Chad Holderbaum: My Life - The Triathlon Way

Deep Creek Lake Training Camp

2009-07-05T18:38:00.004-04:00

Another weekend of training is officially in the books and Deep Creek Lake Training Camp was a success. Deep Creek Lake is located in the beautiful mountains of western Maryland and is home to some of the greatest biking and running on earth in my opinion. Friday Jennifer and I drove from Pittsburgh and arrived at the lake around noon. Our first business of the day was a nice long open water swim. The swim was awesome and I really didn't want to get out of the water but it was time to go check into our rental house. Our house was a nice little cottage that had a great view of the lake. Our friends Jeremy and Jocelyn joined us later Friday evening for a full day of training on Saturday morning.

The morning came waaayyyyyy too fast and all I kept telling myself was that today would be one of the last "hardest" days of training before Ironman Lake Placid. And boy did the day shape up to one of the hardest I've ever experienced. The morning began with another one hour open water swim followed by coffee and breakfast at a local coffee and bagel shop. After we filled our tummies it was time for our epic bike journey through Savage mountain. The four of us started off together but it only took two miles or so before Jeremy and I broke away from the girls. I was looking forward to riding with Jeremy all week. Jeremy just qualified for Kona at Eagleman and is a very strong cyclist (and very strong runner and swimmer for that matter). I guess that would explain the "Kona qualification". :)

Our plan was to ride for over six hours, bike the Savageman 56 mile course and then we would add on another 55 miles on another course that I had mapped out. The bike course is truly beautiful as it travels on remote and scenic Garrett County roads and through Deep Creek State Park, Savage River State Forest, and New Germany State Parks. The bike course is just insane as it scales the vaunted Westernport Wall, and summits Big Savage Mountain.

The Savageman course includes over 5,700 feet of climbing which if you do the math is over 100 feet of climbing per mile (even though the first 20 miles are downhill).

That being said, after the 20 mile descent you scale the Westernport wall which hits 31%. Now they do have a bypass option which Jeremy and I considered, but as soon as we got to the bottom of the wall we just had to pedal up it. Sorry coach, no way to keep the heart rate below 160 for this hill!!!

Jeremy and I both felt really good the first 56 miles even though it took us 3 hours and 17 minutes. The next 50 or so miles I thought would be much easier. Unfortunately about halfway into the second loop we were biking directly into a 15-20+ mph headwind. NOT FUN!

We made it back to the house with well over six hours in the saddle and 111 miles total. This would be my seventh 100+ mile ride of the season. We transitioned to a short three mile run and called it a day. Today was another 8 hour training day and I really hope it pays off at IMLP.

Later that night we all celebrated the 4th of July with amazing fireworks on the lake.

Sunday morning we were up and at 'em at 7:00 AM. We headed to Swallow Falls State Park (where Jen and I got married in 2007) and did a 16 mile trail run from Swallow Falls to Herrington Manor Lake. The trail run was a great way to finish off a fantastic weekend of training.

The four of us are all doing IMLP in three weeks and I can't believe that we ONLY HAVE THREE MORE WEEKS. It's hard to believe that I've been training for this one race since I came up short last year, but seriously I have. Every day of my life the past 11 months has been centered around this one day. I'm looking forward to making the best out of it!

VO2 Max Test

2009-06-30T17:26:00.007-04:00

Today I headed to the UPMC Neuromuscular lab for my VO2 Max Test. On September 4th last year I got my first taste of VO2 and knew I was in for 20 minutes of pure pain! I also was excited to do the test again because not only do I now know what to expect, but I'll also be able to compare my numbers today from nine months ago. Let me first walk you through this grueling test. First you warm up on a treadmill for about 10 minutes. They then strap this harness around your torso and then they secure this mask to your face. You then pick a speed on the treadmill that you can sustain for an hour. I decided to go with 8.0 mph knowing that this thing would get hard once the incline started to go up.

So you start at zero incline and the test runs on three minute incriments. Every three minutes they increase the treadmill incline 2% and also prick your finger to test your blood for lactic acid towards the end of each interval.

I felt pretty good until we hit a 8% incline at 8.0 miles per hour. Right at 8 mph, my heart rate spiked above my lactate threshold (which I found out later was 173) and I was holding steady between a 177-179 heart rate. At the end of the 5th interval they asked if I could go for three more minutes and talking was not an option and I gave Gordon (the tester) the thumbs up. Last time I think I pulled the plug to early, and this time I knew I should go one more. Those last three minutes were HARD!!! Especially considering that 95% of my training the last six months has been at an aerobic pace (under a 160 heart rate). They cranked the treadmill up to a 10% incline and once I adjusted to the pace my heart rate held steady between 186-188 beats per minute. The red line below is my heart rate and shows you the increase per each interval.

So how do I compare to September? Well actually I think my numbers went up slightly. They still have to analyze the numbers but it looks like my lactate threshold heart rate climbed from 171 to either 172 or 173 and my VO2 max test stayed around the same at either 77 or 78. I really don't know what else I can do with my VO2 number besides compare myself with Lance Armstrong's numbers (which by the way was reported at 85 ml/kg/min).

They also measured my body fat percentage using a Bod Pod. The use of Bod Pod correlates nicely with the concept of hydrostatic weighing (underwater weighing). Instead of using water to measure body volume, the Bod Pod uses air displacement to measure body volume. Very interesting if you're a science dork like me. Only problem is that it still has a ± 3% error according to its website. None the less, I'm still not happy with my fat percentage but it has gone down by about a half a percent. :)

IMLOO Training Camp

2009-06-29T08:33:00.007-04:00

As the weekend wrapped up Matt and I both said to each other that there seriously is not much else we can do to get ready for Ironman. We've both put in the time and hopefully all of this hard work will provide us both with a round trip ticket this October to the big island.

The weekend will go down in history as my hardest Ironman training weekend ever. Jen, Matt and I packed up the X-terra after work on Friday and we drove to Louisville Kentucky, home of Ironman Louisville. The drive to Louisville took around six and a half hours which means we didn't pull into our hotel until midnight Friday night. I don't know about Jen and Matt, but I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow!

Let the fun begin. Up at 6:00 AM, the day began at the Bikram Yoga Studio just outside of town. The three of us would soon endure one, or should I say survive, the most intese yoga class I had ever gone to! The Bikram Yoga class was hot yoga and when I mean hot, I MEAN HOT!!! I would compare the hot room to a sauna and the temperature topping out at well over 100 degrees. Within 5 minutes I was sweating perfousily and there would be no end in site for the next 90 minutes. The class was for "advanced" students only....and granted I've taken yoga on and off through out the years at my local gym, but in no way would I even come close to calling myself "advanced". The three of us made it through the class and I wish I had weighed myself before and after the class because I must have lost a couple pounds from sweating alone. I had no idea how I was going to survive the rest of the day knowing that I still had seven and a half hours of training to do. After Yoga, we were in much need of food (and hydration). We found this quaint cafe right near the studio and the food couldn't have been better. Now at this point I probably could have eaten cardboard and told you it was delicious, but seriously this place was the bomb.

