Korey Stringer Institute Day 2

Today I paid a lot of money to sweat out 6.7lbs, get my core temp to 103.9, see lots of black spots and have to end the session early due to delirium.  Hey it was just like racing in Kona.   So mission accomplished.

For the past 24 hours, I have been urinating in what looks like a portable gas can.  At 2AM I swallowed a thermometer pill.  I have recorded in detail everything I ate and drank since noon yesterday.   I showed up at the lab at 8, was given my freshly laundered bike kit and was soon walking into the death zone heat chamber, which was set at 86 degrees and 78% humidity.  aka Kona conditions, except for last year, Dr. Rob noted because WE ALL KNOW LAST YEAR WAS THE BEST CONDITIONS IN KONA EVER! NO SHIT I digress, I walked in and said “fuck it is hot”

Onto the bike for a 2-hour bike session at IM watts, GO.  This was not as easy as I hoped, in fact my RPE was very high, and I am hoping the Kickr was not calibrated or I am looking at a 7-hour bike split.  I held the watts mostly and when my HR started to go up, instead of backing off as I would in a race I just let it go up.  Apparently, that is not a good idea, my core temp was going up too and let’s just say a 2 hour IM bike workout soon felt like a 2 hour FTP test.  3.5 bottles later, lots of good tunes and a Netflix movie “Kim Swims” which I highly recommend, I was done.  Meanwhile, I am wiping sweat, Maggie was wiping sweat and they were collecting sweat.   Dr. Rob is monitoring my core temp and every 10 min they ask on a scale of 14-20 how are you feeling.  Right, what is up with the scale, not 1-5 or 1-10, but 14-20 (it’s actual correlation to HR- 14 should be around 140…”

Then I climb in a giant tub lined with plastic and using distilled water I am washed down, scrub and wash.  I leave my clothes, the towels, and all the yuck and climb on the scale.  Done with test 1.

Gulp down 24 oz fluid  + The Right Stuff and force in a bagel and PB and sit in front of a giant ass fan.  Meanwhile, they are monitoring my core temp, which is taking over 45 min to return to normal.  Normal, okay let's go round 2.

The run, 1 hour, TM at IM effort in the same unreasonably fucking hot temperature Kona condition heat lab.  Music on let's go.  OMG its hot, its really hot, I slow the pace and decide to just run easy, shit I don’t want to run that easy, pick it up, okay it’s only an hour, if you run this pace in Kona, you are golden, 25 minutes, no way can I run this pace, okay slow down, running a bit slower is better than walking, okay this is better, not really but pretend it is, OMG my HR is 165, not really IM heart rate, only 30 more minutes. Then it's like someone turned up the heat and it was 105, HR is over 170 and the spots start to come, dizzy, spots- both white and black, people asking “are you okay?” Me, not really, so I walk a bit, okay 3 min walk, feeling better not really but lets fake it God it’s hot, “did you turn up the temp?”  Maybe its really 100 degrees, oh boy super dizzy, nausea.   Hey, it's just like being on the Queen K. OMG did I pay for this?  WTF.  Run over, what? What, why?  Seems more core temp was 103.7 and climbing.  Dr. Rob says, we have what we need.

Do the baby deer wobble to the tub, rinse wipe off and onto the scale again. I have been weighed more in 24 hours than I have in 10 years.   Sit in front of big ass fan and rationally decide to cancel Honu, cancel Kona and sign for Alaska Man. Seriously…

Dr. Rob says, well it's clear why you have issues, despite all the fluids you are still down 6.7 lbs.  Fuck!  Can we move IMWC to Antarctica?

Next? Full report early next week. 

Korey Stringer Institute

LOVE this "preventing sudden death" 

Day 1 is complete at the KSI:  Korey Stringer Institute on the Campus of UConn in the Department of Kinesiology. They are renowned for their research and expertise in heat and hydration.  A department I am renowned for failing.

My last 2 (or 6)  ironmans were challenging as they resulted in massive weight loss 9 and 6 lbs respectively, foggy memory, black spots, delirium,  GI issues and just not a good time.   Add any other HOT race they have all included upper/lower or sometimes both GI distress - picture that in a porta potty when its 100 degrees, cramping, extreme nausea....  I know I am a heavy sweater 60-74 oz of fluid loss an hour ( known to date) and 1800-2200 mg of sodium. Numbers that are challenging to replace. I have tried so many products and plans and still strugle every HOT Ironman.  So I have come to mecca.  To the place, they do the testing and will give me actual numbers of sweat and sodium loss.

