High Cliff Half Iron - Race Report

It's come to this...my last race before Ironman Wisconsin.  It's only 84 days away!  It is only fitting that my last race leading up to the Ironman is a Half Ironman; a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run (70.3 total miles).  This race will be the 5th time I have done an event at the High Cliff Triathlon and my 4th 70.3 distance race (I did the sprint one year).  So, it's not like I have never done a 70.3 race before.  I was using this race for a couple reasons.  First and foremost was to judge how my training has been going thus far and where my current fitness was at.  Secondly was to practice my race day nutrition and race strategies for Ironman Wisconsin.  The course is a little different from most triathlons as it is set in a Wisconsin State Park. High Cliff State Park is set on the Northeast edge of Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin's largest inland lake.  Immediately after the swim you are challenged by a long, steep climb up the edge of the cliff that gave the park its name.  After returning from the bike, you are forced to now climb up the cliff for a double loop half-marathon.  The run is done on the intricate trail system.  Other than running up and down the cliff and crossing a couple of roads, the entire run is done on a very nice, level, packed down, dirt trail.  The day's leading up to the race, I kept a close eye on the weather since the days surrounding Saturday were nice, but Saturday continued to have between a 40-60% chance of rain/thunder storms.  The morning of the race, the radar looked, okay, not great, but it looked like we might dodge a bullet.  Majority of the storm systems were south of High Cliff State Park.  I figured we might get wet on the bike, but it looked like the transition area would stay dry.

Training Plan

As I said in the introduction, this race was more than just an opportunity to get out and race.  For those reasons, I considered this an "A-" race. It wasn't necessarily an all out "A" race, but it wasn't a sub category "B" race.  I still scheduled a rest day on Friday leading up to the race, but I also still trained relatively hard leading up to Thursday.  I also raced hard the weekend before, so no, it wasn't my big race of the year, but I still wanted to give myself a good opportunity to race well.  Coming off the Elkhart Lake Sprint Triathlon last week, I realized I needed to get in the water for some open water swims before the Half Ironman.  I did just that.  I went to High Cliff on Tuesday right after work for a mile swim.  I then had a couple short "mini-triathlons" scheduled for Thursday.  I did these 2 sets right at High Cliff to simulate the race.  I did 2 sets of a quarter mile swim, 5 mile bike, and 2 mile run.  The combination of the one open water swim and getting in the lake for the 2 mini-triathlons really helped build my confidence and put me in the right frame of mind going into the Half Ironman.

Day/Night Before the Race

Like I said above, I scheduled a complete rest day to recover and recuperate from all my training with hopes of getting to the start line fully rested and ready to go.  Sarah also had off from work on Friday.  To take advantage of the benefit of having a full day of nothing to do, we brought the girls down to Oshkosh's Menominee Park and Zoo.  The zoo is free with an optional donation.  It is nothing extravagant by any means, but for free you really can't complain.  It takes about an hour to walk through the entire zoo.  After the zoo we found a nice spot in the shade for a family picnic and then spent about another hour at the park.  It was a nice opportunity to spend the day as a family, which to be honest, hasn't happened too much this summer and probably won't happen too much more until after September 8th.  The girls had a blast and were found sleeping in the car almost immediately.  We stopped at High Cliff on the way home to pick up my race packet and were home around 3pm.  I then laid out all my gear and got all packed up for the race the next morning.  After packing up, it was time to start cooking my usual prerace meal of Walnuts and Pepper Pasta.  After dinner, I was in bed relaxing by 8 and sleeping by 8:45 with my alarm set for 4:01am.

Getting to the Start Line

I was completely thrown off of my normal routine from the get-go.  I was not woken up by my alarm as I had planned, but by Sarah yelling at me saying, "Matt!  It's 4:45, wake up!"  I don't know if I didn't set my alarm properly or if I shut it off in a dead sleep right away, but either way, I did not get up nearly as early as I had liked.  After actually getting out of bed, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, and getting the final loose ends together I had planned on, it was already shortly after 5.  I decided to forgo my usual prerace breakfast of a sweet potato and honey and just have a Bonk Breaker Bar an hour before the start.  I left around 5:20am when my original plans were to leave around 5.  I had my usual (large) cup of coffee on the drive to the race.  After getting to the race, I first set up my transition area.  The gal beside me had already staked claim to a large amount of real estate and the guy on my other side showed up right away too.  This is another reason I like to get to the race early, you get first dibs at the space you need and want for your transition area.  I made do with what I had and then wanted to get into the lake to do a short warm-up swim.  I got on my wet suit and got down to the swim start area around 6:40 (20 minutes before the start) when suddenly I was overcome with a feeling of needing to get to a restroom....FAST.  I jogged up the hill to the shower/restroom pavilion and got in line.  I had a wave 1 start right at 7am sharp and while I was in line the announcer was making announcements about staging.  I was getting nervous that I was going to miss the start!  Luckily, I got in and out of a restroom and felt much better.  I jogged back down the hill to the shoreline and put my suit back on and got in the water for the start.  I had just made it to the start line...Whew....  THAT was close.  All because I didn't get up on time.  I am a creature of habit and routine and I was clearly thrown off this morning.

1.2 Mile Swim

In one word, the water was rough.  There was a decent wind out of the South and with the race being set on the North-Northeast corner of Lake Winnebago, the waves were coming in hard.  The swim was a triangle shape.  For how big Lake Winnebago is, it is very shallow.  I took advantage of this at the start by walk/jogging until it was counter-productive and then I started to swim.  The first edge of the triangle was head on into the waves.  It was difficult to get into a rhythm, as it seemed every breath I would take, a wave would come crashing over my head and I would get a mouthful of water.  After making the first turn for the longest edge of the triangle I was finally able to find a rhythm.  I was able to breath primarily on my right side since the waves were coming in on my left.  I really got comfortable on this edge and started to swim hard.  After making the final turn to head into the shore, the waves were at our back pushing us in.  I really swam hard on this edge and as soon as the water was about waist high, I took my goggles off and started to run toward shore.  That all sounds great, until I realized that was a sand bar, and the water got deeper...I stopped swimming too early!  I was able to get in a dozen strokes or so with my head out of the water to get back to shallower water and finally made it to land.  I finished the swim in 0:36:20, a 1:44/100 yards pace, which was the 61st fastest swim.  Not bad, but I was really hoping for something between 30-35 minutes.  