Having no time to spare, we got our breakfast to-go and ate in the car as we headed back to our hotel where we met up with our two other friends from Pittsburgh, Rich and Gil. Rich and Gil were also down for our "Epic IMLOO Training Camp" weekend. The five of us changed into our bike gear and began the day. Now let me tell you that by 10AM, it was already 93 degrees and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We all knew that we were in for a very long day but mentally we were all prepared. We rode together for the first three miles from our hotel to the bike transition area and then it was on. Matt and I took off and never looked back. The first 10 miles of the IMLOO bike course is flat and fast. We were hammering it at 27+ mph on the flats and were not even 30 minutes into this thing. After riding on River road you make a left hand turn onto Route 42 and the next 60-70 miles of the course is rolling but as long as you can handle the heat, this thing is a very fast course!

As usual for me there a couple of high points as well as low points that always occur during a ride. Staying hydrated was the biggest struggle and I had realized that I was drinking over 24 oz every 45 minutes. I struggled to keep my heart rate in check due to the heat (below 160) and once we were about 60 miles into the ride and I could tell Matt was feeling good as he started to gap me by about a minute or two. I said to myself that this isn't a race so I stayed focused and knew that if I continued to drink and fuel that I would eventually start feeling better and bounce back. This is by far something that experinece and experinece only will teach you. I've learned that I'll go through many low points during a ride but mentally you have to tell yourself to keep pushing as it'll eventually get better and you need to simply stick with it. I think its your bodies way of telling your mind to slow down and give up and you have to mentally challenge the body. I was in sub-par shape around mile 60 or 65, but by mile 70 I was back in the game. With 30 miles to go until we got back to transition it was all busniness between Matt and I. Very little talking and we were both determined and focused. Taking the liberty to glance at my spedometer every now and then, I knew that we were riding stong. Once we eclipsed 100 miles for the day and made the final right hand turn back on to River road it was time to see what the legs had left. I was shocked to see how good I felt. My legs had felt as if they had 20 miles on them, not 100. Needless to say Matt and I were able to keep our speed well over 24 mph for the rest of the way. When we got back to the transition area Matt and I just looked at each other in disbelief. We had biked the Ironman course comfortabily in 5 hours and 15 minutes which means we averaged 21+ mph for the entire ride.

When we started the day we knew that we wanted to ride for 7 hours and that meant we still had over 90 minutes to go before we called it a day. Feeling excited and with fresh legs, Matt and I hammered the pedals up and down River Road another two or three times, often reaching close to 30 mph when the winds were just right.

As we finished the day we had biked close to seven hours (I think it was actually 6:50 something...) and had biked 143 miles. It was truely epic! This was the longest ride I had ever done and believe it or not I still felt like I had something left at the end. The day wasn't quite over as Matt and I laced up our running shoes and we did a quick out and back 2.5 mile run. After the run we collapsed in the hotel pool and boy did it feel good!

Once back at the hotel, reality set in and so did exhaustion. Including the hot yoga class, we had just exercised for 9 hours...and we were cooked! Everyone at camp did awesome and Jen did great too biking close to 120 miles. The five of us headed to a local pizza joint and food had never tasted soooo good. By the time we ate and got back to our rooms for bed, it was already 10:30 PM. The day will go down in history as one of the best single training days of my life. (Thanks Matt!)

Day 2 of camp started a little bit more relaxed than day #1, but that would all soon change. We were all moving like lethargic slugs but knew that we had another full day ahead of us. We started the day off with a swim at the Milestone Babtist Wellness Center. We were treated like royality the the club and I'd like to say a special thank you to the club for everything they did. I could really tell that they go out of their way to support Ironman athletes and the three of us couldn't have been more thankful. Not to mention the facility was five star.

Our swim workout started with a nice easy warm up followed by many longer sets with some shorter IM sets in between. Matt insists that we do "butterfly" sets, but that's just Matt! We swam for over an hour and if I were to guess, we swam around 3500 yards. Next up was our long run. With the heat and humidity again at it's peak this run was going to be challenging. The plan was to run for the IMLOO course at least once and then go from there. Matt, Jen and I started off the run and right away I knew it was going to be hard. It took a couple of miles before my legs responded but I eventually settled into a good pace. Matt and I were going through Gatorade like there was no tomorrow and had to stop at a gas station on two different occasions. We ran out past Churchill Downs, to the run turn-around and then back into downtown where we ran through the 4th Street Live festivities and the Ironman Louisville finish. With 16 miles on my legs I threw in the towel and cosidered myself done for the day.

It was a great way to finish the training camp weekend!!! Ironman Lake Placid is less than 4 weeks away and I couldn't be in a better place mentally and physically right now. My training is firing on all cylinders and all I have to say is that the competition better bring their "A" game.

Holderbaum taking Ironman training to next level

2009-06-25T13:53:00.001-04:00

by Bill Hartlep
Sports Editor
June 25, 2009
http://www.yournorwin.com/norwinstar/article/holderbaum-taking-ironman-training-next-level

Three-hour runs, 5,000-yard swims and seven-hour bike rides are just part of a rigorous training regiment that tabulated up to 25 hours a week of workouts for the past six months.

That is life for Chad Holderbaum.

Rarely taking a day off, the North Huntingdon resident and Penn-Trafford graduate spends months at a time pushing his body to its ultimate limit, and then, he goes further.

The 29-year-old is a Westinghouse engineer by day, but when he leaves the office, he turns into an Ironman.

Holderbaum is in the midst of preparing for the upcoming Ford Ironman competition in Lake Placid, N.Y., which is a qualifier for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in 2009.

"Right now, I'm doing 14 workouts a week that consist of four swims, four bikes and four runs, and I spend two days a week in the gym," he said. "My training is seven days a week. I take a day off two weeks before a race."

In 2007, Holderbaum qualified for the world championships after finishing sixth in his age bracket at Lake Placid. Last year, he placed 12th in his division and failed to qualify, so he is working even harder to reach his athletic and endurance peak.

It has been a busy period of workouts and training events for Holderbaum. He recently wrapped up a hectic span of weeks that included a trip to Boulder for a three-day training camp with fellow members of the Mark Allen Online Elite team, a business trip to Seattle, a jaunt to Detroit for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and finally, a visit to Cambridge, Md., where he took part in Eagleman 70.3, a half-Ironman race.

After the whirlwind of activity the previous days, and a lack of rest, Holderbaum wasn't at his best in the Eagleman but managed to finish sixth in his age group with an overall time of 4:27.14. His wife, Jennifer, also competed and finished the grueling race in 5:27.49. Only the winner in his age group qualified for Hawaii.

"It went OK, but I wasn't really tapered. I'm still training for Lake Placid," Chad Holderbaum said.

"It was tough. The week leading up to the race, I was in five different states. I was in the car for about 10 hours before the race. I thought it went well. I always want to win. Anything less than qualifying for the Hawaii race is going to be a disappointment."

With the July 26 Lake Placid event approaching, Holderbaum again is upping his training to meet his goal times of 57 minutes in the 2.4-mile swim, five hours and 20 minutes in the 112-mile bike ride and three hours and 15 minutes in the 26.2-mile run.

The top four finishers in his age group automatically qualify for a spot in Kona.

"There are a couple variables," Holderbaum said. "Every year, the sport becomes more popular. The competition gets a lot tougher, and it's a lot harder (to qualify). There are more races to go to. There's less (qualifying) slots. I'd like to do around a 9:40. I think that will be enough to get to Hawaii."

His shot at qualifying for a spot in the world championships nearly came to an abrupt halt in early May when an accident derailed his training, albeit briefly.

