2011 IM Arizona Recap

WOW! 2011 triathlon season has finally come to end. Really looking forward to some time off and have a proper winter here in Boise. Will be on the slopes boarding this year and a bit more skate skiing this year. A quick recap of the race......

Overall, I couldn't be more excited to finally have a good run. It has been quite a journey on the run for me over the last 9 IM's. At IM Coz last year, I ran 4:17, DNF'd St. George, ran 3:48 in IM Lou and capped off a 3:33 run at IM Arizona.

My swim was ok, didn't hurt nor help me, was a bit slower than expected. I still struggle a bit to find my stroke in a wetsuit. It is my fastest swim to date in a wetsuit, but a bit slower than I think I am capable of swimming. I'll keep working on that one, all in all a decent swim.



Onto the bike, early on I knew it wasn't going to be a stellar day. My swim was good enough that I knew there would be opportunity to jump on a few "trains" that would come rolling by which was the game plan. I really wanted to run well in Arizona. There were a few singles that came by early on and I just couldn't stay with them. I was pushing big watts for me, but they must have been drilling it! This was an odd situation for me to be in as typically I ride well in comparison to most of the field, but I didn't have a choice but to let them go. The first group of 4-5 guys came rolling by around mile 14 and this was the group I really wanted to roll with. I hopped on the back and I struggled to stay up as well. A few miles later, I was dropped again off the backside of this group. As we were nearing the first turn around on the highway, I decided I would bridge to "the group" one more time and see if I could hang. Maybe the legs were a bit stuffed and I was hoping they would come around. I gave'er one last try. I caught back up after rolling 33 mph to catch back up. Once again, I stayed there for a few miles and you guessed, spit out the back. The watts were there, but to no avail, I just wasn't able to stay up with them.

I immediately went to plan B for the bike. I put put my power/HR/time away in my pocket and was going to ride off feel for the rest of the day. For whatever reason, it just wasn't going to be my day on the bike. I rode quite a bit slower during the second loop. I have to admit, I was losing my head a bit. Coming into the 3rd loop, I had decided to quite after the bike, save my legs, and race in 2 weeks at the inaugural HITS race in Palm Springs, CA. Well, as this crazy sport of triathlon would have it, things came around with a lil help of caffeine. I got back to riding the way that I felt I should be riding on the 3rd lap and I mentally "got back in the game." I told myself that all I had to do was ride 5:15 and I would be ok. As luck would have it, I buzzed in just before that.



Out onto the run, I was super stoked to get off that freakin' bike. The worst was behind me now and I could focus on what I had come to do which was continue to improve my run. After all, it is the place where I have the most to gain. I pulled my watch back out and closely monitored my pace for the first 2 miles to make sure I didn't get too crazy on my pacing which has been an issue in the past. I opened up the first mile in 7:36, a bit fast for my liking, but I'll take it. 7:45 for the second, again, a bit "spicy," but again I'll take it. By this time, I felt my running legs were with me. I put my watch away again until mile 25 and ran completely off feel. There were two things that I kept telling myself. 1.) FEED THE MONSTER 2.) BE THE MASTER OF MY FATE and BE THE MASTER OF MY SOUL. (From the poem Invictus, see previous post). Through mile 17, I ran between 7:39 and 7:59. I had my first stopping cramp at 18. I managed this cramp for the next 3 miles and my paced slowed during those miles to 8:45-9:18. At mile 22, I slowly returned to pace and finished my last 1.2 miles at 7:33 pace. I finished the run in 3:33 and change, a huge PR for me.

There was so much more accomplished for me than the physical feats. Most importunely, I struggled back mentally to "stay in the game" even though I wasn't having the day that I typically would have on the bike. This has been a big step forward personally as I have not done well in the past when things weren't going the way as planned. If there is any piece of information that I could pass along, it would be, "Stay in the game." Ironman is a long day and it isn't going be easy. If you hang around long enough, your "machine" will eventually come around, it has proven itself in training.

I'll leave you with the second poem that Jeff had written on my other bottle. Now off for some recovery for the next 4 weeks and then slowly get back into things. IM Hawaii has continued to elude me, but I will one day wrestle with the "Lava Gods." They can't stay away much longer. In IM Coz and IM Lou, I had good swim/bikes and at IM Arizona I had the run I needed. Now just gotta get them together, just a matter of when!!!!

