This year didn’t go quite as planned. I expected my season to end on October 11th at the Ironman World Championships, however after having put all the hard work in, tapering and having the confidence that a great race was only hours away I managed to get sick about 36 hours before the race. I came down with some type of chest cold/sinus infection and at first I was in denial (can this really be happening?), but as the symptoms grew worse I decided the morning of the race to pull the plug.

Having spent the entire year thinking and preparing for this one race I decided I did not want to end the year on this note. Immediately I began thinking about Plan B where all the hard training I had done and the fitness I had gained could be put to the test. I decided to sign up for Ironman Arizona hoping to redeem my season. Once I regained my health and began training I encountered two obstacles that made training a bit more difficult compared to my Kona training. First the weather did not fully cooperate with two feet of snow in Boulder before Halloween and second my son brought back some bad sleep habits from the Big Island. He slept so well during my Kona build, but I guess when we got back from the Big Island he thought the season was over. While these things made training a bit more challenging they were nothing that I and countless other age groupers hadn’t experienced before. I was hungry and determined to test myself and the hard training I had put in this year.

The next six weeks flew by and when race day arrived I really wasn’t quite sure what to expect. My training leading in was a bit up and down with some sessions going great and others leaving me questioning if my fitness would be there on race day.

Race day started without a hitch and I felt like I had a good stat to the swim. My times leading into this race were a bit slower then the one’s prior to Kona, but I still felt like i was ready to set a PR. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed to see 1:00 on the clock when I came out of the water.

On the bike my stomach didn’t feel very good at the start, but I kept things mellow and biked through the field. I paced the bike the way I normally do in an Ironman where I build the effort. This usually means starting out with what feels easy building to steady effort about 30 miles in and then waiting until the last 30 miles before it feels like I am making a conscious effort to go fast. For this race I was on a new bike, the Look 596, which allowed for a more aggressive position then my old plasma (thanks to the help of Mat Steinmetz at Retul and the gang at Colorado Multisport). It was apparent that this new position and bike were paying off as I moved through the field solo until the second half of the second loop where I had some company. However, about five miles into the third loop I picked up the effort and dropped the couple of riders who were with me. I came off the bike in a time of 4:46 with my highest average power in an Ironman of 252 watts and held the same power throughout the ride with no drop off.

 

At the start of the run I felt like I had a great shot at sub 9:00. I didn’t feel great for the first couple of miles, but this is nothing new so I decided to be patient and accept what felt like the right effort and rolled along. At the start of the second loop I had to make a quick trip to the portopotty, but after that I started to feel pretty good and began to pick up the pace. However around mile 13 the pounding of the concrete seemed to catch up with me more then in years past and my pace began to drop off again. Around mile 18 or so I started to do some math in my head and knew I would need to get moving if I wanted to break nine hours. At this point I began to really dig and up the effort  as I repeated the phrase “nothing in the tank”. This is something my good friend Marcos said to me days before the race and since it was the end to a long season it seemed pretty appropriate. I did manage to pick up the pace and crossed the line in 9:02 with a run time of 3:09. While I didn’t break 9:00 I did manage to set a new Ironman PR by 22 minutes in my 12th crack at the distance. I ended up 18th OA and first in the male 35-39 age group.

After the race I came across a women who had broken her arm just days before the race while in Tempe and was unable to compete. It reminded me of my own situation before Hawaii this year and how we can’t take our ability to toe the start line for granted. This is especially true for those racing Ironman in which we put in months of training for one day of racing. Despite my hiccup before Kona I am thankful for the season I had and the chance for redemption in Arizona. Who knows maybe it is a blessing in disguise as it gives me the ability to plan 2010 around one day in October without having to worry about qualifying. Regardless of this there will always be uncertainty with how the future will unfold, but it truly is the journey and not the destination that makes our sport so rewarding.

I would like to thank those who have supported me this year-Tim Deboom, Kris McFarland, Marcos Mejias and The Zone nutrition products. A special thanks to my amazing wife Isabel who not only supports my craziness throughout the year, but when I told her I wanted to try and ramp up for one more race after a long year (when my season was supposed to be over) she didn’t blink an eye and gave me her full support to go ahead with it. I love you Isabel and can’t thank you enough!

This was my first time racing IMCDA and the first time I had raced a summer Ironman since 2006. Knowing that Ironman Arizona was being moved from April to November, I needed a new Ironman to try to qualify for Kona. IMCDA was my best option.

Training went well leading up to the big day. I had a bit of a longer off season and a slightly different build for IMCDA then in seasons past due to the timing of this race. One big positive was that I remained healthy all winter and spring. This is no easy task with two children under age 4 running around. I attribute this to a healthy diet and the use of The Zone nutritional products. Their fish oils polyphenols (a powerful antioxidant) were vital in helping me recover by keeping inflammation down and supporting my immune system.