Holderbaum was in the third hour of a six-hour bike ride near Westmoreland County Community College when his tire slid on some roadside gravel before the bike hit a 6-inch drop off and he went flying over the handlebars.

He crashed shoulder first onto the pavement with his helmet saving his head from a painful meeting with the guide rail. He ended up with a separated shoulder and broken rib but was back to training just days later.

"I was actually back on the bike in six days. The following weekend, I was able to bike four or five hours with one arm. Your fitness can really drop off," he said.

"That was my first major injury from training."

It was a setback that he can't afford again. Those five days off were far too much downtime for an aspiring Ironman champion.

Eagleman Race Report 2009

2009-06-18T12:23:00.007-04:00

Before I dive into my Eagleman race recap all I have to say is, what I did the previous six days before the race is no way to wind down before a big race. A week out from the race I flew to Boulder for MAO camp followed by three days in Seattle for work where I also got to see my sister who lives on the west coast. It was really great seeing her by the way. On Wednesday night I flew home on the red-eye and arrived in Pittsburgh at 10:30 in the morning Thursday. After a couple workouts, I packed the Xterra with all of our triathlon gear for the weekend. On Friday morning it was off to Detroit Michigan for game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals of which my head didn't hit the pillow until 1:30 AM Saturday morning. After a wonderful two hours of sleep I was back in the car driving back home to Pittsburgh. I arrived home around 8:30 AM Saturday morning and Jen and I were back on the road by 9:30 in route to Cambridge Maryland (another 5 hour drive). We arrived in Cambridge Saturday afternoon around 3:00 PM, did packet pickup and then I did a little out and back 45 minute ride on the Eagleman bike course followed by a really quick run. I could tell that I was exhausted on the bike and all I wanted to do was sleep...but my nerves and anxiety didn't let me. Next, Jen and I checked our bikes into Transition and headed back to the hotel in Easton Maryland, another 20 minute drive from the race. Once back at the hotel in Easton where we were staying with our good friends Jeremy and Jocelyn all I wanted to do was first off eat and secondly go to sleep. By now it was approaching 6:00 PM so the four of us and a friend of Jeremy's headed into Easton to find some Italian food. There were two restaurants that were strictly Italian, but you needed reservations and guess who didn't have reservations??? You guessed it. So our last option was to settle for bar food. Well actually it wasn't that bad. I asked them to make us pasta with grilled chicken which wasn't on the menu and the thankfully agreed. Fast forward two hours we finally got back to our hotel room and like I said, I was exhausted! My eyes were really heavy and all I did before I went to bed was mix two bottles for the morning and layed my race clothes out. I was fast asleep by 10PM but the morning came way toooo fast! My alarm went off at 4:00 AM and I think I snoozed at least two times (which I never do). After my typical 750 calorie breakfast, Jen and I drove to the race site.

Fast forward to 7:55 AM my heat finally got the go ahead from the race cannon. We had a really big wave and if I were to guess there had to be at least 150 or 200 guys.

I made sure to put myself in a good starting position which was right up in the front. With my recent shoulder injury and the fact that I haven't swum much I had no idea how I was going to swim. Thankfully my shoulder did not act up on me and actually I didn't even think once that I had to take it easy because of my shoulder. I hit the first buoy and knew that I was flying. The entire swim I didn't see many other green caps around me which meant I was near the front of my wave, right where I needed to be. When I exited the water and crossed the timing mat the clock read 28:26 and I was in 7th place according to Ironman.com. This was also another swim PR for me at the 1.2 mile distance! I seriously think I owe a lot of that to my new Xterra wetsuit! (thanks Team MAO)!

I was in and out of transition in less than 2 minutes and set into a nice comfortable pace. The first guy to pass me in my age group happened around mile 5 or 6.

I tried to hang, but the pace was too much for me. I again settled into my own pace which was right around 24 mph. My heart rate was averaging around 170 and I felt that this was a pace I could keep.

I wouldn't see another age grouper till around mile 45. This time I did hang on and used the two of them as my pace setters.

When I pulled into transition there was a huge traffic jam at the dismount line and nobody was doing a "fast" dismount.

As I flew past the two bikers standing still (they must have been in an older age group) one of them threw their leg up over their bike and kicked me right in the hand. Yet another reason why the fast age groups shouldn't go LAST!!! When it was all said and done I averaged 23.93 miles per hour for 56 miles with a bike time of 2:20:26.

As I made my way through transition and began running I knew something was wrong right away. The two guys ahead of me in my age group took off at what must have been a sub six minute mile pace. I decided to turn it up a gear and stay with these guys, but unfortunately that didn't happen.

Apparently all of the liquids that I took in on the bike weren't absorbing so it felt as if I had a gallon of water sloshing around inside of me. Every time I would pick up the pace, slosh - slosh - slosh. It actually got to the point where I threw up twice and considered dropping out of the race. Then I thought, it's only 13 miles and maybe, just maybe I'll feel better in a mile or two. Well five miles was more like it. It took me five miles before my stomach settled down but by then I was already at least five minutes off of my desired pace. I crossed the finish line in 4:27:13 which was actually 12 minutes faster than I raced here last year.

It was still a 1:34 half Ironman but I knew I could have done better. I finished sixth in my age group which means I did not win a Kona slot (Only the top finisher got the slot). After things set in I figured that my effort was decent considering what all I went through the week leading up to the race. One thing is for sure, there will be NO travel the week leading up to IM Lake Placid. I will be ready to race come July 26th.

(All photo's with exception to the logo in this post are property of Action Sports International)

Cup Fever

2009-06-13T11:58:00.004-04:00

You can easily say that I've had Cup fever now for close to 20 years. Having been born and raised in Western Pennsylvania I often wonder if I don't at times bleed black and gold. It all started at a very young age when I got my very first hockey stick at age eight. I still remember it to this day. It was made by Vic, was wooden with blue writing down the side. At this time in my life the Pittsburgh Penguins were on the verge of breaking loose in the National Hockey League and Mario Lemieux quickly became the guy I quickly began to admire. I'd have to go back and ask my parents for exact specifics but I do remember spending hours upon end in the basement of our new house shooting street hockey balls against a little red practice net. I guess you could say that these moments would simply become the start of my hockey career and the start of so many great memories and friendships I would gain for the rest of my life. Around this time when the summer weather would break I would spend every single day playing roller hockey, seriously every single day, with my new friends Rob, Scott and Dave. The four of us were practically attached at the hip and all of us had what you could easily call "Cup Fever". In the early nineties the world would witness one of the finest teams in Pittsburgh history ever to play professional sports. Obviously that team would be led by greats such as Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens, Ulf Samuelson and Paul Coffey just to name a few.

Over the next several years I began to play Ice Hockey at a competitive level including multiple years for a highly skilled AA travel team and eventually four years at the Varsity level for my local high school. Just like years in the past, hockey became "My Life - The Hockey Way".

Funny story, if it wasn't for Hockey and my dad forcing me to join the track team in 9th grade I would have never even began running and even further wouldn't be doing the sport of Triathlon as I love today.

Over the years the Pittsburgh Penguins would go through some lean years including bankruptcy and what inevitably looked like a move out of the Steel City.

As I got more and more into Triathlon my days as a competitive Ice Hockey player would become numbered but that in no way meant my love for the game disappeared. Over the past two or three years the Penguins would be yet again on the verge of greatness in hopes to bring Lord Stanley's Cup back to the Burgh. After a disappointing year last year I sat at Mellon Arena and witnessed the Detroit Red Wings hoist the Stanley Cup for the 11th time in their franchise history. It was time for payback.