A long day of travel and I rolled in around 8 and unpacked my bike.  First thing I noticed was the plastic piece on the side that prevents something I am sure, was torn off  - see the x that is GONE.  I unpack my bike and put it together, hmmmm, wheel rubbing, try again, and then I see it. Fuck- seat stay is crushed in.  Holy crap, panic and lose my shit  Calmly think about what I can do?  It's 9:00 and I need my bike tomorrow and by the way, I am racing in less than 2 weeks.  Drink a bottle of wine No, I 'm here for testing so I got my stuff together, went to bed and prayed for a diving intervention.

In hindsight, I forgot the pads on the seat stay, although not sure it would have sustained that crash- I tape pool noodles on every OTHER possible place of impact and 100% forgot to protect this area.    I have not packed my bike since August and was in a hurry, chatting on the phone and was remiss.

Got to KSI at 8:30 and we were able to get the bike on the Kickr and using a knife and some electrical tape, we braced it up for the testing.   Today was substrate utilization testing - which is to determine my carb vs fat burning and actual Kcal/hour at various intensities.   All with this lovely mask.  The test was 1:10 starting at 50% of FTP and working up in 5 min increments to 120%, tracking HR/Power.   I don't have full results but here is a shocker I am not a big fat burner...LOL, no kidding not fat adapted. I burn the most fat at 68-72% of FTP, my sweet spot for Ironman.  And burn fewer calories than I hoped had previously thought.  They will work this up and give me the info post-visit.

After the test, we chatted a bit, and then I was given my urine collection canisters- oh yes, 24 hours of collection.   Nothing like walking about with urine in your backpack.  I was also given a log to commence at noon for ALL food/beverage consumption. Detailed as in type, amount, how prepared, brand name, time, restaurant etc.  And my core temperature pill which I swallow between midnight and 4am for the big testing tomorrow.

Rest of the day I am working and hope to check out the campus a bit.  

Tomorrow- 2hour IM bike in Heat Chamber - set at Kona conditions +  1  hour Run 

Ironman is hard

Every Ironman athlete should watch the entire run of an Ironman. Why? To see watch what unfolds in the race.   I spectated at IMSR this past weekend and with a 3 loop run course, you can park yourself and see everyone 2-3 times as they come in.    We could see people come into T2 and then out on the run course and it was clear the bike was longer and harder than many anticipated.  The rough roads and wind added to the already challenge of 112 miles.  People were moving slower rolling into T2. Some came out of T2 a new person, game face on, ready to take on the run.  Others have that look, walk, stumble of how the F am I going to do this.    Ironman is hard! 

With each loop of the run, the smiles fade, the gate slows and the look of determination settles in.  Those having the race of their lives are in the hurt locker big time by loop 3, you can see the pain and suffering.  Watching the ones who just keep moving, focused and steady, knowing how much it hurts, is what I just love about Ironman.  Some are responsive to cheers and shout outs and others are one foot in front of the other.   

Spectators need fuel too 

Nytro Women Tearing it up

Why should everyone see this? Because as your race unravels, or you think it does, when you are hurting so badly you want to walk, when you are sure you are dying more than EVERYONE else, trust me, you are not.   The people at the front of the race are dying too.  No one feels like they did those first 6 miles, so when that piano drops on your back, everything hurts, you want to die- have a PLAN for how to get through it.  

But Ironman spectating is quite fun!!   Throughout the day I checked in with myself to see if I had any FOMO?  Nope, I did not!   

Mothers Day fun! 

Post IM was even better as Riley came up and we had a lovely Mothers Day nearly dying in Bikram Yoga, wine tasting, napping and enjoying and amazing dinner in Sonoma.  So blessed to have spent a few days with her!  

Think less and just go all out

 Today was the kick off of the Triathlon Season in San Diego with the Spring Sprint!    I am finishing 2 big weeks of training and yesterday was a sh&t show,   My HRV this AM was 7.7 " within your normal values and your subjective scores are trending positively. Proceed as planned"  

My Training Peaks looks like this-  and I was feeling tired.  But my plan was warm up, go hard and see what happens.  With very little on the line at the local race, let's just see.  My warm-up run was painful.      Ok, its go time, well not really, see I was wave #15 of 15, they put the 50 + women DFL, keep the slow ass people in the back, I suppose.  The 50+ men were in front of us.                                                                                                                                               Short swim- 500 yards, I had 100 yards of open swimming before catching the wave ahead and slamming into a guys head who was doing elementary backstroke going the wrong way, going to be a long day for that dude.