High Cliff Half Ironman - Swim Details

56 Mile Bike

I utilized the wetsuit strippers, who take your wetsuit off for you.  It saves time in transition and is just one less thing I need to worry about.  I grabbed a quarter chunk of a Bonk Breaker Bar at transition and was off on the bike.  My 1st transition time was 1:10, the 27th fastest T1.  The bike started with a hard category 5 climb.  A cat 5 climb is the lowest ranked climb by road racing standards, but the fact that it's still ranked says something for a Wisconsin climb.  After the initial climb, the ride took us straight south along the East side of Lake Winnebago.  The wind was out of the South, so it was a headwind for pretty much the entire first half, which is exactly what I would have asked for (if any wind at all).  My fueling strategy was to eat a quarter chunk of a Bonk Breaker Bar every 10 miles at miles 10, 20, 40, and 50.  I then had a water bottle with a total of 400 calories which I would take a sip of every 10 miles starting at mile 5 and then at 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55.  Something I have been experimenting with this season is fueling with nut butters.  Justin's makes individual 200 calorie packets of peanut butter and almond butter, they even have varieties mixed with maple syrup, honey, and chocolate.  I had one packet of Maple Almond Butter at mile 30.  The rain that I had hoped we missed came as we continued to travel further South.  The rain started with a light drizzle between mile 14 and 15 and got harder and harder until it was a steady rain, nothing significant, but enough to soak everything, including my socks, which left me wondering if that would become an issue on the run.  It continued to rain until about mile 24-25.  With the rain ending early in the bike leg, it left ample time for my socks to dry out and were never an issue.  After turning around on a large loop, it was back up heading North on the same road we came South on.  This time the wind as at my back and I really began to hammer on the gears.  My speed was consistently above 20 and was hovering around 25 with the wind at my back.  I really pushed hard on the bike knowing that I have been training hard on my bike this year and knew it would not destroy my run, like it did last year.  I finished the bike leg in 2:30:48, a 22.3 mph average, and was the 25th fastest bike.  

High Cliff Half Ironman - Bike Details  

13.1 Mile Run

After coming into transition, I racked my bike, threw on my shoes, grabbed another quarter of a Bonk Breaker Bar and was out in 0:50, the 7th fastest T2.  As I started running, I immediately realized there was something in my shoes.  At first I wrote it off as being something from running from the beach to transition after the swim.  It didn't go away or move out of the way from my feet.  I decided to take the time to take what ever it was out of my shoe.  I slipped off my shoe and found a frickin' wall anchor.  I have no idea how the hell that got in my shoe, but it did.  I was really happy I took the 5 seconds to stop and take it out, because that would have just reeked havoc throughout the half-marathon leg.  I reached the base of the cliff that I had initially climbed on the bike, and now I had to run up this damn thing.  It was at this point I could fully feel the effects of riding my fastest Half Iron bike split ever.  My legs were HEAVY, but I just calmly pushed on up the hill.  As I was running up, a spectator told me I was the 13th overall Half Iron runner at that point in the race.  That was extremely motivating.  After getting to the top of the climb, I had a double loop of about 6 miles per loop.  My strategy was to run as hard as I could, as long as my breathing stayed relaxed for the first loop.  After completing my second loop, I figured I would crank it up for the final 10k and race hard at that point.  The first loop went just as planned.  I passed a couple of other runners and was passed by only 1.  On the second loop, I was passed by a guy who looked to be my age around mile 7 and I immediately decided I would do what ever it takes to hang with him and hopefully pass him before the finish.  I stuck with him for the entire 2nd loop, but just wasn't able to match his final kick on the last quarter mile or so.  For fuel on the run leg, I filled a gel flask with 5 servings of Hammer Gel (450 calories) and planned on taking a small swig from the flask every two miles starting at mile 4 and then at miles 6, 8, 10, and 12.  I did not want to finish the flask completely and hoped to take in about 4 servings or 360 calories.  By the end of the run, I did just that, left about 1 serving in the flask and felt fantastic throughout the run.  I finished the half-marathon in 1:35:55, or a 7:20/mile pace, which was the 23rd fastest run.  

High Cliff Half Ironman - Run Details

Post Race

I finished the race with a total time of 4:45:06.  My previous best time at this course was 4:40:28, which had a significantly shorter swim.  So, I was EXTREMELY happy with my finish time.  I consider this a definite PR for me.  I met up with Sarah and the girls, along with my Mother-in-law and they estimated that I was the 9th or 10th overall athlete to cross the finish line.  Granted a lot can change due to the nature of having wave starts.  But, regardless, I was super excited to see how I officially placed.  I have never placed in my age group at a race of this distance and felt confident that I had an opportunity to do just that.  After grabbing some eats, a couple of post race complimentary beers from Stevens Point Brewery, the initial race results where posted.  Sadly, I didn't place in my age group.  I ultimately placed 18th overall (out of 441 finishers) and 6th in my age group (of 51 finishers).  I was not necessarily surprised that I didn't place, but 6th??  I was really astounded that 5 others placed higher than me.  Especially since I finished 18th overall.  But like I said, I am not letting the fact that I didn't place derail my satisfaction of my race time.

Other Notes

I have nothing to really add, other than I am motivated and ready to move on up to the full Iron distances of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run!