When the Pen's advanced to the finals this year I had a friend that said to me, "If this thing goes to game 7, would you be interested in going"? How could I resist right? Having thought that chances were slim that the series would go seven I said yes with little hesitation. Well I think everyone knows what happened. The Pen's rallied through a very tough six games and it was all tied up heading back to Detroit. Now I had just spent the previous weekend in Boulder, the week in Seattle and now I had to drive to Detroit followed by a drive to Cambridge for my half Ironman race (which is tomorrow). I contemplated giving up the ticket but knew if the Penguins would win, I'd regret it the rest of my life.

So the Detriot Caravan left early yesterday morning and we arrived in Detroit around 3:00 PM. Once in Detroit we relaxed at the hotel for a bit and then went to Joe Louis Arena to the RiverWalk. Once at the riverwalk we waited for the Pen's to arrive via bus. We also saw some local Pittsburgh Sports broadcasters, so we went to see if we could get on camera. Standing in the background, my friends and I were all over the local news coverage. Then the question was asked. With the microphone in front of my face, the media asked me who was going to have a big game tonight. Without hesitation I said Max Talbot. Well good ol' Max would go on later that night to score the only two Penguin goals bringing the Cup back to Pittsburgh.

The night was magical and was everything I had hoped it to be and more. Never in my life would I have thought I'd be that close to my home team as they hoisted the Cup in the air. I still keep thinking it's all a big dream.

We embarked from Detroit very early this morning back to Pittsburgh and I'm now in route to Eagleman where I'll have my second attempt at my Kona spot. At this point, whatever happens happens. I went out for a run on Thursday and the legs felt very lethargic and my heart rate was sky high. Not good signs. Regardless I know I'll be ready to race tomorrow morning. Visit www.ironman.com tomorrow morning for live athlete updates.

Dealing with Stress

2009-06-10T09:47:00.003-04:00

As we all know, dealing with stress in our high stress lives can often be a hard thing for all of us to control. Stress has a huge affect on race performance in Triathlon, how well you rest or how well you recover from day to day. Stress can affect the body give you a high heart beat, a headache, an upset stomach and can lead to cronic issues over time. I have three major stress factors in my life right now that I'm trying to deal with.

1. Work
2. Eagleman this weekend
3. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals (more on this later)

I'm having a really hard time this week dealing with stress and it's going to become more of a struggle as the days progress. I flew straight from MAO training camp to Seattle for a 2.5 day work meeting. At first I would get all stressed out at these meetings simply because of the power influence in the audience. Although a small, I have to give a presentation today in front of 40-50 management representatives. I typically don't have a problem speaking in front of a crowd, but even if you think you have things under control stress levels can rise slightly.

Also on my work trips it's expected that after the "all day" meeting you attend dinner and events with the customers which typically involves over-eating and alcohol. Lots of alcohol. So last night we all went to dinner but luckily I was able to sneak away and find a TV to watch the hockey game. The game was stressing me out not only because the Penguins were in a must win situation being down 3 games to 2 in the best of seven series, but I knew that I had a game seven ticket waiting for me at home if I wanted it. This brings on my huge delima. Like I said I'm currently in Seattle and I fly back to Pittsburgh Thursday afternoon. I arrive in Pittsburgh around midnight Thursday. I have the option to drive to Detroit for the hockey game which begins at 8PM Friday evening. I also need to be in Cambridge Maryland for early Saturday afternoon for the race which is on Sunday. Of which I've been training months on end for as you all know.

As much as I really would like to go to the hockey game, I really see no way to go to the hockey game in Detroit and to have a solid race on Sunday at Eagleman.

So I haven't made a final decision on what I'm going to do, but I do know that I need to stay calm and relaxed and not let the stress get to me.

Mark Allen Online Training Camp

2009-06-08T12:30:00.003-04:00

What can I say? This past weekend went by like a blur, but boy did I have fun! I would have to say that having been a triathlete for many years now there is still so much to learn about the science of this sport, especially Ironman. As many of you already know, I've been on the Mark Allen Online Elite team now for just about six months and although very challenging, I've been enjoying every moment. I've met coach Luis Vargas twice before, but the real advantage I thought of the camp is really getting to know Luis better and understanding the reasons for we train the way we do.

The camp kicked off in Boulder Colorado at Colorado MultiSports. We all got measured for bike fits and Luis also went over the history of bike fitting and the science behind getting the most power out of the way you ride. Overall I guess my position is good, but my numbers were a little outside the FIST standard. Basically I'm in a very aggressive position with my knees positioned forward of the pedals, but as Luis said, there's nothing wrong with my position as long as I can handle the extra stress from the aggressive aero position. While at Colorado MultiSports I got to meet all of the people at the camp including my MAO teammates Barb, Ally and Heidi.

During the second day of camp Coach Luis gave us more lectures on Heart Rate training, nutrition and other tri related stuff. Then we were all video taped while running and later our running strides were analyzed by Danny Abshire, co-founder of Newton Running. As the afternoon approached Coach Luis put us in the pool for a really good 1:15 workout and really had us focus on swimming stroke and efficiency. After the swim we headed out for my favorite part of the camp. A 3 1/2 hour bike ride in Boulder! Actually the camp folks rode for about two hours and my team mate Barb and I added on a little extra. The ride included a awesome ride up to Jamestown where you ride along a creek off of the mountain and I believe climb up to around 7,000 feet. I noticed the elevation a little bit as my heart rate was about 5-10 beats higher than normal but then again that could have just been my excitement of riding in Boulder. It was amazing to see how many cyclists were outside riding. I mean we are talking hundreds! Back in Pittsburgh I'm lucky to see one biker out on the roads. It was as if I was meant to be living in Boulder. The town was just so alive and fit. I visualized how awesome it would be if I were to live and work here in the city of Boulder (of which Barb was really trying hard to convince Jen and I to move to Denver / Boulder).....it may have worked. :)

After the ride, we headed to Newton Running and as I mentioned above, we got our stride analyzed. As I already sort of knew, my feet roll a little inward when I run. The folks at Newton running were so nice and gave me some things to try out. They actually took my shoes and added a slight lift under my big toe and told me to try it out. They really went out of their way to help everyone out. We spent a couple hours there, and I could have easily spent a couple more. Having worn Newtons for 2 years I've noticed that my running has improved and I feel less beat up after a long run. I have a feeling that the slight modifications might even help me out even further.

Sunday morning was just as exciting as Saturday. We were up early at coach Luis again gave us more lecture talk about race nutrition and strategy. Everyone had great questions and Luis had even better answers. I guess that's one reason why Luis and Mark are such great coaches. After breakfast we headed to the Boulder Reservoir for run. I had to run for 2:10 so I sort of did my own thing and ran three loops around the reservoir. I managed to get in around 16 miles...maybe slightly over. I felt a little tired towards the beginning of the run, but as time went on, I really felt strong towards the end.