My first race of 2012 is Oceanside 70.3 in March and I'll be heading to Ironman Couer d'Alene in June. Until then.......

Stayin' in the game!
J

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

IM Arizona 2011

Well....the season has nearly come to an end and will in the next 24hr regardless of the result. It has been nearly 2 full years since I have taken proper down time from training. It has been quite a journey since that summer in 2010 when I committed to my first IM after a hiatus of 3 years over a dinner conversation with Marilyn.

That race was IM Cozumel and man has there been some up times, but equally as many learning experiences since then. I would have to say that 2011 has been a year of personal best. I have nearly PB'ed in almost all distances across the board since starting triathlon back in 2000. For that reason alone, this year has been stellar thus far, but not without one more chance to give'r one more crack in 2011.

Tomorrow morning at 7AM, I will start my 4th Ironman in less than 12 months at Ironman Arizona. My brother, Jeff, left me with a poem before I left Boise and wrote it on my bottle. The poem is called Invictus

The poem is best understood with a little background of the English poet, William Ernest Henley. At the age of 12, Henley contracted tuberculosis of the bone. A few years later, the disease progressed to his foot, and physicians announced that the only way to save his life was to amputate his leg. After his initial amputation, he continued to have long periods in the hospital because his right foot was also diseased. Henley contested the diagnosis that a second amputation was the only way to save his life by becoming a patient of the pioneering surgeon Joseph Lister . After three years in hospital (1873–75), during which he wrote and published the poems collected as In Hospital, Henley was discharged. Lister's treatment had not effected a complete cure but enabled Henley to have a relatively active life for nearly 30 years. Stoicism inspired him to write this poem, Invictus.


Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


Good luck to my fellow IM triathletes tomorrow, be the Captain of your soul!!!

Unconquered,
Crazy J

IM Race Coverage:

You can easily follow tomorrow by either following me on twitter (@QuadJRanch) or via a GPS device that I will be wearing during the bike and run.

You can follow me at My Athlete Live at the following link: http://track.myathletelive.com/vemap.aspx?name=373956

Racin' and the Honey Badger

"Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving."

I am sure many of you have seen the youtube video of the honey badger, however,if you haven't, you should watch, it is pretty funny. (click on link above)

Since the last post, I have raced twice and both times back on the east coast. About 4 weeks ago, I particpated in the Angels Race, which is a sprint triathlon back in Winston-Salem, NC, my ole' stompin' grounds. I have done this race before, but not since 2004. It was good to return home and have a good hit out with old buddies. As luck would have it, I squeeked to the finish line first just in front of one of my old training buddies, Keith, in 2nd place. As always, Mick puts on a great race and I was a reminded that NC is very lucky to have the triathlon community it does.

Last weekend I headed to Anderson, SC to do the Rev3 half. This half was put in the schedule just after IM Louisville so that I would stay motivated to keep my training going. I can't lie, right after IM Lou I started to mentally struggle with training a bit and I figured if I got a race on the schedule, I would keep it movin'. So we did and I signed up for Rev3 SC. I didn't have a lot of expectations, but the only pressure I put on myself was to continue with my "PR" season. So far this year, I have set PR's at just about every race that I have done in either the swim, bike, run or overall time. I wanted to keep that streak alive. The only other expectation was to continue to chase the goal of breaking 1:30 in a half off the bike.

Now to be honest, I thought I was going to have a PR swim. Had a good warm up swim the day before and I thought I could creep into the 26:xx "arena," but to no avail that didn't happen. I swam my standard 28:xx. What was a bit frustrating, was that I was in the lead chase group and there were 4 of us. One guy was off the front a bit and then 4 of us in a pack chasing. With about 400 meters to go, I got dropped after some battling for feet and the pace picked up a bit. Not sure what happened, but I lost 25 seconds in that last 400..hmmmmmm. Guess I'll do a bit more work in the pool to sharpen up for Arizona.