Out fast and up the ramp.  Quick transition. The bike was 10 miles and had 12 turns with  4 of them 180-degree turns.  This course has been dangerous but the widened the lanes and the marking of the crater-like potholes it was not too bad.  And with 90% of the people actually riding on the right side, it was easy to maneuver as needed.   My legs hurt, no question, but the power was there so I kept the pressure on. Whenever it started to feel better I kicked it up a bit.  Rode at 98% for 28 minutes, AV HR 160, so I was working.   So much that I was only able to take 4 sips of Gatorade Endurance and no more. Something about redlining feeling that does not allow for caloric consumption. 

                                                                                                                             Onto the run and I went out hard without looking at my pace and had the same approach as the bike, keep the throttle down and suffer.  I was running well, but fck it hurt.    Hard to the finish line, which was 3.23 miles- really people, how hard is it to make it 3.1 miles NOT 3.23.  But I digress- sub 7:00 pace and I am super happy!    

If I had let my head dictate the day, who knows how the race would have come around- instead I just went for it, did not look at number or paces- just hurt as much as possible, which is 100% doable for 59 minutes!  

The effort was enough for the OA Win, which I am humbled, to accept!  

The day was fun with my athletes Kasey, Alexis, Alexis, Gail and Stacy on the course getting it done!  Add my teammate Liz and a bunch of local friends and it's what I just love about this sports....friends, suffering, sunshine and so many medals! 

I encourage everyone to do a few Sprints- don't think, just get out there an go hard!  It's hard to screw up pacing on a Sprint.   

Racing for an hour on 4 sips of Gatorade is 100% doable!   Breakfast of Kona Red , 2 cups white rice with coconut oil + salt and a GoGo Applesauce pre-swim!                       

Eating clean and then eating post race

Oceanside 70.3 #10...sticky wheel and wonky GI

This was my 10th Oceanside 70.3!  Oceanside was my first 70.3 and remains my all-time favorite.  This year was the added bonus a beach start,  real ocean swim and I loved it!   

I was fired up and excited to race-  with 6 of my athletes on the course, my coach and 30+ other D3 racers, 4 of my Nytro Women's Team and so many local friends, it was going to be such fun!    I was mentally in a good space, my confidence was about 90%, a bit lacking due to a sub-par Desert Tri, a not  so successful 1/2 Marathon and a botched TT.  But the rest of my training was good, the race sim was where I wanted it to be, so the day was about execution, positive mental space and being able to gut it out, suffer and get it done!                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The swim start was simply fun, surrounded by my Swim Masters lane mates, friends from years of racing, it was relaxing and social.   Off we went into some legit waves but managed to get out past the break without an issue. Ii felt strong swimming and did not look at my time- 29:39, slowest swim ever at this race, But with the new start it is hard to compare and I never look at my split mid-race, so I did not see this until the end.

pretty clear how I was feeling 

Onto the bike, which is really my jam.  Early on the watts were not coming easy,  but I have been there before and I have to trust my legs and hit the watts.  By mile 10 I was thinking my brake was rubbing so I opened up the front brake and still it was like I was riding through sand.  I kept it up and by mile 25 I was in a full-blown fucking panic attack, worried I was 8 min slower at this point than the last 8 years. WTF? I was wondering if my PM was off but my effort felt right, so I just went with it, knowing my bike split was likely 10 min slow. Or let's call it 12 min- The last 8 miles where I usually am aero and jamming home I was struggling to hit the watts.  My brain is all over the place wondering if I am now just over the hill and old and slowed down? But more the mantra was WTF is going on.  I did my best to stay calm, which was mildly successful,  and lots of self-taking that there was nothing I could do now but focus on the run.  The run is not always my best part of racing. My head was spinning and I was working hard on the mental gam I hit the end button and see 2:58.  Times are all relative  -other than my first year at Oceanside I have clocked 2:42-2:48 EVERY year and now I see 2:58.   I am not going to lie, full panic was setting in, but I crushed T2.