After the run it was back to Rally's Gym where Luis videotaped our swim technique with an underwater camera. This was actually the first time I had someone look at my stroke and seeing how I swim, hopefully I can make some adjustments to help make me faster. From the side my "pull" looks really good thus the reason why Luis said I can keep up with all of the fast swimmers in a big race. He said that if he were to guess, I'm putting out similar power to my teammate Ally who is a Collegiate swimmer. On the flip side when you watch me from the front it's just plain bad with a capital "B". I have a slight cross over and after I breathe I move my head way too much causing my whole body to wiggle like a snake. This obviously causes more drag in the water and causes me to swim slower than I should be swimming. Also, I swim with my head too low and I never noticed this before until I saw myself on film. I'm really excited to go back to the pool to work on these changes.

So it's Monday morning and I'm flying to Seattle for work and then I'll be heading to Eagleman 70.3 for another shot at a Kona spot. This is by far the best I have ever felt and if I nail my taper this week I have good vibes that things will go well. As for the taper, I'm not doing a "full" taper and I hope that that doesn't affect how I perform. I keep telling myself that I still have to think of the big picture and IM Lake Placid is my main focus and best chance for Kona. But then again, I may get lucky and walk away with something special.

If you haven't already gotten enough of reading about the MAO camp, you can check out Barb's post at http://www.running-blogs.com/barb/ and I'm sure Beth will have a post up shortly at http://www.running-blogs.com/beth/ .

And as always, if you're looking for the best coaching the world has to offer, please visit MAO online at http://www.markallenonline.com/ .

My New Toys

2009-05-21T14:55:00.003-04:00

A week ago I received a package in the mail from Shimano. It was my new WH-7850-SL Scandium Clincher Tubeless Wheelset and boy was I excited. A big thank you goes out to Shimano who's one of our Mark Allen Online Sponsors. I kitted my bike up with the new wheels and seriously they're like having a set of race wheels on your bike. Actually I bet a lot of people would love to use these as race wheels. :) Not only do these wheels respond really well, but they're super stiff and you really do fly uphills with these things.

Another delivery came about a week ago. It was the new 2009 Xterra Vendetta wetsuit. I've been wearing the same wetsuit now for 5 1/2 seasons so I figured it was time. Not to mention Xterra signed on as a MAO sponsor this year so what better time to act than now?

Unfortunately the wetsuit had to sit in the box for two weeks before I'd get the chance to try it out due to my shoulder injury. That chance came this past Tuesday. Not only was this the first time I was back in the pool since the accident, but I also decided to try out the Vendetta. I painted the wetsuit on my body at the YMCA and had a couple of people ask what the heck I was doing. I jumped in the water and could tell a difference right away. It was as if I had a life jacket on. Is this thing seriously "swim legal"? I wanted to only do a 100 yarder just to make sure it fit good since I know chlorine is bad for the suit. I kicked of the wall and thought to myself "HOLY HECK was this thing fast".

I was in no means swimming hard and I clocked a 1:13. I almost decided to do a sprint just to see if I could go under a minute, but then I rememberd that I still had a separated shoulder and that would not be a good idea. None the less, I'm very excited to get back in the pool and get back into swimming shape. I really think this thing will shave minutes off my Ironman swim time. I highly recommend this suit to anyone that is looking for an advanage over the competition!

Where to begin?

2009-05-18T07:58:00.003-04:00

First off I want to thank everyone out there for all of the warm thoughts as I work my way back into training post accident. Looking back on the wreck I'm really fortunate that things are not worse then they are. All of my road rash has just about healed and I'll probably have some scars to remind me of that terrible day on May 1st. So the accident happened on a Saturday but by the time the following Friday rolled around I was back on my bike and back in action. At first I just wanted to make sure I was able to ride and to make sure my upper body could still support my lower body. If not, it was going to be a long weekend on the trainer. Luckily, even though I was in pain, I could bike. That Friday night I went out for an easy 40 minute out and back ride. Anxious to get back into some sort of a routine, Saturday I headed out on the bike with Jen for what was originally going to be just a short ride. 3 hours and 44 minutes later the ride concluded. My back was in a lot of pain and every now and then the shoulder would act up, but I knew I was able to tolerate it. On Sunday, eight days post crash I went outside again on the bike. This time for three and a half hours. I was still in pain, but like I said, it was manageable. Having felt good on the bike I tried to run afterwards but as I would find out later in the week, my back pain was stemming from a rib fracture and that would keep me from running for another couple of days. Feeling adventurous, I gave swimming a try Sunday evening. Big mistake. I made it 50 yards, hopped out of the pool and dried myself off. During the next week I would put my focus on biking since I could not swim or run. During the week I also went to the UPMC Sports Medicine facility, got more x-rays and officially was told pretty much what I had already anticipated. I had suffered a class II/III shoulder separation and a rib fracture in my back.
As you can see above, the ligaments below the arrow in the class II picture tore and the front ligaments were stretched really bad. But obviously things could have been a lot worse!

I did a couple of mid-week 40 milers on the bike and by Thursday I was ready to test my back out (again) with some jogging. I ran for just over an hour and was happier then a little kid in a candy store. Two sports back, one to go I thought!

This past weekend Jen and I would set off for the Columbia Olympic Distance Triathlon in Columbia Maryland (just south of Baltimore). We drove down part way Friday night and stayed with Jen's parents. We arrived in Columbia around 8:30 AM Saturday morning and I was ready to tackle the day. I had a 6+ hour ride on the schedule and I knew it would be a challenge. My goal for the day was to stay consistant and to NOT blow up. The Columbia bike course is a 41K rolling course which was very well marked so I decided to just keep biking the course until I hit my six hour mark. I rode part of the first loop with Beth Shutt (MAO team mate) as she was getting the legs ready for the big Columbia race the following day. When I finished the loop my watch said 1:17. Not too bad I thought, but I could do better. Second loop was 1:14....and then 1:15....then 1:16, and finally a 1:19. When it was all said and done I had biked 127 miles and averaged 20 mph for 6 hours and 23 minutes. I was very happy considering it's only been two weeks post crash. Even though I slowed down a little bit between miles 102 - 127 I felt strong for the duration of the ride.

After I was done riding it was time to re-fuel. What better place to refuel than Noodles! Jen and I met up with Beth and O and our other teammate Kim and her husband Kyle. It was fantastic! Not long after dinner Jen and I retired to our hotel room and we were wide awake come 4:15 AM Sunday morning.

This would mark the first Triathlon I've ever watched from start to finish in the eyes of a spectator. The course was setup really well and I got to see Jen, Beth and Kim all start the swim, exit the water, and I even saw the three of them four times on the run. It was a great spectator friendly race. Everyone had a fantastic race (including my other MAO team mate Lindsay).

Later on Sunday evening after we got home I set off on my long run. I wasn't sure what to expect after my killer ride, but the legs responded well and I was able to hold a 7:30 pace for around 14 miles.

I'm not sure when I'm going to try swimming again, but I have a good feeling it'll be sometime this week. I have my fingers crossed!

I'm broken but not out

2009-05-02T16:41:00.002-04:00

Today was supposed to be another normal Saturday long ride. Matt, Paul and I set off from my house around 8:00 AM this morning and we were having a great ride. At one point, Matt and I were holding 30 mph (mainly Matt) on the flats. Paul split ways with us about three hours into the ride right before the accident. Matt and I were going through a quick slightly downhill "S" bend doing around 25 or 30 mph right by the local Westmoreland Community college. I don't recall what we were talking about but I do know we were riding side by side around the bend and then it happened. I was a little too close to the side of the road and in Western PA there are no bike paths. Instead, typically our roads abruptly end with a 3-4 inch 90 degree drop from the asphalt. Before I could react I was going head over heals and everything went in slow motion. I tried to brace the fall but it all happened so quick. I went down hard on my left side and grazed the guard rail with my helmet. I knew right away that this wasn't good. Matt jumped off his bike and grabbed my bike which was laying in the middle of the lane. A couple of passing cars stopped to ask if I was alright. I really didn't know what shape I was in except for my shoulder really hurt and I could barely move it. We opted not to call 911 and instead called my parents. It took them about 30 minutes to get to where we were, but we then rushed to the hospital.