Lessons for Future Events

I am confident now that I will be able to physically make it through a full Iron distance race.  It is strictly the mental aspect of moving for 10+ hours and not giving up.  My training moving forward is what is really going to prepare me for the mental aspect of racing for that long.  I am also confident in my fueling strategies.  I have never felt better on the running leg of a 70.3 race as I did today and I give full credit to my fueling strategies.  I will continue to implement those fueling strategies as my training takes me to distances I have yet to get to.  I know I need to continue to work long open water swims into my training plans.  Swimming in a pool is great for technique and pace specific swim sets, but there is no substitute for swimming in a dark and murky lake for over an hour.

What's Next

It's right back to training tomorrow.  I have a 3,000 meter swim set scheduled for Sunday morning.  I'm guessing it will end up being done in a yard pool as opposed to a meter pool, but it is just a recovery swim set, so nothing major.  On Monday, it's right back to the long brick workouts.  I am not sure if I am crazy or what, but I have a 50 mile bike followed by a 6 mile brick run scheduled.  The intensity will be strictly aerobic and I will not push myself.  As for after this cycle, I have no more races on the schedule until the Ironman on September 8th.  All I have now is a lot of race specific training.  My training will no continue to take my body to places it has never been yet and most likely will not go to again or at least will not get back to for a long time.  The true work begins now.  So obviously, this will be the last race report until the race report I have been dreaming of writing.  Until then, it will be just personal weekly updates.

Below are more photos from the day.

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

The swim start.  I am the guy right in front of the metal post.

Heading out on the bike.

Back from the bike, about to head out on the run.

Getting my shoes on.

Just starting the 2nd loop.

Coming in to the finish.

The home stretch.

The finish chute.

All done!

My favorite post race picture yet!

The entire family.

New Family Wheels - Cycle 20

It's hard to believe that I have just completed my 20th cycle.  Truthfully, it still feels like I am just getting started with my Ironman training.  But the fact is that I only have 10 more cycles and one more race before my goal race.  My life has really changed over the past 20 cycles.  My life has become more hectic than ever.  I find myself searching for extra time in every day.  My training volume has never been higher then it's currently at and I will still need to find time to add nearly 2 more hours a week in my peak week.  My life revolves around 3 things right now; training, my family, and work.  That is about all I have time for these days.  Unfortunately, the only one of those I have been willing to sacrifice is my family, how bad is that?  I keep telling Sarah, "Just another 3 months and it will all be over."  She keeps clinging onto the hope that she can manage to get through the next 3 months and things will be back to normal.  As much fun as I am having training for this event, I do miss the flexibility to do things such as go camping, visit friends, go on vacation, go away for a full day, etc.  Needless to say, it's been a complete life adjustment.

This previous cycle was one of the few weeks where I actually worked close to a full rotation at work.  I still took the last day of my rotation off just to have more time around the house to get some things done with Sarah.  June 2nd was our 6th year anniversary of our wedding and we have been trying to get out to dinner with just the two of us.  We also wanted to get out and start car shopping since our 2005 Hyundai Sonata was nearing the end of its life.  So, with taking Wednesday night off from work, gave me Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off from work.  Wednesday was my "turn-around day" and worked until Wednesday morning at 6am and needed to take a short nap before taking advantage of my night off.  We made arrangements for my parents to babysit the girls while Sarah and I did some car shopping with intentions of going out for Sushi after test driving some vehicles.  Well, we test drove one vehicle and decided we liked it enough to buy it.  We bought a 2012 Ford Flex after doing online research and test driving it once.  We started our shopping around 5pm and by 9pm we were driving away in a "new-to-me" car.  We love the new ride - it has a ton of room for the potential of a 3rd child or just the 4 of us plus our dog.  It has a 3rd row of seats and decent gas mileage which was we were looking for.  Unfortunately, since our spur of the moment decision to buy a car took much longer than we anticipated we missed our opportunity to go out for sushi.  We immediately made arrangements with Sarah's sister to watch our girls on Friday night so we could finally get out for our anniversary dinner.

How delicious does that look?

Friday, I had a full 8 hour block of SWAT training from 0800-1600.  Saturday, was my first triathlon of the 2013 season in Elkhart Lake.  Elkhart Lake is about an hour to the Southeast of Kaukauna.  The race started at 7:15am.  I knew I would be leaving early enough as it was, so I opted to run down to Elkhart Lake immediately after training and pick up my race packet to save me time the morning of the race.  I brought a change of clothes to training so I could pick up Sarah immediately after picking up my race packet and go out for our dinner.  Both Sarah and I absolutely love sushi, it's one of our special dinners that we save for special occasions.  After our dinner, it was straight home so I could finish packing for my race and get to bed at a decent time as my alarm was set for 4:15am.  Below are the stats from the triathlon and finishing results. 

My stats and race times from the Elkhart Lake Triathlon.

The race came and went on Saturday and was back home around noon.  I was very happy with my finish in the triathlon, placing 6th overall and 1st in my age group.  You can read a full race report here for the Elkhart Lake Sprint Triathlon.  Sarah brought the girls to the Flag Day Parade in Appleton with her mom and sister in the afternoon.  So, I stayed home and got some chores done around the house.  That evening/night we went to my aunt’s house form my cousins' graduation party.  My two cousins, Justin and Stephanie had a dual graduation party.  I found myself falling off the wagon at the graduation party.  I drank too much and ate nothing of nutritional value.  I had done so well all cycle leading up to Saturday.  It wouldn't have been so bad if it was a piece of cake with one or two other treats, but it was multiple pieces of cake or cupcakes, cookies, desserts, trail mix, and beer.  It seems like whenever I am around food that is just sitting out, I can't help but just eat to the point of discomfort, it's pathetic actually.  This is the exact reason why I am 3 months out of the Ironman and my body weight is still between 165 and 170 and not between 155 and 160 as I want it to be by the Ironman.

