A week in the life of Ironman training...

I've been asked a few times this week how I fit Ironman training in along with work, family, etc. I've had a couple of 15 hour training weeks this month and while challenging, it's definitely do-able. I'm still early in the training schedule - there is still 110 days to go before race day and my peak training week will jump to 20+ hours. Here is the answer to the question - one week's schedule for my Ironman training.

Monday - training day off! Great start. Got to sleep in until 6 and was at work by 7:30. I conducted an orientation for new employees most of the day and was on my feet a lot. On top of the training from the previous week, the legs were a little sore. Mondays, my typical rest day consist of lots of protein. Typically eggs in the morning, a salad at lunch time and salmon for dinner.

Tuesday - Alarm goes off at 4am. I'm on the road by 4:2o for a 45 minute run that included 6 x 5 minute intervals at 85%. After this I had a quick change and drove to Planet Fitness to get a weight workout in. I get there around 5:30 and back home by 6:30. After making my smoothie and my son's smoothie, I take a quick shower and get to work at around 7:40. I work through lunch - typically packing my lunch and visit the salad bar at the local grocery store. My wife has a meeting so I pick up my son at 6, bring him home, make dinner and help him with homework. After he goes to bed around 8 I hit the trainer for a 1 hour ride. Finish my pasta dinner by 9:30 and fall asleep on the couch watching 24 from Tivo.

Wednesday - Alarm goes off at 4am. This morning I have a brick so I'm on the trainer by 4:30 for a 50 minute interval session, followed by a 40 minute outdoor run with the same intervals as the Monday morning session. I'm back home a little after 6am, make my son and myself our smoothies and hit the shower. I get to work for 7:45. I'm out the door right at 5:30 so I can get to Masters swimming for 6pm. That lasts for an hour. I get home about 7:20, have my pasta dinner, and fall asleep to Lost. Thank goodness for Tivo!

Thursday - The UNH pool doesn't open until 6 so I get to sleep in a little until 5:30. I arrive at the pool by 5:50 and am the first one in the water. The workout today consisted of a 2,500 yard continuous swim. That took me 40 minutes - I shower at the pool and head home to eat (my regular smoothie), change into work clothes and get to work by 7:45. I have a ride that night so I also pack a bag with my bike gear and load my bike into the back of the car. I left work right at 5:3o to meet a couple of friends for a 6pm recovery ride along the coast. In typical New England fashion, the fog rolled in just as we were rolling out. Thankfully I had enough gear with me to keep warm. I finish the ride at 7:15 and pick up my son from my wife who has some late meetings. Once my son and I get home we both get dinner and I fall asleep on the couch watching re-runs of The Office on Tivo (detecting a pattern here?).

Friday - Alarm goes off at 4am. I had a 90 minute on the schedule and was out the door by 4:30. It was incredibly foggy and I thought my 10.5 mile loop would take me a little longer as a result, but, I finished in 1 hour 31 minutes. By the time I stretched, ate, showered and packed my lunch for the day, I still had time to grab a bagel and decaf coffee at Panera and arrive at work by 7:55. I also packed a gym bag so I can do my strength training after work. I get to Planet Fitness by 5:30 and home by 6:30 to help facilitate the craziness of a sleep over with two 11-year old boys. Somehow I managed to stay awake until 10pm.

Saturday - My son had a sleep over on Friday night so Saturday morning consisted of making pancakes for them before heading out on a 1-hour run at about 7am. Once I got back I did some work around the house and took a short nap before heading to the pool and getting a 45-minute swim workout in. I also had a 2nd 45-minute run workout planned for the afternoon which I was going to do in the late afternoon. But, I was feeling good after the swim so I decided to get the run in right after the swim. That gave me the rest of the afternoon to eat and nap.

Sunday - Today was the final push for a a long week. I had a 3-hour ride on the schedule followed by a 15-minute run plus a core workout. Because of the anticipated cold and windy weather in the morning and a family commitment, I decided to wait until the afternoon to get my ride in. Originally, the plan was to be on the road by 2pm. However, my son got a new gadget for his Playstation and needed help setting it up. Remembering how I felt as a kid after getting a new toy, I helped him get that set up before heading out. Unfortunately, the wind had not died down much but at least the temps had rose up into the 50's, which made for a challenging but comfortable ride. After the ride, I headed out for a run and felt surprisingly good and topped the day off with a core workout. It was a perfect end to the weekend. My wife made me a great dinner, bought Ghiaradelli chocolate chips for snacking and the Tour of Flanders was on Versus. It was a good day and I'm looking forward to a rest day.

Stats for the week:

7000 yards of swimming

99.25 miles of biking

35 miles of running

15 hours 11 minutes total training time including strength training

27,400 approximate total calories burned

What's on your "running" playlist?