Like a normal triathlete all I could think of was the possibility that my race season was ruined. Seriously nothing else came across my mind. I was fearing the worst.

We got to the hospital ER and after about 30 minutes of waiting I taken in for x-rays. Luckily nothing is broken but I'm still concerned that I can't raise my left arm more than 90 degrees.

After the x-rays the nurses had to scrub the gravel out of my arm. I kept telling them I had a high pain threshold but it did actually hurt a little bit.

The doctor also wrote me a prescription for pain pills, but I'm a tough guy so unless it gets REALLY REALLY bad, I doubt I'll get it filled.

Hopefully I'll start to have movement in my arm once the swelling goes down. Reflecting back on the accident I guess I'm lucky it wasn't more serious than it was. No screws or major surgery! Like I've been saying, if you ride long enough and fast enough, you're eventually going to go down.

Training, a fox, and a very angry goose

2009-04-25T16:03:00.003-04:00

Well since my last post (ages ago), I've done a ton of training, almost ran over a fox on my bike and was very close to getting attacked by a giant Canadian Goose! Typically when I go through a week or two without posting a blog that seriously means that I'm way too busy. If I'm too busy, my journalism (is that what you call this?) is always the first to go. Last week on the traning front, I got in 22 hours for the week and this week it's even more....more like 23 or 24 if you count Yoga as working out. :)

The highlights of my training the past couple weeks is my trip to DC. I got to swim in that really cool outdoor meter pool and followed it up by a massage at Massage Envy. They had this $49 / hour special and I was in heaven. I really should treat myself to massages a lot more than I do, but I just can't justify spending all that extra money. Jen and I at one time considered taking massage therapy classes at the local community college but again...no time. My blog would really be in bad shape if I were to start classes.

Another highlight or close call might I say was my early morning run in DC. Before work I headed out from my hotel for an easy 30 minute recovery run. I was running with my head down, iPod blasting and in the background I heard this loud sound that sounded like a hisssss. I lifted my head out of my running daze and this giant Canadian Geese was lunging at me. I had to act quick with my Willie Parker spin-o-rama and jumped out of the way avoiding a duck bite. Coach, I'm sorry to say, but my heart rate might have gone anaerobic for just a second or two.

Later that night I went out for a 55 mile ride and as I was decending down this really big hill a sneaky fox ran out in front of me. I missed the thing by a hare and thank goodness I did.

The only other main highlight was my ride today. I managed to get in 5:30 on the bike followed by a 30 minute run. I felt great the entire ride! I still need to head to the pool for a long swim, but that can wait for another hour or two.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and I'll try to do another post really soon. :)

Thanks Fuel Belt

2009-04-12T12:47:00.004-04:00

I've never been the type of person to usually carry water or any sorts of hydration on my runs. I've tried just about everything from the camel back waist hydration to the 20 oz bottle around the waist. I just never found anything to be comfortable. I even tried the unit that straps a 20 oz bottle to your hand. I eventually gave up and decided to simply plan my long runs strategically from gas station to gas station. This would mean at times I would have to run around 10 miles at a clip without drinking. As you all know in Ironman racing, nutrition is very important and during racing I typically drink everything under the sun every mile.

So when we got home on Friday I had a box from Fuel belt sitting on my front porch. Fuel belt sponsors my MAO team and they were kind enough to send me a Helium 2 fuel belt. At first I thought that it would be another running accessory that would end up in my basement next to all of the other hydration kits that have gone terribly wrong, but luckily I decided to try it out first before I made my final decision to scrap it.

I went out on a 1 hour run this morning and figured that this was the perfect distance to try it out. The belt is equipped with two 8 oz bottles and as soon as I took one step out the front door I seriously couldn't even tell the thing was around my waist. You can tell that the Fuel belt design engineers put some serious thought into this belt (as I've also tried previous fuel belt versions...with little success).

All I have to say is THANKS FuelBelt, and you may even see me at my next IM race sporting a bright orange Helium 2 around my waist!!! Be sure to check out all they have to offer at www.fuelbelt.com .

Will you people just let me ride my bike?

2009-04-11T19:38:00.001-04:00

A day in Boulder

2009-04-11T18:34:00.000-04:00

Jen and I arrived in Boulder for Masters Swim practice with coach Luis Thursday around noon. I didn't know what to expect and to tell you the truth this was the first time I've ever done "Masters" swim. I quickly learned that swimmers have their own lingo. I should of bought a "Swimming for Dummies" book before going to Boulder. Apparently a "two, one, two" means swim 200, kick 100 and swim another 200. Also "on the top" means to start the interval at the when the second hand reaches 12 on the pool clock. I quickly caught on and we jumped right into the main set. The theme of the swim was "long stroke" and not speed. I was all about not swimming hard. Also since there were four people in my lane that meant every now and then I could draft just like in the open water! :) Practice flew by and coach Luis spent some time looking at my stroke and gave me some pointers. He said we'll spend some more time at the camp in June. Afterward, we lifted for about 45 minutes but it didn't go that great for me. I'm just not used to lifting besides doing free weight stuff on machines that aren't the machines at my normal gym.

After we got done with working out for the day, we got a light snack and drove into town and walked around the Pearl Street Mall.

After a day of running around we were both pretty tired. We relaxed back at the hotel room, and later that night met coach Luis for drinks....when I say "drinks" I mean water. :)

After we said our goodbyes, Jen and I got our last taste of Noodles & Company...since the closest one to us is a five hour drive. Sorry Noodles, you're good, but not that good.

We finally made it home late Friday night. We slept in today, which was AWESOME, and began our Ironman training. Today called for a long swim and a 2 hour ride. Just the start of some hard weeks to come. Speaking of which, coach gave me my IM Lake Placid training plan and at first glance I thought it was going to be a doozie. After looking over it more closely, I mean YAAAA those 9 1/2 hour training days will be hard, but I'm sure I can handle it!

Oceanside 70.3 Pictures

2009-04-09T13:14:00.004-04:00

I always love the facial expressions I make coming out of the water. Classic.

PR Swim!

Navigating the bike course.

Powering up one of the first of many hills.

Ahhh! The sand...

The finish. How sweet it is.

Time to celebrate a good showing at the first race of 2009.

The Denver Adventure

2009-04-07T23:29:00.003-04:00

Sunday night we were to fly from San Diego to Denver but our flight was canceled causing us to miss a day of skiing in Vail. :( Yes, I'm still very upset over it and I'm already planning my complaint letter to the airlines. So we were stuck in San Diego an extra day and luckily there could have been many other places a lot worse to be stuck in. Sunday night we were fortunate to spend another evening with Beth and O. We had soooo much fun with them this weekend and Sunday night was no exception. We drove up to La Jolla, sort of watched the sun set and even saw some seals. Monday morning we were finally on our way to Denver. We didn't get in till late Monday night and ended up going straight to bed. I had to work all day here in the mile high city, but after work made up for the hourse of being stuck in a conference room.