Brief Recap

This was my first cycle with more than one day with multiple workouts.  I had 3 separate days which had both a morning and evening workout.  On top of the dual workout days, I had to make a couple changes to my originally scheduled routine to work in the Elkhart Lake Triathlon.  I moved things around and scheduled a 13 mile long run on Wednesday and then a 50 mile bike and 3 mile brick run after on Thursday.  I kept my morning swim before SWAT training on Friday and then used the Elkhart Lake Triathlon as a workout and an opportunity to practice transitions.  I ended up getting stuck in the basement on my indoor bike trainer twice this cycle due to rainy conditions.  Unfortunately, one of them was my 50 miler.  Yup, I rode for two and half hours on a stationary bike in my unfinished basement.  Let me tell you, it was BORING!  After I was done, the rain had stopped and I was able to get outside for my 3 mile run, which was nice.  My body continues to adapt to the increased demands I am putting it under.  Last cycle I remember being generally sore from the increased volume, but this cycle I seem to have adapted and am handling the increased volume well.

Favorite Workout

My favorite workout from this cycle came right away at the start of the week.  My first workout of this cycle was a scheduled 3,600 meter swim and 40 miles of biking.  I again planned to split the bike by biking to the YMCA and then completing the swim and biking the remaining miles after my swim.  I planned it out to bike 10 miles to the Y and then 30 after my swim.  I became a little concerned on my way to Y due to some extremely dark clouds coming from the West.  I decided to take what comes and just keep on pushing forward.  I lucked out and the clouds dissipated by the time I got to the Y.  My swim workout consisted of a reverse pyramid.  I started by swimming 800 meters and then took 100 meters off each following set.  So, my remaining sets were 700, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200, and then 100 meters.  I finished the 3,600 meter swim set in 1:12 and was back on the bike for my 30 mile ride home.  My workout from start to finish, including time spent getting down to the pool and back on the bike took about 3:45, which wasn't too bad at all.  I have really taken a liking to the split bike/swim/bike workouts.  They seem to save time and are a fun way to couple up workouts.

Moving Forward

The focus of my upcoming cycle is the High Cliff Half Ironman on Saturday, June 15th.  My training schedule leading up to the race is minimal.  I have only one day of double workouts.  One of my favorite workouts to do a couple days before a big triathlon is a "mini triathlon."  I don't do them often due to the time constraints of putting together multiple short triathlons.  I do them based on time and do 2-3 sets of them.  The way I structure them is to swim for 10 minutes, bike for 15, and run for 10.  My plan is to do one set and then take a short break to reorganize my gear and do a second set of them.  Doing this style of workout allows me to spend time on transitioning from one disciple to the next.  They are a great workout to do the week of an important triathlon race.  They can really help ease the nerves of a triathlon and the unknown for tri-newbies. After the race on Saturday, it's right back into Ironman training.  The triathlon is my last opportunity to fine tune my strategy for the full Ironman.  It is my last race of any distance before the Ironman as well.  After this weekend, my midweek training volume will decrease and my weekend training volume will see a large increase.  My training volume needs to increase to the demands of a 140.6 mile triathlon.  

Thanks for checking out the blog and the continued support!  Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

The Osthoff Resort is absolutely gorgeous!  It was the host of the Elkhart Lake Triathlon.

Elkhart Lake Sprint Triathlon - Race Report

The Elkhart Lake Triathlon series has always been a race I have wanted to do, but it has always fallen on the weekend before the High Cliff Triathlon.  In the past, the High Cliff Triathlon (usually a half Ironman distance) was my "A" triathlon race for the season.  With that in mind, I have never scheduled the Elkhart Lake Triathlon because I would be in the middle of my taper for the High Cliff Triathlon the following week.  This year, my goals are a little different.  I not only took advantage of this seasons Ironman focus, but also the fact that I had off from work the day of the Elkhart Lake Triathlon and did not need to take any additional days of paid-time-off to make it fit into my schedule.  With my main training focus on the Ironman in September, my goals for the Half Ironman race at High Cliff are to work on my race day nutrition for the full Ironman along with other race strategies that I plan on using during the full Ironman.  I still want to race well and put up a strong time, but ultimately my goals are to race it as a "simulation" to the full Ironman.  More importantly that High Cliff not being my #1 race of the season this year, my training volume is MUCH higher this season then previous seasons.  My body is currently used to a much higher work load. Knowing this, I am not concerned with racing a short sprint triathlon the week before my half Ironman triathlon.  I have little no no worries that I will carry over a significant amount of fatigue into the High Cliff Triathlon next week.  Plus, racing a short sprint triathlon the weekend before High Cliff will give me the opportunity to iron out all the wrinkles in my race efficiency.  I will get an opportunity to work on my transitions, open water swimming, and do one full triathlon at race effort before going into High Cliff.  In my eyes, it's a win-win!

Training Plan

My training plan had no taper or reduction in training volume prior to this race.  The only adjustments I needed to make was to rearrange my original longer workouts I had planned on completing when I first created my training plan months ago.  I placed my 13 mile long run on the morning after my last night at work and did a 50 mile indoor ride followed by a 3 mile brick run on the day before my prescheduled SWAT training day.  Due to having SWAT training on the day before the race, I did not want to do any heavy training, so I scheduled a technique focus swim in the morning before training.  I think it worked out well, I was not sore, or physically fatigued at the start of the race, which is always a good thing.

