The Hills Are Calling 27 Days to GO!

Ironman Triathlons are notorious for having one of two conditions on the bike course.  

Wind or hills.  
(& you hate hills)
Since I hate hills, I naturally I picked a bike course with really bad hills.
(Naturally, because everything about this makes logical sense)
The Lake Placid bike course is notorious for its 20 mile incline. 

There are spots where the course flattens out, but in three locations you have to get over "the hump"...actually, three humps. They are notorious on the course as "The Three Bears - Baby, Mama & Papa." I have been so intimidated by this course that I've actually I avoided it for five years. So the question you're asking me is how does one train for such an endeavor?
(No, the question is: have you lost your freakin mind???)
You practice riding hills.
(Yup, you have. You've nuttier than a psycho ward. You just told us, you hate hills)
Luckily the state of New Jersey has no shortage of hills to climb.

If I lived in Brooklyn it would be a completely different story, but its not Brooklyn it's Joisey.
1 mile from my house is DeGraw.
1200 feet (3/4 of a mile) at 9 degree incline.
Athletes who want to train with me have to be able to get the hill without stopping. 
I will never forget the newbie who had to dismount half way up the hill so they could throw up their breakfast.
(So you hate hills & your athletes)
Getting up the hill never gets easier, you just get faster at ascending to the top. Like the time I road to the top of Bear Mountain.

Once you reach the top, there's a new hill to ride down. At the same time, if you ride down a hill, you have ride back up it if you want to get back home.
(Wouldn't it just be easier to stay home in the first place? Wait a minute, why am I even asking you? It's clear you're a few fries short of a Happy Meal)
These hills are much harder then the ones I will encounter in Lake Placid that's the point.
After 112 miles of hills, I will still have a full 26 mile marathon to run so I need to teach my body hold back and leave a little gas in the tank. This is the mistake I made at Ironman Lake Placid.

(Definitely a few fries short of a happy meal)

Running with the Night - 33 Days to GO

In 2012, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to start Ironman Arizona & almost fell back asleep, because I was so tired.

The following year, 
Peter 
"There is nothing fun about 4:30 a.m." 
Shankman asked me to join him for a run. By the spring of 2016, I was waking up at 3:30 a.m. to join him for "our" 4:30 a.m. runs. 

That was fine, until I needed to start running farther.I have to be at my desk at 7:30, so to cover 3.5 hours of running, I need to start early. By June, I was waking up at 2 a.m. & running 18 miles by myself. 

(How do you function?)
I don't know. I simply wake up & I'm afraid to go back to sleep.
(Afraid of what?)
Nightmares
(Snakes under the bed? Falling? Showing up to work naked?)
Oversleeping the start of the race...& yes to the other three fears.
Shakespear said, "Macbeth doth murder sleep".
Ironman murdered mine.

Actually, I started not sleeping late on my days off.
My body just adjusted.
(To what?)
Sleeping 3 hours and then running 18 miles.
(That's not normal)
Ultra marathon runners go run on minimal sleep
(They are not normal either...wait. Are you?)
I'm thinking about it, but that's not on my horizon right now.
Right now I am thinking about my family.
Ever since he could speak, my 5 year old has thought that 
"Daddy's job is running".
I don't want to be "THAT DAD".
(Which Dad is "THAT DAD"?)
The one who spent his kid's childhood training, not playing with his kids.
(So you run when they sleep?)
I run in their dreams...

What a Year Difference Makes -40 Days to GO

Arriving at the Ironman village last year, for Ironman Lake Placid my wife asked me,
"How do you feel?"
"I wish that I had more time to train."
As I look at my Facebook "memories" from last year, I can see that I am weeks ahead of where I was 12 months ago.
Instead of starting the 4,000 meter swims June 10, I started May 26.
(I'm now 250 meters ahead & minutes faster too)

 

Last year my biking was split into two parts: Indoor & outdoor.
January-April I rode indoors, once a week. That was it.
The longest ride was 90 minutes. All I did was spin, no actual formal training.
This year, I rode 3 times a week indoors between January-April.
Each ride had a specific goal. I also bought a power meter to help me see just how hard I should be spinning.
By the time I started climbing hills outside in April, I found that I was able to climb with ease. Last year at Lake Placid it was the hills that almost did me in.
7:55:04 for 112 miles is way to slow (14.1 mph) when I have put this much time into it.


Last year I cut my marathon down by an hour. I was blown away to be running instead of walking (like the three previous Ironmans).
Part of that was running more than one 18 mile run.
So as I said to my wife...I wish that I had more time
So?
So I mapped out my training & started the volume loading sooner

With just over 40 days to go, I am running 18 miles & the only thing stopping me is time.
I have to get to work.
(So start earlier.)
That, is a conversation for another blog.