We met up with my high school friend Erin (who is also a triathlete)...go figure, and I got to met her fiance Ryan for the first time. We went to this brew house that had seriously over 100 beers on tap. It was beer heaven! Coach Luis sent me an email this morning saying that this week was a recovery week, so I took that as a direct message to the hair down and have a beer or three. Ok, it was more like four. :)

The four of us chatted for like 3 hours about triathlon, high school track, how they got engaged, how we got engaged, wedding planning (they get married in November), and of course more triatlon. The two of them did their first Ironman last year and I wanted to know every detail. They also plan to do Wisconsin this year. I'll be definatly cheering for them this September from the burgh!

Jen and I didn't want the night to end and had such a great time.

Some Pictures From Oceanside

2009-04-06T18:00:00.002-04:00

Here's a picture of Beth right after she dropped her cell phone into the Port-o-pot. We even tried calling Spanky to see if there was anything we could do.

Beth and I with our Clearwater Spots

Jen and I after the race at the top of Torrey Pines State Park. That hike to the top HURT!

Oceanside 70.3 Race Report

2009-04-06T12:10:00.004-04:00

The alarm went off at 3:45 AM and both Jen and I were up and at em. 800 Calories later breakfast was complete and we were in the car still somewhat groggy, and on our way to the Oceanside 70.3 Triathlon. We arrived into transition at 4:30, right when it opened and we both setup our gear in the transition areas. This was the first race I've done since racing the 70.3 Worlds last November, and I had no idea if my "race legs" were here yet. My overall goal for the race was to finish top 5 and to get a Clearwater 70.3 Worlds Qualifying slot.

Obviously, the first leg of the triathlon today was the swim. The swim takes place in an enclosed harbor connected to the Pacific Ocean. The water temperature was a chilly 59 degrees, but fortunately 4 degrees warmer than when I did this race in 2006. I made sure to line up in the front of my wave and at 6:48 AM, the cannon sounded and my wave was off. Prior this race, the fastest I have ever swam 1.2 miles in was 29:05, and that was at the Worlds last November. Since November I've spent endless hours in the pool and knew that I would be dissapointed if I did not swim to a personal best. So the swim course starts off by going straight for about a quarter mile and then takes a hard left out into the open harbor. The swim is an out and back course and at the halfway point I glanced at my watch and it read somewhere around 13:00 minutes. Knowing that the swim back was against the current I knew that the first half of the swim would be easier than the second half. None the less I made sure to draft as efficient as possible even though I caught up to the wave in front of me that went off four minutes ahead. I ran into some snags along the way, but my slightly aggressive swim style allowed me to worm my way through the masses. When I entered the boat ramp at the end of the swim and crossed the timing mat my watch read 28:32. If you do the math, that means I swam 33 seconds faster than 5 months ago. Not sure if that equates to the extra thousands and thousands of yards I put in the pool during that time, but none the less my swim is getting faster. I think a 28:32 works out to a 1:21 per 100 yard swim pace.

At this point in the race I was very excited and a quick glance at the bike racks indicated that not many were gone. Afterwards I found out that I had the 14th fastest swim in my age group. Seriously, I never even come close to breaking the top 20 in the swim. In transition, I tried to hustle but getting off the wetsuit is never easy and I decided to wear socks for the bike since the air temp was in the low 50's.

The first 20 miles of the bike are fast, flat and a little technical at times. I felt like I was averaging around 23-24 mph but my heart rate for some reason was sky high compaired to the power I was putting out. Looking at my HR file after the race, my average HR for the first 20 miles was 170 bpm. Regardless I felt good and kept pushing on. The first 40 miles I was seriously riding by myself, passing guys and the pro women every 5 miles or so. It was pretty lonely having no one to pace off of. Since there weren't many people around me I had assumed that I was riding good given my HR. Around mile 40 two of the 35-40 AG Men caught me so I decided to pace off of them. I worked a little hard to stay with them, but managed to ride hard the last 16 miles. When I entered Transition I knew my bike split was about 10-15 minutes slower than I wanted. Feeling a little discusted I put my head down and went out hard on the run.

Training for a early season race in Pittsburgh is very hard. I'd have to say that 85% of my bike workouts were done indoors on the trainer. I wonder if that equates to my poor bike performance? Seriously I can't think of anything else because the volume was certainly there.

The first couple miles of the run were tough. My watch was not working for some reason and I had no idea what pace I was running. I started to have some GI issued during the first couple of miles and it felt like my body wasn't absorbing any calories. Typically I don't have these types of problems. The entire first half of the 13.1 mile run I thought about stopping at a Port-O-Potty to empty the tank, but decided to keep going. I'm glad I decided to keep going because by the time the second half of the run came along the stomach issues went away and I was running even stronger.

Overall I felt okay on the run considering I've been nursing a foot injury the past six weeks. During the past six weeks, I hardly did any speed work. Surprisingly, I was still able to pull out a 1:30:49 half marathon off the bike to finish with a time of 4:39:07.

After I finished, I headed straight to my Blackberry to call home to see what place I finished in. I talked to my parents who were following me all day long on www.ironman.com, and they said that I finished 12th in my age group. Okay, so not a very good showing I initially thought, but then again it's still April and there is a lot of racing left for 2009.

I decided to chance it and go to the Clearwater "roll down" and crossed my fingers. I was wishing that a slot would roll down to 12th place. There was one spot that rolled down in my age group and they started off with 4th place. 4th place said no, then it went to 5th, then 6th, then 7th...........then they called my name. I was shocked that is rolled down that far, and of course I took the last spot!

Even though I didn't have my best race, I still achieved my goal of qualifying for the 70.3 Half Ironman World Championships again in November 2009. I already made hotel reservations and Jen and I are both looking forward to sandy beaches in November.

I just hope I can make it through seven more months of intense training! :)

A big congrats goes out to Beth Shutt who also qualified for 70.3 Worlds, Jen Harrison who had an awesome race and Marit who qualified for Kona. All of you had an awesome race! Jen also had a great race and was excited to cross another 70.3 finish line!!!

I plan to take it easy for about a week and then I begin Ironman training. Let the fun times begin!

58 Minutes of Happiness

2009-03-28T14:24:00.002-04:00

Yesterday after work I was treated to 58 minutes of happiness. I ran pain free for 58 minutes yesterday, my longest "pain free" run since early February and it couldn't have come at a better time. With exactly seven days untill my first race of the season, I felt like I was clicking on all cylinders during my run. After my run I decided to clean my bike and get it all "race ready". I cleaned my cassette and chain and put on my Zipp 999 wheel set.

This morning I went out on a 2 hour tempo ride with two of my friends. There's something about strapping on an aero helmet and riding with a disc wheel that will bring out that killer instinct in you. My legs responded really well today and I made my friends suffer a little bit.

I have a long swim this afternoon, 3,000 yards, (reminder - I'm tapering) and besides that I have nothing else going on....and that's a great thing. :)

Time to Taper - Looking ahead to race day

2009-03-26T06:25:00.000-04:00

Wow where do I start? The past seven days have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride off the side of Mount Everest. Just three days ago I thought that I had a stress fracture in my foot and my triathlon season was on hold for at least 6 weeks. I thought there was no possible chance that I'd be racing on April 4th, and that at most I'd be doing an aqua-bike race (just the swim and run of the half IM).