My confidence was high coming in and the cool weather made me excited for a change of pace. I have not raced a cool Ironman since Lake Placid 2006. Race week went by quickly and I remained relatively calm. I actually worried that maybe I wasn’t focused enough because of the lack of nerves, but I reminded myself that after 10 Ironmans the drill becomes familiar.

The morning of the race I began my normal pre-race routine at 4:00AM. This involved drinking a pre-race shale of Hammer’s Perpetuem, yogurt, apple juice and frozen berries. I did some light stretching and prepared my race nutrition bottles. Lucky for me my wife, Isabel, was in attendance and my parents were home with the kids in Boulder.

Everything went as planned until I got to T1 to set up my bike only to discover that my rear tire was flat. So much for no pre-race nerves! My stress levels started to soar as I walked over to bike support for help. Les (who I have gotten to know over the years) was his usual calm self and decided that because it was a small leak our best option would be Pit Stop to seal the tube instead of replacing the entire tubular. I trusted him and decided to give it a shot. Isabel also remained calm and being a seasoned Ironman veteran grabbed my special needs bags while I dealt with the tire. I later learned that my Redbull had spilled in the bag and she had managed to siphon it back into the bottle like a true IronSherpa!

With another Porto stop and final bike check, I headed to the swim start.

At the start of the swim, I lined up at the front and about 100 yards to the right of the buoys. I swam hard for the first few hundred yards and quickly found the water to be very choppy. It was hard for me to find my swim stroke rhythm, but on the other hand, I seemed to have plenty of space. I finished the first loop in 30 minutes and was a bit disappointed, but quickly got back to work. Unfortunately on the second loop I had some severe calf cramping which forced me to stop kicking and even stop swimming and a few times stretch it out. I was relieved to finally reach the shore but was disappointed with my time of 1:03.

I had a slow T1 getting on some arm warmers but soon settled into ride the 112 miles ahead. I felt OK at the start bike, but not great. I think my legs were a bit sluggish from the cool weather. For the first loop all I could think about was my rear tire and hoping that it stayed inflated. I really like the course at CDA. While it doesn’t necessarily suit my strengths like a flatter course does, the hills break things up and keep people honest.

During the bike, I focused on my nutrition and had no problem staying on top of my hydration given the cooler weather. I could tell I was gaining strength over the other racers during the second loop and began motoring passing a couple of different groups on the back half of the second loop. If anything, I had to hold back just a tad. I came off the bike first in my age group for the first time in an Ironman.

A quick T2 and I was out of the tent and starting the run. I made sure to check and see how my stomach felt to keep it mellow and get some calories in. I clicked off a coupld of sub 6:50 miles but then settled into a 7:05 pace. I was surprised I was not running a bit faster given the cool weather but I just dialed into the effort without forcing the pace. The run went pretty quickly and, beside a Porto stop that cost me a couple of minutes at mile 14, I pretty much held the same pace for the entire run which mean’t really lifting the effort over the last 6 miles.

I crossed the line in 9:24 after a 63 minute swim, 5:07 bike, and 3:08 run. This put me 18th Overall and 1st in the Male 35-39 age group. I was amazed at how tight the race was with 12th and 18th only separated only by 5 minutes. This type of separation I am used to seeing in Kona but not as much in other Ironman races in North America. it certainly speaks to how much more competitive things are getting out there! It also makes you think about how over the course of a 9 hour day the little things do matter.

Now it is time for a break and lots of family time before I step things up get even fitter for Kona.

As special thanks to my coach Tim DeBoom, The Zone and the guys at Colorado MultiSport for all their help so far this year.

  

Carbo Loading                                                               Draft Police

 

Swim start                                                                   Almost there

 

After Party                                                               Can Someone take a picture of me now?

Another Hawaii is in the record books. Even though I improved from my result last year, this race certainly does not get easier. I did feel more relaxed heading into this race and knew I was in better shape then ever which gave me the confidence to feel at ease. This combined with the fact that whether I finished 100th or 1000th my kids, Charlton and Sophie, really wouldn’t know the difference and would still want to play with their daddy just the same also helps to keep things in perspective.

 Here is how the day unfolded—

 

The swim was uneventful and went pretty much the same as my last 3 swims in Kona. I completed it in 1:03. I was a tad disappointed but turned my focus to the task at hand, excelling in the bike and run, with a smooth transition.

