Caution: Athlete in Training

So I've been a little busy.  Between 15 hour training weeks and plenty going on at work, I haven't had a lot of time to keep all my readers up to date - which I think is just my Mom and my wife :) 

Just in case any one else happens to make there way to this blog I wanted to write briefly about my recent trip to Lake Placid for a training weekend.

There was a grand plan several weeks ago for all my buddies from the Granite State Triathlon Club who are  racing to get a couple of training weekends at Lake Placid in before race day. There are five of us.  Then there were four. Then there were three. Then the day before we leave there were two -  Me and Paul.

We were able to get an awesome deal at the High Peaks Resort right in the middle of town and had a room overlooking Mirror Lake. If you are ever in Lake Placid, definitely check them out.  Bill, their marketing guy is also definitely worth following on Twitter.

The Swim

We arrived on Friday afternoon and after unpacking headed to the local  pool at North Country Community College to get a swim in.  It was a nice pool  and we were pretty much the only ones there.

After grabbing some dinner we called it an early night to try and prepare for what would turn out to be a hellish day on the bike.

The Bike

The plan for Saturday was two loops on the Ironman course, excluding an out and back section for a total ride of 85 miles.  We had cool weather with  mostly sunny skies and LOTS of wind.  The last 12 miles or so are mostly uphill, and, the wind was also in our face. The first loop went well. The 2nd loop was going well, until the last 12 miles. After that it sucked. My legs were cramping whenever I got out of the saddle so I stayed seated and ground out the last section of the ride.

Thank goodness Paul was there. I think we needed each other to keep motivated not to get off our bikes and walk the rest of the way. At least I did.

Suzan, my coach, in her slightly evil but do what you need to do kind of way, also had a short run on the schedule after the ride. When I first got back to the hotel room I thought to myself there is no way I can run. But, after 10 minutes of taking in fluids and some Hammer gel I felt good enough to get a short run in along Mirror Lake.

The Run

Sunday was run day. The High Peaks Resort is about a mile from the run start of the Ironman course.  So the plan was to run to the start of the course and then do 1 loop, 13.1 miles, making a total of 15.

We had another great day of weather, cool and mostly cloudy. The first 10 miles I felt pretty good, the last 4 sucked, which also happens to be mostly up hill, including an incredibly steep section coming into town.  Notice my total only equals 14 miles instead of the 15 planned. I skipped an out and back section along Mirror Lake since I was pretty certain that I would pass 

out if I tried to squeeze it in.

Paul was feeling good and did the out and back section. He came back to the hotel to find me sitting on the recumbent bikes in the hotel fitness center trying to loosen up my legs.  We were going to try and do a 1 hour spin outside after the run but quickly realized while driving around Lake Placid that it sits up on a peak. No matter what direction we went would mean a downhill out and an uphill back. We'd had enough of hills for the weekend.

Wrapping Up

After showering, packing up and splitting an entire large pizza (the 2nd of the weekend) we made our way back to the New Hampshire seacoast. But not before taking one last picture. No one can argue that Lake Placid is not an athlete's town.

How Twitter saved me 80 dollars

Photo Credit - Stevewilliamsphotos

This is a cross-post from my other blog:

I'm in the process of training for Ironman Lake Placid. It's my 2nd time doing the race and prior to my first race I did a training weekend to prepare. It was incredibly helpful last time, so I decided to do it again for this year's race.

I made reservations at a reasonably priced hotel for $80/night and felt pretty good about it. Over the past several months I've been interacting through Twitter with individuals and business from Lake Placid as I tweeted about my race preparations.  More recently I saw some interesting posts from the High Peaks Resort and decided to follow them.  Their marketing guy, Bill, is pretty sharp and is using a great example of how a business can increase revenue using Twitter and other social media.

They are having a spring special called Elevate Your Rate. Here is the explanation from their website:

To celebrate Spring, the region and the High Peaks for 46 straight days beginning on April 22nd we will be "elevating" a special rate for 46 minutes each day based on the elevation of one of the 46 High Peaks. For example a rate based on the 4867 foot elevation of Whiteface Mountain will be $48.67.

How will you know which 46 minutes these rates will be available? Some time between 8am and 8pm EST each day we will alert friends, fans and followers through our Twitter Profile and Facebook Page. After the update is posted the “elevated” rate of the day will become available for 46 minutes! It used to be that you’d have to actually climb all 46 of the High Peaks to be considered a true 46’er; well now there’s another way to reach the top.

 So, I set my Twitter account to follow the High Peaks Resort via SMS.  Sure enough, that morning I got the text that the Elevate Your Rate was available and booked my room for $40/night, half of what my other reservation was going to be for a total savings of $80.  Thanks Bill.

What other examples have you seen Twitter make a real impact to the bottom line?

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