Now it's time to get focused again and get back into race mode. I'm a little concerned right now that my running fitness is going to suffer in the race. Since my injury (almost 5 weeks ago) I've ran less than 100 miles. When I ran at the track on Tuesday, I could feel my calf muscles getting sore and I only had ran 5 miles. They're actually still a little right now go to think of it...

I also haven't raced in what will be close to five months. Not even a 5K. So one of two thing will happen April 4th. I'll either shoot out of a cannon or I'll fizzle and fade. Besides the run, I feel like I've put in my time. I've consistently averaged between 15-20 hours per week of training since January and up until this taper I've only taken three days off from training and two of them were because I was traveling and stuck in airports most of the day.

Obviously there is a lot of uncertainty right now. My goal is to qualify for either Clearwater, Kona or both. I'll be happy with Clearwater and obviously estatic if I get a Kona spot.

Looking back at the Oceanside results in years past (since inception), here are the times of the folks that walked away with slots.

Kona - 4:23, 4:15, 4:26, 4:23, 4:36, 4:21, 4:11
Clearwater - 4:48 or faster, 4:46 or faster, 6:14 or faster

I have no doubt that I can race faster than 4:46 / 4:48, but low 4:20's? My strategy is to knock out a swim around 28 minutes, T1 should take 2-3 minutes, I need to bike a sub 2:30, 1-2 minutes for T2 and then pull out a sub 1:30 run. If you do the math using my predictions, that should give me around a 4:30. If I can go harder on the bike and still run good I should be right there in the hunt.

It's hard to imagine that minutes start to count in a 4+ hour race? If you lose focus for just five minutes, consider your chances OVER!

What the F?

2009-03-24T19:26:00.004-04:00

I always try to keep things PG on my blog and rarely if ever swear in my personal life, but today all I wanted to do was scream "What the F" at the top of my lungs! I went to see an orthopedic foot surgeon today for a "2nd doctor opinion".

The doctor reviewed the MRI, took more x-rays and examined my foot. He said that I do not have a stress fracture, I do not have any tendon issues but instead I have pain in my posterior lateral aspect of the subtalar joint and posterior talus. Yes that's right folks, joint pain.

He injected my foot with Xylocaine and Cortisone and told me to go back to running and tolerate the pain as necessary, and no matter what I do, running will not prolong the injury.

So when I got home I ripped off my air-cast and headed to the track for intervals. I ran roughly five miles with zero pain.

I guess my Half Ironman in Oceanside is back on...

Any doctors out there want to give me a third opinion?

The MRI Report Findings

2009-03-24T07:43:00.001-04:00

There is a short fracture within the posterior third of the calcaneus involving the superior cortex. Edema is present around the fracture extending through the marrow of the bone. Findings are most likely evidence of a stress injury. The fracture is incomplete and only nvolves the upper portion of the pone. The fracture line is slightly greater than 1cm in length.

No other fracture can be identified. Soft tissues appear normal. The Achilles tendon is normal. There is no evidence of Achilles tear.

There is a small area of soft tissue edema and fluid directly overlying the Achilles tendon attachment on the calcaneus. Other soft tissues around the heel appear normal. No other abnormality can be identified.
---------------------

I have an appointment this afternoon with an Orthopedic Surgeon just to get a second opinion. Not that I don't believe I have a stress fracture, but a second opinion may give me a better sense of what I'm dealing with, how far along it is healed and if I should even consider racing Oceanside in 11 days.

The Recovery Plan

2009-03-23T10:32:00.002-04:00

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the overwhelming support and good vibes sent my way. Support from all of you is by far one of the best attributes to this crazy sport we all have grown to love.

I had a call with my foot doctor and also got an email back from Mark Allen. I have mixed feelings right now on how to approach Oceanside and it seems as if everyone has their own opinion on what I should do as well.

First off, coach told me that if he were in my situation and if the doctor says don't run, he would probably do the swim and bike with all the training done. This could at least give me some satisfaction.

So what did the doctor say? He said, that the fracture is actually an "incomplete" fracture and should heal up pretty well. He suggested that I DO NOT run on it up until the race and we'll see how it feels in 10 days and make a game time decision. He also is going to try and get me a bone stimulator, but from what I heard from others, that does not really work.

Here's is what some others are telling me.

"For your mental psyche, knocking out a swim and punching through a killer bike just to get to the run and stop, I’m not sure what that would do. You can stay here and do that through Irwin."

"With your race schedule and the effort you are wanting to put out, Oceanside is the last place where you would want to put more pressure and risk onto your season."

"The good news is, since it's bone, it should be all healed up in 6 weeks and it's still super early in the season. Better now than in June! Heal fast and swim lots : )."

"Staying optimistic is best, no matter how this turns out. That is what I've been doing since January and will probably keep doing until I hit mile 20 in Boston."

"With two weeks off, maybe it will be pain free enough to try the half and at least finish. Thirteen miles on your toes???"

"I know you are disappointed. What I have read about them in the past, once they are healed, they are healed. Usually 6 weeks. And he gave you good news about being able to see it, so you are on your way to healing. It stinks though. I agree with you, the first 2 legs of the race, and then enjoy a wonderful time on your vacation."

"If you have a stress fracture, the best way to accelerate the healing process is rest and maybe supplementing your diet with calcium. There is no magic formula to accelerate bone healing. You have to give it time."

So that brings me to my next topic. Do I risk my season to run a race and finish just to finish? I think the obvious answer is NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! Do I race the first two legs, start the run and go from there? I think this might be a better approach. It's just so frustrating because things have been going so good for me. I mean last November I had my fastest half IM ever, and since training with Mark, my fitness has only gone up. Every year I keep tell myself, "I'm in the best shape of my life" and I see no plateau in sight.

I really have taken a lot of time off the past 3-4 weeks.

Here is all I've ran on the road since I began to notice the pain.

2/24 - 5.5 miles
2/26 - 7.5 miles
2/28 - 4 miles
3/01 - 16 miles
3/03 - .7 miles
3/05 - 5 miles
3/10 - 2.2 miles
3/14 - 3.4 miles
3/15 - 11 miles
3/17 - 5 miles
3/19 - 2 miles

If you take out the 11 and 16 mile run, I really haven't ran over five miles on the foot. I guess right now the only thing I can do is rest and hope for the best whatever that may be.

And the Verdict Is....

2009-03-23T08:55:00.004-04:00

This morning I received a call from the Podiatrist's office with the MRI preliminary results. It appears at first glance that I have a stress fracture on my Calcaneus (heel bone).
I'm not really sure what this means to my race in 2 weeks, but I have a feeling it doesn't look good. The doctor plans to call me this afternoon and I'd expect I'd get the "What not to do" talk from him at that time.

One good thing that the nurse said when she called this morning is that I can still bike and swim.

When I look back on the past couple of weeks I began to realize that my pain threshold may be slightly higher than the normal athlete or person. Basically I've don’t a 12 mile run and even a 16 mile run recently all while having a stress fracture in my foot.

I guess if there were any good news to come out of this it's that it's still early in the season and I can hopefully rebound in time for Eagleman and Placid….and I can still keep my fitness with biking and swimming. I have to wait and see what Mark says and see what he thinks my season strategy should be given this will take 4-6 weeks to heal…