I reeled it back in and had to get out on the run.  I got my first run split about my competition and the delta was not what I was hoping for, so clearly, my bike split was very very slow for me.  I had work to do if I wanted to hold onto the lead.  The women behind me were too close for comfort.  So I got to work and was feeling pretty good, holding back and running steadily through mile 6.  I was able to leave the bike split in T2 and get 100% focused on the run.  Mile 7 it got hard, as in okay we go to counting to 20, finger tapping and staying in the moment. Run to see my coach, then up the ramps, down the ramps where Hillary and crew were,  more support at next mile, then the turnaround.... Mike sees me again and says I have to pick it up if I want the Win.  Meanwhile, I am negotiating that I will be slowing down 20sec per mile but ok, I pick up it to a 7:50 and well let's just say that did not last.  I am now at mile 10.5 and worried, everything hurts and the aid station gets stingy 1 oz of coke, I wanted to pull a Patrick Lange and grab the whole fcking bottle and chug it.  I took 10 cups and am guzzling it all.   And then it gets better, my gut flips, as in need a porta potty now.  Now I am trying to pick up the pace, clench my cheeks to prevent a literal sh#tshow.  I see another friend who says 2nd place is 20 sec back - Fck me.   So the idea of a quick porta potty stop means I lose the race. Do I want to win enough to poop my pants.... well yes.   Let's just say I don't feel any better and am losing it.  So it was get to the finish line - count to 10, repeat, what's that smell? oh it's me, OMG will I have diaper rash, stay focused and get to the GD finish line, did they move the finish? , where is Mike Reilly?, why is this mile never-ending, OMG is it running down my leg, ok no, thank goodness... cross the line and wait. With the rolling start, you don't really know your placement until the others behind you finish and well let's just say I won by 5 seconds. Holy Shit- literally! 

literally

It was not pretty, it was not fast - 1:49 but it got the job done on that day.  

And FWIW I had a full tune up on my bike UGH  pre-race but I did not spin the wheels.  My front wheel was gummed up with Gatorade and who knows what else but when I went to spin it I got 3 slow revolutions and then it stopped vs a whizzing of a clean wheel.    Took the wheel in yesterday and Nytro took it apart, cleaned it, more oil and now it spins freely.  Mechanic says "good thing you brought this in as you would not want to race on it, would cost you time for sure"  So there you have it...   

I did a practice ride pre-raceCoulda, shoulda, woulda and I did not.  So lessons learned!!!!   I should be happy with the W but I set really high standards for myself and to be 100% honest with that time I did not deserve the W, that is how my head works.   I am trying to be arrogant just being real.
but was with other people not focused!  that is on me...

Who knows how much time I lost on the bike, but it was a lot, 14 min slower than last year with the same Power is A LOT.  2017 my max speed 45.2, 2018 max speed 44.5,  2019 max speed 38.5.   I don't passed descending except by  BIG guys and I was getting passed left and right.  Ok Dunkle, LET IT GO! 

Wheel is fixed!   and onward to Honu we go.

I still love this race and was actually thinking I would sit out in 2020 but Fck I have redemption now!

Triathlon Camp In Solvang

stunning Solvang Riding

the flowers

 What does a week at camp look like?   23 Hours and 33 minutes of training, fun, suffering, new friends,  sweating, a lot of Gatorade Endurance, many shot blocks, lots of water, not much wine, laughs, fun and memories!    Why go to camp?  You are pushed beyond regular boundaries, you get to train without the usual distractions.  All you need to worry about is swimbikerun vs walking the dogs, cleaning the house , your kids, parents, school, work, life etc... you get it.  Being self-employed I had a few hours of work a day but the remainder of distractions were gone.   camp is easy, but that 4th swim at 5:40 am when it is 36 degrees outside is tough.  The recovery ride a that is not so recovery when you are smashed.  A race sim on day 5 of camp, when you normally do the sim rested.  But at camp you just do it!   And that race sim, went pretty damn well after 15 hours of training, so that is a confidence builder for Oceanside.

Meeting new friends, seeing friends from last year, sharing stories about triathon, life, travels and more.  Having prepared high-quality food every night when you are simply bone tired.  It's what camp is all about. There was a campfire and a movie but I was in bed before the movie started. 

Top of the FIG!! 

Painful run down from the Fig

My coach was at camp which is a bonus!  6 days with coach on deck, riding, running, heck staying next door- win: win!  And I had 4 of my athletes at camp, which was great for me.  Training alongside athletes is so beneficial, I get to see them swim/bike/run, handle stress, adversity, and a surprise swim/run in 37 degrees.  Furthering relationships with 6 days of fun! 

The few souls running on day 6

That day I had the polka dot jersey

I can break down the days but you get - big biking is the key to Solvang and it was stunningly beautiful!!!  The rest of this blog will be in pictures.  

Rae Sim Crew #d3powered 

D3 Race Sim crew

Even a cooking demo by @foodsensenow