Day/Night Before the Race

The race was held on Saturday morning which I honestly prefer over a Sunday race.  Friday, I had a full day of SWAT training.  It wasn't a physically demanding training by any means, but I was on my feet all day with about 30 pounds of gear on.  Friday evening my legs were tired, I could feel it, I was sore from standing on my feet all day and it worried me that I would be sore on Saturday at the race.  Right after training I drove from Oshkosh to Elkhart Lake for packet pick-up.  It was a simple process with a few vendors as part of their "expo."  The race is held at The Osthoff Resort which is right on Elkhart Lake.  The resort is SUPER nice and absolutely gorgeous.  It was a really neat setting for a triathlon.  After picking up my packet and checking out the transition area and the swim location, I was back in the car to head home for my hot date with my wife.   :)

Sarah and I absolutely LOVE sushi!

A view of The Osthoff Resort from the transition area.

June 2nd was our 6th year wedding anniversary.  We had originally planned out going out to dinner for our anniversary on Thursday night, but instead we bought a new car (2012 Ford Flex).  The entire process of buying a car took way longer than we anticipated.  So to make up for missing out originally scheduled date, we rescheduled out sushi date for Friday night.  After dinner, it was home and I quickly packed up my gear and was in bed around 10:00pm.

Getting to the Start Line

Elkhart Lake is about an hours drive from Kaukauna.  With the transition area opening at 5:30am and closing at 7:00am for the 7:15am start time, I wanted to get there no later than 6:00am to give myself ample time to set up my transition area and get into the chilly water to allow my body to adapt to the cold water temperature before the race started.  In order to hopefully get to the race on time, my alarm went off bright and early at 4:15am...egh.  After rolling out of bed and getting my morning coffee ready I was on the road by 4:50am.  I arrived at The Osthoff Resort shortly before 6 and found a pretty nice parking spot close to the transition area.  Right after I stepped out of my car, I heard a guy calling my name.  It was Jason Meekma, who also races for TheTriShop.com.  He was racing the International Distance race.  It was great to meet one of my teammates at a race.  Considering that there are right around 50 of us who race for TheTriShop.com it's pretty rare to run into a teammate at a smaller race, like the Elkhart Lake Triathlon.  After meeting Jason, I went right to the transition area and got my gear set up for the race.  Around 6:45am I put on my wetsuit and headed down to the beach to see exactly how cold the water was.  The week leading up to the race I received 2 emails from the race director.  The first email was on Monday and said the water temperature was 66*.  On Friday, I got the second email and due to the high temperatures being in the mid 50's along with a considerable amount of ran, the water temperatures dropped to 63* and they recommended using a wet suit.  I had initially planned on not wearing a wet suit due to the shortness of the swim leg.  I changed my plans and opted for the in water benefits of a wetsuit and figured it would help me in the long run considering the extra amount of time it would take in transition to take the wet suit off.

View of the lake from the transition area.

My personal space!

400m Swim

The start for the triathlon was a completely new start for me.  They implemented a time trial style start, were only one person goes off about every 3-6 seconds.  Normally, in all other triathlons I have done a wave style start is implemented were groups of 50 athletes go off every 2 minutes.  To start the race, we had to group together based on our bib numbers.  The sprint distance went off first.  Bib numbers for the sprint started at 800 and went up into the 1200's, I believe.  My race number was 977.  After forming a quasi single file line with the 900's, we were shuffled to the start line about 3-5 minutes after the first athlete went out.  The water temperatures were not terrible, don''t get me wrong, they were cold, but definitely tolerable.  I'm sure the fact that the air temperatures at 7:00am were hovering around 58-60* helped.  The water was crystal clear and you could see right to the bottom even at depths over 6'.  The bottom was mostly flat sand with a little vegetation.  The beach going into the water was tightly packed soft sand.  The lake was pretty much an ideal setting for a triathlon.  I really wanted to have a strong swim time at this race.  I have really been working hard on my swim technique.  I started strong right off the bat and did my best to put the cold water issue out of my mind.  It still took my breath away initially, but that didn't last long.  I got held up about half way though by a "wall" of slower swimmers but managed to weave through them.  After coming out of the water I was happy with my swim, but didn't look at my watch as I was focused on were I had to go to get to the transition area.  We had a short run up a hill to get to the transition area.  Once there I ripped off my wet suit and got ready for the bike.  My swim time for the 400m swim was 0:07:14 or a 1:48/100m pace and was the 24th fastest swim overall.  I was really hoping for something in the 6's.  After coming into the transition area, I struggled finding my bike.  We came into transition from the back side which I didn't know we would be doing.  I should have known that we would, which is my mistake, but I needed to loop around a couple aisles just to find my spot.  My T1 time was 2:35, or in one word - SLOW!  

Elkhart Lake Sprint Triathlon Swim - Details

20k Bike

After reaching the mounting line of were you can get on your bike, I took a few extra seconds to get clipped in because I opt to not have my bike shoes set up on my bike ahead of time.  After getting clipped in, I was off.  I really wanted to just hammer the bike and really see how fast I could do it in.  The bike portion was rather technical, with a couple sharp corners and a few moderate climbs from the rolling terrain.  I passed quite a few bikers on the course, which is always motivating.  For the first time ever, I think, I was not passed on the bike portion of a race.  In my eyes, that was way more motivating than the number of other cyclists I passed.  I finished the 20k (12.4 mile) bike in 0:35:11 (21.14 mph ave) and was ranked as the 11th fast bike split.  I was happy with my bike time, but know it could and should have been faster.  I would have like to see an average speed closer to (if not over) 22 mph.  After coming back to the transition area, I found my spot right away and had a decent T2 time of 1:20, definitely still room for improvement though.

Elkhart Lake Sprint Triathlon Bike - Details 

5k Run

The run was nice, much hillier than I anticipated.  My legs were a little heavy from intentionally hammer so hard on the bike leg.  But I pushed through it.  The run portion was an out and back style run with a small loop at the turn-around end.  As I approached mile marker 1, I saw the lead guy out in front, so I knew I was about a mile or so behind the lead runner.  I continued to just try and catch the next person who was in front of me.  I finished the run leg in 19:06, or a 6:09/mile pace, which was the 4th fast run.  Huh - I wonder where my strength in triathlon is???  HAHA.  My total time for the race was 1:05:29.  