At the start of the bike I felt OK. It is funny how in every Ironman something unexpected always happens and this one did not disappoint. About 40 miles into the bike the pad to my left aerobar ended up flying off which put me a bit off center and may have lead to some tightness on the right side of my back. When it happened I thought it would make things very uncomfortable, but in general things were going as planned and I didn’t really notice it too much. I remained patient and controlled in my riding and hit the half way mark at 2:30 and thought I might bike 5 hours or better. The ride back is usually a bit faster than the way out, once the climb to Hawi is out of the way, but this year that idea was soon crushed when the winds picked up after the climb out of Kawaihae. Lucky for me this is where I started to push the pace and it allowed me to move up through the field as the winds seemed to take a toll on other riders who may not have left as much in the tank.

 On the run I felt OK heading out the first 5 miles on Alii drive and a bit better on the way back. I ran into fellow epic camper mike Montgomery and we chatted for a brief minute. When he told me he swam 58 this year I wanted to ask him for swim tips! The miles clicked off and the pace felt mellow however, I could feel my core temperature starting to rise a bit. I also knew I started the race a bit backed up without a good trip to the porta-potty in the am. This led to some stomach issues when I got onto the Queen K.  I slowed my pace a bit and that helped, but eventually I found myself ducking into a couple of porto pottys to help relieve the situation.

 As I was entering the famed Energy Lab I began to feel better. This changed pretty quickly when I reached an aid station and grabbed a cup from one of the volunteers took a swig and found out it was a beer! In his defense he wasn’t really holding it out, but it was in my arms reach and I was desperate for any type of hydration. For the next mile I felt like I was going to throw up! On the way back out of the energy lab I had to wait for what felt like eternity for my special needs bag, but it was probably only a minute as the volunteers scrambled to find it.

 Once back on the Queen K I started clicking off 7 minute miles around the 21 mile mark and just kept pushing literally from cone to cone and aid station to aid station trying to find people to pick off and give me the incentive I needed to go hard. By about mile 23 I was in no man’s land with no one really in striking distance ahead of me and no one really behind me. It was an odd place to be for a race that is this deep. As I pushed down Palani pounding my quads it reminded me of all my downhill runs on the Sugarloaf road and all the hard work I have put in this year. I also knew the pain would soon disappear as soon as I reached the magic of Alii drive where I would find world class fans and my own family. Allii delivered as usual and I was overcome with the joy that only this little road can bring.

 While I know I had the fitness to run faster, a backed up stomach and a few porta-potty trips made for a slower run. Maybe I biked too hard for this type of heat even though the effort was right inline with all my previous Ironman bike rides or maybe I should take a page out of this years two world champions and ditch the aero helmet. However, I learn something from each race and few years ago I probably would have tried to run hard through the stomach problems leading to a really big blowup and lots of walking.  I am happy that my in race adjustments are an indication that I have learned enough to listen to my body and make the best out of a tough situation. Like every race I learned a bit about myself both as a triathlete and a person and I look forward to taking that with me. I think I will need to focus on my beer drinking skills this off season so I am better prepared for anything that might come my way in Hawaii next year!

Thanks to everyone for all of their support.

Aloha,

Ed

 

I am on the Big Island. The hard work is done and now my focus is on resting up and some fine tuning.

After a rough start at the end of July which included getting sick and breaking a rib, my build up to Kona was fantastic this year. Luckily,  I was able to recover to 100% heath just in time for my Kona build. This block of training was certainly my best yet in terms of balancing recovery with a high training load. I was able to successfully complete all of the key sessions and could feel myself getting fitter and fitter each week. This has not always been the case in past Ironman builds where some niggles or the need for more recovery led to certain key sessions becoming compromised or even left out for the greater good.

This brings me to one of my realizations about success in a coaching/athlete relationship and why I think this year’s build-up has been so successful - Patience.

Too many times athletes jump around from coach to coach without developing a constructive relationship with their coach founded on communication and/or without really giving a training plan time to take hold. The truth is success in triathlon takes patience, persistence, and consistency the type of qualities that are rewarded over years of training not months. Now, on the other hand, if the coaching style does not suit you or the “chemistry” does not seem to fit then it may be time to move on, but keep in mind that over time both you and your coach will develop a relationship that will further enhance your training.

I have been coached by Tim DeBoom for two seasons. During this time, Tim has learned what type of training load I can tolerate and absorb as well as where I need improvement. Since we first started working together, I have seen improvements from Tim’s plan. However, the ability to continue to keep improving at the same rate has been a result of Tim getting to know me as an athlete. This has come from over a season of working together which involves implementing different workouts, seeing how my body reacts, and, most importantly, from me giving Tim honest feedback on how I am feeling on a daily and weekly basis. Using this knowledge and some fine tuning, Tim constructed a build for Kona that was spot on for what I can tolerate and absorb at this stage in my athletic development.

The training this year has given me a deal of confidence and now I know the only things I left to do are to rest up and execute on race day.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I look forward to sharing my ideas, experiences and observations on training, racing and coaching.  For now, I am off to Kona.

More to come…