I suspect that most triathletes have a playlist like mine. "Running" is what I've chosen to label it but it is the default playlist that I use when going out for a run or strength training at the gym. It's got 60 songs but there are really about a dozen songs that have a "story" behind why they ended up on my playlist. As a result I think it's kind of an eclectic combination of songs. Some of them fit for a running playlist while others are only there because of circumstance.

Here they are:

"American Woman" by Lenny Kravitz: I heard this song at mile 139.5 out of 140.6 at Ironman Lake Placid. Someone had a stereo system set up on their front lawn on Mirror Lake Drive and it will forever be in my head as the song I heard on my last mile of my first Ironman.

"Best of You" by the Foo Fighters: This song seems to be a favorite of Keith Jordan of Endorfun Sports. I think it has only been at his races that I've heard it. One of the great things about Keith's races is there speakers he has set up along the run course. The first time I heard this one was at the Mooseman 1/2 Ironman going up the first hill just after the road peels away from Newfound Lake.

"Beautiful Day" by U2: If you've been to an Ironman Lake Placid race you probably know where this one comes from. I've been to the race for the past four years straight (once as a competitor) and it is the last song played before the cannon goes off before the swim start. My heart races just thinking about being in Mirror Lake with 2000 other competitors about to begin the day.

"Candles" and "Alive" by Dirty Vegas: Janus is a sponsor of Ironman and I'm in the process of using their Charity Challenge program for a 2nd time to raise money for Bretton Woods Adaptive. After my first Ironman in 2006 Janus produced a video with footage from the race that used both of these songs in it. They handed it out at the awards banquet after the race where I received 2nd place......definitely not for speed for for the amount of money raised. I probably watched that video a hundred times in the first month after the race.

"Sugar, We're Goin Down" by Fall Out Boy: The three years I've been at Ironman Lake Placid while not racing, I've volunteered in various parts of the race. The past two times my son came with me and we volunteered together - an awesome experience. I don't know if he'll ever want to do an Ironman but I'm glad he's been able to attend if for no other reason than to be inspired by what is possible when you set a goal. This last year we spent the ENTIRE day in a pouring down rainstorm, four hours of which were handing out supplies to racers at one of the aid stations. While waiting for some GSTC finishers that year, this song came on and it reminds me of the day in the rain I spent with my son. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

There are definitely a few others but these are the highlights. What songs do you have on your "running" playlist and what's the story?

Triathlon's hidden expenses

Triathlon is not a cheap sport. Even if you stick to shorter sprint distance races, and your starting from scratch, by the time you buy a bike, running shoes, training and racing gear and a pool pass you've likely eclipsed the $1,500 to $2,000 mark. Oh yeah, you still haven't registered for the race which will run another $50 - $100.

If you decide to jump up to the 1/2 Ironman or Ironman distance then you end up in a whole other league of expenses, many of which we never consider before signing up.

There are the direct fees like race entry.  Just for the privilege of suffering for 12 - 14 hours at Ironman it will cost you $525 to register. Though I'm telling myself this is a bargain because if I break it down by the hour it's only about $40/hour based on my finish time (if I go even slower the bargain gets even better!).  Compare that to a sprint race I did last year that cost $80 to register and I was done in a little over an hour - that's twice the cost per hour! That's how I justify racing Ironman anyway.

Here are a few examples of the hidden expenses that I've experienced:

• Food - Last week my training hours hit 12.5 which works out to about 10,000 calories. I'm not a small guy and my basal metabolic rate is about 1,900 calories per day, or another 13,300 for the week bringing the week's total to 23,300 calories I need to replenish. Thankfully for my wallet, I'm also trying to drop a few pounds before race day so maybe I only replenished 20,000 calories that week.  Just to make sure I stay healthy with the increased workload I also take supplements from Hammer Nutrition which are not cheap.

• Pool fees - At only $5 to $10 per visit it doesn't seem to be a big deal. Until you multiply that times 3 - 4 swim workouts a week.

• Laundry - Especially over the winter this one can really add up.  Today is a typical example of 1 day's laundry.  This morning I ran, and it was cold, really cold.  I wore 1 pair of socks, a bottom base layer, running pants, a long sleeve top base layer, wind vest, long sleeve top layer, balaclava, a hat, a pair of mittens and a pair of gloves. this was followed by a swim at the pool later in the day which only produced a swim suit and towel.  Two a day workouts are not unusual for most of the week so needless to say we do a whole lot of laundry throughout the week (thanks Amy!)
• Travel - Conveniently for the Ironman race in Lake Placid all of the hotels double their rates and require a four night minimum, so, you know that doesn't help any. They'll be one to two training trips this spring to Lake Placid.  Thankfully I know several people who are also racing and we'll be able to carpool and split a hotel room. I'm just praying that gas prices stay relatively low!

I'm afraid to go into any more examples for fear of talking myself out of doing triathlon any longer.

What expenses am I missing?