Elkhart Lake Sprint Triathlon Run - Details

Post Race

My goal going into the race was to be in the 1:00 - 1:03 range.  So, I missed the mark a little.  After the race, I grabbed my usual banana and bagels, but they also had PowerBar protein bars and Gatorade.  Since I was by myself at this race, I went and sat down by the lake to relax for a while before heading up my the race central location to find out if I had placed or not in my age group.  After packing up my gear from transition and putting my bike int he car, I headed back to the resort to find the results.  I placed 6th overall and 1st in my age group.  I was very satisfied and happy with my results, even though I did not meet my preset time goals.  It's always a little tough to set a specific time goal for a race you have never done due to the unknowns of the course, hills, layout, etc.  Part of the completing the race, we were all given a voucher for a free sandwich and drink.  I got a vegetable-ranch wrap along with a cold Corona, which was a perfect way to celebrate another age group win!

1st place in my age group and 6th overall.

A celebratory brew!

Other Notes

I loved this race.  It was very well run and the course setting was awesome.  It was a challenging race overall and it brought out some good competition.  The overall winner of the sprint triathlon finished in 0:58:19 and is a member of Team USA and a previous ITU Champion.  So, he's good.  I think I will try to get to race in the future to do it at least a 2nd time.

Lessons for Future Events

I learned quite a bit from the race, not only for the Ironman, but for next week's Half Ironman.  First and foremost, I need to work on my open water swimming.  I also need to start focusing on longer swim sets when I swim in the pool for the mental aspect of just putting my head down and swimming.  I have done a ton of 400m sets of straight swimming before it's really not that long, but I know at next week's half Ironman triathlon, I will struggle with the mental aspect of swimming for 1.2 miles straight.  The only way I'm going to get better is to swim in lakes, and swim longer sets.  Secondly, I need to work on my transitions and make them smoother.  If I can improve my transition times, its free time.  I can improve my race times without improving my fitness, it's a no-brainer.  I also learned that I can go harder on the bike and still put up a decent run split.  In the past I always ride at 90-95% to reserve some energy for the run, or at least that's what I thought.  I think in next week's half Ironman, I will ride hard and see how my legs react on the half marathon portion.  I should be interesting.

What's Next

The High Cliff Half Ironman that I have been talking about in this report is on Saturday, June 15th.  With one triathlon under my belt already, I should have a better idea on what I need to improve on this week to make for a smoother faster race at High Cliff.  I have a relatively easy training week leading up to the race, which is done intentionally to set myself up for a strong race.  I am also doing a couple of "mini triathlons" on Thursday.  I will swim for 10 minutes, bike for 15 minutes, and finally run for 10 minutes, all done back-to-back-to-back as one mini triathlon.  I will do 2 sets of that for roughly a one hour training block.  That should help with my open water swimming and my slow transition times....I hope!

My race bib and finisher medal.

A Weekend Away - Cycle 19

I'll be completely honest, I am already a few days behind with this post.  Things have been busy.  Cycle 19 ended on May 30th, today is now June 3rd.  This past cycle was such a nice break from the norm.  The my work rotation started on May 22nd and I worked only 2 nights, into Friday morning.  After a short nap of Friday, I was up and packed up the Jeep for a weekend away to my in-laws cabin in Cayuga, WI, for Memorial Day Weekend.  After filling every single free space of the Jeep with our belongings, we were on the road for our 4+ hour ride to northwestern Wisconsin.

For as long as I have known Sarah, her parents have had a share of a plot of land in Cayuga with other members of her Father's family.  Cayuga is located approximately 30 miles South of Ashland, WI.  It has become and annual tradition for our entire family and extended family to spend Memorial Day Weekend together at the cabin.  It's a tight squeeze.  There are 2 bedrooms, one being a "master" bedroom with a single queen size bed.  The second bedroom has 2 bunk beds for a total of 5 beds, which fit 6 adults.  The remaining space of the cabin is a large single open area of a living room and kitchen/dining room.  The living room has 2 rockers, 2 couches, one being a pullout.  So, including the couches and chairs, your looking at enough space for 11 adults.  We had a total of 9 adults, 4 children (4, 3, 2, and 1 year old), and 3 large dogs.  It was a full house, to say the least.  

After stopping in Wausau, WI for dinner for the girls and I, we made it to the cabin, right around 8pm, for a total drive time of roughly over 4 hours.  The girls became a little antsy during the final half hour or so, which is expected.  All things considered they were great during the drive there.  We unpacked quickly and set up our stuff for the weekend and I was in bed ASAP, considering I made the trip on a little under 2 hours of sleep from working the night before.  Saturday was Sarah's 29th birthday and her only request was to sleep in and be able to read her book in bed after waking up.  Lucky for me, Sarah and I weren't the only two at the cabin, so I had the help of Sarah's mother to help with Maya and Delaney in the morning, which gave me the opportunity to get my training in.  

To me, there is something uniquely enjoyable about training in a new city/area.  The change of scenery is so refreshing.  It's exciting to plan new routes for both running and biking.  It's my way to tour a new area and see a new city or countryside.  I had planned on 2 special training sessions throughout the weekend.  My first was a 20 mile bike followed by a 6 mile brick run and the following day I had planned a ride which has been on my bucket list since my first trip to Cayuga.  I planned a ride to Ashland and back.  My final workout for the weekend was a short 5 mile run.  So, after waking up with Delaney and feeding her breakfast, I left the girls in the hands of my mother-in-law and was off for a couple hours of training.  The terrain in Northwest Wisconsin is very hilly, so coming from a relatively flat portion of the state I was excited for the challenge of some tough climbs.  On Saturday, I planned a 20 mile ride to Copper Falls State Park and back.  For those of you who have never heard of this State Park, I highly recommend looking it up.  It is a beautiful park, with several water falls and rapids set in a very lush forest.  