Well out of T1 and onto the bike, I was really itchin' to get movin' on the bike, after all, Marilyn and Chris came to the race and she was up the road. Sue is one tough cookie to be chasing, but never the less, it gave me good reason to chase and keep the pace high. Marilyn started 5 minutes ahead out of the water and I thought I would put a minute or two on her in the swim and then have 2-3min to catch up on the bike. I started well and passed the 3 guys that dropped me in the first 10 miles. I kept riding, up the hills, around the corners, looking for "M", but no "M". Hmmmmmm, well, keep hammering! So I did, finally around mile 45'ish, I saw this lil'red bike and up the way and it looked just like Marilyn, all tucked in her aero position hammering. I finally rolled up to her and it went a little something like this:

John: "Heeeeeeyyyyyyy Marilyn, whatszzzz up?!?!"
Marilyn: (in a high voice) "Hey MAN!!!"
John: "Where have you been, I have been chasing you ALLLLL day, damn, your killing it!"
Marilyn: __________________ (she looks at me, smiles, turns her head back up the road, and then proceeds to rip my freakin' legs off!!!)

Apparently there was too much chatter, she told me later it was just time to ride. Nothing like a little tough love from your coach. :) Well, the ensuing 20 minutes was pure pain as "M" dropped me. Thankfully there was a fair amount of downhill the last 5 miles that I was able to catch up. The good thing was it dropped 2 guys that had been riding with me for a bit, so now I was going to enter T2 on my own with no pressure.

Out onto run, I was able to get into my pace early on. On the out and backs, there were a couple guys within striking distance behind me, so I knew I couldn't slow up. Around mile 5, the eventual 4th place guy overall came by me. Over the next 3 miles, he opened up a 30 second gap and it was slowly but surely growing. I kept my head up and kept telling myself to continue with my race, just maybe he'll come back. Between mile 9-10, I closed the gap and caught him at the bottom of the hill at 10. Boy was I stoked. All of the sudden I started to feel better and I couldn't believe that I was actually pulling someone back in....that doesn't happen in my races typically. I probably...PROBABLY.... no I did get a little too excited and when I went by him, I picked it up a bit. You know the usual, hold your breath as you go, hold the best running form you have had all day, nice little smile and look smooth for that split second of the pass. Then, once your by, you can start grimacing again and breathing hard. Well, per my usual issues, my hamstring begain to cramp about an .5 mile after "the pass" and the 15-20sec I gained, well you know how the story goes......I lost it. Grrrrrrrr. At 11, he passed me while I was trying to manage my "issues." Thankfully and not long after, I was able to get back to pace but by this time, he was up the road 25 seconds. So back to where was I was earlier in the day. Well, I kept up, but I knew this time that if I could get back to my race, I could catch him again, he was hurting the first time I passed him and the only reason I was re-passed was because of my own pace, he was still going the same pace. Well, the next 2 miles were pretty exciting, tough, fun, nauseating, and new for me. I began to bring him back in. Hold on, seriously, John bringing someone back in..no way! Well, with .5 mile to go, he was 5 seconds in front of me. At this point, I knew it was going to be a nail biter! I caught him at the beginning of the finish line shoot which was about 50 meters long. I pulled up to him shoulder to shoulder and looked over. I made my move and began my....uhhhhh hmmmmmmm.....sprint, or as some may describe as a cramping, hemiplegic, festinating, spastic shuffle towards the line. He looked again and saw me going, he responded just a bit faster than I and edged me at the line.

All in all a good race. I was able to keep my "PR" season alive with my fastest run split in a half ironman to date, only :19 seconds of my goal of breaking 1:30. My minor cramping issues are getting better. I have seen them show up later in the day in every race, one day I'll get to the finish line before they slow me down!! My bike was solid, the Rev3 SC course is tough, very relentless, so even more happy with my run split of that type of bike.

Now its back to the grind for one more hit out of the season, Ironman Arizona in 5 weeks. Hopefully this race will be the culmination of an awesome season for me thus far and I'll continue on that "PR" streak!

Until then, one foot in front of the other as the weather begins to change here in Boise. Luckily I have my trusty training partners for a few more weeks before they go away for half the year and I'll drag Jeff out for the last few as he recovers from Kona.