Photo credit: Jenn_jenn

Rigid vs. Flexible

I recently received the next training block from Suzan, my coach. While plugging the workouts into my schedule for the next four weeks it became quickly apparent that it is going to be a challenging month. It's not only the physical challenge of the training volume at 10 - 12 hours per week but the prospect at trying to fit it all in with the rest of life.

Over the next four weeks my Son turns 11 and the major fundraiser for Bretton Woods Adaptive is taking place in addition to a busy work schedule. This scheduling exercise of training for an Ironman while also having a family and a job has highlighted the need to have a balance between a rigid disipline to do the training and flexibility to fit it in whenever possible.

The Problem

For example, in two weeks I'll be participating at the BWA Blast, an all day downhill skiing event which is the major annual fundraiser for the charity I'm supporting through the Janus Charity Challenge. I feel a need to be there. Scheduled for the same day is a 2-hour bike followed by a 20-minute run with a 1 hour 45 minute run the next day. I'm at a stage of my training cycle when building an aerobic base is critical for the next stage in training. Missing these workouts would really not be good.

Normally I would do the bike outside in the middle of the day on Saturday when it's warm enough and do the long run on Sunday morning. I definitely can't fit the bike in on the day of the fundraiser and I'd rather not run for almost 2 hours the morning after skiing all day.

The Solution

My plan at this point is to ride on Sunday and get up early on Monday to fit the run in before work. Not an ideal scenario but it is the reality of my balance between being rigid and flexible.

One reason I run

I went out for a run early on Monday morning.

I missed my long run on Sunday so I decided to get up early and fit in the 10 miles I wanted to do before work.  As seems to always be the case recently, it had snowed more than expected the night before and was still snowing lightly as I went out the door.  The main roads were plowed  but some of the side roads hadn't been touched.

It was slow going as my feet seemingly spent as much time slipping backwards as they did moving forward.  About 8 miles into the run I was on a back road and by this time the snow had stopped and the moon was visible, although it was only a sliver this time of month. Other than the moonlight and my headlamp, it was completely dark, I hadn't seen a street light in a couple of miles.

I came to a stretch of road that hadn't been touched by a plow and only had one set of tire tracks in it, which I was trying to run in.  There were a few trees but mostly it was an open field. Even though I was getting pretty cold and just wanted to finish the run, I stopped for what was probably just a minute or so, and took in the silence.

It was probably 5 in the morning at this point, fresh snow on the ground, a beautiful moon and complete silence.  How often does someone get to experience that?  I know I don't very often and it is usually when I'm out running that I experience these moments of silence which is typically followed by feelings of gratitude.

That's one reason I run.

Photo credit: Cricce

Fit Werx Gives Back

I've long been a fan of Fit Werx. I bought my first tri-bike from them in 2006 and they have been helpful with every aspect of cycling I've asked of them.  So, it was no surprise to see that they are giving back through their Fit Werx gives back program.

In short, Fitwerx is donating 3% of pre-tax sales towards a charity if you mention a registered charity prior to your purchase.  I've reistered Bretton Woods Adaptive with the Fit Werx effort so if you or anyone you know is making any bike related purchases I urge you to consider giving Fitwerx a call. It's a no lose situation - you'll get great service and great products by Fitwerx and contribute to a great charity at the same time.

New year's day run

I've written before that I really enjoy running on holidays.  I had a great run on both Thanksgiving and Christmas day this year and I was really looking forward to my New Year's Day run...kind of a way to shock the system to help give a different perspective on the upcoming new year.

With all the cold and snowy weather we have over the past few weeks, as new year's day approached I have kept close tabs to see what the weather might be that day.  It wasn't looking good leading up to the day and lived up to the forecast.

My training schedule had 1 hour 20 minutes slated for Sunday, but I decided to move it to New Year's Day since I wanted to do a run anyway.  I've clocked the distance from my house to the indoor pool in Downtown Dover which is about 4 miles.  I figured that going there and back would put me at about the time I wanted.

I waited until late morning in hopes of the temperature warming up as much as possible. That didn't happen.  Weather.com showed an air temp of 7 degrees and wind chill of -11 degrees.  Winds were showing 17 mph with gusts of 25 mph.  I started to re-think my plan.

As I looked at my cold weather running gear I thought I could put on enough layers to stay comfortable for a while.  My layers consisted of two running briefs, long sleeve pants with a wind layer, one long sleeve thermal base layer, a wind proof jacket, wind proof vest, balaklava, hat, running gloves and mittens. I thought about two pairs of socks but decided to go with one.

About 15 minutes into the run I look at my watch to see how my heart rate was doing and noticed the signal had gotten lost.  I pressed the button that is supposed to re-engage the monitor, and through some combination of a low battery and sub-zero temperatures the watch completely shut down.  Excellent....

The wind and the windswept snowy roads were as I expected. Running up hills was pretty much useless as each step forward seemed to put me no further ahead.  But I made it through and felt good that I finished.

As much of a struggle as it was, it was a good way to start the new year.

Thankfully I had my route planned