After finishing my brick workout on Saturday, I got the stamp of approval from Sarah to go golfing with the guys.  There is a small 9 hole course 10 mile north of Cayuga.  It has become an additional tradition for all the guys to go out either Saturday or Sunday and golf a round of 9 holes.  The great thing about it, is we are all absolutely terrible.  It's purely about the camaraderie as opposed to the competition.  After our pathetic attempt at golf, we all went out for dinner.  In the past, we usually head up to Ashland and go out to The South Shore Brewery.  This year, I attempted to call and set up a reservation, but they where booked until after 8pm, so we opted to try a new place this year.  We found a Supper Club just south of the cabin.  Dinner was great and found a new place to go for future trips to Cayuga.  One of the unfortunate things about being up in the sticks, is there are limited options for shopping.  We wanted to get Sarah and birthday cake for dessert after dinner, but after going to the only 3 possible places in the area, a convenience store, which closed at 8pm, a Dollar General, which had none, and a gas station, which also had none.  So, Sarah, went cakeless on her birthday.  

On Sunday, I finally got to cross off a bike ride I have wanted to do for several years, biking up to Lake Superior in Ashland.  The ride was great, there were tough climbs, great scenery, and had perfect weather.  We made kabobs for dinner on Sunday night and I did my best to stay awake out at the fire after dinner, but was just drained from my ride earlier in the day.  Monday I was up before 7 and got my run in right away in the morning.  After my run I helped pack the Jeep back up and since both Sarah and I didn't have to go back to work until Wednesday, we made plans to stop at my parents cabin on Lake Poygan (just outside of Oshkosh) for the night on Monday.  Unfortunately the weather was less than stellar.  It was cool and rainy.  So after getting to my parent's cabin, my dad began frying up some of the fish he's been saving for the right occasion for a large fish fry.  The fish was great and after dinner, I went out to the local grocery store with hopes of finding a birthday cake for Sarah.  Luckily, I was able to find the best option I had for a 29 year old female's birthday cake.  Yes, I found a Barbie Mermaid Cake, it was perfect....maybe more for Maya or Delaney, but at least it was delicious.  We were hoping to be able to spend the day on Tuesday at the cabin and allow the girls to possibly swim, or at least play around in the yard.  But, the weather continued to not cooperate.  It was cool and rainy again on Tuesday, so we packed up and decided to head home right away and start the unpacking process for a great weekend away from home.  

Sarah and her Barbie Mermaid cake.

The final couple days of this cycle were soaked up by either a full day of training for work on Wednesday, or Ironman training and other personal commitments on Thursday.  To end the week, we met up with our family friend, the Nissens, for dinner in the Green Bay Area.  We went to a new pizza place and it was absolutely delicious.  It was a great way to end the week.  

The week was fantastic.  Especially considering that it was coming right off a great finish in the Green Bay Marathon.  Speaking of which, I received my 3rd place age group medal in the mail this week.  The medal was gold in color and was easily my biggest medal to date.  It's a simple award, but easily one that I am most proud of.  It was easy for me to feel like I was in "off season" mode coming off the GB Marathon.  Mentally, I felt as though the hard work was done, I just finished the Marathon, it's time to enjoy my time.  But, then I would have to remind myself that the work is just beginning.  Even though I was still training hard, I still seemed to eat as though I was not training.  I drank plenty of beer this past weekend away.  I also ate waaaay too much.  I had some s'mores, pudgy pies (tonka toasters), and countless other unnecessary treats.  I'm not sure exactly what my weight gain was over the weekend, but I know I put on a few pounds, which is not what I need 3 months out from the biggest race of my life.  

Speaking of the Ironman, I created a t-shirt for those who are planning on watching the Ironman in September.  This is a common thing especially for large events such as an Ironman.  It makes it easy for the person who is racing to find their family and friends while out on the course.  It also elicits a sense of pride and motivation for the group and the athlete racing.  I find it to be motivating and shows a strong sense of support from my family and friends.  The shirt is 2 sided, with the race info on the front and my mantra for the race on the back.  If you are interested in ordering a shirt, please email me or send me a message on Facebook.  I am estimating the cost of the shirt to be around $17.75 a piece.  My plan is to order them in early July, with hopes of getting then in August.  When my father and I ran in the 2011 Boston Marathon, we made shirts for my family who watched the race, which was neat to see while I was running.  

Finally, I just want to discuss something that happened this past Thursday while I was out on my 45 mile bike ride.  I had just left the South end of High Cliff State Park and was continuing South when I noticed another guy out riding.  He eventually caught up to me and pulled along side me.  The first thing out of his mouth was something like, "I thought that was you, I had always hoped I's see you out training!"  At first I was a little confused where this was going, then he continued by saying, "I have followed your blog for the past months."  I was caught off guard.  I was excited to hear that, not only people are reading and following, but the fact that I was recognized by the photos I post on here.  The coolest part was he was also a fellow Officer for the City of Appleton.  We were able to talk and share some stories of past experiences as we rode, he knew exactly what I had all been through and all my accomplishments and struggles, by reading my blog.  It was easy to connect with his as a fellow triathlete (he is a Ironman Finisher), but also as a fellow Law Officer.  We didn't ride together for long, but long enough to ask for training advice for racing a strong Ironman.  He offered a very common suggestion - ride the course, at least once.  Hopefully, Greg reads this post, because I appreciate him taking the time to say hi and let me know he follows my blog.  It was motivating and I appreciated the advice he offered for the Ironman.  