Keepin' it rollin',
Crazy J

Learning from the Past

Its always interesting to look back at my post race thoughts and compare them with the next race see if I am in line with improving my weaknesses. Prior to having a coach, I never really did this. This all began when I began working with my current coach.

Marilyn (see blog on side bar) and I started working together as a coach/athlete pair late last year. Prior to, Marilyn and I have been good friends since 2007 when I had the awesome oppurtunity to train in Boulder for a bit. Marilyn (and her husband Chris) were living in Boise last year over the summer and I had had some consistent training over that time and had this crazy idea to do an IM. I looked on the calander and the only one left that was still open was IM Cozumel. We were 10 weeks out from the race and we sat down and created a plan that would address my weakness and get me ready to PR at the IM distance. This would be the beginning of my new found love of Ironman over the last year. For the record, since that time, I have done 3 IM's in 9.5 months and likely one to close the year out. I have changed quite a bit as athlete in this short amount of time and happily to say that I thnk I still have quite a bit of upside...I hope! :)

In any case, the whole purpose of this blog was to look at my debrief sessions with Marilyn, so here they are, nothing fancy, nothing intricate, just basic. Here are a few questions in regards to IM Coz, San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon, and IM Louisville and my basic thoughts.

IM Cozumel
What did we set out to do?
Have a successful IM performance that concentrated on running “well.” CSI – Runs on Nov 3rd and 7th were good indicators I had the fitness and ability to run well.
What were the actual results?
Swim: 52:51 – felt comfortable and steady
Bike: 4:57:34 – very well controlled, wanted to go harder, comfortable ride
Run: 4:20:10 – felt well early on, half way point, fell apart
What have we learned (Positive and Negative)?
Learned that I probably need to address a few smaller things during race such as electrolytes, starting slower at the beginning of the marathon and use sunscreen during hot races.
What are we going to do?
I would assume increasing my run volume for increased durability early in the season. Cont same swim strategy and maintain what I got on the bike.

San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon
What did we set out to do?
To run the marathon and learn how my body reacts over the distance
1.Run the entire run – completed
2.No mile during the day greater than :30 slower than the first mile - completed
What were the actual results?
Total Time: 3:07:03
Overall Place: 115th out of 8,267
Age Group: 18th out of 740
Splits:
Mile 1 - 7:37
Mile 2 - 7:28
5K - 23:15
5K-mile 5 – 12:56 (avg 6:43pace)
Mile 6 – 6:43
10K - 44:49
Mile 6.2 – 7 - 5:42 (7:26 pace)
Mile 8 – 7:16
Mile 9 – 6:38
Lap 10 – 7:51 (7:07 pace) 48:28
Mile 11 – 6:47
Mile 12 – 7:05
Mile 13 – 6:57
21K – 1:33:17
13.1-14 – 6:05 (6:49 pace)
Mile 15 – 6:54
Mile 16 – 7:07
Lap 18 – 3:32 (7:00 pace)
Lap 19 – 3:17 (6:43 pace)
Mile 18 – 6:59
Mile 19 – 6:43
Mile 20 – 6:39
Mile 21 – 6:45
Mile 22 – 7:00 (Around 21.5, I felt like I began to run with intention, my rhythm slowly began to fade here)
Mile 23 – 7:16
Mile 24 – 7:37
Mile 25 - 7:45
Mile 26 – 7:42
Mile 26-26.2 – 1:42 (7:31 pace)
What have we learned (Positive and Negative)?
1.The effort in the beginning of a marathon that it takes to run a well split marathon is almost laughable. The pace is way more easy than you think. I had planned to run first mile in 8:00 pace and I couldn’t slow down enough to make it happen and settled with 7:37 for first mile. At mile 26, to run 7:42 took all I had to run that.
2.It is easy to manage the physical fatigue of your legs if you can keep the mind fed well with simple sugars (glucose).Began hitting GU(with caffeine) at Mile 18, first sign of negative thought and continued on for the rest of the run some of which included igloo pops which were being handed out by spectators.
What are we going to do?
Hmmmm good question…..I feel that I have put in quite a few years of good base running I feel solid and strong, but I don’t quite yet have the speed. I felt super comfortable to mile 22 which I was very happy about. On the other hand, I couldn’t have gone any faster if I wanted to from a speed standpoint. I feel like from a cardiovascular standpoint, I am fit enough to go faster, I am now lacking the physical strength/speed to go faster. Prior to the race, I was training almost all run around the 7:00 pace, which is 1 minute faster than I had been training. I think the next step is continue my progressive pace downward and learn to run at a faster pace. I think it has taken me 1.5 years of super aerobic running to get to this point where I can begin to accept some faster paces.

