forceful song anyway, but it will be heard one week after seeing them live at the Honda Civic Tour in Nashville.
The Melting Point of Wax and All Around Me are both return picks from last year's playlist. They take the last two spots more out of tradition than purpose. The Melting Point of Wax, beyond inspiring me to push through the pain in pursuit of a greater glory, will make me think of my celebratory tattoo post-race. Going into the race, I plan to tattoo the lyrics "I will touch the sun or I will die trying" onto my back. Those 10 words, moreso than any phrase I've ever heard, perfectly sums up my opinion on Ironman triathlon, my body and what I plan to do in my life.
All Around me is all about the finish line. The song, written as gospel, details an out of body experience with Almighty God, and the indescribable high it gives. The feeling you get at the finish line of an Ironman, in my opinion, proves the existence of God and Heaven. That kind of feeling, that level of accomplishment and totality, simply is not meant to be experienced by the vast majority of people. It's the realization of God's promise to make good on all His promises if you are willing to follow His plan and suffer untold trials, countless setbacks, emerging doubt, often anger and put up with the pain associated with anything worth having. And more so than any emotional high I've ever experienced, it's a feeling you've earned.
-Post race emotion-
I didn't think I would cry at the end of Ironman Louisville through most of training. Seeing as how I'd already finished on and already knew what to expect, I didn't feel it would really mean much to me. Once the huge volume started, I began to beat up my body so completely every week and I began to celebrate simply finishing each workout, it became very apparent that all the same emotions would be there. I'm pretty sure it will all come pouring out once more; hopefully not for as long this time.
There are always more things to put. Things will come up, things will become unimportant. I still have not run my 20 miler, and I still have a long swim and a 75 mile bike before I'll get to it. The race taper is just over the horizon, and I know the weeks and days leading up to the race may well give me entirely new things to worry about. I hope to well document the pre-race and have others help me document the actual race. The only promises I'll give is that there will be a race report to come out of this. When, how long and what level of content is dependent upon too many variables.
In the meantime, keep the comments coming.
You can follow me online on race day at ironmanlive.com; bib number 919.