Brief Recap

Cycle 19 was my first cycle that had a specific triathlon focus.  My bike mileage increased significantly from what it was leading up to the Green Bay Marathon.  My biking is my weakest of the three disciplines, so in order to race a strong Ironman, I need to focus on becoming a stronger cyclist.  The key to racing a great Ironman is riding smart to set up a strong run.  It's very easy to put up an excellent bike split, but typically you'll find that person walking through majority of the marathon.  A smart racer will reserve themselves on the bike and put up a strong marathon split, which will ultimately beat the person who blew by them early on in the bike.  

This cycle had my highest volume for both mileage and time.  I felt as though my body handled it surprisingly well, especially considering who crappy I ate throughout the cycle.  Being off from work for 4 days of my rotation, on top of my regular 3 days off gave me a total of 7 days off.  These days off gave me the opportunity to increase my training volume easily.  This allowed me to ease back into training coming off from the marathon and still have some higher volume training sessions later in the week to give a higher total training volume at the end of the cycle.  I was able to do a 20 mile bike and 6 mile brick run on Saturday, a 70 mile bike ride on Sunday, a couple longer swims on both Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as a 45 mile bike and 8 mile brick run on Thursday. 

Favorite Workout

It was a very easy decision to pick my favorite workout.  My bike ride to Ashland was my favorite workout from this past cycle and also my favorite workout this year so far.  I first went up to Sarah's family cabin in Cayuga while I was in college, probably around 2005 or so.  Ever since then, I knew I wanted to ride up to Lake Superior and the City of Ashland.  It's a very hilly 33 miles from the cabin to Lake Superior.  I rode right to the most Northern point of that part of Wisconsin.  There is a pier with lots a large ships and boats that tour Lake Superior.  I had the wind at my back for majority of my ride to Ashland, which was super nice.  After riding to the pier I rode west a couple miles and took an alternative route back home.  The wind was in my face and was primarily uphill.  The ride home was difficult.  The wind that was at my back the way up to Ashland was now in my face.  On top of a head wind the ride home had more difficult climbs which were made that much more difficult by the wind.  I ended up getting back to the cabin with a total mileage of 67.75, which was too close to 70 for me not to do a quick out and back to reach a total of 70 miles.  After a short out and back jaunt I had reached 70 miles in just over 3:30, not too bad, especially considering I stopped a few times to snap some pictures and didn't stop my watch.  I was extremely satisfied with my time and the ride.  It was everything I thought it would have been.  Below is a link to my Garmin data and a few pictures from my ride.

70 Mile Long Ride at Garmin Connect - Details

Finally made it to Ashland!

Made it to Lake Superior

Loving the view!

That's a huge pier for ships off to the right.

A large boat at the pier.

The picture does not do this hill justice, it was a long and steady climb, with a head wind.

A river I passed on my way to Ashland.

Moving Forward

Cycle 20 is my first Peak phase cycle.  Moving into the peak phase means multiple two-a-day workouts.  In fact I have 3 scheduled two-a-days.  You'll also notice that I have a second option for each day for training.  This is due to the unknown with my work schedule.  We are so short handed right now at work that there is a possibility that I may be forced to cover an additional 4 hours either before or after my regularly scheduled shift of 10p-6a.  Working a total of 12 hours on top of my commute makes it difficult to get two separate workouts in during a single day.  So, I left myself a lot of flexibility in this cycles schedule.  Some workouts I am looking forward to are the swim and bike brick workout on day 1.  I plan on doing what I did a couple cycles ago and biking to the YMCA for my swim workout and biking after.  I am also actually looking forward to the addition of more two-a-days for the challenge they will present.  I am nervous about my day 7 run and bike workouts.  I originally had a 70 mile bike ride plan, but I know have a meeting I have to attend in the early afternoon and I will be coming off of working 3rd shift that morning, so my time and sleep will be limited.  I am also concerned due to the fact that I will be doing a Spring Triathlon on day 9 and my Half Ironman Triathlon is the following weekend.  I am treating this Ironman as my other "A" race leading up to the full Ironman.  But I am still keeping the main focus of my training to the full Ironman.  I want to have a good showing at the Half Ironman and be somewhat rested, but I do not want to be over stressed at that race.  I changed my plan to be a 3 mile run right after work with the plan of getting some sleep until my meeting and then riding 50 miles after.  On day 8, I have a full day training at work followed up with my Sprint Triathlon at Elkhart Lake in Southeast Wisconsin.   This will be used as a tune up race before the Half Ironman to practice transitions and my open water swimming.  

Another thing I need to really start focusing on this cycle is my nutrition.  I NEED to start eating to fuel my body to race fast and strong and to recover properly.  I cannot continue to just eat what I want because I am working out so much.  My weight may not fluctuate that much due to the volume of my training, but realistically, I am not feeding my body properly for the stress I am putting it through.  I am only setting myself up for a potential disaster.  If I want to train and race as an elite age grouper, I need to treat myself and feed myself as an elite triathlete.  For the next 3 months or so, I am going to start making smart decisions with my nutrition.  This past week was just the opposite, I ate any dessert or sweet that was put near me.  I can not continue to eat like this.  So, as of this cycle, I am completely cutting out sweets, ice cream, processed foods, and focusing on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and real foods for my diet.  It's officially time for my to put my nose to the grindstone and put in the real work for the next 3 months.  There is no time for excuses now.  I do not want September 9th (the day AFTER the Ironman) to come and me sit there thinking what might have been, or think what if.....

So as always, thanks for reading - Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

Below are MORE pictures from my weekend away.

Red Whey - a cherry juice and whey protein recovery drink - DELICIOUS!

The family after Sarah's birthday dinner.

Maya and Delaney after dinner.

We forced Delaney on a 4-wheeler right before we left - she was NOT happy.

Just finished my bike/run brick workout on Saturday.

Maya loves the 4-wheelers!

Sarah and Maya on the 4-wheeler.