IM Louisville
What did we set out to do? PR in the marathon and break 4 hours
-PR’ed in the open marathon this year earlier running 3:07 untapered (SD Marathon)
-Ran 38:14 in a 10K off the bike in a triathlon (Emmett Oly)
-PR’ed in half IM this year with fastest peronal ½ split off bike (Portland Rev 3)
What were the actual results?
Overall Time: 9:48:56 (43rd OA)
Swim: 53:35 (29th OA) – Didn’t expect to have this result, training good, but not as good as IM Coz
Bike: 5:01:40 (11th OA) – A bit better than expected, avg watts for day 207, on par with IM Coz
Run: 3:47:10 (43rd OA) – Learned a lot this day on management of cramps. I thought realistically could have run 3:35, so a bit disappointed, but happy to get the 4hr monkey off my back and PR in IM.
What have we learned (Positive and Negative)?
Positive: Amazed that I was able to run 3:47 and walked 3 different times. Never thought I would be able to break 4hrs if I walked. I was able to keep my cramps at bay by slowing when I felt the urge to cramp, really kept them in check as opposed to the old days of just cont to hammer and then wait for them to fully cramp.

Negative: Still don’t think I am “strong” enough to handle the pounding on the pavement for 3:30hrs. I feel fit enough, just not strong enough. Major hamstring weakness.
What are we going to do?
Wt room 2-3 times/week to specifically work on strength.

I am just short of 2 weeks from my last race and still feeling a bit "off." I have began my healthy lifestyle again, but no training yet :) Hopefully things will come around soon, have a sprint race on the schedule in a week back in North Carolina. The last time I raced this race I happen to win it. A lot has changed since then including my race kit choice. I guess this was the "brewing" of the name "Crazy J"

Until next time!

Crazy J

A look back

(Jeff and I coming down the finish chute)

Wow....it HAS been sometime since I last got on here. Just got back from IM Louisville and finally had a breakthrough performance. It has been a long time coming which got me thinking all the way back to my first Ironman and the progression it has taken for me to arrive here. So here are a few quick statistics:

(53:35 swim time)

- 9 Iron distance races (2 non-m dot races) spanning over 8 years
- 2 DNF's (Great Floridian and IM St. George)
- 8 IM's to break 4 hours on the marathon
- 8 IM's to break 10 hours in the race
- Still haven't qualified for Kona

(4th AG'er off the bike overall)

Here is a quick breakdown of all my races.

Year///// Race/////////// Swim///////// Bike//////// Run///////Total
2011///// IM Louisville ///0:53:35 ///////5:01:40 //////3:47:10///9:48:56
2011///// IM St. George// 0:57:25//////// 5:28:30//////DNF//////DNF
2010/////IM Cozumel////0:52:51//////// 4:57:34//////4:20:10///10:17:34
2007/////IM Canada/////0:57:43//////// 5:24:51//////4:14:28////10:43:25
2006/////Great Floridian////////////////////////////////////////DNF
2005/////IM Brazil //////1:07:39///////// --- //////////--- ///////11:29:53
2004/////Duke Blue Devil/0:59:30/////// ??///////////??////////10:46:00
2004/////IM Wisconsin// 1:01:48//////// 5:44:38/////5:34:44/// 12:29:53
2003/////IM Brazil //////1:15:59///////// 6:01:36/////4:10:15////11:27:48

It's been an interesting, unique, fun and ever changing journey. In 2008, I began working after school and never thought I would make it back to triathlon as a competative age grouper, much less be less than 10 minutes from qualifying for Kona. I'm still not there, but the "cheese" keeps getting closer.

Planning the next race....

Crazy J

(Couldn't do it without the most important people in my life)